Chapter Text
The final day of the work week arrived, greeting citizens with a rather partially cloudy day. An early time for sure, since the sun was only just rising from the horizon. Previous day was, at least for Hope’s peak, a tranquil one. That day, it went just as normally did, although anxiety of any attack from Daft Capo still lingered. However, one person was dedicated to make the current day same as one before.
The alarm clock went off, abruptly ending any dreams Chiaki had that night. Slowly, but grumpily she opened her eyes and aggressively attempted to press the OFF button on it. After few pokes, her index finger landed right on the intended button, shutting up the morning menace once and for all. Since it was the day of school, she didn’t have much options other than to get up and prepare herself.
“Alright….today is the day, isn’t it? The day where you will do your duty.” Chiaki thought about one particular promise she had on her mind for a long time. She wanted to protect them, no matter what the threat was, but that day, she was prepared to be more active about it. Chiaki wanted to live up to her words and it was her chance to fulfill them. If there were any Daft Capo intruders, she knew it would end up in physical confrontation, so she prepared herself for that.
Well, she attempted to.
“One...two...three...mmm, that shall be it.” counted Chiaki, doing exactly three squats before deciding it was enough, due to how quickly exhausted she got. After her “exercise”, she grabbed her backpack and prepared herself for her self imposed duty. “I am ready. Ready to protect them….I think. No, definitely.”.
Just before she went to her school, she had one more talk with a person, or rather a plushie, just for some reassurance, since the threat of her self doubting was still very present in her. In fact, it was only curbed a little, thanks to her experiences at Hope’s peak. Her trust in her own friends overcame the self doubt….just by a margin.
“Usami, I’ll do my best to do protect them as much as possible.” Chiaki nodded to her plushie with an odd amount of determination in her voice. Even her expression was more of a confident one, completely unusual for her. Although, she still talked to a plushie. Someone had to provide a voice for a non-sapient toy.
“Alrighty then! I know you will make it!” Chiaki leaned down to Usami plushie as she gave her the voice, essentially talking to herself. Luckily, no one was around her to see that she was essentially talking to an object like a real person. She went towards the door, ready for the day.
“Don’t worry, I will.” Chiaki gave out the last nod, but just before she stepped out, her heart felt an immense amount of weight out of a sudden. Despite all promises and belief, doubt was still present in her mind. “….Will I?”.
Even with doubts anchoring her mind, she still went to her school, prepared to protect anyone she held dear to. However, just as the defender was on the move, so was the aggressor.
Meanwhile in the Zona Daft Capo, a punkster that got elevated to an Elite Boi stepped outside of a building, which its title and location was concealed, strutting out of it as if he won multiple prizes within a single hour. A black car was nearby, specifically Mercedes-Benz C-Class W203, with the registration straight out of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Such vehicle obtained registration in Sarajevo, which was also that Elite Boi’s official birth place. The man in tuxedo had a ridiculously confident grin stretching on his face as he was getting closer to his own Mercedes.
“Yes, today is the day when the scrub zone will get wrecked harder than Belgrade 1999!” Rando boasted to himself before he opened the door and jumped in, inserting the key in the right place as he started the car. His definite destination was Hope’s peak, where he would begin with a joint Fritz-Rando-Tom-N.Tropy plan.
“But first, I must get the stuff.” Rando decided to change course out of a sudden as he drove off towards his first destination: a nearby grill bar. The drive lasted less than a minute as he parked his Mercedes right in front of the entrance, walking out of it with a boastful strut. The moment his presence got established inside, he laid his eyes upon the grill meister punkster, who was of Albanian origin. With a single determined look and a nod, the fellow knew exactly what he would order. Within a minute, Rando received one of his go-to meals: burek. Not even needing to pay, he went out with his prized meal and jumped back in the car, where he would actually drive to his proper destination, probably.
Meanwhile, the defender was still walking towards the school, already being on the look out in order to detect any Daft Capo activities. When she stopped at the crossing, not only did she look left and right as she was supposed to, but she also looked back. Upon knowing that the octopus was the one that more or less endangered her life with a slap on her head as a prank, a feeling of annoyance and possibly activation of her fight part of fight-or-flight mode lingered. Luckily, once the green light turned on the traffic light, she crossed the road safely. While she was following the traffic law pretty nicely, Rando was overspeeding on every single speed limit he could find, just because he could. However, the destination changed for him again, since he needed to take care of one oversight: he was low on fuel.
The journey to Hope’s peak was not a perilous one for Chiaki that time. Once she fully arrived, instead of positioning herself on the bench near the fountain, she stopped herself in front of the gate, prepping herself up to act like an unofficial security guard.
“Hmmm….since I’m on guard, I should probably stand here, since it allows me best situational awareness, I think.” Chiaki rationalized to herself as she prepared her stance: leaning forward while supporting her view with her arm placed like a salute. The angle of the lean managed to get her better forward view, even if it made her butt stick out a bit. With everything set, her self imposed patrol duty began.
Few minutes passed before she realized what kind of a job security guards have: not a particularly eventful one, if everything went right.
“...oh wait. What’s the time again?” Chiaki pulled out a handheld out of her bag to check time. It turned out she was particularly early, not only for her standards, but for others as well. Realizing that, she slouched with her shoulders. “...Aw bummer, too early. It’s gonna be a long time until everyone will arrive.”.
As her guarding duty began, Rando was in the middle of the process of refueling. He made sure that the entire car was full, since he needed endurance the most, even though pushing the car on overspeeding much led to quicker consumption of fuel. Since he was a Daft Capo member, the gas was free, every driver’s dream. Otherwise, the price for gas was nightmarish in Zona Daft Capo, even for their standards.
“Hahaha, free gas! Feels good to be based!” Rando boasted about himself before he concluded refueling, not even going to the cashier (not that he needed to) as he hopped in the car and finally drove off to Hope’s peak, where he was supposed to go.
On her guard duty, Chiaki occupied herself with a game, knowing that her only option was staring at nowhere. So far, nothing but breeze proved to be a disturbance. The game she played at that platform was one of the platformers under the name of that pink puffball. She got herself so entranced in the game that she almost forgot her responsibility. Almost, if it wasn’t for a sudden thought that reminded her.
“...Oh right, I’m on the guard duty….I almost forgot...hard not to when all you do is stand on patrol.” Chiaki thought to herself as she lifted her look towards the empty front, still only bothered by a breeze. Suddenly, something rustled in the bush, immediately gaining her attention. “Oh what’s that?”.
She carefully closed in, leaned down to see what was happening in the bush. Turned out, it was not a Daft Capo member, but just a mere tit (the bird). A rather small, cute looking avian just jumped out of the bush, possibly looking for some food. The timid bird flew away, looking for desired nutrition somewhere else. Upon seeing an animal, a little smile appeared on Chiaki’s face, reassured that it wasn’t an enemy.
“Ah...just a bird. Nothing to be worried about.” Chiaki thought to herself before she returned to her original position, continuing her guard duty in the process. Luckily, the true aggressor was still away, as he we speeding through the streets as if he was taking his wife to the ambulance. It was honestly shocking that he didn’t commit any vehicular manslaughter on the way.
More time passed, finally reaching the hours where everyone should be at Hope’s peak. Once again, she engrossed herself in video games again, since nothing was happening around her. The same puffball once again, Chiaki just waited for anything to happen. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice, which made her quickly peek from her console. The fortune smiled upon her, as it was her little group that arrived in the morning.
“There she is! Look at her!” Ibuki pointed at the guarding gal as she dashed off to her, greeting her with Ibuki’s own morning gesture. Chiaki was still playing the game, but her attention was placed on her group. Rest of her friends joined in as well.
“You’re much earlier than usual, Chiaki. What’s up with that?” asked Hajime, curious on why the biggest sleepyhead of Hope’s peak was, in fact, earliest.
“Oh, G’mornin, everyone. I’m just here on guard duty.” explained Chiaki as she raised her finger to further emphasize her reason. Her friends already wondered when exactly she has decided to be the guard. Previous day didn’t seem like she hinted at it.
“Guard duty? Erm, did someone appoint you to?” Chihiro gave out a question, wondering if Chisa was behind it.
“Nope, I wanted to do it myself. I’ll be there on the look out, so that no one will get hurt.” elaborated Chiaki with a tone that seemed obvious that she was truly dedicated to the task, even if her quiet voice didn’t make it seem like it.
“For how long will you do this?” Hajime raised his eyebrow.
“As long as I need to...I think.” answered Chiaki, surprising them for a bit. Her friends thought about if her idea was even good, leaving herself out in the open. At the very least she needed some back up, but then she would insist that she was “fine”.
“Even if it meant entire day?” further asked Hajime in a perplexed tone.
“Mmmm….yep, if I have to.” nodded Chiaki, still insisting on acting as a guard. At that point, her friends weren’t really fond of the idea of Chiaki endangering herself for sake of others, especially how vulnerable she generally seemed to be.
“I mean, I do admire your dedication, but you can’t really be all just by yourself.” Hajime expressed his feelings on the matter, deep down just wanting her company. Ever since they met, a day without her wasn’t as fun as those with her.
“We’ll miss you if you don’t come back. Ibuki not gonna be happy!” further added Ibuki while preparing her “puppy eyes” in order to persuade Chiaki into joining them. Even though she didn’t quite understand it, Chiaki was starting to feel like they weren’t exactly fond of the idea. It didn’t make sense to her, she was more or less offering herself as a protector, but she felt like if she insisted, she would just make them unhappy. Not something she could afford.
“Then….until it feels safe. Sounds good?” Chiaki changed her plan while promising them that she will return to them once the area’s been clear. It was a much more favorable idea than before.
“As long as you come back, then it’s good.” approved Chihiro as they all gathered around the gate, just hanging around like they usually do. Little did they know that the aggressor was already there, watching them with binoculars from a seamless bush. However, he was as far away from entrance as possible, being closer to the outside of dining hall instead.
“Hahaha, dumbass noob! Did she really think that I will go through the front entrance? Think again, because I have found an alternative and no one will stop me!” Rando boastfully thought to himself as he observed the group, thinking that they’re a bunch of doofuses. Then he checked the entrance to the dining hall, where it seemed empty. Conveniently empty. “Hmmmm….I’m gonna check in first though. It’s looking too smooth.”.
The punkster sneaked towards the entrance and grabbed the handle to see what would it do. Fortune seemed to have a laugh as it turned out that it wasn’t locked at all, allowing Rando to infiltrate in Hope’s peak without the “guard” even noticing. Quite surprised with such convenience, Rando then shifted to his priorities.
“...Very well then. Burek time.” Rando sat behind a nearest table and started gobbling up his burek (with meat, not cheese! Burek with cheese is not burek, that’s sirnica!) like a flock of pigeons consuming bread crumbs.
The classes went on normally, unaware that a Daft Capo member has already infiltrated the academy. Speaking of him, he already finished his burek and began hiding in the halls. For some reason, he always found the most ridiculous spots to hide, such as hiding behind a whiteboard like a gecko. As he was observing the area from the hiding spot, he spotted a point of interest: Chisa walking out of her class for a short break. The teacher also held a lot of papers, needing them to be filled. Unknowingly, she revealed the class’ location to Rando, although if he were just to storm in, he would have done goofed.
“Hmm...that’s the woman that N.Tropy wants her to use. Scammer was right, she really does belong in kindergarten.” Rando thought to himself as he watched Chisa walk towards her office during her break. Suddenly, he started sliding down the board, causing him to be startled internally. “Oh, SHIET!”.
The slight noise caused by him caught the teacher’s attention.
“Hm? Was someone there?” Chisa turned her head, but there was not a single trace of anyone. Empty hallways, just the usual for Hope’s peak. She shrugged off, thinking it was just a student or another teacher and continued. “Probably nothing to worry about…”.
With him successfully concealing himself, Rando peeked from the board, only to sport a boastful grin on his face.
“Hahahaha, dumbass! You are simply too ignorant while I gained excellent knowledge!” Rando thought to himself as he silently removed himself from the whiteboard, rolling on the floor to minimize sound. Once he located class 77-B, he wanted to take a peek, in order to obtain info on current situation. However, he encountered one problem: the door had no window. “FAUCK! The door has no window! In Bosnia, schools have windows on doors, but not here? Cringe! Wait, didn’t I say fucking up swears was getting old? I guess I will have to spy here.”.
He started exploring the hallway, looking for both his hiding spots and the target: a student he really wanted to beat up, only because he felt like it.
Meanwhile, nothing was happening outside of Hope’s peak academy. All the lack of action was starting to have an affect on Chiaki, who was more busy playing the game at that point. Other alternative for her was staring into nothing.
“Mmmm...nothing. I guess it’s not happening from outside….but what if I check inside? Just in case...I hope it’s unlikely.” wondered Chiaki with a pout as she turned back, opened the door and went inside. The sound of door opening immediately alerted Rando, forcing him to take a hiding spot.
“AYY, SHIET!” Rando thought to himself as he started hastily look for the hiding spot. Footsteps of Nanami were getting louder, shortening his time to hide. Then, he found a rather strange spot to hide.
“Huh? Was there someone?” Once Chiaki arrived, she found an empty hall, usual sight. “Hm, nothing.”.
Then she walked away, beginning her patrol in school. She was strolling down the hallways, looking for any intruders. However, the actual intruder just hid himself in the toilet, locking the door that were used for toilets for cases such as if someone needed to take a shit. Once he declared the area to be free, he opened the door as quietly as possible while tip toeing as he walked outside.
“Fuck! Someone is on patrol! As if she knew I was coming….wait, she probably did. Zapatta fucked up so bad that they started to expect us!” Rando thought to himself as he found himself in a situation that he didn’t exactly expect. Considering that N.Tropy took care of official security guards, it wasn’t on his mind that Hope’s peak would rely on unofficial volunteer.
However, the silence was broken once again when he heard another footsteps, coming from another direction, once again, he hid himself in the toilet, leaning his ear on the door in order to hear anything. Unknown to him, it was a student from class 69, the one with an N on his face. N.Vious, as devious he looked, knocked on the door of class 77-B. The other class responded, with one person immediately knowing what was going on.
Kazuichi Soda once again had to deal with a broken projector. Once he was out of the class, he was escorted by the Ultimate Bootlegger, who looked like he had a thing to discuss with him.
“You know, what is with your class and getting our classmates expelled? I mean, not that I am particularly angry about, in fact, it was the best thing that has ever happened in our class, but it’s weird. What’s up with that?” asked N.Vious as both of them walked towards the bootlegger’s class. Upon being reminded of the past incident, Kazuichi’s mood soured even more.
“….Lets just skip that question and get to the projector.” frowned Kazuichi, just wanting to be done with it. Even though four of students from that class got kicked out, problems with projector still insisted.
“Are you knowing something I don’t?” N.Vious raised his eyebrow, noticing Kaz’s refusal to give out a proper answer, immediately catching his suspicion.
“...Yeah, but lets just get on with it.” insisted Kazuichi as they continued their walk in silence, not even uttering a word. However, suspicion grew even more. However, both of them were observed by the intruder, who secretly opened the door just a little bit in order to get a view. Rando immediately recognized his target.
“There he is, The Shqiptar! If he wasn’t escorted with that...hold the fuck up, N on the head? Didn’t that guy that N.Tropy hated his guts also have an N on his head?” wondered Rando as he observed two of them. The lanky bootlegger looked oddly familiar, only for the tales N.Tropy told him about a certain other person with a big N on his forehead. He decided to wait “Hmm, I will have to wait until the perfect opportunity.!”
Once the mechanic managed to fix the projector, he went with the same path as before, walking alone by his decision.
“Eehhhhhh, it’s even worse now that Zapatta is gone. Let’s go to my class, the better one.” Kazuichi slouched with his shoulders, grumbling while also missing his former colleagues. Visits to class 69 became more painful with it. However, little did he know what was waiting for him next.
“IT’S TIME.” Rando grinned like a satisfied fisherman after catching a great white shark before he dramatically opened the door as he pointed at his target, but not before letting out a shout:
“SQHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!”
“Hey, who’s yelling out of a-” Kazuichi was only startled a bit, annoyed that someone had to yell at him right after he had to deal with what he considered to be the worst class of the student, only for his eyes to land on the person that called him. Suddenly, his mood shifted from annoyed to one filled with fear as he laid his eyes upon a bonafide Daft Capo member. Even worse, the gangster demanded his attention.
“D-D-Daft Capo member?!” yelped Kazuichi once he realized the situation he was in. He was starting to tremble as Rando was approaching him, with a stoic yet satisfied expression on his face. The thing he wanted to do a day before was starting to come into fruition.
“You! Yes you! Take a look at this!” Rando pointed at him once again before he jumped and landed with a pose that explicitly showed Kaz his white glittering Nike sneakers. That was what he called “flexing with his drip”, a common strategy of Daft Capo that’s used to strike fear and envy in foes. Rando felt every bit of pride upon doing such act. “Intimidated yet?”.
“W-why would I be intimated by S-SHOES?!” Kazuichi attempted to deny it, but his trembling and sweating were telling a completely different story. He would try to run away, but he was too paralyzed with fear. Didn’t help that Kazuichi’s fashion sense was abysmal.
“Your voice tells me enough, but that’s not all. Do you perhaps remember Taidana Rokudenashi?” smirked Rando while also reminding Kazuichi a student that was supposed to be at Hope’s peak for a long time, but procrastination just kept hitting it.
“Taidana Rokudenashi? Wasn’t that Ultimate Procrastinator? What about-wait are you….” Kazuichi remembered well, although he wasn’t sure what exactly he lead to.
Then, the reveal was dropped.
“YES! Not only I was Taidana Rokudenashi, I was also not Taidana Rokudenashi! He never existed! My true name is Rando Gyroswaggerić!” Rando dropped the truth bomb right on him, shattering any illusion he had about class 69 at that point.
“W-WW-W-W-W-W-W-W-WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT THEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” screamed Kazuichi upon the revelation. Not only did he find out that five out of sixteen people in class 69 were connected to Daft Capo, but one of them wasn’t even real. Rando didn’t even have talent (at the very least what Hope’s peak would consider it to be one), but he didn’t care, because having Bosnia on your side was greater than any talent would dream of, at the very least according to him. He even had a custom made SUPREME BOSNIAN shirt underneath his tuxedo, used only for further flexing.
“That is right! Now prepare yourself, Shqiptar, for this will be your last moments when you’ll know peace!” Rando cracked his fists as he started dashing towards Kazuichi, initiating the beating up in the process. It was at that moment that the mechanic knew he was done for.
“H-H-HELP! HELP ME!” Kazuichi was about to run away, but it wouldn’t matter, because Rando was just about to plant his fist right in his shark toothed face.
Suddenly, just when he was about to face his fate, fortune smiled upon him as someone else intervened. Someone who started running towards the scene of the supposed beating up ever since Rando’s yell.
“HEAVEN SLAYING DRAGO-” Chiaki managed to perform an uppercut against Rando just in time, but compared to the one she delivered to Herman, a little surprise awaited her. Just as he was flying over the hall thanks to Chiaki’s attack, he managed to kick her right on the chin, causing her to be knocked back a bit. She fell on her butt, but her mouth was still in one piece, no teeth were broken despite the kick. She managed to pick herself up, checking her mouth to see if everything was alright.
“W-what? My Heaven Slaying Dragon Fist….got countered? That can’t be, right?” wondered Chiaki in haste, shocked that someone actually figured out to strike her in the middle of the attack. Meanwhile, Rando managed to land on his hands, performing a back flip before he face forward, looking right at Chiaki. It was a surprise for him as well, but he became intrigued in the following events. It was the same person that caused his Elite Boi colleague to have anger fits. Chiaki raised her fists, preparing herself for a battle she didn’t have before in her life. Not that she expected any instance where she had to go fist to fist with someone.
“CHIAKI, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” shouted Kazuichi in panic, completely startled by her appearance and her will to fight.
“Kazuichi, run! Alert the others! I’ll take care of him.” cautioned Chiaki, just wanting him to go somewhere safe and call back up. It was the first instance they would have to deal with a Daft Capo member like a proper fighter, unlike before, which were just cases of spies.
“B-but he’s a Daft Capo member! Bonafide Daft Capo member!” stammered Kazuichi, reminding her that the enemy might be out of her league. Not that it stopped her, the moment any enemy tries to hurt her close ones, she was more willing to go off.
“Please, leave him to me...just run! Run back to our class! We don’t have much time!” insisted Chiaki in a rather desperate tone in her voice. Kazuichi had no choice but to heed her words as he started to run towards his class as quickly as he could, which wasn’t really fast to boot. Chiaki focused her attention on the enemy, the gangster himself. Both of them looked at each other like two movie cowboys before a duel. The girl glared at Rando like an angry tiger, while Rando had the nonchalant albeit intrigued expression on his face.
“I see that Albania Defense Squad has arrived!” Rando let out his first taunt, amused that a person like her would go into a fight, despite being warned about her before. In fact, he was looking forward to meet her, just to see who was that Herman’s arch-nemesis.
“You...you will not get away with threatening my classmate.” Chiaki growled at him as she made a pose
“Was that a threat? Hah! If you were in charge of the grill, meat would be frozen!” chuckled Rando, even more amused by her inability to make a good roast, further provoking her in the process.
“Mmmph….I won’t let you!” pouted Chiaki as her face was starting to become red. Amid the preparation for further fight, she was trying to come up with a strategy to defeat him. From the first strike alone, he was already a different kind of enemy to deal with. “Remember, you used Heaven Slaying Dragon Fist in Double Dragon II. Just keep it like it’s a fighting game and-”
“Two plus two is four, minus one that’s three, quick maths!” Rando suddenly started to spout what seemed to be a de facto definition of a word salad, completely startling Chiaki in the process. She did see some video game villains singing before, but not spouting utter nonsense before.
“...W-what?” squeaked Chiaki, not even knowing that quoting that song meant that Rando was about to exchange blows. It was his war cry in a way and it seemed to have worked on her.
“Ting goes SKRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Rando shouted once again before going for another dash, kicking Chiaki right in her stomach. She couldn’t react in time due to Rando’s own strategy and fell down on the floor again, now with pain in her stomach, covering it to ease it off. Once she was down, Rando taunted her further by quoting that song. “SKRA PA PA PA PA!”.
“...W-what kind of gangster is he? T-this is not like in any video game….is it?” Chiaki’s mind became a mess, she couldn’t really understand what kind of enemy was she fighting against. Not a single video game prepared her for the power of Gyroswaggerić. However, even when she was on the floor, that didn’t not stop Rando.
“SKIA!” shouted Rando as he attempted to stomp her with a jump, but Chiaki managed to roll away just in time to avoid the attack. She managed to roll away just the right distance to pick herself up in order to not get kicked while she was on the floor by Rando. However, the impression she gave him was quite different than one she gave to the octopus.
“Aha! I see now! The reason why you could beat Herman’s ass is because of an ambush! Now, you truly are not only a noob, but also a camper! Hahahaha!” laughed Rando at her, who was too confused and intimidated to react to his words. “By the way, Herman’s looking for your ass to be pinned on the wall!”
“...E-entire mafia is against me because I punched him in the face once?” Chiaki’s irises shrunk with her eyes even becoming gray once the seeds of fear were sowed upon hearing that she became on a hit list for Daft Capo. While she was silently trembling, her mind was in panic mode, though she subconsciously tried to calm herself down. “What should I do now what should I do now what should I do now-”.
“Hahahaha! Now you truly are intimidated, this will be an easy victory for me and Daft Capo!” boasted Rando, taking delight in her fright, even though the truth was she was only on Herman’s hit list, everyone else among Elite Bois considered her to be a joke. None than less, the intimidation worked as Rando was preparing himself in order to beat the hell out of her.
Suddenly, a thought appeared in her mind, giving her idea amid an internal panic.
“You must think like a villain!” rung Gundham’s voice inside her head, which calmed her down, but she was going to do something that she never even thought about it before, but she was confident enough that it’s gonna work.
“Prepare yourself, noob, for this moment you will feel the true power of-” Rando gave her the last words before the beating up began, but the even that followed caught hims completely off guard.
Chiaki started beat boxing. Poorly.
She even imitated what she thought rappers were doing, or at the very least what Ibuki told her about it. Rando’s overbearing confidence became a bafflement beyond any relief. Out of all things she would have pulled, it was that.
“...What the fuck are you doing? Did your brain get smoothed by my fists?” Rando raised his eyebrow, utterly confused by her actions, even though she was doing the exactly thing as he before.
“Yo! Your music taste…..is shit and your….pants are….on fire….Yeah!” Chiaki attempted to diss him, but sounded so awkward that it made her a complete doofus in front of him. She even felt bad for uttering what she thought were bad words. “….Sorry, that was awful.”.
However, Rando grimaced so hard that it looked like his soul was offended to the core.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!”
“W-what? T-that taunt caused him that severe of a reaction?! Oh gosh, this isn’t good. This really isn’t good-” stammered Chiaki once she flinched from the banshee like scream of the gangster, completely taken by surprise by his reaction. Right after the scream, Rando started to aggressively punch the wall, leaving a rather noticeable hole in it. Then after letting out steam, he started to sprint across the hallway, with an oddly stoic expression on his face. Once he finished his sprint, he started running circles around Chiaki with the same expression, confusing her even more. Never she has seen such elaborate reaction before. Once he finished circling, Rando performed back flips as he returned to his original position.
“WHAT THE FLYING FUCK DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY MUSIC TASTE, YOU LITTLE SERB????!!!! I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT YOU HAVE NOW WARRANTED AN ONE WAY TICKED TO TIRANA, WHERE YOU BELONG! TO COMMIT SUCH CRINGE, YOU SHALL BE BEATEN UNTIL YOU WILL SEE THE ETERNAL NIGHT! BUT FIRST, OOOOOOOOH, YOU MADE ME DO IT! YOU ASKED FOR IT!” fumed Rando like Krakatoa, threatening that he will unleash something he has yet to do before. An ace in the hole which very few have seen and used before.
“W-what’s he going to do what’s he going to-” Chiaki internally panicked, still startled by his reaction.
“PREPARE YOURSELF, SRBSKI NOOB!” Rando inhaled with his nose as he was charging energy for a certain solar based power, before he said the word:
[REMOVED TO CONFORM WITH LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL CENSORSHIP LAWS]
His yell was heard all over the academy. Poor were those which had to suffer hearing his word unleashed upon Chiaki. One of the first ones to hear it was Kazuichi, who was just seconds away from opening the door of his class. He froze, hardly believing what he just heard.
“...W-what was just that now?” stuttered Kazuichi, unable to open the door because of it.
Meanwhile, class 77-B already heard Rando’s word, with all of them being utterly offended by it. Some, like Hiyoko and Ibuki, grimaced so hard that it radiated second hand wincing.
“...Did y’all just hear that?” asked Akane, feeling a great need to beat the hell out of the person who has uttered such horribleness.
“Yeah, loud and clear…” confirmed Nekomaru.
“Such horrific language!” Sonia’s skin turned completely pale, nearly fainting upon hearing it. It was universally agreed in the class that the person needed to be beaten up. Even Mikan agreed with it. However, they were not the only ones.
Class 78th was also unfortunate enough to hear Rando’s word. Similar grimaces and level of being offended were had there.
“WHAT WAS JUST HEARD UPON THE AREA OF HOPE’S PEAK ACADEMY?!” Kiyotaka’s soul nearly left him when he heard it.
“W-what vulgarity was that?” even Byakuya was in complete shock to hear such word in Hope’s peak academy. For an academy known of being refined, such language was simple unimaginable, yet the soil was already tainted.
“...Anyone else feel like someone really needs to have their butt kicked?” suggested Aoi, feeling particularly furious about hearing it. Everyone, including Chihiro Fujisaki, universally agreed that the person needed to be beat up. But those who have heard it weren’t just in classes.
“W-what did I just hear?” Chisa spat out water she was drinking amid the paper work, accidentally moistening up the very papers she was working on. She decided to inspect the source of such atrocity while also giving the person who said it quite a lesson. However, it wasn’t just Hope’s peak who has heard the word.
Meanwhile, in the hideout of The Fellowship of Darkness, a room near the garage hosted the studio for Ryota Mitarai, the real one. He was just making his own anime when suddenly, alarms went off. If as if fire broke out, Ryota started panicking.
“W-what is going on?” stammered Ryota, only for Skipper to appear near him, with bloodshot eyes. The word gave him flashbacks of certain encounters, those criminals who have said it out lout.
“...He said the word…” revealed Skipper, talking like the word was some kind of ancient world ending calamity. It all made Ryota even more confused.
“T-the word? W-what do you mean?” stuttered Ryota, but no response was had, since the penguins were in such haste to beat up the person who said it. The power of word was enough to cause problems in Chihiro’s program, entire PELN network went haywire.
“Status: DEFCON ONE.” announced Kowalski as if a nuke went off as they all rushed towards Hope’s peak academy, leaving Ryota behind completely confused.
Meanwhile, Chiaki was trying to comprehend what just happened. She never heard of such word before, but from his tone, she knew it sounded really really bad.
“….E-eh?” stammered Chiaki, trembling from all of the confusion and bafflement. However, Rando was not satisfied with results.
“Hmm...you have not exploded...So that means…” noted Rando, surprised that uttering the word hasn’t made the whole school explode. However, he still had motivation to beat her up. He was ready to perform the biggest beating a gamer girl would receive, in theory. “I will finish what you have-”.
Just before he could finish his sentence, he was surrounded by two entire classes, a furious Yukizome and four penguins. All of them glared at him like he did the worst thing ever in history of mankind, even cracking their fists. One of them, that being Teruteru, even brought his frying pan to beat him up. Others would rely on their fists. It was at that moment that Rando knew he done goofed up.
“Understandable, have a great day.” casually said Rando before he performed a slide kick, nearly knocking down Teruteru if he hadn’t reacted in time. Then, the gangster started sprinting as if he was running away from a tidal wave.
“Not this time, punk!” grinned Akane as she started chasing him down, but despite her speed, Rando was already out of Hope’s peak academy. It wasn’t even because of talent, but because adrenaline pumped up Rando so much that he just blitzed out. Once she reached outside, it was just like the case before, the enemy was already out of her sight.
“...What, again? Why can’t I beat one gangster already?” Akane slouched with her shoulders as she returned to the group, disappointed that she couldn’t have beaten him up. As she returned, all of them expressed shock about what they’ve heard from him.
“To think such word would be uttered at Hope’s peak academy….it’s incomprehensible!” Kiyotaka raised his clenched fist, feeling like the school has been tainted with such vulgarity. It needed to be clean again!
“What the hell was that fucker thinking?! Like seriously, why would he flat out say it?” Mondo called out their enemy on his choice of words.
“He’s gonna get in some hot waters, for sure.” Ibuki noted that saying that word anywhere would get him in the same situation as one that just happened.
“My goodness, such language should not me tolerated anywhere!” declared Sonia as she performed a push with his arm to further emphasize her words.
“Excuse me, but who was that vulgar individual?” Celeste asked out of a sudden, seemingly unaware of what was happening to school.
“Some douche named Rando, a member of Daft Capo-” Kazuichi attempted to explain, but her interest waned as quickly as a running cheetah crossing a meter long road.
“Ah, I see. I’d gladly stay here, but I still have business to do. Farewell.” said Celeste as she walked away, seeming like she was too busy to deal with the whole conflict. Truth was that she did not care for it, she preferred to spend her time gambling.
“Hey, I haven’t even finished yet!” Kazuichi called her out on it, but it didn’t stop her at all. Rest of the group paid some attention to Celeste’s apathy, but they were still concerned with the main threat of that day.
“….She doesn’t even care, doesn’t she?” commented Hajime regarding gambler’s decision, rather unamused by it.
“Well, Mrs.Ludenberg has different priorities as of now.” Hifumi defended her, but they started to shift attention from her to the thing the enemy has said. But first, the teacher had one more thing to do.
“Sweetie, are you okay? Did he hurt you?” asked Chisa out of concern, assuming that she was fighting him.
“I-I’m okay...I’m okay…” reassured Chiaki, even though she still felt stomach pain from the kick. Lucky for her that no damage was really visible, or else her trying to hide her pain would have been much more difficult. However, she also wanted to know what exactly was that word. “...but what does that word mean?”.
“My girl, that word is something that no one should utter it. A remark so heinous that the moment someone says it, they deserve automatic beatings!” began Skipper about the word, then he added it with an experience he had. “I’ve heard it once before, from a certain mad scientist, not Kyouma, mind you! Someone else, someone short...with a beard….and an N on his face.”.
“N on his face? Ain’t that the guy from that class? But he’s tall, so…” Kazuichi commented that a person that the penguin was describing was similar to a class 69 student, minus the details.
“Cut the bullshit, lets get to the more important implications here.” Fuyuhiko demanded to address far more serious topic regarding that event. Everyone agreed that the word was awful, but the action spoke far more.
“Would you say that this is the official start of their attacks?” asked Sonia, worried that is has already officially begun.
“Yeah...I think so.” nodded Chiaki, more or less confirming it.
“It has to be, but there are few things that I do want to know. Was he the only one here?” questioned Peko.
“Yeah, he was.” both Chiaki and Kazuichi confirmed that he was the only one.
“Skipper, how would you say it compares to their escapades in Europe?” Peko turned the question towards the penguin ally, wanting to see how much does it differ from their previous operations. The fact that only one was sent was already giving Skipper some strange implications.
“….Weird. Usually, they would just storm their target. I haven’t seen sending one guy before.” commented Skipper, surprised that Daft Capo has started switching their MO. Usually, it was just Herman as a bait, then multiple punksters storming the place.
“And Rando is nowhere to be found in the names of elites, so….that makes this situation even more perplexing.” added Kowalski, noting that their current information does not align with the event. Even more odd was that Kowalski didn’t see any benefit of Rando’s infiltration.
“Well, you can’t exactly use the same strategy over and over, since that makes you more likely to be countered by the enemy.” commented Sonia, giving them advice as well.
“Speaking of counter, we should finally address it: I’m one hundred percent sure that we will have to start a counteroffensive now.” announced Fuyuhiko, no longer holding back about striking down Daft Capo before the enemy would even have a chance of victory. The thing they feared finally happened.
“...E-eh?” Chisa got chicken skin upon hearing that they will go directly against Daft Capo. Last thing she wanted was anyone to be hurt and going directly against them seemed like their lives would be in grave danger.
“Kehehehe, I agree with your suggestion. I, the Supreme Overlord, have always felt that it was an inevitability, especially our victory against Kraken of The Land. However, I do feel like we should pinpoint the location of Zona Daft Capo first.” smirked Gundham, anticipating such situation with delight. He was finally ready to strike down that mafia. However, he was one of the few people who actually looked forward to it, rest of them felt really unsettled by that.
“Wait, didn’t we say only penguins will go deep within their territory?” cautioned Mahiru, remembering that students shouldn’t be ones to go looking for fights.
“Yes, we did, but I am afraid that’s not an option anymore. They have already went in, fully prepared for combat. We should do the same.” argued Fuyuhiko, reminding her that the situation allowed no more luxury.
“Then we beat them up, right?” asked Akane, being up there with Gundham as the one who was looking forward to it.
“Sabotage would be more optimal. What use is numbers of defeated gangsters if they still can operate like they do?” Peko offered an alternative, not as direct but still as important.
“That is a more favorable idea, but what exactly would we sabotage?” asked Kowalski, agreeing with the idea but unsure how exactly to execute it, since they didn’t know locations where Daft Capo operates.
“You guys...aren’t gonna go directly there, right?” asked Chisa with fear in her voice. She still didn’t want them to endanger themselves, with having an idea that she will be in the frontline instead. At the very least she would fulfill her duty as a teacher.
“Listen, we get your concerns, Instructor, but we don’t have much choice, do we? Although, I’m more inclined to go with sabotage, so it’s not like everyone’s gonna storm in and a brawl will occur, right?” both warned and reassured Fuyuhiko at the same time.
“Lame…” grumbled Akane, once again being deprived of a fight.
“What the fuck, you’re for real?!” Fuyuhiko condemned her right on the spot.
“Hmm...we can neither attack nor sabotage if we don’t know what’s happening on their end. We absolutely should utilize spies.”suggested Ultimate Impostor, raising a point that without information, they’re stuck in the dark. In a way, they stalled out the direct confrontation with Daft Capo, instead opting for espionage instead.
“Hmmm….that is a good suggestion.” nodded Gundham. The idea was even more favorable than the sabotage one, although they will be connected together in the future.
“...That’s a bit relieving, but...who’s gonna be a spy? I can be one, if you guys want!” Chisa broke off sweat while immediately offering her help, surprising everyone in the process.
“...Miss Yukizome? As a spy?” Chiaki tilted her head in curiosity.
“Hehehe, there’s a lot to me that you guys have yet to know.” Chisa winked at her, hinting that Chisa might have some stuff that others haven’t seen so far.
“Ah, I see. I guess I wouldn’t be the only one.” Ultimate Impostor offered their help as well.
“Y-you too?! But you’re-uh...uh…” stuttered Mahiru, hardly imagining that someone of Impostor’s size could be an agent. Oh, did she not know the truth.
“Is Ryota secretly a spy or something? If so….that’s really cool! Ryota the master chubby keeps on impressing!” praised Ibuki, particularly noticing that Ultimate Impostor was the kind of chubby man that seem rather regal, high quality kind.
“Just like Miss Yukizome said about herself, there’s a lot to me that you have yet to know. I can pull off an espionage mission more easily than you would imagine.” said Ryota, but was soon surrounded with unsure silence. “Seems like I’m surrounded with doubt. I understand that.”.
“I think we should trust both Miss Yukizome and Ryota, even if it seems unlikely. They do seem fit for their job….I think.” spoke Chiaki, believing both of them that they will accomplish their job, even though they were surprising choices. Of course, Chisa smiled upon hearing her words.
“You two sound like you have something behind your backs. What would that be?” asked Skipper, curious about their sudden offerings.
“….I’m sure you’re already aware of it. At least on my end.” Ultimate Impostor hinted that the penguin already knew their secret.
“...Ooooh, right right. What about you?” Skipper realized while also keeping it secret before he focused on the teacher.
“Ehehehe….mine’s still a secret.” giggled Chisa, still being covert about it. An aura of mystery surrounded both of them as the rest of the group was curious of their secrets.
“So many secrets to be held….but I’d be a hypocrite for calling them out.” commented Gundham while also remembering he has his own agenda in terms of stuff rest of them do not know...or were even capable of knowing it.
“So...you two are going deep in so far?” asked Mahiru, quite concerned about them.
“For now, yes. Though we did mention we can go deep in from a distance too.” answered Ultimate Impostor with confidence that was seldom seen at Hope’s peak.
“Yep, and I know exactly what to use! You guys will be safe, I’ll guarantee it!” Chisa joined in as well, pumping up her fist.
“I do wonder one thing. How did that gangster sneak in? We have those devices, right?” asked Kiyotaka while also addressing a rather noticeable security gap. Even if they didn’t know the truth, it was still something that needed to be covered.
“It seems like neither PELN or us have recognized his voice. Though….he didn’t talk much before he went out of the way to attack Kazuichi.” Kowalski added his own findings about the whole situation.
“What about security guards? They should have been there, right?” Kiyotaka pointed out a thing that they didn’t think much before, but then realized it was something really huge. Ever since Herman’s arrival, security guards have been jobbing.
“Erm…” gulped Chisa, being aware of why security guards weren’t active, they kept disappearing. Students didn’t know that and perhaps it was a good thing they didn’t.
“It seems that we are security ourselves. We probably have been ever since the octopus attacked us. It is our duty to continue it.” suggested Sakura.
“Yeah, it is. We should protect each other at all costs.” agreed Chiaki, insisting they should all be working together against the common enemy.
“So….I guess we’re going with espionage campaign first?” asked Fuyuhiko, wanting to know what was their plan.
“Seems so. Operation Metropolitan Hunt will continue just like it was intended to.” confirmed Skipper before they continued debating. After some time, they have decided few things: they will first commit espionage campaign, then they will stay at home for the weekend in a case of Daft Capo attacks and their day at Hope’s peak came to an end. Chisa allowed them to go home, for safety.
As they walked home, Chiaki was with her group once again, escorting her until they would depart. However, something was on Hajime’s mind, something that really bothered him.
“Hey, Chiaki?” Hajime poked her shoulder to gain her attention.
“Mmm?” Chiaki turned her head towards him, curious to hear what he would say.
“Don’t do that stunt again. Please.” Hajime warned her about not throwing herself into danger for sake of others.
“But…” frowned Chiaki, still insisting that she would do anything to protect her, even at expense of herself.
“I know you want to protect us, but...you could have been seriously hurt too. It’s not something that we want. You should be safe too.” Hajime elaborated that, even though her intention were done with sincere intentions, it was still causing them great concerns about how reckless she is regarding herself. Chiaki didn’t know how to respond, just looked at the floor instead.
“It’s not like we don’t want you to protect us, just that….you shouldn’t really lunge into danger. There has to be another way, where you wouldn’t get hurt as much.” reassured Hajime that he does get her, but she must find an alternative that won’t end up in her suffering.
“….Yeah, I actually have to think about it….but...how?” mumbled Chiaki, unsure on what to do about herself. She didn’t understand quite yet, although she tried her best to say to herself that worries are a natural part of caring. Chiaki needed another way to protect her friends, without putting herself at risk.
Meanwhile, Rando was already in Zona Daft Capo, aggressively eating Dönner kebab at the local grill bar. He wasn’t sure what to make of the whole thing, although kebab was a way of him coping with the fact his music taste got insulted. Soon enough, he was greeted with the sound of V8 engine. A formula one car was parked in front of the grill bar, with another Elite Boi stepping out of it.
“Eyyy, my man Rando! What’s up?” greeted Fritz as he raised his arm.
“I’ve done goofed, Fritz. My secret weapon did not work.” Rando turned towards him, revealing that his mission was inconclusive. The message was spread, but not much else was accomplished with it. All he could do was land two hits on a girl and that was about it.
“Did you actually drop it?” asked Fritz and Rando confirmed it with a nod. “Hahahahahahahahaha! Oh my god, you really did, you mad man!”.
“While I’d say that the message was spread, it wasn’t enough. They surrounded me when I unleashed it upon those scrubs and Shqiptars. The noob forced me to do it.” further added Rando.
“Oh, you fought noob? Tell more about it.” Fritz raised his eyebrow, already gaining a lot of interest in the process.
“To tell you the truth, the initial punch is decent, but she utterly shits herself afterwards.” revealed Rando to him that Chiaki kind of banked on first strike, but in a prolonged fight she was a stinker.
“….Fuck, that’s shit. I want a woman that kicks ass, not an amateur! Turns out that her being a noob is completely appropriate.” frowned Fritz, greatly disappointed that Chiaki wasn’t really a fighter. Too easy of a fight and it’s boring for him. “So, tomorrow’s my turn, right?”.
“One problem: it’s weekend.” reminded Rando with a raised finger.
“Why would a weekend stop me from beating up some ass?” Fritz crossed his arms as he chuckled at the idea.
“Because it’s the time we chill and best thing in life is to chill.” explained Rando while still gobbling up kebab.
“Not that gonna stop me. I’ll be looking for any of those Hope’s peak scrubs, so I can beat their asses into oblivion! More they fight back, the better!” grinned Fritz while still insisting on a fight, even if it was during weekends. Nothing would stop Fritz from getting into a fight, even if it meant apocalypse.
“Hmmm….you do you, my man Fritz. I’m just gonna chill for this weekend.” Rando shrugged, more or less having his own way.
“Hahahaha, scrub zone will remember my name very well!” boastfully laughed Fritz before he sat down and joined Rando for a feast. Before he could do any fighting, he needed to have a good one. He ordered one Heineken along with Bratwurst and mustard. Once he received it, he began consuming it, just like a proper guest at the bar. Fritz decided that he would start patrolling the city on Saturday, to find any Hope’s peak student and utterly beat them up. In a way, them staying at home was a good call, or else they would suffer the delight of Fritz.