Chapter 16 Street Demon

Street Demon

A silver knife sliced across my cheek.

It tore a bit of skin and dripped blood. The blood fell to the ground in drops.

I was a shield protecting Rumi.

“Rumi!!!”

“Hayato-kun … blood!”

“He’s a street demon!”

Recently, there have been news reports that bother me.

They are cases of street killers.

The perpetrator is said to choose a deserted street, target a small group of people, and stab them to death with a knife. They also target young women. That’s why I went out to protect Rumi.

I never thought I would be targeted.

“… Kuku kuku. We finally met.”

The street demon wore a hoodie with a thick hood. He laughed darkly and pointed a bloody knife at me.

“Hey, who are you …”

“I killed three people before I found you. I’ve come to a point where there’s no going back. … But I have no regrets.”

“What?…”

“Remember this face, Oshima Hayato!”

The street demon took off his hood and …

It turned out to be Mizuta.

Mizuta Riku.

Rumi’s ex-husband. But he left Rumi … And he’s a pathetic man. I showed him how close Rumi and I were and then he ran away.

But now he’s become a “Street Demon”.

“Riku-kun … That’s a lie, right? You’re a street demon?”

Rumi let out a few words of disbelief as well.

She must have been shocked and didn’t expect her ex-husband to be a criminal who committed such a heinous crime.

I’m sure he did it because he had a grudge against me and Rumi, but this is beyond the pale.

“Rumi …! I’ll kill you and I’ll die too.”

“Oh, no, don’t!”

“It’s too late. I’ve committed too many crimes. I will still be executed! Then I’ll take you all with me!”

Mizuta came at me again, knife in hand. If this continues, Rumi and I will be killed.

But I’m not the same man I was before.

For the sake of my beloved Rumi, I desperately trained my body.

Every day, I did sit-ups, back-ups, and push-ups 100 times … and ran for an hour. I also learned martial arts. It’s only been a month, but I’m stronger than most people.

“Rumi! Stay close to me.”

“Yes, Hayato-kun!”

Mizuta shouted and lunged at me. The tip of his knife came close to my chest, but - I dodged. I managed to dodge and then I twisted his right arm.

“Uraaaaaaaaah!”

“Gaaaaaaaah!!!”

His knife fell to the ground with a clatter.

I grabbed Mizuta’s chest, then pulled and pushed him. And hit him in the face with a hard punch.

“Nah! Nah! Aaahhhhhh!!!”

Mizuta’s body spun in the air and hit the ground. He collapsed, his eyes oozing white liquid and foaming.

“… phew!”

“Hayato-kun, that’s amazing! When did you learn such a technique?”

“Karate moves are very useful. Besides, I’ve been practicing a lot lately.”

Soon after, many police cars rushed to the scene. It seemed that someone had filed a report.

Mizuta was immediately arrested and taken away.

I was injured and had to be taken away in an ambulance. Rumi was interrogated.

Still, I was happy to be able to protect Rumi. …

The next day, Mizuta’s case was widely reported. The news said that a street demon had been arrested. It also said that a young man had risked his life to protect his girlfriend and had beaten the street demon.

Was this about me?

It was unnamed, but I was in the news.