What defines a villain?

Chapter 26

~Ryujiki's POV~

I have coached Hitoshi through each fight for two months now. Although his technique improved substantially, he still didn't want to hurt people. 

His first few confrontations ended disastrously, forcing me to jump in and knock out the criminals for him. Now he could match casual city thugs easily, but it wasn't enough to put my mind at ease. I figured it was because he relied on me for instructions too much, so this time I decided to let him fight independently and see how it goes.

I followed from far away as Hitoshi jogged through the streets, his hood up to conceal his unique hair. 

A soft wail echoed through one of the nearby alleys, drawing his attention. He turned towards the noise without so much as a trace of hesitation.

Good so far, I nodded as I quietly followed.

When he first started out two months ago, he almost cried at how gruesome some of the scenes he approached were. Once he walked in on a teenage boy being raped by two men simultaneously. Safe to say, Hitoshi's stomach emptied out the moment he laid eyed on it. Another time he saw a cannibal feasting on an unidentifiable piece of flesh, painting the concrete crimson.

I had to console my crying brother many nights after both those incidents, giving him a three day break and returning to basic punching and kicking sets on the beach for a while. Thankfully it happened during the autumn holidays, so he didn't need to worry about keeping up a persona at school.

Now, he rushed into the alley without any delay. I caught up instantly, watching from the alley entrance as Hitoshi took down the offender with a chop to the neck.

Weak, I deadpanned from the corner. He will wake up relatively quickly from a hit like that.

Once the man fell unconscious, my brother took a few steps back in disgust.

The man had his pants fully down, and a few seconds ago, was thrusting into someone's mouth. That someone happened to be a female this time.

She lay on the concrete floor, gasping for air and whimpering as she scrambled away from the now-unconscious man. She looked up at Hitoshi fearfully, shivering.

My brother took a few slow steps towards her. I watched quietly as he crouched a meter away, offering her a bag of pocket tissues.

"I won't hurt you." He whispered soothingly. "I'll escort you home safely after you recovered."

Good. A hero should always worry about both the physical and emotional well-being of the victim, not just one or the other, I nodded as I observed.

She nodded, hesitantly taking the tissues and wiping the remaining white fluids of her offender from her mouth. 

All of a sudden, the man started waking up, making the woman freeze in fear. Hitoshi spun around, squaring up and ready to take down the man again. His form has gotten much better, but god dammit he can be so dumb sometimes.

Don't let him get back up you numbskull, I groaned as I watched him. Kick while he's still struggling. It's that easy.

But no. Hitoshi just had to let the man regain his balance and stand up fully. After zipping up his pants, the criminal turned to face my brother. His back was now facing me, blocking most of the view with his huge size.

Oh c'mon man, I wanna see my brother fight, I complained.

Needless to say, Hitoshi easily knocked out the rapist and called the police to come pick him up, just like how I taught him.