The Eminence in Smartphone

Interlude 1: POV Touya

I met Kagenout back when we were in primary school. We liked to pretend that we were heroes, but in the end, we all grew older and left the games behind. But not him. When he thought no one was looking, he was training to be a great hero like the ones from TV. Every so often, he joined the judo club, the kendo club, the box club, and every single martial arts and self-defense class the school had to offer.

Then, by the time we got into high school, Kagenou had changed. He started to act like a weakling who didn't do great at academics or sports. But he wasn't fooling anyone. We all could see his muscles under his tight shirts, and when we practiced judo at P.E., he always lost. But the way he lost was so spectacular and ridiculous that everyone could tell he was just pretending. He launched himself to the other side of the mat, making such spectacular backflips that there was no way anyone could throw him like that.

Then his grades. They were bad, just necessary to pass to the next grade, but Kagenou was always reading very complicated books of mathematics, biology, physics, etc. And if you had any problems in class, all you needed to do was ask Kagenou, and he would always help you.

It was painfully obvious that he was putting an enormous amount of effort in pretending to be a dumb weakling with no outstanding qualities. We all knew he was faking it, but it was easier to play along and pretend we didn't know. I admit I had some curiosity, but something inside me told me I would rather stay away from him. And I was right.

One day I heard that the leader of a local biker gang was stalking my best friend's girlfriend. The dude was the type of person who, once he set his sights on a girl, would make sure to mobilize his gang to pressure the girl and beat up their boyfriends until the girl accepted. Not only that, but they also harassed their families and close friends if the girl refused. The longer they rejected his advances, the worse the harassment became. Those guys were scum. I had to help them no matter what, as this is how my grandpa raised me.

But then I heard some rumors about a mysterious vigilante who appeared at night and beat up biker gangs with a couple of crowbars. The balaclava berserker. He stopped the gang for a few moments, but I knew deep-down that it was a matter of time before they started harassing my friends again. So, I decided to put an end to this problem once and for all.

But when I arrived at the junkyard they used as a base, I came across a disturbing image. The entire gang was lying unconscious in a puddle of blood mixed with motor oil. And a figure stood between them with two crowbars in hand, dripping blood.

I thought he didn't see me, but then, right when the moonlight illuminated his features, he dropped his bars, removed his balaclava, and smirked at me. I realized he was posing for me to see him.

From that day on, I decided to stay as far as possible from Kagenou. I don't know what his problem was, but I would rather leave him alone. He was a problematic person, so I just kept my distance.