"No more..." In a back alley hidden from the sight of any passerby, Tatsuya held up the head of a recumbent man by a fistful of his hair. Two other men accompanied them, though they were passed out on the floor, with only a bruise or two on their bodies. Tatsuya had already been feeling uneasy for reasons he could not wrap his head around. When he noticed that the small group of thugs was following him, he figured his sixth sense was kicking in. Only after curb stomping them did he realize how unlikely that was. His attackers were, frankly complete jokes and beating on them hardly helped reduce his tension. He'd be a damned liar if he said ragging on them wasn't the slightest bit fun, though. Tatsuya reached into his pocket with a neutral expression on his face. The man closed his eyes tight in fear, shaking his head as though begging for mercy. To his surprise, all he felt was a small scrap of paper land on his forehead. Abruptly, the boy let go of his grip, leaving the man with another throbbing pain on the back of his head. 

"Huh...?" The thug slowly unfolded the piece of paper. His heart nearly sank. For a second there, he swore the beating he had just received had messed with his brain. It was a 10,000 yen bill. He eyed Tatsuya with a mixture of pain and confusion, while he looked back at him with a small smile on his face. 

"Well, being a human punching bag's kinda like a service you provided, right? Enjoy. You might wanna pick your fights wisely next time though, eh?" The man's eyes closed and he was knocked unconscious moments later. Tatsuya stretched his arms upwards, curving his body from left to right. He then centered himself and let out a giant yawn. These thugs were getting kinda underwhelming. Kinda like all of the things in this town. Back in his hay day, he would be fearing for his life when he got jumped. Even the brutes in the city were more boring than the ones back home. Or had he just gotten that much stronger? 

He searched the now knocked out man's pocket and took a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He put a cigarette in his mouth, lit it up, and put the box and lighter in his pockets before heading out to leave the alley way. 

Today was nothing out of the ordinary, outside of the cloudy skies, he supposed. Just another day off that he'd be spending with Ayame and his fun sized senpai. He just wanted to get a few swings in at the batting cages before then. Thing was, though, that ever since he stepped out of it, he felt uncharacteristically nervous. Not even taking a puff out of his cigarette could do anything to calm him down——not that he would ever show his unease on his face, of course. As he walked down the street, he started thinking about what might have been wrong. Underwear on backwards? ...Nope, not since middle school. He knew he remembered to water Bonny the Bonsai tree back home, so what? At that moment, Tatsuya saw a veeeeery interesting sight. 

It was Ayame from right across the street. Carrying quite the suspicious looking bag. She even looked back, like she was afraid someone was following her. He knew what was wrong. He hadn't met his "mess with Ayame" quota for the day. And so, he put his cigarette between his fingers and put a plan into action. 

He quietly walked towards the other side of the street, not so much as shouting a greeting as he walked behind his friend. Instead, he put on a deep voice tempered from countless karaoke nights and shouted: 

"Stop right there, thief!"