Chapter 10: The Cliché of the Damsel in Distress
In front of me was a scene straight out of an anime.
Delinquent #1: "Hey, do you want to hang out with us? Don't worry, I assure you, you're going to enjoy it."
Delinquent #2: "Oh, as expected from Dai-san, as always you have very good taste in women, just look at her, she's a cutie."
Delinquent #3: "Please Dai, now you have to share her with us too, it's not fair that you always take them for yourself alone and share them with us only after you have used them."
On the street there were seven subjects with delinquent's appearances, they had messy school uniforms, unkempt hair, some even had several piercings and tattoos.
As far as I can see the seven had cornered a girl in the middle of the street.
Dai: "Tch... I know, they don't have to remind me about it all the time... So, what do you say, do you want to have a few drinks with us?".
Apparently, the one who was talking was the one everyone called Dai, just like the others he also had messy clothes, if there was something to point out, it was that unlike the other delinquent's, he was handsome, I guess the term women use for guys like this is Ikemen.
As they continued to press the girl who seemed to be incredibly scared, in my head there was only one question...
Kenichi: (Why are they all wearing school uniforms?)
I know it might be strange for me to be asking that question in this situation, but you can blame me, today is Sunday and it's about to get dark. What kind of idiot wears a school uniform on the weekend? No matter how you look at it, this is definitely a plot right out of an anime.
The cliché damsel in distress...
This is one of the situations you see quite often in Ecchi and romance genre anime, a beautiful looking girl is stopped by a group of delinquent's, the girl instead of defending herself, ignoring them or running away, she freezes in fear while the delinquent's look at her with perverted eyes, and just when the situation seems hopeless the protagonist bravely arrives to rescue her.
This is basically a cliché that exists to help the protagonists to have a better relationship with the heroines, in Galge's terms you could say it's an event to gain favorability points with the heroines.
????: "Excuse me... B-But it's already late and I have to go back to my house..."
Dai: "Come on, don't be so boring, I assure you that you're going to enjoy this as much as we do, all the girls I invite end up screaming with joy!"
When the girl tried to leave, the delinquent's stood in front of her blocking her way and the boy named Dai held her wrist tightly.
????: "Ugh... T-That hurts... I mean it... I-I really have to go back..."
At the girl's struggling, the delinquent's were getting closer and closer to her while laughing, apparently they were enjoying watching her pleading.
I looked around curiously, and I could see several people walking down the street, they had the typical behavior that Japanese people in general would have, they just walked while looking the other way as if none of this situation had anything to do with them, some just stared while whispering without doing anything, there were even a few who started to record without any shame while laughing stupidly.
All these people were so nasty, I didn't see anyone who had the intention to help the girl, or at the very least try to call the police, they just stood quietly watching as if it was a spectacle while whispering under their breath.
I could even feel the bad intentions of those who were recording, most likely they were going to upload the video of the girl being harassed to social networks and they were going to make up a story of their own as if mocking other people's misfortune.
As for the delinquent's, to my eyes they were just bugs, I can tell by far that they are just ordinary students who want to look tough by posing as delinquent's with all those ornaments and tattoos, even the weakest of the wolves I fought the other day could beat them all up easily.
Still, I wonder...
Why do I feel so irritated?
Just a few days ago, I was like these people, I was so weak and indifferent to the things happening around me, I'm completely sure that I like them would just pretend I didn't see anything so I wouldn't get in trouble.
I think after seeing this I understand a little more why Yuujirou Hanma thought that way about the weak, my impression of him hasn't changed, I still think he was a disgusting son of a bitch, but I also can't deny that I agree on several of the things he mentioned.
That's exactly why I now find myself conflicted, the rational part of me wants to beat them all beyond recognition, but the Hanma part of me craves to fight strong opponents, and so thinks it's not worth bothering with the weak.
The clash of these two perspectives kept me still in my seat for a few minutes.
Until I couldn't take it anymore, I had had enough of witnessing this stupid farce, I was about to intervene until I witnessed something that surprised me.
I already knew how this type of cliche developed, so I more or less sensed how the whole situation would unfold, I thought that at some point the hero would appear and bravely save the damsel in distress...
But...
Unexpectedly, this hero was quite small...
Dog: "Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Faced with this desperate situation, a small dog of Boston terrier breed, bravely stood in front of the girl while barking with the intention of protecting her from the delinquent's.
The dog was small, with a compact build and square features. It had a flattened muzzle, similar to that of a Bulldog, but no wrinkled skin. Its ears were small and erect. It also had large, round eyes, they were set quite far apart and its tail was short, as were its limbs.
Kenichi: (I think this is the first time in my life I've ever seen a dog with such a comical appearance... It's like it's straight out of a comedy anime).
Dai: "Eh... What's with this thing... Is it a dog...?
Delinquent #4: "Mmm... I think so... I mean, after all he's barking at us... So it must be... A dog?"
Delinquent #5: "Why do you say that as a question, who cares what this thing is? Just kick it, for how small it is, I bet it's going to fly pretty far."
Delinquent #6: "Ho, that's a good idea, I can even videotape you while you do it, I bet we'll go viral instantly!"
Desperate, the girl took the dog in her arms while hugging it.
????: "N-No! Please, I'll do whatever you want, but don't hurt Maron!"
Offender #7: "Hahahaha, did you hear that, said Maron... Hahaha, what's with that ridiculous name?"
Amused by the scene, all the delinquent's started laughing while looking at the dog, and they weren't the only ones, even the people around were laughing lightly.
Dai: "Are you sure♪ You just said we can do whatever we want to you as long as we don't do anything to your dog, then come have a few drinks with us, I promise as long as you behave yourself we won't do anything to your cute pet♪"
???: "Yes, I'll do anything! But please don't hurt him! Maron is an important member of my family!"
Apparently the girl did not understand the ulterior motives in the words of the delinquent named Dai and ended up agreeing without thinking.
Amused by the way the girl was crying while begging, the delinquent's got closer and closer to her while smiling unpleasantly.
Delinquent #2: "Well, then I guess you're going to have a good time with us."
*Narrator's POV*
The delinquent reached out his hand to touch the girl without caring that they were in the middle of the street, but in his excited state, he did not notice that behind him there was a person standing.
The other delinquent's didn't notice either, they were so ecstatic with the idea of doing perverted things with the girl that they didn't notice. They were so used to people ignoring them that at no time did they worry about anyone daring to stop them.
Although they had a teasing and violent attitude, the reality was that they were all wimps who had barely been involved in a few fights, Kenichi's assessment of them was quite accurate, in the end they were just normal students who took advantage of the delinquent's image to have easy relationships with beautiful girls.
Usually their pattern of action was that the most handsome guy in their group, who was called Mitarai Dai, would approach the girls and seduce them with his attractive appearance, if that didn't work they would resort to what they were doing at the moment, they would intimidate the girl with their wild appearances to the point that she herself would decide to accompany them of her own free will.
In other words, they were just a bunch of trash who took advantage of women and played with them until they got bored.
When the delinquent's hand was only a few inches away from touching the girl's breasts, suddenly his arm was held tightly by someone's hand.
Delinquent #2: "UGH!!!"
The delinquent's face quickly distorted from the sudden pain.
At first Dai and the other delinquent's were confused by the suddenness of the situation, but when they finally understood what was going on, they immediately turned around with irritated expressions, wondering who was the stupid one playing the hero in this situation.
But the moment they did, they froze instantly.
In front of them stood a boy with an age apparently close to theirs, usually they would have beaten him until he begged for mercy, and even more so if he was a boy with an appearance as attractive as Kenichi's, but the moment they saw his eyes...
They realized...
Even though they were just an imitation of delinquent's, they were used to intimidate the weak, but in the same way they also knew that they had to avoid the strong, you're never going to look at a delinquent with the guts to challenge a professional fighter, and the same thing happens in this situation, they instinctively felt it.
The guy standing in front of them was not normal...
Everything about him screamed danger, his straight and firm way of standing, his serious look, the muscles that his new clothes couldn't hide, the oppressive atmosphere he exuded that distorted the air, he was the worst kind of person they could come across.
Although his stature was quite close to theirs, for an instant they felt that they were being watched by a giant of more than two meters who was looking down on them as if they were nothing more than weak and helpless ants waiting to be crushed by him.
And the one who felt this the most, was the delinquent Kenichi was holding by the arm.
To an outsider this seemed like a simple enough action, Kenichi was just squeezing his arm, but to the delinquent it was a completely different story, he knew instantly that the moment Kenichi applied a bit of force to his grip, the bones in his arm would shatter as easily as a branch would snap.
This thought filled him with such intense fear, that he was unable to speak, in the end he could only groan from the pain as his whole body trembled and his pants slowly started to get wet.
In contrast Kenichi was not the least bit interested in the delinquent's thoughts, he simply looked at him with the same indifferent expression and slowly began to apply force to his grip.
*Crack* *Crack*
Delinquent #2: "¡HAA! ¡AGH! ¡¡AAAAAAH!!"
The sounds of something breaking and the delinquent's voice screaming from the pain, made everyone finally come to their senses.
It was a completely unreal sight, the delinquent who until just a few seconds ago had looked intimidating, was now acting incredibly pathetic while crying and squealing like a pig.
While the rest of the delinquent's were still frozen in shock, only one managed to pull himself together and speak.
Dai: "Hey... W-Wait a second... What do you think you're doing? We were just having fun... I don't know what my friend did to piss you off, but I apologize on his behalf, so could you just let it go?"
The name of this attractive looking delinquent was Mitarai Dai, you could say he was the brain of the group, while all his friends were just stupid guys who only thought about sex, he had a bit more strategic mind and he used to be quite calculating, usually when some situation got complicated, he was in charge of calming things down with his words and his nice smile.
When they heard him, some of the girls who were watching blushed a little when they saw his refreshing smile, they were completely ignoring the fact that just a few seconds ago he was about to sexually assault a girl in public.
You could say that this was the kind of charm that characters who were classified as Ikemen in anime had, no matter what kind of action they did, as long as they were attractive they would be easily forgiven, and Dai had already taken advantage of this several times in the past.
But Kenichi didn't mind his words one bit, he just casually walked over before he finished speaking and with his other hand grabbed him by the head and lifted him slightly off the ground while starting to apply force in the same way he was doing to the other delinquent.
The people just watching and the remaining delinquent's could not believe what they were seeing, he just lifted one person like it was nothing and he did it with one hand.
Dai: "¡¡¡Aaahh...!! ¡¡Ugh...!! ¡¡AAAAHH!!"
Just like the other delinquent, the moment Kenichi began to apply force, he began to scream pathetically, while crying and pleading looking at Kenichi in terror.
Internally several men were pleased to see how Kenichi treated Dai, some even started laughing and whispering words of derision.
Man #1: "Hehehehe... After all that confident talk, in the end he just let himself get caught like it was nothing, serves him right, for acting so cocky just because he's kind of attractive."
Man #2: "That's right, normies like him should just die."
Even the girls who blushed at the sight of Dai, couldn't help but whisper feeling somewhat disappointed.
Woman #1: "Eh, after all that confident talk now he's begging, that's kind of pathetic."
Woman #2: "That's true, besides she didn't even take a second to scream and beg."
Woman #3: "But don't you think it's a waste for such a pretty face to be treated in such a violent way, that guy is a savage."
Woman #4: "That's better, I'd rather a thousand times a wild guy who can protect me, than a cute guy who only knows how to talk, besides don't you think that guy is even better looking than the other one"
The hypocrisy of people was in a sense breathtaking.
Dai: "P-Please...! Agh! I'm so sorry...! I didn't mean to do this...! Ugh! Those guys were to blame, even though I tried to stop them...! AHH! They made me do everything!"
The handsome Ikemen from a few seconds ago was nowhere to be seen anymore, now he was nothing but a teenager crying like a baby, he didn't hesitate for even a second to blame his friends to save himself.
But despite his desperate attempts, Kenichi kept quiet, that attitude only served to scare Dai more and more, in the past he had already gotten into trouble for seducing the girlfriend of a senpai, but this was the first time he was in this kind of situation.
In Kenichi's eyes these guys were insignificant, where has he ever seen a sane person casually chatting with the ants he crushes.
In the end, Dai and the delinquent could only scream as they cried and pissed themselves, in the face of Kenichi's powerful grip that was getting stronger and stronger.
After a few minutes that seemed like hours, Kenichi finally released them.
Being finally released from his powerful grip, Dai and the delinquent finally felt so relieved that they fell to the ground while breathing heavily, the other delinquents could only watch the scene motionless, not even having the courage to escape.
Even they let out a sigh of relief after seeing how Kenichi released their friends.
But that relief was short-lived when they felt Kenichi's intense gaze.
Kenichi: "..."
Just like from the beginning he didn't say any words, he just looked at them, this situation left them really scared, everyone was a complete mess, especially Dai, his face looked horrible because of tears and snot.
Not even the spectators were spared, they had long since forgotten to whisper, now they too were slightly trembling, except for the women, for some reason Kenichi's wild and dominant attitude left them completely captivated, in fact some even wondered internally if they became masochists.
...
...
...
All was silent, no one dared to say a single word.
Until finally...
The silence that seemed almost eternal was broken by Kenichi's words.
Kenichi: "Sainan City isn't that big, so I assure you that if you ever do something like this to another girl again... Rest assured that I'm going to look for them... I will find you... And next time I won't be so soft on you."
As more he spoke, Kenichi's voice became more and more intimidating, the delinquent's could only listen as the skin on their faces became paler and paler and cold sweat could clearly be seen flowing from their cheeks.
Kenichi: "Get Lost!"
Two words...
The moment those two words were said by Kenichi, almost like a signal, the seven delinquent's, including their leader Dai ran away as if their lives depended on it, some even fell down while running, but without any shame they kept running while shouting.
Although it was a comical scene no one had the courage to laugh.
Kenichi: (I would have liked to hit them, but right now I am quite irritated, maybe in my anger I did not control my strength well and ended up killing them by accident).
Kenichi wasn't worried about the consequences of hitting them, the police of Sainan City were quite competent, so if he explained the situation to them it was pretty sure that they were only going to scold him a little for not going to them. What worried Kenichi was that at this rate he wasn't going to be able to restrain himself and he was going to end up beating them as brutally as Baki's characters did.
When fighting the wolves, Kenichi already knew that people's general fighting level and stamina were not as high as the characters in Baki's world, now that he had trained and had an offensive type Quirk like Strongarm, if he overdid it and threw a punch at them with all his might, the result was quite obvious.
Only death awaited them and a very brutal one, to the point that it would be labeled as a Gore scene.
That's why Kenichi preferred to let them go, he knew he was being naive, but he didn't lie when he threatened them either, if he found them doing the same thing again, he wouldn't hesitate for a second to shatter all the bones in their bodies.
The surrounding people could only watch in amazement as Kenichi scared off those seven wild and intimidating looking delinquents, and he did it without throwing even a single punch.
But that surprise was quickly replaced by confusion.
Kenichi started walking directly in the direction of a guy who had been filming the girl from the beginning, the guy wore glasses and had a rather obese body, his face was flushed and he had a rather creepy smile, plus he was sighing irregularly and noisily while filming.
During the whole conflict, he completely ignored everyone's existence and kept recording the girl while bending down, it was obvious that he was trying to record her in a compromising position.
Although there is never a shortage of those people who only start recording when someone is dying or has an accident instead of helping, almost as if they were documenting the daily lives of animals, but this guy was different, he was definitely taking advantage of the situation.
The guy at first didn't realize that Kenichi was approaching him, he only realized it when Kenichi stood in front of him, the guy in his nervousness, took a wrong step and ended up falling on his face breaking his glasses in the process.
But Kenichi ignored him, he simply extended his hand and as if it was the easiest thing in the world he took the cell phone from his hand, the guy still in pain, could not say anything and could only complain and cry because of the pain while he looked at Kenichi with fear and got up with difficulty from the ground ready to run away.
Kenichi took the cell phone firmly and with a slight squeeze broke it completely as if it were nothing more than a piece of paper. The guy could only watch in shock as the pieces of his cell phone fell to the ground one by one.
No longer caring about his existence, Kenichi spoke again.
Kenichi: "I noticed that while that girl was being harassed, you took advantage of the situation and inadvertently started recording her at compromising angles.... This is just a warning, next time I find you doing something like that around these parts..."
Kenichi stopped talking and to everyone's surprise, launched a kick at high speed that directly hit the guy's crotch.
*Crack*
*Crack*
The moment they heard the sound of a pair of eggs cracking, all the men cringed and unconsciously placed their hands protectively on their crotches with their faces scrunched up in pain, while their faces turned as pale as that of the delinquent's before.
Guy: "¡¡¡HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
The guy screamed at the top of his lungs as his body fell to the ground.
Kenichi: "This is just a warning, next time..."
Kenichi: "Hmm... He's unconscious."
Kenichi wanted to continue threatening him, but the guy was convulsing on the ground with his eyes rolling as white foam seeped from his mouth.
Kenichi: "Well... I guess he got the message."
Kenichi: (I also wanted to do this to those delinquent's from before, but this at least served to relieve my irritation a bit).
Kenichi looked around and when everyone saw his look, as well as the rest, they quickly left the place. Especially the men, they ran away as if their lives depended on it, the only ones who were still watching, were the girls.
But seeing how Kenichi was not interested in talking to them, they slowly began to leave, but that did not take away the fact that they were still blushing, for them Kenichi was like the male character of an Otome game, he had a wild and violent attitude, but inside he was incredibly kind.
They could already imagine him putting an umbrella over a cute little abandoned kitten to protect it from the rain while looking at it with a kind smile.
If Kenichi knew what the girls were thinking, he would have rolled his eyes at how wild the women's imaginations could be, he really wasn't interested in them, in his eyes they were all just as insignificant as all the people who stood watching as if it was a show.
With nothing else to do, he approached with slow steps to the girl, who was still frozen, trembling in place with her eyes closed as she cried.
*Kenichi's POV*
In the end it was just as I expected, at first I intended to faint them by releasing some of my Haoshoku Haki, but I still don't control it well, I may accidentally end up knocking out all the people around.
Kenichi: (Come to think of it, at first I didn't know who the girl they were harassing was, only her voice sounded somewhat familiar... But when I saw that comical-looking dog, everything became clearer).
When I looked at her, she was still in the same place with her eyes closed while shaking, even her tears were showing, I thought she was going to leave, but in her nervousness it seems she didn't even notice that those guys had already left, during that whole situation the only one who kept calm was her dog, in fact, for some reason she was looking at me while wagging her tail happily.
Kenichi: (Now that I remember, from the To Love-Ru manga, this dog always talked about himself as if he was some kind of guard dog).
With nothing else to do, I approached.
Kenichi: "Hey... Are you all right?"
Only when she heard my voice did she finally open her eyes. Nervously, she looked around, after a few seconds, she finally realized that all the delinquent's were gone.
Still feeling unsure, she turned to look at me again; she looked like she was still scared.
She looked at my face for a while without saying anything, until she finally broke the awkward silence.
Haruna: "S-Saruyama-kun!?"
Kenichi: "!"
Okey, I guess now it's my turn to be surprised.
But what surprised me wasn't that in front of me was Sairenji Haruna, one of the main heroines of To Love-Ru and Rito's main love interest.
What surprised me was that she could tell it was me just by looking at me once.
Not to brag, but now I don't look anything like I did before, let alone after cutting my hair. Besides, even though we've known each other for a few years, we've never been close enough to notice such a big difference in our appearance.
Our roles were fixed in the story of To Love-Ru, she was Rito's platonic love and one of the main heroines, and I was simply Rito's best friend. Other than the times we were together with Rito, there was no reason for the two of us to interact alone, especially in this kind of situation.
Kenichi: (Come to think of it, even though my To Love-Ru anime counterpart was a pervert, for some strange reason he never showed any interest in her; at most he just helped Rito by creating situations where they could be alone together).
Wait a second...
Knowing the plot of To Love-Ru, the one who should have appeared here to save her should have been Rito. Although knowing Rito, there's no way he would have gone to fight those delinquent's, he would have just grabbed her hand and started running.
But she really needed my help to begin with.
I remember in the manga, whenever things like ghosts scared her, she would show incredibly absurd strength, sometimes even beating up aliens. I bet even without Rito's help or mine, she would have ended up punching them herself in her nervousness.
I guess that's how this world works, it's practically like a Galge. If Rito had saved her, she would have gotten positive points that would have made their relationship even better.
Kenichi: "I'm surprised you noticed it was me, not to brag, but my appearance has changed a lot since the other day we met at the tennis court."
Haruna: "W-Wait, so it really is you..."
Realizing what she said, Sairenji blushed while waving her hands nervously.
Kenichi: "Although I still have questions about how you realized it was me... But for the moment that doesn't matter, you don't have anything to worry about anymore, those guys left a while ago, rest assured they won't come near you again."
Hearing my words, Sairenji nervously looked around again only to realize that they were indeed gone.
Haruna: "T-They really left... But why...?"
Kenichi: "Well, you have this little friend of yours here to thank, he protected you so bravely that those delinquent's had no choice but to run away scared."
I said that while petting the head of the little dog named Maron.
Haruna: "E-Eh... Maron scared them? But I'm sure they were making fun of him... Wait... More importantly, Maron is getting petted by a man!!!"
Kenichi: "That worries you more than the reason those guys left!"
Haruna: "It's not because of that, it's just that Maron has never tolerated men... He tends to be affectionate or let himself be caressed only by women."
Kenichi: "Hahaha... I see, but I have to admit that you have a very good family member, just look at him, he stood up fearlessly in front of those guys to protect you, I guess that's what you could expect from a proud Boston Terrier."
Maron: "Woof...Woof... Woof..."
As if responding to my comments, Maron began to bark happily as he wagged his tail vigorously and licked my hand.
Thanks to my knowledge of To Love-Ru, I knew he could understand what I was saying. Although this could be due to the comic surrealism of the series, I remember that in the manga he could understand Haruna when she expressed her thoughts and that's why he knew she was in love with Rito.
In the story, he also used to refer to himself as a proud Boston Terrier and I honestly, I agree.
Who would have thought that a dog would be more deserving of my respect than a person?
At that moment, while everyone else looked the other way, he was the only one who tried to defend Sairenji. Despite his comical appearance, he is a very good dog.
===============================================
*You managed to gain the respect of the proud Boston Terrier, Maron*
You received: Pet summoning card.
===============================================
For the moment, I'm going to ignore this notification, it's not the right time for me to read the description.
Kenichi: "Why are you looking at us like that... Is it really so weird to see him being friendly with a man?"
Haruna: "Actually it is... Whenever my older sister brought one of her boyfriends or a classmate from college, Maron always shooed them away, that's why my sister stopped bringing men to the house."
Hearing his words, I could feel Maron started to growl slightly, seeing how he acted in front of those delinquent's, I think I understand why he behaves in a violent way with men.
Kenichi: "Well... Some animals are known to have much more advanced instincts than humans, if he attacked those guys most likely he could sense that just like the delinquent's from a while ago, they had bad intentions towards your sister."
Haruna: "E-Eh..."
Hearing my reasoning, apparently Sairenji looked a bit confused.
Kenichi: "It's most likely, I can tell by the way he jumped to help you when you were in trouble, you should trust him more."
Maron: "Woof... Woof... Woof... Woof..."
When he understood what I was referring to, Sairenji looked at Maron with affection and appreciation, while starting to hug him affectionately.
Even without understanding what she says I can see that Maron was happy to hear my words, just when she was about to say something, as if trying to respond to Sairenji's affection, Maron jumped on her and started to lick her whole body desperately.
Haruna: "Kyaaah❤ N-No! Hahaha! That tickles me... Ahh❤! D-Stop it, Maron... No... Ahhh~❤"
In a matter of seconds, he licked her face, her hands, her legs, practically licked her whole body.
Kenichi: "..."
As Maron licked Sairenji's body, I could clearly see her whole body contracting erotically, and also how she started to moan slightly.
I think this is one of the strangest situations I have ever been in in my life...
Don't get me wrong, knowing To Love-Ru's history, I know perfectly well that Maron is not doing that with ulterior motives, he's just an innocent dog who believes that licking is the greatest form of affection a pet can show to its owner.
But still...
I'm definitely in an Ecchi anime...
This scene is...
SO DAMN EROTIC!!!