The library was bathed in warm orange light filtering through the windows. Dust motes danced lazily in the air.

Akane sat in her usual spot—the furthest corner table, hidden behind tall bookshelves where no one ever wandered. Her long black hair fell around her face like a curtain as she hunched over a shoujo manga, completely absorbed.

"Kyaa~ The prince finally confessed!" she thought, a rare, genuine smile tugging at her lips. "This is what normal girls do... read romance manga in the library... I'm doing so well today!"

She'd made it through another school day without incident. No one had noticed her. No fights. No old gang members showing up. No accidental displays of her monstrous strength.

Just a normal, quiet girl.

DING DONG DING DONG

The school bell chimed, signaling the end of club activities. Akane glanced at her phone—5:47 PM.

"Ah..." she murmured softly, carefully placing her bookmark. "I should head home before it gets dark..."

She gathered her things with practiced quietness, slipping the manga back onto the shelf. As she walked toward the library exit, she unconsciously checked her reflection in a glass door.

Messy bun? Check. Slouched posture? Check. Unremarkable expression? Check.

"Perfect. Just another forgettable background character," she thought with satisfaction, pushing open the library door.

The hallway was mostly empty, dim in the fading sunlight. Akane's soft footsteps echoed slightly as she headed toward the stairs.

Peaceful. Quiet. Normal.

Then she heard it.

"TOMORROW?! You said that YESTERDAY, you little shit!"​

THUD.

The sound of someone being shoved against lockers.

Akane froze mid-step.

No. Don't look. Keep walking. This isn't your business anymore. You're normal now. Normal girls don't get involved. Normal girls—

SLAP.

Her body moved before her mind could stop it.

Akane's head turned sharply toward the source of the commotion. Around the corner, near the stairwell, she could see them—three students surrounding a single boy.

One of the bullies grabbed the boy's collar, lifting him slightly.

"Maybe we should teach you what happens to people who don't pay up—"​

Something inside Akane snapped.

Her vision tunneled. Her breathing changed. The air around her seemed to grow heavy.

The careful mask she'd maintained for over a year began to crack.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Her footsteps—no longer soft and hesitant—echoed through the hallway with deliberate weight.

The temperature seemed to drop.

"​Oi."

The single word cut through the air like a blade.

All four people—the three bullies and their victim—turned toward the source of that voice.

Standing there was Akane. But... different.

Her posture was no longer slouched. She stood tall, shoulders back, chin up. Her messy bun had come slightly loose, letting strands of black hair frame her face.

And her eyes—

Those crimson eyes that had been dull and averted all day now burned with an intensity that made the air feel suffocating.

The lead bully—a tall third-year with bleached hair—scoffed nervously. "Hah? The hell do you want, girl? Mind your own—"

"I said..."​

Akane took one step forward.

Then another.

Each footstep echoed with unnatural weight.

Her voice dropped to a register that was rough, commanding, and utterly terrifying:

"OI. You deaf?"​

The bullies' expressions shifted from annoyance to confusion to... primal fear.

There was something wrong about the girl approaching them. The way she moved. The way she looked at them. Like a predator that had just spotted prey.

"Wh-what's with this chick—" one of them stammered.

Akane's lips curved into a smile that held no warmth whatsoever.

"You punks... picking on someone weaker than you..."​

She cracked her knuckles, the sound abnormally loud in the silent hallway.

"That really pisses me off."​

The aura radiating from her was suffocating. Oppressive. The kind of presence that made people's instincts scream DANGER.

The bleached-hair leader tried to maintain his bravado. "Y-you think you can—"

He didn't finish.

Akane moved.

WHAM.

In a motion too fast to follow, she'd closed the distance and delivered a devastating palm strike to his solar plexus. The bully's eyes bulged as all the air left his lungs, and he crumpled to the floor, gasping.

"Too slow,"​ Akane said coldly, her crimson eyes devoid of mercy.The second bully, panicking, swung a wild punch at her.

"Amateur."

Akane tilted her head slightly—the fist missed by millimeters—then grabbed his extended arm, twisted, and slammed him face-first into the lockers with a metallic CRASH that reverberated through the entire floor.

"Pathetic."​

The third bully turned to run. "Where do you think you're going?"​ Akane's hand shot out, grabbing the back of his collar. With seemingly effortless strength, she yanked him backward and swept his legs. He hit the floor hard, the impact knocking the wind out of him.

Three seconds. Three opponents. Done.

Akane stood over the groaning bullies, her expression cold and imperious. She placed one foot on the leader's back, pinning him down.

"Listen up, trash. If I EVER see you pulling this shit again..."​ She leaned down, her voice dropping to a deadly whisper:

"I'll break every bone in your body. One. By. One. Got it?"​

"Y-YES! YES! WE'RE SORRY! WE'LL NEVER—!"​

"Then GET LOST."​

She removed her foot, and the three bullies scrambled to their feet and ran, stumbling over each other in their panic to escape.

Silence fell over the hallway.

Akane stood there, breathing slightly heavy, her crimson eyes still glowing with residual intensity. The aura of violence slowly began to fade...

And then her brain caught up with her actions.

Oh.

Oh no.

OH NO.

The realization hit her like a truck.

I did it again. I lost control. I revealed myself. Someone might have seen—

Her rough, commanding voice cracked, shooting up several octaves into her normal soft tone.

"TH-THIS ISN'T—! I MEAN—! I WAS JUST—!"​

Panic. Pure, unadulterated panic.

The legendary Crimson Demon of Kanto, who had conquered the entire region without ever showing fear, was currently experiencing a complete mental breakdown.

My normal life! My peaceful days! EVERYTHING IS RUINED!

Akane took an instinctive step back, her face burning crimson—though whether from embarrassment or residual adrenaline, she couldn't tell.

"I-I'M NORMAL! I'M A NORMAL GIRL! THAT WAS JUST—! THAT WAS—!"​

What?! What was it?! Think! THINK!

"S-SELF DEFENSE! YES! SELF DEFENSE! I TOOK A CLASS ONCE! JUST ONCE! I'M NOT—!"​

She was babbling. She knew she was babbling. But she couldn't stop.

And Akane—the legendary delinquent who had never retreated from any fight—was currently experiencing the overwhelming urge to run away screaming.

Akane's Mental State:
🔴 PANIC LEVEL: 98/100
💭 Thoughts: "MY NORMAL LIFE IS OVER!!!"
😱 Emotion: Mortified embarrassment + fear of rejection
💪 Body: Still in combat-ready state, trembling slightly