Infront of him there was a person clad in dark clothes with... Claws? Why did he have claws?
Then the person emerging from the darkness, suddenly lunged forward about to attack Kaoru with his long,strong claws that looked like they could shred his face to nothing but pieces. Or something even less recognisable.
Kaoru couldn't even react when the mysterious figure had caught him by the neck and was gazing at him with eyes full of anger.
"Oi, you fucking brat are you trying to steal my prey? Back off he's mine." Said the man in black.
"H-huh? Prey? W-what are you talking about?"
The hand of the mysterious man, pressing down on Kaoru's throat was making it rather hard to breathe.
"W-why are you even doing this?" Continued Kaoru what little voice he still had in him.
"Huh? What the fuck are YOU talking about?! I'm simply feeding. So back off he is mine!"
"F-feed? You feed on people? Ahahahah. You don't eat people you fool." Replied back Kaoru with a faint laughing sound.
"Look at this little bastard acting innocent. You piss me off."
Immediately after those words, followed what could be called a one sided beating. Kaoru was getting punched and punched for no reason.
'What is happening? For what reason is he hitting me? Ugh, it hurts.'
Mustering all the strength he could Kaoru got up and stepped back.
Breathing heavily, he blocked a hit to the face by raising up his hands. He blocked another one, this one stronger. But then suddenly felt his breath leaving his body. He had gotten punched in the stomach.
"Ughhh."
Afterwards the man kicked Kaoru in the face,his food blowing Kaoru's face away.
Kaoru was incapacitated and insanely hurt. Why had the man beat him so much? Kaoru was... Scared for his life.
'oh crap! I'm losing consciousness.'
But before Kaoru had the chance to slip away into a slumber, the man picked him up and struck him more and more. Adrenaline flowing through Kaoru's body prevented him from sleeping. Bleeding,tired, confused, scared. The pain of all this things was pressuring down on his mind and body but the one having the most effect was ... Fear.
He was scared out of his wits. He didn't know when the man will stop or if he would even stop. Responding to his thoughts,the man threw one punch straight to Kaoru's chin and then lingered for a few moments.
"Tch, he got away. Nevermind that, why are you so weak? Were you recently turned ?"
'wh-what is he t-talking about?'
"Well I don't give a shit. But if I catch trying to take my prey again, I'll kill you. I would like to teach you more of a lesson but seems you are too weak to even react to anything. How can you be weak like a human. You fucking weakling!"
With those words hanging in the air, he spat on the ground besides Kaoru while leaving afterwards.
As for Kaoru, he was not in a good state. His bleeding had stopped. It was kot big anyway. But his bruises and cuts were everywhere. How could he go home like this ?
'What if Dad sees me like this? I really do not want to. I'll have to go to the convenience store.'
But as he tried to stand up his belly growled and a sharp pain ran through his body like a bolt of lighting. It wasn't really painful or anything but Kaoru was in a state of unimaginable hunger. He wanted to simply just... Eat.
"Ahh, why am I so hungry? I want something sweet. Anything."
Getting up and almost stumbling down on the ground, trying to stay still, he felt the till his body had when standing up. He felt very painful. Feeling a heavy pain on his right shoulder too. The pain on his shoulder was perhaps when he fell down.
Then, beginning to walk with pained expression and a frown appearing on his face, moving with determination towards the direction the convenience store was in. His body finding hard even the simple task of walking. He checked the time on his cracked phone that had a crumbled screen from the fight that had transpired. Well it was more of a one sided beating that Kaoru received. It was 10:53.
'i can still make it. I can't worry my parents. But I'm hurt, ugh. My legs feel like they will break down as well as rest of my body.'
***
Reaching the convenience store a corner away with a grim determination and some pride that broke very recently. Seeing the lights of the convenience store in the dark hours of the night, the familiar humming of the lights, the usual bored cashiers.
"Welcome, how can I h..."
The voice and usual bored look of the young man inside were nowhere to be found. Both had gotten frozen after seeing the person Infront of them. It was a teenager boy, injured. Very injured. He had bruises and cuts on his face as well as a little blood.
"Do you have cream for hiding bruises and cuts?" Muttered Kaoru, his voice too thin that it almost didn't reach the ears of the employee working at the store.
Confused and frozen on what the sight Infront of him was, the cashier looked at Kaoru and only then did Kaoru's words reverberated in his mind.
"I-i'm sorry. Yes we have some. Which one do you want?" Replied back the cashier.
"Just give me the most effective at hiding my injured face." Claimed back Kaoru with a grunt that sounded... Painful. I'll look for the other things I want on my own. Just give me a minute."
He just wanted a minute. He was so exhausted after all!
"Yeah sure, take your time."
Subsequently, Kaoru turned the direction of his gaze to the right side of the store. He wanted something to eat. Something fast so he can go like nothing happened.
But, everything around him looked more and more unappetizing. Nonetheless, he was still picking up a sweet scent. Ever since he reached the store.
'What a fragrant scent. I wonder, how come I can smell this here? I also picked it up at my house. Yesterday at another convenience store too. Is it a popular fragrance?'
He appeared to be puzzled about the reason of the fragrant smell being everywhere where humans exist . For what reason was it even so popular. It did smell great but didn't have any other properties. It did smell sort of metallic too. So why?
'Come to think of it. I never smelled anything when I visited the school. Nor when I was walking alone after going out tonight.'
Trying to sort out the things in his minda he almost forgot what had happened some minutes ago. Almost.
Following that though, a quick realization came to him. That guy said something about "preying on humans", "don't steal my prey." He had an angry look on his face when saying it. His strength was extraordinary too. He was fast and strong.
'Why... Am I okay? Shouldn't I have been passed out? His strikes felt like they could destroy my stomach in one hit. So why am I standing!'
Kaoru was perplexed by the idea that he endured that barrage of vicious attacks and did not die or even pass out. And what was that thing the other guy said? "Look at this little bastard acting innocent." What did he mean by that? Was that perhaps a killer? Kaoru shivered at the thought that he was facing a killer. But he quickly dismissed the idea.
If that guy was chasing down a student to "prey" on him, why wasn't Kaoru a replacement after that guy escaped?
Well, he knew no one would answer his questions so he tiredly picked up some food and ate at the convenience store, got the cream and finally headed home.
Those were some long, exhausting and very confusing past two days. Everything happening around him was weird and irregular. Jumping from one thing to another.
But, he didn't have the mood to sit around and think it over. He was too tired, after all.
***