I must have fallen asleep.
Looking for Darwin
Miss?
It's nothing.
Let's go.
Good morning, Nishino-san.
Good morning to you, too!
Good morning, Senpai!
Thank you, good morning.
There was a boy that I despised.
Good morning, Kageno-kun.
His grades were just below average.
Athletically, he was just below average.
His looks were exceedingly ordinary.
Good morning,
Nishimura-san.
Excuse me, Kageno-kun.
What is it, Nishimura-san?
My name...
It isn't Nishimura.
What?
#1: The Hated Classmate
My name....
It isn't Nishimura.
What?
It's not Nishimura.
Oh, I got it wrong?
Yes, my name is-
Oh, hold on, I remember now.
You were technically a named NPC, weren't you?
"Named" what?
Sorry, talking to myself.
I'm pretty good at remembering the names
of all the important characters.
But I haven't been getting enough sleep.
So I guess I got careless.
A careless mistake, I see.
You have been in my class,
sitting right next to me for three months.
Three months!
That's okay, everybody makes mistakes.
Yeah, sorry...
Nishitani-san.
I ain't Nishitani, jerk!
It's Nishino.
I'm Akane Nishino.
Oh, well, see you later, Nishimura-san.
It's Nishino!
You went backwards!
His most unforgivable crime was not
his failure to get my name right.
He never looked at me.
He turned his eyes in my direction,
but they were always distant,
like he was looking at some different, far-off place.
When I realized that about him,
my hatred was complete.
Akane! You're playing the lead in the
upcoming Monday-night drama, right?
That's so cool!
How many shows have you done now?
You're even busier than you were last year!
Please! I'm so nervous about it, I could die!
I'm definitely gonna watch!
I had done everything in my power to
avoid associating with Kageno-kun.
If I could have had my way,
I would have ignored him entirely.
But there were reasons that I wanted to
avoid making a big deal of it.
20,553... 20,554... 20 thousand-
When I was in middle school,
I had to take a break from show business
because of a scandal.
Stalker Scare
Ever since the incident...
I've been hiding behind a mask.
Nuclear...
The limits of living things...
More power...
Will anyone volunteer to tally up
the school festival survey answers?
Oh, Sensei, I can-
Oh, but Nishino-san,
you have makeup lessons right now.
Because you've been so busy lately.
This is what makes you so darn lovable, Akane.
Come on, don't laugh so much.
Then, um, you, sitting next to her.
If you would?
Yes, ma'am.
Okay, time for club!
Wanna stop by Mitsugoshi on the way home?
I play the teacher's pet so the teachers will like me.
I play the popular girl so the students will like me.
I've been very careful to make sure no one hates me.
That's how I've lived my life up to this point.
The Young Miss
He's not answering.
I haven't walked home since the incident.
Akane Nishino, I presume?
Why?! How?!
Not again!
No!
Come on, stop struggling.
It finally kicked in.
All right, get her in the car.
Huh? Don't order me around, outsider.
You know you shouldn't do that:
The daughter of the head of the Nishino Zaibatsu,
wandering the streets alone at night.
You might get caught by some unsavory characters.
Just stay there and don't try anything.
We sent the ransom note.
As soon as we get the money, you're free to go.
Or that's the cover story, anyway.
Seems like your old man's made a lot of enemies.
Hey, shut it.
Huh?
You shut it, outsider.
You think you can talk down to me?
I said stop talking, you outdated gangster cliché.
This is so annoying.
I finally caught my lucky break, and now it's all ruined.
Why don't you help me feel better?
Gimme a little fan service.
I'll start with that pretty little mouth of yours.
Don't you dare fight me!
This should be old hat for you.
It's your second time being kidnapped, after all.
And the last guy was a stalker? Right?
I'll give you much better memories than that other guy.
Stop struggling!
You know no one's coming.
What?
I mean, who's there?!
Who the hell do you think you are?!
Me?
I'm just a Stylish Ruffian Slayer.
Stylish...
...Ruffian Slayer?
Don't get cute with us, dammit!
Too much pointless movement.
Your guard is way down.
I see...
It looks like you have some idea what you're doing,
Stylish Ruffian Slayer.
You know, I've been awfully bored
since I was booted from the army.
Doing these little kiddy abductions,
partnering with a lowlife amateur...
This country is too damn peaceful.
I see, this is perfect.
I've always wanted to fight a military man.
I welcome the challenge, Stylish Ruffian Slayer!
Welcome to my crazy, messed up world!
I can't go back now that I know...
how good this feels!
Crowbars are great, Mr. Ex-Military.
They're sturdy and don't break.
They're easy to carry around.
If you end up in police questioning,
you might be able to make excuses.
And best of all...
you can use them like tonfa batons.
Dammit!
You're definitely a good fighter.
But you have a major weakness.
And it's the fact that I'm big enough to crush you!
I just have to protect my head and I'm fine,
but if you take one hit from me, you're done.
You make a good point.
At my current level, an ex-military guy
is still a bit of a challenge.
That's the reality.
So I should get a little more serious about this.
What?!
I discovered the real potential of crowbars.
They're shaped very much like tonfa.
They're heavy, sturdy, and portable.
Everything about them has immense potential.
Then I made it a regular practice to
beat up the motorcycle gangs
that disturbed the peace night after night.
You...
You beat up bikers with a crowbar?
You're the Balaclava Berserker?!
They recently started wearing helmets,
so it wouldn't kill them if I hit them in the head.
And...
the solution I found to that problem...
was to stop using the crowbars like tonfa.
Because using it like a regular club...
...is more effective!
That is the potential of a crowbar.
The trick is to hit with the heel of the "L..."
...because it magnifies the shock.
N-no, don't!
Stop...
Next time, be more careful walking home.
What?
It's no good.
If that's how I do against an ex-soldier,
I'll never make it.
I'll never be the Eminence in Shadow.
After that, I called the police,
and things got pretty hectic.
But Daddy pulled some strings,
and the public never found out about what happened.
In the end, I never did discover the true identity
of the Stylish Ruffian Slayer.
Good morning, Nishino-san!
Good morning to you, too!
Good morning, Senpai!
Thank you, good morning.
Good morning, Kageno-kun.
Good morning,
Nishino-san.
Okay, okay, my name isn't Nishino-
He didn't get my name wrong.
And I got the feeling his eyes
were looking directly at me.
"Kageno-kun is like me.
He lives his life hiding behind a mask."
That's the thought that crossed my mind.
But now there's no way to ever know for sure.
On to our next story.
Just before dawn this morning, on a city road in Sakurazaka,
local high school student Minoru Kageno-san was hit by a truck.
He did not survive.
The police have determined that the driver
was not watching the road,
and have begun to investigate-
I don't remember how it started.
As far back as I can remember,
it's what I always wanted to be.
Like how everybody dreams of being a hero
when they're a kid.
That's what I wanted to be.
But what made me different from other kids,
is that my passion was far from a temporary phase.
It kept burning, deep, deep inside my heart.
The flame never went out.
It kept driving me forward.
I did everything I could to master
every skill I needed to be stronger.
At school, I was the stubbornly ordinary,
never conspicuous, utterly harmless,
Background Character A.
But behind the mask, I gave everything to my training.
As everyone around me grew up and
forgot about the heroes they dreamed of becoming,
I started to feel a little - just a very little - sentimental.
But I kept going, I kept working,
for the day I knew would come.
But the time has come for me to face reality.
None of this is going to mean anything.
The world is overflowing with martial arts,
and I can learn all of them,
but I'll never get the kind of overwhelming power
you hear about in all the stories.
The best I can do is bust a few delinquent heads.
If, for example, I was surrounded
by fully armed soldiers,
that would be it for me.
Well, if I became the
strongest martial artist in the world,
there's a chance I'd be able to rough 'em up some.
But then what?
What if a nuclear missile fell from the sky?
I can tone my muscles, I can hone my mind,
I can polish my skills all I want.
But if a nuclear bomb hits, all I can do is evaporate.
That's what it is to be human.
I have to overcome those limits.
The being that I want to be
would not evaporate in a nuclear explosion.
Compromise is not an option.
Don't worry.
We have them completely surrounded.
They have nowhere to run.
It's exactly as you predicted, My Lord.
I have only words of admiration for
your foresight and meticulous planning.
We haven't had a big hunt in ages.
I can't wait!
I'll show no mercy.
We're all waiting for your orders, My Lord.
Excellent.
I'm not sure exactly what's excellent,
but I'm sure that it is.
I was blessed with a new life,
and in a new world, no less.
And I was given...
I need more power.
...magic.
With this new power at my disposal...
There is but one summit we aim to reach.
Let's go.
This time, I'm going to make it.
I would give up everything to get there.
No, I will give up everything!
If that's what it takes to get there,
that's how badly I want it.
I don't want to be the hero.
I don't want to be the last boss.
I want to be the one in the story who
operates from the shadows,
showing everyone their greatness:
The Eminence in Shadow!