Voices rang out of the alleyway. The police are screaming at Tak to stop. All he did was suddenly appear at a scorched apartment and trample all the evidence tags they had over the place. The police didn’t even know how Tak got there. All the entrances were blocked, and he couldn’t possibly enter through the blow window on the 9th floor of the flat. Nonetheless, they chased him through the streets and alleyways.
For Tak, he was biding his time before he could escape. He needs to get a lead from these cops but they are everywhere. He saw an officer turn a corner in front of him so he took an immediate turn inside a building. As he opened the door, he bumped and pushed a stranger butt-first on the floor. It was a guy. A high schooler, Tak guessed.
As for Keitaro, the man who just pushed him to the floor looked dangerous. All the large men looked dangerous to him. And for a 5-foot man with no semblance of muscle definition, every man is a danger. He wanted to bolt from the very moment. But before he could, Tak jumped at him and restrained him to the floor. Then he pulled out something. Something gold. Something glittering. Tak raised Keitaro’s shirt and placed the zipper on his chest.
And then Keitaro was fast asleep.
The door busted open and an officer came in with his pair. There on the floor was a high school and no one else.
“Kid, did you see a large man go through here?” The officer asked.
“Ye- yes…” Keitaro pointed upstairs.
The officer looked at his partner, “Let’s move.” They raised their guns and ran upstairs.
Tak breathed a sigh of relief. The officers are gone and lost them for good now that his face is that of another - a high schooler now that he’s got a good look at the guy’s ID. Keitaro Makino is a high schooler and just another year away from university. The face is decent. But as for the body? Not so much. Tak raised his arms and shuddered at how thin they were. He can’t believe he managed to fit his bulking frame inside this. He also cannot believe how he managed to do it so fast. He put the zipper, opened it, and squeezed so quickly he didn’t even finish blinking. It was like his body was on autopilot.
Before the cops could realize that Tak lied, he left the apartment in a haste.
Those cops knew what he looked like, and he is the prime suspect for the bombing that took place in his target’s apartment. Not to mention, he disappeared for days. His employer must think he broke the contract. It would be in his best interest and safety to stay in this skin… body…? Skinsuit? Fuck it. He’ll call it a vessel. It would be in his best interest and safety to hide in this wimpy vessel for a while.
Another thing Tak found out from Keitaro’s ID is the school he’s studying at. He knows where the school is because that’s where he finished off one of his targets. Can’t remember the name but it’s some mafia’s son. Or was it a businessman? He didn’t pry much. He gets a job, does a job, and gets the money. A simple deal. Unlike this shitty situation he’s got himself involved in.
The school is a lot more lively than what Tak remembered. Students are heading straight to their class instead of a bleeding person desperately pushing against the campus doors. And courtesy of printed notes inside his backpack, he knew which classroom he belonged to and the subjects he had for the day.
Truth be told, Tak kinda likes being a student even though he knows it’s a lie. Being a mercenary gives a lot of free time between missions. His education comes from self-studying. Being spoon-fed with information that he already knows is satisfying in a weird way. He even answered a math question the entire class had trouble answering. His classmates stared at him, expecting him to give a wrong answer. He surprised them by giving the right one and supplying it with the proper solution on the blackboard. The class was silent, even the professor himself.
Come lunch, Tak expected someone to come to his table. He wanted to meet Tak’s friends and learn more about the body and life he took over. It is a bummer that he cannot see the memories of the vessel he possessed. Instead of friends, three large men stood menacingly over him. One at the front and two at the sides.
“Keitaro, as our bread shuttle, we were expecting you to do your duties. But what do we see here? Eating your own lunch while we’re here starving because you failed to do your job.” The one in the middle and most probably their leader said. It’s cliche really. Even those at his sides said their yeas and nodded their head at their leader’s statement.
“Why don’t you get your own food?” Tak took a bite of his lunch.
“Wh- wha?” The leader was taken aback. He did not expect that response. “I think you’re not getting the picture here. You think we’d just let you go?”
The surrounding crowd must have sensed trouble brewing. They were so kind to give them space.
Tak wiped off his lip and stepped into the open space at the back of the classroom.
“Where the hell do you think you're going?” The leader snarled. He must be so angry because his forehead is turning red and veins are popping out.
“Aren’t we going to fight? Or are you just going to waste your spit by barking at me?”
“Little puppy got his canines out,” one of the minions butted in.
“Let’s see how this little puppy reacts when the big dog shows him a real bite.” The leader snapped back.
Face to face. Eye to eye. Tak calculated his odds of winning this fight. It’s dreadful but not totally unwinnable. This bully stands nearly twice as tall as him. He must be a patron of the gym because his biceps are huge for a high schooler.
Let’s do this!
The bully took the first swing, and it was wide open. Tak was surprised at how slow it was, and the wind-up was even slower. He expected something fast, something this body’s eye could not keep up with. Tak stepped to the side and tapped a small punch at the bully’s jaw. It hurt the bully but it also damaged Tak’s knuckles. Fuck. This guy needs to work out.
The crowd gasped. Did they just see that? Genta who is twice larger than Keitaro and someone who supposedly does boxing got hit in the jaw? They blinked twice. They blinked thrice. But they saw it and it was real. Genta was taken aback further than he already was. He didn’t even see where the punch came from.
“What the hell just happened?” Genta see.
Genta raised his head and saw Keitaro smirking. No. He was laughing and that just made him a lot angrier. He rushed back for another punch but got one served back at him as a result. On the sides at this time.
That was a miss. Tak was aiming where the liver should be. But he’s still not used to his shorter reach and thinner arms. He knew he could not defeat this bully with a straight-out competition of strength. So, he must deal with this weakness by using pure techniques.
Genta went for another wide-open punch. Tak can’t believe it. It did not work the first time, nor the second, nor the third. And he’s doing another. Tak closed his fist with the thumb overlaid on the index. He stepped to the side as if time had slowed down. He carried and used the entire weight of his body to punch this bully square at his philtrum.
Genta swears he saw stars. He bounced back and fell on the floor with blood starting to gush out of his nose. Then he saw Tak sit on top of him.