The Rhino

A week passed and Takuya did as he promised, working shifts at Gwendoline's to pay off his debt to her. He dreaded it at first, but over time, he started to hate it less.

He and Gwen were getting closer as well, having a relationship past the scope of employee and employer, one that leaned more toward actually becoming friends. Chiaki would stop by sometimes, and Takuya found himself becoming friends with her as well, however, their friendship progressed slower due to Takuya practically living with Gwen.

Perhaps the two of them living together contributed to this, but Takuya and Gwen began noticing this tension between them. Something a little bit more complicated than tension between friends...

One afternoon, Takuya's shift was ending and he was seen escorting the last few customers at Gwendoline's out of the door. "Thank y'all for coming by, see y'all soon!" Takuya bowed to the last customers of the day before quickly erasing that fake smile off of his face and sighing. "I can finally speak like a normal person..."

He still didn't like having to put on his accent, but it didn't annoy him as much as it once did. Plus, Gwen found it humorous and he didn't mind seeing her smile at his attempts at matching her accent.

"You did a dang good job today, Takuya!" Gwen told him, looking up at the boy with her pretty blue eyes and beaming smile.

Takuya turned around, messing with his hair and moving it out of his face. "Thanks. How much longer do I have to work?" Despite hating his new job less, Takuya was already checked out from being a server. This was definitely something outside of his realm of expertise.

"Only 'bout..." Gwen put her finger on her chin playfully, almost as if she were taunting the boy. "Twenty-nine days."

"You made that number up just now, didn't you?" Takuya did a lot of damage, but having to do over a month's work, including the week he'd already worked, sounded ridiculous. He'd rather just go chop down the wood and make the replacement tables himself.

Gwen put on a pretend pouty face as if she were teasing the boy. "I did not! Do you know how expensive it is to get tables like these 'round here? You should be thankful that I'm being so easy on you. Plus, I like having you around."

Takuya exhaled humorously as he began loosening the tie around his neck. "Why's that? I'm just some wanderer." He admitted before unbuttoning his vest to reveal the plain, white button-up beneath.

"Well, there's just something 'bout you that's just... interesting." Gwen didn't really know what to say. She didn't want to admit that she thought he was both physically attractive on top of his skills making him all the more appealing. She was crushing on him hard, but she refused to let that be known.

"Are you sure you didn't just want to hire a bodyguard?" Takuya teased plainly, folding his vest over his forearm.

"If I just wanted you for your swordsmanship I wouldn't have you cooped up in here now would I?" Gwen told him, crossing her arms playfully. "I'd have you standing out front wearing that intimidating outfit of yours."

"I guess that's true. You were rather adamant about me not wearing that around customers. Though if I didn't know any better, I'd think you just wanted an excuse to see my face." Takuya teased her, smiling ever so slightly as he watched her white skin begin to turn pink.

"Wh- what do you mean?" She stumbled on her own words.

"Well... I can sense when stare at me so I can feel your eyes being glued onto me at all times during the day." Takuya admitted, rubbing his arm shyly. Social interaction wasn't really his thing since he grew up in a small village near the forest. He'd seen more people in the city come in and out of the restaurant than he did his whole life in the village. On top of all of that, his Spider-Sense made him a lot more aware of his surroundings than before.

"Well, I'm just supervising is all." Gwen thought this excuse would work, however, Takuya saw right through it.

"Supervising, huh? Whatever you say, Ms. Stacy." Takuya's voice was plain, but it was clear that he was teasing her.

"And whaddya mean by that?" Gwen asked him, staring into his eyes again with those blue eyes of hers.

"Nothing, nothing. Just seemed a little more than supervisorial is all." Takuya told her, smiling softly at her.

"Oh, really?" Gwen spoke with a sly, teasing tone as she stepped closer to him, still looking into his eyes as she could feel her heart racing. She couldn't tell if she was reading the situation incorrectly and she didn't want to overstep any boundaries. "Let's say it was a little more than that. Then what? Would that be a problem for you?"

Takuya's heart began to race as well as he noticed Gwen getting closer to him. He too didn't want to overstep, so he just let her lead the way. "It's no problem at all for me, Ms. Stacy." Takuya saying this compelled Gwen to run her hand up his chest and grab his tie, pulling him down to her level.

"Well, if it ain't no problem for you..." Gwen leaned in closer, standing on her toes as their lips were just about to touch. "There's none for me neither."

𝘾𝙍𝘼𝙎𝙃!

Both Gwen and Takuya jolted as they could hear the sound of something heavy crashing into something outside. Takuya quickly sprinted upstairs as Gwen ran straight outside to see what the commotion was.

Stepping outside, Gwen was able to see a massive man, way over seven feet tall, wearing a rhinoceros-like armor while ramming into buildings and people. He looked to be hundreds of pounds, his armor only adding to that weight. He was practically inhuman, almost as if he were an Oni come to life.

There were already corpses in the distance, many falling victims to the Rhino's horn. "Oh my lord..." Gwen muttered before the Rhino locked gazes with her.

The massive man smirked before scraping his foot against the floor twice and charging after her. However, before he could get too close, Takuya emerged, wearing just his mask and a kimono.

He knew that it wasn't too good of an idea to just run around with his normal clothes on, but he couldn't just sit and allow the man to hurt people while putting on his armor which he didn't even need protection from.

Using his rope shooters, Takuya began steering the massive man away from Gwen, bringing a smile to her face as she began to cheer him on. "Woo! Get 'em cowboy!" she shouted as she watched the young ronin steer the Rhino down the dirt road while avoiding any civilians.

"I thought Oni had two horns?" Takuya asked. It may have come across as a joke, but he was genuinely curious if this man was some sort of one-horned oni or something else.

"Get off of me, bug!" The Rhino shouted, continuing to run like a madman as Takuya continued to ride him like a bull rider.

"Not until you stop-" Takuya, seeing that the Rhino was heading straight for a carriage in front of him, lept from the massive man and landed in front of him. "I said, stop!" Takuya shouted as he used both hands to stop the Rhino in his tracks.

The people inside the carriage quickly evacuated and ran for their lives, all thanks to the ronin holding the beast back.

"What!?" The Rhino was confused. How could this puny man stop him in his tracks, he thought. The Rhino had never been bested in a bout of strength before in his life, and this infuriated him.

He raised both of his armored fists high in the air before slamming them down on the spider. Takuya would catch both strikes with his own two hands, however, it was clear that he was straining as he did so.

'Damn it, I can't get to my sword...' Takuya thought, his hands were far too full for that.

The Rhino began to laugh, feeling himself beginning to overpower Takuya due to his overwhelming strength pressing down on the boy, however, Takuya wasn't out of ideas yet.

𝘾𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙆!

Takuya hit the Rhino in the face with a flying knee, one so powerful that the Rhino's horn broke off of his armored face. "Raaah!" the Rhino let out a pain-filled shout, stumbling backward and making the ground tremble with each step due to how heavy he was.

Takuya, seeing the horn on the ground, realized that it wasn't anything like the horn of an oni. In fact, this was clearly a manufactured horn, one made of stone. "What are you supposed to be anyway? A Goblin Shark?" Takuya asked, again, he was curious. He wanted to know what this guy's deal was. "Were you bitten by the Goblin Shark Spirit? Is there a Goblin Shark Spirit?"

Hearing the boy's quippy questions infuriated the Rhino. "I am Rhino!" he bellowed before sprinting toward Takuya, once again causing the ground to tremble beneath him.

Takuya, getting into a wide stance, grabbed the sword from behind his back and waited for the Rhino to get close like a matador. 'Okay, there are weak points at the Achilles, inner arms, and a small gap around his neck...'

Once the Rhino was close enough, he raised both fists in the air once again, however, Takuya had his mystical blade with him, unsheathing it before quickly slashing at the inner arms of the Rhino.

The Rhino let out a horrifying bellow as his arms became limp, dangling down at his sides before Takuya shot his rope shooters at the Rhino's two arms and then pulled himself between his legs. As he slid across the dirt, he slashed one of the Rhino's Achilles tendons, prompting the beast to fall down on one knee in agony, causing the ground to shake once again as he cried out in pain.

Feeling the ground tremble, Takuya placed one foot on the beast's back with his blade pointing down at his nape.

𝙎𝙃𝙃𝙉𝙏!

Takuya stabbed through the back of Rhino's throat, driving the blade to protrude out the other, front side of his throat. Rhino gargled on his own blood, falling to both knees before his body slammed onto the ground like a slaughtered animal's.

Using his forearm to wipe his blade, Takuya spoke to the dead rhinoceros. "Apologies for your suffering. May your spirit find peace..." This was the first time Takuya ever felt anything after taking a life. He wasn't the type to make anyone, not even an animal, suffer. He believed in taking a life swiftly before they could feel much pain.

However, he remembered what he did to the Shocker as well. It was as if someone else took over him...

Takuya then looked down at his sword. The black on Takuya's blade grew darker, extending itself down from the tip of the blade, and continuing to make its way toward the hilt. However, this darkness still had a long way to go.

"This blade..." He thought to himself, realizing that there may be more to it than meets the eye.