[Part-1]
The Worst Student in Class 2-B
Yuu Arakawa sat at the back of Class 1-C, head resting on his arm, eyes barely open. He stared out the window, watching birds fly above the schoolyard. His uniform was wrinkled, his black hair messy, and his expression was as blank as a chalkboard after class.
He slumped over his desk like a lifeless blob, his arms folded under his head, his mouth slightly open in mid-snore. The classroom buzzed with noise, chatter, and the clicking of pens—none of which he contributed to. He looked like he hadn't slept in three days, his black hair a messy tangle, his eyes hidden behind overgrown bangs.
"Hey, loser. You flunk the test again?"
A snide voice cut into the silence. Yuu didn't move. Takumi, the class rep and self-proclaimed honor student, hovered beside his desk with a mocking smirk
"He scored seven this time," Kaya Mizuki muttered from the seat next to Yuu, flipping through her notebook. "That's two more points than last time."
"Progress," Yuu mumbled.
Takumi snorted. "You're lucky the school still lets people like you in. No talent. No power. No brains."
The classroom erupted with chuckles. Yuu let it slide, eyes still fixed on the sky. But Kaya glanced sideways. There was something strange about Yuu. Something she couldn't put her finger on. She'd been sitting next to him since transferring this semester, and while everyone treated him like dirt, he never got angry. Never fought back, without hearing another word Yuu went to sleep.
"He's asleep again..." one of the students whispered.
"What's new? He's always like that. I heard he failed every subject last term."
"No way... is he even trying?"
Yuu didn't move. The voices around him passed like clouds. The teachers had long since stopped bothering to call on him. In every way that counted—grades, attendance, participation—he was a total failure. "Yuu the Useless," some called him. Others simply forgot he existed.
And that was exactly how he liked it.
The bell rang, and the teacher entered. Yuu didn't move until a small poke hit his side. He cracked one eye open and glanced over at the girl beside him.
"You'll get detention if you keep sleeping through homeroom," she said quietly.
Kaya Mizuki. The new transfer from the west district. Tall for a girl, elegant posture, straight silver-black hair, and sharp eyes that often sparkled with curiosity or... pity?
"I'm already in detention," Yuu muttered, turning his head away. "Just trying to get a head start."
She gave a small sigh and sat upright. The teacher began talking, but Yuu's mind drifted elsewhere.
[Part-2]
Outside the school walls, Yuu's name echoed in darker places.
Boss Yurei.
The ghost leader of the infamous group called Phantom Edge. A gang feared across the underground—one that never left a trace, never failed a mission, and never revealed their leader's face. Rumors said he crushed rival gangs without lifting a finger. Others swore he could wipe out supernatural users with his bare hands.
Only a few knew his real face. Fewer still had met him.
Tonight, at a rundown alley behind the arcade district, four figures in black waited under flickering neon lights. A large boy with a thick jacket cracked his knuckles.
"Boss is late again."
"He's always late," said a girl with twin blades strapped to her back.
From the darkness, a figure strolled out, yawning.
Yuu Arakawa.
"Did you guys start without me?" he asked, scratching his head. His voice, bored. His eyes, half-closed.
The tension vanished.
"Yo, Boss!"
"Yurei-sama!"
They gathered around him. Riku Senzaki, his second-in-command, grinned. "A rival gang's been making moves on our turf. They've got users—fire, ice, and telekinesis."
Yuu sighed. "How flashy."
"Orders?"
Yuu pulled out a stick of gum, popped it in. "Let's show them what 'powerless' looks like."
Just thinking of that night made Yuu tired, his gang took care of the rival gang who were making moves on their turf.
But at Shizuma High School, he was just "Yuu the Useless."
Yuu chuckled under his breath at the irony as he stared at the faint tattoo on his wrist. Hidden beneath his sleeve, it read: "LEVEL 99."
No one knew what it meant. Not even the government, who regulated supernatural activity like a hawk.
Good. The longer he stayed forgotten, the longer his people stayed safe.
[Part-3]
Kaya's Quiet Curiosity.
Kaya was still watching him when the lunch bell rang. Her tray sat untouched as she glanced sideways at Yuu, who was now poking his rice like it had personally wronged him.
"You know," she began, "for someone who always looks tired, you never seem to get sick."
He blinked once and shrugged.
"And your reflexes... in gym yesterday. You dodged that dodgeball like a trained soldier."
"Coincidence," he replied. "Muscle spasm."
Kaya narrowed her eyes, unconvinced.
"Why do you act like this?"
"Because it's easier to be useless than to be needed," he answered flatly.
Before she could respond, a loud buzz echoed through the class. Everyone looked down at their phones. A warning had just gone out from the city's supernatural division.
"Alert: Unauthorized supernatural activity reported in East Block. Citizens are advised to stay indoors."
Yuu stared at the message with narrowed eyes. His mind was already calculating.
That wasn't just an alert. It was a declaration.
Someone was moving in on his territory.
[Part-4]
The Disappearance
The next morning, Kaya walked to school alone. The streets were quiet. Too quiet.
Then—a screech of tires. A black van skidded to a stop beside her.
Three figures jumped out, grabbing her.
"What—? Let go!"
She tried to fight, but a hand glowed with magic. A blast of force knocked her out cold.
When she woke up, she was in an abandoned warehouse, wrists bound, vision blurry.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
A voice sneered, "Just some collectors. Your family's been training heirs, right? We want to see what you're worth. You've got mana—but not enough to fight back."
She bit her lip.
Kaya wasn't at school.
She wasn't sick. She wasn't late. She was simply gone.
Yuu knew something was wrong the moment he stepped into class and her seat was empty. He checked the student list. No transfer. No expulsion. No warning.
She had been taken.
By the time lunch came around, Yuu had already sent a silent signal through an untraceable app.
Code Black. Target: Kaya Mizuki. East Block.
His eyes, once dull and lazy, now burned with cold clarity. He stood up, gathered his bag, and left the classroom without a word.
Nobody stopped him. Nobody noticed.
The loser had vanished.
[Part-5]
Boss Yurei Rises
An hour later, in the depths of East Block, a small, sleek motorcycle roared into a dead alley. Yuu removed his school jacket and replaced it with a dark hoodie embroidered with a faint skull insignia on the back.
Phantom Edge's mark.
He cracked his neck, stretched once, then dropped into a sprint down the alley. Within minutes, he was darting across rooftops like a shadow.
He didn't need his supernatural ability.
Not yet.
His fists and speed would be enough.
Inside an abandoned warehouse, Kaya lay tied to a metal chair, blood on her cheek, her expression defiant.
Around her stood a dozen gang members—users of fire, wind, and shadow-based powers. Laughing. Taunting her. They thought they'd captured a weak girl. They had no idea what monster they'd just provoked.
And just above them, perched on a broken rafter, Yuu Arakawa stared down like death incarnate.
He grinned.
The gang moved quickly, dragging Kaya through the narrow alleyways behind the convenience store district. She struggled, eyes darting around for help—but no one came.
"Stop squirming," growled the one with the flame-scorched hoodie. "You'll be of good use soon. Training, huh? We'll see how much you've really learned."
But then, all at once, the air changed.
A chill—not cold, not wind—but pressure. A weight.
Footsteps.
They echoed.
Slow. Lazy.
A figure walked into the alley.
Black hair, wrinkled uniform, loose tie hanging like he never bothered to fix it. He yawned mid-step.
"…Oi," he said, voice flat. "She forgot her lunch."
The gang blinked.
The one holding Kaya laughed. "You lost, nerd?"
Another stepped forward. "Wait a sec… Ain't that Yuu the Useless?"
Kaya's eyes widened. "Yuu?"
The boy scratched the back of his head.
"Man. I didn't want to get up today. But you dragged her away right in front of me, now I'll have to get her back or I'll have nightmares."
The gang members laughed.
"You? The loser?"
"Scram before you get hurt."
Yuu stretched, cracked his neck, and walked forward.
"You kidnapped my classmate," he said. "I'm skipping lunch for this. That pisses me off."
A long pause.
Then—
CRACK.
Faster than their eyes could follow, Yuu was already in front of the guy who spoke, elbow buried in his stomach.
One down.
The others reacted, summoning sparks, steel chains, blades of shadow. Powers flared.
Yuu… just sighed.
He dodged a punch without moving his feet. Leaned. Tilted. A lazy twist of the shoulders—and a high kick snapped into the next guy's jaw, flipping him into the trash cans.
"W-what the hell—!?"
"No ability?" another shouted. "Then how the hell is he—"
"Careful!" one screamed. "That stance—!! It's him!"
"B-Boss Yurei!"
[Part-6]
Panic spread through them like wildfire.
"Too late," Yuu muttered, and in a flash, he was gone again.
A blur.
A slam.
A scream.
In just twenty seconds, the gang lay unconscious in the alley. Broken, groaning, twitching.
Yuu dusted his sleeves.
Kaya stared. Speechless.
"W-Who are you…?"
Yuu glanced at her, then bent down and offered his hand.
"The useless guy next to you in class."
She didn't take it.
Not out of fear.
But shock.
"You're lying…"
Yuu gave a tired half-smile. "Told you I didn't like standing out."
And then—
"Oi, Boss!"
A loud, chaotic voice echoed from behind. A group of figures dropped down from the rooftop above.
Five teens. All dressed in a blend of street fashion and tactical gear. They looked like they'd stepped out of a modern martial arts movie… and every single one of them radiated power.
"Yo, Boss Yurei, you didn't even wait for us again!"
"Heh, what's the point of a gang if you solo all the good fights?"
A tall boy with a red scarf grinned. "Still, you left some scraps for us, right?"
Yuu turned toward them.
"Clean it up."
"You got it!"
As his gang began dragging away the fallen enemies and scattering to cover the scene, Kaya stood frozen.
Yuu, still scratching his head like he wanted a nap, turned to her once more.
"Let's get you back, Mizuki."
"…Why?"
He looked at her sideways.
"Huh?"
"Why… pretend to be weak?"
The question hung in the air.
And for once, Yuu's usual carefree mask flickered.
He looked at the sky.
"…Because power means eyes on you. And too many eyes… means they start to expect things."
He looked back at her, serious.
"I don't like being needed."
And with that, he walked off ahead, hands in pockets, leaving Kaya stunned behind him.
But her heart was racing. Her thoughts were spiraling. And something deep inside her whispered—
"He's not the loser I thought he was."
[Part-7]
Just as Kaya began to relax, the warehouse walls trembled with footsteps. The sound of multiple people approaching—fast.
From the shattered doorway, shadows emerged.
One. Two. Five. Ten... Fifteen.
All of them wore matching black jackets with glowing red sigils. Their hands sparked with mana, their eyes lit with violent intent.
"The Crimson Scar gang," Yuu muttered, frowning. "Didn't think they'd send the whole damn roster."
The leader, a tall teen with fiery red hair and a jagged scar across his cheek, stepped forward.
"So this is the infamous Boss Yurei?" he sneered. "I expected someone taller."
Yuu yawned. "I expected someone with better insults."
The enemy laughed, but the tension thickened.
Kaya's breath hitched. The enemy numbers had more than tripled. And she could sense it—even if she wasn't fully trained yet. These weren't small-time users. Their mana pressure was strong.
Too strong.
"Boss Yurei, huh?" the red-haired guy grinned. "Guess we'll crush that legend tonight."
Yuu didn't move. Instead, he rolled his shoulders, looking bored.
Then he snapped his fingers.
From the back entrance, four silhouettes emerged, each one cloaked in the night like wraiths.
"About time," Yuu said.
"Ghost Crew, on deck."
Riku Senzaki stepped forward first, adjusting the black gloves on his hands. "I got gravity locked and loaded, Boss."
Mei Hoshino, dual blades gleaming under the flickering lights, smirked. "I sharpened these just for tonight."
Daiki Tanaka, the muscle, slammed his fists together, cracking the floor. "Let's smash some clowns."
Sora Aihara, calm and composed, tapped a device on her wrist. "Enemy stats analyzed. Flaws in their formation found. Ready to execute."
Kaya's eyes widened. They're a unit. A real team.
The Crimson Scar gang started advancing.
"Stand back, Kaya," Yuu said without looking. "We've got this."
He stepped forward, no magic, no transformation—just unshakable calm.
"Formation Ghost: Phase 2," he said.
And the warehouse turned into a warzone.
[Part-8]
The War in the Warehouse
Riku launched forward, both feet lifting from the ground. His hands twisted in the air—and suddenly, gravity warped.
Two enemies screamed as the floor beneath them grew impossibly heavy, slamming them down with a force that cracked the concrete.
Mei was a blur, twin blades slicing through mana constructs like paper. Her movements were graceful but brutal, carving through defenses before enemies even had time to react.
Daiki rushed into the thick of it like a living tank. He grabbed one enemy mid-attack, swung him like a hammer, and took down two more.
Sora stood at the edge, eyes glowing with data. "Riku, behind—2 o'clock!" she called. "Mei, switch left in 3 seconds!"
Her calls weren't commands. They were truths. And with every word, the Ghost Crew moved with deadly precision.
The Crimson Scar gang panicked.
"These guys are monsters!"
"They're reading our moves—how?!"
"It's like they're choreographed—!"
But they were already falling.
Yuu, meanwhile, was still fighting with pure, raw technique. No magic. Just motion.
Every punch he threw was deliberate. Every dodge was flawless. He spun low, swept one attacker's legs, vaulted over another, and took out three with a combo that left even Kaya speechless.
He's not even using abilities, she thought, heart racing. And he's leading them like he's done this a thousand times.
A fire-user charged at Yuu with a blazing spear of flame.
Yuu ducked, grabbed the guy's wrist, and twisted. The flames exploded upward harmlessly.
He swept the guy's feet, flipped him, and said lazily:
"Too flashy. You should've studied basic combat."
[Part-9]
Burned Legends and Broken Egos
The leader of the Crimson Scar gang growled, veins pulsing with rage. "ENOUGH!"
Mana burst from his body—scarlet flames twisting into the shape of a dragon.
"I'll show you REAL power!"
He lunged at Yuu with the dragon-spear, its heat distorting the air.
"Yuu!" Kaya screamed.
But Yuu didn't flinch.
He slid under the dragon's strike, planted his palm against the enemy's chest—and whispered:
"Boom."
BAM! A shockwave of pressure burst out as the enemy's own magic turned against him. He crashed into the wall, unconscious before he hit the floor.
Silence.
One by one, the remaining enemies dropped their weapons and ran.
The fight was over.
[Part-10]
Kaya slowly stepped forward, heart pounding.
Yuu's back was to her, his hands in his pockets, as if he hadn't just dismantled an entire gang without breaking a sweat.
"…Why didn't you use magic?"
He shrugged. "Didn't need to."
She stared at him. "You could've gotten hurt."
He turned, and for a moment, he looked serious. Calm, but firm.
"There's more than one way to fight. More than one kind of strength. They expect fireballs and explosions. Sometimes…" He smirked. "...it's better to just be unpredictable."
His gang regrouped behind him, casually chatting, as if they hadn't just been in a full-on battle.
Kaya stepped closer. "So who are you really, Yuu?"
He gave her a lazy grin.
"Just a loser with good friends."
And then he walked off, hands in his pockets, coat fluttering behind him like a cape.