The mood shifted instantly when one of the men reached into his jacket and pulled out a small switchblade. Another cracked his knuckles, revealing brass knuckles glinting beneath his sleeve. A third simply picked up a heavy metal pipe that had been leaning against the wall.
Akemi's heart thudded in her chest.
"You've got one last chance, mascot," the guy with the blade sneered. "Move."
The Kawai Kitty mascot tilted its oversized foam head again, then suddenly hopped back into a loose fighting stance—if you could call it that—arms raised slightly, legs braced.
"Didn't your parents teach you," came the high-pitched, cheerful voice from the suit, "not to play with sharp objects? Kawai Kitty Hiya Paw Strike!"
With a blur of motion that shouldn't have been physically possible in a foam costume, the mascot spun to the side, dodging the first man's lunge. The blade sliced nothing but air.
Raito's foot came up and landed with clean force into the thug's stomach, sending him sprawling back into the wall with a loud grunt.
"W-What the hell?" the second man muttered.
"Kawai Kitty Meow-mentum Kick!" Raito shouted, leaping into a turning kick that knocked the pipe-wielding guy flat on his back.
Akemi's mouth fell open as she watched the absurd scene unfold.
He was moving fluidly—too fluidly. The way he spun, dodged, and struck... it was like watching a trained martial artist trapped inside a mascot suit.
"This—what—what is happening?" she whispered.
Another thug rushed forward, brass knuckles aimed at the side of the mascot's head.
Raito ducked low and delivered a sweeping kick that dropped the man like a sack of bricks.
"Kawai Kitty Tail Whip Combo! Nyaa~!"
The last remaining thug stumbled back, eyes wide. "Y-You're crazy!"
"Kawai Kitty isn't just cute," Raito said, adjusting the oversized cat head slightly, still perfectly chipper through the voice box. "She's strong too! Never underestimate the power of paws!"
The thug turned to run, but Raito was already behind him. One final strike—an open-palm push straight to the back—sent him flying into a pile of chairs with a crash.
Silence returned.
The row of goons lay groaning or unconscious on the ground.
Akemi stared, speechless.
And the mascot stood tall in the middle of the chaos, dusting off its plush paws.
"Kawai Kitty Friendship Defense Mode: Complete!" he chirped proudly.
The downed thugs groaned and writhed on the floor, a pile of unconscious troublemakers left in the wake of Kawai Kitty's foam-fisted justice. Akemi could only gape, her brain still trying to catch up to what she'd just witnessed. But before she could speak, heavy footsteps echoed from the hall beyond.
Raito—still very much inside the oversized mascot suit—turned his head as a new wave of shadows appeared.
Five… no, seven more.
More thugs. Bigger ones. Better armed. Clearly not part of some random group—this had been coordinated.
Akemi stood up, startled. "How many of them are there?!"
The new group spread out in a half-circle, surrounding them.
"Didn't think the costume cat would be this much trouble," one of the men muttered, rolling his shoulders. Another cracked his neck and pulled a chain from around his waist.
Inside the suit, Raito clicked his tongue. Kurai's voice whispered lazily in his head, Still pretending to be the magical kitty, huh? This is getting absurd. I should be charging admission.
But Raito didn't respond. He simply adjusted his stance.
"Let's give them the full Kawai Kitty Welcome, shall we?"
He sprang forward like a blur of plush pink and foam.
"Whisker Whirlwind!" he shouted as he ducked under a bat swing and delivered a spinning elbow—still in costume—that knocked the bat from the man's hands.
Two rushed him from the sides. He twisted mid-air with a hopping motion.
"Tail Tornado Takedown!" His foot slammed into one's face while he used the other thug's momentum to flip him over his shoulder.
Akemi could barely follow the movements. The sheer fluidity of it all—the energy, the balance. Whoever was inside that suit wasn't just some part-time performer. He was skilled.
"Who is this guy…?"
One of the larger thugs lunged with a metal baton. Raito turned just in time, deflecting the hit with an oversized foam arm, but the blow grazed the left side of his chest—right where the voice box was installed.
Bzzzzrrrrk—Kit…Kii—ERROR—Nyaa—rgh—!!!
His next "meow" came out as a jarring mix of static, distortion, and robotic screech.
The thugs hesitated, blinking in confusion at the sound.
Inside the suit, Raito sighed.
"…Cheap wiring."
But even with the garbled voice, he wasn't done yet.
The last thug, possibly their leader, growled and raised a stun baton. "This ends now, mascot freak!"
Raito cracked his foam knuckles with deliberate flair and took a deep breath.
"Time to finish this," he muttered to himself.
He leapt into the air—an unnatural height for someone in a padded costume—and twisted mid-spin.
"KAWAI KITTY—FINAL JUSTICE COMBOOO!!" the voice box crackled as it sparked and glitched mid-phrase, but the energy behind the words still thundered.
He landed with precision, delivering rapid-fire blows: one to the knees, two to the stomach, and a final uppercut that sent the last thug flying backward into the wall with a crash loud enough to shake the chairs.
The rest of the group lay defeated around him.
Raito stood, chest rising and falling beneath the heavy foam, voice box sputtering faint sparks.
Akemi's eyes were wide as saucers.
Even through the headpiece, she could feel his gaze turn toward her.
Then, with a casualness that belied the chaos, he gave a peace sign with one oversized paw.
"Kawai Kitty…victory pose," the voice box chirped faintly.