ONE: No Limits – Special Chapter 100K
Side Story: ONE Before ONE
Before the tournament. Before Kotobe. Before Pinky. Before everything.
A time when ONE was just an anonymous face among the anonymous. A time when there were no heroes around him. Just him. And demons. And absurd situations.
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Scene 1: The Last Ice Cream
CITY PARK – SUMMER – AFTERNOON
The sun beat down hard. Too hard. Children ran through the water jets. Parents fanned themselves with magazines. Ice cream vendors were making a fortune.
ONE was in line. He stared at the ice cream menu as if deciphering an ancient text.
Chocolate. Vanilla. Strawberry. Mint. Lemon. Caramel. Pistachio.
Why are there so many choices?
He had saved up. Three days. No ramen. No sandwiches. Just water and rice. To treat himself to an ice cream.
The line moved forward.
"Next!"
ONE approached the counter.
"One ice cream."
The vendor, an old man with an oversized cap, looked at him.
"What flavor?"
ONE thought. For a long time.
"…Chocolate?"
The vendor leaned down. He opened the freezer. He searched. He popped his head back up.
"Sorry, kid. That was the last one."
ONE blinked.
"…What?"
"The last one. A little girl took it."
He pointed to a kid, five years old, pigtails, holding a chocolate ice cream in her hand. She was smiling. She was happy.
ONE looked at the ice cream. Then the girl. Then the ice cream.
I saved up for three days.
He sighed.
"…Oh well."
He was about to leave when a strange noise caught his attention.
CRACK.
The air vibrated. A heat wave. A distortion. Ether residue, invisible to the naked eye, rose from the ground.
The little girl was crying. Her ice cream had fallen. On the ground. Melted.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
The Ether concentrated. The kid's negative emotions — sadness, frustration, anger — fed the mass.
A form appeared.
A demon. One meter ninety-eight. Blue. Three faces. Three expressions of sadness. Tearful eyes. Dangling arms.
It looked at the little girl.
"Sad…"
It moved toward her. Slowly. Heavily.
The girl's father stepped in.
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!"
The demon struck him. A backhand. The father flew, crashed against a wall, knocked out. His daughter fell in his arms, unconscious.
The demon advanced further.
People fled. Screams. Panic.
ONE hadn't moved.
He watched the scene. The melted ice cream. The little girl. The father. The monster.
He sighed.
The demon approached him. Three faces. Three sorrows. It growled.
GROOOOAR.
The monster's breath blew back ONE's hair. His hair stood on end. His shirt flapped.
ONE looked at it.
He pulled his ice cream from his pocket. The one he had bought. The one that no longer existed — he had gotten it, after all. The vendor, seeing his face, had given him another one. A small one. Chocolate.
He held it out.
"Want some?"
The monster stopped.
Three faces. Three expressions. Confusion.
Huh?
It looked at the ice cream. Then ONE. Then the ice cream.
It extended a hand. One finger. Touched the ice cream.
CLING.
The cold spread. Instantly. The monster froze. Frost crept up. The ice took over its body. Its three faces froze in an expression of absolute surprise.
The demon had become a statue of ice.
ONE withdrew his hand. He looked at the monster. He shrugged.
He bit into his ice cream.
Good.
He left.
---
The father woke up. He got up, staggering, his daughter in his arms. He saw the statue. The frozen demon. He looked around. No one.
So he did what any father would have done. He punched the monster.
CRACK.
The statue shattered. Pieces of blue ice fell to the ground. The demon was dead.
The cameras arrived. The journalists. The heroes (but not really, just security guards).
"SIR! YOU DEFEATED THE DEMON!"
The father, dazed, looked at his fists.
"…I… I didn't do anything?"
"YOU'RE A HERO!"
Social media exploded. The civilian. The man who had defeated a demon with his fists. They called him Iced.
ONE, from a distance, ate his ice cream.
People are weird.
---
Scene 2: The Waiting Line
ADMINISTRATION – PAPERWORK OFFICE – MORNING
ONE needed a paper. A paper to exist. A paper to officially be someone.
He entered the building. A waiting room. Plastic chairs. A ticket dispenser. A screen displaying numbers.
He took a ticket.
N° 87.
The screen displayed:
N° 12.
ONE looked at the ticket. Then the screen. Then the ticket.
This is going to be long.
He sat down.
One hour passed. Two. Three.
ONE dozed off. The ticket slipped from his hand. Fell.
A noise woke him. A vibration. A smell of sulfur.
CRACK.
A demon appeared in the middle of the waiting room. A small one. One meter fifty. Red. Horns. Yellow eyes. A wicked smile.
"I AM THE DEMON OF WAITING! I WILL DEVOUR YOU ALL!"
People screamed. Some fled. Others froze.
ONE looked at the demon. Then the screen.
N° 25.
He looked at the demon. Then the screen.
I was at 87.
He stood up.
The demon saw him.
"YOU! YOU'LL BE MY FIRST MEAL!"
It charged.
ONE stepped to the side. The demon passed. Crashed against the wall.
"OW!"
ONE picked up his ticket.
N° 87.
He looked at the demon.
"Can you save my spot?"
The demon got up. Furious.
"NEVER!"
It attacked again. ONE dodged. The demon crashed against the ticket dispenser.
CRACK.
The dispenser fell. Tickets flew. Hundreds. Thousands.
The demon, dazed, looked at the tickets.
"…What the…"
ONE picked up a ticket. At random.
N° 1.
He looked at the demon.
"Thanks."
He approached the counter. The woman behind the glass was terrified.
"…N-Number 1?"
ONE nodded.
She took his file. Processed it. In five minutes.
ONE walked out of the office. The demon was still on the ground, surrounded by tickets.
It was a good demon.
---
Scene 3: The Vending Machine
DARK STREET – NIGHT – NOODLE VENDING MACHINE
ONE was hungry. He had no money. But he had a coin. One single coin. A hundred-yen coin.
He slipped it into the machine. Pressed the button. Pork noodles.
CLANG.
Nothing.
CLANG. CLANG.
Still nothing.
He hit the machine. Gently. Then harder.
CRACK.
The air vibrated. A smell of hot metal. Ether escaped from the machine.
A demon appeared. One meter eighty. Gray. Red eyes. Iron arms. Metal legs. A machine torso.
"I AM THE DEMON OF THE VENDING MACHINE! I WILL CRUSH YOU!"
ONE looked at it.
He looked at the machine.
He looked at the demon.
He looked at his coin.
"Can you give me back my coin?"
The demon stopped.
"…What?"
"My coin. It's stuck."
The demon looked at the machine. Then ONE. Then the machine.
"I… I AM A DEMON! I DON'T GIVE BACK COINS!"
"But I'm hungry."
"I DON'T CARE!"
The demon raised its fist.
ONE sighed.
He kicked the machine.
BAM.
The machine shook. A pack of noodles fell. Then another. Then another. Ten packs. Twenty. Fifty.
The demon was buried under the noodles.
"OW! STOP IT!"
ONE picked up a pack. Opened it. Ate it.
Not bad.
He left.
The demon stayed there, under the noodles, crying iron tears.
---
Scene 4: The Gym
GYM – DAY
ONE had entered to use the bathroom. He didn't have a gym membership. He didn't have a subscription. He had just walked in.
The bathroom was occupied. He waited.
A bodybuilder approached.
"Who are you?"
"I'm waiting."
"You're not paying. Get out."
ONE looked at him.
"Can I wait a bit longer?"
The bodybuilder raised his fist. An enormous fist. A bodybuilder's fist.
CRACK.
A demon appeared. One meter ninety. Green. Muscles. Muscles everywhere. Shark teeth. Snake eyes.
"I AM THE DEMON OF THE GYM! I WILL MAKE YOU MELT!"
The bodybuilder screamed. He stepped back. He fell.
ONE looked at the demon.
"Can you let me through?"
The demon laughed.
"NEVER!"
It attacked. A punch. ONE dodged. The fist sank into the wall.
"WHAT?!"
ONE took a step.
The demon stepped back.
"STAY!"
It attacked again. ONE dodged. The fist sank into another wall.
"BUT STOP MOVING!"
ONE wasn't moving.
He was just… there. And the demon's fists kept sinking next to him.
"HOW?!"
ONE shrugged.
"You want me to wait?"
The demon collapsed. Out of breath. From punching at nothing.
"…I… I can't anymore…"
ONE entered the bathroom.
---
Scene 5: The Bus
BUS STOP – EVENING
ONE waited for the bus. He had no money for the bus. But he waited anyway. Maybe he could get on without paying. Maybe the driver would be nice.
A demon appeared. One meter sixty. Orange. White eyes. Greyhound legs. Monkey arms. A dog's head.
"I AM THE DEMON OF THE BUS! I WILL DEVOUR YOU!"
ONE looked at the bus arriving.
He looked at the demon.
He looked at the bus.
"Are you taking the bus too?"
The demon stopped.
"…What?"
"Where are you going?"
"…I… I don't know."
"I'm going to City V."
The bus stopped. The door opened.
ONE got on.
The demon hesitated.
It got on.
The driver looked at them. ONE. The demon. He shrugged.
"Pay."
ONE had no change.
The demon didn't either.
The driver sighed.
"…Get on."
They got on.
They sat next to each other.
The bus rolled.
The demon looked out the window.
"It's… pretty."
ONE nodded.
"Mmh."
The demon transformed. Slowly. Its white eyes turned blue. Its claws disappeared. Its teeth broke. It became… human. A man. An old man.
"…Thank you."
ONE looked at him.
"For what?"
"For letting me get on."
ONE didn't answer.
The bus continued.
---
End – ONE, Before ONE
ONE wasn't a hero. Not yet. He had no costume. No name. No fans.
He just had absurd situations. Improbable demons. And an infinite capacity to not understand what was happening to him.
But he was already ONE.
A boy who gave ice cream to monsters.
A boy who let demons get on the bus.
A boy who didn't kill. Because he didn't understand that he was supposed to kill.
And maybe that was the real ONE. Not the hero. Not the anomaly. Just a guy who existed. And who did what he could.
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END OF SPECIAL CHAPTER 100K
Thank you for being here. Thank you for reading. Thank you for believing in ONE.
— The author of ONE: No Limits