Episode 006: When Schoolyard Battles Become Commonplace
The rear of Asagi High School’s gym was, before anything else, desolate. You could get a little rough without anyone, even a teacher, ever noticing. It was to the point where nobody would hear you scream.
Even though it was spring, the wind carried a chill, making it that much harder to ignore the stillness hanging in the air.
Really, even I wouldn’t come around here if I didn’t have a reason.
Reina stared down coldly from a window on the gym’s indoor balcony.
The object of her gaze was Matsuda. He stood boldly by the foot of the staircase that led to the balcony where Reina was lying low. His hands were crammed in his pockets and a slight sneer was plastered on his face as he awaited his guest.
Of course, that guest was none other than Kai. Her best friend’s lover, as much as she refused to accept him. He couldn’t hide his nerves—he showed up behind the gym with the gait of a terrified rodent.
“Well if it ain’t Mr. Otacreep. I’m impressed you came alone instead of runnin’ for mama.”
Matsuda scoffed at him as a greeting. Reina had to agree on that point. She felt Kai was finally showing some guts.
Matsuda’s sneer continued to contort into something far more sinister. “That’s the only compliment you’ll get from me. Here, we gotcha a present.”
For a moment, Kai looked like he didn’t understand what Matsuda meant. Unfortunately, he figured out soon enough.
The “present” was a deluge of water being dumped on his head.
Now that he was soaked head to toe, Kai’s expression was the dictionary definition of dumbstruck. But it didn’t stop there...
“Gaaaaaaaahahahahaha!”
“Bro, look at that face!”
“Yo, nerd boy, I think you gotta wait a few weeks before the pools open up!”
“What a loser! Looooooooooser!” They made sure to drench him in ridicule, too.
Matsuda didn’t come alone. Takeda, Umeda, and Fukuda popped out from the staircase leading to the balcony. The three peered over from the landing on the half-turn flight of stairs, making them just below where Reina stood. They had filled a bucket up with water and lay in wait until Kai was right under them. It was a truly crass, childish prank.
“Whatcha think of our welcome package, otacreep?”
“We know ya love it!”
“C’mon buddy, we’re classmates, ain’t we?”
“Yeah, and hey, we’re otacreeps, too! We’re all about that loli, rape, ’n eroge shit... NOT! Gahahahaha!”
Their malicious taunting revealed how uncultured they really were, filling Reina with violent disgust. But she held no illusions about their nature, so she just had to see this through.
“Aight, Nakamura... for an otacreep, you haven’t been stayin’ in your lane lately, y’know?” Matsuda spoke as though Kai had this coming.
“... Okay, I’ve heard enough of that word, you need to be more specific. Are you saying I’m creepy? Or are you saying otaku as a whole are creepy? If you’re badmouthing otaku, then you ought to correct yourself.” Kai might have been soaked, but he argued back in a hushed voice. Surprisingly, he hadn’t broken yet.
“See, this is what I mean by not stayin’ in your lane! It’s frickin’ creepy!”
“...So, you meant I’m creepy because I don’t stay in my lane. And that bothers you?”
“Sure does. Like, you’re an otacreep goin’ out with Jun? And what was up with today? You had to go flirtin’ with Momoko and Mizuno too, just to show off?!”
“Mizuno” was Nocchi’s real name.
“Somethin’ ain’t right here! What’s a shut-in like you gettin’ talked up for when they won’t even give us the time of day? Are you blackmailing ’em like it’s one of your porn games? Huh?!”
Ridiculous. How stupid are these people?
“...How stupid are you people?”
Reina was irritated that she had to share a thought with Kai. She furiously attributed this irritation to just how sickening Matsuda’s behavior was.
Matsuda, however, was far more irritated than her. He let it show as he bellowed, “You’re an eyesore, ya otacreep!”
“...So, what do you want me to do? You don’t expect me to drop out, do you?”
“I mean, hey, I won’t stop you.” People with poor imagination and planning skills have the ability to casually say the cruelest things. Matsuda proved this with the ultimatum he gave Kai:
“But you know what I want. Break up with Jun.”
He gave his order with a fearsome, wide-eyed glare. Reina didn’t know who died and made him king, but his tone almost implied that this was his way of showing mercy. To Kai, this was likely something he couldn’t bear to hear. But to Reina? This was what she was waiting to hear.
“Jun and I aren’t even dating!”
So, Kai’s choice was to bark back.
“I don’t care. I’m tellin’ you to keep your distance from now on. From Jun, from everyone in Reina’s group. Be a good little otacreep and stay in your lane!”
“I refuse!”
Kai firmly rejected him. You could say he even showed some backbone. Unfortunately, Matsuda took that moment to plant his fist deep into Kai’s gut.
“Guh... Haiiee...”
The contents of Kai’s lungs were wrung out in the form of a pathetic whelp. Matsuda was a pro at punching people. Kai probably tried to dodge and failed. His body keeled over at a rather amusing angle. He fell to the ground on all fours and squirmed, as though the impact left him unable to stand or even control his body. He seemed to have trouble breathing, too. He was even wheezing in pain.
“Startin’ to figure out where your lane is?” Matsuda scoffed at him from above.
“Whooooo, that looked like it huuuuurt!”
“Yo, Matsuda, think you could take down an elephant with that punch?”
“Hey, otacreep, you good? Still kickin’? Just kiddin’. We’ll see ya at the funeral!” Matsuda’s cronies cackled and jeered from the staircase. Even against this hail of heckling, Reina watched as Kai could do nothing but writhe in pain.
What a pathetic man. Reina mentally kicked him while he was down. Still, she had to admit it was typical. Brute force is hard to oppose.
If Kai weren’t going out with her best friend, Reina wouldn’t bother begrudging him so directly. In fact, she’d never notice him to begin with. But a man needs to be more than typical to be worthy of Jun. Reina stared at Kai coldly, callously, and cruelly.
Reina found out that Kai had been called out behind the gym after school let out. She figured that Matsuda’s gang threatened him not to tell a soul, but Kishimoto and Satou worked up the courage to come to her for advice.
“Well, I think you’re right to ask me instead of a teacher.”
Reina wholeheartedly commended them for making the right choice. When you want an actual solution to problems of bullying, threatening, and violence, teachers rarely provide one. They force students to go through with their nonsensical resolutions if they don’t look the other way to begin with. Nothing is solved, the perpetrators get angrier, they take it out on the victims even more, etc., etc. You didn’t need to watch the nightly news to get the idea. Any student knows in their bones that teachers just want to cover their own asses.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Problems between students require solutions between students. And these boys’ assumption that the queen of the school’s food chain would be their best bet was absolutely correct.
But apologies in advance... I happen to have a personal grudge against Nakamura. Were it anyone else, Reina could have intervened and put a stop to Matsuda’s violence easily. But instead, she observed.
“I’ll take care of this,” she lied to Kai’s friends. She put them at ease so she could watch Kai suffer. She had plans to go shopping with the rest of the girls, but she told them that something urgent came up and canceled. After watching them leave for town, Reina quietly holed up in this spot where nothing would be hidden from her view.
It couldn’t be going any better. Reina hoped she could tell Kai to never show his face around Jun with Matsuda’s beating fresh in his mind. That should drive enough fear into Kai that he’d cut Jun off all on his own. So far, this was perfect.
“Poor Nakamura. You don’t want him getting any rougher now, do you?” Reina monologued to herself like a coldhearted queen.
Come, submit to Matsuda. Say you’ll break up with her. If so, I’ll grant you mercy and call for help.
And then, eventually...
Kai put force into the limbs he supported himself with. He rose with a rattled body but a resolute heart. And he glared at Matsuda right in the eyes. His gaze may have been stained with tears, but it was fierce!
“I think you get the point now,” sneered Matsuda. “Don’t come near Jun again, got it?”
To that, Kai had one response. “I refuse!!” he shouted firmly.
Reina, the coldhearted queen, could only stare at Kai in wonder.
She could have sworn that this pathetic cur wasn’t getting up again. She could have sworn he’d submit to force and suck up to Matsuda as much as he could. This was entirely unexpected.
“Quit actin’ tough, otacreep!”
Matsuda gave Kai another blow and dropped him to the ground again.
“I refuse!” But Kai stood up one more time. And this time, he glared at point blank range.
“You don’t get a choice, nerd!”
“I refuse!”
Kai got punched. He fell. But he stood back up. And he glared.
“If you got a death wish, then be my frickin’ guest!”
“I refush!”
Kai got punched. He fell. But he stood back up. And he glared.
“Nobodies like you got no right to breathe the same air as Jun!”
“I refyuje...”
Kai got punched. He fell. But he stood back up. And he glared.
“Q-Quit it already! You’re givin’ me the creeps!”
“I... re... fyuge...”
Kai got punched. He fell. But he stood back up. And he glared.
Kai kept standing back up. Reina couldn’t imagine why he’d go so far, or how he could go so far. And even though he clearly had the guts to return those blows, he never did.
Why? Reina stood by the balcony window with her eyes transfixed on Kai.
“The hell’s your deal?” said Matsuda.
Her incredulity seemed to be shared by Matsuda. But this time, she didn’t find that sickening. Reina couldn’t take her eyes off Kai. Her normally cold hands were breaking out in sweat.
“We otaku are pacifists! We don’t have one-track minds like you trash! We know what happens when you hit people, so we don’t do it!” Kai bellowed at the top of his lungs. The force was enough to make Matsuda flinch.
“I’m the one with Jun!” he continued. “And I wanna stay there! That’s not your choice to make; it’s mine!” Kai screamed as loud as his voice would allow. Reina stumbled as though those words hit her directly.
Kai said nothing more. He just kept glaring at Matsuda with animosity in his eyes. Matsuda could say nothing more. He just trembled with his fist raised in the air. Before Kai’s sheer vehemence, he was completely overwhelmed.
And there they were. Matsuda was secretly feared by just about every boy in class. Yet his opponent, Kai, was the most unassuming wallflower of them all. With the fight now in such a stalemate, one could call Kai the victor. And he relied not on the strength of his fists, but the strength of his heart. Or, at least, the part of his heart that held his feelings for Jun.
Up behind the window on the balcony, Reina found herself sighing. “I never expected it’d turn out this way...”
Her hopes had been completely dashed. And yet, she felt something burning in her heart. Her body quivered silently in excitement.
She kept staring long and hard at Kai’s distant countenance. His face had become hideously warped from the bruising it had taken. His mouth was drenched red from a bloody nose. And yet... to Reina’s eyes, he seemed so gallant, so bold!
“C’mon Matsuda, what’re ya waitin’ for?”
The prodding from Takeda brought Reina back to her senses.
“Let’s body this sucker!”
“Aw, he’s dead! RIP in peace, otacreep!”
Matsuda’s cronies hurried down the stairs to back their boss up. With that, Matsuda was heartened enough to move again.
The fight was now a sadistic four on one. They surrounded Kai and used him as a punching bag. He still tried to stand up, but that wasn’t physically possible anymore. His opponents realized it was much faster to just keep beating him down instead of letting him get up each time. All he had left was his glare.
“...Wait right there. Hold on for just a bit longer.” Spurred into action, Reina left her window and ran off in search of help. “Oh, how I detest running!”
As someone who prided herself on her refined demeanor, she couldn’t remember the last time she ran for someone else. She resisted the urge to click her tongue and sprinted with all her might.
Kai found himself in a tornado of torment.
“Say you’ll break up with Jun, dammit!”
“Swear you’ll never go near Reina’s group again!”
“And let’s hear ya say it on video!”
“Better hurry if ya wanna live! ’Cuz you’re, like, actually not gonna live!”
Every punch and every kick was followed by a threat. Kai had to chuckle to himself as he was tossed about by the waves of brutality.
How about you quit talking tough and put your money where your mouth is? Go ahead, kill me... if you’ve got the guts.
The edges of his blood-drenched lips curled upward, giving his cheeks a cynical curve.
“I refuse!” Kai shouted. He was met with another beating as he writhed on the ground. No matter how pitiful or weak he seemed, he would yield to neither their thrashes nor their taunts.
“I refuse!!” Kai shouted. But this time... it was almost as though someone heard him...
“You there, second-years! What’s the meaning of this?!”
Help had arrived. Kai heard the sound of footsteps rushing toward him. He managed to tilt his head in their direction and get a peek between the lumps obscuring his vision.
It was a teacher. A teacher with a face fit for a shoujo manga and a reputation fit for royalty.
Mr. Prince had come for him.
And behind him was Reina. In a rare display of raw emotion, she was struggling to hold back her tears.
“Oh shit, Matsuda!”
“Let’s scram!”
“Shit, it’s Reina? She ratted us out?”
Matsuda’s cronies were clearly flustered that a teacher had caught them red-handed.
“Cram it! You think we’re turning back now?!”
Matsuda didn’t share their sentiment. His eyes were bloodshot, and his sense of reason was overpowered by the rush of adrenaline. He aimed his fists at the teacher.
But they didn’t hit their mark.
“Hasn’t anyone ever taught you not to bite off more than you can chew?”
Royalteach effortlessly caught Matsuda’s fist with his right palm. His movements were far more forceful than you’d expect from someone so handsome. He must’ve had many more fights under his belt than a punk like Matsuda.
“Geh...”
Matsuda cooled right off as Royalteach flashed an indomitable grin.
“But if you insist, I’ll take you up on your offer, be it one-on-one or four-on-one. Don’t worry. I’m not so cowardly as to take a fight between men to court, so feel free to come at me.”
“U-Uh, on second thought...” Matsuda stumbled over his words, clearly not expecting a mere teacher to intimidate him. That cocksure attitude he had when beating Kai to a pulp seemed to have shriveled up.
“If you don’t want to fight me, then this is simply an act of violence, and I won’t hesitate to report it to the school as such. Understand?”
“Oh. Wait, I mean—”
“Do. You. Understand?!”
Royalteach shouted him down in a booming voice. Matsuda’s gang immediately backed down and fell to their knees. Their shoulders drooped as a sign of complete resignation.
He sure knows how to teach people a lesson...
As he watched Royalteach sternly stare down Matsuda’s gang, Kai marveled at how much further that went than just this teacher’s job title.
Shortly afterward, Royalteach was kind enough to bring Kai to a hospital.
“I’ll tell your teacher about what happened later. Hop in—don’t be shy.”
And with that, he offered Kai the passenger seat of the Suzuki Swift Sport he had in the school parking lot. Kai’s uniform still hadn’t dried from the water those goons dumped on him earlier, but Royalteach didn’t mind if the seat got wet. The rumors of his reliability were true after all.
While they were on the road, Kai checked his face over and over in the rear-view mirror and felt like laughing each time. His eyelids were so swollen that they almost made him look like a ghost. His cheeks were as puffed up as a blowfish. His mouth was caked in dried blood from his nose. Even though he knew it was his own face—or perhaps because of that—he found the ugliness so bizarre that a chuckle almost rose out. Too bad he didn’t have the energy to laugh.
“I’m impressed you held out for so long,” Royalteach told him as he kept his eyes on the road and his hands at ten and two. “And that you never punched back.”
“...Well, yeah, I’m a coward.”
“A coward would cry and beg for mercy. They wouldn’t dare talk back.”
“...Well, yeah, I threw ten thousand punches in Fitness Boxing. My fists are lethal weapons.”
“Hahaha!”
Royalteach gave a hearty laugh. Kai was glad he liked the joke.
“Well,” the teacher continued, “fighting back definitely isn’t the only way for a man to defend his pride. You didn’t want to stoop to the level of idiots like them. I understand.”
His lines were cheesy, but his voice was as serious as could be.
...I can see why the boys warm up to this guy.
Kai was grateful for the cheesy commendation. He was grateful that Mr. Prince understood him without needing a word of explanation. He was grateful that he never stopped looking forward. It meant that Kai would be spared any embarrassment if he suddenly broke out into tears.
After getting some light treatment at the hospital, Kai had an examination to make sure there was no permanent damage. His results:
“Go home and rest until tomorrow just to be safe. You should be fine, but come back immediately if you experience any headaches or nausea. Call an ambulance if you have to.”
A doctor gave him a short diagnosis and let him go. Basically, he was to watch his symptoms at home. Kai was certain he’d need to be hospitalized, so he found it kind of deflating.
Manga and the like had taught Kai that bleeding from the head (particularly the forehead) was a sign of intensity, that faces can swell quickly into painful contortions, but that sometimes the heaviest damage is skin deep. Kai finally had the opportunity to have the truth of those lessons literally beaten into him.
And yet, after such a harrowing, painful experience... a doctor took an objective look at him and said he wasn’t banged up too bad.
“Uh, sure...”
It didn’t quite feel right, but Kai got in the passenger seat of the Swift Sport regardless. Was this the placebo effect? Knowing he’d be fine made him notice the pain all around his body less and less.
“It might sound weird for me to say, but I guess you’re a bit let down?”
Royalteach had a chuckle from the driver’s seat. After staying with Kai throughout the entire treatment and examination, he was now driving him home.
“Well, that’s the most that tough-talking punks these days can do. They’re all scared to fight alone, so they usually just gather their buddies to make sure whichever weakling they pick out can’t defend themselves. They’ve never been in a real fight. They know a bit about how to hurt, but that ain’t the same.”
“...Were you a little rough as a student, Mr. Prince?”
“Well, certainly more than I am now. But that’s something I heard from a teacher back when I was a punk. ‘Tough-talkin’ punks these days ain’t much,’ he told me.”
“Did your teacher go to school in ancient Sparta?”
Kai wasn’t sure if he was supposed to take this as a joke. Doing the math, that teacher must have been a student twenty or thirty years ago? Maybe even forty? This was obviously before Kai was born, so he had trouble imagining it.
“There used to be a manga called Be-Bop High School. It was just about a bunch of delinquents beating each other up, but until Attack on Titan came around, it held the record for the largest single-volume first print run in Kodansha series history. In an age when manga wasn’t the pop culture force it is now, that was considered selling like hotcakes.”
“Wow!”
“And Rokudenashi Blues in Jump was crazy, too. See, every school in the country had its share of hotheaded delinquents. They’d squabble over who was strong, beat the crap out of each other, and the last one standing was the coolest. People idolized that life. That’s why they wrote manga about that stuff, and it flew off the shelves. It was a different time; to millennials like us, it probably seems like Sparta.”
“Uh, haha...”
Kai gave an awkward chuckle and thanked his lucky stars that he wasn’t born a boomer. But what was Royalteach trying to get at? Kai found his examples interesting, so he listened intently, but he didn’t quite get the point or meaning behind it all. He was mentally tilting his head.
“So, what I’m trying to say,” Royalteach continued. While keeping his eyes on the road, like any good driver.
He kept his right hand on the wheel, but lifted his left from the gear stick to extend it toward Kai’s head. He placed it on top and ruffled his hair a bit.
“If something like today every happens again, come straight to me. I’m more helpful than trying to solve everything between students. Well, I try to be, anyway.”
The hand that trembled with each of Royalteach’s hearty laughs was bigger than Kai expected. And his arms were buff. He might have looked like a heartthrob, but he was a grown man.
With that, Kai understood what Royalteach was getting at.
I’m not scared of today’s punks like Matsuda and his cronies. If they start something, I’ll stop it. Physically. I won’t look the other way.
That was the promise he was making with Kai.
If this guy wrote a Japanese test, I bet every question would be a troll.
Kai forgot the pain in his stomach for a bit as he smiled and thanked goodness that Royalteach taught social studies.
“Thanks a ton, I’ll call you when the time comes.”
“Sure.”
Royalteach retracted his hand. And for the short time until they reached Kai’s home, the two got excited talking about the modern big three of shounen manga together. It was then that Kai remembered that he had always wanted to have a manga chat with this teacher.
Once he got home, Kai shut himself inside his room, changed into his sleepwear, and curled up into bed.
Royalteach explained the situation to his parents over the phone, so Kai’s mom elected not to ask her son about it. What was done was done, and she didn’t want to make him admit that he took such a one-sided beating. She understood that being a worrywart right now would only do more harm to Kai than good. He’d be better off if he were left alone for a bit.
“I know I’m supposed to rest... but man, I’m bored.”
Kai checked the clock, and it hadn’t even hit 7 p.m. Too early to expect drowsiness to set in any time soon.
Reading a manga or light novel counted as rest, right? What about watching anime? Could he handle a video game?
Quite some time passed as his mind focused on such trifling thoughts. But soon, he heard the thundering footsteps of someone dashing up the stairs. And shortly after, his bedroom door swung open.
“Kai!”
It was Jun, gasping for breath.
“You went to the hospital? What did the doctors say?!”
She kneeled by the side of the bed with a look so strained that you’d be forgiven for thinking she was the one who’d been sent to the ER.
“...Oh, they said it’s nothing serious. I... can be back in school tomorrow.”
Jun had closed their distance so aggressively that Kai found himself shrinking back.
“For real?!”
“C-Come on, would I lie to you?”
“Pheeeew, thank gooooodness...”
Jun looked as though the weight of the world was lifted off her shoulders as she relaxed her body and slumped over the bed.
“...Weren’t you out shopping with friends?”
“I was. But I got a call from Reina, so I came running.”
Jun answered with a muffled voice, as her face was still buried in the bedsheets.
“Come to think of it, she’s the one who got me out of that situation... I gotta thank her tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I thanked her a ton over the phone.”
“Ah, right. That’s a better idea. Fujisawa would probably rather hear that from you than me.”
Kai joked that she wasn’t exactly his number one fan. He was waiting for Jun to joke along, but she didn’t respond. She just kept her face planted on the bed with no indication that she’d raise it, so Kai couldn’t tell what expression she was making.
But... he did hear a sniffle. Kai had to chuckle at that.
“C’mon, Jun, don’t cry.”
“...I’m not crying.”
“I’m the one who’s in enough pain that I could cry, right?”
“...I said I’m not crying.”
Jun continued to play it cool with her face held firmly down. But despite her best efforts, her sniffles only grew louder until a few of them turned into sobs.
Kai could only chuckle again. In an imitation of Royalteach, he reached his right arm over and gently placed his hand on the back of her head. While he savored the smoothness of her hair, he gently caressed her head to calm her nerves and soothe her heart.
Once he did, the levee finally broke. Jun wailed and started bawling, making an increasingly visible puddle on Kai’s comforter.
“See? You are crying.”
“But I was so worried... Just because you weren’t hospitalized doesn’t mean I’d stop worrying. And I just couldn’t relax until I saw your face...”
“Can you relax now?”
“Yeah, I’m sooo relaxed... but still a little worried...”
“Well, stick around until that’s all gone.”
“Yeah... I will...”
Jun dragged her face up and down against the covers in agreement.
Kai chuckled yet again. He had to wonder who was visiting who here. Well, I’m definitely glad to have someone to talk to. Times like these made him so grateful to have such a friend.
...However. Kai noticed a peculiar tingling in his nose as Jun was discharging the contents of hers. And before long, he was sneezing in succession.
Uh-oh, that’s not good, Kai realized as he sniffled deeply.
“...Sorry, Jun. The injuries might not have been major, but I think I caught a cold...”
It was probably due to the bucket of water Matsuda’s cronies doused him with before they beat his ass. It was pretty chilly out today, and he was stuck in those wet clothes for a while. Maybe the fact that they had dried by the time he got home made him careless. Maybe he should’ve taken a long, hot bath to warm his bones the second he got in the door...
In fact, he was feeling chillier by the second. Kai knew his body well; when he got fevers, he’d start getting a chill. This was definitely a cold.
“So uh, you oughta go for the day. Please? I don’t want you catching it.”
“Fine, I’ll catch it.”
“Don’t be silly...”
Kai tried to reason with Jun. But before he could go any further, her face shot up, and his gaze was captured by the expression she finally revealed.
Her tear-stained eyes left an impression. To someone like Jun who always minded her appearance, it must have been a humiliating state to be in. But those tears came from her concern for Kai and were shed for his sake. How could he see her as anything less than beautiful?
Jun argued back with that teary face and runny nose.
“It’s my fault Matsuda beat you up, isn’t it?!”
Kai gulped before looking back sternly. “No. That’s absolutely not why.” It was Matsuda’s fault. It was that coward’s and nobody else’s.
“I knew it! Besides... if I were in your shoes and someone told me to stop being friends with you, I’d never do it no matter how hard they punched or kicked! I wouldn’t accept it! I’d say no to my last breath!”
“Jun...”
That tugged on his heartstrings. Kai was about to cry over her crying. That’s how happy he was to hear Jun say that.
“So let me catch it. We’ll have a cold together.”
“Haha... I dunno what to do with you...”
Kai had no clue what was running through Jun’s head. He couldn’t tell if there was any logic in there at all. And yet, he found her argument strangely convincing.
“I got it. Just stay by my side for a bit.”
“Sure!”
Jun eagerly responded and hopped onto the bed. To Kai’s surprise, she pulled up the sheets and wrapped them around the two of them. To Kai’s further surprise, she clutched his side as he lay on his back.
“Wait, what?”
“You always say you’re chilly when you catch a cold, right? So I’m warming you up.” Jun may have been the one to say it, but she was already beet red.
“You don’t have to if it’s gonna make you blush...”
“I’m not. That’s the cold.”
“Haha. Sure, you caught that quick.”
Kai joked about it, but he figured his face was probably no less flushed. Maybe it was because they were both under the sheets, but Jun’s lovely scent was stronger than usual. And her warmth traveled further than he expected... as though he could feel the beats of her racing heart through her skin.
“...Hey...”
“...What’s up?”
“...Can I come closer?”
“...Sure. We’re friends, after all.”
Jun whispered into Kai’s ear close enough to tickle it.
“...Well, since we’re friends...”
“...Yeah. C’mere.”
With Jun’s permission granted, Kai changed his position. He turned from lying on his back to lying on his side with the both of them in each other’s arms. The face of the cutest girl in his world, the one who was everything he was looking for, was so close that she took his breath away.
“...Like it?”
“...I do.”
The body Kai held close was so soft, and oh-so warm. The chill before the cold was the furthest thing from his mind.
The next day, Kai and Jun were gleefully absent from school. The two of them had gleefully caught colds.
After sleeping for a whole day, Kai was back to full health. Maybe he got off with a light cold because Jun shouldered half the burden. After a quick message on LINE, he found that she was planning to be back at school today, Wednesday. With their agreement to meet in the classroom made, Kai left for school after his one-day gap.
I need to get someone to show me their notes from yesterday. Kishimoto probably didn’t take any worth reading, so maybe I should ask for Satou’s...
He thought long and hard about such classroom concerns as he arrived at school without incident. Once he made it to the shoe lockers, he found Reina, who appeared to be waiting for someone...
Erk.
Kai’s awareness of her loathing made him recoil by reflex, but he quickly gave it a second thought. She seemed to be the one who saved him by calling for Royalteach, so he had to give his thanks.
“G-Good morning, Fujisawa!”
Kai timidly approached her as he performed the requisite mental gymnastics to assure himself it wasn’t “unnecessary contact” or that she wouldn’t get mad at him.
“Good morning. I’ve been waiting!”
Reina greeted him with a radiant and flawlessly faked smile.
Wh-Wh-Wh-What’s gotten into her?!
He was startled but too afraid to pry, so he opted to get his business over with first. As they walked side by side toward their classroom, he cut to the chase.
“You were the one who called for Royalteach when Matsuda’s gang was beating me up, right? Thanks for that.”
“Oh, you needn’t thank me. It was Kishimoto and Satou who summoned their courage to tell me that you were called out behind the gym.”
“Ah, I see. Guess there’s a lot of people I gotta thank.”
Kai may have sounded bashful, but his expression was beaming. He had just learned that there were a bunch of people on his side. What could have made him happier?
The queen also filled him in on what had happened while he was out.
“Matsuda’s gang was suspended for two weeks and received a yellow card on top of it. They were told in no uncertain terms that any further acts of violence would result in immediate expulsion.”
“...Isn’t that kinda harsh?”
“Perhaps. If you had a one-track mind like those trash, you’d be serving a share of their sentence.” Even Reina was impressed that Kai didn’t throw any punches back.
“On the flip side, that means I gotta see their faces again in just two weeks. Not lookin’ forward to that...”
Kai made another sheepish complaint as he hid his reddened cheeks. But now that he’d spoken it out loud, he realized it could actually be a serious problem. Those guys weren’t the type to learn their lessons, so they’d come back to make his life miserable. Or worse—come out for revenge. They didn’t want to get expelled either, so they’d probably shift to shadier methods of torment, methods that wouldn’t leave much evidence. In that case, there might be a limit to how much even Royalteach could help... Just the thought made Kai anxious.
“You’ll be fine.” Reina paid no mind to Kai’s fears as she made her casual statement. “Don’t worry, Matsuda’s gang is going to do a lot of thinking about what they did. They won’t bother you again.”
“Uhhhhh, really?” Kai found this hard to believe. He’d never seen delinquents like them turn over a new leaf.
“Rest assured, I’ll make them think.”
“Um?”
“Oh, don’t mind me, just talking to myself.”
Reina shot Kai another radiant, flawlessly faked smile. Kai decided not to press for details out of fear for his life, instead choosing to return to the main topic at hand.
“Anyway, Fujisawa, I’d like to thank you.”
“As I told you, you needn’t thank me.”
“Hm?”
Kai felt a bit suspicious of how guarded Reina was despite maintaining her precisely pretty smile. But Reina readily admitted the truth.
“Does it not strike you as odd? I knew from the beginning that you were called out. And yet, they still beat you down. Your help didn’t arrive in time.”
“...Is it that strange?”
“I was watching them beat you to a pulp from the beginning.”
“Geh!” Kai’s face contorted after hearing a confession that he could have gone his whole life without knowing. “...Why?”
“I thought you had it coming. Besides, I wanted you to break up with Jun, too.”
Okay, yeah, this girl is terrifying. The shiver that was sent down Kai’s spine reminded him full well. “...But wait a second. That still doesn’t add up.”
“Oh? How so?”
“Then what was the point of calling Royalteach? You could’ve just waited for me to beg Matsuda for mercy.”
“Indeed, that was the original plan...” Reina suddenly halted in her tracks. She turned to face Kai, who had also paused. “But you said that you’d never break up with Jun no matter what they put you through. It made me think better of you. So, I changed my mind and decided to help. Nothing more.”
Curiously enough, they found themselves in the same hallway where Reina told Kai she had overestimated him one week ago. This was right where she told him that he wasn’t a suitable man, and that she wouldn’t accept their relationship, among plenty of other things.
And in that exact same place...
“So, would you consider becoming friends with me?” Reina asked with a radiant smile. One that was harder to discern if it was faked or honest.
“Are... you... serious?” Kai was incredulous that she’d ask after all this time, but the queen was still undaunted.
“Why not? The friend of my friend is my friend, are they not?”
“You’re not wrong... I think?”
And that was the moment that Kai could call one more girl his friend.
“Now, let us be off... Ash.” Reina invited Kai to the classroom. He looked none too pleased, but followed regardless.
“I told you, it’s Nakamura!”
“Is it? Come now, we’re friends. You can call me Reina, and that’s a privilege.”
“At least call me Kai! Jun does too!”
“Then let me call you Ash. Changing one’s nickname is an important technique for emphasizing one’s character, according to Jun.”
“Do you even know what that means?”
Shortly afterward, Jun’s face lit up, and the entire class’s eyes went wide at the sight of those two joking as they entered the classroom.
But there are some corners of the world that are better off unexplored. And for Kai, this was absolutely one of them.
Matsuda’s bellows echoed throughout the karaoke room.
“Shit, I can’t get a holda Chiaki!”
“Every one of ’em is leavin’ us on read!”
“They’re actin’ like it’d kill ’em to hang with us!”
“And they were beggin’ to come along last time we asked!”
The boys were serving their suspension. They were supposed to be spending this time confined at home and studying on their own, but following such tedious rules had never been their style. Today, Wednesday, marked their second straight gathering in the two days following the incident, but they couldn’t lift their spirits from the gloom of a suspension with a sausage party. They needed chicks.
So here they were, calling every girl they knew. And every single one was giving them the cold shoulder. It was enough to drive them nuts. They didn’t need to shoot for someone high class like Reina; any random uggo or slut would do. But even after lowering their standards that far, they still weren’t getting so much as a bite.
“Screw this bitch!”
“Who does she think she is?!”
With their shouts shifting to insults, the boys started taking out their frustrations on the walls.
Why were they suddenly getting the silent treatment? They had a clue. The first person they messaged over LINE was the biggest slut they knew, Suama Sakakibara from Class 3. Her reaction told them everything.
“Like, aren’t you suspended?”
“Losers LMAO”
With that, she stopped even reading their texts.
And Matsuda was sure she wasn’t alone; he bet everyone in school was gossiping about them! His gang was the butt of their jokes! How could he show his face at school again once their suspension ended?
“It’s all ’cause of that otacreep...”
Matsuda hit the wall with malice. The people from the next room over hit back, yelling at him to shut up. Matsuda’s gang wasn’t going to take that lying down.
“You wanna go?!”
“We ain’t in a good mood over here!”
“Try us, punk! You’re dead meat!”
“You don’t wanna see how tough Matsuda is!”
The boys all kicked the walls and made threats. It was nothing more than a temper tantrum. But the next room went quiet, probably because that put them in their place.
“Shouldn’t be talkin’ shit if you’re just gonna wuss out!” Matsuda gave the wall another knock or two to calm himself down. “Yeah, that’s right. This is who we are. Nobody messes with us.” A sinister grin rose on Matsuda’s face as he finally had a good idea. “When we get back to school, that otacreep’s getting slaughtered.”
“Yeah!” the others responded in unison.
“We gotta make an example outta him to show what happens when you stand up to us.”
“Good idea!”
“Dude, let’s do it!”
The cronies were gleefully on board. If they tortured Kai for everyone to see, then all those shit-talkers would know exactly how scary Matsuda was. ’Cause when it rains, it... something. Whatever it was that came up on that quiz. They would earn back their respect and set their place on the food chain in stone.
“So, what’re we gonna do to that otacreep?”
“I don’t wanna get expelled, so it’s gotta be somethin’ more fun than a beating.”
“How ’bout we take Kishimoto or whoever hostage and make him streak butt-naked around the school?”
“Ooh, I like it! But first, we gotta make sure Jun gets an eyeful of her boyfriend’s microdick!”
“Gahah, that’s evil, dude! Bet that creep’ll get a boner over it, too.”
“I know, like a total sicko!”
“Yeah, otaku are always into some messed-up shit, hahah!”
Matsuda’s gang had a lot of fun coming up with ways to ruin Kai’s life, each more cruel than the last. They noted their ideas down on their smartphones and committed to take action.
At that moment, they heard a knock at the door.
The boys looked at each other. Nobody had ordered any drinks, so there shouldn’t have been any staff coming by. They thought it was strange, but the door burst open before they had the chance to respond. Someone entered the room... and it was none other than Reina.
“Yooooo!” all the boys said together.
After getting ignored by every girl they asked, even the ones who used to squeal with joy as they tagged along, the only one who showed up was the most untouchable beauty in school. Talk about snatching victory from... somewhere. That one was also on the quiz.
“Reina, babe, perfect timing! Have a seat!”
“Whatcha wanna sing? I’ll put it in!”
“Or, hey, wanna hear Matsuda sing Kanjani?”
“Order whatever. It’s our treat!”
Matsuda’s gang immediately changed their tune to welcome Reina. Unfortunately, their music would stop soon enough. Because someone else followed her inside.
“Geh... erm...”
Every single one of the boys gasped. Their eyes widened in disbelief at what they were being faced with.
The figure of the man who followed Reina in was just that imposing. His height was so far beyond the average Japanese guy’s that he had to duck when entering the doorway. His body was so buff that he looked like he was in a suit of armor. His age was maybe in the late 20s? He had the threatening countenance of a bloodthirsty beast who’d been dressed up and sent on the town. And he was wearing the kind of suit no man walking the straight and narrow would be caught dead in; it had the color and flash of a peacock, but its lapel was unusually wide. In other words, a mafia-style suit.
W-Were the rumors of Reina dating someone in the yakuza true?!
Matsuda gulped loudly. He wanted to run. Immediately. At least, if that were still an option here. Sadly, the entrance was fully blocked by the big guy before them.
“These the punks who beat up Jun’s boyfriend?”
A glance from him was all it took to make Matsuda shiver. And a gaze from him, projecting far more presence than a high schooler ever could, was enough to freeze Matsuda in place.
“Yes, it’s them. If that weren’t enough, they’re imbeciles who could never dream of learning from their mistakes.”
Reina’s scorn taught Matsuda a valuable lesson: the human voice was capable of sounding far more cold-blooded than he ever thought possible.
“Hasn’t your teacher ever taught you not to bite off more than you can chew?” The massive mystery man before them sounded none too pleased.
“W-Wait, please! I mean, I beg of you!”
“Yeah, we’d never pick a fight with someone as terrify—I mean, as terrific as you!”
“You must have the wrong people!”
Matsuda’s gang hurriedly shook their hands and heads in an attempt to earn some pity as they desperately argued their innocence. Unfortunately...
“You really are a bunch of fools,” said Reina as she made it clear that she had no mercy to spare for them. “You still don’t get it? To harm my own flesh and blood is to sign your own death warrant.”
“F-Flesh and blood? Who?!”
“I got no clue who you’re talkin’ about!”
“My best friend’s boyfriend counts as family to me.”
With the hammer dropped, Matsuda’s gang was in terror. Because it was now crystal clear that the certain death staring them in the face wasn’t doing so over a mere case of mistaken identity.
“Sh-Shut the hell up!”
“Surround him, guys!”
“It’s just some geezer! Nothin’ to act scared of!”
With nowhere left to run, Matsuda’s gang resorted to desperate measures and ganged up on the massive man... until he suddenly clenched his right fist and backhanded the wall right next to the doorway with all his might. It was just one blow, but the drywall now had a crater in it surrounded by a web of massive fissures.
“Geh...” was the boys’ only response.
Matsuda’s gang wailed, unable to take another step out of fear. How does a human fist come to contain such force? This karaoke shop might have been cheaply built, but its walls weren’t the kind of thing you could pulverize with your bare hands. Even fools like these boys could understand, especially after all the punishment they’d given those walls just minutes earlier. This man’s strength was on a different level from theirs; just making the comparison was a show of arrogance.
“I suggest you refrain from talking shit if you’re simply going to wuss out.”
Even in the face of Reina’s scoffing and ridicule, they couldn’t say a word back.
And with that, they had the living shit beaten out of them.
To Matsuda’s gang, violence was just a part of daily life. They were blessed with large frames and athletic skills since childhood, so they could win fights without trying very hard. They found people weaker than them to prank and bully, and if they didn’t like someone, they just kicked their butt. That’s how they’d lived until now, and what they rubbed in everyone’s faces.
But now... the barrage of brutality raining upon their flesh was something fundamentally different from the fights they had considered their specialty. This man didn’t shout to intimidate his opponents. This man didn’t resort to hackneyed threats. This was something Matsuda’s gang didn’t know, something they were entirely ignorant of. This was what could only be called true violence, and it was something far removed from the life they’d lived.
Afterward...
The suspensions of Matsuda’s gang ended after two weeks, right on schedule. However, all four of them happened to spend that day atop a hospital bed. It wouldn’t be until after the end of summer vacation, the start of the second semester, that they would return to school like entirely changed men.
This was a world Kai needn’t enter. And it would be a long, long time before that mysterious man appeared before him.
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