Chapter 25
‘Yamaguchi’—what comes to mind when you hear that surname?
At least for me, I picture an angular face and manly eyes.
It isn't exactly the name of a leading character.
It's perfect for a supporting or minor character.
I was looking at that minor character, Yamaguchi.
He was sitting on the rooftop railing, surrounded by a tall iron fence.
His expression was so indifferent that I couldn't tell what he was thinking.
His physique was no joke, either.
It must have taken five years to build that.
There were quite a few delinquents from the circle gathered around him.
Among them were Takashi, who was looking at me worriedly, and Samoyama, who was grinding his teeth.
When I sauntered over to Yamaguchi with a swaggering gait, Samoyama bristled and tried to step forward.
But when Yamaguchi opened his mouth, Samoyama had no choice but to return to his place without being able to do anything.
“Matsuda Ken.”
His voice was ordinary.
Luckily, he didn't have a deep, low voice like mine.
I almost got jealous.
“Yes.”
“You want to quit the circle?”
Good job, Takashi. You conveyed it properly.
I nodded and answered.
“That's right.”
“Why?”
Yamaguchi looked favorably on people with spirit—people who were gutsy in a good way, or, in a bad way, reckless pups who didn't know to fear a tiger and dared to challenge it.
He also seemed to like honest people.
So I wouldn't think up an excuse. I'd just tell him the truth.
“Seeing you guys pick fights with other academies is pathetic, so I want to quit. We're not high school kids, you know.”
The person who bristled at my words wasn't Yamaguchi, but Samoyama.
“What did you just say, you fucking bastard?”
One of the guys beside Yamaguchi approached me and raised his fist.
He looked ready to punch me at any moment.
Yamaguchi stopped Samoyama in a quiet voice.
“Enough.”
“.... Yes, senpai.”
His cowering act was a sight to behold.
“So you're turning your back on your family?”
Yamaguchi continued with his questions.
I wanted to snort and say, What family...? But I held myself back.
“Yes. I want to turn my back on them. I don't want to play these childish games anymore.”
As I said this, I opened my eyes wide and stared at Yamaguchi.
I wanted him to understand that I was sincere.
Had he sensed what I was feeling?
After being tightly closed for a while, his lips parted.
“You know the rules for quitting, right?”
I knew.
I had to cut off my pinky.
It was an absurdly old-fashioned shackle, the kind only old-time yakuza would use.
“You want me to cut off a finger? What kind of bullshit is that? I'm sure there are plenty of people who can't quit because of this.”
“Is that so?”
“That's how it is. I don't want to cut off a finger. I'll just let you beat me until the dust flies, so let's call it even.”
Think about it, Yamaguchi.
You think this yakuza game is pathetic too.
The only reason you haven't left is that you feel attached to the people you've known all this time and responsible for the members of the circle.
If you had the chance, you'd be someone who would seriously consider quitting, wouldn't you?
So I'll help you.
The Supreme Circle would be completely disbanded as of today.
I don't know what punishment you'll receive, but accept it willingly since you still have a little delinquent spirit left in you.
“Hmm...”
Yamaguchi seemed to be pondering it.
For some reason, I felt like I was going to get a positive answer.
“You want to settle this by getting beaten senseless, is that it?”
“Yes.”
“Then we'll do that. On the condition that you never reveal anything about the circle's activities.”
“Sounds good.”
Right. He understood how I felt, but he couldn't ignore the position of the circle's members, either.
I was satisfied simply because he'd accepted my proposal.
“Se-senpai...!”
Samoyama's bewildered cry rang out.
Then all the extras belonging to the circle began to murmur as well.
It seemed they were unhappy that the solid, stone-like Yamaguchi had accepted a first-year student's proposal.
If that bothered you, you should have analyzed Yamaguchi's personality and agonized over how to win him over yourselves.
“Samoyama.”
“Yes...?”
“You hit him.”
The corners of Samoyama's mouth immediately rose.
It wasn't that he was offended. He simply wanted to beat the shit out of me.
I didn't mind, since I wanted Samoyama to hit me anyway...
But you really are beyond saving.
“How badly should I mess him up?”
“Until I tell you to stop.”
“Understood.”
The whole picture was clear.
Now all I had to do was get beaten.
“You've been a fucking pain in the ass since summer vacation... You'd better start chanting that you're fucking dead.”
Samoyama said this as he strode toward me.
I looked down at him with an indifferent expression.
Today, unlike at the hideout last time, I wasn't going to take the beating with my head bowed...
Bwaak-!
My head, which had been underestimating him, snapped to the side with a heavy impact.
I think my lip split open with that one hit... It hurt more than when I'd been beaten at the hideout.
Should I just lie facedown and take it meekly?
No. Once I'd put on a show of swagger, I had to maintain it.
Then maybe Yamaguchi would stop Samoyama.
I set my head straight again, worked the blood around in my mouth, and spat it to the side.
Then I grinned as hard as I could.
I wanted Samoyama to become even angrier when he saw my teeth painted with blood.
“Where the hell do you get off glaring at me like some crazy bastard...?”
Bwap!
As expected, Samoyama took the bait and began beating me in earnest.
Bwap! Whack!
I still had club activities to attend, so I shouldn't let myself get hit hard enough to suffer a concussion like last time.
I would take the hits just hard enough for Samoyama to feel the impact.
That was what I thought when—
Thud!
When Samoyama performed what was commonly called a wasabari—a leg sweep—I immediately realized I was screwed.
Still... There was no guarantee that everything in life would go according to my plans.
But wasn't I the protagonist?
Getting humiliated by a minor character... Of course, I had brought this on myself, but this was a bit much.
Thump!
**
How many times had I been hit?
I counted up to thirty, but I wasn't sure after that.
It felt like I'd been beaten for quite a while, yet my mind was remarkably clear.
Samoyama's punches weren't weak... Was this the protagonist's toughness buff?
I could endure it—not just somewhat, but quite a lot.
Except for the fact that my mouth had split open.
“Huff... huff...! This fucking bastard keeps blocking...!”
Samoyama was beginning to tire from all the beating, judging by his ragged breathing.
When I glanced at Yamaguchi, he seemed ready to step in soon.
But Takashi was faster than Yamaguchi.
“You fucking bastard...! Hey, you son of a bitch! Stop hitting him!”
Unable to stand by and watch me get beaten any longer, he was about to rush at Samoyama while hurling curses at him.
Just as Samoyama's face twisted violently at the insults,
Rattle! Rattle-rattle!
A loud noise came from the firmly locked rooftop door.
Creak...! Creeeak...!
Then I heard the sound of someone forcing something open...
I immediately realized that the faculty and student council had come running.
Miyuki, worried because I hadn't returned even after the break was over, had probably told them.
Our Miyuki was a meddler like that.
Clang!
While everyone froze in confusion, the doorknob was torn from the rooftop door, and the door flew open.
Several students wearing student council emblems on their chests, followed by faculty led by the PE professor, poured through it.
“You little brats...!”
The PE professor, who was about as big as Yamaguchi, growled, then flinched when he saw me getting up.
“You... Are you all right...?”
I answered with a grin, swallowed the blood still welling from my split lip, picked up the phone that had fallen to the ground, and stared intently at Yamaguchi.
He gave a small nod.
It was his way of announcing that the quitting process was complete.
At last, I had cleaned up the mess Matsuda Ken had made and escaped that childish circle.
Even though this group had almost nothing to do with my original self, the sense of liberation was incredible.
I'd gone through a lot for this.
I pushed through the crowd and left the rooftop.
A young professor offered to support me along the way, but I said I would go on my own.
The person supporting me had to be Miyuki.
Come to think of it, wasn't it second period right now?
If the incident was serious enough for several faculty members and the student council to come up even though they should have been teaching, it must have been quite a big deal.
‘I'm tired...’
My mind was fine, but my body was exhausted.
The accumulated damage hadn't vanished, and the arm I'd used to block with was throbbing badly.
My face was numb, too.
As I carefully descended the stairs, I simply sat down in the second-floor hallway.
While I caught my breath and fended off the students who came to gawk with nothing but a look,
“Aaaah!!”
Miyuki, who had been hurriedly climbing the stairs, found me and let out a scream.
When she saw the blood on my face and uniform shirt, she covered her mouth with both hands.
Her reaction was similar to the one she'd shown the day after I'd been beaten at the hideout.
I furrowed my brow sharply and tiredly picked at my ear.
“Why are you making so much noise...? My eardrums are going to burst. Keep it down...”
Did my voice sound all right?
Miyuki slowly approached me and spoke.
“Ma-Matsuda-kun...?”
“What?”
“Are you okay...?”
“Of course I'm okay.”
“There's blood all over your face... And your clothes...”
“They're just torn. I'm fine everywhere else. Want me to prove it?”
When I tried to spring to my feet, Miyuki hurriedly grabbed my wrist.
“S-sit down...! I'll bring the school nurse...! Just... Just wait a little...! Okay...?”
Then she started to go back down the stairs.
“Don't go.”
But when she heard my low, subdued voice, she hesitated and turned her head.
I gave her a weak smile, swallowed the blood gathered in my mouth, and lightly tapped the stairs beside me with my palm.
“Stay with me.”
“.... But you're bleeding...”
“I said stay with me.”
“.....”
Flustered by my suddenly gentlemanly attitude, she soon approached again and carefully sat down beside me.
Then she took out a handkerchief and began wiping around the wounds on my face.
I watched her silently for a while before opening my mouth.
“You called them, didn't you?”
“.... I did. You hadn't come back even after five minutes since you went up to the rooftop... So I told the teachers...”
“What did you tell them?”
“That they were causing a huge incident on the rooftop...”
Really? Good job.
“Did you think you could quit the circle after only five minutes?”
“I don't understand you, Matsuda-kun. Why go out of your way to follow the rules of an illegal organization...? You said you were worried that I or Tetsuya-kun might get caught up in it... But even so, they could punish you plenty within the school rules...”
“You said you'd trust me today. If you couldn't even wait five minutes... Doesn't that mean you didn't trust me very much?”
“If I'd done nothing... You'd have been carried out of here by now. It's not that I didn't trust you. I was just too worried...”
“All right. Since it ended well, I'll let it slide this time.”
Miyuki's head shot up.
“It ended well...?”
“Yeah. I quit. I met them and got beaten without fighting back, so I guess they took a liking to me and let me quit. Unlike you, I kept my promise.”
“.... What promise...?”
“You told me not to fight. So I didn't. I never intended to fight in the first place.”
Miyuki's lips poked out.
Her expression looked as if she couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry.
After remaining silent for a while, she spoke, criticizing me.
“Who said you shouldn't fight and should just sit there taking a beating for over fifteen minutes...? I wouldn't do that either...!”
Fifteen minutes had passed?
I'd been beaten for a long time.
“Then you should have said that in the first place.”
At my teasing joke, Miyuki bit her lower lip.
“.... I'm sorry...”
Sorry? Then put on a bunny-girl outfit and fishnet stockings.
Nurse or police uniforms would be good too.
I could see moisture gathering in Miyuki's eyes.
She seemed genuinely sorry that I had followed her words so literally.
She was probably also grateful that I'd started reforming so quickly after meeting her.
Miyuki tightened the fist holding the handkerchief.
That'll get blood on it.
I flicked the handkerchief sticking out between Miyuki's fingers.
“Hey.”
“.... Whaaat...!”
“I did good, right?”
“You did good... You did so good...!”
Her tone sounded like a sulking girlfriend throwing a tantrum.
I snickered at Miyuki's reaction, then took advantage of the moment when her face was about to crumple and spoke.
“Then from now on, I'll call you Miyuki.”
Can I call her Miyuki?
Can I address her a little more casually?
I didn't ask either of those questions.
I simply said it in my own style—as though informing her, jokingly, and with an ambiguous meaning.
My sincerity would get through even this way.
That's how I had always been.
And Miyuki knew perfectly well that I was this kind of person.
After staring at me in silence for a long while with tear-filled eyes, she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.
Then she answered tearfully, as if scolding me.
“Do whatever you want... You idiot...”
Was I really happy just because I'd been insulted over a situation like this?
I felt good after hearing her accept it.
I gave Miyuki a bright, radiant smile.
Miyuki gave a short laugh and slightly turned her head away as if she found me ridiculous.
“.... Brush your teeth properly... It's funny...”
The blood smeared between my pearly white teeth seemed to have ruined the mood... It was embarrassing, but who cared?
Accidentally causing trouble like this,
Struggling to express our feelings honestly,
Getting confused about each other's feelings,
And eventually realizing that we loved each other.
Isn't that what youth—and a romantic comedy—are all about?
From now on, it was time to experience the clichés that happened both inside and outside school and deepen our love.
While developing my relationship with Renka, I'd subtly engage in physical contact with Miyuki and gradually raise the intensity.
Kids these days are fast, right?
There are countless people who start making out the moment their eyes meet, so of course we can do that sort of thing while we're still in the not-quite-dating stage.