Courage Training That Makes the Heart Race

After watching the entire process of Karuizawa "starting a fight" in the cafe, Shangguan Che leaned back against his chair and let out a long sigh.

He rubbed his chin, pondering, "It seems I really haven't helped Karuizawa much, whether in terms of time spent or actual actions, especially compared to Sakura or Hirata."

Aside from Ayanokoji, whom he barely paid any mind to, he had indeed been the most perfunctory when it came to Karuizawa.

Thinking of Karuizawa's history of being bullied, and then seeing her current efforts to "act tough" just to fit into a small group, Shangguan Che felt a faint sense of panic in his heart.

"If she keeps developing like this, she might go down the wrong path one day. No, I have to pay more attention to her from now on."

As for why Karuizawa would "start a fight" with a stranger, Shangguan Che could actually understand it.

People who have been bullied either become extremely cowardly or use "arrogance" to arm themselves, terrified of being bullied again.

Probably, anyway; Shangguan Che had never experienced such things himself and could only guess based on knowledge he had picked up from somewhere in the past.

"This Karuizawa, she's clearly scared to death inside, yet she insists on saving face." Shangguan Che shook his head helplessly and set Karuizawa's matters aside for the moment; there were more important things to deal with right now.

The next morning, Shangguan Che walked into the classroom with two dark circles under his eyes, and no sooner had he sat down than Sakura gently tapped his arm.

"Shangguan-kun, did you stay up late last night?" Sakura's voice was as thin as a mosquito's, her eyes filled with concern.

"Is it that obvious?" Shangguan Che touched his eyes, feeling a bit guilty.

He hadn't spent the whole night staking out the location where the letters appeared for nothing, though.

"It's not too obvious, just the dark circles are a bit heavy," Sakura said softly, handing him an eye mask. "This can fade dark circles; I bought it at school. Would you like to try it?"

"No, no, it's a small matter." Shangguan Che waved his hand and took the opportunity to yawn, squeezing a few tears from the corners of his eyes. "As long as my eyes aren't swollen shut, it won't affect my studies."

Inside, however, he was secretly gloating.

He hadn't wasted his time last night; he had finally caught the guy harassing Sakura.

"So it really was you, Mr. Clerk from the electronics store." Shangguan Che recalled the lewd comments the clerk had left on the Shizuku-chan account in the surveillance footage, as well as the figure secretly stalking Sakura, and his eyes turned cold. "Harassing a high school girl—let's see how you run now."

Laughing to himself, Shangguan Che accidentally fell asleep, only to be woken up by Sakura just before class started.

Upon waking, Shangguan Che immediately began to "respect the teacher and value the Way."

But the most important thing right now was the disciplinary hearing for Sudo.

The judgment on the brawl was set to begin after school in the afternoon, and Shangguan Che felt that Hirata's state today was off.

He hadn't even volunteered to answer the teacher's questions during class, which was something that had never happened before.

Taking advantage of the break, Shangguan Che took out his phone and sent a message to Hirata: [Hey Hirata, are you going to the disciplinary hearing this afternoon?]

Within a few seconds, Hirata replied: [I will be going. Did you discover something, Shangguan?]

[Sort of. I have a lead; I'm not sure if it will help.] Shangguan Che tapped the screen and sent over the file he had organized the previous night.

Inside was his manually compiled record of Class C's recent violations, as well as evidence of Ryuen Kakeru privately threatening students in the class (even without sound, Shangguan Che could interpret the physical threats).

Hirata replied quickly, his tone laced with confusion: [This doesn't seem to have anything to do with Sudo's case, does it?]

Shangguan Che smiled and replied: [You're going to the meeting with Horikita-san, right?] He needed to confirm his partner first to avoid any self-sabotage.

[Yes, we are going together.]

[That's good. You'll know how to use it when you're in the meeting. Trust me.] Shangguan Che chanted in his heart: You have to trust me, Hirata. This is a breakthrough I worked so hard to find.

[Mm, I trust you.] Hirata's reply was swift, carrying an undisguised sense of trust.

Seeing those four words, Shangguan Che felt a warmth in his heart; it was truly worth looking out for this guy.

Once Sudo's matter was resolved, he could focus on dealing with Sakura's problem.

Actually, at the beginning, Shangguan Che had been worried too.

Based on just a few harassing letters, the most he could do was give the clerk a warning; there was no way to punish him severely.

But after seeing the comments the clerk left on the Shizuku-chan account in the surveillance footage, along with his actions of secretly observing Sakura, he knew this guy would never stop here and would eventually do something even more extreme.

He even had a dark thought: should he "let" the clerk stalk Sakura so he could collect more serious evidence? That way, he could punish the guy severely while making Sakura more dependent on him.

But as soon as that thought emerged, Shangguan Che extinguished it.

"I'm here to help Sakura, not to harm her. How could I gamble with her safety?"

"Everything must prioritize Sakura's physical and mental health. I'll solve this root of all evil first." Shangguan Che made up his mind, and after finishing lunch, he grabbed Sakura's wrist and headed toward the small woods behind the school building.

There were few people there, making it suitable for whispering.

Sakura was pulled along by him and struggled subconsciously, but Shangguan Che was stronger than her, so she could only give up resisting, burying her head low until the tips of her ears were bright red.

Not until they reached the depths of the woods did Shangguan Che let go, stuffing his hands into his pockets and looking down at the head-bowed Sakura.

"Sakura, aren't you going to come clean?" He deliberately put on a serious expression, wanting to tease her.

Sakura's voice trembled noticeably: "W-what is it, Shangguan-kun? I didn't do anything wrong."

"Nothing wrong?" Shangguan Che held back his laughter and spoke nonsense with a straight face: "I saw several love letters in your desk cubby. Isn't it rude not to reply to people?"

Sakura buried her head even lower, her voice as small as a mosquito's: "I-I didn't receive any love letters..."

"I'm teasing you." Shangguan Che dropped the joking tone, squatted down, and looked Sakura in the eye. "I know about your troubles. The dark circles under your eyes that day, and the way you're always avoiding people—they all tell me you've run into trouble."

He paused, slowing his speech: "After school today, take those harassing letters and tell the teacher. I'll go with you."

Sakura's body shuddered violently, her hands gripping the hem of her skirt tightly as tears welled up instantly: "B-but I'm scared... I'm afraid the teacher will think I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, and I'm also afraid that bad person will retaliate against me..."

"It's okay, Sakura." Shangguan Che gently patted her shoulder, "Everyone has a cowardly side within them. We don't need to kill it; we just need to learn how to control it."

He reached out both hands, gently cupping Sakura's face, forcing her to meet his gaze: "Look into my eyes."

Sakura was forced to look up, crashing into Shangguan Che's earnest eyes. Her cheeks turned as red as apples in an instant, and her heart hammered so hard it felt like it was about to jump out of her chest.

She wanted to look away, but Shangguan Che's hands held her face firmly, making it impossible to escape.

"See? You're actually very brave right now." Shangguan Che's voice softened further, "For a young girl in the prime of her youth to hold such close eye contact with a boy—that's something many people wouldn't dare to do."

Feeling the scorching heat of her cheeks beneath his palms, he quickly added, "Is your heart beating fast? Breathe slowly, don't be nervous."

Eh? Is my heart beating a bit fast too? Shangguan Che felt his own breathing starting to become unnatural as well.

Sakura obediently took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. After repeating this a few times, her heartbeat indeed began to slow down.

"Remember this feeling. Whenever you feel scared in the future, just do what you're doing now—steady yourself first." Shangguan Che slowly pulled his hands away, fearing he might startle her, "This isn't about becoming brave overnight, but learning to control your cowardice. It will get better gradually."

Then, Shangguan Che noticed his palms were sweating profusely, and he felt a bit awkward inside.

Watching Sakura gradually calm down, Shangguan Che breathed a sigh of relief; she hadn't noticed his abnormality.

"That's right, Sakura will keep being brave like this from now on."

While raising his hand in an encouraging gesture, Shangguan Che took the opportunity to wipe the sweat from his palms.

He then took out his phone to check the time.

Oh no, class is about to start! He didn't want to be late with Sakura, or the gossip in class would reach the heavens.

"Sakura, let's go, back to the classroom!" Shangguan Che tugged at her sleeve. Seeing she didn't react, he added, "Don't be afraid, I'll definitely go with you this afternoon."

Sakura still stood motionless, her eyes looking a bit dazed.

Shangguan Che reached out and waved a hand in front of her face: "Sakura? Are you stunned?"

Suddenly, Sakura covered her face with both hands, squatted down with a "thump," and her shoulders began to tremble slightly.

Shangguan Che was startled and quickly squatted down: "What's wrong? Did I use too much force just now? I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Just as he was at a loss for what to do, he suddenly heard Sakura making "woo-woo" sounds.

Shangguan Che was stunned for a moment, then realized. This wasn't crying; it was more like an emotional release.

But looking at the time, they were really going to be late! Shangguan Che made a split-second decision, reached out to lift Sakura up, then gently set her back on her feet.

This sudden action made Sakura freeze instantly, and her whimpering stopped.

"Sakura! If we don't go now, we'll really be late! Run!" Shangguan Che grabbed her hand and took off running toward the teaching building.

In truth, his first instinct had been to carry Sakura while running, but the thought of worldly judgment, school rules, and the omnipresent security cameras forced him to give up helplessly.

"Under the pressure of these three great mountains, I'd better just follow my heart."

(Dear readers, you would make the same choice when faced with these three mountains, right?)

The two sprinted all the way and finally dashed into the classroom just before the bell rang.

Shangguan Che leaned against the doorframe as he walked into the classroom, while Sakura walked to her seat with her head down, silently taking out the textbook for the next class, looking no different than usual.

Shangguan Che sat at his desk, secretly observing Sakura.

Had she actually made progress?

Could the "courage training" from just now be considered a success?

Shangguan Che pondered for a long time without reaching a conclusion, so he could only comfort himself: Forget it, forget it. Class is the most important thing. I'll find out for sure this afternoon anyway.

But he didn't know that Sakura was sitting at her desk, pen in hand, while her thoughts had already flown far away.

She touched her burning cheeks, recalling the scene of making eye contact with Shangguan Che, and her heart began to race uncontrollably again. "Shangguan-tongxue..."

She muttered softly, the corners of her mouth curling up involuntarily.

So, this is how good it feels to be encouraged and protected by someone.