First Meeting with Ryuen

"Is it good?"

"The taste is alright, but I'm feeling a bit nauseous now."

Shintō Katsuya picked up a napkin from the side to wipe his mouth, only then getting a clear look at the person in front of him, which caused him to make a strange expression.

"You... you wouldn't happen to be Rika, would you?"

"How dare you! How can you talk to our boss Ryuen like that?!"

The leading boy appeared to be named Ryuen, and since he was the boss, it was only natural for him to have a loyal lackey.

"Ah, my apologies, I mistook you for someone else. So, you're the one who is Rika?"

"I'm your—"

Ishizaki was clearly getting heated. This arrogant kid hadn't been trembling in fear upon seeing Ryuen; instead, he had provoked them time and time again.

Did this guy not know that Rika was a girl's name?

Ryuen turned his head and glared fiercely at his subordinate: "Enough, Ishizaki."

"I... I'm sorry, Boss, I was wrong."

The scolded lackey looked like a child caught playing video games by a father who had come home early from work; he was so obedient he didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

Ryuen himself felt a bit weary. There weren't many capable people in Class 1-C, and they were severely polarized. Aside from himself, those with brains lacked physical strength, and those with sturdy bodies lacked brains.

The moment they met, his subordinate had completely fallen into the other party's rhythm.

Then, he fixed his snake-like eyes on Karuizawa, who was standing next to Shintō. He could tell that this girl was the weak point.

"I heard from Manabe that you knocked our classmate Rika flying, is that right?"

The girl walking at the very back hurried forward, nodding desperately.

"Yes, it was Karuizawa who bumped into me."

As expected of someone who could become a boss among delinquents, the intimidation Ryuen brought to Karuizawa far exceeded anyone who had bullied her in the past.

Already psychologically fragile, she shivered in fear, stammering and unable to get a word out.

Fortunately, Shintō patted her hand in time and answered for her:

"Her mouth is on her own face, so whatever she says goes? If that's the case, I could also say she bit me yesterday."

"Heh, I don't know if you're truly stupid or just playing dumb. But your woman clearly bumped into my classmate, and I'm afraid this matter won't be settled so easily, right?"

Although he didn't know how Ryuen had reached that conclusion, since the other party had such a misunderstanding, there was no harm in taking advantage of it.

"You mean to say that my girlfriend intentionally bullied someone in your class who looks like an easy target, and this scene just happened to be witnessed by your classmates, and it just so happened that Karuizawa was alone at the time."

After summarizing the other party's logic, Shintō let out a mocking laugh:

"Hehehe, what a great story, what a great setup. The whole process could be called perfect, except for the evidence. Where is the evidence?"

"Do you think there are no security cameras here?"

"Cameras? Oh... then can I interpret it this way: you, the boss, have been targeting our classmates for a while, and in order to frame us, you deliberately chose a moment to have a weak girl from your class—who looks like an easy target—act as a stumbling block to stage a scam?"

Ryuen's face turned livid as he narrowed his eyes. He knew full well that there couldn't be any evidence for this, and Rika didn't have any serious injuries on her body at all.

In fact, he had realized from the very beginning that the Shintō Katsuya in front of him was not an easy opponent.

This time, he had underestimated his enemy.

However, to maintain his position as the leader of his class, he chose to stare silently at the other party for a few minutes until his eyes began to ache, at which point he burst into laughter:

"Hehehehehe, hahahahaha! This is truly interesting. I originally thought Class 1-D was just a bunch of grasshoppers in a nest, but I didn't expect to find such a tough nut like you."

"Well, there are probably many things you didn't expect. If you had prepared reasonable evidence beforehand, perhaps your scheme might have actually succeeded~"

However, what Shintō didn't expect was that Ryuen would actually learn his lesson later, but...

"I don't know what you're talking about. You guys are just lucky this time. What's your name?"

Give his name?

"Trying to threaten me? Class 1-D, Ayanokōji Kiyotaka."

"Ayanokōji... I'll remember you!"

With that, Ryuen turned to leave. Manabe, not having seen the outcome she wanted, naturally refused:

"Wait, are we just going to..."

But before she could finish, she saw the terrifying look in Ryuen's eyes and swallowed the rest of her words.

It wasn't until long after the Class 1-C group had left that Karuizawa slowly loosened her grip on Shintō's arm. Everything that had just happened was truly too frightening.

Especially for her... if things had gone wrong, wouldn't she have had to relive the nightmare of the past?

Just as she was lost in her thoughts, she felt a strange sensation on the top of her head again:

"Karuizawa, Karuizawa, good girl. The bad guys have been chased away, don't be afraid."

(I remember that's how they comforted people in some children's anime!)

This childish tactic immediately made Karuizawa laugh, and she shyly swatted the hand away from the top of her head.

"Is that how you comfort someone? I'm not a little kid anymore."

"Alright, alright. But do you feel a bit better now? At the very least, Ryuen and his group won't be able to use this matter to threaten you again."

At the mention of this, Karuizawa suddenly remembered—had she missed an important detail just now?

That's right!

Didn't Shinjo just call her something like 'my girlfriend'...

Why would he say something like that?

Could it be that...

"Hey... Shinjo-kun..."

"Hm?"

Karuizawa turned slightly away so her expression couldn't be seen, and asked in a low voice:

"Why did you... just now... call me your... your... girl..."

"Ah, that? I just said it off the top of my head. Besides, Ryuen..."

Shinjo explained it subconsciously, but halfway through, he realized something felt off. Even though he couldn't see the girl's face, he had a vague feeling that her mood had suddenly dropped.

Hey...

"You seem a bit disappointed?"

Having her thoughts poked at, Karuizawa naturally refused to admit it one hundred percent, quickly turning around and waving her hands.

"No, no, no, I... I don't feel disappointed."

"Huh?"

Now it was Karuizawa's turn to be stunned, because after she said that, she clearly felt that his mood seemed a bit dejected?

"Shinjo-kun, you... you... seem a bit disappointed?"

Well, this is great. How is he supposed to answer that?!

To be honest, even Shinjo didn't know why he had intentionally made that expression. Perhaps joking around had become a habit?

Or was it that he actually felt a little disappointed?

For a moment, even Shinjo himself couldn't quite tell.