From Tomorrow On, Be a Happy Person-Feed the Horses, Chop Wood, Travel the World... (Just Kidding)

From tomorrow on, be a happy person—feed the horses, chop wood, travel the world... (Just kidding.)

"You got here pretty early."

Early the next morning, after messaging each other on their phones the day before, Makoto arrived at a secluded grove.

It looked like the perfect place for all kinds of shady business.

He spotted Ryuen Kakeru not far ahead and greeted him.

Then he glanced around and approached from the front without changing his expression.

"I thought there'd be surveillance cameras or something. There aren't any?"

"Are you asking whether the four of us could be taken down by you alone? Kid, don't get too cocky."

Ryuen Kakeru made no attempt to hide his intentions, but he was also surprised by Makoto's perceptiveness.

But it was four against one. They had the advantage!

Ryuen Kakeru, well versed in the ways of delinquents, had a blind faith in numbers. And the people he'd brought weren't a bunch of weaklings—they were the real deal. He thought they had this in the bag, and that Makoto showing up at all was practically walking into a trap.

In short, it was like a mouse playing with a cat—it was asking for trouble.

Makoto could only think, That's so ridiculous, it's hilarious.

Have you ever seen someone cheat... use hacks? Well! You're about to!

"Can't we talk first?"

Makoto tried to reason with him one more time.

Ryuen Kakeru thought that wasn't such a bad idea either. Didn't people usually trade a few insults before a fight? He curled his lip disdainfully, signaling that Makoto could speak.

Ibuki Mio also gave Makoto an apologetic look.

She was the one who'd called Makoto out, and she believed she bore most of the responsibility.

"Do you think this school wants someone like you to make it into Class A?"

With little time and a lot to do, Makoto got straight to the point.

"That's all you wanted to say? And here I was, looking forward to it."

Ryuen Kakeru raised his right hand to signal that they could attack. Ishizaki Daichi eagerly charged forward first, determined to make a good impression on Boss Ryuen!

He'd already been annoyed at being dragged out of bed so early to fight.

Don't blame me for being ruthless, Ishizaki Daichi thought. The next instant, he lost consciousness and fell into the most peaceful sleep imaginable.

"He looked so sleepy, so I thought I'd let him sleep a little longer."

Makoto looked completely innocent. Though his words admitted that he'd been the one to strike, he believed he'd done it out of kindness.

He really was a good person! He couldn't stand to see someone being made to work when they were barely able to keep their eyes open.

"Get him together!"

Ryuen Kakeru's pupils suddenly contracted, and a bad feeling came over him.

Could we... actually lose?

"Just a pretty boy, and you're acting all tough! I'll make you regret it!"

Ibuki Mio charged straight at him, looking just as fed up. She couldn't accept this outcome.

She'd imagined countless ways she might apologize afterward, but she'd never expected things to turn out like this.

He'd taken down an adult man with a single blow. Was he even human?

"Actually, I don't want to hit a girl. But I'm sure you wouldn't want people looking at you this way either, Ibuki."

Ibuki Mio was a woman who refused to back down.

When she was a child, boys developed more slowly than girls, which gave her the upper hand in fights. But as time passed, even boys who'd barely trained became people she couldn't easily take down.

Still, she remained a brave fighter, unchanged from when she was little.

Makoto leaned slightly to dodge the high kick coming at him and followed up with a counterattack.

But instead of the sharp pain Ibuki Mio had expected, she found herself in a manly embrace.

"Y-you... what are you doing?"

Ibuki Mio was stunned. Why was he holding her?

Could it be...

"Listen up." Makoto looked completely serious. "I've got a hostage now. I advise you not to make any rash moves."

Ibuki Mio's face flushed red with anger. She struggled fiercely to break free of Makoto's embrace, but, naturally—

She couldn't move an inch.

"That's her problem. Getting captured is her own fault for not being strong enough."

Ryuen Kakeru snickered and closed in from one side, with Yamada Albert approaching from the other.

They had him flanked. And now Ibuki Mio was in his arms—ostensibly a hostage, but actually a hindrance.

What would he do?

Ryuen Kakeru kept thinking as he attacked.

"What a pain."

Makoto naturally had no intention of using Ibuki Mio as a human shield to fend off their attacks.

If he did, he'd be going against the conscience he'd developed through nine years of compulsory education in his previous life.

He forcefully tossed the girl in his arms toward Ishizaki Daichi, who was lying on the ground.

With Ishizaki Daichi acting as a sort of cushion, Ibuki Mio wasn't hurt.

She looked at Makoto a short distance away with a complicated expression. She didn't charge back in to help Ryuen and the others surround him. Instead, she stood aside and watched.

The air, scented with trees, rushed toward Makoto. Yamada Albert was going for sheer power, throwing a simple straight punch.

Makoto had no intention of meeting it head-on. He bent his legs to dodge the punch and swept Yamada Albert's legs out from under him. Yamada Albert lost his balance and was about to fall.

Ryuen Kakeru seized what he thought was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Makoto had just used up his strength and hadn't yet gathered more, and he couldn't see Ryuen's movements.

Ryuen leaped forward with a kick, hoping to pin Makoto to the ground. But Makoto used the strength in his arms to dodge the attack he'd thought was a sure thing, as if he had eyes in the back of his head.

Then, using the momentum of his movement, he raised his leg and struck the side of Ryuen's knee hard.

Makoto had regained his footing with a quick adjustment, but he paid no attention to Ryuen, who had just lost his balance. Instead, he turned his eyes toward Yamada Albert, who was trying to get up and keep fighting.

Without the slightest hesitation, he drove a simple, direct front kick into the man's stomach.

He could stay on the ground a while longer.

"So, what do you say? Want to keep going?"

With the danger over, Makoto looked at Ryuen Kakeru, whose body was swaying unsteadily. There was no smile on his face.

Violence was the worst possible solution.

To his surprise, Ryuen Kakeru suddenly burst out laughing. He laughed until he was gasping for breath, then pointed at Makoto and said slowly,

"What's there to say? Aren't you pretty good at using violence yourself?"

"This was self-defense. It's not the same as using violence of your own accord."

Makoto argued his case.

"But you didn't look like someone who only uses violence in self-defense. Only people who've grown up fighting have instincts and moves like yours."

"There are plenty of places where you can use force willingly that aren't street fights like the one you just mentioned."

For example, martial arts schools and dojos.

"And have you ever heard of me using force of my own accord at this school? Even as a rumor?"

Makoto immediately shot back.

The worst thing people said about him was that he was a "womanizer." Violence had nothing to do with his reputation.

Ryuen Kakeru fell silent.

Even though he'd used violence to rule Class C, his reputation outside the class was terrible.

"Infamous" wouldn't have been an exaggeration.

That was because he couldn't control what the students said among themselves.

"Think carefully. What kind of growth will the Class C students following you have over these three years if things keep going like this?"

Makoto left.