The Restless Class C

By the end of June, the weather began to grow increasingly sweltering, causing some students to become restless as well.

"Ying, stay away from those Class C students lately. I heard they're looking for trouble everywhere," Hamaguchi said, approaching Ying during the break.

"Got it, I'll be careful," Ying replied.

"Don't just brush it off. This morning, they intentionally knocked over my breakfast. Brothers never lie to brothers," Hamaguchi said, looking worried at Ying's indifferent expression.

"Tetsuya is right. Those guys in Class C are truly detestable. I'm often targeted by people from their class on the soccer team, too," Shibata added after overhearing them.

"Heh, so you guys know that brothers don't lie to brothers? You've successfully reminded me of that incident. Prepare to die!" With that, Ying delivered an elbow strike to both Shibata and Hamaguchi.

Shibata and Hamaguchi: No way, man, you're still holding onto that?

It seems our brother Ying was truly heartbroken by that love letter.

After school, Ying headed to the student council office to sign in as usual, but was called out while passing by Class C.

"Hey! You student over there, yeah, you! What are you acting so cocky for?"

Ying looked over to see three Class C students standing at the classroom door, the leader pointing right at him.

"Huh? Can you tell me where exactly I'm acting cocky?" Ying was speechless; he was just walking normally, so how could he be getting picked on?

"Still acting like you aren't? Who walks normally with both hands in their pockets, a smile on their face, and a swagger that doesn't recognize their own kin?" the student said.

Ying insisted he wasn't acting cocky at all. Ever since he finished that book a few days ago and started mimicking the walking style described inside, he found it quite comfortable and had developed the habit without realizing it.

Ying sighed and said, "Fine, fine, what do you want then?"

"Is this guy looking down on me!? You want me to beat you up!?" With that, the student started to move in to throw a couple of punches at Ying.

"Ishizaki, calm down. Brother Ryuen doesn't allow us to use violence." Before Ishizaki could take two steps, he was held back by the two students beside him.

"Hmph! Consider yourself lucky. Get lost!" Ishizaki said.

"Hey, don't talk about me being lucky. It's clearly because you're too scared to hit me. Blehh..." After saying that, Ying made a face at the three of them and hurried away.

"You!?" Ishizaki wanted to chase after him, but was stopped by his two companions.

"Everyone, I'm sorry to take up your time after school. But I have something very important to discuss with you." After school, Honami urgently gathered the whole class for a meeting.

"I believe many students have been harassed by Class C lately. I've gathered everyone here to think of a solution. Just yesterday, Chihiro Shiranami from our class was intimidated by Class C students and is now worried about being bullied by them. It's not just Chihiro; most of the students in our class have likely been intimidated by Class C and are feeling uneasy."

Hearing this, Ying glanced toward Chihiro, who was hanging her head low; he could faintly see her shoulders trembling. It wasn't just Chihiro; most of the students in Class B lowered their heads in anxiety upon hearing this.

"However, everyone, please don't feel too much pressure. I have confirmed with the school that Class C wouldn't dare resort to violence against Class B. If they did, the lightest punishment would be suspension and a deduction of class points, and the worst would be immediate expulsion. I believe Class C isn't unaware of this, otherwise, why would they only harass us? Therefore, I propose that from now on, everyone should travel in groups—preferably boys and girls together. If you encounter anyone from Class C, just ignore them. I believe that before long, they will stop harassing Class B. What does everyone think?"

After Honami finished speaking, she waited for the class to share their opinions.

"I think Honami's proposal is great! If we ignore those people in Class C, they'll find it boring and stop bothering us," a girl said.

"Yeah, I agree with Honami's suggestion, too."

"Me too!"

Almost everyone in the class agreed with Honami's approach, but Ying wondered, is this really okay? If they just ignore them, will they really stop bothering Class B?

"Kanzaki, what do you think?" Ying asked Kanzaki, who sat in front of him. Kanzaki hadn't voiced his support after Honami finished speaking.

"I didn't expect you to ask me. If you want my opinion, I can only tell you that Honami's method has its merits, but it might not necessarily be effective," Kanzaki said.

"That's true. You never know if it works until you try, right?"

"Then, thank you all for your hard work from now on. Let's all go hang out later!"

After Honami said that, the whole class cheered with excitement.

After that, the students of Class B began forming groups to move around the school together. The Byakuya Group, which Ying belonged to, consisted of five people—three boys and two girls: Ying, Hamaguchi, Beppu, Mako Amikura, and Yume Kobashi.

"Everyone, where should we go to hang out after we eat?" Hamaguchi asked the group members.

"Hmm... I kind of want to go to the arcade for a bit. I heard they just got a new game machine," Beppu said after thinking for a moment.

"A new game machine? Oh, I'd like to check that out too," Ying said, showing great interest.

"I'm almost out of shampoo in my dorm, so I'd like to go browse the mall," Amikura said.

"I heard the mall got a new batch of hair clips, so I want to go look at those too," Kobashi added.

"I want to go to the arcade, so let's..." Just as Hamaguchi was about to decide that the group would go to the arcade, Ying spoke up.

"Okay, the minority obeys the majority. Let's go to the mall together."

"Didn't you just say you wanted to go to the arcade!?" Hamaguchi demanded.

"I wanted to go a second ago, but I don't anymore. Besides, I'm the group leader, so you have to listen to me," Ying said. It definitely wasn't because he wanted to show off his magnanimous side in front of the girls.

"Hmph! You jerk, putting girls before your friends! And when did you become the group leader?" Hamaguchi scolded.

"Eh? Honami asked me to look after you all, doesn't that mean I'm the leader?" Ying said, spreading his hands as if it were obvious.

"I disagree! We definitely can't let this guy be the leader. I want a re-vote!" Hamaguchi protested.

"Alright, everyone who agrees with Tetsuya being the leader, raise your hand," Ying said.

Only Hamaguchi raised his hand in the entire room.

"Heh, give it up. It turns out I really am the one the people want," Ying said happily.

"Hmph! Everyone who agrees with Ying being the leader, raise your hand!" Hamaguchi said.

Only Ying raised his hand in the entire room.

"How... is this possible..." Ying was devastated, squatting in the corner and starting to draw circles on the floor.

"It seems the leader is indeed me. Everyone who agrees with me being the leader, raise your hand," Beppu said, raising his hand; just like the previous two, he was the only one.

Following that, Beppu joined Ying in drawing circles on the floor.

In the end, the group Ying was in had Amikura take on the role of leader, and the Amikura Group was established.

Just as the Amikura Group was discussing who should serve as leader, a dispute was breaking out not far away...