A Solution

"Goodness, Byakuya, I'm so sorry! I got carried away playing around." Ichinose set down the heavy-ion emitter Ying had bought, which had now become an ordinary water gun. "Actually, I came to see you because there's something important I need to discuss."

After the four of them had "friendly" inspected the things Ying had collected, his dorm room was now a complete mess. Most of the machines fell apart as soon as anyone touched them. What made Ying angriest was that so many things he'd bought were fakes. The railgun, memory eraser, short-range teleporter, invisibility cloak... They were all scams.

"Um... Byakuya?" Ichinose interrupted Ying's gloomy thoughts.

"Oh, Ichinose, what is it? Go ahead." Ying came back to his senses.

"It's about Class C. Lately, it seems they've been planning to extend their claws into the dorms. Or, to put it another way, Amikura in your group has already become their first victim."

"What!? Those Class C guys have got the nerve to come after me now?" Ying said angrily, as if he wanted to vent all his frustration over being sold fakes on the students from Class C.

"So, what happened to Amikura?" Hamaguchi asked curiously.

"Well, the people from Class C have been writing threatening letters and slipping them under doors. They also knock on doors in the middle of the night, then run off when you open up to see who it is," Ichinose explained.

"That's really nasty!" Beppu said indignantly.

"Yeah, and I've already found out that the reason Class C keeps targeting Class B is that their classmate, Ryuen Kakeru, ordered them to," Ichinose said.

"Damn it, didn't Class B already use information as leverage to get Class C to agree not to make an enemy of us for the time being?" Shibata asked.

"About that, Kanzaki and I talked to Ryuen too, but Ryuen denied that Class C's actions had anything to do with his orders. So the agreement can't take effect..." Ichinose said dejectedly.

"Could it be... that Class C's real goal is to make Class B void the agreement we signed with them?" Hamaguchi mused.

"If voiding the agreement would make Class C stop harassing Class B, I'll give it serious consideration," Ichinose said resolutely.

"We can't do that, Ichinose. If we only deal with the problem on the surface, it'll just keep dragging on. We can void the agreement today, but what about tomorrow? The day after? Are we supposed to give them personal points?" Ying said angrily.

"Then do you have a solution, Byakuya?" Ichinose asked curiously.

"Of course. The best way to get Class C to stop harassing Class B is to show them that Class B isn't to be messed with!" Ying said, getting to his feet.

"All right. I believe in you, Byakuya," Ichinose said after a moment's thought.

"Sata, Tetsuya, Ryota! Are you willing to join me and show those Class C guys that Class B isn't to be messed with!?" Ying slammed a hand on the table and shouted.

"Of course, Ying! I've wanted to do this for ages!" Shibata was the first to stand.

Then Hamaguchi and Ryota stood too. "We'll show those Class C guys what we can do!"

"Good! I knew I could count on you!" Ying held out one hand, and Shibata, Hamaguchi, and Ryota stacked their hands on top of his, one after another.

"Let's show those Class C guys what Class B can do! One, two, three!"

"Let's go!" "Yeah!"

"Tetsuya, say 'Let's go' with us..." Ying corrected him for chanting something different.

"Again! One, two, three!"

"Let's go!"

"Ruling the world, I charge ahead, all eyes on me (I charge ahead, the whole world looks up to me). Ruling the world, I'll never look back (I'll never need to look back)..."

With their own BGM playing, the four swaggered out of the clothing store with an utterly cocky stride. They were all dressed in black leather jackets and black jeans, wearing black sunglasses and fake gold chains around their necks. Each had a fake gold watch on his left wrist, too.

Ying walked at the front. He knew this pose well. He tilted his head back and gazed up at a forty-five-degree angle, deliberately making his footsteps heavier. His back was ramrod straight, and he folded his arms across his chest. The other three followed behind him, copying his swagger as best they could.

The other students saw the four of them and kept their distance.

Following information from their classmates in Class B, Ying and the others swaggered over to where Ishizaki and two other students were. They taunted the three with their chins.

"Who are you supposed to be, making such a grand entrance? Looking for a fight? Bring it on!" Ishizaki recognized the four and, undaunted, raised his chin at them.

Ying raised his right hand to signal Beppu to turn off the BGM for a moment, then began to speak.

"Hey, punk! You never seen the world before or what? You think you can do whatever you want? You even know what you did wrong?"

"Ishizaki, what's he saying?" Komiya asked.

"I don't know, but for some reason, listening to him makes me furious," Ishizaki replied.

"Our boss is asking if you guys even know what you did wrong!" Hamaguchi took a few steps forward and pointed his chin at the three.

"Wrong? Hahahaha! That's hilarious!" Ishizaki burst out laughing.

"Wrong! You did wrong by picking a fight with Class B!" Ying continued.

"Our boss says you did wrong. Your mistake was messing with Class B."

"Hahaha! So what are you going to do about it?" Ishizaki laughed.

Ying raised a hand, and the four surrounded Ishizaki and the other two.

"Hey, don't think we're ganging up on you just because we've got more people." Ying grinned.

"Hmph. If you want to fight, we're not afraid either." Ishizaki clapped twice. The people sitting nearby got up and surrounded Ying and the others.

"We miscalculated, boss. I didn't notice before, but this place is full of Class C students. We might be in serious trouble," Hamaguchi whispered hurriedly into Ying's ear.

Ying gritted his teeth in anger. "Don't be scared. Grab a weapon!"

Then Shibata handed Ying a brick, and Hamaguchi pointed his chin at Ishizaki and the others. "Watch closely. Our boss is going to break this brick with his bare hand."

Ying took the brick and brought his hand down on it like a knife. The brick split in two.

"Nice! The boss is awesome!" Hamaguchi and the other two chimed in. Ying waved the two halves of the brick in front of the Class C students and went on.

"Again!"

Then Shibata and Beppu brought out three bricks. Ying walked over and brought his hand down on them just as before. All three bricks split in half.

"The boss is awesome!" Hamaguchi shouted. Some of the Class C students couldn't help applauding.

"Again!"

This time, Shibata and Beppu brought out five bricks. Ying calmly walked over and brought his hand down on them. They didn't break... He struck again, but they still didn't break...

Everyone present watched in silence, holding their breath.

"Hyah!"

Ying shouted and brought his hand down once more. At last, he split all five bricks in half.

"Great!" Everyone cheered and applauded. Ying raised his left hand as if proclaiming victory, while hiding his slightly swollen, trembling right hand behind his back.

"Now this one!"

This time, Shibata handed Ying an empty beer bottle. Ying smashed it hard against his own head. With a loud crash, the bottle shattered.

"Another one! Another one!" The crowd joined in.

Ying raised a hand, and Shibata passed him another beer bottle. He smashed that one too. Then a third, a fourth... Ying smashed all ten bottles they'd brought, then taunted the crowd with his chin.

"Now you know how awesome our boss is!" Hamaguchi stood beside Ying and imitated his haughty pose.

Ying grinned, not noticing that blood had begun to run from the top of his head. When Beppu noticed, he hurriedly wiped it with a tissue.

"Hey, Class B! What are you trying to do? Are you going to fight or not!?" Ishizaki had watched Ying and the others' performance coldly from beginning to end.

"Fight? Fight your mom?" Ying taunted.

"You're messing with me!" Ishizaki charged forward, grabbed Ying by the collar with his left hand, and raised his right fist to hit him.

"Ishizaki! Calm down!" Komiya hurried over and grabbed him.

"Hmph! What exactly are you trying to do!?" Ishizaki let go of Ying and demanded.

"Ahem..." Ying cleared his throat, straightened his clothes, and took off his sunglasses. "Allow us to introduce ourselves..."

"Hamaguchi Jiaqi!"

"Shibata Chengxin!"

"Beppu Yaxuan!"

The three took off their sunglasses too.

"Byakuya Yaowen! We are..."

"The Class B Boys Group!"