Shh, Can We Make Peace?

"All right, listen to my count."

"Three."

"Two."

"One!"

Uesugi Gen let out a roar,

"Charge!"

"Charge!!!"

A huge crowd followed behind Uesugi Gen, charging toward Ryuen Kakeru with angry shouts.

A crowd this massive was impossible for Ryuen Kakeru not to notice.

Ryuen Kakeru froze for a moment, then quickly realized what was happening.

They were probably coming for him.

He quickly surveyed the area and saw that every escape route had been blocked.

In that case, he had no choice but to fight with everything he had.

Facing so many Class B students, Ryuen Kakeru ignored the sprain in his leg and ran toward them.

With years of fighting experience behind him, he knew that at times like this, the worst thing he could do was show fear.

There was no way he could beat this many people by himself.

So he had to scare them off with sheer force of presence, and the one at the very front was the key.

If he struck first, he could shatter half their courage. If he beat a few more until they were hurting, the rest would naturally break.

He didn't know who they were, but they'd pay for provoking him!

Ryuen Kakeru picked up speed until, just as they were about to meet, he aimed a flying kick at Uesugi Gen's face.

Without the slightest hesitation, Uesugi Gen grabbed Shibata beside him and shoved him in front, making him take Ryuen Kakeru's kick head-on.

Shibata, don't blame me. This hurts me too.

Ignoring Shibata Hayate, who had fallen behind him, Uesugi Gen charged straight at Ryuen Kakeru.

After that first strike failed, the outcome of the fight was already decided.

Thwack! Thwack!

Smack! Smack! Smack!

The crowd swarmed him and pummeled Ryuen Kakeru with a flurry of wild punches.

As he was being beaten, Ryuen Kakeru had no choice but to admit, in despair,

He, Ryuen Kakeru, was being bullied.

Shh, Can We Make Peace?

Ryuen Kakeru was having a miserable day.

He really was.

He was Ryuen Kakeru, the big boss of all the delinquents in Class C. He bullied boys and girls alike, did every kind of evil deed, and was the sort of guy who never paid even when he went to karaoke.

He was always the one bullying people. Who would dare bully him?

But it turned out that even a lifelong hawk could get pecked in the eye.

A bunch of bastards who'd come out of nowhere had charged him without a second thought and beaten him up.

In delinquent circles, that kind of behavior was generally called—

Fighting dirty!

Especially that guy leading the charge. His move of using someone else as a shield was exactly like that bastard Uesugi.

Wait...

Ryuen Kakeru's pupils contracted as he instantly understood everything.

So, Uesugi, you bastard. I only sent a few people to harass Class B, and this is how you get back at me?

You sent that email that brought me here, too, didn't you?

All at once, Ryuen Kakeru's old and new grudges against Uesugi Gen came rushing back.

His face twisted with rage as he staggered to his feet and spat out a threat.

"You—"

Uesugi Gen's big foot kicked him straight back down.

That's right. Uesugi Gen had done it again.

Come on, he'd gone to all the trouble of using Ichinose to rally the entire class and make them a little more ruthless. If the guy who showed up turned out to be some nobody, wouldn't all that fanfare be incredibly awkward?

So the guy had to be someone influential, someone who could really make the Class B students furious.

After looking around the whole Kōiku campus, Uesugi Gen made a painful decision.

Xiang, you're the one!

The more he thought about it, the more Ryuen Kakeru seemed like the perfect villain, tailor-made for Class B.

First, his Class C was in competition with Class B.

Second, Ryuen Kakeru often sent people to harass Class B students, which was bound to make them hate him.

Third, he was a delinquent who could fight and wasn't above underhanded tricks.

Look at him. Uesugi Gen wouldn't find a villain better suited to Class B even if he searched with a lantern.

All things considered, no matter who had written Ichinose that love letter, today it had to be Ryuen Kakeru.

Sometimes a lie worked even better than the truth.

As for how Uesugi Gen had lured Ryuen Kakeru out, Uesugi Gen had this to say:

If some unknown person could lure Ichinose out with a love letter, then I, Uesugi Gen, can surely lure Ryuen Kakeru out by pretending to be Katsuragi Kohei from Class A and suggesting we join forces against Class B.

And to make sure Ryuen Kakeru wouldn't get suspicious, Uesugi Gen hadn't chosen this spot for their meeting, but a café that looked like it couldn't possibly be the site of some ambush.

The only catch was that Ryuen had to pass behind the gymnasium to get there.

As Uesugi Gen had expected, Ryuen's arrival had indeed set off the Class B students' fury.

Uesugi Gen had acted decisively and led them in beating Ryuen Kakeru up.

When it came to fighting, once you did it the first time, there was bound to be a second. Before long, a competitive streak would take hold.

As long as he could stir up the Class B students' fighting spirit, their attitude toward class competition would gradually change.

Uesugi Gen was willing to take the Class Points penalty if that was what it took to achieve that goal.

Even after they'd beaten Ryuen Kakeru for quite a while, he still kept spitting out threats now and then.

In response, Uesugi Gen silently put more force into his foot.

He'd been beaten this long and was still shouting threats that loudly. It seemed they'd been too soft on him and hadn't used their full strength.

Amid the chaos,

Ryuen Kakeru struggled to crawl out, his face twisted as if he wanted to bite Uesugi Gen to death.

Just you wait, Uesugi. I'll get you back for this!

Class competition no longer mattered. This was now a personal grudge between him and Uesugi Gen, one that could only end with one of them dead.

At last, an urgent voice stopped the commotion.

"Stop hitting him! Ichinose's coming!"

Everyone immediately backed off and looked to Uesugi Gen for instructions.

"Each of you take one limb and carry this guy away."

Uesugi Gen deliberately lowered his voice as he gave the order.

"And grab something to gag him with. Don't let him come back and cause trouble."

Ignoring Ryuen Kakeru's struggles, four Class B students each grabbed one of his limbs, then ran to a nearby shadowy corner.

"Mmph... Mmmph! (Uesugi, I'm going to kill you!)"

Ryuen Kakeru cursed as he struggled like a fish dragged onto land. His long red hair trailed along the ground like a broom, and the Class B students behind him kept stepping on it.

Watching Ichinose waiting outside, everyone in Class B finally relaxed.

Since Ryuen had already been caught, there was no way he could meet Ichinose. If she came here and didn't find the person she was waiting for, she'd just leave on her own, right?

Every Class B student thought the same thing.

"N-no, wait. I don't think Ichinose is waiting for Ryuen Kakeru. There's someone else coming this way."

A horrified voice came from the girls' side, and the hearts of every Class B student leaped into their throats.

Someone else?

That meant...

Like machines, the Class B students slowly turned their heads toward Ryuen Kakeru, who was still struggling without giving up.

It wasn't him!

In the silence, all the boys in Class B forced themselves to smile at Ryuen Kakeru.

Shh, can we make peace?

But from Ryuen Kakeru's perspective,

A group of men in hoods had all turned to smile creepily at one person...

So he struggled even harder.

"Mmmph! Mmmph! Mmmph! (This is illegal! I'm warning you—let me go right now!)"

At that moment, Ryuen Kakeru no longer cared about a delinquent's principles. He reached for the law to defend himself.

Smack!

Uesugi Gen knocked Ryuen Kakeru out with a swift, clean chop.

Ryuen, your job is done. Thanks for being such a good sport.

Then Uesugi Gen turned to the Class B students and spoke with a cold expression.

"Now that we've done it, there's no turning back."

"We absolutely can't let Ichinose find out that we got the wrong person."

The whole class nodded in understanding.

Indeed, now that they'd boarded Uesugi Gen's pirate ship, all they could do was stick with him until the bitter end.

If Ichinose found out...

An image slowly formed in everyone's minds.

Ichinose looked at them in disappointment and said,

"I never thought you'd not only fail to keep an eye on him, but even take him along to do something like that. I'm so disappointed in you..."

After saying that, she'd immediately cover her face and run away.

The thought was too terrifying. Everyone frantically shook their heads, trying to banish the image from their minds.

That's right. They absolutely couldn't let Ichinose find out!

Having reached an understanding, the Class B students turned their eyes back toward the gymnasium's rear entrance.