Miki Yamamura's Choice

Morishige Takuro fell to the ground.

This was completely beyond his understanding.

Not even on television had he ever seen anything this terrifying.

Could someone really crush the bones in another person's hand with a single squeeze?

That was practically superhuman strength, wasn't it?

Could Hanma Yujiro really be real?

The outcome had been decided in an instant.

Hashimoto Masayoshi and the others looked at Morishige Takuro, still sitting on the ground. He didn't seem to have come back to his senses yet.

No... This could hardly be called a contest.

It was more like submission...

Judging by Morishige Takuro's reaction, he had probably lost all desire to fight back.

That left everyone around them utterly bewildered.

Was Kijima Tsukur simply too strong, or did this mean Morishige Takuro was a pushover?

For a moment, everyone around them stood frozen.

"All right."

Kijima Tsukur turned to face the others. There was no sense of accomplishment in defeating a weakling, and his expression remained calm as he said:

"Like I said, whether you choose to pick sides, resist with force, overwhelm me with numbers, or betray me—that's up to you. No matter how many of you there are, or when and where, I'm always ready to teach you a lesson."

"After school, Yamamura, Katsuragi, Kamuro—come with me to Class D."

Chapter 42: Yamamura Miki's Choice

Below the stage,

Kamuro Masumi glanced back at Sakayanagi Arisu, silently asking for her opinion.

Feeling her gaze,

Sakayanagi Arisu furrowed her brow slightly.

Naturally, she wanted someone to go with Kijima Tsukur so she could get firsthand information at any time.

Kamuro Masumi was currently the most convenient pawn at her disposal, making her the ideal choice in Sakayanagi's eyes.

But this was Kijima Tsukur's arrangement, which left a bad taste in her mouth.

After a long moment of hesitation,

Sakayanagi Arisu nodded in agreement.

She wouldn't give up the best option just because of her feelings.

The bell rang, and the students returned to their seats. The morning classes passed in a flash.

During lunch break,

After Kijima Tsukur and Yamamura Miki left the classroom, Sakayanagi Arisu led a few people over to Morishige Takuro.

Looking at Morishige Takuro, who was still holding his hand, Sakayanagi Arisu asked, puzzled:

"Morishige, does it still hurt?"

"Hm? Not really."

Morishige Takuro shook his head, though his brow remained furrowed. "I just still haven't gotten over it."

"Looks like that hit you pretty hard."

Hashimoto Masayoshi, standing behind Sakayanagi Arisu, smiled. "Didn't you say you'd trained in boxing? So, how strong is he?"

"..."

Morishige Takuro fell silent. After a long while, he said:

"Stronger than I could've imagined..."

"You seem to think very highly of him."

Leaning on her cane, Sakayanagi Arisu smiled. "You boys spend a lot of time together, so you should have a good idea of each other's abilities. How does he compare to Kito?"

"..."

Morishige Takuro glanced at Kito Hayato behind her.

Over the past month,

the students had formed their own social circles. Between swimming lessons and playing sports together, they'd gotten a rough idea of one another's physical abilities.

In Class A,

Kito Hayato had exceptional athletic ability and was widely considered the strongest.

Yet now...

"He's not even in the same league..."

Morishige Takuro's expression darkened. "In fact, I don't think even our whole class could beat him if we all went at him together."

"Huh?"

Hashimoto Masayoshi spread his hands, looking exasperated.

"Morishige, I can understand you saying he's stronger than Kito. But what do you mean, our whole class couldn't beat him? The difference in numbers can't be overcome by strength alone. Taking on thirty-nine people by yourself is something even special forces couldn't do.

"You're just scared out of your wits. That's ridiculous. By your account, is that guy even human?"

"Believe what you want. I'd like to know myself..."

Morishige Takuro gritted his teeth and said nothing more. He knew himself that the idea was absurd, so it was only natural that Hashimoto and the others didn't believe him.

But... Kijima Tsukur's physical strength really was beyond anything he could comprehend...

Hashimoto Masayoshi and the others exchanged glances, and Sakayanagi Arisu furrowed her brow slightly.

Morishige Takuro was surely exaggerating,

but it was enough to show just how physically powerful Kijima Tsukur was. Stopping him with force was clearly impossible.

Meanwhile,

in the cafeteria,

Yamamura Miki sat across from Kijima Tsukur, eating rice. With a hint of smugness in her voice, she said:

"Kijima, don't you have anything to say to me?"

"What?"

"If I hadn't been the first to speak up, you would've been in trouble, you know?"

Yamamura Miki straightened her back, sounding both soft-spoken and rather pleased with herself.

She hadn't considered the pros and cons at all.

She'd only thought that Kijima Tsukur would seem too pitiful if nobody supported him, so she'd said she was willing to support him with sixty thousand personal points.

She hadn't expected Morishita Ai and the others to be willing to help, either.

But...

Surely her speaking up first had played a part in that, right?

In any case,

Yamamura Miki felt she'd done a great deal!

"You've got it wrong."

Kijima Tsukur ate his meal and glanced at her. "I chose you to look after me because I knew you'd be on my side. You should know that not everyone gets the chance to stand by me."

"Eh!?"

Yamamura Miki froze.

Was she supposed to feel honored, then?

As if!

Yamamura Miki secretly pouted and ate her food in a sulk. Every time Kijima Tsukur spoke, he managed to make her furious. He was just awful.

But, come to think of it,

wasn't that also a compliment about her kindness? And didn't it mean Kijima Tsukur trusted her completely?

Thinking about it that way, it didn't seem so hard to accept after all.

Still,

she would've preferred it if Kijima Tsukur had simply thanked her properly.

After school,

Kijima Tsukur, Kamuro Masumi, and Katsuragi Kohei headed to Class D, with Yamamura Miki following behind, carrying a camping chair.

They'd already sent Hirata and the others a message, so there was no need to hurry.

"Kijima."

Katsuragi hesitated for a moment, then spoke in a low voice. "Don't be angry anymore."

"Hm?" Kijima Tsukur looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"About Morishige."

Walking beside him, Katsuragi Kohei explained in a low voice, "He's fairly close to Sakayanagi and has a short temper, but he and I get along. Morishige isn't a bad person. He's just trying to graduate from Class A, not deliberately targeting you."

That was true.

For example, when Kijima Tsukur had first started school and when he'd wanted to reveal the information, Morishige Takuro and the others had been unhappy but hadn't said much.

The main thing was,

the information had originally been obtained by Kijima Tsukur himself.

What he chose to do with it was naturally up to him.

Even if Morishige Takuro and the others disagreed, they wouldn't try too hard to stop him.

Only this time,

when Kijima Tsukur had decided to use Class A's points to support students from other classes, Morishige Takuro and the others had finally been unable to bear it and had stepped in.

Getting angry for the sake of the group wasn't a bad thing, even if they had a little self-interest mixed in.

"You're overthinking it. I couldn't possibly be angry over something like this. Strictly speaking, you haven't earned the right to make me angry."

Kamuro Masumi rolled her eyes. Kijima Tsukur's expression remained calm as he continued:

"People can't predict the future. What I've done is actually quite simple; I shouldn't even need to explain it."

"If you just put yourselves in the position of the entire first year, you can figure it out for yourselves. Everything I've done is the best choice under the circumstances."

"Prejudice is a mountain in people's hearts. The fundamental reason you're resisting me is that you've never believed I could lead the entire year to graduate from Class A."

"Without achievements, it's only natural that the people around me won't trust me."

"At the same time, I know perfectly well that even after everything I've explained, you still won't believe me."

"That's exactly why I'm not angry about any of this."

"You can tell Morishige that he's still free to do whatever he wants!"