A Turn of Events

"Hey! You think you can make the basketball team, Sudo? Give me a break!"

The sudden taunting voice threw off their plans to leave. Uesugi Hara turned to look and saw Ken Sudō being shoved this way by three boys.

He immediately took Sakura Airi by the hand and ducked behind a nearby wall.

"Shh~" Uesugi Hara gestured for her to stay quiet.

Airi quickly covered her mouth and nodded, then peeked out beside him, anxiously watching.

"What do you want? Get lost!" Ken Sudō roared. His fists were clenched tight, but he was still forcing himself not to fight back.

Uesugi Hara recognized one of them at a glance—Ishizaki Daichi from Class C. They'd played games together before.

Was Class C deliberately picking a fight with Class D?

"Heh heh, what do we want? We just can't stand you hogging such a big court all by yourself." Ishizaki Daichi grinned arrogantly and shoved Sudō again.

"If you want to play, go somewhere else! There's an empty court over there!" Sudō said, barely containing his anger.

"We want this court. Got a problem with that?" As soon as he finished speaking, Ishizaki shoved Sudō hard against the wall.

"You bastard!" Sudō finally snapped and threw a punch. The four of them instantly became locked in a brawl, the dull thuds of fists landing on bodies making your skin crawl.

"Kids shouldn't watch violent scenes." Uesugi Hara covered Airi's eyes with one hand, while his other hand had already taken out his Terminal and was secretly recording.

"O-okay..." Airi's voice trembled as she clutched Uesugi Hara's clothes. She wanted to leave, but the boys were blocking the exit completely.

Once he had the key information he needed, Uesugi Hara stopped recording and reached out to gently pat her head.

Back on the court, Sudō was only one person, but he had the other three pinned down and was pounding them, completely dominating the fight.

"Heh heh, Sudō, you think you can get away unscathed after this...?" One of the boys managed to sit up, his voice trembling even as he tried to sound tough.

"That's rich! There are three of you, and you still got beaten up this badly. You're pathetic." Sudō grabbed one boy by the collar and leaned in close, their noses nearly touching. The boy was intimidated by his presence and hurriedly looked away.

"Tch, coward. You thought having more people would let you beat me?" Sudō scoffed, let go, and picked up his backpack from the ground before turning to leave.

He'd clearly lost interest in the three of them now that they'd given up fighting.

After Ken Sudō had walked away, the three boys from Class C helped each other to their feet.

"We finally did what Big Bro Ryuen told us to do."

"Ow, that hurts! Go easy!"

"But the price was pretty steep. I wonder if we met Ryuen's expectations."

"We probably did, right? We got beaten up this badly."

"Quit talking and hurry back to report. Otherwise, Ryuen will get mad."

"Ow, go easy! That really hurts!"

"Quit whining."

"I was the one who got hit the most, and you have the nerve to say that?"

The three boys helped each other along as they limped away.

Once Uesugi Hara saw that it was over, he said to Airi, "All right, it's over. Let's go too."

"...Mm."

"Um, Uesugi... Uesugi, could you... help me?" Airi said shyly, her cheeks turning red. Her body had stiffened a little from fear.

Uesugi Hara was more than happy to help.

Uesugi Hara: Sigh~ That was such a great date, and those guys ruined it.

On the way back.

Uesugi Hara wondered what Class C's motive had been.

Wasn't Class C supposed to give him trouble? How had it ended up being Class D instead?

Strange.

"Airi, are you all right?" He turned to look at Sakura Airi behind him and saw that she was a little pale.

Airi was panicking. She'd realized that her camera had accidentally captured the fight, and she had no idea what to do about it.

At Uesugi Hara's question, she hurriedly shut off the camera and stammered, "I-I'm fine... Let's hurry!"

Uesugi Hara eyed her suspiciously. He felt like she was hiding something, but he didn't press her. He only reminded her, "If anything feels wrong, be sure to tell me, okay?"

"...Got it." Airi lowered her head, her bangs hiding her expression. Uesugi Hara couldn't see anything unusual.

Remembering the fight from earlier, he added, "If anyone gives you trouble in the future, come to me right away, got it?"

When Airi didn't respond, Uesugi Hara reached out and tapped her head with his index finger. "Airi, are you listening to me?"

The poke jolted Sakura Airi out of her daze. "Huh?"

She looked confused. What was she supposed to know?

"I said, if anyone bullies you, tell me. I'll take care of them." As he spoke, Uesugi Hara struck a deliberately cool pose, his face full of comically confident swagger.

"Pfft~" Airi was amused by his expression. Most of her earlier nervousness faded, and she lowered her head to giggle to herself.

Uesugi Hara scratched his head, looking baffled. Was something wrong? Why was she laughing?

But she looks really cute when she laughs. Hehe.