Ryuen Kakeru

The Student Cafeteria was especially crowded, and the four of them had struggled to find an empty table. To keep other students from taking their seats while they were gone, Karuizawa and Matsushita stayed behind while Hachiman Hikigaya and Sato went to buy lunch.

As they left, Matsushita wore a beaming smile, clearly trying to give the two of them some time alone.

"Hikigaya, what do you usually like to eat?" Sato looked around as she considered what to get today.

"I don't know. I usually eat something different every day. I want to try everything in the cafeteria."

When it came to food, Hikigaya really had nothing he particularly liked. Japanese food was bland as cardboard to him. When he had first arrived in Japan, he would have diarrhea ten times after every meal.

Fortunately, he had gotten used to it by now and no longer embarrassed himself like that.

"I see. Then I'll try something different today too."

The two of them bought their own food, along with what Matsushita had wanted. All that remained was Karuizawa's lunch, for which they were still waiting in line.

"Hikigaya, I'll head back first, then. Sorry for making you wait here alone."

Sato held two trays in her hands, stuck out her tongue playfully, and turned to leave first.

Hikigaya looked at the one remaining person ahead of him and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

No matter when it was, he absolutely hated lining up.

Fortunately, despite the long line, things were moving remarkably quickly.

Once the person in front had bought their food, Hikigaya did not have to wait long before he got what Karuizawa had asked for.

Carrying two trays, Hikigaya headed in the direction he remembered.

After walking for a short while, he remembered that Karuizawa and the others' table should be just ahead.

However, several people blocked the only path there.

Among them, Karuizawa's high ponytail was conspicuous as she stood with her back to him.

Several tall men stood across from her. With her hands on her hips, Karuizawa was firing words at them nonstop.

"You deliberately bumped into us, didn't you? Why should we apologize?"

"You filthy women spilled soup all over me, and you still have the nerve to act so righteous? You're completely unreasonable."

"Stop wasting words on them. Just teach them a lesson so they understand what an apology is."

Things seemed to be getting a little serious.

Hikigaya shifted his gaze to Sato behind Karuizawa. Food was scattered all over the floor at their feet.

Sato was clinging to Matsushita in distress, with traces of soup still visible on her school uniform.

"What did you say? Go ahead and hit me if you've got the guts!" Karuizawa refused to back down.

Hikigaya quietly moved to Sato's side, set down the food he was holding on a nearby seat, took off his jacket, and draped it over Sato's shoulders.

Sato was visibly stunned. Turning her head, she saw Hikigaya's profile.

A fist swung toward Karuizawa, but she stood there in a daze, too foolishly stunned to dodge.

Suddenly, the boy across from them felt as though his hand had been caught in a pair of pincers. He could not move it at all.

"Bastard! Who the hell are you?"

The boy roared at Hikigaya, clearly furious that he had stopped him.

"You'll be expelled for fighting. If you still want to do this knowing the consequences, then I'll have no choice but to defend myself."

The boy's pupils contracted. Thinking of those serious consequences, he could only angrily pull back his fist.

The boy retreated, but a fierce gust came from Hikigaya's right. Unable to dodge far enough, Hikigaya could only raise his right arm to shield his head.

The fist slammed into Hikigaya's arm. His legs held firm against the floor, and he did not move an inch.

"Oh? This is interesting."

Lowering his arm, Hikigaya saw a smiling yet somewhat fierce face before him.

The man had long hair, and his eyes resembled those of a wild beast.

At least among the first-years, this was the first time Hikigaya had seen someone with eyes like that.

"You're from Class D, right? Tell me your name."

The boy asked with interest.

Hikigaya gave him an indifferent glance. "Sorry, but I have no interest in telling my name to a man."

"You've got a lot of nerve."

The boy gave a sinister grin, completely unconcerned that they were in public.

"If there's nothing else, could you please move aside?"

"What if I don't?"

The boy stepped in front of Hikigaya and leaned his head toward him. That intimidating face filled Hikigaya's vision as the boy glared at him viciously.

Hikigaya showed no sign of retreating. He simply stood there quietly, utterly unafraid.

"Hey, you students over there! What are you doing?"

At that moment, a teacher responsible for maintaining discipline shouted at them.

The boy curled his lips into a smile and moved his face away.

"Sorry, we bumped into each other by accident."

After saying that, the boy turned his attention back to Hikigaya.

"You really have guts. Since you don't want to tell me, I'll find out myself."

The boy turned away with easy confidence. Several boys consciously moved to either side, making way for him.

"Remember this. My name is Ryuen Kakeru. I hope that in the days to come, my name will become your nightmare."

His hearty laughter echoed through the cafeteria as Ryuen waved and left.

Hikigaya merely watched his back without saying a word.

"What a terrifying guy. So he's Ryuen, the leader of Class C!"

Unlike the chaotic Class D, the other three classes had already developed clear leaders, and Ryuen was one of them.

However, his method of becoming a leader was somewhat unusual. He used violence, making his classmates fear him so that he could control all of Class C.

Even Karuizawa felt a shiver of lingering fear as she recalled it. She did not think someone like that would go easy on girls.

If Hikigaya had not appeared in time, the three of them would probably have ended up in an embarrassing state.

"Still, Hikigaya was really cool just now. You weren't scared of Ryuen at all."

Matsushita praised Hikigaya with a broad smile.

Hikigaya humbly replied, "Not at all. I was actually so scared that I couldn't move."

"I'm sorry. If it weren't for me, we wouldn't have provoked Ryuen. And now Hikigaya has been targeted by someone like him." Sato lowered her head in remorse, silently cursing herself for not being more careful.

"It's okay, Maya. They were clearly the ones in the wrong, right, Hikigaya?"

Matsushita patted Sato's hand, soothing her emotions.

"Yeah, don't dwell on it."

Hikigaya did not have any comforting words to offer, so he could only say a few perfunctory things.

"It's fine. That guy might just be trying to scare people with his words. He's obviously just a paper tiger."

Karuizawa also tried to comfort her. The others took turns reassuring Sato until the guilt in her heart finally faded away.