First Meeting with Ryuen

"Does it taste good?"

"It's pretty good, but I'm starting to feel a little sick."

Katsuya Shinjo picked up a napkin from the side and wiped his mouth. Only then did he get a good look at the person in front of him, and his expression turned strange.

"You... you wouldn't happen to be Rika, would you?"

"Watch your mouth! How dare you talk to our big brother Ryuen like that?!"

The guy in front looked like he was called Ryuen. And if he was the big brother, then it was only natural for him to have a loyal lackey.

"Ah, sorry, I mistook you for someone else. So, are you Rika?"

"I'm your—"

Ishizaki was clearly furious. This cocky brat had met Ryuen and not only failed to tremble in fear, but had repeatedly provoked them.

Didn't this guy know that Rika was a girl's name?

Ryuen glared viciously at his underling. "That's enough, Ishizaki."

"I... Sorry, big brother. I was wrong."

The chastised underling was as meek as a son caught gaming by his father, who'd come home early from work. He didn't even dare breathe too loudly.

Ryuen himself was feeling a little worn out. Class C didn't have many people he could rely on, and they were heavily polarized. Aside from him, the smart ones were physically weak, while the tough ones weren't very bright.

The moment they'd met, his underling had already fallen completely into the other guy's rhythm.

Then he fixed his viper-like gaze on Karuizawa, standing beside Shinjo. He could tell that this girl was the real weak link.

"I heard from Manabe that you knocked our classmate Rika flying. Is that right?"

The girl who'd been trailing behind them hurried forward and nodded frantically.

"That's right. Karuizawa ran into me."

No wonder he'd managed to become the leader of a group of delinquents. Ryuen's presence intimidated Karuizawa far more than any of the people who'd bullied her before.

Already fragile, she trembled with fright and struggled to get a word out.

Fortunately, Shinjo promptly patted her hand and answered for her.

"Her mouth's right there. Whatever she says goes, right? In that case, I could say she bit me yesterday."

"Heh. I don't know if you're really stupid or just pretending to be. But your woman obviously ran into my classmate. I doubt this is going to end so easily."

Shinjo didn't know why Ryuen had reached that conclusion, but if the other guy had misunderstood things this way, he might as well take advantage of it.

"So you're saying my girlfriend deliberately bullied some girl in your class who looked easy to pick on, and one of your classmates just happened to see it. And Karuizawa just happened to be alone at the time."

After summing up the other guy's logic, Shinjo let out a mocking laugh.

"Heh heh heh. What a story. What a setup. The whole thing was practically perfect—except for the evidence. Where is it?"

"You think there aren't any security cameras here?"

"Security cameras? Oh... Then can I take it that you, big brother, had your eye on a student from our class all along, and deliberately chose the right moment to frame us? You had a frail girl in your class, someone who looked easy to bully, play the part of an obstacle so you could stage a fake accident?"

Ryuen's face turned livid. He narrowed his eyes. He knew there couldn't be any evidence for this. Besides, Rika didn't have any serious injuries.

In fact, he'd realized from the very beginning that Katsuya Shinjo wasn't someone easy to deal with.

This time, he'd underestimated his opponent.

But to maintain his position as the leader of his class, he silently stared down the other guy for several minutes. Only when his eyes began to ache did he burst out laughing.

"Heh heh heh heh. Hahahahaha! You're an interesting one. I thought Class D was nothing but grasshoppers in a clump of weeds, but I didn't expect you to be such a tough nut to crack."

"Well, there may be plenty of things you don't expect. If you'd prepared some reasonable evidence beforehand, your little scheme might actually have worked."

What Shinjo hadn't expected was that Ryuen would really learn from this afterward, though...

"I have no idea what you're talking about. You got lucky this time. What's your name?"

Give him his name?

"Trying to threaten me? Class 1-D, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka."

"Ayanokoji... I'll remember you!"

With that, Ryuen turned to leave. Manabe, who still hadn't gotten the scene she wanted, wasn't about to let him go.

"Wait, are we just going to—"

But before she could finish, she saw the terrifying look in Ryuen's eyes and swallowed the rest of her words.

It was a long time after the students from Class C had left before Karuizawa finally let go of Shinjo's arm. Everything that had just happened had been terrifying.

Especially for her... If things had gone badly, wouldn't she have had to relive that nightmare all over again?

As she fretted, that strange sensation returned to the top of her head.

"Karuizawa, Karuizawa, there, there. The bad guys are gone now. Don't be scared."

(That's how they comforted people in some kids' cartoon, right?)

The childish reassurance made Karuizawa laugh. Blushing, she swatted the hand on her head away.

"Is that how you comfort someone? I'm not a kid."

"Okay, okay. But are you feeling a little better now? At least Ryuen and the others won't be able to use this to threaten you anymore."

Only then did Karuizawa remember that she'd missed something important just now.

That's right!

Hadn't Shinjo called her something like "my girlfriend" just now...?

Why had he said that?

Could it be...

"Um... Shinjo..."

"Yeah?"

Karuizawa turned slightly away so he couldn't see her expression and asked in a quiet voice,

"Just now... why did you... call me your... your... girl—"

"Oh, that? I just said it without thinking. Besides, Ryuen—"

Shinjo had reflexively started to explain, but halfway through, he realized something seemed off. He couldn't see the girl's face, but he had a faint sense that her mood had suddenly dropped.

Hey...

"You seem a little disappointed?"

Naturally, Karuizawa wasn't about to admit it. She hurriedly turned back and waved her hands.

"N-no, I... I'm not disappointed."

"Huh?"

Now it was Karuizawa's turn to freeze. After she said that, she clearly sensed that the other guy's mood seemed to drop a little.

"Shinjo, you... you... seem a little disappointed?"

Well, this was awkward. What was he supposed to say?!

To be honest, Shinjo didn't know why he'd deliberately made that face. Maybe he'd just gotten used to joking around?

Or maybe he really was a little disappointed?

For a moment, even Shinjo couldn't quite tell.