"Yo~ isn't that Sudo? A piece of trash from Class D has the nerve to show up at club practice? Hurry back and go chow down on your vegetable set meal!"
"Hahaha..."
After going so long without exercising, Onizuka felt that his body had grown much more sluggish, so he wanted to get some exercise in the gym for a change and let off some steam.
He hadn't expected to run into this scene.
Three students who seemed to be in the same year were relentlessly provoking Sudo.
"Hmph, don't come looking for trouble. I know you're upset that I might become a regular player, but that's a fact!"
"What? You're just Sudo! Nothing but a dog raised by Class D! If you've got the guts, come outside and try us!"
Then came a string of insults, with an especially high concentration of profanity...
"Think I'm scared of you?" Sudo, who had originally planned to ignore them, finally couldn't take their relentless provocation any longer. He slammed the basketball in his hands onto the floor and left the gym with them.
Onizuka Tsukasa, who had been watching from the side: ...
He'd said this guy was all brawn and no brains. He couldn't even recognize such an obvious attempt to goad him.
Then he, too, followed the four of them at an unhurried pace, arriving at an extremely secluded Special Building.
When they stopped, Onizuka noticed the biggest problem with this place: there were no security cameras.
For some reason, the security cameras that should have been everywhere left a blind spot right here.
In other words, no one would find out about anything that happened here.
Onizuka immediately understood what these people were planning.
But he had no intention of stepping in to stop them. Instead, he took out his phone and started recording from the side.
However, in the stairwell, Onizuka unexpectedly spotted a familiar figure.
Fiery red hair, glasses tucked into her collar, and a cautious demeanor.
She looked nothing like she did in class-Sakura Airi.
When Sakura Airi saw Onizuka suddenly turn to look at her, she was about to scream. Her mouth had just opened when Onizuka, realizing something was wrong, clapped a hand over it.
"Phew~ That was close..."
Sakura Airi looked panicked with Onizuka's hand over her mouth, her body trembling nonstop.
Seeing how frightened she was, Onizuka felt helpless. He leaned close and whispered in her ear:
"Hey, don't you recognize me, Sakura? I'm Onizuka Tsukasa, your classmate."
Hearing that did nothing to calm Sakura Airi. If anything, she trembled even more violently, though Onizuka was holding her still.
"Hey, Sudo! Aren't you so tough? Come on, try hitting us!"
Hearing that the main event had begun upstairs, Onizuka didn't feel like wasting any more time on something pointless.
He scooped Sakura Airi up around the waist, still covering her mouth with his other hand, and took the stairs two at a time. He hid in a secluded corner, set her down, and kept filming with his phone.
A brawny boy made the first move, walking right up to Sudo and staring into his eyes.
At this distance, they're either going to kiss or fight, Onizuka thought maliciously from the side.
Sakura Airi seemed to have been frightened and quieted down instead, no longer struggling pointlessly in Onizuka's arms.
As expected, watching the action is an instinct written into every human's DNA. Onizuka was very pleased with how Sakura Airi was acting now.
"Hah, if you can't get into the Basketball Club, that's because you're not good enough. All you can do now is run your mouths?"
Sudo hadn't failed to grow at all. At least, one thing worth praising was that he could keep his temper in check even in a situation like this and hadn't struck first.
Seeing that Sudo was actually managing to hold back, the two boys behind the first exchanged glances, then rushed forward and punched him.
That was the last straw for Sudo. He finally lost control and got into a full-on fight with them.
It seemed Sakura Airi had never seen anything like this before and was a little scared. She slowly turned her head downward, and somehow moved his hand over her eyes!
Noticing this, Onizuka was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
He'd already gotten the evidence he needed, and there was no reason to watch what happened next.
Bored, Onizuka put away his phone and saved the video. Then, just as before, he carried Sakura Airi back to the entrance of the Special Building.
After being carried up and down all that way, Sakura Airi's head lolled back and forth. She seemed a little dizzy...?
Onizuka casually took out the water he'd brought in his bag to drink after exercising and handed it to Sakura Airi.
"Here, have some water. You might feel better."
Sakura took the water, took a couple of small sips, and put the cap back on. She was just about to hand the bottle to Onizuka when she seemed to remember something and quickly pulled it back, hugging it to her chest.
Then she noticed Onizuka's hand still extended in the air, and her whole face turned bright red.
"Um... I'll buy you another bottle, okay? I've already drunk from this one."
Seeing her amusing reaction, Onizuka couldn't help feeling like teasing her.
"It's fine. I want the one you're holding."
"Eek!!!!! How could you say that!" Hearing Onizuka say this, Sakura Airi's face went from apple-red to pomegranate-red, and she protested at once.
"All right, all right. I'm just kidding. It's only a bottle of water. Let's forget about it."
"But you really do look different from usual."
Only then did Sakura Airi suddenly realize what she was wearing. Her face went from pomegranate-red to cockscomb-red, and she hurriedly took the glasses hanging from her collar and put them on.
But perhaps Onizuka had been a little too rough with her just now. Only one lens was left in the glasses, and Sakura Airi looked rather comical wearing them.
"Pfft..." Onizuka couldn't hold back his laughter.
Sakura realized what he was laughing at, and the humiliation of the moment mixed with the hurt of being treated so roughly just before. She crouched on the ground and sobbed quietly.
Crap!
Realizing that he'd gone a little too far without thinking, Onizuka began to panic.
"Um... don't cry. The lens must have fallen somewhere inside the Special Building, though we probably won't be able to find it. How about I buy you another pair of glasses? Plain lenses are easy to get!"
Sakura Airi didn't budge.
Damn it! Onizuka had never tried to comfort a kid before! If this hadn't actually been his fault, he wouldn't have bothered!
Just as Onizuka was about to keep comforting her, he suddenly noticed Sudo walking out of the building. He glanced at Sakura Airi, who was still crouching on the ground.
Tsk! What a pain!
Onizuka once again wrapped his arm around her stomach and lifted her up. His other hand covered her mouth with practiced ease as he hid in a corner nearby.