"What the heck."
Matsubara Ayumu jogged out of the school gate and immediately saw the striking Siyuan Liangxiang and the equally striking Hayato: "Oh, Hayato, you're already out. I thought you were in the restroom and was waiting inside."
"Waiting?"
"Didn't we agree to go home together?"
...There was no agreement, was there?
"Our way home seems to be the same, so let's walk together," Siyuan Liangxiang explained. "Besides, what happened before... might lead to retaliation. If we walk together, I can protect you two better."
"Liangxiang, you're amazing!" Matsubara Ayumu said with a smile.
Hayato: ...
How should he put it?
It wasn't that he doubted Siyuan Liangxiang's combat ability, but Matsubara Ayumu's habitual reliance on her always left Hayato feeling a bit indifferent.
But since it was on the way, walking together for a bit wasn't out of the question.
"Hayato, I heard you fought with Anshi today?" Matsubara Ayumu asked. He had gone to buy a drink at the time and heard the rumors after returning to class.
"Mm," Hayato nodded.
"Why?" Liangxiang quickly asked.
Hayato's scrawny appearance made him look easily bullied. Because her childhood friend had always been this type, Liangxiang was quite sensitive to it.
"It's nothing, just playing around," Hayato said. He couldn't possibly say that Anshi had said vulgar things about her.
In that case, that guy would probably be socially dead. Anshi Zhengzhi had only made a minor mistake and had already been guided to the right path by his 'personality correction punch,' so Hayato decided to save him some face.
Liangxiang carefully examined Hayato's face and saw that his cheek was indeed a bit red, as if he had been slapped.
"If you're bullied, you have to tell me," Liangxiang said seriously.
Hayato smiled faintly: "Where did you come from, Big Sister? Sister Liangxiang?"
Liangxiang's face flushed: "N-no, I just... be careful."
"Mm..." Hayato was noncommittal.
"I didn't expect your math grades to be quite good, Hayato," Matsubara Ayumu said again. "That question in class, I also thought the answer was '1'... It was so misleading."
"Just luck," Hayato said.
It was clearly Ai-chan's...
The system abruptly tried to interject, but fortunately, Hayato's thoughts dispersed quickly enough, instantly suppressing her.
"And during the break, I saw you reading a book full of Chinese characters. I can't understand books like that at all!" Matsubara Ayumu turned into a praise-giver.
For the math problem where the answer was '0,' Siyuan Liangxiang could probably guess which one it was, since the math teachers for both classes were the same person, and the misleading nature of that problem was still fresh in her memory. She had also been fooled... But this question was still within the scope of the textbook, and with a little care, the correct answer could be found.
Books full of Chinese characters...
Most high school students wouldn't read those! They're too difficult! Besides, young people nowadays are using katakana more and more...
"Can you understand it?" Siyuan Liangxiang carefully used a gentler tone to ask.
It wouldn't give people the unpleasant feeling of being questioned.
"I can understand it."
Hayato did not hide this.
For him, knowing Chinese characters was a skill ingrained in his bones, and he didn't want to hide it; in fact, he spoke with pride.
"That's amazing," Siyuan Liangxiang didn't doubt him but praised him directly. "I don't know how to read many characters."
"Japanese kanji are fine, but traditional Chinese characters from Huaxia are truly difficult."
Matsubara Ayumu spoke eloquently: "I once saw a show that said Huaxia people would subtly say 'go to the restroom' as 'convenient,' but if someone tells you, 'I hope you come when I'm convenient,' that definitely doesn't mean 'I hope you come when I'm in the restroom.'"
A classic Chinese joke.
Hayato smiled slightly, surprised to hear such a joke in this country.
More, more.
But Matsubara Ayumu didn't continue.
Because a gloomy voice sounded behind him:
"Again, I've met you all again!!"
The voice brushed past his earlobe like wind.
Matsubara Ayumu jolted, letting out a 'whoa' and leaping up, almost immediately jumping behind Siyuan Liangxiang.
Aihara Yamato.
This bespectacled man, who had fled in disarray after being ambushed by Hayato, had returned.
This time, his demeanor showed no pretense of cheerfulness; he was full of gloom. And behind him, there was still the gang of delinquents led by the blonde-haired guy.
Moreover, their numbers were greater than before.
Familiar setup, familiar location...
Still on this street.
For some reason, there was no one passing by on this street.
There were only two groups of people: Hayato's faction and Aihara Yamato's faction.
Though referred to as 'two groups,' Hayato and his two companions were vastly outnumbered by Aihara Yamato's faction.
"Ayumu..."
Siyuan Liangxiang stood in front of Matsubara Ayumu, then said to Hayato, "Hayato, you should hide quickly too..."
However, Hayato took a step forward, shielding Siyuan Liangxiang behind him instead.
"You again?" Hayato's voice was calm, not only more composed than the trembling Matsubara Ayumu, but even more so than Siyuan Liangxiang.
"Aren't you afraid I'll call the police again?" he asked.
Aihara Yamato stuck out his tongue and said,
"Call the police? Maybe that would have worked just now, but there's no chance now..."
"It's never too late to call the police; you can't actually kill me," Hayato stretched his neck.
"As long as I'm alive, even if it's after the fact, I can still call the police and have you arrested. The more severely I'm injured, the harsher your sentence will be."
"Regarding... that..." Aihara Yamato showed a sinister smile: "I've thought about that too, so we'll capture Liangxiang... then take some 'exquisite photos.' If you dare to call the police... then Liangxiang will probably be socially ruined, won't she? Are you willing to see such a thing?"
'Exquisite photos'...
Although a euphemism was used, Siyuan Liangxiang knew immediately that it referred to something extremely lewd. She angrily shouted, "You! Shameless!!"
"Hehe, whose fault is it that you offended me, and... us?" Aihara Yamato laughed, "Originally, there should have been a result last time, but Mr. Hayashi ruined our good plans..."
"Wait a moment."
Hayato held out his hand and said, "Mr. Aihara, please understand one thing."
...What?
"Even if I don't call the police, you won't just let us go, will you?"
"It seems you have a good sense of self-awareness..."
"Then it's equivalent to: not letting us go → taking photos → we don't call the police → you can continue to threaten us with photos → maybe even take more photos... that's the process, right?" Hayato said, as if counting on his fingers, "There's also another option: not letting us go → taking photos → we call the police → you can't threaten us with photos... Do we even need to consider which to choose?"
Hayato's 'rational thinking' almost made Aihara Yamato burst out cursing, "Don't you care about Siyuan Liangxiang's innocence at all?!"
"After what you've done, what innocence is there to speak of?" Hayato tilted his head: "Besides, there are so many of you here, everyone gets a share. At that time, you'll definitely demand compensation. Each family will surely have to pay a few million, right? I imagine none of you are rich kids; breaking bones will be inevitable. With that much money, Liangxiang and I can go anywhere we want. Why stay in Japan and experience social death? Besides, my Chinese is quite good. In modern society, if you have money, you can immigrate. As for you, after ten or eight years in prison, your families will have paid a huge price, and your parents will fall into existential doubt due to their son's crime, unable to support the family... Then you'll come out branded as 'rapists.' I'd like to see who 'socially dies' then."
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