Hayase Saki was troubled.
After the incident with her childhood friend Fukuyama Keitai, she had nearly been tricked and assaulted by Miwa Kenichirō, a second-year from the swimming club. Thankfully, the president of the newly formed Service Club and Yukinoshita Yukino had intervened just in time to save her.
She thought it was all over after that.
After all, she had joined the Service Club officially. With her club activities moved there, Miwa shouldn't have had the guts to bother her anymore.
Besides, she was secretly happy about being in the same club as the famous Yukinoshita Yukino. Maybe—just maybe—she could make friends there too.
The only headache was the swimming club's captain demanding a valid reason for her sudden withdrawal. Without one, they wouldn't let her skip training.
But her small spark of joy lasted only until last night.
After finishing her bath and homework, Saki had been messaging Keitai when she learned the shocking news: after leaving practice, Miwa and his gang had gone after him.
According to Keitai, he'd been walking home through his usual shortcut—a dim, empty alleyway near the station—when someone suddenly threw a bag over his head and struck him from behind.
He remembered the pain, the confusion, the rain of blows in the dark. He couldn't see how many there were—just that there were a lot of them. And they didn't hold back.
It had taken him a long time to crawl up from the ground and call the police. They arrived quickly but, as expected, there were no cameras in the alley and no witnesses. The officers simply recorded his statement, asked the usual questions about grudges or possible suspects, and left.
It was just another unsolved case.
Because that's how it went. In Japan, if no one dies and there's no solid evidence, a beating was just... background noise.
Saki clenched her fists at the thought.
She knew who was behind it. Miwa Kenichirō. It had to be him.
She'd worried that he might come after her again—but she hadn't expected him to take it out on Keitai instead.
It was her fault. Because of her, Keitai had gotten hurt. Miwa couldn't touch Yukinoshita. He couldn't touch the club president. And Saki herself was protected by them. So he'd lashed out at the one target he could reach—her childhood friend.
But even if she was certain in her heart that Miwa was the culprit, she had no proof.
And because she had no proof, she couldn't bring herself to tell Keitai the truth.
She could only bury the guilt deep inside her chest.
Then, this morning—When she arrived at school and opened her shoe locker—there it was.
A letter.
No name, no date. Just a single message.
"Meet me at noon behind the special-use building."
The moment she saw it, she knew who it was from.
Miwa.
It even mentioned Keitai, warning her to come alone—or else someone would "get hurt."
Saki had stared at it for a long time, torn between fear and helplessness.
She didn't dare bother the president or Yukinoshita with this. Not over something so "personal."
In the end, she decided to face it alone.
Still, she wasn't reckless. Before going, she'd checked the meeting spot carefully—making sure there were surveillance cameras nearby. When she saw one pointing in that direction, she finally felt a little safer.
She waited in the shadows near the building, holding her breath. When she spotted Miwa's tall, bleached-haired figure approaching in the distance, she took a deep breath and stepped out—ready to tell him to stop harassing Keitai once and for all.
But before she could take a full step—
A hand clamped over her mouth from behind and yanked her back into the darkness.
"Mm—mmph!"
She struggled in panic, until a familiar, calm voice whispered beside her ear.
"Hayase Saki. It's me—Hikigaya Hachiman. I'm going to let go now, so don't scream."
Her entire body froze.
"P-President?"
She turned her head, eyes wide, and nearly collapsed in relief when she saw him.
For a moment there, she'd thought—well, she didn't want to think about what she'd thought.
"Don't call me president. You're not exactly a shining example of a capable subordinate," Hachiman muttered dryly, rolling his eyes. "What the hell are you doing here alone?"
Saki shrank under his stare, fumbling for words. "Keitai… he was attacked last night. Someone hit him from behind and beat him up. I—I think it was Miwa…"
Her voice trembled. She didn't dare meet his eyes. "I just wanted to make him stop… if I didn't come, Keitai might get hurt again…"
"Oh, so you thought you'd offer yourself up as tribute, huh? Let him rough you up so your childhood friend stays safe?"
"N-no! I just… I checked first! There's a security camera here—"
"Idiot."
The word hit her like a slap.
"You think that stops anything? That camera's busted. Probably because he made sure it was."
Hachiman sighed. He was done listening. It was the kind of self-sacrificial stupidity that sounded noble in a drama but only got you killed in real life.
If he hadn't been tailing Miwa today, she'd already be finished.
"Stay here," he ordered, voice low. "I'll deal with this. Then I'll deal with you."
Without another word, he stepped out of the shadows.
Miwa's face twisted in surprise when he saw who approached. "You?! What the hell are you doing here?"
He'd expected Hayase Saki—alone, frightened, desperate. Not him.
Hachiman's gaze was cold, detached. "Why wouldn't I be here?"
He stopped right in front of Miwa, his tone razor-sharp. "You still sore about yesterday? I warned you once already. But sure—let's make it official. No teachers, no cameras. I'll give you a fair shot. Challenge me right here."
Miwa's expression flickered between confusion and rage. His pride burned at the thought of being humiliated again. He clenched his fists.
"You asked for it!" he roared, charging forward.
Behind the corner, Saki gasped.
Miwa's physique was impressive—broad-shouldered, muscular from years of swimming. But strength in the pool didn't mean anything in a fight.
Hachiman sidestepped easily, his movements precise and practiced. Miwa's punch sliced through air, and Hachiman countered with a sharp kick to the ribs.
Miwa stumbled, snarling in pain, and swung again.
Hachiman dodged, calm as ever, and struck the same spot twice more. Two clean hits to the side were enough to drop him to one knee. Then, before Miwa could recover, Hachiman stepped in and drove his knee squarely between the legs.
A strangled scream tore from Miwa's throat.
He collapsed.
It was over before it began.
Saki stood frozen, stunned. Her "scary" attacker was now curled on the ground, clutching himself and groaning like a wounded animal.
She had always sensed that their club president wasn't someone ordinary—but she hadn't imagined it would be this one-sided. Miwa hadn't even touched his sleeve.
Hachiman exhaled slowly, then looked down coldly at his opponent.
"Hayase Saki is part of my Service Club now," he said evenly. "That means she's under my protection. If you ever so much as look her way again, I'll beat you down every single time I see you."
Miwa trembled, half in pain, half in disbelief.
"Service Club? Isn't she Fukuyama's girlfriend?"
"I—I'm not!" Saki blurted, running up beside Hachiman and clutching his arm for support. "Keitai and I are just childhood friends! So please—just leave him alone!"
Her attempt at a brave declaration faltered the moment she met Miwa's hateful glare.
"You slut…" he spat through gritted teeth. "You were pretending to be innocent this whole time, huh? Guess you've been sleeping with this guy all along. No wonder you played hard to get."
His words dripped venom.
Hachiman's expression didn't change—but his eyes turned icy.
"What did you just say?"
Before Miwa could blink, Hachiman tore his arm free from Saki's grasp and drove his foot into Miwa's gut.
"Don't mistake my patience for mercy."
His voice was flat, emotionless, terrifying.
"The daughter of the Yukinoshita family is one of my subordinates.""The current student council president, Kaede, is one of my people.""Even the disciplinary committee has my backing."
He crouched slightly, eyes locked on Miwa's terrified face.
"What exactly do you have to fight me with, huh?"
Miwa swallowed hard.
Hachiman straightened, brushing the dust off his sleeves. "Regretting breaking the cameras yet? Good. Keep your mouth shut about today, and maybe you'll keep your future too. If I hear a single word about this incident—your life is over."
He gave one last kick for good measure, sending Miwa curling tighter in pain.
Saki watched in stunned silence as her president stood there, composed as ever, anger simmering just beneath the surface.
If it weren't for his system—if he hadn't come—she would've been ruined.
The thought made her stomach twist.
"Get lost," Hachiman said flatly.
Miwa didn't dare argue. Limping, silent, humiliated, he dragged himself away.
Hachiman watched him go, expression unreadable. Persistent bastard, he thought. Strong grudge, too. He'll try again if I leave him be.
Which meant—tonight, he'd finish what he started.
He'd collect his reward for this "Minotaur Hunt."
"U-Um… President?"
Saki's hesitant voice broke the silence. She looked up at him, eyes wide, trembling slightly.
Right now, he didn't look like the aloof, quietly kind senior who had invited her into the club. He looked dangerous. Commanding.
Scary.
But also… safe.
Hachiman glanced at her over his shoulder. "Lunch break's not over yet," he said calmly. "Your turn."
"Eh…?"
She froze as he started walking toward the special-use building.
"W-Wait—President…!"
Her voice cracked into a helpless whimper as she hurried after him, clutching her bag to her chest.
She had a feeling his next "lesson" wouldn't be gentle.
Uuuugh…