hard at me..ha?

“What’s with that out of a sudden?”

“We, well, how should I apologize here..! Anyway, Sakamoto-kun, just beat me up until you've calmed down!”

“No no, I don’t want to beat you up anymore.”

“Ah, in that case. Eh, well—”

What’s with those words? Yoshii just continues to look around the classroom in a frantic manner. Seriously, what’s with this guy? Where has the momentum he had up till now gone to?

Seeing Yoshii change his attitude so quickly, Kinosheeta asks,

“What is it, Yoshii? Is there something wrong?”

“Ah, un. Well—”

“—It’s like this. I misunderstood Sakamoto-kun.”

“I see. So that’s the reason for this terrible state.”

“Un..I’m really sorry about this, Sakamoto-kun..”

Yoshii looks at me, seemingly trying to probe for my expression. Ahh, damn it, what’s with this guy actually?

“But you’re also in the wrong too, Sakamoto. Couldn’t you have explained it well just now? Don’t you feel that Yoshii could have listened to you when you saw him like that?”

“..Fuun.”

Kinosheeta’s words made sense. I might be able to convince him if I explained things. In fact, I was planning to do this right from the beginning, but I gave up on this thought halfway through..because I thought of something unnecessary.

“Are there any hidden feelings inside you?”

“You won’t understand even if I tell you this, Kinosheeta.”

I don’t want to explain the feelings back then, and besides, I’m not really on such good terms with this group of people.

“Alright, if there’s nothing, I’ll be going.”

“Ah, un. See you tomorrow. Also, I’m really sorry about that.”

“Ke.”

He got tangled up with me while we were fighting, and this guy is apologizing non-stop now. Really, if he’s so worried, he should have used his brain so that things wouldn’t have happened like this. Even if this never happened, the textbook is still like that—Shimada, she might be hurt emotionally after seeing her textbook end up like that because of this bullying that never existed in the first place.

“..”

The hand that reached out for the bag stops for a moment.

There was a slight yet stupid thought appearing in my mind.

What will Yoshii do after this?

A normal person will just go home and explain the reason why the textbook was tattered to Shimada. That will just solve this problem easily and beautifully. It doesn’t matter to Yoshii whether Shimada can understand Japanese well. Once he tells her what he needs to say, there’s nothing else for him to do.

Yes, that’s the normal trail of thought.

“Kinosheeta-san, do you know where you can get new textbooks?”

“Un? No, I have no idea at all. Also, I am a guy.”

“What about you, Tsuchiya-kun?”

“..(Shakes head)”

“I see..u~n..”

That should be the case, yet the conversation I’m hearing doesn’t seem to have that intent. Their brains are really stupid.

“Can we get it if we go to the shops?”

“How do we do that? The textbooks are all given, and even if we go to the shops, they might be sold out at this point. Also, the shops right now should be closed at this time, right?”

“Then, how about we sneak in or something?”

“....That’s very risky.”

“I really don’t know. That action is really too risky. There’ll be the suspicion of illegal trespassing and criminal theft.”

“Even though I definitely won’t go steal money, u~n..that’s really not a good idea..”

Well, never mind. It has nothing to do with me. Better go back home to rest. I only took two punches, but my face does hurt.

“How about we make a copy of the book?”

“There’s a lot to print..”

“..And we can’t make a real book.”

I’ll just go shopping on the way home. There’re a lot of things I need to buy.

“How about we go iron this book?”

“It’s not even a book. The creases can’t be ironed flat..”

“..The tattered edges can’t be repaired.”

Alright, time to shop.

“I’ll replace this tattered book with my own then.”

“Didn’t everyone have to write their names when the textbooks were given out? You can’t change it if it has your name.”

“..And it doesn’t solve the problem in the first place.”

I’ll go and shop..

“How about we wreck everyone’s books..”

“Shimada’s book won’t be so obvious then..”

“..But that’s just vandalism.”

......................................

“Then, then,”

“AH—REALLY, YOU IDIOTS! COULDN’T YOU HAVE JUST TOLD THE TEACHERS THAT YOU NEED ANOTHER BOOK!!?”

I couldn’t help but butt in on hearing their stupid words. These guys are way too stupid! Even I will feel anxious hearing such things, you bastards!

“Ah, yeah! That’s right! We didn’t do anything wrong here!”

“That’s true. It’s just like what you said, Sakamoto yo.”

“..That’s a blind spot.”

“YOU SHOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD THIS IF YOU’RE NORMAL!!”

Ahh damn it!! Are these guys serious!? They’re not kidding me now, right!?

“Really, use your brains more, you idiots..alright, I’m going home then.”

“Ahh, un.”

I sling my back and leave Yoshii and the rest behind. Damn it, this isn’t really my style.

“Ah, Sakamoto-kun.”

“Naa? Is there anything else?”

On hearing Yoshii’s voice, I turn around for the last time.”

“Thanks a lot for your help.”

And that guy said that with a hurt look.

“..”

Such a strange guy.

Immediately, I feel that there’s a need to clean up the classroom, but it should be alright to leave it to Yoshii. If he’s worried that I’m angry over being misunderstood, I’ll feel more grateful if he could do something about this other than apologizing.

Just when I thought about this and put my hand on the door handle.

“Hold it, Sakamoto. What are you doing here!?”

“““!?”””

A gruff voice stopped me. This voice, this pressure, it’s for real..!

“Mu, muscular sensei..!”

“Call me Nishimura-sensei.”

The muscular teacher in charge of remedial appeared, calling himself this,

This is bad..! The classroom’s in such a state, and Yoshii and I are hurt. It’s impossible to find an excuse..!

I’ll just say that it’s troublesome and try to get away..even though I thought so, this muscular teacher’s body isn’t just ordinarily big. He continues to close in on us while looking like he’s not letting us escape as he blocks the exit.

In that case, I can only take the risk and duck under his arms.

I’ll at least kick one of the tables and chairs on the floor right at him to escape. At this moment,

“Sorry, sensei.”

“Muooh?”

Just when I got ready to take action, Yoshii takes off his blazer and drapes it over the muscular teacher’s head,

“..Excuse me.”

Also, Tsuchiya used some sort of cable to tie the shirt and make it hard to break free. At this moment, I put enough obstacles at the feet of the muscular teacher.

“Use this chance to get away from here!”

Kinosheeta then said with a cornered voice and opened the window with a loud sound. However, we escape normally from the corridor instead of leaping through the window.

“Dam, DAMN YOU! YOU’RE NOT GETTING AWAY!”

The muscular teacher’s vague voice can be heard from afar. Even if he manages to see something, he will check the window where no one is around.

The escape from the classroom I thought was impossible succeeded so easily.

“..”

These guys..

“That was dangerous~ it would be bad if that teacher caught us.”

“..I heard that we would be punished severely.”

“A very strict teacher at that.”

They continued to say things like this as we walk down the stairs. We finally managed to get away. Time to go home.

“Yoshii yo, what do we do about the textbook just now?”

“What about it?”

“Such a thing happened just now. It’s impossible to explain the situation to the teachers and ask them to give a new book.”

“Ah..yeah, that’s right.”

On the other hand, even though things got tougher, this group of idiots just wants to get their hands on the textbook no matter what. Fine, whatever you want to do, just do it. It has nothing to do with me.

I take my bag again and head towards the corridor.

“Do you have any good ideas, Sakamoto-kun?”

“..Haa?”

I’m going already, but Yoshii just asked me in a matter-of-fact manner. Is this guy’s head underwater or something?

“Why must I—”

Help you think of ideas? Just when I was about to say that, the teachers’ voices can be heard from afar.

“Ahh..this is bad..”

“What is it?”

“The waste disposal recovery vehicle took the new textbooks away wrongly..”

“Ahh. That’s a waste.”

“Yeah. That’s because I won’t have extra textbooks for the year. Yare yare..”

On hearing these words, I couldn’t believe my ears. That voice definitely belongs to the teacher in charge of classics, either Tanaka or Takenaka, and Shimada’s wrecked textbook was classics. What luck, this idiot’s luck is so good it’s scary. No, I think that’s strong bad luck for him. He wouldn’t be chased away from the classroom if he had good luck and could have ended things smoothly.

“I see. So the teacher’s bothered over not having textbooks..everyone’s really bothered over textbooks today..”

“That’s true.”

......Ha?

“But that teacher has one, so there’s no problems for him. Compared to him, over here..”

“Yeah. Muu..what should we do..?”

The, these guys..!!

“ARE YOU ALL IDIOTS!? THAT’S IT!”

“Eh!? What, that?”

“THE TEXTBOOK! CAN’T YOU JUST GET BACK THE ‘THROWN TEXTBOOK’ THEY JUST MENTIONED!?”

““..Ohh, I see!””

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT!? ANY HUMAN CAN DEFINITELY REALIZE THIS!”

What’s with this group of guys? Do they think that textbooks will become scrap paper once they enter the waste recovery truck!?”

“But how do we get the book?”

“Hear out the name of the waste recovery company and make a call to them! We can then identify the vehicle that came to school to collect the trash!”

“Ohh, that’s right. You’re really amazing, Sakamoto.”

“YOU GUYS ARE JUST TOO WORTHLESS!”

These guys will definitely be streamed into F class next year with such brains!

“Then, we’ll just hear the name of the recovery company—”

“BASTARDS! I GOT YOU!”

The muscular teacher’s voice suddenly rang. Tch! That guy revived!?

We run off in the opposite direction of the origin of the voice. The enemy just had to come running out from the corridor. Now we can’t escape like we wanted.

“WHAT SHOULD WE DO AT SUCH A TIME, SAKAMOTO-KUN!?”

“HOW WOULD I KNOW!? JUST RUN WITH ALL YOU'VE GOT!!”

I can feel the presence of the muscular teacher slowly closing in. How does he have such leg strength!? Speaking of which, that teacher seemed to have mentioned that his interest is an Ironman triathlon. It’s not correct to call him muscular anymore; that guy’s nickname will be Ironman!

Even as I continued to run, I can’t pull the distance apart in this situation of despair, and beside me, Kinosheeta sighs and says to us,

“There’s no other way out. I’ll lure the sensei away. I am leaving the textbook to you.”

““Haa?””

After saying that, he stops and turns to face Ironman.

“O, oi!”

“Kinosheeta! You bastard, what’s going—”

“Nishimura-sensei, things aren’t good now!”

“Not good? What’s not good?”

“When I’d entered the classroom just now, a few unfamiliar students from other schools appeared, saying ‘hand Sakamoto over’ and made a ruckus.”

“..What’s going on?”

“I don’t know what’s going on either, but I just thought of running away when people were making a scene in the classroom..those guys may still be there.”

“Okay, lead the way.”

Kinosheeta led Ironman away to another place.

That guy wouldn’t blink even when lying, huh? Normally, people will hesitate somewhat when facing such a ferocious teacher (and a muscular one at that in this case).

However,

“Now we can get away!”

“..Good job, Kinosheeta!”

We managed to escape Ironman’s demonic clutches, and we should use this chance to hurry and get out of the school.

“But we can’t ask the name of the company from the teachers. What should we do?”

Yoshii asked as we ran towards the corridor.

“We’ll just have to chase after it! Since they said that it just left, if we’re lucky, we might be able to catch up when the vehicle is caught at the traffic light!”

I immediately answered according to the mood right now. Damn it! How can I just let myself get pulled around like this!?

“We’ll have to hurry then!”

Yoshii changes into his shoes at the corridor and gets ready to rush out of the school gate.

“..No, over here.”

Tsuchiya called him and turned away. What is it? What is he planning to do?

“..It’ll be faster here.”

He leads us to a bicycle parking lot for the bicycles students use. I see. The front of this school is a slope, so it’ll be a lot faster to ride down it than to run.

“You’re going to lend us your bicycle, Tsuchiya-kun?”

“..Give me 4 seconds.”

Tsuchiya squat down in front of a certain bicycle, kacha kacha, and fumbles with the lock. Oi oi..that way of unlocking is definitely stealing.

“Eh!? Is that good?”

“..It’ll be fine if you return it properly later.”

As he said that, the locks are undone, and the bicycle is ready.

“Alright! I’ll borrow this now, thanks!”

Yoshii gets up on the bike to ride the pedal. And that’s fine in itself..”

“..Where will you go first?”

“Ah..erm..”

As expected! This guy doesn’t know where he’s headed to first! He’s just moving according to instincts!

Not only does he not know the destination, it’s practically crazy for him to chase after a vehicle in such a state after being battered all over in the fight against me. He’ll either collapse halfway through or fall down, and it’s really madness for him to go chase in such a state.

But even so,

“Let’s look for it first! It’s better than not doing anything!”

Yoshii said without hesitation. Just for a classmate, he’s working so hard for a girl who returned to the country, who doesn’t like him, and even loathes him.

I really can’t understand this guy at all. Normally, will you do such a thing? You’re already injured, you know? Shimada hates you, you know? No one will thank you even if you get the textbook, you know?

His irrational thinking causes me to be worried.

What’s going on? What’s with this guy? Really, this guy’s really..!

“Ah seriously. Move aside, you bastard!”

“Eh..? Sakamoto?”

“Hurry up and sit! I’ll take you down the road the vehicle may have gone down!”

Why is it that this guy is so stupid! Getting into a fight without being sure of what’s going on, unable to think of the obvious, always rushing forward without thinking. This guy is the one saying that he wants to help the transfer student, but isn’t he the most useless one in the end? He doesn’t have anything normal people have! He doesn’t understand a thing that can be understood if you just think a little! And, and—

“Thanks!”

And..he only has one thing, the one thing that I don’t have, and the one thing I had always hoped for.

“Hang on tight! I won’t stop and go after you if you fall!”

“Got it!”

I let Yoshii ride on the back seat of the bicycle and bore the weight of my whole body onto the pedals. That was the only bicycle in the parking area. I don’t have the duty to chase alone, but if I let Yoshii go alone, I won’t know where he will go to or whether he will even fall along the way. It can’t be that it’s a two-seater bike here..but why must I be riding it with someone who’s trying to patch things up with me after we just fought each other?

“Ahh, damn it! This isn’t fun at all!”

The bicycle flies out as if it’s being chased by something invisible as it glides down the slope in front of the school. The bicycle lets out a creaking sound, but I’m not slowing down at all.

“Listen up! I’ll only lead you there! It doesn’t matter to me what you do after that!”

“That’s enough! I’ll handle the negotiations after that!”

“Tch! Of course you will!”

Our speed is so fast that I can’t even open my eyes, but Yoshii continues to grab onto my shoulders tightly without fear. This guy only beats out others in terms of guts!

I recall the map of the area in my mind. The waste recovery plant isn’t located inside the city, but in the suburbs. The road leading to the outside will split into four forks at a certain point, and if the truck goes by there, we’ll be at a loss as we won’t be able to tell where it goes. Thus, we have to get to the intersection first before blocking the vehicle. Right now, the most important thing is speed.

“We’re going to turn! Tilt your body!”

“Got it!”

If I turn the handle suddenly at this speed, we’ll definitely fall off. We can only tilt our bodies to shift our weight if we don’t want to slow down.

I shifted my weight forward, seemingly trying to hold down the a vehicle that is going amok, and Yoshii turns to the right.

I move the handle with the intent to tilt the front wheel slightly horizontally. If the front wheel slips, it’s over. Don’t wobble now..!!

Zuri zuri, the irritating sound could be heard. The front wheel was steady, but the back wheel seem to slide.

“You..oOOH!!!”

Behind me, Yoshii steadied it again, and the bicycle managed to maintain balance, keeping a constant speed as it moves forward.

“Oi, you bastard! You’re using too much force on your hands! My shoulders are aching because of you grabbing me!”

“You told me to hang on tight!”

As we said that, we arrived at the next turn. We manage to keep our balance as the wheels seem to fly again, but this time, there doesn’t seem to be a similar anxiety from before.

“Ah! That mini-truck!”

“Ah!? You see it?”

“Un! Right in front of us!”

I didn’t see it, but since Yoshii says it’s in front, I’ll just follow the direction he’s pointing!

“UOOOHH!!”

I continue to move my legs with all I have and transfer my strength to the wheels. At this speed, there’s no need to consider turning; I just need to focus on moving forward.

“Alright! We’re going to catch up, Sakamoto-kun!”

I forgot the traffic rules of having to move down both sides of the road as I continued to step on the pedal. The target stops because of a red light.

“Caught up!”

We stopped right beside the truck that stopped. Yoshii gets off the bicycle once I braked and knocks on the door of the mini-truck. Yare yare..is this mission accomplished now..

I heave a sigh of relief and stop my feet.

However,

“Eh!? Arre!? Wait!?”

Once the traffic light turned green, the mini-truck moved forward as if nothing happened. Wait!? What’s going on!?

I let myself rest for the time being to calm myself down, and finally notice the situation around me. I lifted my head, and what I saw was,

“No go! That driver’s not listening because he’s paying attention only to the music!”

The driver has headphones on as he listens to the music. No way! I heard that industrial trucks aren’t fitted with stereos, but this one just had to have headphones on him!

Ehh! Since we came all the way here, we might as well go on until the end!

“Get on, Yoshii! We’re going after it!”

“Got it!!”

As I exert all my strength onto the pedal, Yoshii immediately rushes over from behind like he’s crashing into something and leaps on. The bicycle immediately reaches almost top speed in an instant.

“Can you catch up with it, Sakamoto-kun!?”

“Shut up! Who are you asking here!?”

Our last chance will be the traffic light at the end of the slope in front of us. After that, it’ll be uphill, and there won’t be many traffic lights, so it will be impossible for a bike to catch up.

I continue to step on the pedals as I think about this.

The lactic acid gather at my feet, and my breathing feels erratic. There’s no way to do this from now on other than old-fashioned determination. This really doesn’t suit my original character. Such an action isn’t like me.

That should be the case—

“What—the hell am I doing, damn it!!”

For some reason, I’m using all I got to do this thing that’s not like me.

“Are you alright, Sakamoto-kun!?”

I can hear Yoshii’s worried voice behind me, and it seems that he can feel my legs trembling.

“Don’t you mind! I haven’t fallen to such an extent that I need a twerp like you to worry!’

“But—”

“More than this, this me here will help you out on this! No matter what method you use, get that book back!”

“..Of course!”

I’m not looking in front now as all my strength is focused at my feet. This is a contest behind human power and engines, there’s no chance of me winning this reckless challenge, and it’s something I will normally snort at.

But even though, there’s another me that I don’t know of, cheering me on while my mind’s in a blank as I move forward.

I suddenly lift my head, and several meters away, the mini-truck appears right in front of me.

At the front of the slope, the traffic light shows a red color.

The mini-truck slows down to stop.

We continue to accelerate to catch up.

The distance between the bicycle and the truck is gradually decreasing.

There’s still one step.

One more step, and we can get what we want. Yoshii will get the textbook for the sake of the girl who returned back from overseas, and I will get a certain thing I had been chasing after for 5 years, which even I can’t understand. That’s what I feel.

I continue to prompt my lungs to receive oxygen as I desperately let the bicycle catch up to the truck

Our distance now is almost 0, and the bicycle catches up to the truck.

Now, we just have to move to the front while the red light is right in front of us and call out to the driver when he can see us. We just need to stop the truck and get the textbook.

That’s all we had to do.

However, right at the end, the goddess of luck never stood on our side.

“Ahh..”

The traffic light turns from red to green.

The truck stops decelerating as it accelerates.

The distance that was zero expands again.

In the end, we couldn’t make it. Whether it’s the strength to take even one more step or stepping on the pedal with all I got, it wasn’t enough.

“DA—MNNN IIIITTTT—!!!”

Whether I roar or yell, I couldn’t do it. This is already my limit. My feet can’t generate a faster speed any more.

—However,

“AAALLLLLRRRRRRIIIIGGGGGHHHHTTTT—!!!”

As I hear the voice, the pedal suddenly feels lighter.

Yoshii, who was supposed to be sitting behind me, is now beside me.

The final step I couldn’t reach is filled up.

A landing sound can be heard on the hood of the mini-truck.

—And after that, the time that slowed down mysteriously reverts back to normal.

“OH—UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!!!”

The bike that acted as Yoshii’s jumping board loses balance as the handle shakes. Even if I put my feet on the ground to press the brakes of the front and back wheel, I won’t be able to reduce this momentum as it falls on the roadside.

“UWAAAAAAHHH!!!”

About 10m in front of me, there’s also the sound of something falling. I don’t even need to look to tell that it’s Yoshii who leaped off the truck. That bastard, even if our speed slowed down with the uphill, there’s a limit to how reckless one should be. If he wasn’t careful, it won’t even be just injuries he would've received.

“Ar, are you two, alright!?”

An unfamiliar voice can be heard.

The truck we tried so hard to catch up to stops in front of Yoshii, and the driver gets out from inside. Ah, I see, so he was shocked by the impact when Yoshii jumped on and stepped on the brake. No wonder Yoshii only got minor wounds.

“Ah..sorry, I’m fine. Just a fall.”

“Eh..? But..”

“Please don’t mind. It’s not some accident. We’re fine here.”

“Is, is that so. Since you say so..”

The driver barely accepts his explanation, returns to the truck, starts the engine again and leaves.

“Ha..hhaaa, haa..”

Yoshii let out a voice that’s either laughing or panting there.

“So, so tiri..ng..”

He holds onto the textbook with both hands like he’s dealing with treasure there. That’s really a strange sight. It’s really inexplicable to see that idiot treasure a learning tool like that.

This out-of-place sense is really too weird, and I let out a voice that’s either laughing or panting as well.

☆

“Looks like you got the target item.”

I ask to check with Yoshii, who regains his breath and walks over.

“Un, it was successful.”

Beaming, Yoshii happily raises the book in his hands.

“I see. That’s really good.”

I smiled back at him and raised my hand up.

“Humph!”

PAK. This hand of mine swings down on the top of his head.

“Wha..!?”

The sudden knock caused Yoshii to roll blank white eyes.

“At least tell me when you’re going to jump!!”

I lashed out at Yoshii loudly.

And then, Yoshii seems to recover from his shock and realizes everything, glaring at me as he gets ready to argue.

“Wha, what!? Didn’t you say that I have to get the book no matter what, for your sake!?”

“But who in their right mind would consider leaping off the bike that is going full speed!? It’s so dangerous that I nearly died there!”

“That’s what I want to say! What’s with you not even using the brakes when two people are riding down a slope! I didn’t even know where to tilt my body because I-->>

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