Volume 1 Chapter 3: Cruel Memories
We stayed in the dorm since yesterday night. Today is Thursday and it was the Battle Festival. The Festival will be in the school.
"Oh, you are already awake"
"I just woke up by now"
"I see, Alright. Let's get the class ready now"
Ishigamura is my roommate, also I left as the Student leader, and Ishigamura filled up my place as Student Leader which means our classroom representative.
I went outside and saw Zomigashi. Seems like she was here for me. What does the student council want from me?
"Amayori-kun"
"What it is again"
"Don't be like that Amayori-kun, I'm treating you nice. The student council president wants to discuss something with you. I really can't stand that Guy, but I can't disobey them, it's part of student council rules"
"I told them not to involve me with them"
Ishigamura opened the door and saw us talking.
"What are you talking about with the student council Secretary?"
"Um… Sorry Ishigamura, go to the others alone. I have business with the student council"
"I see, alright then. I'll inform them"
Zomigashi and I went to the next building where the student council room is.
We entered and only the president was inside.
"Konami, please leave us alone"
"Understood"
Zomigashi left and I was looking into the Student council's eye.
"What does the student council president want from me"
"I'll just want you to remember our agreement. You'll leave being a student leader but you have to win your group at the Battle Festival"
"I forgot to ask a question last time. If I win our team at the Battle Festival?"
"We will leave you alone"
"Do not forget that. Also, I think it's not the only reason why you brought me here"
"Right, I have one more thing to tell you. I know the Heavenly Dragon's leader"
I grabbed his uniform and tells "You'll regret telling that to others"
"Well, if you want me to shut up about that. Answer my question honestly"
I do not like this. I feel like they are trying to expose my past to the public.
"What kind of question is it?"
"What kind of person is Fujimoto"
From what I remembered it was—-... The leader of Raven Rascal, he was the person behind the last conflict between Heavenly Dragon and Raven Rascal. The person who stands in front of my friend's body. I didn't manage that guy to pay back and I won't even forget that guy.
"Does he even transfer here? Or was he in this school too?"
"That's right, I wanted to know information About him"
"Since you know the leader of Heavenly Dragon, I'll tell you about the leader of the Raven Rascal"
"Raven Rascal, you say?"
"Student council president. You seem to know about the group of these two. What connection do you have to it?"
"You see, I always observe the whole school and those who have been around since I was a kid. I was involved with the White Phoenix who is the plan maker"
"Oh, the group who backed out and was disbanded 1 week before the conflict of the last battle of the two groups?"
"Yeah, until now. The student council right now is the old member of White Phoenix"
"Eh? So you guys are planning to take over the school since you guys didn't manage to take over the Raven Rascal?"
"Don't get me wrong about that, we became a student council to make the students walk the right path, unlike the path we had back then. Enough with this, answer me already. What kind of guy is the leader of Raven Rascal?"
"He was a guy who had a gang father, he ruled every kid on their street. He also involves gangsters using the money from his father to get rid of all the groups around. His aim until now is to rid all the old members of every group that was established that year. It's really bad if that guy is in this school"
"That guy is very troublesome. Is there any way to expel him"
I also wanted that guy to be expelled. The cruel memories will just come back while that guy is around.
"I'll help you out with that thing. Well, what class was he in?"
"Huh? Will you help us out? Do you have plans? Also aren't you the type of guy who wasn't just helping the other group"
"Don't get me wrong, I'll help you out because I can't stand that guy. Also, with this method. I'll be borrowing something before the Battle starts"
We talked about the plan and told him what I wanted to borrow.
"What are you going to do with it?"
"You knows, evidence is powerful"
"I see, not bad Takaya"
"Don't call me that"
"I'll remind you again, he was still not in the school. So while he wasn't in this school, let's get rid of his men. Class-D boys students aren't trustworthy. Careful even with the girls, they might blackmail them"
I left and Zomigashi was outside drinking water.
"Oh, you are done talking with him already. What was it about"
"About the Raven Rascal's leader"
"So you know us already"
"I didn't remember it at all the time we met"
"How meanie of you, I'm the first girl who tried to duel with you"
"Sorry for that, I was kinda trying to forget about it all but you guys showed up again in my very eyes"
"So you're gonna go back to being your old self?"
"No, I already gave up on that. There is no turning back"
"The joyful Takaya disappeared, I hope to see it again"
She left outside and entered the room.
I checked it on the phone, and it was 10 a.m. already. The Battle will start at 12 so I'll be going now to the classroom to unite with others.
While walking to the next building's third-floor hallway, I bumped into Kazanawa in front of the Girl's washroom.
"Oh, you're here already. Ishigamura-kun was on the rooftop with his friend from class-D"
"When did they go there?"
"About 7 or 10 minutes already before you get here. Oh, sorry I gotta meet with Takase-san"
Go to the rooftop with class-D huh? Rooftop as always.
I bought some drinks from the vending machine and went to the rooftop where Ishigamura is.
I tried to open it and it wasn't locked but it was blocked from the outside. I kicked it and closed it again with the chair.
I walked in front of them and went through to see the bruises that Ishigamura has on his face but a person grabbed my Uniform and I punched that guy on the head and flew away.
"Get out of my sight"
I gave Ishigamura a towel and drinks that I bought earlier.
"Are you alright? Just stay there, I'll pay them back for you"
"Don't do it Amayori-kun, you'll be in trouble"
"Not to worry, I have business with these people"
I stood up and walked towards the class-D students.
"Kito-kun, this guy one shot the weakest among us and stood in front of us GAH-HAHAHAHAHA! This guy is an idiot one"
"Look there"
He looks on the left and ends up flying to that place by my punch.
"Kito-kun this is bad, call the others—"
"Pay attention here"
"This guy is a monster, Oi! Magari. Call boss and told him to send us some back up"
"U-understood"
The guy went to their back and called some backup.
"Why won't all of you go once and for all?"
They grab some woods that will be used as their weapon.
After that, five of them, including Kito, made a formation to attack me. Two men started to charge toward me while the Kito guy was waiting for an opening to attack me. I dodge the guy from the left who rushed to the front. I punched him in the face and stole the wood. While I'm busy taking down these two men, the Kito guy uses that opportunity to launch his attack. So he jumps on me. But I already know that he was waiting for an opening to attack so I reacted on time. I swung the wood that I'm holding really hard to defend myself from the Kito guy but I noticed the wood that he was holding was kind of brittle. His wood is broken so I used that chance to break through to hit his face and take him down. After taking down the Kito guy, the guy from the front carried him away and kicked him to the right along with the guy from the right side, and threw away the Kito guy to the guy from the left.
In just a second they were already down without harming me.
I looked back to Ishigamura and said "Now that you see one of my secrets, will you be able to keep this secret?"
"You went this far just to save me, I'll keep it a secret. But who would take a fall for this incident? We don't have proof who started it first"
Someone kicked the door and I thought it was their back up but it was Kazanawa.
"What happened here? Wow, who did this? Was it you Amayori-kun"
"Ishigamura got attacked by these class D boys so I helped him a bit"
"A bit? Jokes on you Amayori-kun. Their face is completely ruined"
"I have no choice because they used woods as a weapon"
"Eh, cowardice men. How lame"
"Anyway, I don't want the other people in this school to know that I was the one who did this. Can you cover me on this?"
"I can fall for it but we need some evidence of who started it"
"Is this voice recording worth it?"
"Oh, great job. Let's change the phone for now"
"Get Ishigamura on the clinic and tell any of the student council "code red" I'll wait for the others here"
"Alright then, take care"
Ishigamura leaves with Kazanawa and I stay to wait for the other class-D students to appear.
10 minutes later, the class-D students appear while holding weapons. A guy from the back went to the front with a knife.
"Interesting, Takaya of the Heavenly Dragon. Can you dodge someone like this—"
He threw the knife toward me and mostly hit my head. Thanks to my reaction time I managed to dodge it.
"As I expected to the lord of the old group"
"Kagumoto Kawato, a man who tried to kill a student from class B first year. you have caught on the camera. Too bad, you guys are checked-mate"
"What! A mobile phone camera? So what's with it? Do you just record it so you can give them the evidence later? We'll gonna play with you and destroy that thing"
"All of you, we will—"
Someone on my phone talked, and it seems the president made a move. Everyone heard the president because I maxed the volume. But it runs out of battery.
"The S-student Council President!"
"His phone is low battery, Hurry and let's fall back for now"
The door opened and a girl in the corridor blocked them.
"You guys are not gonna go anywhere"
"Get the hell out of my way"
"No, you won't go pass through me—"
I ran faster to prevent Kagumoto from hitting her and I was slow and didn't realize that the guy from his side lent the wood and swung the wood to the girl. But Kazanawa appears and takes a hit instead of the girl.
"Kazanawa?"
Kazanawa hit her head while standing and collapsed slowly. I went through the class-D student guys to check Kazanawa.
"Oi! Takayaji, that's none of your business so get the hell out of here—"
"Shut up"
"Ka-ka-kagu-kun flew away?"
I let kazanawa rest on my shoulder.
"Hey, Kazanawa. Talked to me, are you alright?"
"Was the girl alright?"
"Yeah, she is fine so do not worry. Get some rest, let me take the work"
Kazanawa passed out and I lent her the girl's hand.
"Would you bring her to the teachers for me?"
She immediately carried Kazanawa on her back and called for some help.
I turned towards the class D guys. My memories are coming back right now in my eyes. Those days my fears dropped. The fear of losing a friend makes my mind go blank.
"Raven Rascal members are annoyed me so much"
In the end, I end up beating all of them without holding back.
A girl called out to me and it was class-A Wagami.
"Kizuna, get some help"
She walked toward me and said, "what happened here?"
"This Raven Rascal once again tried to hurt my comrades so what do you expect from me? What am I going to do with it?"
"So this was the demon inside you. The fear of losing a comrade turned into your most powerful weapon"
"I wanted my life to be in peace eternally but this Raven Rascal just won't let me"
My knees suddenly went down on the ground. It's not that I was hurt or was hit by them. Maybe I'm just tired.
I lost consciousness and the student council showed up.
"Hey Takaya, you alright?"
"Yeah, I think I'm just tired. Also, didn't I tell you not to call me by my given name—"
"Seriously, you are still as a monster as ever. Hey, Wagami of Raven Rascal right?"
"Why do you know that? You won't remember our group. We are the group that was disbanded weeks before the conflict between Heavenly Dragon and Rascal Raven. Do not worry, I'm not here to fight. I know that you are the unit leader that Heavenly Dragons are friends with. Could you bring him to the clinic? I have some more works to do"
They bring me somewhere like a clinic room and I rest for a moment.
From what Wagami said earlier. I got that strength from the conflict between Heavenly Dragon and Raven Rascal. I have a friends name Shimiori, she was the very first person who ever get close to me. Both of us came up with the idea of making a group. She suggested the name Dragon and I added the heavenly word to it. I got that word because of Shimiori. When she entered my life, my life was nothing and suddenly became heavenly when I met her. So we planned that the name of the group was Heavenly Dragon. She was the first leader but she change it because she wanted me to be the leader. It was just a normal group but one day, we got involved in a group that always fights. We bumped into a person who was bullying our classmates. We rescued our classmate of course and they started the fight. The fight goes on until October 5. The last fight was in the park. It was the night that Shiomori called me out to go to the night festival. It was a kind of date or something like that. Until the time turned 9 PM, I was buying water and she was standing back there. I saw a few people and 3 gangsters. I shouted to run away and I tried to get her but the gangster hit her with a bat on the head and ended up lying on the ground.
"Shiomori! Wake up!"
"Takaya-kun"
"Shiomori, don't worry. I'll gonna bring you to the hospital right away"
"That's impossible, the hospital is too far here. I wanted you to listen to my last word for you"
"Please Shiomori, stay with me"
"You know, my parents really like you too. They like me to be protected by you. I think they'll understand everything if I'm gone. Do you know why I named the group dragon? You said that I'm a princess who has a dragon friend who always protected her eternally. That dragon, it was you. It was always you, so don't ever forget the princess. The princess will always love you. That's why do not worry about me, I'll be right by your side"
"What are you saying, quit talking like that"
"Amayori Takayaji, my only friend, and my only love. I wish I'll reincarnate as soon as possible. I wanted to look for you and let's stick together when that ever happens. The best person I ever looked up to. I love you Ta-ka-ya—"
And the last tear dropped in my eye. My colorful world suddenly turned into nothingness but blackness. Tears turned into the strength that became my demon side that is still inside my body now.
That day, I ended up beating up those three gangsters and got hospitalized long enough like 2 to 3 months. But it's not enough. I planned to kill them that day but I failed. I disbanded the group and moved forward without forgetting it. Until now, I still haven't forgotten it.
Even I tried but I couldn't. The reason why I can't forget it is that Kazanawa is around. She reminds me of Shiomori. Both of them look alike, their face and their voice are the same. And her name was mostly the same as Shiomori. That's the very reason why I stuck with Kazanawa and helped her to improve herself. The girl I didn't manage to protect, I did try to train Kazanawa to protect herself by learning my way of fighting. Shiomori is the first girl that I fell in love with. We might be kids that day but we think like high school students who think ahead of our futures. That was the story of my past.
While I'm resting, I dream about a world where I was lying on the ground with a pink-haired girl and blonde boy. Seems like we are sleeping on the grass with such a nice view. I wished that I had that kind of life I had when I was with Shiomori.
I woke up. Wagami is sitting on a chair reading a book. I looked at the clock and it was 2:50 already.
I stand up and feel my body back to its full energy.
"You awake already, the nurse didn't say that there is injure on your body so I think it's okay for you to go"
"Thanks for watching me while I'm resting"
"Do-don't get me a wrong idea, I just helped an old ally"
"Where is Kazanawa by now?"
"She hurt her head but it's not that bad. She just needs to rest 2 days I guess since she tried to avoid her head to be hit so hard"
"Alright then, Wagami. I'd like you to be serious in this battle. You, I, Kaga, Kizuna, Natsuki, and Sato are in our team. While Kazanawa is still resting, I'd like to win this battle"
"What have you?"
"Just do it, it has business with the student council"
"Tell me what business it is"
"I'll tell you after the battle"
"No way, just tell me right now Amayori-kun"
"My team should be the first in this battle, I have an agreement with the president. We bet that if I win the team, I'll be leaving being class leader and they'll leave me alone"
"If you lose?"
"I'll be going back as the student leader"
"Why don't you want to be a student leader?"
"I don't like doing troublesome things"
"That's not like you"
"Only you, the student council, and class-D boys know about me. I can trust the student council but as soon as possible, I'd like to expel the Raven Rascal member out of this school"
"You're going to get me too, right? I'm part of that group who killed your—"
"I'll face whatever they are but you, you will be exempted. I owe you one. Shiomori tells me that you saved her that's why I'll let you stay here and become my ally"
"Oh, I mostly forgot. Your First Unit and Second unit leader are in the school. They're my classmates. This is unexpected right? Since the burning city of Yokohama happens. Most of the people there went on living in Tokyo"
"Matsuha Suguha and Shinowa Zadaki? Ah, those buddy. They're still together?"
"Yeah, they both seem to become more siblings. They have both also lived together since Zadaki-san's parents died. They still don't know that you are in this school. Do you want to meet them?"
"No thanks, I don't want them again to look up to me again"
"Look up? What does that mean?"
"I'm the one who brought them to our group. I'm also the one who taught them the way of fighting. They always looked to me and I just disbanded the group and abandoned everything. That's why it'll be hard for them to see me"
"I don't think about that, I always heard the name Taka when they always tell stories to their friends so I think it must be you"
Another trouble, I hope they didn't tell my full name. It'll be a big problem if I become the rumor in the school. I want to discuss something with them even if it'll be painful.
"I'll be going to the stairs on the fourth floor. Bring them there right now, I'll be discussing something with them"
Wagami went to her classroom to call Matsuha and Shinowa.
While I was waiting at the stairs on the fourth floor, I saw that both of them went without Wagami.
"Huh? Taka???"
Both of them were shocked to see me and stand as if they were soldiers.
"I'm no longer your leader. Heavenly Dragon is gone. I have only one thing I wanted to say to both of you. I wanted you not to tell the others about me"
"Can I have a word?"
"What is it?"
"Sorry that I wasn't able to do something back then. If I was there, I could be guarding Shiomori"
"No one didn't expect that that would happen. The only person who can take the blame is only me. I wasn't able to protect the heart of our Group, that's why I'm the person who was responsible for it"
"We are happy to see you again so well"
"I'm glad to see you both together as always"
I went through them to go down and Shinowa spoke.
"I have only one request, please help us"
"Help us? Is there any problem?"
"Kata-kun wasn't still going to school since the third day of the class"
"Katakawa? He was in this school too? What happened to him?"
"All the Heavenly Unit leaders including some of the members planned to live in Tokyo and went to a high school together. Matsu, Kata-kun, and I transferred to this school. He was assigned to be in class D but he suddenly hasn't shown up even though we went to his house?"
"That class-D always causes trouble. Anyway, I have business to do so I'll be going now"
I walked again and tried to stop me.
"Won't you help an old ally?"
"It's not that I won't help you but I already planned on expelling all class-D's Raven Rascal member students"
Raven Rascal is the only thing I wanted to get rid of in my life. When they're gone, I'll be going back to living a peaceful life without getting involved with anyone that I don't know. If I just have the power to remove my memory, I'll make these cruel memories vanish from my life.
I went downstairs since the Battle Festival is about to start but before that, I'll visit Kazanawa before uniting with class B.