Chiyogasaki Avenue was a location with high foot traffic that was often used to host public events, festivals, and exhibitions like the one being held today.
The wide open space, a high ceiling over the entire area, and the abundant parking spaces made it the ideal option for such special occasions.
The group of four students, all wearing uniforms, strolled into the exhibition while bickering and getting to know each other.
Since Ren wasn't too familiar with any of them, he primarily listened as the others talked about themselves so that he didn't feel left out, a deed that he greatly appreciated.
"Look! Takoyaki!" Airi suddenly shouted, pointing to a large stall with multiple trays of takoyaki being freshly cooked in front of the customers.
The delicious smell wafted towards them, artificially blown by a worker who was fanning the lingering aromas onto the street to attract more people.
"Let's try it out! Since we'll probably be eating a lot, why don't we just buy one set and split it up so that we don't get full from one meal?" Reiji proposed, pulling out his wallet.
"Ehhhhh, I wanted to eat an entire set though," Airi wailed.
"Piggy."
"Fuck you!"
They got in line, which had over 10 people by the time they entered. Customers who had already gotten their food were walking off with satisfied expressions, making them even more excited to the point where Greeny and Airi were already drooling.
'....Have I conditioned them to act like dogs??'
The line moved really fast, thanks to the multiple stations cooking the octopus balls simultaneously. Reiji paid for the set despite the protests from his friends, and they moved aside to chow down on the mouth-watering street food.
"AH, HOT HOT!" Ren mumbled, blowing air in and out of his mouth as he struggled to cool down the inside.
"Pfft, haha, Ren-kun, why didn't you blow on it first?"
"I was too hungry, haha," he giggled, his belly wobbling with his words.
Greeny, mostly quiet as always, was munching on his share of the takoyaki with a blissful smile. Reiji joined in, closing his eyes to taste the different seasonings, sauces, textures—basically anything he could feel to appreciate the flavors a little better.
"This is really good, but can we get something to drink? My water bottle is empty," Airi asked, looking around for a stall selling cold drinks that seemed to be worth the money.
"I was thinking the same. What about that fruit slushie stand?" Reiji said, gesturing behind her.
Amongst the numerous food stalls, there was one exclusively selling juices made from fresh fruits and crushed ice, which sounded perfect on such a hot day.
Despite the overhead covering blocking most of the sun's rays, it was still humid enough to make them sweat even if they were simply standing still.
Their eyes lit up as they caught sight of the perfect solution. The only problem was, it was the only drinks stall in this section of the exhibition, which meant there was an even longer line.
They decided to join in quickly before it grew even more, since the crowd was getting bigger and bigger as the day went by.
Still munching on their octopus balls that had cooled down considerably, they discussed the upcoming midterms that Kahawara Sensei had announced.
"I'm worried about the tests..... I joined Souhei High for the Cooking Club, so even though I did well enough to get admitted, I'm definitely going to be in the bottom batch," Ren groaned with visible dread.
"I'm mostly confident in r-ranking in the Top 50, but English and Ch-Chemistry are my weakest subjects," Greeny muttered.
Airi, who was playing around with her remaining portion because she wanted to wait for the drink, added on with even less nervousness than the other two.
"Same! But for me, it's English and Math. The others are fine for the most part."
"Damn, Top 50 is insanely high! I'm jealous of you two," Ren sighed.
They turned to Reiji, who was still eating his food slowly. Their curiosity was quite clear in the way they leaned towards him.
"What about you, Reiji-san? Are you confident in any subject?"
"Reiji-kun is amazing at English, so I don't think that would be an issue. The other subjects, though... Reiji-kun, if you promise to cook me extra portions during lunch until the midterms, I'll consider tutoring you," Airi grinned slyly, her eyes narrowing with anticipation.
Reiji stared at her indifferently, chewing on the takoyaki.
"If you promise not to eat my food until the midterms, I'll consider tutoring you," he countered with a smirk on his face.
"Hell no! I'd rather fail than stop taking your dishes!" she snorted with disbelief, continuing to say, "Plus, if you tutored me, wouldn't I be guaranteed to fail? Don't rub the Yakuza brain cells off on me, I'll become dumb."
Reiji's smirk deepened even further.
"Wanna make a bet? To see who ranks higher? This extends to all three of you!"
Ren backed off immediately.
"Hell no, I told you I'm just gonna be trying to pass! No way I have a chance to win," he chuckled.
"...Me neither. I don't like that confident look, it's like you have some trick up your sleeves," Airi speculated with suspicion.
"Haha, you've eaten so many chickens that you became one yourself. Like they say, you are what you eat!" Reiji mocked.
"Y-You!"
"I'll d-do it!" Greeny interjected.
They turned to him in surprise, not expecting the most timid one amongst them to accept the bet.
"I-It sounds fun! Plus, I doubt the w-winner will make us do anything strange," he explained, his innocence and naivety shining through.
"Oh, you poor sweet baby," Airi sighed. Then she shook her head in disbelief and joined in as well. "Fine, I'll do it!"
She was already planning on making them do all sorts of evil things when she won.
"Uh.... Well, I know I'm gonna lose, but what the hell, I guess I'm in as well."
Now that all three of them had fallen into his trap, Reiji brought out his predecessor's creepy laugh, bellowing with evil satisfaction.
"Heeheehee, you just wrote your own names in the Death Note, my sweet little lambs!"
Sweat ran down their backs, which they couldn't tell if it was from the ridiculous heat or Reiji's equally ridiculous laugh.
Just as they were about to retort playfully, something happened.
They were almost at the front of the line, with about 6 people in front of them. But two tall men who looked like delinquents, with dyed highlights, multiple piercings, and leather clothes, cut into the line in front of them, slightly shoving Greeny out of the way either accidentally or on purpose.
Reiji frowned immediately, stepping forward to kick them out.
But Airi beat him to the chase, yelling at them so loudly that even people who weren't in line looked over.
"HEY, WHAT THE HELL? YOU CAN'T JUST PUSH PEOPLE AND CUT IN LINE!"
The intimidating men turned around with a scowl, looking down on the much shorter purple-haired girl who seemed to be standing her ground but was shaking with fear.
"Hah? Get lost, kid. Don't piss us off!" one of them sneered.
"Why are you in line for juice anyway? Go drink some of your mom's milk," the other added with a jeer.
'Wow..... what third-rate villain lines,' Reiji mused, recalling the fatso at Greeny's ramen place who had a similar vibe.
"Ha! You can't just ignore the rules because your parents didn't care enough to raise you right!"
Her words earned her some nervous chuckles from the crowd, which were immediately silenced by the furious look the men gave them.
"I told you to get lost, kid," the man hissed, extending an arm to shove Airi out of the line.
But before he could make contact, Reiji's arm shot out with even greater speed, tightly grasping his wrist and twisting it in the opposite direction.
"AARHGHHH!"
The man cried out in pain, but Reiji wasn't done. He followed it up by lightly kicking the ankle of the man's left foot, causing him to fall to his knees due to the pain's distraction.
The other man, who wanted to step forward, stopped when he saw how easily his friend had been neutralized, and even stepped back when Reiji looked up to give him an emotionless stare, as if telling him how easy it would be to fuck them up.
"Are you gonna get out of line, or would you rather have a broken wrist?" Reiji asked calmly.
"I'LL LEAVE, LET ME GO! PLEASE!"
"Nope, apologize to them first," Reiji gestured to Greeny and Airi with his chin.
"I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY!"
The man bowed repeatedly, still kneeling on the floor, with his hand twisted painfully.
"Get lost."
Reiji released him with a cold glare. The man scrambled to his feet and ran off, his friend following him closely with a terrified expression.
The other three were looking at him with their jaws dropped, unable to compute that the seemingly lazy and easygoing guy had flipped his switch all of a sudden.
It had happened so fast that even processing it took longer than the actual event itself.
"Oh, look, it's our turn. Let's get our slushies!"