At first, Kazuma thought he was being attacked by a yakuza. But when he grabbed the shoulder of the person clinging to him, something felt off—those shoulders were too slender. It had to be a girl.
Struggling, he managed to pull the person off and gasped out, "I can't breathe."
For some reason, he'd blurted it out in English.
Finally, the arms around him loosened.
With the pressure on his nose and eyes gone, Kazuma could finally see clearly—and there was Fujii Mikako, sitting astride him.
Behind her, Chiyoko was tugging furiously on Mikako's braid.
It looked like the two of them were about to start a full-on catfight—scratching at each other's faces like a pair of wild kittens.
"Alright, alright!" Kazuma had no choice but to stop them. "Can you both get off me first? You can fight all you want after that. Chiyoko, when did you start pulling guests' hair?"
Chiyoko puffed her cheeks but obediently let go of Mikako's braid.
However, Mikako remained seated firmly on top of Kazuma. She glanced at the bruised and bloodied yakuza sprawled nearby and asked excitedly, "Did you take them all down?"
"Who else?" Kazuma shot back.
Mikako blinked a few times, then suddenly switched to a serious tone. "Thank you... thank you for fighting so hard to save me."
Kazuma thought to himself, Don't just thank me—how about offering yourself to me too?
With her hands pressed on his shoulders, Mikako leaned over him. After a brief hesitation, she spoke again. "Kiryu-kun… no, Ka—Kazuma! We… we're pretty close, aren't we? We walk home together every day, and now you've saved me..."
From behind, Chiyoko huffed, "If you don't get off, my brother's going to be crushed by you, fatty."
Kazuma had just been admiring Mikako's blush after she boldly called him "Kazuma," but Chiyoko's words made him glance at his little sister. Her expression was... complicated, to say the least.
Could this be… one of those infamous love-triangle moments?
Man, I really am a sinful man, Kazuma thought smugly.
Still, Mikako bit her lip and finally stood up. She turned to Chiyoko with a sweet smile. "I'm not fat. Kendo practice burned off all that extra fat a long time ago."
"Is that so?" Chiyoko replied with a bright smile. "Congratulations, onee-san. Oh, and on my way back, I saw quite a few police officers. I imagine they're looking for the kidnapped girl—meaning you."
"Uh…" It was only then that Mikako seemed to remember she'd been kidnapped in front of the police. Her mouth formed a little "O," and she covered it with her hand.
Still smiling, Chiyoko continued, "I'll go call the police now. Onee-san, please wait here a moment."
With that, she turned and headed for the dojo entrance.
Kazuma finally sat up. Honestly, he'd quite enjoyed having Mikako straddling him.
At that moment, Nishiyama Heita spoke. "Miss, could I trouble you to tell the police that it was a group of young punks who tried to assault you and kidnapped you—but then they had a change of heart and let you go? I'll have some of our young guys turn themselves in tomorrow."
Mikako scowled and glared at Nishiyama Heita. "No! You clearly kidnapped me to blackmail Kiryu-kun… Ka—Kazuma-kun!"
In the end, she tacked on the "-kun," trying to cover her embarrassment.
Nishiyama replied calmly, "But in the end, we didn't succeed in blackmailing anyone. And we've already paid the price. From today on, Nishiyama-gumi will be known as the yakuza group that lost to a high school student. You probably don't understand what that means in this world… but I can tell you—we're screwed."
Hands on her hips, Mikako declared, "You're right, I don't understand the yakuza world, so I don't believe a word you say! I'm going to report you!"
"You little—!" roared the bald thug. Kazuma remembered Nishiyama had called him Bandō earlier.
Nishiyama shot Bandō a sharp look, then spoke again. "Of course you can report us. But after that, you'll get caught up in all the legal procedures. You'll be running back and forth between the police station and the prosecutor's office. You might end up spending your entire last summer of high school dealing with this. And in the end, the most likely outcome is that the case won't even go to trial.
"After all, you weren't physically harmed, and we didn't extort anything from young master Kiryu. And though Nishiyama-gumi can't afford fancy lawyers, our parent organization has professionals on retainer.
"Tell me, young lady—does your family have the money to hire a top-notch lawyer for all this?"
Mikako fell silent.
She turned to Kazuma, her meaning clear—You decide. I'll follow your lead.
Coming from an era of intense feminist discourse, Kazuma was deeply moved to see such an obedient, trusting girl.
As for reporting them… Kazuma considered it. The yakuza clearly had far more experience dealing with the police than a high school student ever could. This sort of thing probably wasn't new for them.
The fact that Nishiyama Heita was sitting here calmly suggested they had well-practiced methods for handling the cops.
Reporting them likely wouldn't accomplish much.
Kazuma turned to Nishiyama. "I won't report you. But I'm not letting it slide either. I beat you fair and square—you can't just send a few underlings to take the fall and call it done."
Nishiyama nodded. "You're absolutely right. I'd feel the same way. The truth is, we made a big mistake today. My original order was to grab Kiryu Chiyoko—but the guys botched it and grabbed the wrong girl. On top of that, they managed to alert the police and complicate things further.
"By the usual rules, this would call for chopping off a pinky. I'll have the guy cut off an extra ring finger too and deliver it to you."
As he spoke, Nishiyama looked over at Bandō.
Kazuma followed his gaze.
Bandō was already drenched in sweat, fat drops rolling down his face in torrents.
"Well?" Nishiyama asked calmly.
Taking a deep breath, Bandō responded loudly, "I'll take full responsibility! I'll show my resolve!"
Nishiyama gave a satisfied nod.
Then he stood. "We'll take our leave for now. If the police show up while we're still here, we'll have to escape over the wall."
Bandō glanced at the younger thugs and barked, "Didn't you hear the boss? Move it! Get up!"
The underlings groaned and staggered to their feet, helping each other toward the dojo entrance.
Standing by the door, Nishiyama looked back at Kazuma. "You'll probably have a bit of peace for now. Tsuda Masaaki may be a madman, but after losing to you, he'll be more cautious.
"But… take care of your two girls. Just some advice—if there's anything you want to do, do it tonight. You'll have fewer regrets later."
With those parting words, Nishiyama followed his men out, leaving Kazuma and Fujii Mikako alone in the dojo, staring at each other.
Blushing furiously, Mikako lowered her head.
Kazuma said, "What are you thinking? The police will be here soon. You'll need to give your statement."
"Oh…" Mikako replied softly, her ears turning bright red.
(End of Chapter)