After Kiryu Kazuma and the others left, Ikeda Shigeru remained at the police station. As one of the involved parties, there were still a few procedures left to complete.
A lawyer from the Nanjō family was currently negotiating with the police.
Ikeda sat alone in the waiting room. But he didn't feel lonely at all.
His heart felt clear, like a polished mirror.
He wasn't sure why he felt this way. After all, just an hour ago, life had seemed hopeless to him.
Complicated things? He didn't understand them.
Right now, Ikeda was planning his next steps. Once he got out of here, he'd go look for job postings. Sure, with his current reputation, most shops probably wouldn't dare hire him—but he had to try, didn't he?
And at this moment, Ikeda was brimming with confidence. He felt like nothing could stop him.
Obstacles? Just overcome them. The sky wasn't going to fall. What was there to be afraid of?
Just then, a sharply dressed lawyer entered the room and sat down across from him.
"Mr. Ikeda, I'm lawyer Koyamada. I'll keep this brief and explain your current situation. The police have ruled your actions as legitimate self-defense. You bear no liability. Under Japanese law, you also have the right to press charges against those who assaulted you. However, if you choose not to press charges, you're entitled to a rather generous settlement."
"I want to sue—"
"Filing charges is a tedious process," Koyamada interrupted. "It will take up a lot of your time and energy. While the Nanjō family would cover my legal fees, as a student, do you really have that much time to spare? Besides, the settlement is at least 150,000 yen. I've already spoken with Ōnishi's parents. They've agreed to pay immediately."
Ikeda frowned slightly. "One hundred fifty thousand? But… is that really justice?"
Koyamada blinked, then chuckled. "Of course it is. It's fully legal and absolutely just."
Still a bit uncertain, Ikeda nodded. "I see… then I'll take the money. Lawyers really are amazing."
"They certainly are," Koyamada replied without missing a beat. "We're the knights of modern law, after all."
"What's that mean?" Ikeda asked, puzzled.
Koyamada's mood seemed good, so he didn't rush off. Instead, he explained with a smile, "In modern society, law is the weapon of civilized people. Those who master the law can uphold the justice they believe in. That's why we're modern-day knights."
When he said "knight," he used the loanword rider, which Japanese pronounce as raida.
But Ikeda misunderstood, thinking of Kamen Rider—Kamen Raida.
"So cool," Ikeda said in awe.
Koyamada grinned. "Well then, I'll go handle the final paperwork. You just need to sign this settlement agreement. You should be able to leave with your compensation today."
"Got it." Ikeda nodded.
He took the pen Koyamada handed him, skimmed through the settlement, and signed his name.
The next day, as soon as Ikeda arrived at class, he strode straight up to Kondo's desk and slapped a stack of ten 10,000-yen bills down in front of him.
"I owe you 610,000 yen. Here's 100,000 to start. I could've paid more, but I need some cash right now. The remaining 510,000—I'll pay it off with my part-time job. I'll have it all repaid before you graduate. No—within this year! Not a single yen short!"
Kondo stared at Ikeda's face—still wrapped in several bandages—looking like he was about to wet himself. Actually, he might have already. Either way, he was too terrified to reply.
Ikeda didn't care. He turned and shouted to the entire class.
"Anyone else I extorted—come report your amounts! Every last yen, I'll pay it all back! I give you my word!"
The classroom fell into stunned silence. No one answered.
Ikeda wasn't bothered. Ever since yesterday, he hadn't expected sudden trust or forgiveness from anyone.
And that was fine.
Because he knew that somewhere in this world, there was at least one person who truly believed he could change. That was enough.
He then turned toward the gyaru trio and jabbed a finger right at their leader, Saya.
"Listen up, Saya! As long as I'm still in this class, you won't bully anyone again! If you try, I'll beat you so badly even your mom won't recognize you. That's a promise."
"Hah? I'm the one bullying people? You've got it all—" Saya faltered mid-sentence. Though Ikeda's face wasn't twisted in anger, and he hadn't raised his voice, the air around him radiated a sharp, chilling aura.
Japanese girls were especially sensitive to "reading the air."
Saya picked up on it instantly.
Too afraid to say another word, she went quiet.
Hands in his pockets, Ikeda swaggered back toward his seat—but then seemed to remember something. He abruptly turned and walked out of the classroom.
In the faculty office at Meisei High—
Ikeda planted both hands firmly on a teacher's desk.
"Mr. Honda!"
Mr. Honda, mid-bite of his breakfast sandwich, looked up—and nearly dropped it in shock.
"I-I-Ikeda-kun! Wh-what is it?"
"I want to become a lawyer. What should I do?"
Mr. Honda blinked, dumbfounded. "Come again?"
"I want to become a lawyer. What should I do?"
The entire faculty office froze. Every teacher stared at Ikeda like he was some mythical creature.
After a moment, Mr. Honda carefully replied, "First, you'd need to get into a university… the University of Tokyo, or maybe Meiji University. But… why are you asking? You've never even looked at any colleges before, right?"
"University's the only way?" Ikeda scratched his head, looking genuinely troubled. "Isn't there some other path? Like, going to a vocational school or something?"
"Nope. You have to go to university to become a lawyer. Given your current grades… and the fact that you're already a second-year… it won't be easy."
By now, Mr. Honda was starting to regain his courage and, driven by teacherly instinct, added some advice.
"If I want to study," Ikeda asked earnestly, "where should I start?"
The question was so basic, so lacking in common sense, that Mr. Honda was momentarily at a loss for words.
Finally, another teacher—Mr. Satō—tentatively suggested, "I think… starting with your textbooks would be good."
"Oh. So I just have to memorize all the textbooks?" Ikeda asked, completely serious.
Some teachers couldn't help laughing—but they quickly stifled it, ducking behind their stacks of graded papers so Ikeda wouldn't see.
Looking troubled, Ikeda pleaded, "Don't laugh! Help me out here! Where should I start? Isn't it a teacher's job to help students like me?"
Mr. Honda adjusted his glasses, studied Ikeda for several seconds, and asked with a skeptical tone, "You're serious about this?"
"I am!"
"This isn't some dare or game?"
"No way!"
Mr. Honda glanced around at his colleagues.
Every teacher wore an expression like, Am I dreaming right now?
At that moment, the P.E. teacher burst into the office, bamboo sword slung over his shoulder.
"Ikeda! You better not be causing trouble again!"
It was part of the P.E. teacher's duties to keep the school's delinquents in check.
"Wait!" Mr. Honda shouted. "Hold on, Nishikata-sensei! Ikeda-kun… he's here asking about studying!"
"…Huh?" Nishikata blinked. He looked at Ikeda, bewildered. "Him?"
"Yes." Mr. Honda nodded, then turned back to Ikeda. "If you're really serious about studying, you've got a lot of ground to make up."
"No problem! I can handle it." Ikeda grinned, full of confidence.
(End of Chapter)