"Why should I be the one to leave!" the blonde boy shouted, glaring stubbornly at the group. "If you're so brave, then go ahead—beat me to death!"
"Hmph, sounds like you didn't get enough of a lesson last time!"
The lanky boy let out a cold snort, pulled back his fist, and swung.
The blonde boy tried to dodge, but two other children grabbed his shoulders from behind, pinning him in place. He could only watch, eyes wide, as the fist grew larger in his vision.
"This Furuya kid just needs a good thrashing!"
"Give it to him hard!"
Amidst the malicious jeers of the children, the blonde boy instinctively closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact.
But the pain never came. Instead, he heard the dull thud of a heavy strike, followed by the lanky boy being sent flying back by a sudden, powerful kick.
The circle of children froze. The once-noisy scene plummeted into a dead silence.
"Sorry about that," Hayashi Shuichi said lazily, retracting his leg. He casually brushed off a non-existent speck of dust from his trousers. "I didn't quite hold back. You alright there, kid?"
"...You! You actually hit me!"
The lanky boy's face turned bright red. Like an enraged rooster, he scrambled up from the ground and charged again, swinging his fists wildly.
The result was predictable. He was sent flying once more, this time tumbling several feet across the pavement before coming to a stop.
"What are you all standing around for? Get him!" the lanky boy shrieked, his voice cracking with desperation.
The remaining children looked at each other, then at the half-smile on Shuichi's face. They swallowed hard and, as if sharing a single mind, stepped back in unison.
"So this is the extent of your courage? You only act tough when you're ganging up on someone," Shuichi scoffed. He reached out and grabbed the chubby boy's fleshy wrist, giving it a gentle twist to lock him in place.
The chubby boy's features contorted in agony. He immediately let out a high-pitched wail that sounded like a pig being led to slaughter.
Shuichi asked with a smile, "Are you going to keep bullying people?"
"N-no... no!" The chubby boy shook his head so hard his cheeks wobbled.
"No? So you're saying you don't want to change your ways?" Shuichi feigned a misunderstanding and applied a bit more pressure.
"It hurts! It hurts...!" The chubby boy couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into tears, snot and salt water blurring his face.
"Oh, so now you know what pain feels like?" Shuichi's expression went cold. "When you were all ganging up on him just now, did you stop to think that it hurt him, too?"
"I... I won't do it again, I promise!" the boy blubbered, the fat on his round face trembling with every sob.
"What about the rest of you?" Shuichi glanced at the others.
"...We won't either," the remaining children stammered, shaking their heads frantically, their bodies trembling with fear.
"Then get lost!" Shuichi released the boy's arm, shoving him back toward his friends.
"You're bullying kids! What kind of man picks on people smaller than him!" the lanky boy yelled defiantly from a safe distance.
"And what about you lot? Ganging up on one person—does that make you 'men'?" Shuichi retorted, amused.
"W-we're just boys! We aren't men yet!" the lanky boy snapped back.
"Oh, what a coincidence," Shuichi said, cracking his knuckles with a series of audible pops. "I'm not a legal adult yet either. Technically, I'm still just a 'boy' too. Come on, shall we continue?"
"...Furuya, you just wait!"
Seeing that Shuichi was ready for another round, the lanky boy threw out one last empty threat before he and his cronies scrambled away in a panic.
"Are you okay?" Shuichi's gaze fell on the boy's bleeding knees. "Need some help?"
"I don't need it," the blonde boy muttered, turning his head away awkwardly. "Even if you hadn't stepped in, I wouldn't have been afraid of them."
"I see. Then I suppose I was just meddling," Shuichi shrugged indifferently. He turned to leave, but stopped when he heard the boy's low, quiet voice:
"Thank you."
Not bad. He's prideful, but he's still got manners...
Shuichi waved a hand dismissively and continued toward the library. Behind him, the blonde boy's expression flickered with indecision. After a moment of hesitation, he hurried after Shuichi.
Inside the library, Eri Kisaki stood clutching a heavy legal tome. She looked at her late-arriving childhood friend with a knowing look. "What took you so long? Don't tell me you 'happened' to run into another girl who needed saving?"
"Huh? How did you know?" Shuichi feigned shock, leaning into the joke. "And she was a blonde, mixed-race beauty, too."
"Blonde?" Eri bit her lip, her tone turning noticeably sour. "I bet she was very pretty, wasn't she? What was her name?"
"I didn't ask for a name. As for how she looked..." Shuichi made a show of contemplating it. "She was alright, I guess."
"Hmph. You wouldn't have bothered helping if she wasn't cute," Eri huffed, turning her head away and refusing to look at him.
"Do I really look like the type of person who only helps people based on their looks?" Shuichi cried out in mock offense.
Just then, a small voice interrupted them from the side: "I... I'm a boy!"
"Eh?"
Eri turned around in confusion. Standing there was the pale-blonde boy, covered in dust, his clothes disheveled and his face streaked with dirt. He looked thoroughly bedraggled.
"There you go," Shuichi teased. "The 'beauty' I saved has arrived."
"I am not a girl!" the blonde boy emphasized again, his face flushing.
"Alright, alright. Anyone can see you're a boy," Shuichi laughed, patting the boy on the shoulder. "It was just a joke. Don't take it so seriously."
"He's the one you helped?" Eri asked, her eyes softening as she examined the child.
"Yeah," Shuichi nodded. "He's mixed-race. Those kids were picking on him because of his hair color."
"Are your knees alright?" Seeing the blood on his legs, Eri knelt down and reached out to check the wounds.
"It's fine!" the boy insisted, stepping back stubbornly. "It's just a scratch. It doesn't hurt!"
"You still need to clean it," Eri said firmly, ignoring his protest. She looked up at Shuichi. "There's a restroom at the end of the hallway. The wounds should be rinsed with water to get the dirt out."
"Let's go," Shuichi said. Ignoring the boy's grumbling, he took him by the arm and led him toward the restroom.
In the restroom, Shuichi used the tap to rinse the grit from the boy's knees.
As the cool water hit the raw scrapes, a stinging pain flared up, but the boy clenched his teeth and didn't make a sound. As he'd said, they were mostly surface abrasions—minor injuries, in the grand scheme of things.
"Alright," Shuichi said, standing up after finishing the cleaning. He looked at the boy with a calm, steady gaze. "Out with it. Why did you follow me?"
"I..." The boy balled his hands into fists, looking as though he had finally reached a monumental decision. "You're really good at fighting. I want you to teach me!"
"Huh?" Shuichi turned off the faucet. "Of all the things to learn, why fighting?"
"You chased them off this time, but they'll just come back and bully me again later." The boy's knuckles turned white. "I can handle them picking on me. I can take that. But every single time... they say horrible things about my mom!"
At this, his voice wavered with a sob, but he tilted his head back defiantly, refusing to let the tears fall.
"My mom is the best mom in the whole world. I won't let them talk about her like that anymore! I won't!"
(End of Chapter)
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
[patreon.com/TripleCrown07]
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"