The tension in the air grew heavy.
Every student sat frozen in their seats, eyes darting between Ishida, who stood stiffly with his book still open, and Haruya, who remained calm but terrifyingly serious.
"Wha… you think you can threaten me like that?" Ishida's voice cracked ever so slightly.
He tried to laugh it off, but the nervous twitch of his lips betrayed him. "You're bluffing."
"Try me." Haruya's reply was flat, cold, and steady. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to.
The way his eyes bore into Ishida was enough to send a chill down the spines of half the classroom.
A common scare tactic that was taught to him by his paternal grandfather, who had educated him early at a young age about the troubles of the world.
Around his friends, he might seem like a harmless boy with a good heart.
But that didn't mean he wouldn't fight back to protect his friends and family.
This determination didn't come out of nowhere, of course.
...
Six years ago, when he was visiting his family's main estate, a tall, lean man with silver hair wearing round glasses came to his grandfather.
With the three of them in the same room together, Haruya was able to listen in on their conversation.
Unfortunately, he was still far too young to even understand the contents of what the two had talked about, merely being a bystander.
It was then that the silver-haired man turned his gaze on him, as he pulled out a photo from his pocket and showed it to him.
"Nice to meet you, young Sumeragi," he spoke in a flat but gentle tone. "This is my wife and newly born child, cute, isn't she?"
The young Haruya nodded as he stared curiously at the photo.
Its contents included a young woman with black hair, her hair tied in a bun, lying down in a hospital bed with a camera in her hand.
In front of her was the same silver-haired man who was showing him the photo, smiling happily as he carried a newborn in his arms.
"I want to protect them," he continued. "I am strong, but I will need your grandfather's help in that. Can you help me convince him?"
The older Sumeragi watched in disbelief as the silver-haired man talked to Haruya. "Sakamoto... you've changed."
"I've done countless unredeemable things. I cannot erase that," Sakamoto turned his pleading gaze towards Haruya's grandfather. "But now, there are people who are precious in my life. I've already lost a friend. Even when I am the strongest, I cannot always be with them. Therefore, I want to guarantee my family's safety. Help me disappear, Sumeragi-sama."
Before the older Sumeragi could reply, it was Haruya's voice that sounded first.
"Please help him, grandpa," Haruya maintained a firm look. "I want to help protect his family, too."
Sakamoto and Haruya's grandfather both stared at the young Haruya with complicated gazes.
Haruya was too young to understand what was going on.
But seeing the silver-haired man, Sakamoto, pleading with his grandfather to help him protect his family, Haruya's young heart could not bear it.
What does it mean to protect someone dear to you?
He didn't know yet at the time.
But all he knew was that the man in front of him needed their help in protecting his loved ones.
Everything he knew about protecting someone only came from the simple superhero cartoons he watched on TV.
The hero swoops in and defeats the villain, saving the day.
But what if more villains pop up, and the hero couldn't defeat them all?
In his young mind, this was the situation that Sakamoto was currently in.
Therefore, he was looking for other powerful friends to help him save the day.
Other heroes that he could befriend to help him in his peril.
Seeing that his grandfather still wasn't responding, Haruya feared that he might not understand and explained this new ideology of his to him.
The old Sumeragi looked surprised as he laughed loudly, patting Haruya's head.
"Alright, Sakamoto. Just like Haruya said, I'll be one of your hero friends to help you save the day," he teased.
Due to Haruya, all the tension in the air around them had disappeared.
Sakamoto bent down to reach Haruya's eye level. "Thank you, young Haruya."
He reached his hand out and placed his hand on the boy's shoulders.
"You are a hero, too. And if you ever need help in the future, you can also come find me."
Haruya tilted his head, staring through the man's round glasses and into his determined eyes. "What's your name?"
"Taro. Taro Sakamoto."
...
Haruya's eyes regained their focus as he returned back to the present.
His childish words back then were what built the foundations of who he is today.
In his eyes, he was not the hero.
He was the hero's friend.
The person who would assist them when they needed help.
Even when they don't realize it.
That was what Nishimiya was in his eyes. Her own hero.
Unfortunately, there are some ways in which she could not defend herself.
In this way, he wanted to be the friend who would help her to overcome this.
He might not know her full situation, but that didn't mean he couldn't think of the possibilities of what might have happened in the past.
He's young, not stupid.
Haruya was far more observant than anyone could imagine.
A deaf girl who recently transferred to their school. Perhaps there was nothing strange about that at a glance.
However, he always remembered that her name wasn't even listed in the seating arrangement during the first day of class.
Perhaps it could be attributed that the teacher simply forgot about that spot, but he clearly didn't, even announcing the same day that a transfer student would be coming in soon.
A transfer student with an unlisted name and an abrupt arrival.
In Tokyo, grade schools didn't all have the same day as their beginning of class.
In fact, the regular ones usually have barely 2 weeks of vacation before the next school year starts.
Haruya's school was close to having 3 weeks.
Perhaps, in his mind, Nishimiya attended a different school previously for the 6th grade.
A similar incident must have happened there and her parents found out early and transferred her immediately to their school, which was one of the few that hadn't started their school year yet.
However, due to this abrupt transfer, Nishimiya's name was not printed on the list due to it being prepared prior.
Although it was at a weird spot, it didn't seem all that strange considering that a certain mother might have pulled some strings to give the best students in the class their previous seats.
Considering that certain mother was part of the school board and knew who his friends were, he'd say his guess was not too far off.
Although if it did match the idea in Haruya's head, it did seem quite weird that Nishimiya's parents transferred her schools so easily.
Perhaps it wasn't the first time that something similar had happened?
Putting these thoughts at the back of his mind for now, he focused on the current situation once more.
"So what's it gonna be, Ishida? Are you gonna bow to her and apologize?" Haruya tapped his fingers on his desk rhythmically.
The tapping noise continued to be the only source of sound in the quiet classroom.
This put a silent psychological pressure on Ishida.
Undoubtedly, another clever psychological tactic learned by Haruya from his grandfather.
Takuomi-sensei quietly watched, now unsure of what to do. He knew that he had to resolve this problem immediately, but for some reason, he couldn't even open his mouth to speak.
Ishida's face twisted in anger and disbelief. "You've gotta be kidding me. You think I'm gonna bow my head to her and apologize? To some deaf—"
Whoosh!
Another eraser came again. This time, it was faster, sharper.
It hit Ishida square on the forehead, turning it red.
"Finish that sentence," Haruya's voice was low, but carried across the room.
"Go on. Say it all the way. Let everyone here know exactly what kind of person you are."
For a moment, Ishida froze. The mocking bravado he usually wore didn't quite reach his eyes anymore.
"You're a bully, Ishida. That's what you are."
...
A/N: Gave him a backstory on his attitude toward helping his friends, since some people tried to argue in the past that it was too much, or that Ishida is just a kid. Might I remind you that Haruya is also a kid? Not a reincarnator. I'll understand that comment since in the past, I haven't introduced his background very well.
Now there is one, though. Telling you right now that although he is pampered by his family, he was raised as an heir. Haven't written enough about his other family members yet, but you will know soon. Wasn't gonna introduce Sakamoto this early on, but didn't really wanna see comments on his sudden change of personality when I've LITERALLY only written a conflict once, not even enough to tell his real personality in a fight, but yeah, oh well. Here is the backstory.