CH 12

Vol. 1 Chapter 12: Solution

Common Honorifics:

-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.

-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.

-chan: A common suffix among people you’re close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it’s cutesy and childlike.

-sama: A respectful suffix for individuals of a higher rank than oneself, or that one greatly admires.

A famous scholar once said, “Disasters come just when we least expect them.” When I first heard that, I thought, “Wow, maybe that’s true!” Now, however, I just wonder how much better a disaster would be compared to this.

Disasters don’t have a will, therefore they don’t hurt people out of spite. However, the abrupt appearance of malice is much, much worse than a disaster, for it is aimed directly at someone. Even most calamities give us a little time to prepare.

But the rancor life spit at me didn’t give the slightest bit of respite.

“You’re still alive? Pfft—!”

Hearing my ex’s voice made my heart rate jump up. I could feel my chest palpitate, and breathing became difficult. Then, I could barely stand up with the sudden overwhelming dizziness.

Nausea incessantly assaulted me from the inside out, and I held my mouth, desperately suppressing the urge to blurt out everything in my stomach.

“Oi, what’s going on Mei?”

They stopped near us, my ex’s friends huddling closer to her.

“Ah, well. Look, he was my ex-boyfriend, the one who disappeared from school a while ago.”

Hearing her words, two men and a woman approached us.

“Huh? You serious? You’re the son of a b*tch who cheated on her!”

“Hey, come here guys! It’s that f*ck that disappeared ten days ago!”

At the words of this random charlatan with earrings in his ears and hair dyed gold, even those who had been distantly standing on the sidelines started to come closer. The group that had gathered near me consisted of seven people, including Pluto, with a ratio of four men and three women.

“Wow, it’s true! It’s that cheating b*tch, Haruki Shuu!”

“Oi, oi, oi, he’s got a girl with him. I’m gonna have to do her a favor!”

“Hahaha! No way!”

Their voices took me back to what happened ten days ago. I was scorned by the whole school, and no one believed in me back then, not even my own mother.

All of this sudden remembrance hits me at once, and I found myself kneeling down on the cobblestone, mouth still clamped shut. I tried to put strength into my legs and stand up, but they just wouldn’t move.

“Hey, hey! Are ya taking a sh*t?”

“Haha! You’re pathetic! So you can’t even stand up on your own feet?”

“Girl, ditch your pathetic boyfriend! Hmm? Yo, when I look at you, you’re actually very pretty! Come on, why don’t you go out with me?”

“…” Usami’s face was downcast, and I couldn’t see her eyes from where I stood. Even at the man’s provocation, she remained completely silent.

The guy whistled. “Hey, hang out with me, okay? Cutie~!”

Stop! Leave Usami alone! — I try to speak up, but the words get stuck in the back of my throat, unable to be said.

“Hey, did ya know? The dude you’re with is a total cheat!”

“Hey, you guys, don’t just start babbling stuff outta nowhere.”

“What do you care? We’re on our own!”

“Haah… You guys really are guys.”

The woman behind me let out a sigh and moved away a little, but it didn’t matter to me. My thoughts were occupied with how to protect Usami.

I don’t care what happens to me, I have to protect her at least! Desperately, I stretch my arms to the men, but they never reach them.

“Your guy is a total as*hole. He lied about his girlfriend cheating on him when he himself was the cheater!”

“…”

“That’s why you should dump that piece of sh*t!”

“Haru is NOT a piece of sh*t!!!!*”

“—!”

Usami suddenly looked up and shouted at the group of guys. Her patience had reached its limit, and her face was fuming in a way I’d never seen before. She was pissed off.

“He’s saved me when I was in trouble! Whenever I struggled, he just sat down next to me and listened! Even when I was about to die, he saved me without any regard for his own life!”

Not only the a*sholes but the entire group was taken in by her momentum. They all couldn’t help but listen with their mouths shut.

“Shallow people like you would NEVER understand how kind he really is!”

“—!”

A second after her words sunk in, the group of cronies huffed and retaliated.

“You… You f*king b*tch! I’ll tell ya what I understand!”

The angry guy tried to grab Usami, but she easily slipped through his arms.

“Guh—!”

He knew he wasn’t fast enough to grab her and bit his lips in frustration. Ignoring his attempts, she opened her mouth once again.

“Same for you, Ayagawa-san. You’re beautiful on the outside, but so HIDEOUS inside I can’t even look at you! Like an illegally-built mansion, your exterior may look nice, but inside it’s a complete mess!”

“Hey—! What did you just say, b*tch!?”

Usami’s words shook Mei to the core, while she herself wasn’t fazed.

“Afraid of the truth, huh?”

“G–Guys, f*ck her up! If you do, I promise I’ll introduce you to another easy girl!”

“Mei… You promise?”

“Yeah, it’s a promise! So go ahead and f*ck that b*tch!”

Upon receiving approval from Mei, the ruffians spread out to surround Usami. The women watching behind them also start grinning and laughing.

Get the hell outta there, Usami! — No matter how many times I try to speak out, no sound comes out of my mouth.

“Hehehe! This is what I’m talkin’ about! Girlie, if you’re gonna hold a grudge, hold it against that useless prick crouching over there!”

The men all jump on her at once.

USAMIIIIIIIIIIIII—!!!!

“Hahahaha! Compared to my power, you’re just too weak! I hope regret consumes you while being r*ped!” Mei laughs hysterically while making fun of Usami. Meanwhile, the group of men who jumped on her was suddenly blown backward.

““Eh—!”” My confusion and Mei’s overlapped.

Thud—!

With a delay, all of the ruffians heavily hit the ground.

“Ow, ow! Urgh—!”

“Aaaaaargh!”

“What the hell is this—!”

All of the cronies shouted in pain. Looking closely at the area where they were blown away, black cylinders lay on the ground.

“You said you had power, right? So what’s the matter? All I see is a flailing little weakling.”

Usami kept a creepy, cold smile on her face, then slowly approached Mei, who backed off under pressure.

“T–That’s it! I’ll just call more peo—!”

As Mei tried to take her phone out of the bag, it was hit by a black object that flew in from behind Usami.

“—!” She was hit on her hand, her phone blown away.

She was stunned, holding down her wrist in pain, yet Usami didn’t stop slowly approaching her.

“G–Get away from me!! My father is a prefecture Councillor! You won’t get away with this!”

“Yeah, so what?”

“—!”

Realizing all her threats wouldn’t work on Usami, she tried to escape, not even paying attention to the bag she dropped down on the cobble. However, Usami didn’t let her get away.

“Aegis, get out!”

Usami called out an unknown name, and a man in a black suit and sunglasses emerged from the shadows, from wherever he’d been lurking.

“Kuh—!”

With her escape route now blocked, she quickly turned and attempted to run away, but each time she did, another man in black would appear to cut off her path. Soon everyone there was surrounded, and a quick glance would tell you there could be as many as a hundred of them.

One of these men suddenly approached and kneeled before Usami. No, actually, looking at the body line, could she actually be a woman?

“My lady, Aegis reporting for duty.”

“Yes, I appreciate your efforts. And thank you for coming, Kageha.”

“And I’m sorry you needed us, my lady.”

The scene unfolding before our eyes had Mei and her cronies completely confused. Only Usami maintained a sense of normalcy.

“Well then, Ayagawa-san and her friends, sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Hii—! W–What the hell is this…? Who the hell are you?!”

Mei’s face contorted with fear as she shouted at Usami. Meanwhile, her goons kept shaking in complete fear.

“Fufu~ I’m just your average high school girl. I just happen to have a bit of money, you know?”

“N–no, of course you’re not! Where do you find an average high school girl that can do all of this?!”

“You’re standing right before her, aren’t you?”

“—!”

Fear-struck, Mei tried to back away, but all her cronies were gathered behind her. She had nowhere left to go.

“Oh? Is this it? Where’s that ‘power’ you spoke of earlier?”

Ayagawa’s fear reached its peak when Usami brought her face so close to her, that she could feel her breath.

“This is how real power is used.”

As if condemned by her words, Mei began to wail and cry.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!”

And soon, their sobbing echoed throughout the surrounding area. Mei and her cronies just kept weeping and screaming. However, Usami made a “hush!” gesture, and they all shut up at once. After confirming their silence, she opened her mouth once again.

“Now, it would be easy for me to finish you guys right here, but… I’ll leave it to you, Haru.”

She turned around to me and smiled.

“So, Haru, what do you wanna do? Burn them? Crush them? Or do you wanna kill them slowly by depriving them of food? You can do whatever you want with them, Haru!”

… I’ll stand up for myself, too. Usami went to such great lengths for me, so I won’t run away anymore!

I hold my shaking legs and force myself to my feet. I manage to stand up and turned my attention to the cronies. The moment they notice my gaze, they all start begging for their lives.

“P–Please, don’t kill me!”

“I–I’ll do anything, just don’t take my life!”

The way they looked at me made me wonder, why had I been so afraid of these guys? At first, I thought about killing them, but now all I feel is a pity for their pathetic wailing.

“Usami… Let these guys go.”

“… Are you sure about that?”

“Yeah… I don’t wanna waste my time with these guys.”

“If you’re fine with it…”

I turn my back to Mei and her cronies.

“I’m not gonna get involved with you guys anymore, so don’t get involved with me, either… That’s all I ask.”

I finish what I wanted to say and walked to Usami, who waited nearby. After being released from the men-in-black, Mei and the others picked up their dropped luggage and scurried off.

As I watched them go, Usami stood beside me and asked something.

“Haru… Are you sure this is the right thing to do?”

“I’m not sure… It’s just, I’ve been through so much, all I really want is not to get involved with them anymore…”

“… Oh well, if you’re okay with it, I’m okay with it.”

With that said, Usami walked to a limousine that just popped out of nowhere.

After this whole debacle, I was once again reminded that I’m not worthy of being by her side. So once again I vow to become a man worthy of being by her side, a man that can’t be ridiculed any longer…

And I’m going to tell her how much I like her.

“Haru~! Let’s go home!” She waved at me.

“Okay!” I answered her call, running towards the limousine.

I kept these vows hidden close to my heart.