Ch.33Chapter 5. What It Means to Like Someone (5)

Men versus women: who wins when three men face five women?

Especially if there’s a significant weight difference.

Generally, most people would say men have the advantage. When someone well-trained lands a punch to the face, smaller people have trouble withstanding it.

Conversely, when a smaller person hits someone larger, the impact usually isn’t that great. It might hurt, but it probably won’t cause a knockout.

…But that only applies when no one is holding anything.

School-designated student bags differ by school, but Hanakawa’s designated bags were leather ones similar to what office workers might use.

A sturdy briefcase-like bag that could be held in one hand or worn with a strap across the body.

With textbooks inside.

Even if the opponent is a high school girl, a bag swung with full force by a well-trained person is too brutal to receive with just your bare body.

“Ugh!”

Especially when it’s wielded by four high school girls on their way home.

“F-fuck…!”

Profanity escaped from the man’s mouth.

I grabbed the yellow-haired man’s hair with my hand and yanked it, causing him to scream.

Slip.

My hand slipped on his rain-soaked hair and pulled back, but there was still some effect. I had pulled so hard that broken and pulled-out hair stuck between my fingers.

Honestly, it was a bit disgusting, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

Miura rushed at the man’s stomach and punched it. A clean straight punch.

She had taken off her glasses at some point. Her face was quite serious, but honestly, she didn’t look as scary as Yamashita when she was angry. But despite her expression, the straight punch itself had quite an impact, as the man bent over in a ‘ㄱ’ shape.

Perhaps she had learned karate when she was young?

Fukuda was grabbing collars with the buzz-cut man. When the man raised his fist, Fukuda immediately headbutted him in the nose. Blood flowed from the man’s head.

But that didn’t stop his fist.

Fukuda staggered slightly after taking a punch to the head.

“Harumi!”

Yamashita called Fukuda’s name and charged at the man’s back, grabbing his waist and pulling him backward. Fukuda, having regained her balance, kicked the staggering man in the stomach.

Behind Yamashita, a flying school bag made clean contact with the bushy-haired man who was trying to rush in. The man staggered briefly after taking a heavy blow to the temple, then fell sideways.

As expected of a yokai hunter. Well, from Yuuki’s perspective, these men probably weren’t very intimidating. They were men who had never fought for their lives.

With one fewer opponent, the momentum clearly shifted to our side, but the fact remained that we were engaged in a street brawl.

The rain grew heavier.

But as passersby began to surround us, the street that would normally be nearly empty in this weather became quite crowded.

Hmm.

Can’t avoid the rumors now.

Even as I thought this, I mechanically continued pulling out the man’s hair. The man found himself in a situation where he had to decide which to deal with first: Yuuki who was charging in, Mako who was still punching him, or me who might soon create a bald spot on his head.

The yellow-haired man moved.

He seemed to have decided to deal with me first. Well, that made sense since I kept reaching from behind and pulling his hair backward.

But as soon as the man turned toward me, Yuuki’s foot struck his side. Miura threw punches without any particular concern for the person’s spine.

At this point, I became curious about Miura’s background. While Yuuki was naturally suited for this kind of thing, Miura… wait, could it be that the reason she could hang out with two gyaru friends was because she was actually the strongest of the three?

The man’s body staggered, but he must have been athletic because he quickly regained his balance and swung his hand at me.

I tried to dodge by ducking down, but unfortunately—a sailor uniform has too many places to grab.

He grabbed my collar and lifted me up.

My face burned. My right cheek felt incredibly hot. I must have been punched without even realizing it.

I tasted iron in my mouth.

My face burned again, and my right side buzzed. Then I landed with a splash on the wet ground.

Sounds came from the crowd surrounding us. The man seemed to finally realize that they were surrounded by people and had become a spectacle, quickly looking around.

Hmm. A male high school student hitting a skinny girl. People must really love that, right?

Well, not that anyone was openly jeering or anything.

Yuuki struck the man’s head.

“Kurosawa!?”

Miura quickly ran to me.

“Are you okay!?”

I’ll probably be fine.

I turned my gaze to see Yamashita and Fukuda dealing with the buzz-cut man. The man, Yamashita, and Fukuda were all staggering, but the buzz-cut man seemed to have taken the most hits. With blood streaming from his nose and scratch marks all over his face, he was barely maintaining his stance.

As for Yuuki—

When the yellow-haired man swung his fist, she slightly pulled her body back to dodge. Despite the significant reach difference, all of Yuuki’s attacks landed on the man, while she deflected all of his attacks with precision. Is this what a fighting beauty looks like?

“Huff… huff…”

As rough breathing escaped from the yellow-haired man’s mouth.

A siren sound was heard from a distance.

It was a police car. I’ve heard that sound before.

The siren quickly grew closer, and the man’s face turned slightly pale.

“Hey! Stop that!”

Someone shouted from among the people surrounding us. I heard a car door open and close.

“Excuse me, coming through!”

A young woman’s voice called out, and people murmured as they made way.

Squeezing through the crowd came a middle-aged man in a police uniform and a younger woman.

“Hey, you there! Stop!”

When the police officer shouted, the yellow-haired man smiled with relief.

Then he looked at us. His eyes seemed to say that we were finished now.

He must have some powerful backing.

Well, a guy dating a girl from a prestigious high school is likely from a prestigious school himself. It’s a common trope—a thug with good connections.

But what can you do?

We have connections too.

*

The police station, the hospital.

Going in and out of such places because of fighting or getting hit. In my previous life, I never would have imagined such a thing.

I did frequently go in and out of hospitals, but at least not because of fighting.

Having never thrown a punch at anyone in my entire life, and now doing this all the time after becoming a high school girl in another world—my fate has certainly taken a strange turn.

“I’m telling you, I didn’t start it first!”

“Yes, yes. We’ve contacted everyone’s parents, so just wait for now.”

The yellow-haired guy raised his voice as if wronged, and the police officer sitting in front of him typed on his computer indifferently.

He seemed to think of our fight as just “kids fighting.” Or maybe it was because he saw our school uniforms? He didn’t immediately take us in and make us write statements.

Well, assault is a crime that requires the victim’s complaint to prosecute. If both parties agree to settle, it’s as if nothing happened, and since everyone here was a minor, communication between guardians was almost essential.

For reference, I did provide a phone number. They said they needed “parents.” Even if Teacher Suzuki came, there probably wouldn’t be much she could do.

However…

[Don’t come.]

As soon as I got my phone back, I sent that message.

When I was alone or only with adults, it didn’t matter, but I didn’t want to reveal the existence of Kagami Kurosawa when I was with my friends.

Since she seemed to view me as something like a god and even worshipped me in her own way, I thought she would listen to me, but—

“You’re doing this again?”

“…”

I stared blankly at Kagami.

Despite having an address in Saitama, Kagami was the first parent to arrive.

Her outfit was as sloppy as when I last saw her. Short skirt, exposed navel and shoulders. Flashy patterns on her clothes.

Buzz.

My phone vibrated, and when I looked at the screen, there was a message from Kagami herself.

[I’m going to hit you a little.]

What?

Before I could properly understand that message,

Smack!

Something brushed past the back of my head.

It didn’t hurt or cause any shock. Somehow she managed to make it just sound loud. Instead, a few of my damp hair strands followed her hand upward and then fell forward. Even without looking in a mirror, I could tell my hair was now disheveled.

“Ma’am!?”

The female police officer next to me was shocked and tried to stop Kagami, but Kagami’s words continued relentlessly.

“This happens because you don’t behave properly! Just like last time!”

“Last time?”

Yuuki, sitting next to me, muttered.

I looked at my phone. The message I had just received had one more line besides saying she would hit me.

[Just keep your head down.]

Ah.

So she meant she would handle it if I just pretended to be wronged and kept my head down.

I was grateful for that. I wasn’t sure I could manage my expression anyway. Honestly, Kagami’s outfit was really embarrassing from my perspective.

I thought it would be best if she didn’t come, but since she did, it was better if she handled things herself.

As I was thinking this and keeping my head down,

“After letting you live alone, you’re just bringing men home.”

“…”

Hmm…

I could feel everyone’s gazes pouring onto me.

I mean, I get what Kagami is thinking. I get it, but the problem is that there was someone here who had a huge misunderstanding about my situation.

Miura thinks I was sexually assaulted during that Amanojaku incident.

If you say things like that, what will I become? Though Kagami didn’t know about that incident.

“…I didn’t bring anyone home.”

And I had the rest of my school life ahead of me. I didn’t want any unnecessary misunderstandings. Yamashita and Miura had already seen the tattoo on my wrist.

I stood up and looked at Kagami through my hair.

“…That bastard just followed me on his own.”

“Wait, Kurosawa?”

I heard Yuuki’s shocked voice from behind.

I hadn’t told anyone about the stalker from that time. Kagami seemed to have handled it well from behind the scenes, and he never appeared again.

I could see Kagami’s eyes moving quickly. Not in panic, but rapidly assessing the situation. Looking at my face, at my shocked friends behind me, at the police officers, then back at me.

Ah-ha.

That’s what her lips seemed to form.

Kagami raised her hand and pushed my forehead with her finger.

I staggered backward, then stood up again and looked up at Kagami.

Kagami seemed to be playing along with me. Well, if she suddenly said “Sorry, I misunderstood” here, the atmosphere would become really strange.

“You,”

My forehead was pushed back once more. I staggered and stood up again.

“How dare you talk back? Who taught you such manners? Huh?”

Kagami’s tone changed. Subtly shifting from my behavior issues to my manners.

“Ma’am!”

Now even the police officer who had been sitting and looking at his computer stood up to restrain Kagami.

“This is why I don’t want to raise you. You should be grateful I didn’t abort you!”

“Excuse me!”

And Kagami’s words were interrupted by an unexpected person.

It was Miura.

Pushing her chair away and standing up, Miura was looking at Kagami with a somewhat confused expression.

An expression that seemed surprised at her own action of standing up.

When Kagami’s gaze turned to her, Miura flinched.

But she had an expression of not knowing what to say. Even though this person was like this, she was still… um, my “mother.”

“So, what do you want me to do?”

Kagami asked, looking toward the police.

“Uh… well.”

The police officer answered with an incredulous expression.

“The parents of those children will be coming soon. We’d like you to talk with them and reach an agreement about this incident—”

“What agreement? Who did you hit?”

“…”

“Didn’t I tell you? Don’t go around hitting people and hurting them because it just costs money. Better to get hit and receive compensation instead. Not that you’re any use.”

Yuuki exhaled as if in disbelief.

“And—if it was going to be half-done, you should have just gotten rid of them.”

“…”

Kagami’s gaze shifted.

The somewhat shabby face that had been scolding me until just now disappeared instantly, and all emotion drained from her expression.

With a gaze that could freeze ice, Kagami looked at the yellow-haired man.

The yellow-haired man, who had been snickering while watching me get scolded by Kagami, initially looked at her provocatively.

Judging by appearances alone, Kagami looked only in her late twenties to early thirties, and was fundamentally beautiful. Since the delinquents in light novels of this era were often as depraved as real-life delinquents to an unpleasant degree, he initially looked up at Kagami with that same snickering expression.

A clear provocation.

But the smile gradually disappeared from his face.

Kagami’s eyes… weren’t normal eyes. They were the eyes of someone who could stab a person if they wanted to.

For a very brief moment, I recalled when Kagami first came to the house where I was staying.

“Ms. Kurosawa?”

“What.”

When the nearby female officer cautiously spoke to her, Kagami’s expression changed back to that of a shabby thug.

“Please calm down first—”

“Yuu!”

But the officer’s voice was quickly drowned out by someone else’s.

From a distance, a man with a fierce expression was striding toward us.

Judging by his hairstyle, he was a businessman. Hair parted precisely in a 2:8 ratio and fixed with hair gel.

But his attire was extraordinary.

The shirt he wore underneath was a vivid primary blue silk shirt, and over it was a white suit. He even had all the double-row buttons fastened.

His shoulders were so broad that it seemed somewhat surreal, as if someone had deliberately stretched a person’s proportions into an inverted triangle shape.

His skin was swarthy. His upturned eyes might resemble Yamashita’s, but he was clearly different from Yamashita’s elegant impression, which was like a modern refinement of the classic Japanese beauty depicted in traditional Japanese paintings.

If Yamashita gave a cold impression, this man had an impression that was not just hot but blazing.

“What’s going on here?”

The approaching… presumably Mr. Yamashita seemed to quickly grasp the situation.

Yuu bowed her head deeply.

Well, that was understandable. If my father dressed like that, I’d probably buy him a few new outfits and ask him to wear something else.

Moreover, Mr. Yamashita wasn’t alone. Behind him, similarly built men filed in. Everyone at the police station was shocked and staring at them.

“Oh, Miss Miura, it’s been a while.”

“Ah, yes… it’s been a while.”

“Hello, sir.”

“Harumi, it’s been a long time too! You’ve grown up beautifully!”

“Dad…”

As Mr. Yamashita smiled and spoke loudly to Fukuda, Yuu muttered as if embarrassed. Mr. Yamashita didn’t seem to mind much.

Hmm…

Somehow, I was starting to understand the atmosphere of that story Yamashita had told me.

I had wondered if Yamashita’s father had been caught by some gold digger… but seeing the current situation, he didn’t look like someone who would be taken advantage of by a gold digger—rather, he looked like he could control them.

I could easily imagine him with women about the same age as his daughter on either side.

…And the fact that he didn’t bring his wife along.

On the left lapel of his white suit was a gold badge, with 山下 written vertically and encircled by a vertically elongated oval.

“Yamashita-kai…!”

Someone in the police station muttered.

Yamashita-kai (山下会). Naturally, the “Yamashita (山下)” at the front would be named after the boss.

Yamashita covered her face and bowed her head deeply.

Mr. Yamashita’s gaze turned toward us. He didn’t seem to care about the pale-faced yellow-haired man.

After looking at Yuuki and me once each, and turning to the side—

“Wait, Kagami?”

Mr. Yamashita said with a broad smile.

“What brings Kagami here?”

It was an incongruously gentle voice. Similar to the tone he used when talking to his daughter’s friends.

“Hello, Chairman.”

Kagami bowed politely, then pulled my hand to stand me beside her and gently pushed my back.

I knew she wasn’t telling me to step forward but to bow.

More precisely, rather than “trying to tell me,” she was reenacting “introducing her daughter to a yakuza boss.”

“It seems my daughter has caused trouble and ended up at the police station.”

“Hmm.”

Mr. Yamashita looked once more at disheveled me and Yuuki, then at the three men sitting down.

Then he said,

“I’d like someone to explain what happened here.”