Sebastian decided to tag along with us.
With a bit of peer pressure.
"You know how to make anything dance to your tune."
"Well, I'll take it as a compliment."
We were walking a few steps behind the rest of the group while matching their pace.
"So, why did you want me to tag along?"
"Hmmm....No real reason. I just felt you might miss out on something."
"Right! So I wanted to ask you something."
"Fire away."
"Harumi-senpai or Kusanagi-senpai?"
"Yeah? What about them?"
"Which one of them do you love?"
"None. Both are stupendously beautiful but I'm not worthy, that's what I would say."
He chuckled.
"Was that funny?"
"No, it's just too hard to believe that."
"Well, not everyone can be a model with an athletic body now, can they?"
"Nice observations. Are you interested in me? Perhaps, that's the reason why you rejected them both. I'm flattered but sorry, I can't."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not at all interested in you in any way. Your imaginary feeling would only be ' over my dead body '. Fit that into your head"
"Fine. I get it. But if you would ask me, you and Kusanagi-senpai seem to be a perfect match."
"There's nothing as perfect. And I'm the anomaly that you're overlooking."
And here I was thinking he's a quiet guy. This reminds me of that bastard.
I picked up my phone and went through the short contact list I had.
Ahh! Here it is.
Takemichi Saishi.
"Bastard! Where are you?"
I was waiting for his reply. Meanwhile...
"You seem cool for someone who's about to lose his free will"
"Why is it that everyone has already decided that I'm going to lose?"
"Well, you're basically going up against the whole school. So I'd say the odds are against your favor."
"Well, I can see that."
"And yet, you don't seem to be bothered."
"Well, it depends on how you interpret it."
"Tell me. I'm curious."
Take note kids. How to make things work out for you.
Talk less, observe, and listen carefully.
"In your view, it's just like swimming in the shark-infested sea. The fate's already been sealed for that person."
"I guess you can say that."
"In my view, it's just as swimming against the current in an overflowing river. Even if the person were to disappear, you would hold on to a little bit of hope until you find the body."
"That's a grim example."
"Can't help it."
"Your point being?"
"You see this crowd as sharks, while I see this crowd as countless droplets of water. That's the point."
"Hmmm...Ok, I get it."
"Good, I wasn't planning on explaining it."
My phone buzzed.
"OH MY GOODNESS! A mail from you, what's wrong? Is everything all right?"
"It was until I remembered something."
"What is it?"
"Die!"
"Huh?Why?All of a sudden."
"No reason. How's stuff there? It's gone quiet now, ever since your transfer. It's boring for us both."
"Hang in there. You'll be fine."
"Someone's optimistic."
"Yes. 'Cause I'm not there, so everything is much easier now for you, I think."
"You bastard."
"Wanna bet?"
"What?"
"Hmmm...Let's see, the chances of me getting a girlfriend on my first day of high school."
"I'd say 10%. How much are we betting?"
"How much ever you're willing to lose."
"You are pretty confident about this. Don't you think you're risking a lot?"
"The girl's worth the risk."
"I wonder how that'll go down here."
"Anyway, don't get carried away too much with your adventure, See ya'!"
...
So the odds are against me.
Saishi pretty much always has a good hand when it comes to playing a game with stakes.
A Machiavellian with a good hand like a bond character.
So I'll have to take his word.
But still, I have a 10% chance. I'll have to make the best of it.
We walked past the cafeteria and the stationery store. I decided to buy a few necessary goods and stopped for a few minutes. It's 3:45 PM.
Oh crap! I'll have to speed up.
We entered the building and went up the stairs. On our way, we went through the arts and craft club and the grafitti section. It was 3.52 PM.
I reached earlier than I expected.
But someone was waiting for me.
"Can I have a moment?"
"Can't it wait?"
It was Yuki-nee.
"Nope. Right now."
She was adamant.
Everyone else went in.
The crowd was making some noise.
"Why are you here?"
"To fight."
"Why didn't you run away?"
"I didn't have a choice. What's up with you? Either you hate me or you help me. Be clear about your feelings."
It's pretty hard for her.
I looked at the watch.
It was 3:56 PM.
"I have to go."
"Is it true? You and Sakura, on the top of the school building, did you..."
"WE KISSED! I was the one who initiated it."
"Why?"
That response usually means that there's a concern.
"Nifuji-kun! Let's go."
Sebastian interrupted us as he reached out to me.
"Yeah. Coming..."
I went in.
The ring was located in the center of the room.
It was like a proper boxing arena, with the crowd seated and ready for the fight.
As I started going towards the ring, everything started booing at me.
This is what a "HEEL" gets.
The challenger who has put me in this misery, Sakio.
He was given a hero's welcome with everyone shouting out his name.
This is what a "FACE" gets.
The referee for this match was the queen herself, Yuki-nee.
She made sure we were ready and started the fight.
Sakio stepped to the center and dropped his guard down.
I was looking closely.
He reached out his arm in the form of a handshake.
I was skeptical about this and wanted to avoid it. But;
"He's reaching out his arm like an athlete. C'mon dude. Man up!"
"Where's your sportsmanship?"
"It's only a handshake."
The crowd was starting to rile up.
"Alright. I guess I'll do it."
As I was about to reach out to his arm, I heard a chuckle and before I could realize it, my hand was grabbed tight and a brass knuckle flew right at me.
I used my shoulder to block the attack targeted towards my face and took damage while doing so.
The crowd was laughing at this scene.
"He actually fell for it."
"How pathetic."
"Oh, this is fun."
This was a clear disadvantage to me.
Meanwhile, as I was trying to regain my balance, he came back for a second try.
I can't take it another time. My shoulder will be done.
There's only one thing I can try.
I went low and using my free arm as a support, I gave a back kick straight to his jaw.
The crowd went silent.
The sudden shock caused him to let go of my hand.
As soon as my arm was let free, I moved back to the corner to regroup and recollect my thoughts with the time I made up for myself.
The referee was checking to make sure he was okay.
Considering his action from the beginning, he's not wasting any time.
"I can't let my guard down."
Momentarily, I looked at his lumberjacks.
They had lead pipes and steel chains in their arms, and they were ready to welcome me.
Though the ring was a boxing ring, the ropes were of wrestling style.
"I can't charge in recklessly nor stay on guard at the corner. It's too dangerous."
The slave regained his senses. He was ready to go.
I was already in my stance, ready to strike.
As soon as the referee signaled, I pounced in for my attack.
As I drew closer, he was ready, waiting to counter.
I charged in and finally slid underneath him while he went for a K.O.
Close call.
I used the momentum to bounce back up and strike him.
"You're wide open."
I went for his lower back and hit it hard.
As he was resisting the pain, I targetted his thigh and hit it every now and then, trying to weaken his balance.
...
We were 17 minutes into the fight, and it looked one-sided as everyone was booing me.
But even to me, it was a tough situation. One slip and the tables would have turned.\
Michiru was focused on our match, she was keeping up with our movement.
Though he was limping, he was still able to maintain a strong balance.
As I was starting to run out of stamina and was falling back to regroup, he suddenly pounced at me.
That was my best chance to use the lumberjacks on my end and finish it up, or so I thought.
But the ones from my class didn't seem to give it their all. It was starting to get clear.
The lumberjacks from the other end started to make it to my end of the ring.
Both the classes were starting to throw fists at each other.
In that chaos, Sakio picked something underneath the ring.
The longer this goes, the worse for me.
I climbed the ring post near my end.
This might hurt.
"Yuki-nee. You're beautiful."
I yelled a scream at our referee.
That caught the attention of the lumberjacks from Sakio's end.
I jumped right at them and caused at least half of them to fall down to the ground.
I quickly got up to my feet and entered the ring.
I went to take support near the ring post on my end, when finally, everything fell in place, for Sakio that is.
My arms and legs were caught hold.
I couldn't move.
"Shit! What do I do now?"
...
I wanted to take a look at what was going on.
Why wasn't I surprised?
It was my own classmates that had caught me, while I could see Ichika taking out a handcuff from her pocket and handcuffed me. She threw the key at my feet. My left arm was tied up to the rope.
A huge pair of arms emerged from behind my back put me in a lock near my neck.
I was suffering to breathe.
Sakio was clearly enjoying this sight of me suffering and trying to break free.
"So, this was rigged from the start."
"Did you seriously think that I'd even let you have a chance of winning?"
He kicked me in the gut and put me to the ground.
"This was fun while it lasted. But sorry, I have no intention of taking this any further."
He pulled out a tazer from his coat.
Zap sound.
"You're really naive, to think you'd believe them, your own classmates, it's truly pathetic."
"This is where you belong peasant."
"It's over now. Welcome to slavery."
"That's where you belong!"
The crowd was in an uproar.
I looked at the end where Sebastian and Sakura were seated.
They didn't want to see this sight anymore.
I then looked at Yuki-nee, she clearly was reaching her limit.
I turned towards Michiru, she was upset and I think a few drops of tears rolled down her eye.
Sakio looked at Michiru and started laughing.
He caught my face and showed it to her.
"Have a look. This is your standard."
Everyone started mocking her.
This was always the end result.
How could I change it?
I neither felt shame, nor guilt, nothing honestly.
I think that's the perk of being me.
Looks like this is Karma, and I have to atone for my sins.
I was ready to accept my life as a slave. But something happened.
Everything turned pitch black for a moment.
I could hear a voice.
"In the end, you can save no one! Not your parents, Not her parents, Not her best friend, and Not even her."
"Stop it."
I said it in a low voice.
Sakio started to laugh even harder.
"Alright! I'll end this suffering for you right now."
Everyone was ready to make a mockery of me for the next few minutes.
But no one expected that.
Sadistic laugh.
"What happened?"
"Why's he laughing? Has he finally lost it?"
"Serves him right."
The crowd was focused on the source.
Whispers started to get louder and louder.
So did the fear in their voice.
"Hey! Someone's screaming in pain!"
"No way! That's impossible! He just sliced his own classmate's hand."
"He has no mercy."
"All of that with his arm handcuffed to that rope!"
...
"He's freeing himself from that handcuffs!"
"This is his playground."
...
"Oi, stop the fight, stop it."
An uproar emerged as everyone were on their feet, screaming at the top of their voice.
"Runaway! Run!"
...
"Yes. That's it, finish him off."
"Don't hesitate. Take him out fast!"
The crowd went back and forth.
"No stop it. We can't allow it."
"How can a mere peasant outsmart us. This isn't right. Hurry up and save him."
"Nooo!!!"
...
"This can't be happening. We lost."
...
"How does he have no feelings."
"Monster!"
"Monster!"
"Monster!"
There was a voice.
Silence.
Everyone stared at the center of the ring.
Their body froze in their place at the sight.
One man was flat down on the ground, while the other was setting out his throne with the bodies fallen over the place.
He stepped over one by one and used them as his stairs, and sat on top of the ring post facing the crowd.
There was a look of terror in his eyes.
They said, "Fear me."
He raised his head, in search of someone.
He raised his arm and pointed his finger to the girl sitting in the crowd and made a statement.
"She's my woman!!!"