Bursting out into the alley behind the factory, I gulp down lungfuls of air, the adrenaline rush finally subsiding. That... did not go according to plan. But I'm alive, mostly uninjured, and the sound of shouting means my hastily fabricated feud is in full, gloriously messy swing.
The next couple of days are a blur of nervous energy and frantic monitoring. The 'war' between Tanaka and Kenji rages with surprising brutality. News spreads like wildfire through the school's gossips – small-time brawls escalating with each retelling, rumors of serious injuries, even talk of a mysterious 'third force' manipulating both sides.
It's exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure. My hastily formed plans seem to be working, but way too well. This isn't the controlled shadow war I envisioned, but a wildfire I lit and can no longer contain.
Which is when the first girl corners me. Her name is Megumi, a girl from a grade above. She's pretty in an intimidating way – sleek hair, the kind of composed posture that makes me want to straighten my slumped shoulders.
"You're behind this, aren't you?" she asks, her voice low and accusatory.
"Behind what?" I play dumb. It's a skill I've perfected these past few weeks.
"Don't act innocent. Everyone's talking about the new gang war, and the rumors point to you." She steps closer, and for the first time I notice her eyes. They're an almost unnerving shade of green, calculating, like she's trying to dissect me.
"That's ridiculous," I stammer, taking a step back.
"Just some nobody playing at being a mastermind?" Her lips curl into a smirk. "I find that...interesting."
Before I can protest, she leans in closer. I brace myself for a slap, an insult, anything but what she does next.
"Teach me," she whispers.
The word hangs in the air. I'm so caught off guard, all I can do is blink stupidly.
"Teach you...what?"
Megumi smiles, and there's a dangerous beauty to it. "How to play this game, how to pull the strings. You might act like a pathetic worm, Ryu Satou, but I see what you really are."
This is not how I imagined getting my first minion. My carefully constructed plans didn't involve some intimidating upperclassman seeing through my facade. And there's an odd spark of excitement beneath the rising panic.
The next few weeks transform my life into a bizarre fever dream. Megumi becomes my unexpected co-conspirator. Instead of study sessions, we meet in hidden corners of the library, plotting our next move.
It turns out she has a talent for this. If I'm the one setting the fires, she's the one strategically fanning the flames. We concoct outlandish rumors, forge 'evidence', whisper secrets to carefully chosen targets. And with each escalation, the chaos of the gang war spins further out of control.
Then there's Sakura. She's in my year, painfully shy, with a stutter that only seems to worsen when she's around me. One afternoon, I find her waiting hesitantly outside my classroom.
"I...I heard you helped Pops," she mumbles, barely audible over the lunchtime chatter.
The old shopkeeper. I'd almost forgotten about him amidst everything else. A pang of guilt twists in my gut.
"He told everyone," she continues, fiddling with a loose thread on her cardigan, "How you stood up to those thugs...that you're...you're like a h-hero..."
The last word comes out as a choked gasp, and her face flushes bright red. I'm speechless. Not because of her words, but because of the way she looks at me. Like I'm something other than invisible.