As soon as the idea came to his mind,
He tossed the empty takoyaki container into a nearby trash can, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and looked around for some help.
Since it was the end of most club activities, essentially a second dismissal, there were many students on the street.
Where there were many students, there were also quite a few unruly students from other schools, the type with brightly dyed hair or strange hairstyles, acting tough.
These guys, just standing around, made regular students bow their heads and walk away quickly, making their presence very noticeable.
Not far from Sasaki, four such unruly students were laughing and fooling around on the roadside.
Since they were still students, they weren't smoking or doing anything overly inappropriate, just being loud and acting tough, which was enough to keep regular students at a distance.
Sasaki's "help" were these guys.
Throwing his greasy napkin into the trash can, the boy slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked up to one of them.
"Hm?"
Noticing the sudden shadow over his phone, the squatting Tsukada Tsukasa frowned and snapped:
"Iida, move out of the way, you're blocking the light. You itching for a fight?"
"Huh?" A chubby guy eating oden nearby looked up in confusion.
Hearing his friend's voice and realizing someone was causing trouble, Tsukada Tsukasa turned his head with an annoyed expression:
"Hey, kid, get lost before I lose my temper, or else…"
Ignoring the approaching others, Sasaki crouched down, took out a few Fukuzawa Yukichi bills (10,000 Yen notes), and handed them to the delinquent, smiling kindly:
"I need you to teach someone a lesson. Interested?"
Still sitting, Tsukada Tsukasa's posture didn't change, but his eyes dropped to the bills in front of him.
The scent of the fresh ink made his annoyance fade, replacing with a smirk.
"Heh~"
"So, boss, who do you want us to teach? How hard should we hit? If it's a hospital job…"
"No need for that. It's just a regular high school girl. A few slaps will do."
Shaking his head, Sasaki, who was hoping they wouldn't end up in the hospital, hesitated before adding:
"Don't be too careless. If you end up in the hospital, I won't cover your medical bills."
"Hospital?"
"Isn't she just a girl? Is she trained?"
"No, just a yoga practitioner."
"Hey, don't underestimate people."
"Give me her photo, and I'll be back in no time."
"No need for a photo. See that cake shop over there? The girl with the pink hair inside."
.
.
.
Ding-ling~
"Thank you, come again~"
With the clerk's greeting and the bell's cheerful ring, the three girls, smiling brightly, walked out of the cake shop.
Walking along the street where neon lights mingled with golden clouds on the horizon, Okino Rinka, holding her bag and with her hands behind her head, exhaled contentedly:
"As expected, drinking lemon water after eating is really comfortable, sweet and sour~"
"You~ eating so much, won't you skip dinner? And eating all those sweets, you'll drool in your sleep."
Walking behind Rinka and thinking about her lack of restraint earlier, Sakuragi Otome shook her head helplessly.
"Drool… I don't…"
Hearing Otome's words, the girl instinctively wanted to refute, but when she remembered herself from last night, eyes rolling back, eating small balls, and drooling,
The words she wanted to refute got stuck in her throat.
Her face slowly turned red, making her feel embarrassed.
Luckily, she was walking in front, so the other two couldn't see her face.
To avoid Otome hearing any oddity in her voice, Rinka quickly cleared her throat and responded in her usual sweet tone:
"My stomach is big. That little bit won't fill me up, and I don't drool in my sleep~"
Ignoring the girl's stubbornness, Sakuragi Otome turned to Tsukimi Chifuyu, who was walking quietly and obediently:
"Chifuyu, which direction is your home? We'll walk you back. It's dangerous for a girl to go home alone."
Knowing that Sakuragi Otome was right and that Tsukimi Chifuyu had never gone home alone at this time, it was impossible not to feel a bit scared and worried.
However, her nature made it difficult to trouble others, so she instinctively wanted to refuse.
But before she could open her mouth, Otome, knowing her personality, held her hand and spoke.
"Chifuyu, we are friends~"
Seeing that radiant yet gentle face illuminated by the neon lights, Tsukimi Chifuyu momentarily saw a shadow of someone else in her.
When she came back to her senses, she had already subconsciously agreed.
"Then, I'll trouble you, Otome-san~"
"There's no trouble at all; we are friends~"
Feeling increasingly familiar with these words and the déjà vu getting stronger, the girl couldn't help but glance at the pink aired girl, who was still holding her hand.
Her long, silky pink hair was tied into a neat single ponytail with a simple white hair tie.
Her fair, gentle face carried a comforting, warm smile.
Her sapphire-like eyes, shimmering with a gentle glow, looked at her softly.
Although her delicate appearance bore no resemblance to that person, everywhere she could see his shadow.
Thinking about their relationship, Tsukimi Chifuyu suddenly felt that their bond was more than just childhood friends.
Their expressions and behaviors were too similar.
Is this really the resemblance that ordinary childhood friends should have?
Tsukimi Chifuyu didn't know because she never had a companion who grew up with her, so she couldn't give herself a definite answer.
But she didn't ask any more questions.
Though she seemed a bit dazed on the outside, her female intuition sometimes kicked in.
Her inner feeling told her that now was not the best time to ask more.
So she just quietly looked at Otome's face and responded softly.
"Yes~"
Walking ahead of the two.
Okino Rinka, who had returned to normal, slightly slowed her pace.
When they caught up to her, Rinka re-linked arms with Otome and protested.
"Hey~ what are you talking about? I want to hear too."
"We're taking Chifuyu home; it's not safe for her to go home alone."
"Then let's go together. By the way, Chifuyu, where is your house?"
"Huh? It's around that corner…"
Watching the three girls gradually walk away, the delinquents who had been following them since they left the cake shop spat out his toothpick:
"Let's go. There's a path ahead with fewer people. We'll corner them in the alley, get it done quickly."
After speaking, Tsukada Tsukasa spat on the ground in annoyance:
"Just to beat up a girl, and he specifically asked us all to go. What a nutcase."
"Uh, Tsukasa, are we all going in?" asked the chubby delinquent, Iida, standing beside him.
"One at a time will take forever. I'll do it," said a short but sturdy boy with short hair, clenching his fists.
"Ryu, don't go too hard. We don't want any trouble," Tsukasa warned as he walked quickly toward the three girls.
The short-haired boy, named Shikyo Ryu, nodded.
"Got it."
With everything said, the four seasoned brawlers quickly walked up to the three girls.
Ignoring the two who showed fear,
Tsukasa's fierce, squinty eyes sized up the seemingly calm target, wondering if she was just pretending or really confident.
'Is this guy crazy? This girl doesn't look like a delinquent at all.'
He initially thought that the pretty boy who hired them was being bullied by some school delinquents or haughty girls, so he wanted some outside delinquents to teach them a lesson.
After all they had seen this many times and done it before.
Familiar with the routine, they agreed without hesitation.
In the cake shop, Tsukasa, with his poor vision, could only identify the target vaguely.
He hadn't seen their faces clearly.
He didn't know who was behind them and he hadn't seen their faces either.
So he didn't think much of it.
Now, looking at the expressionless girl with pink hair who was tightly protecting her two companions,
Tsukasa sized her up for a while and couldn't help but fall in thought.
She didn't seem like a haughty or mean girl.
Instead she looked more like a well-behaved, studious girl.
But he had been paid, after all.
More concerned about finishing quickly, Tsukasa, with his hands in his pockets, slightly hunched, and looking down at the girl, walked up to her.
As he was about to scare her into retreating to make room for Ryu,
a small, delicate white fist suddenly appeared in his view.
Before he could curse or react, the sharp pain in his eye, as if a packet of spices had been thrown in, made him fall to the ground, howling in pain.
His cry triggered the other three to instinctively curse.
"Bastard!"
But before they could raise their fists and knock down the bold pink-haired girl, an unbearable pain in their stomachs made them fall to their knees.
Watching the four delinquents rolling on the ground, clutching their stomachs,
Okino Rinka, who was secretly calling Sasaki, widened her eyes in disbelief, looking at Otome standing in front of the delinquents.
If someone said that the delicate Otome-nee could kill Fuyumi in bed, she might have believed it.
But by "kill," she didn't mean with punches.
Even though it was quite hard to believe even that, but it was not something unbelievable, but.. this.
Growing up with Otome, she had never even seen her curse, let alone fight.
But suddenly, seeing the girl standing expressionlessly among the fallen delinquents, casually rubbing her wrist, was more surprising than seeing pigs lining up to fall into the river.