"Found another one. These guys are pretty banged up," Furuya said, crouching next to another battered student. "I think he's a first year."
He examined the boy, two years younger than him at the school. The kid's right eye was bruised and swollen, his body covered in various bruises. The boy winced as Furuya prodded gently. "Did you call the police yet?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder at the two other students being carried by his friends.
Laura nodded. "Catherine's on the phone with them now. Apparently, Yinhaie and some others have already reached out, so they're working on it."
"But do we have enough evidence?" Furuya's gaze flicked back to the injured boy he held.
Reina, who stood beside Laura, answered, "We've got Xinyi and Jingliu's surveillance teams on it. I think we have enough, but they want to make sure by recording the groups causing the damage and Youta running his mouth about his scheme."
"Got it," Furuya responded, hoisting the injured boy onto his back. He trudged through the snow, moving toward the entrance of the area. The others followed closely, their footsteps crunching on the icy ground. "What about their trash bags?" he asked, glancing back at the scattered bags left behind.
Laura's frown deepened. "Youta might come back to collect them, so let's take them with us and mark which group they belonged to. I don't want to leave that to him."
"Yeah, it wouldn't be fair to anyone if we let him handle it, especially with what's happened to these guys," Reina added, her expression tight with concern.
After a few tense minutes, the sound of sirens pierced the cold air as ambulances and police vehicles arrived. The officers and medics began assessing the scene, their presence adding a sense of urgency. The police took note of the situation and shared that they had received numerous complaints about similar incidents across the city, which heightened their concern.
"What's going to happen next?" Furuya asked, his voice carrying a hint of apprehension. "Will you track them down?"
One of the officers replied, "We're collaborating with the Yang and Cheng families, and we're committed to tracking them down. We just hope these troublemakers don't continue targeting random people."
"Stay safe," instructed the other officer. "Don't engage if you come across them. Call us immediately if you spot anything. Understood?" The group nodded in agreement as the officers departed, leaving them with a lingering sense of unease.
"Let's gather our own haul along with theirs," Furuya said, taking charge. "I'll stay here. You guys head back with Catherine and bring everything in. I'll manage here since other staff members from Xinyi's place are nearby."
They hesitated initially but eventually agreed to the plan. However, Catherine darted over to Furuya, her face a mix of concern and exasperation. "Are you serious? It's way too dangerous. It'd be smarter for me to stay here. Are you just trying to act tough?"
"Kind of," Furuya replied with a half-smile. "I'm worried about those two, but I know you'd handle Youta and his gang without breaking a sweat. The thing is, those two aren't fighters. Even if the delinquents show up here, I can probably defend myself for a while. Just go with them."
Catherine hesitated for a moment, then hugged him tightly, burying her face in his chest. "If we come back and find you knocked out, I'm waking you up just so I can knock you out again," she said with a fierce edge to her voice.
Furuya chuckled and nodded. "Got it. I'll try to stay in one piece if they do show up. Now go," he urged as the three girls departed with their black bags of trash, leaving him alone.
Once they were out of sight, Furuya took a deep breath and muttered, "Alright… let's do this…" He turned around, only to see a group of ten boys emerging from behind trees and bushes.
Furuya grinned, fully aware that he wasn't cut out for fighting. Getting into brawls might ruin his chances of continuing with baseball after school and achieving his goal of helping his team win at Koshien. Still, he was determined to face this challenge, even if it was reckless.
He took a fighting stance, his eyes locking onto the group of boys, who were smirking at him, some brandishing baseball bats. "Bring it on, assholes!" he shouted, his voice carrying a challenge. The boys, energized by his defiance, charged at him with menacing energy.
+-+
Yasushi's phone buzzed violently against his leg, and he quickly pulled it out, his eyes widening as he read the urgent message. "We have to go, follow me!" he shouted, abandoning his trash bags. "Tell your staff to handle it!"
Without waiting for a response, he sprinted away. Jingliu and Xinyi, puzzled by the sudden urgency, watched as Yasushi disappeared. Jingliu swiftly called her family's staff to secure their trash bags before running after Yasushi.
It took them about ten minutes to reach the location. When they arrived, they found Furuya surrounded by a gang of ten delinquents. To their surprise, he was still on his feet, though barely. Without a moment's hesitation, the two girls leaped into action. Jingliu reached the scene first, with Xinyi close behind. Both girls launched themselves at the delinquents, their boots connecting with two of their faces, sending them sprawling and unconscious.
Yasushi reached Furuya just as he began to slump, but he caught him before he could fall. Furuya's face was a mask of blood and bruises, yet he wore a smirk. "I held them off, but Catherine and the others aren't here yet. So…did I do good? Did I look cool?" His voice was slightly slurred, eyes half-lidded with exhaustion.
Yasushi chuckled, glancing over at Xinyi and Jingliu as they battled the remaining delinquents. "Not getting knocked out after ten minutes against ten people? That's impressive. Yeah, man, you were definitely cool."
Furuya let out a weary sigh. "Great… I'm gonna pass out now." With that, he went limp in Yasushi's arms, completely spent but still grinning through the pain.
"Yeah, rest up," Yasushi said, gently lowering his friend to the ground. As he was about to step back, they heard Catherine's voice cut through the chaos. Everyone turned to see her, Laura, and Reina rushing towards them.
Before Yasushi could make a move, Catherine shot past him, Jingliu, and Xinyi like a blur. She grabbed one of the delinquents by the collar, hoisting him off the ground with ease before slamming him back down. The sickening crack that followed echoed in the brief silence, but Catherine didn't stop there. She released the limp delinquent, her eyes now fixed on the rest of them, who instinctively stepped back, clearly rattled by what they'd just witnessed.
Without warning, Catherine was behind two more of them. It was as if she had teleported, her hands gripping the backs of their heads, slamming them both into the ground with brutal force. Their bodies thudded hard against the earth, motionless as she stood over them. She didn't wait. Turning to the rest, she methodically took them down, one by one. Each punch, whether to the face or stomach, dropped them like flies. And for those who somehow remained conscious, she followed up with another strike, ensuring they stayed down for good.
In the span of just a few seconds, the fight was over. Catherine stood alone, surrounded by a sea of unconscious delinquents, their bodies scattered across the ground as if they'd been dropped from the sky.
"Well, that takes care of that," Yasushi muttered, holding up a half-conscious Furuya as Catherine stormed toward them. Before anyone could react, she began slapping Furuya's face, the sound of it sharp and unforgiving. He jolted awake with a groan, blinking in confusion.
"I promised I'd beat you myself if you went down," she said, her voice sharp, eyes narrowed on him. Furuya, still dazed and barely processing what was happening, tried to gulp down whatever excuse he had ready, but words escaped him when Catherine suddenly grabbed his face and kissed him.
"Wow!" Xinyi blurted, hand flying to her mouth, eyes wide as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. The sudden shift caught them all off guard, except Yasushi, who just laughed quietly and let them have their moment.
While the two stayed wrapped in whatever was blossoming between them, Yasushi, Jingliu, and Yunxue wandered over to the pile of unconscious delinquents. They prodded at them, making sure none of them had kicked the bucket from Catherine's brutal takedown. After all, they weren't looking to explain any accidental deaths today.
"They're all still breathing. That's good," Yasushi noted, nudging one of the boys who groaned weakly in response. "But the first one she got is... kinda fucked up. His neck's at a weird angle."
Xinyi sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "We'll cover his medical bills. Love really does make people do crazy things."
"Let's call the police again, say it was an accident this time," Jingliu suggested, glancing at the others, her expression serious. Yasushi and Yunxue exchanged a glance before nodding, agreeing without a second thought.
Together, they dragged the unconscious delinquents over to the entrance, stacking them in an unceremonious heap. The police arrived not long after, stepping out of their cars and immediately sighing at the sight in front of them. They didn't ask for details, didn't need to — everyone knew these guys were habitual troublemakers, and their actions had finally caught up to them.
One of the officers gave the group a pointed look, though his tone was more tired than accusatory. "Try not to beat the crap out of them next time. Call us. We're here for a reason," he said, his words aimed at no one in particular. The others just nodded, offering polite, if non-committal, responses.
Once the cops were satisfied with their questions and had loaded the beaten delinquents into their cars, they left, leaving the friends to mull over the chaos that had just unfolded.
Yasushi pulled out his phone, noticing a new message from Yinhaie. His brow furrowed as he read through it — apparently, another group of delinquents had attacked a different group from another school during the event. His frown deepened, but the message ended on a somewhat reassuring note: Bhaqui and Alicia were already handling the situation.
He let out a small sigh, sliding the phone back into his pocket. If they were on it, there was no need to interfere for now.
Yasushi returned to the group, the tension from the earlier brawl still hanging in the air, but the mood lightened as Laura shook her head, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Well, so much for this event being fun, huh? Last year it was a serial killer, a former classmate who decided to go psycho, and now, we've got some rich asshole hiring delinquents to mess with people…great…"
Reina tried to play peacemaker, her voice measured but a bit strained. "To be fair, none of that was exactly in our control," she pointed out, hoping to ease the frustration.
Laura, however, wasn't having it. "That doesn't change the fact that the last two of our events have been completely trashed thanks to idiots like Youta," she shot back, her anger still simmering beneath the surface.
Xinyi chimed in, arms crossed and a slight smirk tugging at her lips. "We can still enjoy it while handling this crap. Honestly, it's better than last year's mess. Back then, everyone was paranoid about getting murdered. At least now it's just Youta being a petty loser. He won't push it too far… probably," she added, though the hint of doubt in her voice wasn't lost on anyone.
"Right, anyway," Yasushi muttered, tearing his eyes away from Catherine and Furuya, who were still completely absorbed in their own little moment. He rubbed the back of his neck, already trying to change the focus back to the task at hand. "Let's just get back to it. We can still pull off a win and make sure Youta's ridiculous plan falls flat."
The others exchanged glances, nodding in agreement before breaking off into their original groups. Yasushi's group moved out first, heading toward a new spot they figured Youta might hit next.
It wasn't a sure thing, though. Youta was unpredictable — always had been. Yasushi knew that much. His erratic decisions made it impossible to predict where he'd go or how he'd act. That didn't stop Yasushi from wanting to confront him, though. There was something about standing up to Youta directly that felt necessary.