As Takemichi is escorted home by Draken, his friends crowd around him, making a racket.

"I'm sorry, Takemichi, it's all my fault, boohoo," Yamagishi hugs him with a tearful face.

Suddenly, Mikey appears out of nowhere and pulls him away, startling him. As Mikey gets closer and sees the bruises and scratches on Takemichi's face, he can't contain his anger any longer, scaring both Takemichi and his friends.

"I'll teach the entire Black Dragon gang a lesson," Mikey says with a murderous look on his face.

"No! No! Mikey-kun, I just got unlucky, they are actually targeting Haitani Rindou."

Takemichi quickly intervenes. He isn't afraid of a fight between Toman and the Black Dragons. Mikey can defeat Taiju, and Draken alone is enough to handle the Black Dragon soldiers. But they have more important things to deal with at the moment. Wasting their energy is not wise. Besides, Takemichi has future plans for Black Dragon and can't let them interfere now.

"Attacking Toman's member can't be overlooked."

And attacking you is even less acceptable. Mikey doesn't want to hear Takemichi's arguments.

"I'm the one who gets attacked, so I say no fighting means no fighting."

Takemichi firmly stands his ground against Mikey.

Draken wants to stop him, fearing that Mikey might get angry and hit him. Until now, apart from him, hardly anyone dares to oppose what Mikey wants to do, especially since this time, there is enough reason for it.

His friends stand by, eyes wide in shock. They have heard how scary Mikey can be, yet Takemichi dares to do this? Does Takemichi have a death wish? Their friend must be crazy.

Mikey says nothing, staring intently at Takemichi, who meets his gaze with anger and determination.

"Mikey-kun, listen to me, this isn't the right time. Let's find a more suitable moment, okay?"

Mikey crosses his arms and sighs, turning his face away.

"Fine, if you don't want to, I'll let it go this time."

Frustrated, he can't resist that gaze from Takemichi. He doesn't want Takemichi to be angry with him.

Draken is surprised that Mikey not only doesn't lose his temper but also listens to Takemichi. Hearing this, Takemichi brightens up.

"Haha, that's good then."

Akkun, Takuya, Makoto, and Yamagishi all swallow hard. They have heard rumors that Takemichi has significant influence over Mikey, but they are half-skeptical. They've heard about Mikey's reputation: once he decides on something, no one can stop him. It is unbelievable that Mikey can listen to Takemichi like that.

Draken looks at the two of them, then at Mikey, feeling that something is off. But he suddenly remembers Rindou and realizes he hasn't asked Takemichi why he was with him.

"Oh, I ran straight to Haitani. He looked like he was about to lose, so I pulled him to escape together," Takemichi says simply, but Draken covers his face with his hand and sighs.

Takemichi, are you kind even to dangerous people? Most would just run away, not pull someone along to escape. It's crazy, but if it was just so, why did Rindou look at him with such interest? Someone as ruthless as Rindou, his kindness might just be seen as stupidity. For some reason, remembering that guy's tone and look towards Takemichi, Draken feels like punching him.

"Your face looks really bad, Draken-kun," Takemichi looks up at him. Draken sighs again.

"Takemichi, next time, take care of yourself first, get it?"

He softens his voice as he advises him. Well, that kind-hearted foolishness is a part of who Takemichi truly is.

"Why was Haitani Rindou there?" Mikey wonders.

"It seems he got trapped by the Black Dragon. I'm not entirely sure," Takemichi explains.

"The Black Dragon gang seems to be expanding and more brutal than before," Draken adds.

Thanks to Shiba Taiju and the help of Inupee and Kokonoi, the 10th generation of the Black Dragons is indeed terrifying. Takemichi didn't expect to encounter them so soon; this past has changed quite a bit from before.

Recently, with no significant events happening, there haven't been many gang meetings. Most of the time, Takemichi spends his mornings going to school and keeping an ear out for third-year news, his afternoons training with Baji at Mikey's house, and occasionally, he would have dinner there. When he has time, he strolls by the river with Draken and Mikey. He uses his time to stay close to Mikey, wanting to understand him better. But being close is one thing; understanding Mikey's thoughts is another. It's not easy. Mikey seems like a carefree teenager but has many thoughts and knows how to hide his feelings well.

When Chifuyu and Baji hear that Takemichi was attacked by the Black Dragons, they get furious and want to fight, making Takemichi have to calm them down. Only Mitsuya remains calm, gently asking about him and giving him some band-aids.

"Takemichi is so brave, protecting your friends."

Mitsuya pats Takemichi's head, making him blush. How many girls have already fallen for you, huh Mitsuya? He may appear cold, but he's actually kind, gentle, and mature. This contrast is what makes the charm of the young men. 26-year-old Mr. Takemichi, blushes at the praise, comments.

Takemichi notices Hakkai's hesitation and understands it will be hard for him to speak up, so he just acts normally.

Everything remains quite peaceful until the first week of October. Chifuyu calls Takemichi and tells him that Baji has met Kazutora, who has been released from the reformatory. Chifuyu says the meeting was quite normal and brief.

"That bastard! Baji-san hugged him but he just brushed him off," Chifuyu's voice is filled with frustration. Takemichi finds it amusing, imagining a future scene where the two become close friends. Everyone faces comeuppance eventually.

Takemichi is mentally prepared, but only just prepared, because a week later, as he meets Kazutora, he is stunned when they run into each other on the schoolyard. As his brain processes nothing, seeing Kazutora walking further away, he runs after him.

"I'm Hanagaki Takemichi, could you be friends with me?"

Takemichi chases after him to say but in the eyes of his friends, it is described as: face blushing with shyness, awkwardness no different from confessing his love. Some girls walking nearby burst into laughter when they witness it. However, Takemichi only receives a cold, if not contemptuous, look from Kazutora.

Young Takemichi asks to be allowed to collapse and duck out for a few minutes.

However, he quickly regains his determination and decides to persistently follow Kazutora. In the following days, everyone witnesses Takemichi's relentless "pursuit" of Kazutora everytime and everywhere.

"Kazutora-kun! Hello!"

Takemichi patiently creates every possible encounter just to say hello and greet him morning, afternoon, and night. Eventually, he no longer receives contemptuous looks but rather a collar grab and a threatening glare.

"You crazy brat! If you keep bothering me, I'll beat you up."

This is the first thing Kazutora says to Takemichi after ignoring him for three days. Despite being very scared, Takemichi still manages to smile.

"I just want to get to know you."

"Shut up."

Takemichi is pushed down by Kazutora. However, by the time school is over, Takemichi is already waiting at the school gates, continuing to smile and speak: "Hi, do you want to walk home together?"

Kazutora, no longer able to contain his anger, drags Takemichi behind the school and truly gives him a very hard punch that makes Takemichi's nose bleed and fall backwards.

"You crazy brat, don't think I don't know you're a Toman. What are you trying to do by approaching me? Did Baji tell you to do this or did Mikey send you to take revenge on me?"

"No, really, I just want to be friends with you, Kazutora-kun."

Kazutora bends down, grabbing his collar, truly wanting to beat him to a pulp right there and then, his hands clenching tightly with bulging veins.

"I just want to be friends with you. If you don't believe me, you can hit me as much as you want, I won't fight back."

Takemichi stands firm, but Kazutora is not moved just because of that and does not spare him. He punches him several more times and kicks him in the stomach, causing Takemichi to clutch his stomach in pain, writhing on the ground.

"Damn you, this is nonsense. Leave me alone. Friends? Ha, that's really ridiculous. Why would I be friends with someone like you? If you bother me again tomorrow, I'll kill you."

Takemichi lies in pain for a while until the pain subsides enough for him to sit up, blood dripping from his nose continuously. He lowers his head and sighs; it's really difficult, but he won't give up. He still has a chance since it seems Kisaki hasn't approached Kazutora yet. He can't let Kazutora become an enemy of Toman.

Takemichi drags his battered body home. Luckily, he doesn't have martial arts training with Baji today; otherwise, he wouldn't know what to say. Up to now, he and Chifuyu have been hiding the fact that he is approaching Kazutora from Baji. He also doesn't dare to tell Chifuyu about this incident, considering Chifuyu's initial attitude towards Kazutora wasn't great.

"Kazutora-kun! Hello."

The next morning, Takemichi goes to school early to wait for Kazutora at the school gate, his face bruised and covered in band-aids, but still smiling.

Kazutora's eyes now hold unknown emotions. Is it anger, surprise, or helplessness? The guy in front of him is definitely brain-damaged. After being beaten up so badly yesterday, he's still here waiting to greet him? Still keep smiling cheerfully? Kazutora hates that smile.

After a moment of conflicting emotions, Kazutora doesn't act on his threat from the previous day. He ignores Takemichi again. Takemichi follows him for a bit, but Kazutora doesn't care and changes direction. Feeling dejected, Takemichi watches him for a while before heading to his own classroom. He doesn't know that Kazutora briefly glanced back at him.

"Do you enjoy being abused, Takemichi?" Akkun frowns upon seeing Takemichi's face.

"Haha, I don't know how to make friends."

"You're crazy. Do you need me to take care of that guy for you? If Mikey-kun saw your face right now, that guy would probably get beaten to death."

"Forget it, you can't beat him anyway, can't really blame Kazutora either."

At this time, Kazutora's mental state is very unstable. In the future, when he acknowledges his mistakes, he isn't a bad person.

"You're not just crazy, you're stupid too," Akkun says, feeling helpless.

During recess today, Takemichi doesn't go to Kazutora's class like he did the past three days. Kazutora looks towards the door, lost in thought.

"Hey, isn't Hanagaki-kun from second-year asking Kazutora-kun to hang out today? Gave up after three days of pursuing?" A nosy girl in Kazutora's class asks curiously.

"Probably stopped after I punched him a few times."

Kazutora smiles as he says this, like it's something very light and cheerful, making the girl shiver and turn away, not wanting to speak further. This person is really scary.