I turned to the anxious Katsumi, who's palms had become sticky with sweat as she held her cards.

"Relax a little. You'll be fine."

"You sure...?"

"100%. To help take your mind off it, try considering what Yukina's win-con is."

"How my opponent will win?"

"Yep. I want you to think about how Yukina will kill you, and how lethal it is."

Katsumi gave me a confused look, but tried to think about it as she watched Yukina choose her gift intently.

"Imaginary Gift: Force II! To the vanguard circle! (2)"

This meant the base critical of her units would become 2. I guess she's going for a pressure strategy against Katsumi.

"I call, Decaydal Automata, Binodal Dragon and Fatal Shockwave, Jetshaft to rear-guard! Brandt's skill! I counterblast and soulblast to reverse your critical and heal trigger effects!"

"R-reverse them?! Wait, so my heal triggers will deal damage to me?! And my critical triggers makes me lose critical?! This is broken!! This is unfair!! Who the hell designed this card?! Takanori-san, why does Yukina-chan use such a scary looking unit?! Her avatar is more creepy than mine!! What's this ugly alien doing in her deck!? Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

Katsumi broke out into a frenzy hearing the reality breaking powers of Brandt. She pulled my arm like a gorilla, vigorously shaking me back and forth, making me feel motion sick.

"That's not all. Decaydal Automata's skill gives your Vanguard an extra drive check in exchange for +10k Power, (13000 > 23000) and whenever you reveal a trigger for the third drive check or more, they're put into your drop zone instead of your hand! Binodal's skill, I soulblast and retire him to draw a card. Since he was retired, I counterblast to make you call two or more cards to guardian circle when my vanguard attacks!"

Then, as if she had an epiphany, Katsumi stopped whining and shaking me like I was a toy.

"Wait, I know what Yukina-chan's win-con is! She's using Brandt to Yukina warp my triggers in her favour!"

"Good job. What do you think of it?"

"Super strong! If I get lucky, it's gonna backfire on me! All those triggers I put back to deck with Garry Cannon are gonna kill me!"

"Hang on, clear your head. Take a deep breath and analyse calmly. You're acting irrationally, and it's clouding your judgment."

Katsumi followed my instructions, thinking over Yukina's win-con more carefully.

"Well... it still seems strong. Decaydal will force me to drive check three times, meaning the chance of getting a trigger is higher. If I get a Heal, I'll be dealt damage, and all four of them are in my deck. I use mostly Critical triggers, so if I get any of them, even if my Vanguard does hit, it won't deal any damage. How am I supposed to fight against this?"

"It's easy to think of the negatives, but there are positives to this too. Yukina's deck is banking on you being lucky. It's completely random whether or not she can kill you, which makes it extremely unreliable. Decaydal's extra drive check only hurts you if you draw a trigger. In any other case, that third drive check will be added to your hand, meaning it becomes advantage. And you have 33 cards in deck, which means the chance of activating a Heal trigger is just above 12%. The odds are in your favour, not Yukina's."

Katsumi had an astonished expression as I calmly dissected why Yukina's win condition wouldn't prove to be lethal.

"Add to that the fact you've pushed her to five damage and her one card hand, the only way she can secure victory is through both attacks hitting, or if you get a Heal trigger on your damage check. With your current hand, you can perfect guard her vanguard's attack with Marilyn, and take the rear-guard attack to conserve hand for next turn."

Even Yukina looked surprised at me.

"Did I do something wrong...?"

"No, it's just... I'm surprised by your depth of knowledge. You even calculated the percentage chance of Kou-san getting a Heal trigger in your head... I never knew you were that good at mental maths."

"I'm not good at maths. I'm just average. The way to figure out percentage is easy anyways. You take the fraction and multiply by 100."

"Yuu, not many people can divide 4 by 33 in their heads..."

Even Akihiro and Nora were looking at me weirdly. Was it really that impressive? It seemed like a basic skill to me...

"In Vanguard, numbers are everything. If you can calculate them, you can make more informed decisions."

"A-Anyways, that's amazing! You're so good at this game, Takanori-san!"

To avoid talking more about math, Katsumi cut in awkwardly, going "baba~an" with her hands.

"Not really. With practice comes experience. I've played Yukina's deck one too many times in middle school."

"And I beat him a lot." Yukina smiled.

That is unfortunately true.

"Since you now know the strength and weaknesses of Yukina's win-con, I want you to compare it with your own. Which one is better? Which one can win faster and is more guaranteed?"

"Well... wouldn't my win-con be better? Because like, I can win next turn easily."

"That is correct. In that case, we'll begin to branch out. Since you said your win-con is better, I want you to ask yourself how much better is it? How can your opponent prevent your win-con, and how easy is it for them to do it?"

Katsumi examined Yukina's field thoughtfully. Then, her eyes widened.

"T-that grade 1! Jetshaft! It can force my Needles to intercept, meaning they'll be sent to the drop zone! She can prevent it super easily!"

"That is true. Even though you might think you can secure victory next turn, Yukina will also be trying to disrupt you and stop you from doing so. Even if it's a slither of a chance, you take it. After all, for all Yukina knows, you might have a really bad hand with no more offensive units. If she can get rid of both Needles, who provide your win-con of "big attacks", then she has successfully slowed you down. On the other hand however, I still think your win-con is more guaranteed. Sure, Yukina has a tool to cripple your offence, but Spike Brothers is a clan that thrives on being able to slam the opponent with consecutive rushes turn after turn. You won't have difficulty recovering."

"Ah, so... my win-con is still better, regardless if Yukina-chan can get rid of my rear-guards?"

"Yep. You can stabilise your board with cards like Powerback Renaldo or Spike Bouncer. Since it's hard for Yukina to fully disrupt you, you don't play around the counter, and focus solely on getting to your win-con."

"Alright, I got it!"

"In the case of Yukina, she would say your win-con is better, which means she'd have to think about how to delay or prevent you from achieving it, and how hard it is to do that. Considering she does have a way to do so, but will find it a struggle to fully stop you, she may consider just dropping the match up. This doesn't mean she's forfeit the game, but it does mean she's aware her chance of winning is extremely low, so she'd probably play in a way to increase her win-con, like right now."

"Brandt attacks! (13000/2) Binodal's skill, you need to call two or more cards from hand to guard! Twin Planetary Collapse!"

"I perfect guard with Cheer Girl, Marilyn! And I'll call Wonder Boy to guard!"

"Twin Drive!! (Lady Healer of the Torn World) Heal trigger! Recovering a point of damage and giving all power to Automata! (23000 > 33000) (Asteroid Wolf) Critical trigger! All effects to Automata! (33000 > 43000/1 > 2)"

"A double trigger?! This can't be happening!"

I didn't see that coming either. I need to teach her about dealing with triggers and playing around them too, as their unpredictability may cost her a game in the future.

"Boosted by Jetshaft, Automata attacks! (43000 > 51000/2) Jetshaft's skill, I soulblast to force your rear-guards to intercept!"

"Grr... both Provoke Needle intercepts! (23000) Then... um..."

Katsumi looked over her hand anxiously. Due to the double trigger, the attack became massive. She'd need another 30k worth of Shield to guard, but she had no triggers in hand to make it easier.

Considering the state of both players, it was probably best if Katsumi cut her losses and took the damage. Yukina may have healed out of the kill zone, but it wouldn't be hard for Katsumi to push her back to five while also destroying her hand.

"Remember, your opponent will be trying to stop you from achieving your win-con. Your hand right now has a lot of important pieces that could help swing the game back in your favour next turn. If you guard now, you'd be stifling your chances of winning. You can afford to take the damage now."

"B-but what if I get a heal trigger...? If I do, I'd die!"

"I'd bank on the 88% chance you won't draw it."

"This is two damage checks though... that's twice the chance!"

"...sometimes you've got to take a gamble."

It was the best advice I could offer Katsumi right now. The odds were in her favour. In fact, I know a heal was at the bottom of her deck because the first time she used Garry Cannon, that's what she returned to deck. Knowing that, the first check had a 9% chance of having a heal, and the second check would have a 9.4% chance.

"I'm scared..."

"If there's a heal, you can kick me in the face again."

"Again...?" Yukina stared suspiciously at Katsumi.

"Long story." Me and Katsumi said together.

Yukina had a growing look of concern on her face.

"But I'm not interested in hitting you! Can't I just play it safe?!"

"You could, but if you want to stop this attack, you'll have to guard with your entire hand."

This would help knock some sense into Katsumi. By wasting her hand, she wouldn't be able to do any plays next turn.

"...agh! You're right! I don't have a choice..."

Katsumi slumped on the table, looking away from her deck as she did her damage checks.

"First check... (Offensive Punter) Second check... (Silence Joker) Ya-hoo-hoo, I made it out alive!"

Upon seeing her damage checks, Katsumi shot up and fist-pumped the sky in victory. Yukina laughed at how cheerful she was from surviving what could've been very possibly death. For me, I was relieved that the game could continue. I also managed to use this chance to teach her about taking calculated risks like this.

"Turn end."

Even though Yukina failed to end her opponent, she still looked happy. Katsumi was overjoyed that her risk paid off.

Katsumi:
Hand: 4
Damage: 5
OXO
OOO

Yukina:
Hand: 4
Damage: 4
XXO
XOO

"Stand and lucky draw!"

Katsumi had a horrified face on as she stared at her drawn card. I peered over her shoulder, and felt cold sweat run down my neck.

It was Cheer Girl, Tiara. Her heal trigger.

Katsumi had escaped death by the skin of her teeth. If Silence Joker wasn't on top of her, this game would've been over. Good grief she was beyond lucky...

"Takanori-san... this is too close for comfort..." Katsumi teared up comically.

"Don't dwell on that. Be glad you managed to escape death through sheer luck."

I know I didn't. I died to a consecutive double heal when the chances were less than 10%. Thanks RNG.

"It's your time to seize victory now. You've worked hard for it, so don't give up now."

"You're right... thanks, Coach Takanori! I won't let you down!"

First a doormat, next a sensei, now a coach? What even am I to Katsumi?

Regardless, I could feel the burning spirit pumping through her veins in that moment. Grabbing a card from her fanned out hand, a cheeky, but deadly, grin spread across her face. She meant business.

"Ya-hoo-hoo, it's time for the finishing move! With his own body, he'll become an unstoppable force that rewrites destiny! Charge through recklessly, and become the wind of fate itself! Deadheat Bullspike, persona ride!"

Towards that inspiring and passionate ride chant, a deep male voice scoffed at it with a laugh. I looked over my shoulder to see who had disrespected Katsumi's feelings so blatantly.

"Ya-hoo-hoo? What kind of stupid laugh is that? Couldn't afford Messiah, eh? Is that why you're un-ironically playing Brandt in this day and age?"

It was Machida Kouta. B Class's male representative and leader of the aptly named Machida faction within B Class. He looked down at us with a half-smile, half-scowl while flaunting his superiority over us with his yellow tie.

"Oh? Woman beater Takanori had the balls to show himself in public. Surprised you didn't stay at home and cry yourself to sleep."

What the hell was Machida doing here? I turned away to ignore him. Katsumi tilted her head.

"Ignore him." I whispered to her. It wasn't worth engaging an obvious bully like Machida.

Katsumi hesitated, but nodded, turning her attention back to the game she was having. Nora retreated, lowering his head and trying not to stand out. Akihiro gave a firm glare at him, while Yukina looked away uncomfortably.

However, I had underestimated Machida. From behind him came his main posse. There was the second in command, Koishi Eizan, and their lackeys, Ritaka Takahashi, Kasai Touma and Ukishima Fusazane.

In fact, Albert Obama, the one who had punched me in the face yesterday, used to work under Machida when he was in B Class. That's how he got the title of "The Bodyguard". For some reason, Albert was transferred to D Class sometime during May.

I suspect that the reason he moved down was due to one of Machida's orders crossing the line in the eyes of the school. No one knew what the reason was, so maybe it was an internal dispute that was kept a secret.

"Looks like a couple of interesting couple of games you guys are having. Don't mind if we join, do you?"

Even though Machida gave a reasonable request, his intentions were malicious. There was no way a guy like him would voluntarily associate with us. It was obvious he wanted to make us feel uncomfortable and run away.

Since no one spoke up, Machida sat down across from me, sandwiching himself between Yukina and Akihiro. His goons did the same thing, with Koishi flanking Katsumi, Ritaka flanking Yukina, Ukishima flanking Nora, and Kasai flanking Akihiro.

"What do you want?"

Akihiro, who was irritated by their nonchalant behaviour, spoke up while giving all the B Class students dirty looks.

"Don't be so hostile. We're here to watch you play Vanguard."

Machida smirked, leaned back, crossed his legs, and threw his arms behind his head.

"Tch... yeah right."

"You crack under pressure really easily, Ishima. You sure you want to continue acting strong and mighty when you can't even deal with a couple of B Class students watching you fail?"

Machida was aiming at Akihiro's insecurities with every venom-ridden word. Akihiro clenched his fists and looked away, knowing that he couldn't win against someone as cruel and underhanded as him.

"And you prove my point. If you can't handle us, forget doing good in the war. Might as well admit defeat right now."

"So was this your intention all along, Machida-san? To try and destroy E Class's morale before our war with D Class?"

To my surprise, Yukina bravely countered Machida's cutting words.

"Please. Like I have time to waste with small fry. That Ichinose just told me to "keep an open mind" about you guys since our classes are in an alliance. If anything, we support you winning the war, because it means more points for us. Isn't that right, guys?"

Obeying their master like loyal dogs, the other B Class students nodded. It was a sly response that abused the fact our classes were working together, despite his faction detesting E Class. I had heard about the troubles forming an alliance with B Class due to Machida's hatred towards us.

"Your actions don't match up with your words. If you really didn't want to waste your time, you wouldn't have come here at all. You gain nothing by watching us play Vanguard."

"Wasn't my idea to come here. It was Kasai's. It's just a coincidence that we met each other. Thought I'd seize the chance to see what Ichinose sees in you rejects."

Machida continued to make excuses as to why he and his gang came here. It was obvious they wanted to bully us, but they've only been putting pressure on us so far.

Yukina, who tried her best to refute Machida, looked unsure how to respond to his argument. Even though Machida was a nuisance, his words followed solid logic and left very little to argue against.

"It's ironic... you calling us rejects."

"I say it how I see it. Truth hurts, I know. Grow some thicker skin."

Even though she tried to continue to fight him, Machida shut her down instantly. Yukina bit her bottom lip and lowered her head in defeat.

"Woah Machida, watch your mouth! You're gonna make Yukina-chan cry."

Yukina-chan? Who gave him permission to call her that?

The one who had used her first name so brazenly was none other than Ritaka, an infamous pervert and womaniser.

"Sorry about that baby, don't take Machida's words to heart. I'm Ritaka Takahashi, and it's a pleasure to meet a beautiful and strong woman like you. I love girls who aren't afraid to put up a fight."

"Um... it's nice to meet you, Ritaka-san."

Towards Ritaka's attempts at flirting, Yukina replied uncomfortably, turning her body away from him. Ritaka ignored this, closing the gap between them, and continuing his advances on her by holding Yukina's hand by force.

It's better if I don't pay any attention to this clown. I looked to my left, where Nora and Akihiro were dealing with Ukishima and Kasai.

OST: Youkoso Jitsuryoku Main Theme 2

"So it's your idea to come here, huh?" Akihiro stared down at Kasai.

Even though Akihiro had a fear of standing out in large crowds, in a small group like this, he had no qualms about sticking up for us. It reminded me of the situation with Adachi back in April.

"Don't look at me like that. I really am here to play Vanguard. The rest of them don't have an interest though."

"You have free will, don't you? You could've come here by yourself."

"Friends stick together with friends. Bro code and all that, yeah?"

"It's more like an excuse to harass us."

"Like the boss said, we ain't here to mess with you. Just to watch. Stop being so hostile."

"I'm only hostile to idiots like you who don't know when to back down."

"Sounds like you're describing yourself."

"Why you..."

Kasai and Akihiro continued their tense back and forth. Meanwhile, Ukishima sneakily swiped a card on Nora's field into his blazer pocket. Once noticing a card missing, Nora timidly turned his head towards Ukishima.

"U-Ukishima-san... y-you... t-took..."

"Hey, that's no way to address your superior. Call me Ukishima-sama... or else."

Instead of listening to Nora's barely audible voice, Ukishima demanded higher respect by threatening him.

"U-Uki... Ukishima-sama..."

"Louder."

"Uki... shima... sama..."

"Even louder than that, pipsqueak."

"Ukishima... sama..."

"Even louder. I want to hear just how inferior you are to me!"

Nora quivered, straining his voice to call out Ukishima's name again.

"Ukishima-sama...!"

"That's better. Now, what the hell do you want? Better not be a waste of my time, pipsqueak."

Nora looked away with a tremendous amount of fear in his eyes.

"M-my card... p-please... give me back... my card..."

"What card? I don't know what you're on about."

"H-Hengist... U-Ukishima-sama took... Hengist..."

Ukishima couldn't contain his excitement anymore. His sniggers between words evolved into full, coarse laughter.

"Damn, you're persistent. For pissing me off, take this!"

Nora screamed as Ukishima punched him in the back of the head. Nora trembled from the blow, covering his head with his hands.

"Now, apologise."

Ukishima was using Nora's weak and docile nature in order to exert control over him.

"T-Takayuki-kun!"

Seeing her friend get violently hit, Katsumi stood up to go help him. However, Koishi grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her back down.

"Get off me!"

Katsumi tried to shake him off, but froze in fear seeing Koishi's face. In his overwhelming presence, Katsumi began to quiver, losing all strength in her knees. She plopped into her seat, getting sucked in by his terrifying aura.

"You're not going anywhere."

Koishi's gruff, adult-like voice boomed across the table. Ukishima punched Nora in the head again.

"Oi, gimme my apology, you pipsqueak!"

"I-I-I... I'm s-sorry... I-I'm s-sorry, U-U-Ukishima-sama..."

Nora cried as he uttered the undeserved apology. Akihiro bared his fangs and grabbed Ukishima by the collar.

"You braindead animal... stop raising your fist against an innocent person!"

"Shut up! Get your hand off me, right now!"

In retaliation, Ukishima tried twisting Akihiro's wrist. Akihiro persisted, pulling Ukishima closer to him threateningly.

"Not until you stop bullying my friend!"

"He started it by accusing me of stealing his stupid card!"

"Don't play dumb with me... I saw you steal it when Nora wasn't looking!"

Being called out by Akihiro, Ukishima narrowed his eyes and looked at Kasai. Giving Kasai a nod, Ukishima took out Hengist from his pocket.

"If you want it, come get it." He smirked.

Immediately, Akihiro reached out to snatch Hengist from Ukishima's hands, but at the same time, Kasai swept all of Akihiro's cards on the table onto the floor with his arms.

As Akihiro managed to successfully recover Hengist, hatred flashed across his face when he saw his cards get thrown to the ground like they were worthless.

"You'll pay for that, bastard!"

Letting go of Ukishima, he reached out to grab Kasai. In that moment, Kasai dodged Akihiro's grapple by jumping out of his seat.

"Eye for an eye, right?"

Kasai smiled, stepping on one of the cards of the floor. Panic flashed across Akihiro's face. He dropped to his knees, scrambling to pick up the cards before Kasai could do further damage.

Kasai didn't care. He swung his foot down on each card mercilessly as Akihiro tried to salvage them. Before Akihiro's eyes, Kasai was taking away the thing he loved most - Vanguard.

"Ah man, sorry about that. You really got on my nerves earlier, so I couldn't help myself."

Looking up at Kasai with a distraught face, Akihiro toppled over in grief while hugging the scraps of his deck to his chest. His long hair fell over his face like a curtain, covering his tears.

While Akihiro may have saved the card that was precious to Nora, he couldn't save his deck from being torn up by Kasai. I couldn't bear to watch anymore of this.

As I looked away, Machida flashed a condescending smile at me.

"Feel helpless now, don't you? Look at your woman, getting dominated by one of my men. How does it feel, knowing you can't do anything to stop him?"

Machida taunted me, looking at Yukina. My eyes widened at what I had ignored out of fear.

Ritaka had his arm around Yukina's shoulder, keeping her close to him. Yukina shifted uncomfortably, trying to put some breathing room between her and Ritaka.

He ignored this, and continued to invade her personal space with a sleazy grin. In addition to holding her hand, Ritaka was also running a hand through Yukina's hair, inhaling it's sweet scent.

"Has anyone told you how gorgeous you are? You're easily one of the cutest girls in our year. It's a shame that you're in E Class, especially with a body this voluptuous. You know, you can always come to B Class whenever you like. Me and Machida will treat you well. How about it? We'll pay for your spot in B Class."

Ritaka was trying to bribe Yukina into joining Machida's faction. Did they even have the points for something like that? Every word he speaks is frustrating.

"Seriously... E Class has some of the hottest girls. Koishi, you enjoying the view of Kou-chan's body? Muscular girls are usually ugly, but with her cute face, Kou-chan could probably become a swimsuit model or something!"

While Ritaka complimented Katsumi, he switched from touching Yukina's hair to rubbing his hand up and down her bare arm. He stopped just below her chest, letting his fingertips touch the side of her torso each time.

Koishi turned towards Katsumi, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Due to his staggering height, he looked down at her with a menacing glare fit for a yakuza boss.

"Oh, I finally remember who she is. I tutored her in that coalition study session a week ago."

Katsumi couldn't reply. She was paralysed as Koishi simply watched her. He didn't even have to lift a finger. Just a dirty look was enough to make one of the strongest girls in E Class fall silent and vulnerable.

"Nice body, right? Kou-chan has really big boobs too! But Yukina-chan's boobs are even bigger, heh..."

Ritaka began drooling as his hand stopped crawling up and down her arm. Instead, his hand began to creep towards her chest.

"Just look at how huge they are... the buttons on your shirt look like they're about to pop."

His hand continued to move towards her chest slowly.

"Let me make that less painful looking for you. Your chest needs to breathe, you know?"

Ritaka whispered those disgusting words into her ear. To make sure he could molest her, he held Yukina down so she couldn't escape.

"Don't worry, relax. I'll be gentle with you... Yukina."

Ritaka placed his hand on her upper chest.

I'll kill you. I'll definitely, definitely kill you.

Before I knew it, Ritaka was on the floor.

My knuckles were bright red.

My foot stood on his chest.

My breathing was rough.

I looked around me.

Everyone fell silent.

They stared at me with shock.

Even Machida looked surprised.

I didn't do anything wrong.

I looked down at Ritaka, who was crawling at my feet. Even though he had been knocked down, the corner of his lips were upturned. Through the dirty blonde bangs that covered his eyes, he stared at me with a mixture of fear and joy.

"Woman beater." He uttered.

I slumped my shoulders. Machida burst into caustic laughter. Then Ukishima. Then Ritaka. Then Kasai. Then Koishi. All of them laughed at me.

At the same time, I became aware of my surroundings. What happened in that blur of a moment.

I hit him...

I glanced at Yukina. Just like everyone else, she was startled by my unnecessary actions.

I swallowed the lump in the back of my throat as I looked away from her. Then, Machida got up and grabbed me by the collar.

"Who would've thought the loner was a violent psychopath? Do you really think Ritaka is stupid enough to become a sex offender in front of all of us? Use some logic, idiot. It's obvious he was trolling."

But he put his hand on her chest... there was no way he was faking it... right?

"And if he really was going to do something that depraved to her, I would've personally stopped him myself and reprimanded him for stepping out of line. I know what I do is cruel, but I'm not that heartless. I wouldn't let somebody else abuse a girl's chastity. Not even my own underlings."

"Exactly... no way am I getting in beef with the boss... Machida doesn't pull any punches, heh..." Ritaka said.

I realised that this was Machida's plan all along. From the very beginning, he wanted to plunge our class into chaos. For Machida's faction, it didn't mater if we were allies with him. Picking on E Class so that we'd fall apart on our run-up to the war was his goal all along. And it had worked extremely effectively.

This entire time, Machida was using his group's presence as a way to pressure us and make us uncomfortable. Once that was achieved, he'd use his friends to force us into situations that would exploit our weaknesses and get a reaction out of us. By doing so, he had managed to stir up everyone's sense of security, as well as create evidence for the rumour that lingered around me.

And I fell for it.

Just like a good poison, his self-injection had demolished us systematically. In fact, he didn't have to do anything. He could order his faction to do the dirty work, and relax as he watched us fall apart. Now that the hard bit was over, he could step in and take credit. I didn't know what he wanted to do next, but just from the grip he had on my shirt, I could tell he was bloodthirsty.

I braced myself.

"Machida-san! What the hell did your class do to my friends?!"

Then, unexpectedly, I looked over my shoulder to see Akari angrily confronting Machida. I guess after this ruckus, she noticed us.

"Stay out of this, Jomko. It's none of your business."

"Huh?! They're my friends, of course it's my business! How dare you bully anyone like this! Aki-kun and Nora-chan are crying, and Yukina-san and Kou are shaking in fear! Now you're putting a hand on Yuuto as well?!"

"He raised his fist at Ritaka first. I'm simply disposing of trash. Violence is looked down upon by the school."

"Ritaka-san was about to grope Yukina-san! He was justified! Isn't that right, everyone?!"

Akari gestured towards Kawaguchi and the D Class students. They all nodded in agreement.

"Like I said, Ritaka was doing it to rile everyone up. He isn't that stupid. Also, stop defending a woman beater. Even if you didn't believe it the first time, surely you believe it now. What sort of monster Takanori really is. Imagine if he used that sort of strength on Shimizu. No wonder D Class needed so many people to beat him down."

Kai stepped forward.

"Aight, I know it's not my place to intervene, but you guys need to stop twisting the story so much. As a D Class student, I was there when I saw what happened to Takanori-san. He didn't start anything in class - just asked where Zyriot-san was. Instead, Mikitaka-san started something up with him and it spiralled out into what happened in the video. He didn't hit Hoshimi-san."

"Yeah, I don't care. He still hit one of my classmates. You can't deny that."

"Well then... Nice chat, chief."

"Same to you, buddy."

With that passive aggressive exchange, Kai returned to the sidelines. Akari continued her argument with Machida.

"He had a justified reason to hit him! Whether Ritaka-san was going to actually do it or not doesn't matter. He looked like he was about to do something wrong, so Yuuto stopped him!"

"Stopping somebody else with violence, eh? My point still stands. He could've done anything other than punch Ritaka to the ground like an untamed, feral beast."

"What about Kasai-san?! He tore up Aki-kun's cards mercilessly too!"

"Ishima used violence against Kasai, so Kasai fought back in self-defence. Frankly, it was pretty harmless compared to what Ishima could do. He wasn't afraid to grab Ukishima by the collar."

"Like what you're doing right now?"

"Can't compare them. I have an actual reason to restrain this freak. Come on Takanori, we're putting you back where you belong."

With a sadistic smile showing his white teeth, Machida took hold of my tie and dragged me along like a dog. As he did, the neck of my tie tightened up, asphyxiating me.

I found it extremely difficult to breathe as Machida pulled me along against my own will. Desperately, my reflexes kicked in, making me claw away at the tie that was strangling me.

"Yuuto!"

I could hear Akari's shrill screams as I was being strung along by Machida. Even though she tried chasing after me, Koishi held her in place. Everyone else was too shaken up in fear to make a move.

As we passed through the inside of the fight room, I made a gargling noise to get Akusa-sensei's attention. However, she was preoccupied talking to another student, and failed to notice me.

The other students in the fight room stared at us. Both me and Machida. He had no fear of them though. He carried on with his signature half-grin, half-scowl. On the other hand, I felt like a laughing stock.

"How does it feel to be judged by everybody, you damn woman beater? It's terrifying, isn't it?"

For the second time this week, I was being publicly humiliated. I could hear everyone's teasing whispers and accusations. I had no supporters or sympathisers because of the red tie around my neck that was slowly killing me.

Machida threw me outside the room and onto the floor, freeing me from my suffocation.

"A word of advice. Stay in your lane."

With those ominous words, Machida slammed the door shut on me. The first thing I did with my freedom was undo my tie. I could finally breathe again. The second thing I did was try and enter back in the fight room.

It was no use though. Something was blocking the door. Probably Machida. I hung my head and hit the door again.

I didn't care anymore. I've already revealed an ugly side of myself to everyone today. I just wanted to see if Yukina was okay.