Once the training session was finished, it was about 4:30pm. Everyone went their separate ways home for the day. I stayed behind to clean up the classroom since our group was the last to use it.

"That should do it."

I patted my hands satisfactorily and picked up my bag from my table. Since Mitsuba was involved in our group now, he took his expensive collection of cards home with him. It was now his responsibility to bring the cards to school so we could play-test.

I still needed to procure a way to make him change his mind about running max rarity cards. Thanks to Momiji-sensei, I had a faint idea of what I could do to convince him.

"Shall we go?"

I turned to Yukina, who was the only other person left inside the classroom. She stayed behind to help me clean up.

"Yep!"

Together, we headed towards the station to take the train home. The hot sun was still shining brightly in the sky, so we took a path under the shade to keep cool. Two shadows followed us silently.

"Nee, Yuu..."

"Hm?"

Yukina was the first to break the silence between us as we walked.

"Um... well... ah, how should I put this?"

She made a puzzled face, stroking her chin as she tried to form the thoughts in her head into words. Yukina then nodded resolvedly, turning to face me directly.

We stood across one another under a large oak tree. The sunlight filtered down through the lush green leaves, trickling onto us like a spotlight.

"Yuu, have you noticed anything different about me today?"

That certainly wasn't the question I was expecting from Yukina. Should I play dumb? Or should I be truthful?

Regardless, it seemed like Yukina had been struggling to ask this question for awhile, so it must've been important to her. I didn't want to hurt her feelings by giving an insensitive answer.

I looked at Yukina up and down, thinking about it. Her small fist was clenched tightly in front of her large chest as she waited in anticipation.

"Actually... come to think about it."

When I thought about if Yukina seemed different, one thing did come to mind. It was earlier this morning, when we were at the train station konbini.

In that moment, when Yukina was wrapped around my arm, she looked incredibly cute.

"You seem a bit more bold."

"R-really?"

It seems this wasn't the answer Yukina was looking for, as her lips deflated into a small frown.

"In a good way, of course. You've been a great help today."

I patted her shoulder, trying to encourage her. Yukina shook her head. She pointed to her face.

"Then... have you noticed anything different here?"

I examined her face closely. At first, I didn't notice it, but on closer inspection, I did notice there was a difference: Yukina looked more beautiful today than she did yesterday.

However, admitting that would be too embarrassing, so I rephrased it in a way that would be more acceptable if said aloud.

"Your face looks better."

Yukina's ahoge drooped at my robotic and stiff answer. She puffed her rosy cheeks, seeming to get frustrated.

"What's that even supposed to mean?!"

"Uh... well, it's... uh... like, your face... looks better... you know?"

At her sudden outburst, I wasn't sure how to reply. I stumbled through my words, trying to avoid phrases like "more attractive" and "more pretty", so I wouldn't implicate something.

With her arms folded under her chest, Yukina mumbled something.

"...up."

"Eh?"

"M-makeup..."

She raised her voice slightly, just enough for me to hear.

"I-I'm wearing makeup today... what do you think?"

Yukina looked at me with upturned eyes. So this is why she asked that question. She wanted my opinion on her usage of makeup.

"It looks good on you."

"Do you... mean it?"

"Yes. At first I couldn't put my finger on why you seemed different, but now I understand. You were using makeup."

"So... you did notice after all?"

"Yeah. What I meant earlier, when I said your face looks better..."

I guess it was my turn to embarrass myself.

"...I meant it as in, you look more beautiful today."

Yukina's eyes widened. Her frown rose into a smile. She reached out with her arms.

"Oh, Yuu..."

"Y-Yukina?"

She hugged me tightly. As she laid her head on my chest, my heartbeat spiked. I gently wrapped my arms around her body.

"You're so awkward..."

"T-talk about yourself... you were acting strange today as well..."

For a moment, a part of me wanted to stay like this forever. However, I knew this was just another fleeting moment in my youth.

"Well, that's because I don't want to lose."

Yukina giggled as she said this.

"Neither do I. We'll win this war for sure."

"Mu..."

Yukina made a weird noise as she let go of me. Did I say something wrong?

"What's the matter?"

"You really need to work on your interpretation skills, Yuu."

This was Yukina's roundabout way of telling me I misunderstood what she meant. 

"My bad...?"

I looked over my shoulder briefly. It seems they've caught up to us.

"You go ahead, Yukina. I just remembered I forgot something in the classroom."

"Eh? In that case, I'll come with you."

"No, it's better if you head to the station."

"It's fine, I don't mind."

Considering who, or what, was lurking around the corner, I would prefer if Yukina wasn't involved.

"Yukina. Please go ahead."

Yukina should be able to understand now that I've used a more serious voice. She faltered for a second, looking at me with concern.

"Yuu...?"

I nodded in reassurance. Yukina reluctantly walked ahead. Confirming she was a safe distance away from me, I turned around and walked back along the path I came. Hiding behind the corner of the street were two students that had been trailing me and Yukina.

I had a few suspicions of who they were at first, mainly related to Machida, but once I saw who they were, I was baffled on why they were following me. It was two boys, large built with shaven heads and red ties. Considering their tall height and rugged faces, I determined they were 2nd Years, but they could easily pass as 3rd Years if they wanted to.

"What do you want from me?"

Making myself known in front of the hapless duo, they laughed loudly.

"Aw crud, we've been found out."

"Took ya awhile, huh?"

It seems their intention was to draw me out from the very beginning. As they didn't look very smart due to their brutish builds, I assumed they were acting under the orders of someone else. Who in the 2nd Year would have reason to target me?

"Who are you two? Why were you spying on me?"

"Oi, you're talkin' to a senior, show some respect."

One of the boys swung his fist at me. In less than five seconds, they were resorting to violence. I stepped backwards to dodge it, but the other boy lurched his long arms out, using his fat hands to grab my forearm.

"Gotcha!"

He wrangled me in, putting me into a full nelson hold. With my arms hung behind my head, I struggled to break free from his ironclad grip.

"Dang, they really do always fall for the sucker punch, huh?"

"People freak out when they see a fist come hurlin' at 'em. That's the secret behind a good fake-out. Good goin' catchin' him."

"It was easy! A bit too easy..."

The boy who wasn't restraining me got up and sat down in front of me, chugging what looked to be a can of beer. How did he get his hands on that? The shops here don't sell alcohol to students at this school.

"I asked who—"

"Pah, that hits the spot!"

He then crushed the can and threw it at my face before I could finish talking. I couldn't dodge it since his friend was holding me, so the accordion of aluminium smacked me square in the face.

"You wanna know who we are, yea?"

The boy who drank beer burped in my face. His breath smelled like day old bubblegum mixed with yeast.

"Should we tell him?"

The boy holding me sniggered as he said that.

"Only if he can break outta your hold. I wanna see if that rumour Itsuki said was true. That Takanori's the strongest 1st Year."

Itsuki? As in... Asukai Itsuki? I doubt they were referring to the A Class girl in my year. Since he was also from 2-E, there was a high chance that he knew these guys.

While it was reassuring that they were doing this on his own accord, why did Asukai tell them that I was the strongest 1st Year? Surely he'd give that title to Yukimura, or Mikitaka, or Zyriot. He's never seen me fight before, nor was he present when I punched Ritaka. I couldn't understand.

"If he was, then he woulda broken out already! Damn it, Itsuki's full o' crap as usual!"

"You're undersellin' your strength, man. You're dumb strong bro. Even Shinsei's scared to fight ya, 'n he's the friggin' Joker."

"Yea, but Shinsei's a li'l twink. He's too pussy to fight Nibiiro, 'n Nibiiro's the biggest wimp in our class!"

It seemed even Ken was involved with these two before.

"You're jokin', right? Did you forget how Shinsei beat the livin' crap outta Adachi last year? Dude's a savage when he wants to be."

"Naw, say sike right now. He was on that rage juice cos Adachi went 'n pissed him off like an idiot. It's always the quietest wenches that make the most noise, I'll tell ya what!"

I remember Adachi. He harassed our table during lunch time last month. To think Ken and him had a fight before... I was really surprised, especially since Ken won.

Adachi was large built, like these two, but Ken was thin and scrawny. I imagined the fight playing out in my head, but could only see Adachi win in every scenario.

"Don'tcha mean the smallest wenches make the most noise?"

"Same crap! Po-tay-to, po-tah-to. To-may-to, to-mah-to. Yo-mom-a-hoe, yo-ma-a-hoe."

"Oi, keep Ma outta this, she didn't do anythin' to ya."

"She served me roadkill when I visited your house last time, that's a war crime bro!"

"That's just the name o' the dish! Ma uses ground beef, not actual roadkill!"

"It sure looked like it on my plate! And don't get me started on your squeeze cheese!"

...were they seriously arguing about this now? I feel like I've been roped into some kind of bad comedy skit.

"Anyways, so what if he hadda rage boost? Adachi got his ass whooped regardless. Ya can't deny Shinsei packs a punch, even with those skinny bean arms o' his."

"Aw crud, guess I can't. His fist went like pow-pow-pound town on Adachi's face. That makes him a string bean that took down a po-tay-to!"

"It's po-tah-to, but whatevs. If Itsuki's right, apparently this dude, Takanori, is also Shinsei's li'l bro. He has to be dumb strong!"

I froze up when he said that. How did he, and Itsuki for that matter, learn about my connection to Ken? Did he tell them? Or was it someone else?

"C'mon man, show us what you got! Stop wastin' our time!"

The boy who was holding me shouted that into my ears. I gritted my teeth, deciding the best course of action was to act weak in order to divert suspicion from me. To do that, I struggled to break free for a bit, before stopping altogether and acting as if I accepted being strung up by the two of them.

"I'm doing my best... but your friend, he's really strong..." I muttered.

"Ha? You're pissin' around, aren'tcha?"

The boy who wasn't holding me leaned in and kneed me in the gut. I coughed from the impact. It seems he saw through my bluff.

"If you're tryna hide your power, then it just means you have crazy as hell strength, yea? Come on, show us some of it!"

"Why are you even interested in that...?"

I asked through gritted teeth. The boy who was holding me tightened his grip around my arms.

"Recruitment, duh!"

"...recruitment?"

"That's right. We're in a club that's being considered to get shut down— the fight club!"

The boy who wasn't holding me broke out into a martial arts pose.

"While we coulda joined the boxing club, or karate club, or judo club to flex our strength... all that sanctioned crap is no fun for us. We want a proper brawl with no rules, no bars hold! That's why we set up the fight club!"

"Took a damn long time to convince the stuck up student council prez, but he finally gave us permission. However, they wanna shut the club down now, since the only members are the two o' us."

If the club was all about fighting, then it should be popular with the violent students, which there was an abundance of. However, from the sounds of it, it seemed these two struggled to find any members, which is strange.

"Why are you two the only ones in the club?"

"Heh, gladja asked. One o' the requirements for joining is beating one o' us! If you can do that, then it means you're strong enough to join!"

In other words, they were limiting themselves due to their absurd requirement. Because no one could beat their monstrous strength, the club had no members aside from these two.

That's why they were stalking me and Yukina earlier. They wanted to test my strength in order to recruit me, all based on what Asukai told them regarding my power and relationship with Ken.

Unfortunately, I had no interest in joining such a ridiculous club. By this point, I gave up trying to break free entirely. The boy who wasn't holding me noticed this and made an outrageous threat.

"Aight, since you're not budging, lemme give you some incentive. If you don't start fightin' back now, I'll go find that cute pink haired chick you were snoggin' earlier and kill her! How that sound?"

"...you're willing to hit a girl just to see my power?"

"Whynaut?"

He really was fearless. He didn't care what the consequences were as long as I showed them my strength. It really felt like he would do this if I didn't comply with them. I didn't want to endanger Yukina, so I had no other choice but to fight.

Just as I was about to give in to their demands and try to break free from the hold, while holding back some of my strength as a countermeasure, a man emerged from the corner.

"You fricking idiooooooooooooots! What the hell are you doiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing?!"

Screaming from the bottom of his lungs, Asukai scolded the two boys for roughhousing me like this. The boy dropped me immediately, hiding his hands behind his back, and whistling innocently.

"I wasn't holding him, nope, not me! I was just carrying him because his legs hurt, that's all!"

"Yo, Itsuki! We found the dood you were yappin' on about and tried to make him join our club!"

"Bro, follow my lead! Itsuki's finna smack us for this now!"

"Screw lyin', take the pain like a real man!"

Asukai stared at the two boys with disbelief in his eyes.

"Masaoka, Miura... are you fricking kidding me?! Holy hell, you two share less than half a brain cell! This ain't okay, threatening our kouhai!"

"But our club's gonna get shut down!"

"And you said he was the strongest!"

"I said he was the weakest 1st Year! Weakest! Not strongest!"

"Oh."

"Oh."

The two boys grabbed each other by the shirts in anger.

"This is your fault, Keizaburou! You misheard what he said!"

"This is your fault, Kakutarou! You forgot what he said!"

They butted heads, while Asukai helped me up from the ground.

"Sorry about my classmates, they're the most stupid people you'll ever meet, but they mean well, I swear! The guy who talks a lot is Masaoka Kakutarou and the guy who does the heavy lifting is Miura Keizaburou."

In other words, the boy who was holding me was Miura and the boy who was threatening to kill Yukina was Masaoka.

"Thanks for saving me, Asukai-senpai..."

"I'm more glad I found you before they could really hurt you... Masaoka, Miura, come apologise to the poor guy."

"Ha? Aight, banchou."

"Oh~kay, banchou!"

I was shocked that these two were subservient to Asukai. They even called him banchou, a term for delinquent leaders.

"Asukai-senpai, by any chance, do you lead a gang in GEN...?"

"Pffffffft, no! Don't be silly, banchou's just a nickname for me since I lead these two. After all, I have the most braincells amongst the three of us!"

Asukai patted his puffed chest proudly. This wasn't something to be proud of though...

"Takanori, I'm sorry for threatenin' your cute girlfriend."

"Takanori, sorry for putting ya in a full nelson."

Masaoka and Miura bowed their heads. She wasn't my girlfriend though...

"It's alright... just, please don't ever repeat that again. To anyone. Ever."

"Agreed! If you want the club to thrive, get rid of the stupid restriction on entry. There's a buncha violent 1st Years, like Mikitaka, Yukimura, Shimada, and Machida, who'd prolly love to join a club where it's just fighting. If they gotta beat you to join, then what's the point? You join a club to become better at the club's topic, so if they fail at fighting, it's not a reason to reject 'em."

Asukai reprimanded them while giving good advice on how to fix their club. If these guys were friends, why didn't Asukai tell them this sooner...?

"But part o' the fun is trying to beat us up! Right, Keizaburou?!"

"Yea, yea! I love fightin' the new recruits!"

"It might be fun, but it's also causing your club to go under! What would you rather lose, the club or the requirement, huh?"

"He's got a point, Kakutarou..."

"Ah, I hate this! I don't wanna change club policy!"

"You have to!"

Just as Asukai was about to shout at them some more, he looked at me.

"Oh yea, you're still here. Feel free to go home, Takanori. I gotta talk crap to these two some more, or else they won't behave."

Asukai sighed with his hands on his hips.

"Right... though, I have one question for you."

"Ye? What's up?"

"Masaoka-senpai said I was Shinsei-sama's little brother for some reason. Where did that come from?"

"From Shinsei-san of course!"

"By "Shinsei-san", you mean...?"

"His twin, duh. You think a flunky like me is friends with the fricking Joker?! Hell naw!"

"I see. Thank you."

She's really messed things up for me, huh...?

I managed to keep Ken quiet about our relationship, but I guess he didn't pass the memo onto her. It seems sooner or later I'm going to have to meet Shiori in person and tell her to keep our familial relationship on the down low as well.

I left the three 2nd Year delinquents behind me and rushed to the train station where Yukina was waiting for me. Together, we boarded the train and went home.