"Makoto, why are you so weak? You ran away before she even said anything!"
Saionji Sekai chased Makoto back to the classroom, complaining about her friend's cowardice the whole way.
"You're a man; you should be brave when pursuing a girl you like. If you're so weak, who would want to be your girlfriend in the future?"
"Shut up! If you want to go so bad, you go!"
Makoto angrily shook off Sekai's hand and stomped back to his seat, but his hand was still trembling uncontrollably.
He was afraid of Shin, far more afraid than anyone else.
Because he was Taisuke's friend, he was the first to know how ruthless Shin could be.
Taisuke's group of friends had been beaten and hospitalized for three days. All their injuries were not life-threatening or severe, but they were in places that would make you wish you were dead.
Every time he remembered Taisuke wailing on the bathroom floor, Makoto feared Shin even more.
Yes, he did like Kotohana Katsura , but the excessive hormones in his brain weren't strong enough to completely block that life-threatening fear!
What "life is precious, love is dearer" – that was all nonsense. Without your life, what freedom and love do you have?
Saionji Sekai watched Makoto's cowardly demeanor, stomped her foot, and turned back to her seat.
Aki Tomoya observed all of this silently, stroking his chin, a look of interest appearing behind his black-rimmed glasses.
"It seems Shin-san's emotional entanglements are quite intense, too..."
He wasn't someone with low emotional intelligence. Aki Tomoya understood everything, including the fact that his senpai and Eriri actually liked him – but not clarifying and pretending to be oblivious was his attitude.
You could call him a scumbag, which wasn't wrong. To put it nicely, he was afraid of change, but Aki Tomoya knew in his heart that what he feared most was the dissolution of this hard-won small group if the relationships were clarified.
After all, there were too many examples where a failed confession meant not even being able to remain friends.
Aki Tomoya pushed up his glasses and sighed softly. Actually, there was something he might not have realized himself: Shin, in his eyes, was also one of the 'backup' options.
Of course, not a backup to fawn over him, but a 'backup' who could be driven by money and mutual benefit. This kind of purely transactional exchange, without much human sentiment, seemed much easier to Aki Tomoya than getting entangled with his senpai.
It was just a simple transaction, but it wasn't easy for Aki Tomoya to pay enough 'money' for the exchange. Sticking to his principle of not running ads in his videos for money, he could only rely on part-time jobs to earn money for game development.
So, he needed backup proposals.
Aki Tomoya silently kept Makoto's reaction in mind. He might be able to investigate this matter and, if possible, find a 'favor' that would make Shin help him.
Just like the 'favor' he had on his senpai and the 'guilt' Eriri owed him.
Everything was for making the best romance game. Shin-san would surely understand!
Just then, Taisuke, looking gloomy, suddenly appeared at the classroom door with a thick, large bag on his back. Makoto stood up in surprise.
"Taisuke, you're out of the hospital!"
"Where's that bastard? Where's that damn foreign pig!!!"
Taisuke grabbed Makoto's shoulder and roared like a hysterical madman. Makoto looked at his friend, flustered, but his gaze fell upon the metal baseball bat in the bag on Taisuke's back.
"Taisuke, what's wrong? Calm down, don't be impulsive!"
Realizing what his friend intended to do, Makoto's eyes widened, and he violently grabbed Taisuke's arms.
"Calm down? That bastard, along with that bitch class representative, killed my uncle! I'm going to make him pay!!!"
Taisuke acted like a madman, and everyone in the classroom looked at him with fearful eyes.
Just then, Kotohana , her head down, walked into the classroom as if she hadn't noticed anything. Seeing her, Taisuke's eyes instantly turned red.
"I'll kill you, you bitch who extorted my uncle to death!!!!"
He instantly broke free from Makoto's hands, pulled out the metal bat from his back, and swung it fiercely at Kotohana .
Kotohana looked up in shock, her body stiff for a moment, utterly unable to react.
In that critical moment, a figure suddenly darted out like lightning from the side, embraced Kotohana , and spun her away. The fully swung metal bat struck a broad back.
"Shin-kun!!!"
Kotohana 's eyes widened, looking at Shin, whose face showed a hint of pain, her pretty face turning pale.
Shin didn't speak, he just pushed Kotohana far away, then turned around to face Taisuke with an expressionless face.
His shoulder bone was fractured. Although he had managed to cover it with the "Lord of Dawn" suit under his school uniform, the minimal protection it offered was barely better than nothing.
But it was fine, no big deal, it wouldn't hinder him.
"I don't know why you're going crazy here."
Shin's face was cold. In the dead silence, he grabbed his fractured arm, and with a jarring grinding sound of bone, forcibly set it back into place.
"You're not leaving this classroom today. I said it. Not even God can save you."
Taisuke fearfully took half a step back, then yelled, waving his bat.
"Come on if you dare! At worst, we'll both get expelled!"
"No, only you will be expelled," Shin's voice became calm, chillingly calm.
In an instant, his legs shot out like a pouncing cheetah, grabbing Taisuke's hand and neck. Taisuke, unable to react, shrieked and wildly swung the bat, but his erratic attacks couldn't hit Shin.
Physical quality, mental quality, reaction speed – Coordinators completely crushed Naturals. Furthermore, Shin hadn't slacked off on his training during this time, plus the partial boost from the Lord of Dawn equipment, crushing this Taisuke was effortless.
He directly grabbed Taisuke's right hand holding the bat, and with his other hand, choked his neck, lifting him high into the air.
A collective gasp instantly filled the classroom. Being able to directly lift a peer by the neck like this, a scene like a grappling move in a fighting game, was not common.
"Remember to hold onto the bat tightly," Shin sneered.
The next moment, Taisuke felt like a suicide jumper leaping from a rooftop. The back of his head slammed hard against the ground, and in an instant, his vision went black.
"I don't know the reason for your madness, but you were stupid enough to attack first with a weapon in front of so many people."
Shin grabbed Taisuke's left hand and twisted it forcefully, twisting his entire hand into a distorted angle amidst the other's pig-like screams.
"Do you know the meaning of self-defense? Against an aggressor carrying a lethal weapon, I can apply all defense conditions, including killing the opponent."
*Crack*
He broke three fingers, his tone containing an undisguised pleasure.
"Of course, you're holding a metal bat, not a controlled knife, so I can't go to the extreme of self-defense against you."
"But I'm a foreigner, I have extradition clauses. Whether in my country or yours, for a scumbag like you who tried to beat an innocent girl to death, I can easily escape punishment even if I cripple you on the spot."
He swiftly delivered a hard kick to his groin. Taisuke let out an earth-shattering shriek, then passed out.
Shin shook his hand. The inappropriate words he had just spoken were only heard by Taisuke, and just as Shin said, as long as this scumbag was holding a lethal metal bat, Shin had grounds for self-defense.
"Taisuke!!!"
Makoto shrieked and lunged forward, but Shin merely glanced at him, and he froze, collapsing to the ground.
"Let me see... Hmph, you even brought a knife to school."
Shin rummaged through the bag the guy had brought and saw a sharpened kitchen knife inside, making him smile even more broadly.
He picked up the kitchen knife, grabbed the middle of the blade, and easily snapped the blade from the handle, then stuck it next to Taisuke.
"Although you probably can't hear this—well, I don't think I'll ever see you at this school again."
The students in the class, and others from different classes who had come over to join the commotion after hearing the noise, all felt a chill run down their spines when they saw Shin's composed expression.
Must... must stay away from this guy!
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