"Brother Kobayashi, what are you two talking about?"
Aiya Hiroshi walked out of his room. Yayoi quickly separated from Hayato. She scratched her cheek; in front of Aiya Hiroshi, who was like a 'younger brother,' she still couldn't let go, or rather, couldn't openly admit her relationship with Hayato.
After all, there was still a significant age difference between them.
"I think I heard a dog barking…" Aiwu Guang looked at the phone in Yayoi's hand: "Are you watching pet videos?"
Yayoi was even more embarrassed.
"Adult matters, children shouldn't meddle," Hayato said.
Yayoi shot a glare at Hayato, as if to say, 'Aren't you roughly the same age as Aiya Hiroshi?'
But Aiya Hiroshi, being very respectful, nodded and agreed, "I understand."
Saying that, he walked out of the kitchen and obediently sat at the dining table, waiting for the food to be served.
Not only that, but he even took out his notebook and textbook during this free time, and began to review his lessons.
Yayoi looked at Aiya Hiroshi in disbelief… This child wasn't very fond of studying; his previous test scores had almost given her a heart attack.
Why was he suddenly so diligent now?
"…Aiya Hiroshi, you haven't done something wrong, have you?" Yayoi said strangely, as if he was pretending to be a good kid to avoid punishment.
"No," Aiwu Guang said. Then, realizing Yayoi's implied meaning, he smiled and said, "If I want to go to Huaxia, I must make sure my grades are good and find a good job, so I'll have the right to choose my own life, right?"
Yayoi was practically moved to tears.
She truly hadn't expected that all her persistent teachings to Aiya Hiroshi had been less effective than a single month spent with Hayato.
Yayoi was about to thank Hayato, but he showed a wicked smile: "Heh, he's completely taken on the 'essence' shape now."
…Honestly, that smile was particularly villainous.
Aiya Yayoi swallowed all her words of gratitude, and even began to suspect that Aiwu Guang might be twisted into a very strange form by him later.
After all, the girl named Sanada Minako in the phone had already become a cautionary tale.
"Ding-dong,"
The doorbell rang at that moment.
Yayoi hadn't even had time to go open the door when "Bang, bang, bang!" The door was pounded several times, its roughness making Aiwu Guang turn his head worriedly to look at Aiya Yayoi.
"What's going on?" His eyes were filled with bewildered fear.
Yayoi didn't know either. She was about to open the door.
But her wrist was pulled by Hayato.
"It's nothing," Hayato said with a smile. "I'll open it."
Yayoi originally didn't think much of it, assuming it was the property management collecting electricity fees, or some frustrated corporate slave trying to sell something. But after hearing Hayato's "It's nothing," she became wary instead.
It definitely was "something."
"Bang bang bang bang bang!" The door was still being violently pounded, and someone had even moved to the window, peering inside with long, fierce eyes.
Aiya Hiroshi was startled and stood up with a "clank." The person outside had a brutish face, and it was clear at a glance that he was definitely not a good person.
And while he was looking inside, the door was still being knocked.
Which meant it wasn't just one person.
"I'll go," Yayoi quickly said. She was the only adult in the house. No matter what, she couldn't let Aiwu Guang… and this child get hurt. Only when facing situations like this did Yayoi remember that Hayato was just a child.
Yayoi probably realized that the visitors meant no good, and it was highly likely that Snake Mound George's men had come for revenge.
She had previously lectured Hayato, criticizing him for being so reckless and directly confronting Snake Mound George. That guy, though an absolute scoundrel, was somewhat capable. Ten years ago, Yayoi wouldn't have feared him, but over the past decade, their lives had become routine and peaceful, while Snake Mound George was still like a fugitive. A barefoot person fears no shoes; he had plenty of ways to disrupt their peaceful lives.
Hayato ended Aiya Yayoi's nagging with one sentence:
"I won't allow him to bully you."
"…"
Aiya Yayoi made up her mind that even if it cost her life, she absolutely couldn't let that scoundrel harm Hayato.
"Stay here," Hayato stopped her, then admonished Aiwu Guang, "Watch your sister-in-law."
Aiwu Guang was a bit timid, only wanting to hide behind Yayoi.
"Aiwu Guang!" Hayato barked, and Aiwu Guang seemed to perk up, straightening his slightly hunched back completely.
"Watch your sister-in-an-law," Hayato repeated.
"…Okay!" Aiwu Guang nodded vigorously, then shielded Yayoi behind him.
The gaze from outside the window continued to peer in. This time, Aiya Hiroshi didn't avoid it. Instead, he gritted his teeth and glared back.
The face outside the window froze, then twisted into a sneer.
As for Hayato, he untied the white cloth from the wooden sword on the stool, weighed it, and then walked towards the door.
"Wait!" Yayoi called out to him, filled with worry.
Hayato turned his head in response, but he didn't answer Yayoi's words.
Instead, as if remembering something, he pulled out his phone, checked the time, and muttered to himself, "Still fifteen minutes?"
Yayoi didn't understand. Fifteen minutes? What did that mean?
But before she could think too much, Hayato had already opened the door. The person pounding on the door almost landed a punch on Hayato's nose, but fortunately, Hayato raised his hand and blocked the punch with the flat of his wooden sword.
The person at the door had a hairstyle somewhat like Mitsui Hisashi's long hair when he was a delinquent, though he was far from as handsome as Mitsui Hisashi. He couldn't be described as extraordinarily handsome; he was more like a work of grotesque art.
His cheeks were very thin, with almost no flesh on his jowls, two sunken areas, murky eyes, and protruding teeth.
If he were to become a villain, he would truly be Peerless.
He wasn't alone.
About ten other people were loitering around Aiya Yayoi's doorstep. Seeing Hayato open the door, they all gathered around.
Including the "thug-like" figure who had been probing at the window.
Aiya Hiroshi and Yayoi watched him disappear from sight.
After Hayato opened the door, he took a step forward.
That Peerless hadn't expected this seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy to be so brave; he subconsciously stepped back to make way.
After stepping out a little, Hayato turned back and pressed down on the doorknob.
Before closing it, he chuckled softly to those inside: "Don't worry, nothing will happen."
With that, he completely closed the door.
He faced the encirclement of about ten people alone, surrounded by men on all sides.
"You're Hayato?" Peerless squinted and asked.
"Yes, that's me," Hayato smiled.
"It really is you." Peerless's face was very thin, but his eyes were large like light bulbs, and when he squinted, he looked somewhat comical.
Just as Aiya Yayoi had expected, this Peerless was indeed following Snake Mound George's orders to come to Aiya Yayoi's house to cause trouble for her.
According to Big Brother Serpent Mound's instructions, there was a certain probability that this guy named Hayato would be at Yayoi's house. Big Brother was truly a divine person; he had predicted this.
The reason he could recognize Hayato at a glance was because he had already inquired about him from Snake Mound George.
Yayoi-nee's family also had Aiya Hiroshi, who was also a male high school student, and Peerless was afraid he might get them confused.
Snake Mound George then mentioned a characteristic of Hayato.
"Handsome."
Peerless had originally been dismissive, but now that he saw him, he understood; Big Brother was truly Big Brother, managing to perfectly describe Hayato's physical features with just one word.
Looking at Hayato's beautiful, almost glowing, youthful face, Peerless felt that all the wickedness in the world was written on that face.
He absolutely had to flatten him!
"You don't seem surprised at all," Peerless said.
"Not really," Hayato still chuckled softly, then pushed up his black-rimmed glasses with his middle finger.
They thought their method of surrounding Aiya Yayoi's residence was discreet, but in reality, it was all exposed right under Hayato's nose.
Hayato's smile was like a spring breeze.
Behind him was the door, and next to the door was a window.
The window glass reflected some light, showing Peerless's face.
Earlier, when he went to Shinjuku to have his fortune told, the master said he was a person who appeared only once in several millennia.
However, looking at his own reflection in the glass, and comparing it to Hayato in front of him, a surge of anger inexplicably rose in Peerless's heart. "Your mom, for thousands of years, this is all that came out?" That fortune teller really had no conscience just to trick people out of money.
He would go smash her stall later.
But before that, he had to smash this brat's face first.
That face truly made him feel physically uncomfortable.
Fortunately, pretty boys and "being good at fighting" have always been contradictory, so Peerless revealed a cruel smile:
"Go!"
The first to charge was the large man who resembled a bandit, the one who had peeked through the window earlier. He was one of Snake Mound George's most renowned enforcers, with two "Double Flower Red Rods" on his chest. His punch carried a formidable power that even Peerless himself found intimidating.
Then…
Everyone's gaze adjusted direction as their heads turned.
They had been looking forward, but now they were looking behind.
Because the Red Rod had arced through the air in a remarkably beautiful curve, then with a "duang" sound, he landed squarely in… the large trash can by Yayoi-nee's front door.
His body was submerged, but his legs stuck out. His hands twitched, trembling as they formed the "Very Six Plus One" gesture in front of his chest.
"Brother!!" A younger subordinate was still bewildered, not understanding what had happened in an instant, but he reacted swiftly, arriving beside the trash can, intending to help the Red Rod up.
"Don't, don't move," the Red Rod stammered, "My, my back is broken… Call everyone… to, to attack together!!"
Hayato smiled, twirling the wooden sword around his wrist:
"I'm in a hurry, so you all come at once."
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