Chapter 51:

Side Story - The Dark Past of the Student Council President (2)

The Pride of A Banchou


BAM!!

“Ngh…!”

My back hit the ground painfully. I glared back at the older boy who’d punched me—he was a third year high school students and also the infamous leader of a delinquent gang around here.

“Oh? Is that all? It seems the Crimson Demon King isn’t so scary after all.” The older boy crouched down and poked at my forehead mockingly.

“Shut up!”

I took a swing at him, but his henchman who was next to him kicked me. I rolled on the ground, unable to defend myself from the blow, and groaned in pain.

Damn! This is so unfair!” I gritted my teeth as the leader and his henchmen howled with laughter at my pathetic figure.

There were nearly 20 delinquents surrounding me, and all of them were in high school. They ambushed me on my way home, then dragged me into this deserted back alley. The leader spouted some nonsense about teaching a lesson to the cheeky upstart, but I was willing to bet that one of the delinquents I beat up went crying to his older brother.

“…cowards.” I spat out venomously.

In an instant, their mocking laughter quietened down.

BAM!

“Huh?! What did you say, little punk?!” The leader punched me in the face, then he grabbed my collar and started intimidating me. “Since I’m a kind and generous Senpai, I’ll let you off after we beat you half to death.”

At that point, I should probably shut up and just accept my fate. After all, not even I could deal with 20 older delinquents on my own. But no, I just had to open my mouth and make things worse.

“Stop saying nonsense.” I grinned belligerently. “If you’re so afraid of a single middle-schooler, then just say so. I’ll even let you punch me once or twice, so you can save your pathetic face.”

As if to drive the point home, I spat on the leader’s face. To tell the truth, his expression at that moment was utterly priceless. Most likely, he’d never been humiliated so blatantly by anyone else before. The way his expression quickly changed between anger, humiliation, and hatred was amusing.

“This brat…!” The leader growled with voice full of killing intent. “You asked for it!”

He suddenly took out a knife from his pocket, and my eyes widened in surprise.

Ah…this is bad.

A part of my brain acknowledged that this was a critical situation in which I could very well lose my life. However, I detached from my own body, as if I was watching a play in front of my eyes. Perhaps I’d long lost the determination to live after being abandoned by my father.

“DIE!!!”

The leader swung his knife right at my face, and I instinctively shut my eyes closed. I waited for the pain to come, but instead I heard the sound of something colliding and a metallic sound of the knife hitting the ground.

“Aren’t you going too far?”

A new voice reached my ears.

“Huh?” I opened my eyes.

The first thing I noticed was the figure of a man standing next to the leader. He lowered his leg, which had just kicked the knife out of the leader’s hand. Despite being surrounded by nearly 20 delinquents, the man was surprisingly calm.

Huh? Wait a minute, how did he get here in the first place?” I realized the oddity of this situation.

I was surrounded by those delinquents, so the man would have to break through their circle just to reach me. As if proving my point, I noticed several of the delinquents were sprawled unconscious on the ground.

“H-Huh?! Who the hell are you?! Don’t butt in, old man!” The leader was flustered from his sudden appearance.

“Old man?! I’m only thirty-two this year, you know!” The man frowned in disapproval, as if offended.

“Whatever! I don’t care! Just scram, old man! I’m busy here!” The leader tried to shoo him off.

However, the mysterious man ignored him and turned to me instead.

“Boy, are you being bullied? Do you need help?” The man asked kindly.

I widened my eyes in surprise. It was the first time someone offered me a help without being asked.

“Hey! What gives?! This brat is my prey! I told you to scram, didn’t I?!” The leader fumed at being ignored. “Fine then, I’ll just beat you up first! You all, hold him down!”

The leader let me go and stood up to face his new prey. The other delinquents quickly circled around the man, all while jeering and laughing mockingly at him.

“Why don’t we take his money when we’re done with him?”

“True, he looks like he got some cash on him!”

“Hey, some of our guys are down!”

“Who cares about them?! Let’s beat this guy first!”

Although some of the delinquents were alarmed when they noticed their unconscious comrades, the majority of them were too riled up to care about anything else.

The man let out an exasperated sigh. “Seriously? I just tried to help and now I’m being mugged? And to think that I haven’t fought for years…”

“Hah! Say your prayers, old man!” The delinquents ignored his mutterings and charged at him—

—only to get completely beaten back.

“Huh?!” The delinquents stood frozen when the man smoothly avoided the charging delinquents and knocked them out in one move.

“Who…?” I reflexively muttered. “Who the hell is this man?

The man sighed once again. “I’m definitely getting muscle pains tomorrow from this. I should start training again, or Sakuya will laugh at me.”

After saying those incomprehensible things, this time the man took the initiative to move first. He lunged with the speed unlike a normal person and easily knocked down several delinquents at once.

At this point, the delinquents started realizing that they were messing with the wrong person.

“Hey, Banchou! We should retreat! This guy isn’t normal at all!” One of the delinquents shouted.

“Idiot, what are you getting scared of?! He’s just one person! If we attack at the same time, he won’t be able to handle us!” The leader shot back aggressively.

“Well, it’s not a bad strategy, but…” The man took a long stride forward and punched a delinquent in the guts, instantly knocking him out. “…it will be better if you stop discussing your plan in front of the enemy.”

“D-Damn!” The leader inadvertently took a step back, cowered by the man’s incredible combat prowess. “All of you, attack him! Don’t worry, we can take him down!”

The man sighed in disappointment. “I don’t really want to do this, but…”

What occurred next was simply a one-sided massacre by the mysterious man. I remained on the ground, too stunned to even think of moving. I’d trained in martial arts, so I could tell that the man was an expert in fighting. There was no wasted movement, and every strike was aimed at the vital points. Honestly, if the man was intending to kill them, those delinquents would already be dead by now.

In just a few minutes, the fight was over.

The man stood victorious while all of the delinquents were knocked out on the ground. Somehow, his figure overlapped with my own after I subjugated the delinquents in my neighborhood. However, contrary to the sense of hollowness that I felt after my victory, the man was brimming with satisfaction after successfully protecting someone else.

This man…is really awesome.” I instinctively thought to myself.

“Ah, are you okay? Can you stand?” The man turned his attention to me and offered his hand.

“Y-Yeah, I’m okay.” I took his hand and let him help me to my feet. “Um… thank you very—”

Grooooowl…

Both of us fell quiet after hearing a loud growl coming from my stomach.

“…why don’t we grab some food after treating your wounds?” The man kindly, albeit a bit awkwardly, offered.

“…yes, please.” I hung my head, too ashamed to even refuse his goodwill.

*****

“So, Yuuki-kun, you’re a second year student in a nearby middle school, huh? I thought you were a bit older, since you’re acting so mature.” The man, who introduced himself as Kazuya, remarked as he brought a spoonful of curry into his mouth.

“…yeah, I get that a lot.” I replied curtly, fiddling around with my omelette rice.

We were currently in a family restaurant, sitting across each other with a table full of food. Kazuya brought me to a clinic first to treat my wounds before taking me to the restaurant and insisting on treating me to a meal. I didn’t know if it was out of pity or he was that stupidly honest, but I also didn’t feel like going home, so I went along with him.

“So?” I eyed Kazuya warily. “Who are you, exactly?”

Kazuya’s hand paused for a moment. Then he smiled and replied, “I’m a teacher at an all-girl high school nearby. I got into a lot of troubles when I was younger, you see, so I naturally got better at fighting.”

“Hmm…” I completely didn’t buy his story. There was no way you could get that strong without specialized training. I personally could attest to that. However, Kazuya did help me out, so I wouldn’t pry deeper. “…anyway, thank you for helping me out. I’m the son of Koyama Group’s president, so I’ll pay you later—”

“Ah, there’s no need.”

Just as I started lowering my head, Kazuya immediately stopped me.

“Huh?” I lifted my face in surprise.

“I didn’t help you to get something in return. I’m a teacher, so there’s no way I can just walk by and pretend I see nothing.” Kazuya scratched his cheek and laughed sheepishly. “Besides, you kind of remind me to my little sister, so I want to do something for you, since I’m unable to do anything for her before.”

When he talked about his younger sister, his expression turned wistful.

“Do you…have a bad relationship with your sister?” I couldn’t help but ask.

Kazuya seemed surprised by the question. “Ah, no…it’s just that we didn’t see each other for a long time, so I didn’t have the chance to do something for her as her older brother. Although, maybe she doesn’t think of me as her brother, since I was never there for her…” He tried to laugh it off, but I could sense the same loneliness that I always felt.

The thought that this person was the same as me spurred me forward. I opened my mouth without thinking it further.

“No, I’m sure that your sister looks up to you, Kazuya-san. After all, you’re kind enough to jump in and help a total stranger. If I had an older brother like you, I’d be so proud of you.”

Then I realized what I’d said and my cheeks reddened.

“…or, at least, that’s what I thought…” I mumbled as I lowered my gaze.

I didn’t notice it since I was looking down, but Kazuya stared at me with wide eyes. Then he burst into laughter.

“Thank you, Yuuki-kun. You’re such a good kid, huh?”

“That’s not true!”

I flinched when my rebuttal came out stronger than I meant to.

“S-Sorry.” I muttered in embarrassment.

“It’s fine—I’m the one who should apologize. If there’s anything troubling you, you can talk to me, you know? It’s better than keeping everything bottled up inside you.” Kazuya reached out and patted my head. His hand was so warm and reliable that tears started pooling in my eyes.

Before I knew it, I already told everything to Kazuya. About my parents’ separation. About my cold, indifferent father who never bothered to look at me. About the troubles I caused for the sake of gaining his attention. It was embarrassing, but also refreshing that I was able to get everything off my chest.

“…and that’s why I got into a fight today.” I summed up my story.

Since Kazuya was a teacher, I half expected him to scold me for picking fights and causing trouble. Yet, the only thing he did was patting my head like I was a small child.

“You did well.” Kazuya told me gently.

“…!” I looked at him in shock.

“All these years, you’ve endured the loneliness by yourself, and you’ve managed to reach today. You should be proud of yourself, Yuuki-kun.” Kazuya smiled warmly as he said those words.

It felt like something inside me just snapped, and I could no longer hold back my tears. I started wailing like a child, while Kazuya sat next to me and patted my back without saying anything.

It took me almost half an hour to calm down, and by the time I regained my senses, I was terribly embarrassed. Everyone in the restaurant heard me crying, and they all gave me warm looks, which made it worse. I averted my eyes, pretending that I didn’t see anything.

“Yuuki-kun.”

I looked at Kazuya when he called my name.

“This is just a simple advice from an outsider…” He began, “…but I think you should start living for yourself.”

“Living for myself…” I mumbled.

“Yes. Instead of trying to gain your father’s affection, you should strive to become someone admirable.” Kazuya explained. “If you do that, I believe that one day you’ll definitely meet people that care for you and willing to stay by your side, no matter what happens.”

Then he smiled sheepishly and scratched his cheek.

“Or, at least, that’s what happened to me. So I’m hoping that the same thing will happen to you too.” He added.

“Yeah…I’ll try to do so.” I nodded after giving it a thought. “Thank you very much for your advice, Kazuya-san.”

Kazuya might not think too deeply about his words, but his advice did change my life after that.

I decided to go to a high school in a faraway town, where I could start anew and forge my own path. So I threw myself into my study and managed to pass the entrance exam for Sakurasaki Academy. I did consider going to the Sakurazaki Private Academy next door, but I figured that some of my father’s acquaintances’ children might enter that school as well, so I chose the low-profile Sakurasaki instead.

If there was one thing that I regretted, it was that I never got to meet Kazuya again after that day. After I passed the entrance exam, I tried looking for him to share the good news. But the house where he was supposed to live with his wife was already demolished to the ground, and I was told that he probably moved out somewhere else.

When spring came, I left the town where I grew up and came to Sakurasaki Academy as a new student. I hid my dark past as a delinquent and turned myself into an honor student. In no time at all, I attracted the Student Council’s attention and got scouted into serving as their helper. I officially became a member of the Student Council on my second year, and right after I became the president, I clashed with the new Banchou of Sakurasaki Academy—Kagura Sakuya.

*****

“Ah…right. You were quite obnoxious back then.” Sakuya said with a faraway look on her face. “Actually, no, you are still obnoxious until now.”

A vein popped on my temple. “Do you realize whose hospitality you’re currently enjoying now?”

Sakuya burst into laughter. “Well, you’re the one who invited me, so if you’re going to blame anyone, blame yourself.”

I put down the empty cup in my hand and got up to make another batch of drinks. As I worked quietly in the kitchen, I stole a glance at Sakuya. I noticed that, in the middle of my story, she suddenly turned stiff, especially when I mentioned Kazuya’s name. Her reaction intrigued me, but I chose not to call her out on it.

“So?” Sakuya urged me the moment I came back with more drinks. “Can I talk about my request now?”

“Ah.” I lightly slapped my forehead. “I forgot you were here about that.”

“Koyama, it’s way too early for you to develop dementia, you know?” She shot me a reproachful look.

“My bad, so can you explain now?” I smoothly changed the topic.

Sakuya sighed, but she let it slide. She started explaining that she was now officially the family’s heiress, yet she was locked in an internal struggle of power with her father, the current head. And there were other branch families that she needed to be alert of, not to mention the possible interference from other yakuza families that were aiming to weaken Kagura Family’s influence.

“…and that’s why I need to gather more allies.” Sakuya said with weary looks on her face. “Preferably those who are strong enough to protect themselves from danger.”

Something in her words caught my attention. “Hm? Then what about Shiba-kun?”

Sakuya, who was sipping her drink, instantly choked on it. She repeatedly coughed before looking away. “…Ryuu isn’t involved in this.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” I was puzzled.

There was no way Ryuuji would willingly remove himself from this situation, not with how much he adored her. Unless…

“Did you…tell him to stay away?” I hazarded a guess, and Sakuya’s shoulder twitched in response.

I smiled wryly. “Ah…that’s got to be hard on Shiba-kun. Maybe I should take him out this weekend and console him.

“W-Well, leaving Ryuu aside!” Sakuya quickly changed the subject. “What do you think of my request, Koyama? Of course, I’m not asking you to risk your life for nothing. Since you’re not lacking in money, I’m willing to let you borrow Kagura Family’s name and also Kagurazaki Company’s cooperation to help your family business grow.”

I raised my hand to stop her. “I really appreciate it, Kagura, but as expected, I can’t join you.”

Her expression turned melancholic. “Mm, I already guessed it.” She smiled bitterly.

I felt bad for her, but it was common sense not to get involved with yakuza, especially a bigshot yakuza family that could shut down an entire school and nearly robbed its students of their bright futures. The weird ones were her friends, who willingly threw themselves into dangerous situations just to stay with her.

Once again, I felt a pang of jealousy toward Sakuya. I had to work hard to gain reliable allies on my side, yet she was able to effortlessly charm the people around her and turn them into her allies. She was so dazzling that I felt like I was merely a pale imitation of her, especially since I failed in keeping the delinquents in line before.

“But…” I spoke up before Sakuya could say another word. “That doesn’t mean I’m not helping you, Kagura.”

“Huh?” Sakuya’s head shot up and she stared at me in disbelief.

“I can’t be your subordinate, but I’ll support you as your ally.” I told her confidently. “As long as you keep doing the right thing, I’ll stand by your side.”

As much as I hated to admit it, I was one of the people attracted by Sakuya’s natural charm. The way she single-mindedly chased after her ideals, no matter how bad the situation was, deeply resonated with me. You couldn’t help but want to support her, and that was how Sakuya gained her allies.

“Koyama…thank you very much.” Sakuya politely bowed her head to me, but it was mostly to hide her teary eyes.

I cleared my throat awkwardly and averted my eyes. “Though, I may not be of use to you right now. I’m just another high school student. But I planned on studying politics in college and becoming a politician one day. When that time comes…” I finally looked at Sakuya and offered her a smile. “…you can count on me.”

Sakuya beamed happily at me. “It’s a promise, then. I’ll look forward to how far you’ll grow, Koyama.”

We talked a bit more about trivial things after that, then Sakuya finally excused herself. It was getting quite late and I was worried to let her go back alone, but Sakuya convinced me that I should worry more about anyone who tried to attack her.

“Koyama.”

When Sakuya put her hand on the door’s handle, she paused and called out my name.

“I’m still your Senpai, you know?” I dryly pointed it out.

“To be frank, I’m quite jealous of you.” Sakuya spoke without turning to look at me.

“Huh?” I was surprised to hear that I wasn’t the only one feeling jealous here.

“Even though your father wants you to be his heir and inherit his company, you still managed to choose your own path and become the person you want to be, without being influenced by him. For me, that’s an unattainable future, and I really admire you for that.”

Sakuya finally turned to look at me.

She grinned and told me, “You really did well. You should be proud of yourself.”

“Ah…” My eyes widened when Sakuya’s figure overlapped with Kazuya’s as she said those words.

Before I could say anything, Sakuya opened the door and left without another word. I stood frozen at the entrance, staring blankly at the closed door.

“Could it be that Kazuya-san’s little sister is…?”

I tried picturing Kazuya walking alongside Sakuya. Those two might look good together, but I still couldn’t imagine the gentle Kazuya being the older brother of the whimsical, violent Sakuya.

“That can’t be true…right?”

*****

Author's Note :

Big thanks to Ochroleucous for inspiring me to write this side story!

I wasn't planning on writing about Yuuki at all, to be honest, but after reading Ochroleucous' comment, I realized that his backstory had a lot of potentials to be told, and here we are! Hope you enjoy this story!