Side Story - The (Former) Strongest Delinquent & The Blonde Devil (1)

It was the start of a new semester. The sakura petals danced through the air, going wherever the spring breeze brought them. Everywhere you looked, the streets were filled with sakura trees blooming. Everyone’s faces were bright and full of hope, energized by the arrival of new season.

Everyone except for me, I suppose.

My feet traced the usual path toward Sakurasaki Academy that I had been taking since a year ago. I’d become a second-year student, but nothing felt different from my first year. Well, there was one thing that differed from last year…

The moment I stepped through the school gate, all eyes were on me. The normal students immediately scrambled to distance themselves from me, while the delinquents were either glaring at me or sending jealous look. Despite their mixed gazes, they all said the same thing—

“ “ “The strongest delinquent…!” ” ”

“He’s just become second-year but he’s already the strongest. What a monster.”

“They said he beat up the third-years and took the title.”

“Look at that scary face! I heard his glare alone can kill you!”

I ignored the other students’ muttering and kept striding forward, though I felt the urge to correct the last part. I was simply born with this scary face—there was nothing I could do to soften my expression, regardless of how I really felt.

As I headed toward the announcement board to look for my class, one of the students passing by caught my eye.

He had a natural, striking blonde hair and a beautiful smiling face that made him stand out from the crowds. But what caught my attention the most was the strength hidden within his slender body. Even though he looked like a playboy, I could tell that he was quite a fighter on his own. I was certain that I could beat him in terms of raw power, but something told me that he wasn’t going to be an easy opponent.

Just as I was assessing the student, he sensed my gaze and looked back at me. For just a moment, the constant smile on his face vanished, replaced with the fierce look of a predator. I reflexively let out my own bloodlust, and in response, he withdrew his pressure. Without saying a single word, the student walked away as if nothing happened.

“Who is that cheeky bastard?” I frowned as I continued walking. “I’m sure I’ve never seen him before, since I’ve challenged all of the strong people in this school, so he must be a new student. Should I try fighting him once?”

“Hey, that’s the rumored delinquent called Blonde Devil, right?”

While pondering over it, I overheard the students talking about him.

“Yeah, that’s him alright. You can’t miss that flashy blonde hair of his. They said he’s so strong that he could defeat his opponent without even lifting a finger.”

“Uwah, what is wrong with this school? There are literal monsters everywhere!”

“Well, blame yourself for failing to get into Sakurazaki next door, man.”

I stopped listening once their conversation switched to other topic. The edge of my lips raised up as I imagined myself fighting against the so-called ‘Blonde Devil’. Apparently, my smiling face was so scary that other students scrambled to get away from me. I walked away after finding out my classroom, blissfully unaware of the fact that everyone steered clear from my surroundings.

*****

The first day of school went boringly monotonous. I barely listened to the homeroom teacher droning on and on about things I couldn’t care less. I came to this school for the sole purpose of fighting strong people and becoming stronger myself, so I never paid any attention to any of the classes. It made me wonder how did I move up to second year with such terrible grades.

By the time the last bell rang, I immediately grabbed my bag and left the classroom. Instead of heading home right away, my feet brought me to an empty classroom at the corner of the school. The classroom went unused since the number of students enrolling into Sakurasaki gradually fell year after year, so I claimed it for myself.

I slid the door open and saw that everything was still in place, exactly the same as I left it last semester. Thankfully, the cowardly Student Council president didn’t dare to mess with this classroom. I’d rearranged the desk and chairs to make wide space in the center of the room, where I installed a sandbag that I brought from home. This was my personal training ground, where I could train in peace and silence by myself.

I threw my bag to the side and started training right away. Once I focused on honing my body and sharpening my skills, everything faded away. I was so focused that I didn’t realize someone else was intruding my place until they grabbed my shoulder.

“—hey, I’m speaking to you!”

I begrudgingly stopped my training and glanced at the intruders in irritation. “What?” I growled at them.

The intruders—a few third-year students—flinched at my curt response. But they quickly recovered and started snickering.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding, Mikado-kun. I thought you’re scared of our retribution, so you ran away like a coward. Turns out you’re preparing yourself to survive our beatings.” The ringleader cackled as he insulted me.

I lowered my fist and turned toward them. There were five of them, all third-years and also delinquents. Their faces seemed kind of familiar, but I couldn’t remember who they actually were.

“Sorry, who are you again?” I tilted my head.

Their faces stiffened from shock, then quickly transformed into anger.

“Don’t joke with me! Are you implying that I, the strongest delinquent in Sakurasaki, is so weak that you can’t even remember defeating me?!” The ringleader howled.

“Ahh…” I nodded. “I remember now.”

“Well duh, because I just told you?!” He retorted exasperatedly.

“So, do you need something from me, Senpai?” I tried to ask politely, since he was still my senior.

The ringleader’s temple popped a vein as he cracked his knuckles ominously. “Yeah, we have unfinished business with you, bastard. I may have lost to you before, but you’re just lucky that time. It won’t happen again, because this time I’ll make sure I thoroughly crush you until your own parents can’t even recognize you. I’ll make you cry pathetically that—GUH?!”

Before he could finish his threats, I stepped forward and hit him in the guts so hard that he was instantly knocked out. His followers stared at the unconscious boy sprawled out on the floor before slowly looked back at me. Their eyes were screaming out their shock and disbelief.

“So basically, you’re here to pick a fight with me, right?” I cracked my neck and raised my fists. “If that’s all you want to say, then just say it straight. I hate people who blabbered too much.”

The remaining delinquents scrambled to surround me, but they’d lost their confidence from before. I could see that some of them were itching to escape, but I wasn’t going to let any of my sparring partner to run.

I grinned fiercely and beckoned at them. “It will be tedious to defeat you one by one, so come at me all at once.”

Provoked by my carefree tone, all four of them came charging at me—

—and ended up getting beaten soundly.

“Haa…” I sighed as I threw them out of the classroom. “Is there no worthy opponent left in this school?” I lamented.

I didn’t know when it started, but as far as I could remember, I was always itching to fight people stronger than me. I wanted to fight them, and become stronger myself, until the day that I became the strongest person.

“—and then what?”

I quickly shook my head, slamming the lid on the question that had been haunting me. The way to become the strongest was still far off, so I’d think of what I would do next after I got there.

I picked up my bag and went home.

*****

“…I’m home.” I muttered as I opened my house’s front door.

Only silence answered my words, but I never expected any reply in the first place. The sky was already dark by the time I got home, and my house was just as dark, since no one was around to turn on the lights.

After taking off my shoes, I headed toward the living room. When my hand grabbed the door knob, I hesitated for a moment. Memories of past days filled my mind, making me wary of opening the door.

PRANG!!!

“Not you!” My mother would throw things and scream at me the moment I walked into the living room. “It’s because of you that my husband doesn’t want to come home! I don’t want to see that disgusting face of yours! Get out! Get out of my house!”

After receiving her tantrums day after day, I learned to avoid my mother. I’d come home later and later every day, just so I wouldn’t have to hear her curses and abuses. But she’d still get angry at me for any trivial reasons, so I just gritted my teeth and bore with it.

The real reason my mother got so unstable was my father, who was so obsessed with his work that he barely went home at all. I’d heard that it was because we used to be poor or something that my father worked himself to the bone, but he got carried away and now he never left his work. Even if he did come home once in a while, my mother would only scream and nag at him, so they’d end up in a fight, and my father would leave home again, turning it into a vicious cycle.

When my mother couldn’t stand it anymore and left my father, I felt so relieved. Now, no one would scream at me, or hurl things at me, or hurt me with their words.

I snapped out of my reminiscence and turned the door knob. The living room was just as empty as I left it this morning. Compared to those days full of my mother’s shrill screams, it was a lot quieter now. The silence was supposed to feel comfortable, but it felt suffocating for me instead.

I stood frozen in the doorway for a few seconds before I finally turned away and closed the door without coming inside.

*****

A few weeks had passed since I turned second-year.

Nothing out of ordinary happened, except for some ridiculous rumors that were currently going around the whole school.

“Hey, have you heard? That first-year did it again.”

A classmate of mine started chattering with his friend during lunch break. I internally groaned at the absurdity of that rumor and stood up to leave the classroom.

“Forget hearing, I saw it myself!” That friend of his replied excitedly. “That super strong first-year girl jumped in to help the normal student who’s being harassed by those delinquents! Man, I’ve never seen anyone as strong as her!”

My feet automatically stopped when I heard the last sentence.

“Really? Isn’t it a bit exaggerated?” My classmate frowned. “There’s no way a first-year, and a girl to boot, can beat up several delinquents by herself. She must’ve had help, or those guys made it seem like she’s so powerful to cover up their embarrassing defeat.”

“No, I swear, it’s true!” His conversation partner insisted. “You wouldn’t believe it if you didn’t see for yourself! That girl can send a grown man flying with just a punch!”

“No, no, that’s already plenty absurd. How much did they pay you to spread such a ridiculous rumor?”

“I’ve told you, I’m telling the truth—!”

I left the classroom as the two of them kept bickering over the rumors.

“Sending a grown man flying with just a punch, they said? How ridiculous.” I snorted as I heard similar conversations from other students. “Even I, called the strongest, am unable to do that, so that can’t be true. She probably just wants to be famous.” I concluded as I shoved it off my mind, something that I’d come to regret very much later.

*****

Speak of the devil and it will come.

Just as the saying went, the devil of the rumors had decided to come visit me the same day I heard those rumors.

When the school was over, I once again trained by myself in the empty classroom. After the surprise visit from third-year delinquents back then, I made sure to pay attention if someone entered the classroom. It’d be troublesome if they decided to ambush me during my training, after all.

Despite my caution, she still managed to approach me unnoticed.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mikado Ouji-senpai.”

My fist, about to land a punch on the sandbag, abruptly stopped when that high-pitched voice called out to me. I slowly turned my head and saw a first-year girl standing right next to me. She was smiling innocently, as if she’d been there since the beginning.

“My name is Kagura Sakuya, a first-year.” She politely introduced herself. “They said that you’re the strongest delinquent in Sakurasaki Academy. Is that true, Senpai?”

I lowered my fist and turned to face her properly. She had petite body, with delicate limbs and pretty face. In my eyes, she looked like a life-sized doll that could move and speak.

I narrowed my eyes and purposely let out my pressure to intimidate her as I answered coldly, “I don’t know about that title, but it’s true that no one around is strong enough to be my opponent. Putting that aside, what do you want from me?”

I expected the girl to cower under my pressure or turn pale from fear. On the contrary, she beamed at me as if she’d just found a treasure.

“Is that so? Then it seems I’ve found the right person!” She clapped with cheerful expression. “Since you’re the strongest delinquent in this school, I’m challenging you to a fight, Senpai!”

While I was still frozen from shock, the girl continued spouting nonsense without caring for my response.

“If you win, then I’ll do one thing that you ask from me. But if I win, then you’ll become mine! That’s quite easy to understand, right? Shall we start the duel immediately—?”

“H-Hold on.” I recovered from shock and lifted my hand to stop the girl. “I can’t accept that challenge in the first place, so you should just go home and forget about it.”

“Huh? Why?” The girl was surprised by my sudden rejection.

I shook my head. “I won’t fight someone clearly weaker than me. There’s no honor in it. I mean, what can you possibly do with that twig-like arms of yours? You’ll just end up hurting yourself if you try to punch me—”

BAM!!!

Before I could finish my sentence, a loud noise shook the empty classroom. I blinked, finally realizing that the girl had walked past me while I was talking. I turned around, finding the source of that noise, and my mind immediately blanked out.

“Is this enough proof for you, Mikado-senpai?” The girl stood in front of the sandbag—or where the sandbag used to hang, to be exact.

The sandbag in question was blown across the room and blew up upon contact with the walls, scattering sands all over the floor.

I creakily turned my head toward the girl—Kagura Sakuya, who was folding her arms and calmly waited for me to realize the situation.

“Did…did you just…?” I gestured toward the ruined sandbag, unable to form coherent sentence.

“Punch the sandbag hard enough to make it explode? Yes.” Sakuya nodded confidently. “You don’t have any more excuses to avoid the duel, Senpai. Of course, if you’re too afraid to fight me after watching my display of power, I’ll gladly receive your strongest title without a fight.” She wore a fierce grin as she taunted me, “What will it be, Mikado-senpai?”

I snapped out of my daze and clenched my fist. I still didn’t like the idea of fighting such a petite girl, but she’d insulted my pride. It was my principle to never back down from a fight.

“…you asked for it.” I reminded her as I prepared myself for a fight. “Don’t regret it later.”

Sakuya’s smile grew wider. “Don’t worry, I won’t.” She replied while assuming her fighting poise.

For a moment, we both watched each other’s movement and tried to grasp the other’s range. Then I took the initiative and launched the first attack. I threw a straight punch at her face, thinking that she wouldn’t be able to react in time and flinched, so I could stop my fist at the very last moment.

However, contrary to my expectation, Sakuya gracefully side-stepped my fist and retaliated with a powerful punch to my guts.

“Guh…!” I staggered back, nearly emptying my stomach from a mere single blow.

“Senpai, you should take this more seriously.” Sakuya reminded me in flat, emotionless tone that was completely different from her previous lively voice. “Or you might get killed.”

I shuddered from the bloodlust that accompanied her last sentence. It woke up a sense of crisis inside me, forcing me to discard my hesitation and faced her like my life was on the line.

“…that’s more like it.” The edge of her lips curled up into a cruel smirk.

I lunged at her and swung my fist with speed incomparable to before. It was my fastest strike out of all my fights, and yet she still dodged it as easily as before. I followed it up with a kick, which usually took people off-guard, but Sakuya moved as if she had anticipated it.

I threw in every punches and kicks that I knew, even doing feints that I hated the most just to pry a gap in her defense. Despite all of my best efforts, nothing reached her.

“Hmm…you’ve got potentials…but you still lack experience.” Sakuya was muttering something under her breath, which I didn’t catch since I was too focused on defeating her.

Suddenly her movement changed as Sakuya leapt onto the nearest desk, then she leapt again toward the wall, before kicking it to give her enough momentum to lunge back at me with terminal velocity.

The last thing I remembered was Sakuya’s heel connecting with my head before everything went dark.