22: Fight Back with an Iron Pipe
His head was spinning from the sudden turn of events, but he could clearly see what had led to this situation.
“Haruyoshi… this was your doing…!”
The man who had been talking to him so amiably just moments before now wore an inappropriately benign smile.
“Makoto said he wanted to talk to you.”
“That volunteer story was a lie too!”
“That part was true. It’s also true that we targeted the same volunteer as you.”
It quickly dawned on him why they knew where he was going.
Misato.
She had initially refused, but then changed her mind. Was that so she could lead Makoto and the others to Ryugo so they could torment him?
Had this all been planned from the start?
“Tanuki. I’ve got some questions for you.”
Makoto brandished the iron pipe menacingly.
“What are you sneaking around with Aira for?”
“What?”
“I’ve thought it was fishy for a while now…y’know!!”
Again, he swung the iron pipe down, but I used a garbage bag to block it.
Trash flew out of the torn plastic.
A pungent smell wafted from the burst bag, but we didn’t have the luxury of paying attention to it.
A sense of crisis.
Indeed, a wave of violence was approaching me.
A maelstrom of anger that made my skin crawl.
Makoto’s emotions, honed for this moment, would surely shatter the bones in Ryogo’s body.
I rolled away on instinct and stood up, wary of a counterattack. Trash stuck to my body, but I couldn’t care less.
Makoto didn’t pursue me.
He remained vigilant, yet he gradually closed the distance.
The old Makoto was like an ill-trained dog that would bite at the sight of an enemy.
But now, he was a beast wounded.
He was desperate and had the ferocity to sink his teeth into his opponent’s neck. He probably wouldn’t flinch, even if he took some damage.
“Tanukiiiiiiii!!”
Makoto roared and swung the iron pipe down from above, but I calmly dodged it.
Then, he drew the pipe back to his arm and got into position.
As expected, he wouldn’t make a reckless charge.
He knew that if he swung sideways, I’d grab him and it would be over.
“You! Don’t dodge!”
“What happened to our talk, birdbrain!”
“First, I figured I’d beat the crap out of you so you couldn’t run away. But you’re surprisingly persistent. It’s annoying, so I might as well ask now.”
“What!?”
“Are you plotting something with Aira?”
“Of course not.”
“Then is it true that you were with Aira at the station in the next town?”
“Yeah.”
Judging by Makoto’s tone, someone must have put him up to this. The culprit was probably Haruyoshi behind him.
In that case, there was no way he’d believe me if I denied it.
I had spent a considerable amount of time with Aira. There was a chance we were photographed walking side by side.
“Tanuki. Tell me. What are you planning?”
“She just tagged along.”
“Don’t give me that crap!”
“Why are you so pissed? Did I do something to you?”
“Your finger!! The hospital!!”
“Don’t get mad just because I wet myself in front of people.”
“I’m gonna kill you!”
Seiji dashed forward, leaning into his attack.
The iron pipe he held at his waist showed no sign of swinging. He easily closed the distance for a thrust.
Was he going to try to hit him just under the pipe’s belly?
Or was he planning to stab him?
There was no avoiding it.
There was a wall right behind him.
From Noble mtl dot com
The alleyway was already pretty narrow. There was nothing he could do if Seiji closed the distance.
While he was thinking about this and that,
“Shaaa!”
“Gah…!?”
The iron pipe was thrust into Ryugo’s solar plexus.
Agony.
For a few moments, his body forgot to breathe.
“Bam…”
Another blow was struck into Ryugo’s head as he doubled over, groaning.
Lights flashed before his eyes, and his consciousness began to slip away. White behind his eyelids, and black in his field of vision, his brain felt like it was being churned to mush.
When the momentary blackout ended, he was lying face down on the dirty ground.
“Now we’re back to how we were,” Seiji said with a triumphant grin, his foot on Ryugo’s back.
“Dammit… If the situation were a little different, that could almost be a romantic line…”
“Alright, let’s hear it,” Seiji said.
“Th-that’s all I said…!”
“Don’t lie. My shoes just got new, and now…”
“Ugh!”
Seiji’s foot slammed into Ryugo’s side.
Then, his heel came down on his back.
“You’re gonna get ’em dirty with your Bl00d!”
“Th-that’s great. They’re ugly, so it’ll be a nice accent.”
“Since you can still talk, you might as well make yourself useful. Or else you’ll never talk again.”
The pipe was pointed at Ryugo’s jaw, taking aim.
Was he going to break it?
Seiji would probably do it if he said he would.
His eyes were hungry, famished. There was no more time before he lost all reason. He would gladly smash Ryugo’s face in if he could just find a good enough reason.
“Talk, raccoon.”
“…You really gonna take it this far?”
“I followed Ira the whole time. I kept her happy, bowed my head, and followed all her orders.
I didn’t say anything when she smashed my dead dad’s guitar. I just laughed it off when she made fun of my mom.
And I did it all because she promised to help me with my band!
What the hell? Am I of no use anymore!? Have you found a new toy, so you don’t care what happens to me? That’s unreasonable!”
It was just a rant full of resentment towards Aira now.
That probably means he had a lot of pent-up frustration.
He had endured being treated like a slave for his own purposes, but now that contract was about to be extinguished, and it made no sense.
“Gah…”
Makoto’s sharp toes dug mercilessly into my side.
“That garbage, sh*tty woman! I can’t take it anymore! She’s used me like a slave!”
“Ugh! Guh… Ubuh…”
A horrible nausea and a feeling like the air had turned to mud.
My insides were taking catastrophic damage.
I tried to curl up, but Makoto’s attacks accurately targeted my weak points.
“My, my, you’re really angry~”
Haruyoshi seemed completely indifferent.
Even this intense confrontation seemed to be nothing more than entertainment to him.
Haruyoshi had used me for his own amusement.
He had introduced us.
Enough is enough.
He was laughing smugly from above like he was a third party.
I’ll knock him down right now.
Makoto swung the iron pipe like a golf club and aimed a swing at Ryugo’s jaw.
“Anything you want to say before you lose the ability to speak?”
“…Yeah.”
“Tell me. I’ll listen.”
“Help me!”
In an instant,
“Wha!?”
Haruyoshi punched Makoto in the face.
The ‘order’ he had placed on him beforehand had activated.
Honestly, I didn’t want to use this.
It would only create unnecessary friction in their relationship, and I could think of at least “ten” problems that would arise.
But when it comes to my own safety, it’s easy to throw away half-baked ideas.
Ignoring Makoto, who was sent flying, Ryugo quickly got to his feet and ran for the exit.
“What the hell are you doing!?”
I heard Makoto’s angry voice behind me and turned around.
The two of them were rolling around, grappling.
Haruyoshi was trying to pin him down, and Makoto was trying to break free. There didn’t seem to be much difference in their strength, so they were in a near-perfect stalemate.
I ran through the streets, listening to Makoto’s angry shouts in the distance.
“Hah…huff…”
I stopped, out of breath.
The sky had turned a deep violet, signaling the approach of night. A chilly night breeze caressed my skin.
It was around 7 AM.
As I walked through the residential area, people glanced at me, but I didn’t seem to be of interest to them. They briskly passed me by.
What happened to them?
The order was to “protect Ryugo.” Now that we’ve left the scene, the effect should have worn off.
Just to be sure, I checked the app, and it seemed that the hypnosis had already been lifted.
The immediate problem was clear, but I was afraid of tomorrow.
I couldn’t predict how the conflict between Makoto and Haruyoshi would affect us.
“Oh well! Tomorrow’s me will figure it out!”
◆
The next day.
I peeked into the classroom, filled with dread as I regretted my reckless actions yesterday.
“Huh?”
Makoto was nowhere to be seen in the classroom.
No, if I looked closely, Haruyoshi was also absent.
Despite their delinquent behavior, I had never seen them skip school before.
This high school had a decent academic reputation. Even though they were far from being model students, they must have possessed some common sense since they were able to get in.
In that case, the only reason could be yesterday’s incident.
“Good morning, Raccoon Boy.”
A voice as radiant as the morning sun called out to Ryugo, who was lost in thought.
“Oh, good morning.”
“What’s wrong? Standing there in the hallway.”
“Makoto and Haruyoshi aren’t here.”
“Huh? That’s true… Well, maybe they’re skipping together?”
“They’ve never done that before.”
“Don’t worry about it. You can’t possibly understand everything about them after only three months in the same class. They probably just felt like doing something like this once in a while.”
“I guess…”
That would be a natural reaction from Madoka, who didn’t know about yesterday’s events.
But for someone who did, it was impossible to nod and say, “Yes, I understand,” when told to “forget about it and think of it as an unfounded worry.”
Probably, the fight escalated, and they ended up in police custody. That seemed like a reasonable guess.
“But why are you worried about Makoto and the others, Raccoon Boy?”
“That’s because…”
Now that she mentioned it, it was indeed strange.
If I said I was a philanthropist, would she believe me?
While I was racking my brain, trying to figure out what to do,
“Okay, everyone. Please take your seats.”
The homeroom teacher came in, and I was saved. I followed the instructions and sat down.
As always, Misato next to me had a sullen expression.
She showed no sign of being shaken by the fact that I was unharmed.
Was her heart made of steel, or was she simply unaware of yesterday’s incident?
“Hey, Misato.”
As the teacher called out the roll, Ryugo spoke to her in a small voice.
“…What?”
“You know something about Makoto, don’t you?”
“Huh? Wh-what are you talking about?”
“Yesterday, he came at me swinging.”
“…Huh?”
She didn’t seem to be playing dumb.
From the bottom of her heart, she had the look of someone who couldn’t understand what he was saying. It would be like chasing shadows trying to get anything out of her like this.
Still, she was the only one who knew the situation here.
“That’s why…”
“――This morning, we were contacted,” the teacher’s voice rang out in the classroom as he looked down at the attendance book.
“Makoto-kun has been hospitalized after being in a traffic accident.
Haruyoshi-kun hasn’t returned home since yesterday.
If anyone knows anything, please let the teacher know.”
“……………………huh?”