Chapter 12

After school.

Yugen was on his way to return a book to the library on campus...

"Whaaat!? Why?"

Such a frivolous-sounding voice could be heard.

It had a joking tone, but it also seemed to contain a hint of anger.

"Hey, just a little... think of it as a trial. A month... no, a week, no, three days! Just as a friend..."

It seemed they were having a disagreement over a romantic matter.

However, Yugen had no interest in getting involved in other people's romantic affairs, so he tried to ignore it and walk past...

"I don't like you."

The familiar voice made him stop in his tracks.

It was a beautiful, yet cold and emotionless voice.

A voice Yugen knew well, belonging to a girl.

If it involved someone he knew, he couldn't just leave it be.

Yugen headed towards the source of the voice.

The location was a secluded spot under a tree.

Yugen cautiously observed the scene.

Sure enough, the familiar voice belonged to Yugen's "fiancée," Yuki Shizukana.

And the one persistently clinging to her was...

A senior, a year older.

If Yugen's memory served him right... he was the ace of the soccer team.

He remembered seeing him being awarded at an assembly or something.

He was also a name that had come up recently among Soichiro and Sei.

His name was Umihara.

"Whaaat? What part? I don't think I'm that bad..."

"Everything, overall."

Shizukana bluntly dismissed him.

She seemed a bit irritated.

And Umihara also seemed a bit irritated.

"Come on, don't be so stiff... I'm sure I can be of help to you."

"I don't need your help."

"Your father's company is having financial difficulties, right?"

Shizukana's expression froze.

Her originally expressionless face turned even more rigid.

"My father is a city councilor. I'm sure I can be of... help."

"Enough! I don't need it!"

Shizukana said this dismissively and turned to leave.

But the senior grabbed her arm.

"Let go... or I'll tell the teacher."

"Wait, wait. Just a little more talk..."

Yugen couldn't just stand by any longer.

"She doesn't want this."

Yugen stepped forward and sternly reprimanded Umihara.

He approached, maintaining eye contact with Umihara.

"Who are you? ...It's none of your business."

Umihara's expression twisted, looking a bit guilty.

He seemed to be aware that he was being forceful.

"As a classmate, I can't just stand by. ...Why don't you let go of her hand?"

Yugen pressed, and Umihara averted his gaze slightly.

People like him are often surprisingly weak-willed.

"Don't get cocky, just because you're a first-year."

Umihara reached out to push Yugen.

He didn't have the courage to hit him, but he was scared by the approach.

This was an action driven by such psychology.

Yugen firmly grabbed his hand and twisted it slightly.

"Ow..."

Umihara winced in pain and released Shizukana's arm.

Shizukana hid behind Yugen.

Yugen let go of Umihara's hand.

"Who are you?"

Umihara asked Yugen, irritated.

Since there was no reason to be intimidated or hide, Yugen answered honestly.

"I'm Yugen Takasegawa."

"...Takasegawa, huh. I'll remember that."

Umihara spat out and fled.

Yugen shrugged.

"...Um, Takasegawa-san."

Shizukana timidly called out to Yugen with a nervous expression and bowed slightly.

"...I caused you trouble."

"No, don't worry about it. But... was I being meddlesome?"

Shizukana seemed to dislike being involved in her personal matters.

Yugen would have preferred to just observe, but he couldn't just stand by and watch.

"No... I was really in trouble, so I'm grateful."

"Is that so? Then... I guess it's not all bad. It was a bit of a misfortune, though."

"...I'm fine. But... are you okay, Takasegawa-san?"

Shizukana asked, looking worried.

Yugen tilted his head in confusion but soon understood.

Probably because he had caught Umihara's attention.

"Yeah, I'm fine. He can't do much. He seems to be a bit weak-willed... at most, he might complain to his parents or gang up on me."

"That... isn't that a problem? His father is... influential in his field, right? And he's the ace of the soccer team, right?"

"He is a bit of a celebrity."

However...

"He has a bad reputation, though."

"...Is that so?"

"He's not well-liked even by the soccer team members."

Yugen had heard classmates badmouthing him.

While Yugen didn't particularly enjoy hearing bad things about others, it seemed to be true that he wasn't well-liked.

"Also, he's famous for being a love letter stalker. No one would go out of their way to help him with his love letter drama."

"Love letter stalker?"

"Recently, he's been bothering my female friends. They were quite troubled by it."

The female friends were Tachibana Ayaka and Kounishi Chiharu.

He might have wanted to improve his status by dating a cute first-year, especially one from a good family, but...

"He was quite forceful."

"...Are they okay?"

"Yeah, a friend intervened. There was a bit of a scuffle, not as intense as today, but it seemed to have upset him."

The friend was Satake Soichiro.

When he aggressively pursued Tachibana and Kounishi and then challenged Satake to a fight, Yugen thought he had some guts... but it seemed he was just a naive rich kid.

"Do you really think it's okay?"

"Just ignore him. ...But if he does anything, let me know."

"...Okay."

Shizukana nodded, looking a bit uneasy.

---

Three days later, during lunch break.

"Hey, Takasegawa... Umihara-senpai is looking for you. And Yuki Shizukana too."

A soccer team member from the same class called out to him.

Yugen tilted his head, wondering what it was about.

Most likely, it was related to the incident the other day.

"Are you okay? Takasegawa... He seemed pretty irritated."

A classmate asked, looking worried.

Yugen waved his hand and said brightly.

"That's my fault. I probably irritated him. ...Sorry for the trouble."

"No, it's fine for us."

Yugen told the soccer team member not to worry and then looked towards Shizukana.

She seemed to have been contacted as well.

Her usual expressionless face was slightly troubled, it seemed.

Then Yugen looked towards the classroom door.

Umihara was standing there, arms crossed, looking irritated.

Yugen decided to resolve the matter as peacefully as possible and without causing trouble for Shizukana.

---

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