Chapter 4: CH 4

Big Puppy

“Um… Are you looking for something?”

The clerk asked me. I appreciated the concern, but I had to do something else at that moment.

“Excuse me, I’m going to come back later to buy this. Could you hold it for me?”

“Yeah, I just have to hold it until you get back, right?”

“Yes, please!”

I didn’t have time to write down my contact information, so I left my student handbook as proof of identity and walked out of the store.

I walked on a stone-paved street in the direction of the station. On that path, I saw a group of boys and girls in school uniforms.

The two boys and the three girls that I just saw  – one of them was Takane-san, who was accompanied by a girl who seemed to be a senior.

Outside the school, she was approached by four upperclassmen. The fact that she was being recruited for a club activity proved that she was a promising new student.

I didn’t know anything about her, whether she wanted to join the club or not.

What I was about to do might be superfluous. As a result of letting my sense of justice get out of control, I might end up causing trouble for my classmates, whom I didn’t even know that well yet, and end up being hated.

‘It’s not like they’re bothering her or anything. People are just coming to say hello.’

‘It’s tough for Takane-san, having to be recruited like that. I mean, they’ve definitely got ulterior motives.’

It was not just a passing thought, and it was not because I had heroic aspirations.

I just didn’t want to have a ‘hunch’ and not take any action.

If I went home and pretended that I didn’t see anything, I would surely regret it later.

The boy standing in front of Takane-san was talking nicely, and the boy next to him was doing the same. The two girls were also trying to get her into the groove.

“You’re so good at it, it would be a shame if you quit after high school.”

“Even if you’re busy, just come to practice once in a while. That would be a big help.”

They were unaware of my presence. Even when I got close enough to hear them talking.

I was always treated as a shady character who was mysteriously talking to Asatani-san, but that inconspicuousness helped me now.

“As I’ve said many times, I don’t want to join the club.”

“Don’t say that. Let’s just talk about it.”

“Why don’t we just go to that cafe over there? We’ll buy you a drink. Just give us 30- no, just 15 minutes.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll even pay for it. He’s got a part-time job, so he’s got a lot of money.”

“What, me? Yeah, I don’t mind at all if you join us, Takane-san.”

“So …..”

Takane-san’s voice became a little bit stronger. But the upperclassmen didn’t take it seriously and just laughed.

“…… I don’t plan to join any club activities. And I do want to talk about it.”

Then she bowed and turned to leave, as if she thought it was useless to talk anymore.

—But one of the boys grabbed Takane-san’s bag and forcibly stopped her.

“We’re asking for this long, why not just stay for a bit?”

“……”

It was smarter to stand around and not be spotted by the upperclassmen. I thought in my mind, pretending to be calm.

I, the not-so-smart one, gave myself the middle finger as hard as I could. To h**l with being calm.

By the time I thought that, I was already running.

“Takane-san!”

I shouted so loudly that I surprised myself. The upperclassmen, who hadn’t noticed my presence at all, finally noticed me.

“I’m glad I could make it before you left. We’re getting together with the class today, and we were wondering if you could come join us too… Oh, seniors, what can I do for you?”

“What’s with this guy?  He can’t read the situation, can he?”

“Tell your classmates to wait because I’m talking about something important with Takane-san.”

I knew I would be pushed back – but the adrenaline seemed to be pumping and the thought of pulling back never occurred to me.

“It’s important for us too. Excuse me, seniors.”

“Oh hey…”

I was about to pull Takane-san’s hand, who was unable to move, and take her with me.

But the usual ‘bad feeling’ came over me. One of the two boys, who had been smiling the whole time, suddenly became expressionless.

What was he planning to do? Ahh… he was trying to step on my foot.

A few thoughts come to my mind as to what I should do next. It was not a very cool idea, but if he didn’t back down, I would make him back down, even if I didn’t want to.

“Whoa!”

I lost my balance when he tried to step on my foot. I then fell down and cowered on the spot.

“Ouch…”

“… Hey, what are you doing? That’s too much.”

“What? Oh, I didn’t do anything…”

The senior girls started to panic, and so did the boys who tried to put their feet up and pretended to be calm.

“Oh s**t… Hey, let’s go!”

“Hey, hey, what are we gonna do about this guy?”

“This is not the time to be talking about that….!”

Apparently, passersby had gathered – it worked, but now I had to figure out what to do from here.

“Are you okay, Senda-kun?…We need to get you patched up right away.”

“I’m fine. I can manage to walk on my own.”

Relying on the street light pole, I pulled myself and stood up, appealing to the people who had gathered that I was okay.

As I entered a secluded alleyway, I finally looked back.

… Takane-san, who was following me, looked at me with great concern.

I always thought she was a cool person who rarely smiled, so I felt a lot of guilt for making her look like that.

“Oh ……um… I’m sorry. I thought it might be unnecessary……”

“…… No, it’s not. You were helping me, weren’t you?”

Takane-san approached me – and brushed the dust from my uniform.

“Sorry, because of me…”

At that point, I couldn’t stop myself from revealing the truth. I just acted like I fell when he put his foot out, making it look like I was tripped.

The basic principle of self-defense was to not let your opponent do what he wanted, and one of the things we practiced was to make your opponent fall instead. At the same time, you could learn how to avoid being knocked down. In this case, I made it look like I was tripped and pretended to be in some pain. It was a spur of the moment decision, but I was glad it worked out.

“Earlier, I was about to get my foot stepped on, so I just avoided it. I didn’t get hurt or anything. Besides, the whole gathering in class thing was just something I said on the spur of the moment. ……”

“Why did you go that far?”

“I heard rumors that …… Takane-san was having a hard time from others trying to recruit you and I thought that might be the case now. I’m sorry for being so abrupt, really.”

From Takane-san’s point of view, she must be surprised if a guy from her class suddenly got involved. Even though it was a painstaking effort to save her, it would look like a stranger pretending to have fallen and looking nonchalant – there was no choice but to leave as soon as possible.

The fact that I had heard rumors about her would also make her wonder what kind of stories were being spread about her without her knowledge. I was sure that was not a good feeling.

“Those seniors won’t be coming back, so you’d better get home. Take care, then…”

“……”

Before I could finish, I was stopped by someone grabbing the sleeve of my uniform.

“Why are you trying to go away so soon? You look like a person who’s done something wrong.”

“Oh ….I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…..”

Takane-san’s eyes, looking straight at me, were sharp – but they also looked worried.

She was tall, so she always looked cool. I had already made up my mind about her because she lived in a different world.

Takane-san was a classmate of mine. If I were to be forcibly recruited or surrounded by upperclassmen, I would feel scared.

“…… Senda-kun, are you sure you’re not hurt?”

“No, I’m really fine. I can’t show you, but I don’t have any scratches or anything.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I was really worried about you. But now that you mentioned it, I think it was a very clean fall.”

“Hahaha …… Well, I didn’t have anything else useful to add.”

“I don’t think so. I think it was great, because it just helped me.”

I didn’t do it because I wanted you to be grateful. In the end, I was just being selfish.

I was glad I wasn’t mistaken, and I was glad that I was able to help her. I was truly relieved then – that was all I needed.

“…… Then, I’m going to go shopping and go home afterwards.”

I was about to leave, telling her to be careful on her way home – when she stopped me once again.

This time, I was pulled by the hem of my uniform. It was only a slight pinch, but I couldn’t shake it off.

“Senda-kun… Are you the kind of person who gets embarrassed when people thank you?”

“No, I mean, it’s not something you should be thanked for. ……”

“It would be weird if I didn’t thank you for this.”

“Yeah, I guess so. ……”

I felt that I had to change my behavior when I see a beautiful girl.

“So… Uhm, I’m sorry Senda-kun, but…”

Takane-san was trying to say something that was difficult to say.

“…… What?”

My nerves were getting to me. I was already nervous to begin with, but any more pressure would be too much.

“After what just happened… Could you… go with me to the train station?”

“Oh, …… right, of course. Of course.”

I guess she felt bad about asking me to do that, but I should be held responsible for that. If the people from earlier came back, they would find out that I had lied about the gathering with the class.

“Then, shall we head to the station?”

“……Yes. Thank you, Senda-kun.”

Even though this was impossible, Takane-san seemed to be very glad that I agreed, as if she thought she might be rejected. I couldn’t help but smile at the smile that seemed to blossom on her face.

She was tall and slender. Not to mention she appeared very stylish and mature. She was a beautiful girl that people passing by would look back and give a second glance. I had a few thoughts about her in that way. The way she pinched the hem of my uniform and followed me around, she looked like a little puppy.