"He's your opponent in the finals."
Right, Naritu thought. I saw his name in the tournament bracket.
Yui said, "The smart guy with glasses. So it's Naritu. Seriously, he looks so smart." He ordered them all to listen. Then he asked a question. "You only defeated one guy in the Freshman War, right? And the one you defeated was this guy, right?"
He threw Rayma into the room, which caused questions from the guys. Yui kicked Rayma and said, "Well, I congratulate you on reaching the finals, but honestly, this guy is very weak. He lost, and he still acts arrogant, so I gave him a little lesson. So, Naritu. Don't you want to teach some of the guys a lesson too? That's just how our school is set up."
Rayma said, "He—"
"What?" Yui cried out in irritation. "Looks like you still need some work. Let's see. I charge tuition. Okay, I'll give you a lecture from Ikada." He grabbed Rayma by the chain around his neck and said, "Just in case. Private lessons are expensive."
Matsuda got scared, and Yui cried out, "Everyone's attention."
All the students looked at him, and he screamed, "This is what losing looks like, and this is how victory is signified." He punched Rayma and screamed loudly. "I hate people like that, who act so arrogant. They act tough when they're actually very weak. Whatever happens to that guy now, he will always be the one who loses. Losers must crawl. Do you understand?"
Yui swung his leg, when suddenly Naritu blocked his punch.
"He—" Yui said.
Naritu looked at his wristwatch and said, "It's already the start of class."
Yui clenched his fist and shouted, "He—" And then, "My lesson isn't over yet."
A shout rang out. "Naritu!"
He turned around and quickly blocked the punch.
Yui frowned and said, "He—" and pulled his hand away, and ordered him to get out of the way.
Matsuda asked, "Naritu, are you okay?"
"It's okay," Naritu replied. "The main thing is that class is about to start."
Matsuda said happily, "As always. He doesn't change."
Some time later, in the boxing gym, Yui was training, hitting a punching bag. He remembered Naritu's words and thought, he intercepted it like it was nothing. And that look. He's mocking me. I'll make him regret it for sure.
On the day of the final match of the Shaon High School Freshman War, a shout was heard. "Naritu!"
Matsuda came up to him and asked, "What? You're leaving already? Today is the finals of the Freshman War."
"That's right," Naritu said. "I've been thinking about it ever since Tada was able to withdraw from the competition. Maybe I could too."
Matsuda screamed, "But Tada had a good reason. He got hurt in that skirmish. Usually the losing classes get punished as the loser class."
Naritu said even if that were true, those two cases were unavoidable circumstances. Now the situation was completely different.
Kiritani came into the room and said that he had a proposal. "Can you wait a little? Forgive me, but we need you to take part in the finals. Do you remember a guy named Inui?"
Naritu said he thought Tada had mentioned him.
Kiritani said he wanted to find him. "They say he always comes to watch the Freshman War, so we need you to win the fight."
Naritu frowned and asked, "You want me to fight that guy? It's none of my business."
Kiritani said that this way they could get information and find out why they attacked Ranzuki. He stayed silent for a moment, then smirked and said, "Besides, if you win the Freshman War, guys like Yui who start fights will leave you alone. And on top of that, you'll become an authority among the freshmen. You'll be able to make them be more diligent. What do you think? I think this is a good offer for you."
Naritu looked at him carefully, then sighed and said, "But only on the condition that we find out exactly why they attacked Ranzuki. Okay."
Kiritani said, "Yes. If we can follow the trail. To do that, we need to get close to Inui."
Such a sudden kidnapping, Naritu thought. I can't let this happen again. This is the second time she's had contact with these guys. If this continues, others might get hurt. We have to prevent it in future.
Kiritani said that Inui did not usually act so openly. "They say the initial attack on Tada was part of a recruitment attempt, so he'll definitely show up. Please, Naritu. Go out there and try to win."
After a while, Naritu walked out to the centre of the Shaon High School courtyard.
Saki looked out of the window and said, "Look, there he is. Something interesting is expected. He advanced to the next round because his opponent withdrew. But is he really strong?"
Narumiya said, "Who knows?"
Bets were being taken on the fight down in the courtyard, and the students had already prepared themselves to watch.
These looks are just killing me, Naritu thought. His friends were supporting him, and he understood that now he had no way back.
Yui walked out onto the field and called out to Naritu. In response he only frowned, and Yui laughed and asked, "You're ignoring me, right?"
This is not just a fight for me, Naritu thought.
A guy came forward and said, "I'll be the referee." Isaki, a second year.
This is a battle for the safety of our future, Naritu thought. For that I'll do everything possible.
Yui frowned and said he would grind him into dust.
Isaki swung his hand and shouted, "And so — get ready. Freshman War. The final match."
The operation begins, Naritu thought.
Isaki shouted, "Start."
Yui tried to attack, but Naritu dodged sharply. He ducked, and Yui thought, I've caught him. He hit at Naritu, but Naritu went into a backflip.
Yui screamed, "What?" He thought, the guy has been dodging like this from the beginning. Boxing is clearly not for him. He said he had never expected anyone to dodge from such a position. "It turns out he can move up and down. But what about side to side?"
Naritu dodged again, and Yui chuckled and said, "That's not bad, but it'll end too quickly. Boring." And he's fast. He moves like that because he sees my punches.
Yui bared his teeth and said, "He's ignoring me. That's why nerds are so boring."
Naritu said discontentedly, "He talks too much."
At this time — Shaon High School, the outer corridor. Kiritani ran down the corridor and thought, even if Naritu delays the fight for me, it'll be thirty minutes at most. He needed to figure this out before then.
He started looking around and thought, isn't this Inui? He heard Inui had a huge ego. He wants to recruit people. Would someone who acts like a leader really hang around among the students? No. Not right. Maybe he's with that big guy. I should find him immediately. They're probably somewhere quiet with a good view.