At that moment he heard loud laughter and shouting.
He looked around the corner. What are those voices?
Ren had Ranzuki by the arm, and she was screaming. "Let me go! It hurts!"
Ranzuki? Naritu stood frozen in surprise.
"Idiot!" she shouted, and stamped down on her attacker's foot, but he only caught her other arm and shouted back, "You think you can get away with that?"
She closed her eyes and screamed at them to stop.
I have to help her, Naritu thought. And immediately after it came the teacher's voice from that afternoon, about violators being expelled on the spot. No. I can't. If I get involved, I'll be expelled instantly.
But then another thought arrived, and it did not go away. I have to help her. Now.
Ren pulled Ranzuki in close against him, tears running down her face, and Ken began to advance on her.
"Let's record this too," one of the bullies suggested.
Damn. There's no time to think. Maybe I should call someone. No. If he called, they would never get here in time to save her, and it would come out anyway, and that would be the end of the cram school.
Wasn't there a way to help without putting himself in danger? He had to think. There had to be a way. If he disguised himself so that no one would recognise him —
Then he looked at the poster hanging on the wall beside him and thought, exactly. This is it. If I take off my glasses and comb my hair differently, it should work.
Then he did exactly that.
"Somebody stop them!" Ranzuki screamed. She was begging for help from anyone at all, and the bullies went on pressing her mercilessly.
The next second Naritu jumped right at them. He kicked Ren far back down the pavement, landed, and looked straight ahead with a hard, serious expression. No one must know it was me. This is the only way to save Ranzuki without great risk.
Ken ran forward. "He's a freak!"
At that moment a memory surfaced in Ranzuki's mind — how the same boy had once stood in front of her like that, protecting her from a gang of thugs.
Ken swung his fist and shouted, "So he's decided to play the hero. Huh?"
He punched straight out in front of him, but Naritu ducked, and the blow went over his head. Then he grabbed the attacker by the head and drove his knee into his face, throwing Ken to the ground, and followed it up with a kick.
Naritu caught Ranzuki's arm. "Now's our chance. Come on. Let's run."
Ken pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, looked after them and clenched his fist. "Damn it! Hey, stop!"
Naritu turned around and shouted, "Are you just going to leave him like that?"
"Huh?" Ken said. Then he looked over at Ren, who was lying unconscious in the road. He clenched his teeth in irritation and thought, one blow. One blow was enough for him.
Then he noticed a Shaon High School student ID lying on the pavement nearby. He decided he would look into that later.
After some time, Ranzuki said that she was very grateful to him for walking her home.
"After what happened, it's only natural," Naritu said. He smiled, looking at her.
Ranzuki blushed with embarrassment.
Naritu frowned. She was staring at him too intently. He hoped she did not understand anything. The glasses, the hairstyle, his whole way of standing and speaking were different — but he needed to distract her somehow.
Then Ranzuki noticed that her uniform was a little torn. She started to straighten her shirt, and he handed her his jacket and said she could take it if she wanted. He draped it over her shoulders.
"Are you sure?" she asked. "Thank you."
Then her gaze caught on a detail of it, and she stopped.
"Wait. Is this uniform from Shaon High School?"
I miscalculated, Naritu thought. How could I have missed that? He did not know how bad things would get if she found out.
"Are you sure about what you did?" Ranzuki asked. She had assumed those guys were from Shaon too, and she wondered whether he wasn't afraid he would get in trouble at school tomorrow because of this.
She looked at him, and he said, "That's not the point."
She's right, he thought. The consequences really could be bad.
"But it had to be done," he added.
He remembered his father's words. Listen, Makoto. I don't recommend fighting. But there are situations where you have to use your fists.
This was just the right situation, Naritu thought — protecting someone weaker. Although, frankly, it was complicated. He and Ranzuki did not even really know each other. But if he saw defenceless people being beaten, then of course he would help.
Ranzuki smiled, looked at him, and asked whether it would be too intrusive if she got his contact information. She would need to return his uniform.
He looked at her with something close to fear and told her not to worry about it. Then he laughed awkwardly, thinking that he could hardly suggest she throw the jacket away.
Then she leaned over, came closer to him, and said that in that case he should at least tell her his name. She would definitely return the uniform, and she thanked him for today.
He turned away and scratched his head awkwardly and muttered that yes, he should say his name.
I can't say the real one. I'll have to come up with a nickname — although I've never had one in my life.
He went through syllables in his head. He hesitated.
"Futano," he said.
"Futano," Ranzuki repeated thoughtfully.