After fleeing from Karin, Shiki dashed up the stairs in no time and headed for Class 2–B on the third floor.
That classroom was not only where Shiki’s homeroom was, but also the very hell where the delinquent group that bullied him waited.
Reaching the room, he walked toward the three delinquents gathered around the desks at the back by the window, and nervously lined up the canned drinks he had bought on top of their desks.
Watching him with a glare, lounging arrogantly in his chair, the filthy blond delinquent—Kawato—spoke in a blatantly irritated tone.
“Didn’t think I’d have to wait more than double the time limit. Got some nerve for a nobody like you, Orifushi.”
“S-sorry…”
Before he could finish apologising,
“A~ra~ra, looks like you made Kawato mad, Orifushi-kun.”
“What’s next, a gut punch? It’s a gut punch, right?”
The two followers interrupted, their words mocking on purpose.
“Huh? You show up late and don’t even apologise properly?”
With a loud clatter, Kawato stood up as if to show off, making Shiki flinch.
The glare that came down from nearly ten centimetres above was nothing but terrifying.
“I… I did apologise, but their voices—”
“Oh, so it’s our fault now?”
“That’s cold, Orifushi-kun.”
“N-no, that’s not—”
“Enough.”
With that single word from Kawato, even his two lackeys fell silent.
“You come late and can’t even give a decent apology. That means your penalty this time’s two hits, yeah?”
“W-wait— bufh!?”
The punch drove straight into his stomach before he could say another word. The protest on his lips burst out instead as a strange gasp.
“Here comes the second one!”
As declared, the next blow slammed into his gut again.
Naturally, no one tried to stop it. This was a delinquent school—nearly everyone here was a troublemaker, and the few who weren’t knew better than to get involved.
Even the handful of normal students didn’t so much as glance at Shiki, afraid of becoming the next target.
He wanted to double over and clutch his stomach right then, but showing pain would only make Kawato angrier and earn him more “penalties.” So he forced himself to endure.
“Ooh, tough guy, huh, Orifushi-kun?”
“Nah, it’s just that Kawato’s got perfect control. Right?”
Kawato nodded smugly at the compliment.
“That’s right. If I went too far and the ‘Empress’ noticed, it’d be a pain.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” the others laughed.
To Shiki, who was still aching from the punches, there was nothing remotely funny about it.
Kawato popped open a can of oolong tea, took a swig, and asked an absurdly belated question.
“So, what took you so long?”
“Well… I almost ran into the ‘Empress’ you just mentioned, Kawato-kun…”
The moment they heard that, both of his followers let out pitiful cries.
“Wait, hold up— you didn’t rat us out to the Empress or something, did you?”
“Oi oi oi! That’d be bad!”
“Calm down, you two.”
At Kawato’s words, they both shut their mouths.
“Think about it. You really think a coward like Orifushi could hold a proper conversation with the Empress? And all we’ve got him doing is errands. That kind of thing’s nothing unusual around here.”
“Y-yeah, that’s true…”
“Y-yeah, Kawato’s right. Nothin’ to freak out over.”
Both followers relaxed with visible relief.
Everyone knew that Kohinata Karin, the so-called “Empress,” had a hero-like nature—helping the weak and crushing the strong. Kawato and his gang, who bullied Shiki, were without question the kind of people she despised.
Their simultaneous relief and matching reactions were because they were well aware of that fact.
Soon after, the bell signalling the end of break rang. Kawato clicked his tongue and shooed Shiki away with a flick of his hand, like chasing off a dog.
The fact that a delinquent like him still bothered to attend class properly was, of course, thanks to the Empress’s influence.
Relieved to have escaped hell for now, Shiki returned to his seat.
Kawato’s bullying never went on during class, and even when they did hit him, they stuck to body blows—avoiding his face so as not to leave visible marks.
Shiki understood well that it was all thanks to Kohinata Karin’s presence as the school’s top boss.
In that sense, he supposed he should be somewhat grateful to her.
Yet no matter what, he couldn’t suppress the fear he felt toward her—the girl who ruled this delinquent school through sheer strength.
That fear kept him from ever asking her for help, just as Kawato’s followers had said.
And despite being that afraid, some part of him still thought, “I don’t want to drag anyone else into my mess… especially not a girl.”
He couldn’t help thinking he was hopelessly foolish.
(But it can’t be helped. That’s just who I am…)
He muttered that to himself in resignation.
The reason he’d ended up at St. Lukimantz Academy—and the reason Kawato’s group had targeted him—could all be traced back to that same personality.
On the day of the entrance exam for his first-choice public high school, even though he’d left home early, he stopped to help an old woman struggling up a pedestrian bridge, then helped a lost child find their parent, and ended up arriving so late he missed part of the test and failed.
He did the same for the second and third choices—late each time, missing part of the exam, failing each one.
Finally, on the day of the backup exam for St. Lukimantz Academy, he happened not to run into anyone in need, and so managed to take the test… and, unluckily, passed.
If he had just enrolled quietly, he probably wouldn’t have been bullied.
But right after admission, he’d stumbled upon Kawato and his gang bullying another student, and his misplaced sense of justice made him step in to defend the victim—forgetting that he was just prey in this school full of predators.
That earned him Kawato’s hatred, and from then on, Shiki became their toy.
To make it worse, the student he’d tried to protect transferred out soon after, scared of the school’s reputation. Shiki couldn’t do the same—he didn’t want to worry his parents—so he stayed.
Before Karin was called the “Empress,” she used to beat up delinquents whenever she caught them picking on the weak.
Knowing how dangerous she was, Kawato’s group made sure never to go too far: no serious injuries, no property destruction, no extortion.
Instead, their bullying grew sneakier and more psychological over time, and they never broke the unspoken hierarchy among delinquents.
Shiki had hoped that moving up a grade would free him from this hell, but by the worst luck, Kawato and his two lackeys ended up in the same class again.
(No way I’ll end up in the same class as them again in third year… right?)
He shook his head slightly, trying to chase away that thought. He didn’t even want to imagine that future.
Before long, the teacher arrived, and the second period began.
He didn’t particularly like classes, but at least for those fifty minutes, he didn’t have to worry about Kawato and the others. That alone made it his only real peace.
And so, despite enduring the errands and “playtime beatings” during every break, Shiki somehow made it to the end-of-day homeroom.
Kawato and his gang belonged to a delinquent faction within the school, and they had to show up for it during lunch and after school—meaning Shiki was finally free from his daily torment.
Still, he made sure to leave the school immediately after homeroom. If he hung around and accidentally ran into them after they were done, it would all be for nothing.
He’d survived another day. The relief that washed over him came from deep within his chest.
Shiki had chosen every high school far from home because he’d always wanted to live alone.
As for why he picked St. Lukimantz Academy as his last resort—it was because of a rumour that you could get in just by submitting the application, even without taking the entrance exam.
His rented room was an ordinary one-room apartment, nothing special.
It wasn’t big, but compared to his bedroom back home, it felt more like his own castle, and even after more than a year, he still liked it.
Leaving that little castle behind, Shiki stepped out with a light heart.
He wasn’t in uniform—just a hoodie and jeans.
Yes, it was Sunday. He didn’t have to worry about running into Kawato and the others, no matter the hour.
He had no friends, thanks to the bullying, but at least weekends—when he didn’t have to see them—were pure heaven.
He planned to head downtown, pick a lunch spot on a whim, eat, then go buy the game he’d pre-ordered.
He walked with an easy step, heading toward the shopping district.
When he arrived, he noticed that the long queue at the ramen shop he’d always been curious about was much shorter today, and decided to eat there—
“Ah, that’s—!?”
The moment he saw Kawato and his followers ahead on the street, terror stabbed at his throat like a knife, freezing him in place.
If he stayed put, they’d notice him for sure. Forcing himself to stay calm, he hurried into a nearby alley.
Praying they hadn’t seen him, he pulled his hoodie’s hood deep over his head and moved further down the alley.
He turned right at a crossroad, hid in the shadow of a building, and only after confirming they hadn’t followed did he exhale deeply.
It wasn’t the first time he’d seen them in town, but that didn’t make it any easier. Every time he did, it shaved years off his life.
He could go to another town, but he had no means of travel, and train fares weren’t cheap—he couldn’t do that every time.
Spending every weekend shut in his apartment out of fear was its own kind of misery, so he forced himself to go out, reasoning that the odds of running into them were small.
Still, actually seeing them again like this made him feel like his peaceful day had been ruined.
The stress made his stomach ache faintly.
His appetite vanished completely. There was no way he could eat ramen now.
Moving carelessly and bumping into them would be the worst possible outcome, so he decided to stay where he was at the crossroad for a while.
Here, even if they entered the alley, he’d have plenty of escape routes. That was the logic.
As he kept watch, he saw Kawato’s lackeys coming from the direction he’d entered. Panicking, he hid behind a building’s wall.
Then he saw Kawato himself follow them into the alley—dragging a girl by the hand.
Shiki froze in place at the sight.
Her black hair was long, reaching her waist like wet feathers, her face so refined that even from a distance she looked stunning—more a beauty than a mere pretty girl.
Judging by her height next to Kawato, she was a little shorter than Shiki, around the mid-160s—taller than the average girl, and with that face, she could’ve passed for a magazine model.
Her outfit—a black camisole dress the same shade as her hair, over a white shirt—gave off an air of elegance. Yet even beneath it, her figure asserted itself strongly enough to stir indecent thoughts in scum like Kawato.
At a glance, she looked college-aged, but—
“S-stop it, please…!”
Her protesting voice, unmistakably that of a young girl, made Shiki think she was around his age—or maybe younger.
(Wait… this is seriously bad, isn’t it!?)
He’d heard rumours—nothing confirmed—but even with the “Empress” reigning now, there were still delinquents at St. Lukimantz Academy who got into shady relationships.
Right now, Kawato and his gang didn’t have to worry about the Empress watching.
The way they’d dragged the girl into a deserted alley was too forceful to call “flirting.” Shiki couldn’t help but imagine the worst.
(But… what can I even do…?)
He was just a weakling—one of their usual victims.
If he tried to intervene, he’d only get beaten senseless again. Worse, with the Empress out of the picture, there’d be no one to stop them.
The smart thing to do would be to run now and call for help.
(But…)
What if, while he was gone, they took the girl somewhere else?
What if her dignity was trampled?
What if they left her with wounds that never healed—inside or out?
Those horrifying thoughts pinned his legs to the ground. He couldn’t run. He couldn’t fight.
Meanwhile, Kawato was dragging the girl toward him, the two lackeys following behind.
The urge to help the girl and the terror of Kawato clashed violently inside Shiki.
(I should run and call for help right now. That’s the right thing. That’s all I can do. Even if I don’t make it in time—it can’t be helped!)
He told himself that, but—
(…But if that girl ends up suffering something worse than what Kawato and the others do to me…)
Then he knew—he’d regret it for the rest of his life.
Regret far heavier than any beating Kawato could ever give him.
The moment that thought hit him.
Inside Shiki, a modest sense of justice and his notably kind-hearted nature just barely outweighed his fear of Kawato and the others.
“Wooooaaahhhh!!”
Before he knew it, he was screaming and charging at Kawato and his crew.
The two flunkies, spooked, conveniently fled to either side, and Shiki used that momentum to slam his body into Kawato.
Maybe because it was unexpected, the big-built Kawato rolled dramatically on the ground—but the girl whose arm he’d been grabbing rolled with him. In that tumble Kawato’s hand came off her, so Shiki shouted this to her before he could even apologize.
“Run!!”
The girl flinched and began to panic, but—
“Hurry!!”
When he shouted again, she answered, “S-sorry!” and immediately scrambled up and ran toward the main street.
“Wait the hell—!!”
Kawato rose with a voice thick with anger, so Shiki grabbed on in a panic and shoved him down again.
Because Shiki and Kawato were wrestling in a narrow alley, the two flunkies couldn’t chase the girl.
“You’re in the way, you piece of shit!!”
Kawato’s elbow came down like a swipe and slammed into the bridge of Shiki’s nose; Shiki fell backward, blood spraying as he lay on his back.
“We were just about to get somewhere, and you had to mess it up!! You’re ready to pay for this, right!? Huh!?” Kawato snarled as he stood up, and one of the flunkies looked at Shiki and raised an eyebrow.
“Hey, hey! I couldn’t tell with the hood, but isn’t this the guy—Orifushi!?”
“Huh!?”
Kawato’s voice got even angrier. He forced Shiki’s hand away from his face—Shiki had been holding his nose, tears in his eyes—and grabbed the collar, yanking him up roughly.
He glared into Shiki’s face, staring seriously… and finally realized.
“So it really is Orifushi!!”
Shoved away, Shiki rolled onto the ground again.
The sting in his nose and the metallic scent of blood left him with no energy to get up.
But he’d managed to get the girl away.
That alone felt enough. He convinced himself it was enough.
If not, he didn’t think he could face the calamity that was about to fall upon him.
“We’ve gotta teach this guy a lesson. …There’s a parking lot a bit further up. Drag this idiot over there.”
The two flunkies nodded in unison, hauled Shiki to his feet between them, and started walking. Kawato spat and followed behind.
As the three men dragged Shiki away,
“Senpai… please come quickly…”
The girl who’d fled to the main street was secretly watching from the shadow of a building, phone to her ear—maybe calling the person she called “senpai.”
Brought to a deserted parking lot, Shiki—
“You had the nerve to pull that shit, Orifushi!?”
“Ugh!?”
Kawato kicked him in the gut; Shiki stumbled back.
Normally that would’ve been the end, but—
“Here!”
With the “Empress” nowhere to be seen, Kawato took advantage and slammed his fist into Shiki’s face—something he’d avoided before because it would leave obvious scars.
“—!”
Shiki grimaced at the unfamiliar pain and kept backing away.
If he tried to resist or defend badly, it would only make Kawato angrier, so all he could do was back away as he was punched and kicked.
“What’s with that face? You act like you’re hurt. We got wrecked ’cause you clocked us—my ribs might be broken now!” Kawato barked.
A punch landed to match the “ribs” line, and Shiki retreated while enduring the pain in his cheek.
Kawato’s “you hit me” referred to the body check Shiki had thrown to free the black-haired girl.
Needless to say, the bit about broken ribs was a blatant lie—just an excuse to beat Shiki more than usual.
“Still, you’re tough, huh—Orifushi-kun.”
“Being tough’s fine and all, but if we beat the shit out of his face too much and the ‘Empress’ sees it at school tomorrow, won’t that be a pain?”
The flunkies, watching and smoking outside school grounds, muttered that and Kawato snorted.
“It won’t be a problem. After all, we didn’t meet Orifushi today.”
The flunkie who caught on cracked up laughing.
“So it’s like: poor Orifushi got hassled by some punks in town and was beaten to hell. So we’re not involved—right?”
“Exactly.”
Kawato said that while theatrically rolling his shoulders.
Then he threw a showy right hook—assuming his opponent wouldn’t dodge or counter.
Shiki’s body swung right from the blow to his left cheek.
“Hey! Take this!!”
A left hook struck his right cheek, sending his body to the left.
Kawato hammered alternating hooks, and each hit sent Shiki swinging like a metronome.
Being punched so many times had filled his mouth with the taste of iron.
At this point it was a miracle none of his teeth had broken.
(Please let this end, please let this end, please let this end…)
He kept repeating that prayer as the beating continued.
He kept his mind away from reality as much as possible while being hit.
By escaping mentally from reality, he could also escape the pain in his cheeks.
A weak person like him couldn’t face violence head-on.
So he escaped.
He simply wished for it to end and escaped.
Eventually, as the hooks neared twenty hits, Kawato’s movements stopped.
“Damn it… why is this guy… still… standing…?” he spat between breaths, disgusted.
Shiki wanted to reply, “Because I’m mentally checked out,” but saying that would only get him hit again.
Besides, even opening his mouth would send pain through his cheeks and oral cavity, so he kept escaping from reality in silence—
“…Huh?”
Suddenly a girl behind Kawato came into view, and Shiki’s consciousness was forcibly yanked back to reality.
He wasn’t the only one who noticed her; the two flunkies dropped the cigarettes they’d been holding in their mouths and stared.
Kawato, sensing someone behind them, turned with a pointless glare—then froze like a statue.
Because the girl behind him was—
“Em… ‘Empress’…?”
Kawato reacted the same way Shiki had earlier, and the “Empress,” —Kohinata Karin—twisted her face into a look of deep distaste.
“Why does everyone call me that dumb nickname?”
Karin walked up with her hands in the pockets of the varsity jacket over her T-shirt, strolled past Kawato, and stopped in front of Shiki.
Shiki thought, in the corner of his mind, that the white stick in her mouth and the combination of a miniskirt and slightly loose socks matched what she wore in uniform—oddly out of place here.
“…Hm?”
While everyone stood frozen, Karin frowned and peered at Shiki’s face.
“You’re that gofer[1] kid from before!”
She said in a shrill voice and slapped Shiki on the shoulder several times.
“You were such a coward before, but you’ve got guts. Honestly, I’m impressed.”
He wanted to say he was still terrified, but he kept that to himself. He tried to ask what she meant by saying he had “guts,” but—
“U—!?”
His mouth, shredded from endless punches from Kawato, protested in pain and he couldn’t form words.
“Don’t force yourself to talk now. I’ll explain things later.”
She said that and glared at Kawato.
Kawato trembled in front of Karin, who was over fifteen centimeters shorter than him—just like Shiki had when Kawato glared at him.
“You look familiar—aren’t you from the Arai faction?” Kawato stammered, visibly shaken.
Karin cast a glance at his two flunkies.
“So those two are from the same group, huh?”
They both flinched at her words.
Seeing how cowed the three of them were, Shiki was reminded again that he found Karin terrifying in a way he couldn’t fully explain—she could intimidate Kawato and his crew like this.
“That errand kid doesn’t look like a delinquent at all, right? I thought he was sketchy back then… but so that was it.”
‘Back then’ probably referred to the time Shiki had been sent on errands and almost collided with her, Shiki guessed.
“…What do you mean by ‘that’?” Kawato croaked, and Karin answered in a voice that carried menace.
“You guys have been doing stupid shit like bullying the weak behind my back.”
“—So what does that have to do with you?” Kawato shot back.
“Nothing. I just don’t like it. So I’ll crush you.”
Kawato, ready to retort—“What you’re doing is bullying the weak too!”—had his flunkies whispering their agreement.
Karin sighed at them.
“Hearing it put that way is annoying.”
Kawato and the others relaxed for a moment, but—
“Fine, I’ll put it differently. You guys were trying to force some pretty black-haired girl into a deserted spot, right? She’s my kouhai.”
At Karin’s words, all three of them went pale.
“Well, I don’t think you lot who sneak around bullying people behind my back could pull off something that audacious, but…” she continued, fixing them with her sharp gaze.
“But it doesn’t change the fact you tried to lay a hand on my cute kouhai. A little beating won’t be enough.”
In that moment, the tiniest person there had the most pressure—Karin—and Shiki, Kawato, and the two flunkies all felt it.
“A—ah… aahhh!!”
One flunkie, unable to withstand Karin’s pressure, let out a crazed cry and lunged at her.
“Back off,” Karin said and gently pushed Shiki’s body aside.
Shiki, who didn’t even try to resist, staggered back as Karin pulled a tessen (iron fan) out of nowhere and threw it at the approaching flunkie.
The closed fan’s tip struck the man’s nose, and his movement halted.
Karin, already close enough to pounce, caught the falling tessen, used the tip as usual to jab at his solar plexus, and felled him in one blow.
“Dammit!!”
His partner, seeing his buddy taken out, lashed out from behind at Karin’s head—but as if she had eyes in the back of her head, she spun in place and dodged.
She then swung out a new tessen, and with the momentum dealt a blow to his temple.
Like his partner, the remaining flunkie was knocked out with a single strike.
Shiki had only heard bits and pieces, but there were rumors Karin combined an odd old fighting art called the Kohinata-style classical combat with her own street-fighting techniques, making her overwhelmingly strong even against the toughest at St. Lukimantz Academy.
Watching her fight, Shiki agreed she was in a different league from Kawato and his gang.
Apparently Kawato had seen Karin fight before and knew he couldn’t win, because even after the two flunkies were taken out they couldn’t do anything.
Karin turned her back to Kawato, put the left tessen in her jacket pocket, fanned herself with the right tessen, and walked up to Shiki.
“Even if I rough him up here, once things cool down he might go back to doing it out of my sight. That could happen.”
Shiki didn’t quite get what she meant. Karin pointed at Kawato with her left thumb without looking and made a wild suggestion.
“So you, idiot delinquent—you take him down.”
“…What?”
Shiki let out a dumbfounded sound, and Kawato pounced on Karin’s suggestion like a moth to a light.
“You mean a one-on-one with Orifushi? So you’re saying you won’t lay a hand on me, whatever the outcome? Is that the deal?”
Kawato implied that was his condition; Karin casually agreed.
“That’s fine. But if you lose, don’t you dare touch that errand kid.”
“Yeah. I can promise that—if Orifushi beats me.”
“W-w-wait! Don’t make decisions for me—ow!?!” Shiki tried to protest, but Karin covered his mouth with her palm.
A chill ran down his spine, convinced he’d irked her, but besides the faint smell of the tessen, a sweet scent from her palm briefly made him forget his fear of the “Empress.” Before he knew it, he swallowed his rebuttal.
Karin, unaware of Shiki’s internal change, winked and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll give you advice so you can beat that idiot.”
“Wha—!? I’m not taking any advice!?”
Karin moved her hand away from his mouth, then covered her own mouth and mockingly chuckled.
“Awww—? Scared? Of the one you bullied so much? I’m only giving a little advice, you know?”
Faced with such blatant ridicule, Kawato trembled in humiliation, veins bulging in his temples as he spat out, “Ha. Who’s scared of some Orifushi? Give whatever advice you want.”
“Then I’ll take the liberty,” Karin said, wrapping a hand around Shiki’s shoulder and turning them both away from Kawato.
The sweet scent brushed Shiki’s nose again, and Karin’s surprisingly small face came uncomfortably close, making him flustered.
Karin misread his reaction and pouted.
“You almost knocked into me at the vending machine before too. Getting scared every time actually hurts my feelings, you know?”
“No… that’s not it…”
Having witnessed her dispatch Kawato’s flunkies in seconds, Shiki couldn’t honestly say he wasn’t still terrified of the “Empress.”
But right now, the excitement and embarrassment at being so close to Kohinata Karin—a girl—were far stronger.
“Also, drop the honorifics. You’re the same year as that idiot, right? So we’re the same year too.”
“B-but…”
“None of that ‘but’ nonsense. No honorifics. Also… what was your name again? Orifushi?”
“Y-yeah…”
“What’s your given name?”
“Shiki… but—”
“Shiki, huh. Easier than Orifushi, so I’ll call you that. And you can call me Karin.”
“…Huh?”
“Thanks, Shiki. For protecting my kouhai. I seriously appreciate it.”
Shiki, overwhelmed as Karin closed the distance smoothly, watched the conversation move along just as smoothly.
“So, from how he looks, that idiot seems short-tempered. I’ll stop the small talk and give you advice. Ready?”
Shiki swallowed and nodded. Karin smiled, then offered advice that made him doubt his ears.
“First strike wins! Kick that idiot’s gut with a full-on front kick! That alone will win you the fight!”
He made a face as if to say “Ehhhhhh—” and Karin laughed.
“You look like you’re thinking ‘Ehhhhhh—’.”
She laughed brightly at the bullseye and Shiki tried to compose his expression, chastened.
“Well, I know it’s ridiculously reckless even coming from me. But seriously, that’s the most certain way to win, so what can I do?”
Faced with her confident words, Shiki faltered.
If the “Empress” gave it her seal of approval—
Maybe kicking Kawato straight in the gut would actually work.
Still, the fear Kawato had carved into Shiki’s heart ran deep; he couldn’t unconditionally trust it.
(But…)
Even if the black-haired girl was Karin’s kouhai, Shiki felt it would be wrong to shove all of the rough stuff onto Karin after he’d rushed in to help.
So—
“…Okay. I’ll do exactly what Kohinata-san told me.”
“Like I said, Karin’s fine… but whatever, not important now.”
Karin stepped back and slapped Shiki on the back.
“Alright, go give him a hit!”
Shiki nodded and faced Kawato, determined.
“You’re getting cocky just because you got advice from the ‘Empress’. Fine then… bring it on… I’ll crush that ‘Empress’ advice along with you!”
Kawato’s veins bulged at his temples with rage like never before; Shiki glanced at Karin, who had already stepped away and gave him a thumbs-up with a smile, whether she’d read his mind or not.
He actually thought, for a moment, this might be his last day.
“It’s too late to chicken out now. You’ll regret challenging me to a one-on-one—so be prepared!”
Kawato charged, yelling.
(We’re starting already!?)
Shiki screamed internally, but without thinking it through he realized what was about to happen was a fight.
Unlike sports, there was no need or inevitability to fight fair at the starting signal.
Thrown into it with no mental preparation, Shiki had no time to plan how to land a front kick. He went for a desperate front kick at the charging Kawato—
“Bff!?!”
Almost simultaneously Kawato’s punch slammed into his face.
From the feel under his foot, Shiki’s front kick seemed to have connected with Kawato somehow, but being hit in the face meant he couldn’t tell where he’d struck. Worse, the kick put him on one leg, and being punched then threw him off balance and he fell hard on his butt.
If he got pinned like this, he would surely be killed—he thought, with complete sincerity—and curled up like a turtle to protect himself, when—
“…Huh?”
Seeing Kawato clutching his stomach with both hands and collapsing onto the ground, Shiki froze mid-movement, his limbs half-folded.
“D…damn it…”
He forced the curse out between ragged breaths, but from that near-prostrate position he couldn’t even twitch.
“See? Told you. Do it like I said and you’d win.”
Wearing a faintly smug grin, Karin walked up and held out her hand.
Shiki hesitated, feeling oddly self-conscious about taking a girl’s hand, but refusing her kindness would’ve been rude. He accepted it and let her pull him to his feet.
(Is this… really happening?)
Looking down at Kawato lying face-down on the pavement, his mind still couldn’t catch up.
Noticing his confusion, Karin asked,
“Remember when you almost crashed into me earlier? You were running up the stairs five steps at a time like it was nothing, right?”
“Well… I’ve been forced to do that every day since my first year—Kawato and his gang make me run errands on a time limit, so I just got used to it…”
“Guess that’s a crappy way to put it, but still—because they made you sprint those stairs every day, you ended up building enough leg strength to climb five steps in one go. With legs like that, you’ve got the power to take down some idiot who’s never actually fought properly. That’s why I gave you that advice.”
Her words were so unexpected that Shiki’s eyes widened.
“Not used to fighting…? You mean Kawato?”
“Strictly speaking, all three of these clowns.”
She said it so casually that Shiki was left speechless.
“You’ve got that ‘no way’ look all over your face. The reason you thought they were good at fighting is just ‘cause they’re used to hitting people. That’s not the same as being used to an actual fight. And look— you beat this dumbass, didn’t you?”
“Well… yeah, but…”
He still couldn’t quite accept it. Seeing that, Karin continued.
“Guys like Kawato only seem stronger ‘cause they don’t hesitate to hit people. Most normal folks freeze up when it comes to hurting someone. But punks like them? They either don’t care or they enjoy it. That’s why they can hit full force. You, on the other hand—you managed to kick him with everything you had ‘cause you’d already snapped, right?”
Thinking about it, Shiki realised she was probably right. Then something struck him.
“Wait… don’t tell me—you calculated all that when you gave me that advice!?”
A sudden silence fell.
“O-of course I did,” Karin said, her eyes darting suspiciously.
“You didn’t, did yo—”
“Ah—uh, well! Think of it like this! If two people have the exact same punching power, but one’s used to hitting people while the other hesitates and can only use half their strength, that’s basically double the difference, right? You thought Kawato’s group were seasoned fighters ‘cause of that gap, that’s all!”
“So… if I hadn’t lost it back there, my kick wouldn’t have been strong enough and I might’ve lost to Kawato after all…?”
Silence again.
“I-I believed in you, okay!? I knew you’d pull through! Totally! Not lying!”
Her eyes were darting so wildly that Shiki almost laughed.
(…Yeah. Let’s just call it ‘all’s well that ends well’.)
He kept that thought to himself out of kindness.
“Anyway! Our school’s full of idiots, but there aren’t actually that many who are really used to fighting. Maybe twenty, thirty at most.”
That number alone sounded big, but considering that St. Lukimantz Academy had over six hundred fifty students—and about seventy percent of them were delinquents—it was, as she said, surprisingly few.
“Especially guys like Kawato—they only ever beat up weaker kids, right? So they probably think any weaker guy’s counterattack won’t even hurt. They’ve got plenty of experience hitting people but almost none getting hit, so their defence’s full of holes. That’s why I figured, with your leg strength, one front kick would floor him.”
As she said that, Karin’s gaze drifted oddly downward—toward Shiki’s groin—making him instinctively press his thighs together.
“Well, a high kick would be even more effective, but I’m guessing you’ve never done flexibility training, huh?”
Realising that’s why she’d looked there, he nodded.
“Then maybe you should start from today.”
Just as she said that, Shiki’s eyes widened in shock.
Kawato, who should’ve been sprawled on the ground, suddenly rose to his feet.
“Oooriiifushiiiiiiiii!!”
Letting out a beastlike roar, he lunged at Shiki.
The sheer killing intent froze Shiki’s throat—he could only choke out a squeal.
Then—
“—!?”
A single blinding motion.
Karin’s right leg swung high, catching Kawato squarely in the temple and knocking him out cold for good this time.
“If you can get your leg up like this, you’ll be able to drop almost anyone, Shiki.”
She smirked proudly, but Shiki had already turned his eyes away—far, far too late.
To repeat: Karin was wearing a miniskirt.
And when someone throws a high kick in that outfit… well, “a peek” doesn’t begin to cover it.
Seeing Shiki avert his eyes, his face faintly red, Karin finally realised what had happened—and her own face went scarlet.
“Y-you idiot! These are show panties, obviously! I’m not embarrassed or anything, okay!?”
For something meant to be “show panties,” though, they were pure white—Shiki found that oddly surprising, though he wisely kept it to himself.
“A-and anyway, I’m not some kid who screams just ‘cause someone saw my underwear, got it? Wearing a skirt this short is just me toying with the guys a bit, that’s all!”
Her blustering continued in a way that was both clumsy and endearing.
For better or worse, she was every bit the loud-mouthed delinquent—but seeing her fluster like a child made Shiki smile quietly.
And then he realised something.
The girl he had once feared as the terrifying “Empress” didn’t scare him at all anymore.
“A-anyway! Forget the underwear! Let’s go check on Haruno already!”
“Are you sure it’s okay to just leave them like that?”
As they left the parking lot, Shiki asked Karin—
referring, of course, to Kawato and his unconscious gang.
“I-it’s fine, it’s fine. They’ll wake up on their own, mope around on their own, and go home on their own. Well… if somebody saw our fight and called the cops, they might be having a nice little chat with the police right about now, though.”
That didn’t exactly sound fine, but considering how much Kawato had bullied him, Shiki couldn’t deny that part of him hoped the guy would end up in police custody.
After walking for a while, they reached the edge of the main street—
“Ah! Karin-senpai!”
The girl Shiki had helped rescue from Kawato’s gang came running over with a bright smile, waving eagerly.
She pushed through the crowd to get closer—and then, right in front of them, tripped spectacularly and slid across the pavement like a baseball player diving for home plate.
Doing that right beside a busy street naturally drew people’s attention. But as their curious gazes shifted from the girl to him, Shiki tilted his head in confusion.
He wasn’t the kind of person to stand out in a crowd, and he knew it.
“Hey—you two, this way! Now!”
Karin, panicking alone, grabbed both of their hands and dragged them away with surprising strength.
They left the main street and, sure enough, ended up in a quiet park with almost no one around.
Shiki, still wondering why everyone had been staring at him, turned to ask—
“W-wait! You’re hurt! Badly hurt!”
The girl’s near-scream cut him off.
And then he realised why people had been staring.
Kawato had punched him in the face over and over.
Of course he had bruises and swelling.
“Seriously, you’re way too calm about this. You could barely talk a few minutes ago, remember?”
Now that she mentioned it, right after the beating, every movement had hurt—but maybe, he thought, he’d just grown used to pain after so many years of being hit.
A sad new discovery about himself.
“W-we need to disinfect your wounds first!”
Ignoring Shiki’s introspection, the girl hurriedly dug through her bag, pulled out a small bottle of disinfectant and some gauze—
Only to freeze.
“Huh? …Wait, what?”
She tilted the bottle, poked the nozzle—nothing came out.
“W-why!? There’s still some left, I swear!”
She grew even more frantic, and—disastrously—lifted the bottle and looked directly into the nozzle while squeezing harder.
Both Shiki and Karin shouted a warning, but—too late.
“GYAAAH—!!”
A powerful pssshh! of disinfectant blasted straight into her eyes.
She screamed and flailed.
Even for someone as absent-minded as her, that was spectacularly reckless.
“You absolute idiot! Hurry, get to the water fountain!”
Fifteen minutes later—
“I’m so sorry! And thank you again for saving me earlier!”
The girl—Momozono Haruno—bowed deeply, her eyes still red even after rinsing them.
“It’s fine. You helped me patch up too, so we’re even.”
True to his words, Shiki was now pressing a towel-wrapped plastic bag filled with ice—bought from a convenience store—against his swollen cheeks.
He was too embarrassed to let Karin or Haruno hold it for him.
And given that the disinfectant had proven too dangerous to use, the irony wasn’t lost on him.
Still, Haruno’s first aid afterwards had been surprisingly professional.
“Haruno’s parents are both doctors,” Karin said casually. “So she’s used to this kind of stuff—”
“I’m really clumsy and get hurt all the time,” Haruno interrupted cheerfully, “so my mum and dad kept saying, ‘You must learn at least this much!’ That’s why I’m good at first aid!”
Karin sighed and facepalmed. “You didn’t have to say that part out loud…”
Incidentally, Haruno’s bag was packed like a mini first-aid kit—gauze, bandages, plasters, antiseptic wipes, everything.
Clearly, her parents’ doing.
“Anyway,” Karin said, snapping open her iron fan and pointing it at Shiki, “official introductions. This is Orifushi Shiki, same year as me, same school. So he’s your senior by one grade. And…”
She turned to the girl.
“This is Momozono Haruno. You already know her, but yeah—same school, one year below us.”
“Yes! I’m Karin-senpai’s junior!”
She said it with such pride that Shiki couldn’t help noticing: despite being a first-year, Haruno looked older than Karin.
Karin’s height and looks were average for her age, but Haruno’s appearance was… unusually mature—almost too much so for someone who’d just graduated middle school.
That illusion, however, vanished as soon as she opened her mouth.
“I shouldn’t say this, but… she really doesn’t seem like the type who belongs at St. Lukimantz Academy,” Shiki muttered.
“Right? I told her to pick another school, but she wouldn’t listen,” Karin said with a shrug.
Given how well they got along, Shiki figured they’d known each other before Haruno even enrolled.
His guess proved right as Haruno beamed and began talking at machine-gun speed.
“So, about a year ago, some bad guys tried to drag me off somewhere just like those guys earlier, but Karin-senpai happened to walk by and totally wiped them all out and saved me and she was so cool that I decided right then I’d go to St. Lukimantz too!”
“Yeah, sounds nice when you say it like that,” Karin groaned, “but it kinda makes me feel like I dragged you into the dark side.”
Despite saying that, she pulled out a small box from her pocket, took out a thin white stick, and bit down on it—
“Here.”
She held the box out toward Haruno, offering one.
Watching that scene, Shiki panicked so hard he dropped the ice packs.
“W-wait—what the hell are you doing, Kohinata-san!?”
Karin just grinned mischievously and tilted the box toward him.
“Want one, Shiki?”
“W-what do you mean, want one!?”
“Obviously—pine cigarettes.”
“…Huh?”
Karin laughed.
“You know, the candy kind? Cocoa flavour, cola flavour—this one’s pineapple.”
“Oh… pine…”
Realising his misunderstanding, Shiki’s face turned crimson.
Karin burst out laughing.
“Ahahaha! Man, it’s been ages since someone fell for that so perfectly!”
“Wait, senpai—when you say someone fell for it, do you mean me!?” Haruno said proudly, raising her hand.
Between her misplaced enthusiasm and Karin’s cackling, Shiki could only bury his face in his hands.
He’d suspected the white sticks weren’t real cigarettes, but considering Karin’s “Empress” reputation, part of him hadn’t been sure.
So when she suddenly offered one to a junior, he’d instinctively jumped to stop her.
(Now that I think about it… she’s been chewing on one since the parking lot, but I never saw her throw it away…)
Realising how completely he’d been duped, Shiki slumped.
Karin handed Haruno a “cigarette,” then offered the box to Shiki again.
It was smaller than a real cigarette box, with “PINE CIGARETTE” printed boldly across the front.
Even without ever having seen a real pack up close, Shiki couldn’t believe he’d missed the obvious differences.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Karin said. “I hate the smell of real cigarettes. Never touch the stuff.”
“Then why do you even have these?”
“They taste good. And—” she grinned, “—they look cool.”
It was such a Karin-style answer that Shiki couldn’t even argue.
“So, want one or not?” she said again, holding the box out.
Knowing full well she was baiting him, Shiki sighed and took one.
As he bit into it, the sweet pineapple flavour mixed with a cool hint of mint filled his mouth.
“See? Pretty good, huh?”
Karin chuckled. “You know, it’s hilarious if the cops ever spot me with these. They always think they’re real.”
Haruno laughed along, but Shiki could only grimace harder.
Then Karin’s tone shifted slightly.
“Anyway, jokes aside—let’s talk seriously for a sec. Shiki, you should skip school tomorrow and get that face checked out by a doctor.”
She said it firmly, then glanced at Haruno.
Catching the cue, Haruno nodded. “I agree. Ideally, you’d go today, but it’s Sunday… and my parents won’t be home till late—they’re at a medical conference.”
Oddly enough, that part relieved him.
Even if Haruno’s parents were doctors, the thought of having them treat his bruises was mortifying.
Still, with both Karin—who clearly knew fights—and Haruno—the doctor’s daughter—saying so, he figured he should listen.
“Just… if I skip, Kawato and the others might try something next day…”
“Please. Those losers picked on you behind my back. They’re not stupid enough to go for revenge after this.”
“But Kawato looked furious. I kicked him, and you were the one who really took him down…”
“Hmm… yeah, good point.”
“I’m sorry… this is all because of me…”
“No, no, it’s not your fault, Momozono-san!”
While Haruno wilted, Shiki waved his hands desperately—but Karin just folded her arms, thinking.
Then, with a grin:
“Well, guess I’ve got no choice. I’ve gotten this involved, might as well see it through.”
“K-Kohinata-san… girls shouldn’t really say things like ‘see it through’…”
“Oh, shut it. That kind of gendered talk’s ancient history.”
Shiki had no comeback for that.
“Anyway,” Karin continued, “you’re scared Kawato will retaliate, right? But I can’t keep watch on you all day. So—”
She flashed a daring smile.
“I’ll teach you how to fight.”
“…What?”
Shiki just blinked, completely dumbfounded.
