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Chapter 2 – The Trigger\nVolume 1\n<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide">\nIt was as if my ears had been damaged.\n
I couldn’t hear a sound. The world was silent. I could feel my breathing becoming ragged. I looked down at my palms and saw that nothing had changed since then.\n
The sensation of my fist digging into a person’s face. The feeling of colliding with someone’s flank when you push them away with your knee. And the senseless sense of accomplishment I felt when I finished off my opponent.\n
This was it. This is what I used to feel.\n
My heart was beating wildly. Sweat was dripping down my face, even though it was not hot. I felt like the heat was being sucked out of me inwardly.\n
Are you going to go back to that time?\n
I asked myself. As I looked down at the cowering delinquent, I was frightened by what was swirling in my head. It was because there was no small amount of excitement in my mind. It felt good, I thought to myself a little.\n
That’s when I came back to myself.\n
I had to get away.\n
I started over. I stepped back, rubbing my shoulder against the sooty wall. A small stone hit my heel. The smell leaking from the ducts entered my nose. I looked around to see if anyone else was watching us.\n
The only people here are me and the huddled delinquent.\n
That reassured me. The policemen will probably be arriving soon. I should get out of here before they do.\n
I walked in the opposite direction of where Saito and the others had left. I exited the alleyway, passed through a small street, and walked back to the main street.\n
There was a spider’s web around my eyes. I brush it away and turn my face away as I walk faster.\n
I couldn’t recognize myself. I had forgotten myself. There was a person in my way, right in front of me, and some kind of instinct took over that I had to defeat him.\n
I thought I had decided never to raise my fists again, but my body moved on its own.\n\n
After I got home, I found a large number of messages on my phone. Shindo and Saito were constantly asking me questions about where I had gone and what had happened to me.\n
They had brought a few policemen from the police station, as I had expected. However, all that was left was the figure of a writhing delinquent.\n
Kenji Saito: I had a hard time explaining what happened after that. The delinquent was the one who collapsed, so he looked at us like we were the perpetrators.\n
Naoya Ookusu: I’m sorry about that.\n
One of the policemen was the one who had dealt with the delinquents before, so he was able to understand the situation. The delinquents didn’t say anything embarrassing about being beaten up by me but said they suddenly had a stomach ache.\n
Kenji Saito: Why did you suddenly disappear? You and all the other delinquents.\n
I had already decided on the answer.\n
Naoya Ookusu: It’s a simple story. When they saw that one of them started to suffer, the rest of them panicked. I took advantage of the situation and ran away. I think the other guys went out to call for help. And when they saw the police there, they probably turned back.\n
Kenji Saito: Oh, I see.\n
Saito seemed to be satisfied with that. He didn’t mention it further.\n
However, I soon received a skeptical message from Shindo.\n
Shindo Satoru: I was wondering why the delinquent suddenly got a stomach ache.\n
Naoya Ookusu: I don’t know anything about that!\n
Shindo has a keen intuition even though he is an idiot. In comparison, Saito’s head is empty, so it’s really easy to deal with him.\n
Shindo Satoru: Well, but thanks to Ookusu, I got away. Thanks a lot.\n
Naoya Ookusu: No, don’t worry about it. Anyway, we were in a situation where we needed to escape alone and get the police to come.\n
Shindo Satoru: Whatever the case, it’s a good thing we’re all safe.\n
Shindo sent me this message, apparently having stopped doubting me. I breathed a sigh of relief.\n\n
Enami-san entered the classroom just as the second-period class was ending.\n
Since it was break time and Enami-san was always late, no one cared.\n
I watched Enami-san for some reason.\n
Even though she was late, she didn’t seem to be in a hurry at all. It was as if she thought that this was the time she should be at school. She didn’t look sleepy, and her school uniform was worn only fashionably.\n
I couldn’t tell if she had overslept or not, but I guess she wasn’t in a hurry to wake up early.\n
At the same time, I thought that she was still beautiful. She just walks around like she’s bored, not caring about her classmates. But there’s something about her that attracts me.\n
–If she smiles, she must be cute.\n
As of now, since the start of my sophomore year, the only times she has made it to school without being late are six times. Moreover, she has been late for school all these days.\n
–Well, come to think of it, she hasn’t been skipping school itself.\n
I tried to recall if Enami-san had ever missed a class, but I didn’t remember that. If she was so absent-minded as to be late, she would be absent more often than not. Perhaps that was the reason why the teacher was so concerned about Enami-san.\n
When I saw Nishikawa walking toward Enami-san’s seat, I looked away. It would be awkward if I was caught staring at her.\n
I turned my gaze forward and saw Fujisaki standing right in front of me.\n
” Ookusu-kun. You’ve been looking at Enami-san the whole time.”\n
Apparently, she had been there since a while ago. I was too busy looking behind me to notice.\n
“Well, there was the matter of yesterday.”\n
Since I promised, I need to cooperate with Fujisaki to persuade Enami-san. But in order to do that, we need more information about Enami-san. At any rate, I can’t have a conversation with anyone other than Nishikawa. Enami-san’s profile is unfilled except that she is a delinquent.\n
“I noticed this today. Enami-san doesn’t really slack off on school itself or anything.”\n
“Huh. That’s right.”\n
Fujisaki didn’t seem to have noticed either. I’m sure she’s not aware of the fact that she comes to school every day because her image of being late is so strong.\n
“If that’s the case, I guess that’s why sensei can’t give up on her, you know. It’s not like she wants to quit high school, since she’s still coming to school.”\n
“But if she keeps coming this late, she’ll probably be held back. After all, I don’t really know what Enami-san is thinking.”\n
“Yeah, you’re right,..” \n
Then Fujisaki said.\n
“Hey, how about having a study session with Enami-san and the others?”\n
“A study session?”\n
“Yeah. Midterm exams are coming up soon. Let’s invite her to study with us. Then maybe Enami-san will open up to us a little more.”\n
“I wonder if that will work so well.”\n
She had never opened up to anyone before. If we do this, we will have to put in place the necessary arrangements with Nishikawa.\n
“Let’s give it a shot and see what happens. If we succeed, we can not only study a lot but also get to know Enami-san, so it’s worth a try.”\n
It’s a win-win situation for sure. We don’t have to wait until after the midterms.\n
We said we’d think about how to ask her out later and parted ways.\n\n
<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide">\nTN: With the drama going on in Simple life, this has become my breathing place. Hope I can dish out one or more chapters today. \n\n