It’s the delinquents from earlier, five of them surrounding us. I could hear them chewing their gum. It’s classic, I thought.\n
“Look at this guy, he’s overweight. What kind of life does he lead?”\n
Shindo was being grabbed by his belly. He was frowning in pain. But I guess he didn’t want to provoke them by complaining. He was silent.\n
……This is a narrow alley behind a video game arcade. We could not escape from the delinquents, and we were brought here shoulder to shoulder. There were no other people in the alley, so no one noticed us. Even if we tried to escape, the street was too narrow and we would be caught up soon.\n
“Really, man. I get itchy when I’m around creeps like you. How are you going to pay for this?”\n
The man in the purple t-shirt who bumped into me put his face close to mine. The smell of gum stung my nose. This guy is probably the leader of the group. For a while now, whenever he started talking, the other delinquents would clam up.\n
“Come on, give us some money. You have money from your papa and mamma right.”\n
I knew it, it finally came to this. I sighed.\n
It can’t help with delinquents. They’re like junior high school kids who, for some reason, like to shout. To satisfy their bloated sense of self-consciousness, they create situations that are superior to their own and put the other person down.\n
When I looked at Saito and Shindo next to me, their faces were pale. I guess they have never been in this kind of situation before. At least, this was the first time the three of us were involved with delinquents when we were playing together.\n
“Did you not hear me? I told you to give me money.”\n
He pressed his fist against my solar plexus. It hurt a little bit because it was caught between me and the wall. Saito looked like he was about to cry when he saw me.\n
I wondered if I could somehow let Shindo and Saito go. I feel like they’re about to give them their money. If you show your weakness to these people even once, you might be cheated for a long time afterward.\n
“Ah, I …”\n
When I saw Saito open his mouth, I immediately said.\n
“Your mouth has been smelling for a while now. It’s like a ditch.”\n
The place fell silent.\n
“Eh?”\n
He looked slightly surprised at my sudden defiance, but he soon realized that he had been bad-mouthed and wrinkled his brow. By the way, his mouth indeed stinks. I could feel what seemed to be bad breath in between the smell of gum.\n
“Hey? What did you say?”\n
I stared straight into his face and repeated.\n
“Your mouth stinks. Are you brushing your teeth properly? Your mouth smells so bad that you can’t even chew gum to cover it up.”\n
“I’m going to kill you.”\n
“Oh, that stunk too.”\n
He grabbed me by the hair and pushed my head against the wall. I’ve been saying that his mouth stinks for a while now, but he’s so close to my face now. I pinched my nose with my right hand.\n
“Really, can you move your face? Your mouth smells worse than I imagined. It’s at a level where a creepy guy like me can complain about it.”\n
“For a while now, stop playing dumb.”\n
The hand that grabbed my hair became stronger. Unlike before it’s pulling me away from the wall. My scalp tingles.\n
“I’m not kidding. Even a child knows that. You should brush your teeth every day.”\n
“…… Looks like you want to get killed.”\n
Then he kneels on my stomach, his mouth quivering.\n
“…….uh”\n
Thanks to the fact that he was slightly off the solar plexus, it didn’t hurt much. I’m sure he’s not used to fighting much. He didn’t seem to know how to bully us from earlier.\n
“It’s not hurting me at all. You’re so lively but so weak in a fight. I bet you guys who follow him are pretty lame as well.”\n
When I said that, the guys behind him reacted. It helps that they have a low boiling point.\n
They all closed in around me.\n
At that moment, I gave Saito and Shindo a look. They must have sensed my intentions. They started to move away from the delinquents little by little, and when they got close to the exit, they started to run.\n
“Hey, wait!”\n
–One of them noticed and shouted, but it was too late. They had gone through the alley.\n
They probably went to the police station to call the cops. It was near the train station, so the police station wasn’t that far away.\n
“They easily ran away. You guys are so lame”\n
I dare to say so.\n
The delinquents raised their feet and fists to beat me up.\n
I smiled faintly as I watched them.\n\n
***\n\n
“Uh…uh.”\n
A pained voice. Not more than 30 seconds had passed. I was a little dumbfounded, but I had a feeling of nostalgia.\n
I looked down and saw the delinquent who had just grabbed my hair.\n
He was lying on the ground, spilling saliva, his body bent into a crooked shape.\n
The other delinquents had fled. I may have gone a little too far. It’s just me here and the guy in the purple t-shirt who has fallen.\n\n
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"></figure>\nI looked at my hands. It’s been a long time since I felt this way.\n
But I can’t go back to that time. I only did this because I had to. I have to go back to being an honor student.\n\n
I’m Naoya Ookusu, 16 years old.\n
A former delinquent.\n\n
<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide">\nTN: well, that solves the mystery. For a second I thought may be he would just tank it until police came. Our MC is not that weak after all. And that’s the end of chapter 1.\n
Well, I met my target for today. I can do one more, but I’m lazy. So that’s it.\n\n