Oretachi no Kizuna - Chapter 16
Chapter 16 : I Am The Leader!
When Yuto Nakajima pushed open the doors of Class 3, he was instantly struck by how different the circumstances were from when he had last set foot upon the same threshold. Whereas last time, all three classes were still on contentious terms with each other, this time, they were at the stage in which they were finally willing to begin the arduous process that would eventually lead to the forming of bonds, bonds of trust and brotherhood between the classes of Heisei Gakuen.
Stepping forward apologetically, seeing as he was last one to enter the classroom, Yuto’s eyes passed over the special formation the desks had been arrayed in. Instead of the neat rows he was accustomed to seeing, the center of the room had been cleared so that nine chairs could be set. These chairs were arranged in a shape that resembled an inverted “U”, albeit one that had straight edges and was disconnected at the ends.
At the “head” of the inverted “U”, Yuya Takaki and Kota Yabu sat side by side, both looking bemused at Yuto’s delayed appearance. On the left side of the “U”, sat Ryosuke Yamada, Yuri Chinen, and Ryutaro Morimoto in a line of three desks. The occupants of these desks seemed much less amused by Yuto’s lateness. On the right, Yuto grinned upon seeing Daiki Arioka, Kei Inoo, and Keito Okamoto sitting with relieved expressions on their faces.
Inclining his head toward his friends in a brief greeting, Yuto turned to face the rest of the room, saying ruefully, “Hey, I’m sorry for being late.” He shut the door carefully behind him and made his way over to the empty seat saved for him on Daiki’s right, exchanging an apologetic look with his best friend before refocusing his attention on the situation at hand.
“Now that everyone is finally here, we can formally start this meeting,” said Yuya, a joking smile on his handsome face.
Taking the small rebuke in stride, Yuto lowered his head in mock shame. Right now, what was most important to him was allowing the meeting, the culmination of all of Class 2’s hard work at uniting the classes, to continue without any major problems. This was Heisei Gakuen’s chance to fight back, and he didn’t want anything to get in the way!
“The first issue that we have to address,” said Yuya, continuing his role as overseer of the meeting, “is to figure out what we will do about the attacks on the Heisei students. Recently, more and more of our friends have been attacked by Showa gangs. We have to find a way to protect our student body!”
Kota raised his hand, waiting for Yuya to give him permission to speak. Upon Yuya’s nod of acknowledgement, Kota suggested, “Maybe we could hold training sessions to help those who can’t really fight.”
“I’m sorry, but that probably wouldn’t work,” interjected Kei, shaking his head and crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“What did you just say?” exploded Kota, his short temper getting the better of him. Yuya shot him a look of warning as Kota took out his anger on the desk in front of him by clenching the edges tightly in both hands, nails marring the already soiled surface.
Kei explained, his voice cool and collected, “What I meant was: I don’t think lack of fighting skill is the problem here. The reason that you and Hikaru were able to be successfully ambushed and overcome was not due to you two being weak fighters. The reason lies in how Showa uses numbers to crush the opposition. They always send an excessive amount of people to each skirmish. Eventually, even the greatest fighters have to give in to greater numbers. We are all human, after all.”
Kota sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping as he let out all the air in his lungs in an attempt to calm down. “Okay, Mr. Smarty pants, if that won’t work, what do you suggest we do, then?”
Daiki’s hand shot up as he suddenly thought of an idea. Without waiting for Yuya to give him any indication to start talking, he blurted, “I know! What if we tried something like the buddy system?”
Yuya blinked. “The buddy system?”
“Yeah!” Daiki exclaimed, his eyes shining in excitement. “Instead of going to school in small groups of friends, we can try travelling in large groups, groups with students of all grade levels in them. That way, if a group gets ambushed, then there will be better odds for us. The presence of the older students would also ensure better fighting skills too.”
Kei stared at Daiki, his head cocked to one side in disbelief at Daiki’s sudden stroke of genius. “That is a strangely brilliant idea. I had no idea you had it in you, Daiki.”
Daiki’s mouth curled into a smug smirk. “And you thought you were the only one with brains around here.” He raised one eyebrow in a “you-just-got-served-oh-yes-you-did” expression, while Kei groaned exasperatedly.
As the meeting went on, the group managed to hit all of the critical topics they had wanted to discuss, including Hikaru’s return from the hospital the following day and setting weekly meetings so that the leaders of each class could report on what was happening in their class and discuss plans on what to do about the upcoming attack. Yuto listened to everyone’s suggestions and ideas, satisfied with how everyone was ready to pitch in to help save Heisei. I’ve got to make sure that everything goes successfully, he thought. I’ve got to protect our school.
No matter the cost.
All in all, things seemed to be going well.
* * *
“You can’t be serious!”
Kota Yabu stared at Yuto Nakajima with abject disbelief written clearly on his face. The lanky Class 3 boy poked a finger to Yuto’s chest roughly, as he tried to drive his point home. “No way in heck am I taking that route to and from school every day! It’s too out of the way for me! I have to walk an extra 5 kilometers!”
The leader of Class 2 glared at Kota with his eyebrows contracting angrily, annoyed that the said boy was getting in the way of his plans to help Heisei. “What do you mean you can’t take this route? We need a member of Class 3 in this group, and you’re the only one who lives closest to this route. Do you want Showa to think we are a ‘weak school’? Are you going against the best interests of Heisei Gakuen?”
Yuto paused, waiting for the answer he already knew Kota would give.
Gritting his teeth in barely suppressed fury, Kota reluctantly returned, his words barely discernible, “No. No, I don’t.”
“Then, you will do what you are told,” replied Yuto, his tone indicating that their business was now done. “You will take this route. No questions asked.”
Muttering obscenities under his breath, Kota stalked away, still unwilling to accept defeat. Daiki Arioka, who had been standing beside Yuto, silently witnessing the whole episode, searched his friend’s face, running over those familiar features with his innocent-looking eyes. All of a sudden, he was unsure if the person standing so tangibly close to him was really his best friend after all.
* * *
Ryosuke Yamada was having a bad day.
When Ryosuke had woken up that morning, his hair had pulled a mini-rebellion on him, refusing to stay in its well-groomed place. Instead, that one lock of hair kept sticking straight up at an awkward angle, making Ryosuke feel like an idiot. As he had walked across his room to grab his school uniform, he had tripped over his phone charger cord, resulting in an embarrassingly loud face plant on the floor, which didn’t help remedy the “idiot” image at all. Furthermore, his parents had both left early that day, so Ryosuke was stuck with making his own breakfast, almost burning himself in the process. What a chore! What an extra chore!
As the day went on, things got increasingly worse.
Due to all of his waking up mishaps, Ryosuke had arrived late at the place he usually met Yuri and Ryutaro, which lead to the two of them and their “buddy system” group leaving without him. In addition, more students in his class showed up with injuries apparent from Showa beatings. It seemed that not all of the older kids were used to the new buddy system routes yet, and some of them had neglected to show up at their posts. What idiots! If only I was there! I could have taken them!
On top of all that drama, there was also that Yuto Nakajima.
During lunch that day, the leader of Class 2 had shown up inexplicably in his classroom with his friends, and had demanded to see him, Yuri, and Ryutaro. Apparently, word had gotten to him that some of the Class 1 members had taken up their grief against the missing older kids…a little too loudly.
“You need to learn how to control your class,” Yuto had admonished. “This is a time when all of Heisei Gakuen has to stick together! Such trash talking will only destroy the unity we have all worked so hard to build!” Yuto shook his head in a way that somehow came off as being demeaning. “You guys really have got to get it together. If you can’t properly lead your class, maybe it’s best if you temporarily turn over your leadership to someone more capable.”
“Like you?” Ryosuke had scoffed, feeling that Yuto’s lecturing had been totally uncalled for. Of course his class was unhappy with the older kids! Class 1 had paid dearly because of their absence!
Yuto smirked at him, glad that Ryosuke had reacted how he wanted. “That would make for a good start.”
“W-what?” gasped Ryosuke, realizing too late what he had done.
Yuto laid a hand on Ryosuke’s shoulder, but Ryosuke was in too much shock to actually feel any of the weight there at all. “Thank you for contributing to the greater cause of protecting Heisei Gakuen, Ryosuke,” Yuto said. “You can rest easy now.”
Withdrawing his hand from Ryosuke’s shoulder, Yuto walked out of Class 1, a much disconcerted Daiki following him as he trailed behind Kei and Keito, both of whom had not spoken a single word throughout the whole exchange. Did Yuto just do what I thought he just did? Daiki thought, feeling as if the whole world was being thrown off balance.
Hurriedly, Daiki shook his head to clear it of such perturbing thoughts just in time to see Yuya Takaki and Hikaru Yaotome standing not too far off behind a bend in the hallway, deep in conversation and casting surreptitious looks in their direction. The Class 2 member rubbed his eyes to make sure he had seen what he had thought he had seen. Were Yuya Takaki and Hikaru Yaotome spying on us?
However, when Daiki had removed his hands from his face, they were gone.
After Yuto had left the classroom, Ryosuke still stood, frozen to the spot, unable to process what just happened. As feeling returned to his trembling legs, he felt himself sink slowly into a nearby chair.
“Ryosuke!” exclaimed Yuri, sticking out a hand to help steady his former leader.
Ryosuke leaned against Yuri’s outstretched arm, glad of his friend’s presence. “Yuri,” he breathed, unable to form his thoughts coherently. After all, he had just lost one of the things that he considered to be most important in his life; he had lost Class 1.
Yuri looked down at Ryosuke concernedly. Trying to put as much reassurance into his voice as he could muster, he said, “It’ll be alright. I’m sure of it.” The small boy’s eyes flickered back and forth as he cast around, searching for anything to say to comfort his friend. In a feeble attempt, he said the first thing that came to his mind, his voice sounding a bit too bright, “Maybe Yuto will be a good leader for our class.”
Ryutaro stared at the two in silence, feeling his heart beat sadly against his chest as resentment started to fill it. No matter what Yuri said, he knew that the only good leader for Class 1 lay in Ryosuke. He was the only one that their class would be willing to follow. When Class 1 was in need, Ryosuke had always been ready to step up and defend them, even if doing so meant alienating people older and stronger than him. He knew how to take care of them, how to keep them together. Stripping Ryosuke of his powers was unforgiveable.
Yuto Nakajima…You don’t know what you’ve done.
* * *
The next day, when Yuto, Daiki, Kei, and Keito sat in the abandoned stairwell during break, an awkward silence hung over the group, with the latter three glancing at their leader apprehensively. The events of the past two days were seriously worrying the three of them. Daiki, in particular, felt especially disturbed. Never before had he actually felt scared of Yuto. It was a new feeling that Daiki did not like.
“Hey, Yuto,” said Keito, finally breaking the silence.
“Yeah?”
Keito gulped as he felt Yuto’s large eyes fall on him. “Do you think it was really such a good idea to take away Ryosuke’s leadership power like that?” he squeaked, his eyes staring decidedly down on the stair step.
Yuto laughed shallowly. “Of course. That guy wasn’t doing his job, so for the good of our school, I felt that I had to make him step down.”
“But don’t you think that it was too much?” blurted Keito before he could control himself. He hurriedly put his hands to his mouth as he realized what he had just said, regretting his words immediately.
Yuto’s glance turned into a glare. “Do you have a problem with my leading? I don’t see you doing anything helpful on Heisei Gakuen’s behalf. In fact, I’m the one doing most of the work around here! When you actually have the right to speak up, that’s when you should, Keito.”
As Yuto’s words implanted themselves like barbs in Keito’s self-confidence, the said boy couldn’t stop feelings of uselessness and shame wash over his body. What Yuto said was true; he hadn’t been doing all that much to help Heisei Gakuen. Instead, he was the one who had brought it trouble to begin with. I’m so stupid! Keito thought despairingly. I never make things better, I always make things worse. I’m letting everyone else down!
As Keito sank deeper in his depression, Kei suddenly spoke up, his voice sharp, “Hey, Yuto! That was uncalled for! You know very well that all of us here care very deeply for our school and the greater cause! Keito, here, has been working very hard holding up his end; he’s merely pointed out a valid observation. There’s no need to put him down like that.” Kei put a reassuring hand on Keito’s shoulder, while simultaneously fixing Yuto with a stern look, one that wouldn’t seem out of place on a mother trying to teach her child an important lesson.
“What are you talking about, Kei?” asked Yuto, an incredulous expression on his face. “Are you saying that I’m supposed to just let wrongful accusations on my leadership abilities slide by? I can’t believe that you would suggest that! My own ‘friend’!” Yuto threw up his hands in annoyance.
As Yuto got up to leave, he turned toward Kei, unleashing the full force of his disappointed facial expression on his fellow Class 2 member. “I thought I could trust you,” Yuto said, his voice soft yet full of malice. He knew that his words would hurt.
Kei’s face crumpled within itself as if he had been struck a physical blow. He felt as if Yuto had taken a part of him and cruelly ripped it to pieces. Even after Yuto had left his sight, he could still feel a stinging pain in his heart.
Keito looked at Kei, and seeing how distressed the boy had become, Keito put his hand on Kei’s where he had left it on his shoulder. “Thank you for standing up for me, Kei,” he said, smiling sadly. When he saw that his words seemed to not have alleviated any of Kei’s pain, he turned away, saying bitterly, “What is going on with Yuto? That was such a horrible thing to say to a friend. I thought he never questioned your judgment.”
Kei sighed heavily. “I don’t know. I really don’t know. This is the first time it’s ever happened.” He looked toward the direction in which Yuto had departed, the words “I don’t know” trailing aimlessly from his pale lips.
Daiki stood up, stretching his arms out. “Well, whatever’s going on with Yuto, I hope he snaps out of it quick,” he said, in a failed attempt to lighten the mood. Without really thinking about what he was doing, he leaned on the railing of the stairs and looked down. Daiki gasped in surprise as he saw two very familiar, lanky figures dart away from the landing below them. Yuya Takaki and Hikaru Yaotome? What are they doing here?
What do they know?
* * *
Ring!
The bell announcing the end of class rang, causing the usual flurry of movement as the students hurried to gather their stuff in the rush to get out of their educational prison. It wasn’t long before the students had found the people that they had each been grouped with for the buddy system and evacuated the premises. However, there were four people in the room that did not go along with convention. Instead, these four just stayed where they were, waiting for an explanation.
The reason for Yuto, Daiki, Kei, and Keito’s prolonged stay stood in the doorway of the classroom.
Yuya Takaki and Hikaru Yaotome had appeared upon the threshold, their tall, lanky bodies blocking the way out for the four remaining Class 2 boys. Yuya’s face wore an expression of displeasure, while Hikaru’s was carefully composed. Both students had their arms crossed in front of their chests.
“What is going on?” demanded Yuto, looking from one Class 3 boy to the other. “What are you guys doing here?”
Yuya smirked, his eyes still hard. “We have something to discuss with you, Nakajima.” Daiki tensed as he realized that Yuya had reverted back to his old habit of calling Yuto by his last name, rather than by his first.
“Well, what is it, Yuya?” snapped Yuto. “We’re all really busy people, here, especially since I have two classes to run now.”
Hikaru said, his voice calm, “You see, that’s what we came to talk to you about. I’m not sure if you’re aware of it or not, but you can’t take away a leader’s power like that.”
Yuya nodded. “Precisely. We came here to demand for you to give Ryosuke Yamada his power back. Class 1 has expressed that they want their old leader back and we feel unsafe entrusting all that power to you. From what we have seen from the past three days, you have become a bit of a tyrant, Nakajima. I’m sorry, but as leader of this school, I simply can’t allow this.”
Yuto looked from one serious face to another, clenching his hands into fists. “Are you kidding me? Ryosuke’s not fit to be their leader! It’s for the common good that I took control! You can’t take away that power from me!”
“You’re power hungry, Yuto,” said Yuya gently, looking at his fellow leader with a pitying expression on his face. “Perhaps it’s better if we pass on your class’s leadership to someone else, like Kei Inoo, for example.”
Yuto started to shake violently, anger building up inside of him. “No! You can’t seriously be considering that! Kei doesn’t have what it takes!” He ignored the “Hey!” from his classmate. “He can’t take the responsibility.” He paused, drawing a deep breath, as he fought off the feeling that the entire world was against him. “You can’t do this to me!”
Keito put an arm on Yuto’s, trying to pacify him. “Calm down, Yuto! Maybe they’re right. Maybe Kei being the leader is for the best.”
“No!” Yuto shook Keito’s arm off of him. He backed away, so that he stood alone in the corner of the room, like a trapped beast, his eyes wide and wild. “No, you can’t do this to me! You can’t! I’m the only one who knows what’s best for this school. I am the leader!”
As Yuto stormed out of the classroom, pushing the door aside and making it crash on its hinges, Daiki felt utterly and completely overwhelmed as his mind struggled to reconcile him with what had just happened. What had his friend become?
Meanwhile, Yuya had laughed hollowly, his voice heavy with disappointment, “Well, that went well.”
Hikaru shook his head. “I had no idea that he was so far gone. I’m sorry. Maybe I should have suggested that we go confront him sooner.”
Yuya looked at Hikaru ruefully, while patting his friend on the shoulder. “It’s alright. I’m thankful that you finally gave me the push I needed, even if it was too late.” He sighed heavily, leaning against a nearby desk. “How are we going to proceed like this? How can we proceed when the classes are once again divided?”
Daiki looked at both Class 3 members and then looked at his hands. Slowly, he drew his fingers into two fists, clenching them so tightly that his fingernails made grooves in his skin.
He knew what he had to do.
Onwards to Chapter 17~
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Sorry for the long break, guys! This is the first time I'm writing solo without my sister! :(
When Yuto Nakajima pushed open the doors of Class 3, he was instantly struck by how different the circumstances were from when he had last set foot upon the same threshold. Whereas last time, all three classes were still on contentious terms with each other, this time, they were at the stage in which they were finally willing to begin the arduous process that would eventually lead to the forming of bonds, bonds of trust and brotherhood between the classes of Heisei Gakuen.
Stepping forward apologetically, seeing as he was last one to enter the classroom, Yuto’s eyes passed over the special formation the desks had been arrayed in. Instead of the neat rows he was accustomed to seeing, the center of the room had been cleared so that nine chairs could be set. These chairs were arranged in a shape that resembled an inverted “U”, albeit one that had straight edges and was disconnected at the ends.
At the “head” of the inverted “U”, Yuya Takaki and Kota Yabu sat side by side, both looking bemused at Yuto’s delayed appearance. On the left side of the “U”, sat Ryosuke Yamada, Yuri Chinen, and Ryutaro Morimoto in a line of three desks. The occupants of these desks seemed much less amused by Yuto’s lateness. On the right, Yuto grinned upon seeing Daiki Arioka, Kei Inoo, and Keito Okamoto sitting with relieved expressions on their faces.
Inclining his head toward his friends in a brief greeting, Yuto turned to face the rest of the room, saying ruefully, “Hey, I’m sorry for being late.” He shut the door carefully behind him and made his way over to the empty seat saved for him on Daiki’s right, exchanging an apologetic look with his best friend before refocusing his attention on the situation at hand.
“Now that everyone is finally here, we can formally start this meeting,” said Yuya, a joking smile on his handsome face.
Taking the small rebuke in stride, Yuto lowered his head in mock shame. Right now, what was most important to him was allowing the meeting, the culmination of all of Class 2’s hard work at uniting the classes, to continue without any major problems. This was Heisei Gakuen’s chance to fight back, and he didn’t want anything to get in the way!
“The first issue that we have to address,” said Yuya, continuing his role as overseer of the meeting, “is to figure out what we will do about the attacks on the Heisei students. Recently, more and more of our friends have been attacked by Showa gangs. We have to find a way to protect our student body!”
Kota raised his hand, waiting for Yuya to give him permission to speak. Upon Yuya’s nod of acknowledgement, Kota suggested, “Maybe we could hold training sessions to help those who can’t really fight.”
“I’m sorry, but that probably wouldn’t work,” interjected Kei, shaking his head and crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“What did you just say?” exploded Kota, his short temper getting the better of him. Yuya shot him a look of warning as Kota took out his anger on the desk in front of him by clenching the edges tightly in both hands, nails marring the already soiled surface.
Kei explained, his voice cool and collected, “What I meant was: I don’t think lack of fighting skill is the problem here. The reason that you and Hikaru were able to be successfully ambushed and overcome was not due to you two being weak fighters. The reason lies in how Showa uses numbers to crush the opposition. They always send an excessive amount of people to each skirmish. Eventually, even the greatest fighters have to give in to greater numbers. We are all human, after all.”
Kota sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping as he let out all the air in his lungs in an attempt to calm down. “Okay, Mr. Smarty pants, if that won’t work, what do you suggest we do, then?”
Daiki’s hand shot up as he suddenly thought of an idea. Without waiting for Yuya to give him any indication to start talking, he blurted, “I know! What if we tried something like the buddy system?”
Yuya blinked. “The buddy system?”
“Yeah!” Daiki exclaimed, his eyes shining in excitement. “Instead of going to school in small groups of friends, we can try travelling in large groups, groups with students of all grade levels in them. That way, if a group gets ambushed, then there will be better odds for us. The presence of the older students would also ensure better fighting skills too.”
Kei stared at Daiki, his head cocked to one side in disbelief at Daiki’s sudden stroke of genius. “That is a strangely brilliant idea. I had no idea you had it in you, Daiki.”
Daiki’s mouth curled into a smug smirk. “And you thought you were the only one with brains around here.” He raised one eyebrow in a “you-just-got-served-oh-yes-you-did” expression, while Kei groaned exasperatedly.
As the meeting went on, the group managed to hit all of the critical topics they had wanted to discuss, including Hikaru’s return from the hospital the following day and setting weekly meetings so that the leaders of each class could report on what was happening in their class and discuss plans on what to do about the upcoming attack. Yuto listened to everyone’s suggestions and ideas, satisfied with how everyone was ready to pitch in to help save Heisei. I’ve got to make sure that everything goes successfully, he thought. I’ve got to protect our school.
No matter the cost.
All in all, things seemed to be going well.
* * *
“You can’t be serious!”
Kota Yabu stared at Yuto Nakajima with abject disbelief written clearly on his face. The lanky Class 3 boy poked a finger to Yuto’s chest roughly, as he tried to drive his point home. “No way in heck am I taking that route to and from school every day! It’s too out of the way for me! I have to walk an extra 5 kilometers!”
The leader of Class 2 glared at Kota with his eyebrows contracting angrily, annoyed that the said boy was getting in the way of his plans to help Heisei. “What do you mean you can’t take this route? We need a member of Class 3 in this group, and you’re the only one who lives closest to this route. Do you want Showa to think we are a ‘weak school’? Are you going against the best interests of Heisei Gakuen?”
Yuto paused, waiting for the answer he already knew Kota would give.
Gritting his teeth in barely suppressed fury, Kota reluctantly returned, his words barely discernible, “No. No, I don’t.”
“Then, you will do what you are told,” replied Yuto, his tone indicating that their business was now done. “You will take this route. No questions asked.”
Muttering obscenities under his breath, Kota stalked away, still unwilling to accept defeat. Daiki Arioka, who had been standing beside Yuto, silently witnessing the whole episode, searched his friend’s face, running over those familiar features with his innocent-looking eyes. All of a sudden, he was unsure if the person standing so tangibly close to him was really his best friend after all.
* * *
Ryosuke Yamada was having a bad day.
When Ryosuke had woken up that morning, his hair had pulled a mini-rebellion on him, refusing to stay in its well-groomed place. Instead, that one lock of hair kept sticking straight up at an awkward angle, making Ryosuke feel like an idiot. As he had walked across his room to grab his school uniform, he had tripped over his phone charger cord, resulting in an embarrassingly loud face plant on the floor, which didn’t help remedy the “idiot” image at all. Furthermore, his parents had both left early that day, so Ryosuke was stuck with making his own breakfast, almost burning himself in the process. What a chore! What an extra chore!
As the day went on, things got increasingly worse.
Due to all of his waking up mishaps, Ryosuke had arrived late at the place he usually met Yuri and Ryutaro, which lead to the two of them and their “buddy system” group leaving without him. In addition, more students in his class showed up with injuries apparent from Showa beatings. It seemed that not all of the older kids were used to the new buddy system routes yet, and some of them had neglected to show up at their posts. What idiots! If only I was there! I could have taken them!
On top of all that drama, there was also that Yuto Nakajima.
During lunch that day, the leader of Class 2 had shown up inexplicably in his classroom with his friends, and had demanded to see him, Yuri, and Ryutaro. Apparently, word had gotten to him that some of the Class 1 members had taken up their grief against the missing older kids…a little too loudly.
“You need to learn how to control your class,” Yuto had admonished. “This is a time when all of Heisei Gakuen has to stick together! Such trash talking will only destroy the unity we have all worked so hard to build!” Yuto shook his head in a way that somehow came off as being demeaning. “You guys really have got to get it together. If you can’t properly lead your class, maybe it’s best if you temporarily turn over your leadership to someone more capable.”
“Like you?” Ryosuke had scoffed, feeling that Yuto’s lecturing had been totally uncalled for. Of course his class was unhappy with the older kids! Class 1 had paid dearly because of their absence!
Yuto smirked at him, glad that Ryosuke had reacted how he wanted. “That would make for a good start.”
“W-what?” gasped Ryosuke, realizing too late what he had done.
Yuto laid a hand on Ryosuke’s shoulder, but Ryosuke was in too much shock to actually feel any of the weight there at all. “Thank you for contributing to the greater cause of protecting Heisei Gakuen, Ryosuke,” Yuto said. “You can rest easy now.”
Withdrawing his hand from Ryosuke’s shoulder, Yuto walked out of Class 1, a much disconcerted Daiki following him as he trailed behind Kei and Keito, both of whom had not spoken a single word throughout the whole exchange. Did Yuto just do what I thought he just did? Daiki thought, feeling as if the whole world was being thrown off balance.
Hurriedly, Daiki shook his head to clear it of such perturbing thoughts just in time to see Yuya Takaki and Hikaru Yaotome standing not too far off behind a bend in the hallway, deep in conversation and casting surreptitious looks in their direction. The Class 2 member rubbed his eyes to make sure he had seen what he had thought he had seen. Were Yuya Takaki and Hikaru Yaotome spying on us?
However, when Daiki had removed his hands from his face, they were gone.
After Yuto had left the classroom, Ryosuke still stood, frozen to the spot, unable to process what just happened. As feeling returned to his trembling legs, he felt himself sink slowly into a nearby chair.
“Ryosuke!” exclaimed Yuri, sticking out a hand to help steady his former leader.
Ryosuke leaned against Yuri’s outstretched arm, glad of his friend’s presence. “Yuri,” he breathed, unable to form his thoughts coherently. After all, he had just lost one of the things that he considered to be most important in his life; he had lost Class 1.
Yuri looked down at Ryosuke concernedly. Trying to put as much reassurance into his voice as he could muster, he said, “It’ll be alright. I’m sure of it.” The small boy’s eyes flickered back and forth as he cast around, searching for anything to say to comfort his friend. In a feeble attempt, he said the first thing that came to his mind, his voice sounding a bit too bright, “Maybe Yuto will be a good leader for our class.”
Ryutaro stared at the two in silence, feeling his heart beat sadly against his chest as resentment started to fill it. No matter what Yuri said, he knew that the only good leader for Class 1 lay in Ryosuke. He was the only one that their class would be willing to follow. When Class 1 was in need, Ryosuke had always been ready to step up and defend them, even if doing so meant alienating people older and stronger than him. He knew how to take care of them, how to keep them together. Stripping Ryosuke of his powers was unforgiveable.
Yuto Nakajima…You don’t know what you’ve done.
* * *
The next day, when Yuto, Daiki, Kei, and Keito sat in the abandoned stairwell during break, an awkward silence hung over the group, with the latter three glancing at their leader apprehensively. The events of the past two days were seriously worrying the three of them. Daiki, in particular, felt especially disturbed. Never before had he actually felt scared of Yuto. It was a new feeling that Daiki did not like.
“Hey, Yuto,” said Keito, finally breaking the silence.
“Yeah?”
Keito gulped as he felt Yuto’s large eyes fall on him. “Do you think it was really such a good idea to take away Ryosuke’s leadership power like that?” he squeaked, his eyes staring decidedly down on the stair step.
Yuto laughed shallowly. “Of course. That guy wasn’t doing his job, so for the good of our school, I felt that I had to make him step down.”
“But don’t you think that it was too much?” blurted Keito before he could control himself. He hurriedly put his hands to his mouth as he realized what he had just said, regretting his words immediately.
Yuto’s glance turned into a glare. “Do you have a problem with my leading? I don’t see you doing anything helpful on Heisei Gakuen’s behalf. In fact, I’m the one doing most of the work around here! When you actually have the right to speak up, that’s when you should, Keito.”
As Yuto’s words implanted themselves like barbs in Keito’s self-confidence, the said boy couldn’t stop feelings of uselessness and shame wash over his body. What Yuto said was true; he hadn’t been doing all that much to help Heisei Gakuen. Instead, he was the one who had brought it trouble to begin with. I’m so stupid! Keito thought despairingly. I never make things better, I always make things worse. I’m letting everyone else down!
As Keito sank deeper in his depression, Kei suddenly spoke up, his voice sharp, “Hey, Yuto! That was uncalled for! You know very well that all of us here care very deeply for our school and the greater cause! Keito, here, has been working very hard holding up his end; he’s merely pointed out a valid observation. There’s no need to put him down like that.” Kei put a reassuring hand on Keito’s shoulder, while simultaneously fixing Yuto with a stern look, one that wouldn’t seem out of place on a mother trying to teach her child an important lesson.
“What are you talking about, Kei?” asked Yuto, an incredulous expression on his face. “Are you saying that I’m supposed to just let wrongful accusations on my leadership abilities slide by? I can’t believe that you would suggest that! My own ‘friend’!” Yuto threw up his hands in annoyance.
As Yuto got up to leave, he turned toward Kei, unleashing the full force of his disappointed facial expression on his fellow Class 2 member. “I thought I could trust you,” Yuto said, his voice soft yet full of malice. He knew that his words would hurt.
Kei’s face crumpled within itself as if he had been struck a physical blow. He felt as if Yuto had taken a part of him and cruelly ripped it to pieces. Even after Yuto had left his sight, he could still feel a stinging pain in his heart.
Keito looked at Kei, and seeing how distressed the boy had become, Keito put his hand on Kei’s where he had left it on his shoulder. “Thank you for standing up for me, Kei,” he said, smiling sadly. When he saw that his words seemed to not have alleviated any of Kei’s pain, he turned away, saying bitterly, “What is going on with Yuto? That was such a horrible thing to say to a friend. I thought he never questioned your judgment.”
Kei sighed heavily. “I don’t know. I really don’t know. This is the first time it’s ever happened.” He looked toward the direction in which Yuto had departed, the words “I don’t know” trailing aimlessly from his pale lips.
Daiki stood up, stretching his arms out. “Well, whatever’s going on with Yuto, I hope he snaps out of it quick,” he said, in a failed attempt to lighten the mood. Without really thinking about what he was doing, he leaned on the railing of the stairs and looked down. Daiki gasped in surprise as he saw two very familiar, lanky figures dart away from the landing below them. Yuya Takaki and Hikaru Yaotome? What are they doing here?
What do they know?
* * *
Ring!
The bell announcing the end of class rang, causing the usual flurry of movement as the students hurried to gather their stuff in the rush to get out of their educational prison. It wasn’t long before the students had found the people that they had each been grouped with for the buddy system and evacuated the premises. However, there were four people in the room that did not go along with convention. Instead, these four just stayed where they were, waiting for an explanation.
The reason for Yuto, Daiki, Kei, and Keito’s prolonged stay stood in the doorway of the classroom.
Yuya Takaki and Hikaru Yaotome had appeared upon the threshold, their tall, lanky bodies blocking the way out for the four remaining Class 2 boys. Yuya’s face wore an expression of displeasure, while Hikaru’s was carefully composed. Both students had their arms crossed in front of their chests.
“What is going on?” demanded Yuto, looking from one Class 3 boy to the other. “What are you guys doing here?”
Yuya smirked, his eyes still hard. “We have something to discuss with you, Nakajima.” Daiki tensed as he realized that Yuya had reverted back to his old habit of calling Yuto by his last name, rather than by his first.
“Well, what is it, Yuya?” snapped Yuto. “We’re all really busy people, here, especially since I have two classes to run now.”
Hikaru said, his voice calm, “You see, that’s what we came to talk to you about. I’m not sure if you’re aware of it or not, but you can’t take away a leader’s power like that.”
Yuya nodded. “Precisely. We came here to demand for you to give Ryosuke Yamada his power back. Class 1 has expressed that they want their old leader back and we feel unsafe entrusting all that power to you. From what we have seen from the past three days, you have become a bit of a tyrant, Nakajima. I’m sorry, but as leader of this school, I simply can’t allow this.”
Yuto looked from one serious face to another, clenching his hands into fists. “Are you kidding me? Ryosuke’s not fit to be their leader! It’s for the common good that I took control! You can’t take away that power from me!”
“You’re power hungry, Yuto,” said Yuya gently, looking at his fellow leader with a pitying expression on his face. “Perhaps it’s better if we pass on your class’s leadership to someone else, like Kei Inoo, for example.”
Yuto started to shake violently, anger building up inside of him. “No! You can’t seriously be considering that! Kei doesn’t have what it takes!” He ignored the “Hey!” from his classmate. “He can’t take the responsibility.” He paused, drawing a deep breath, as he fought off the feeling that the entire world was against him. “You can’t do this to me!”
Keito put an arm on Yuto’s, trying to pacify him. “Calm down, Yuto! Maybe they’re right. Maybe Kei being the leader is for the best.”
“No!” Yuto shook Keito’s arm off of him. He backed away, so that he stood alone in the corner of the room, like a trapped beast, his eyes wide and wild. “No, you can’t do this to me! You can’t! I’m the only one who knows what’s best for this school. I am the leader!”
As Yuto stormed out of the classroom, pushing the door aside and making it crash on its hinges, Daiki felt utterly and completely overwhelmed as his mind struggled to reconcile him with what had just happened. What had his friend become?
Meanwhile, Yuya had laughed hollowly, his voice heavy with disappointment, “Well, that went well.”
Hikaru shook his head. “I had no idea that he was so far gone. I’m sorry. Maybe I should have suggested that we go confront him sooner.”
Yuya looked at Hikaru ruefully, while patting his friend on the shoulder. “It’s alright. I’m thankful that you finally gave me the push I needed, even if it was too late.” He sighed heavily, leaning against a nearby desk. “How are we going to proceed like this? How can we proceed when the classes are once again divided?”
Daiki looked at both Class 3 members and then looked at his hands. Slowly, he drew his fingers into two fists, clenching them so tightly that his fingernails made grooves in his skin.
He knew what he had to do.
Onwards to Chapter 17~
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Sorry for the long break, guys! This is the first time I'm writing solo without my sister! :(