Kisaki's offline countdown 2
There are still more than half a month left in summer vacation.
This year is very different from previous years when I went to tutoring classes.
Yuko is rarely home these days; it seems like ages have passed since she spent time glued to the television. Her father is busy, and her much older brother has his own life. Unable to make friends, unable to step out of her own world, she's stuck in the same place. If things continue like this, she might just continue her leisurely but meaningless life.
But everything changed. Her life was thrown into chaos, each day like a high-speed train ride—tense, exciting, and exhilarating. She could no longer, and did not want to, return to the past. Perhaps she gained the ability to access fragments of dreams because deep down she yearned for some powerful impact to shatter her stagnant fate.
Yuko swung her sword, snapping the wooden stake in front of her in two. She wiped the sweat from her brow, and the others in the dojo noticed her phone ringing and handed it to her.
Yuko thanked him, wiped her sweat, and walked to the restroom while answering the phone: "Wudao-kun. Tonight? Okay, I'll be there on time." After hanging up, Yuko stared at the screen for a while, then tapped the screen with her index finger, found a number, and dialed it.
"It's me. Are you free tonight...?"
＊
The rally in Dongwan will be held tonight.
It was said that this was to appoint a new captain to fill the vacancies of Kazutaka and Apa. Takeo followed Yuko's instructions and informed her.
Night falls.
Motorcycles converged from all directions, and groups of boys in matching special attack uniforms gathered under the cover of night, turning the peaceful Musashi Shrine into a chaotic scene. Takedo felt uneasy, becoming more vigilant as he secretly observed Kisaki, remembering Yuko's words.
Since Kisaki wants to use the Meteor Society to eliminate Ichigo, the first thing to do is to let him know my identity and accelerate his plan.
While he was lost in thought, Mikey stood in front of the assembled crowd and announced that Martial Arts would replace the Field as the captain of the First Division, Smile would replace Kazutaka as the captain of the Fourth Division, and Kisaki would be appointed to the Third Division.
Yuko arrived late after the appointment ceremony had ended.
In this setting, a girl dressed out of place alone would inevitably attract attention. Those who remembered her whispered among themselves, while those who didn't or were seeing her for the first time observed her, but no one dared to make things difficult for her. Takeshi noticed Yuko and walked over, accompanied by Mitani, Mikey, and Draken.
"How did you get here?" Draken asked her.
Just as Yuko was about to answer, Apa came over and greeted her loudly, "Young Miss!"
"Greetings, Mr. Ape," Yuko replied with a smile.
"Pah, don't be so loud." Mitani instinctively took care of the girl.
After realizing what was happening, Ape stopped talking, saying, "Sorry, sorry."
Yuko said it was okay: "I'm used to it. The uncles in my family are loud too." After saying that, Yuko looked around as if looking for someone, then waved to her target, "Haru Chiyo."
Everyone looked at Santu, who, despite pretending not to see Yuko, had no choice but to come over under these circumstances.
After he walked over, Yuko finally stopped glancing at Kisaki out of the corner of her eye. Smiling, she said, "I'm here to invite everyone to my house for my fifteenth birthday party." As she finished speaking, Yuko noticed that Kisaki had somehow appeared behind Pei.
He asked, seemingly out of curiosity, after Yuko finished speaking, "And who is this?" Kisaki, who had been talking to Apei, noticed Yuko because of Apei's behavior. From his perspective, the girl in the white T-shirt and jeans looked ordinary from afar, but upon closer inspection, he realized she was very beautiful, second only to Hinata. Kisaki wasn't a fool to be swayed by beauty, but the fact that core members of Touman, even Draken and Mikey, were surrounding her piqued his interest.
“Yuko. Our friend,” Draken introduced simply. “He is Kisaki.”
"Hello," Yuko greeted him warmly.
Kisaki adjusted her glasses: "Am I interrupting your conversation?"
"That's not true." Yuko still had a smile on her face, and then continued from where she left off, "Because it was a bit troublesome to notify everyone by phone, I came in person. By the way, I will also invite the venue and Kazutaka."
"Hey! If I go to your house, I can see the real [censored]!" Apei's face showed no fear, but rather inexplicable excitement. He didn't feel awkward seeing the venue and Yihu; on the contrary, he felt it was only natural.
Yuko smiled. The original plan was for Takedo to say similar lines, but Apei had inadvertently helped in a way. She wasn't sure how Kisaki would find out her identity in the unknown future, so she decided to turn that uncertainty into certainty by proactively revealing her connection to the Meteor Society.
However, apart from the simple-minded Ape, the others reacted differently after hearing about the venue and the presence of the Tiger Association.
Mikey, Draken, and Mitani figured that, given Yuko's personality, inviting them to the birthday party was just an excuse; her real purpose was probably to create an opportunity for them to reconcile with Kazutaka. They didn't know why they were making a girl worry so much, and it made them all feel a little ashamed.
Wu Dao restrained himself from looking at Xi Xiao, lest he notice something amiss.
Santu, on the other hand, looked completely indifferent.
Kisaki was very clever. Yuko had only mentioned Ichigo and the field's names, and he already deduced that this woman was very familiar with the members of Touman, and, contrary to her appearance, seemed to have a shady background. Kisaki glanced at Apei; he wouldn't bluntly try to pry information here—he had a very useful vice-captain. Kisaki then indicated he wouldn't disturb them and left, as if he knew better than to.
Yuko glanced at her watch, looked up and said, "I must also say goodbye now. I have an appointment with Tora, and I need to go there now."
Mikey frowned, displeased. "You're going to see Kazutaka now? Alone?" He hadn't forgotten what Kazutaka had said in Okinawa—that guy harbored ulterior motives towards Yuko. Even knowing Yuko wasn't going on a date with Kazutaka, Mikey couldn't suppress his annoyance.
"I'll go too." That's what came out of my mouth.
Yuko blinked. Although she was a little confused, she didn't think anything was wrong and nodded, "Okay."
Seeing this, Draken, recalling everything that had happened before, immediately understood Mikey's unusual feelings for Yuko. Draken didn't go with them, but watched the two leave with some worry.
The disparity in their social status and the differences in their personalities cannot be bridged by simply saying "I like you." Draken understood this perfectly; otherwise, he wouldn't have kept his distance from Emma.
＊
Yuko called Kazutaka and learned that he was waiting at a shop they used to frequent, not far from here, so the two of them rode together in Yuko's car to go there.
There was only one tiger and one person when they arrived.
Yi Hu was taken aback when he saw Mikey, but quickly recovered and greeted the two of them.
After sitting down, Mikey didn't say anything, but Yuko, as she had said before, extended a party invitation to Kazutaka, who readily agreed.
"Ichi-hu, was it you who made the venue withdraw from Dongwan with you?" Mikey suddenly asked. His suspicion was not without reason. Between the two, Ichi-hu was always the more cunning and troublemaker.
Yi Hu, who had been grinning the momentarily, suddenly showed a hurt expression, but the next second he was all smiles again: "I knew you'd think that way." Then he stopped smiling and looked directly at him, "So what if I do?"
Mikey's expression turned serious, and anger welled up in his eyes.
"If you fight here, the boss might not welcome us anymore," Yuko interrupted Mikey's progress bar, reminding them.
“Most people would try to break up a fight first, right…” Yihu realized what Yuko’s interruption meant and stopped confronting Mikey. He remained relaxed and said, “I don’t want to end up in the hospital.”
Yuko, however, said earnestly, "Although I don't understand, I know that sometimes men need to fight to understand each other. I know a perfect place; you'll definitely be satisfied."
Yihu/Mikey: You really want to see this...
Yuko, of course, took it seriously.
They followed Yuko to what she called the perfect spot, looking completely bewildered.
A boxing gym.
And it was a boxing gym that looked very run-down.
After the three of them went inside, Yuko asked if the owner was there. The clerk pointed to a person sprawled on the sofa, with a comic book covering their face, who looked like they were sleeping.
Yuko walked up to him and called out, "Mr. Serizawa."
The man, annoyed at being woken up, picked up the comic book from his face and squinted at Yuko as if trying to identify her.
Then, somewhat taken aback, he asked, "Genji's sister?"
Yuko: "You don't forget my name, do you?"
"Yes." The man didn't give a perfunctory answer and admitted it directly. He straightened up, yawned, glanced behind Yuko, and instead of Genji, saw two little kids. He asked, "Is something wrong?"
"Come and play!" Yuko replied with a smile.
“This isn’t a place for kids to play,” the man said.
Yuko already knew how to manipulate this man from her brother Genji. She took out a 10,000 yen bill from her pocket and shook it: "Is this okay?"
The man, Serizawa Tamao, was recognized as the strongest and poorest student in Suzuran High School before Genji entered the school. He stood up, walked to Yuko's side, took the money from her hand, wiped away tears with his other hand, and said emotionally, "I never thought that a bastard like Genji would have such a good sister like you."
Yuko: ...
Serizawa stuffed the money into his pocket, fully awake, and asked Yuko, "What do you want to play?"
"I'm just borrowing your ring so they can have a fight," Yuko explained.
"That simple? This is like money falling from the sky for Serizawa." He casually remarked, "I'd even let them fight me, let them fight me!"
"Huh? Is that okay?" Yuko can be a bit eccentric at times.
Serizawa: ...
So the situation became former delinquent Serizawa vs. current delinquent.
Could it be said that he's still got it? Serizawa hasn't let his skills go to waste over the years; in fact, running a boxing gym has honed his abilities even more. He subdued Ichigo in no time, and even sat on Ichigo's back, looking at Mikey provocatively, raising his chin: "One by one is too much trouble. Come at me all at once."
Mikey's initial dissatisfaction with Ichigo has now shifted to Serizawa after seeing Ichigo get beaten. He walks onto the ring, Ichigo gets up from the ground, and Mikey tells him, "Don't move if you're injured."
Yi Hu rubbed his shoulder, watching Mikey's back.
He always seemed to be protected.
“Mikey!” Yihu shouted.
Mikey paused, as if waiting for him to finish speaking.
Be careful.
"Ah, got it." After saying that, Mikey's two hands, both wearing boxing gloves, touched together, and he threw a punch and charged forward.
In the end, neither side gained an advantage in this one-on-one duel.
Serizawa was fouled by Mikey and kicked out of the ring. When he landed, he acted as if nothing had happened, muttering that young people these days are really strong, and then shouted that it was a foul, that he lost.
Mikey didn't care about winning or losing, but Serizawa had left an impression on him. He had taken Serizawa's flying kick without getting hurt, and Serizawa's ability to withstand beatings was the strongest he had ever seen.
When the three left, Yuko and Serizawa thanked them, but the other party didn't say anything more, like "welcome to come again" or criticize Yuko's friendships. He just waved goodbye casually.
On the way, Yihu, impressed by Mikey's rare candor, exclaimed, "Indeed, Mikey is my hero."
"Huh?" Mikey was momentarily speechless with cheesiness.
"Sorry, I lied before. It was the venue's idea to leave Dongwan this time; his goal was to protect Dongwan. It's always you, let's switch roles this time." After saying this, Ichigo didn't care what Mikey thought, and looked at Yuko, "I'll bring the venue to the birthday party. See you then~"
Then they ran away as if fleeing.
"That's ambiguous." Mikey chuckled, seemingly unsure of what to say. Then, remembering Yuko was beside him, he asked, "How are you getting back?"
"Mr. Kuroki is nearby."
"Then I'll take you there."
The two walked forward in silence. Mikey spoke up: "You seem to have gotten bolder lately, daring to come to places like this. You used to be afraid of crowded places."
Yuko remembered he was referring to the time Emma and Draken went to a concert, and she embarrassingly burst into tears in the crowd out of panic. She said somewhat awkwardly, "That's because I'm not used to it." Yuko stopped and held out her palms to him, "Actually, I was still scared; my palms were sweating." Heaven knows how nervous she was watching those people fight.
Mikey chuckled. He looked at Yuko, who was holding out her palm earnestly. She wasn't particularly striking in appearance or strange in behavior, but for some reason, whenever she appeared, his gaze was involuntarily drawn to her. This feeling hadn't faded over time but had grown stronger, inexplicably reminding him of the word "destiny." He blurted out, "Yuko, haven't we met a long time ago?"
Yuko shook her head: "No. I haven't gone out much." When she was little, because of her father, she always had someone with her. For that reason, no one dared to be her friend. Later, as she grew up, her protective circle wasn't as tight as before, but she had gotten used to being alone.
"Really?" Mikey was a little disappointed, so he followed up by asking, "Then tell me about your past."
"Okay. It might be boring." For Yuko, her weak past, though not something to be proud of, wasn't so shameful that she couldn't talk about it. She started by talking about her mischievous childhood, then about being kidnapped, her father being injured, and how she had to go to the countryside to take refuge after being rescued.
"Actually, I met someone on the way to escape after that rescue. Thanks to him, I hid in a trash can, which prevented those people from finding me. But I forgot to ask his name, and I couldn't find him afterwards. The adults said it was just my imagination because I was scared."
"Everyone has aspects that are hard to understand, right?" Mikey thought there were countless people around him who were incomprehensible, and Yuko was simply not worth mentioning.
"Manjiro."
"Um?"
"Um, well... why would you like me?"
Mikey, unusually, thought for a moment after being asked this question, and gave his answer: "Because you are you."
"Won't it change?"
Mikey chuckled: "To be honest, I can't guarantee it either, but right now, at this moment, I can't stop."
Yuko looked into his eyes. She had received much love before, and those who have experienced it firsthand can discern its authenticity, understanding even more deeply how sincere and steadfast he was. For some reason, Yuko felt inferior in his presence. Was she capable enough to reciprocate? No, she shouldn't think like that; to be afraid of the unknown and thus unable to move forward was truly foolish. Yuko clenched her small fist to encourage herself and said, "The last day of summer vacation, at this time, in this place. I have something very important to tell you."
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