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Volume 2, Chapter 1: Intro - The abrupt beginning of turbulent times

It was the worst timing possible.

While looking for places to take a selfie, I stumbled upon an incident. It was a tense state of affairs. The whole thing started a few seconds ago, when a trivial accusation provoked the other party and turned into a fist fight pretty quickly. No, saying fist “fight” is more accurate. Three male students were on the floor, covered in injuries. A red-haired boy was standing over them, looking down. It was a pretty one-sided fight.

I saw blood streaks on his right fist from the wounds of the other boys. It was my first time seeing a real fist fight. In elementary school, I saw boys pulling at each other’s clothes and pinching each other, but this was different. I could feel the weight of the tense situation.

Even though I was afraid, I unconsciously took pictures of the scene. The shutter went off silently. I thought to myself, “What am I doing?”, but in my panic, I couldn’t think very clearly.

I tried to leave the area as fast as I possibly could. But my brain wasn’t functioning normally, and my legs wouldn’t do what I told them to. Feeling paralyzed, I couldn’t move at all.

“Hehe, do you think… things will be over with this, Sudou?”

The boy who was barely able to move his upper body desperately tried to resist despite his fear.

“Are you trying to make me laugh? You three are in a sad state. Do you want to go at me again? I won’t hold back next time.”

Grabbing the collar of the student who had lost his fighting spirit midway, Sudou brought the other boy’s face a few centimeters away from his own. Looking as if he’d devour them at any moment, the defeated boys looked away.

“Are you shocked? Did you think you could win if you had more people?”

Laughing through his nose, Sudou-kun dropped him on the ground and picked up his bag.

As if he already lost interest in the three boys, Sudou-kun turned around and started walking away.

That instant, my heart rate shot up. Well, it’s natural. Sudou-kun started walking in the direction of my hiding spot, after all. My routes off the rooftop are limited. The theory is to go down the staircase that I used to get up here. Losing the right timing to escape, my body isn’t able to move as I want it to. When someone gets into an accident, I heard that their body tenses up and feels paralyzed, and that was the exact situation I was in right now.

“That was pointless. Making me tired after practice, give me a break.”

The distance shortened. He was only a few meters away.

“…The one that’ll regret this later is you, Sudou.”

One of the boys called out to Sudou in a strained voice.

My paralysis slowly faded away, as if a curse was being lifted.

“There’s nothing as shameful as the whining of a loser. No matter how many times you try, you won’t win against me.”

He clearly wasn’t bluffing; it was obvious that he had the confidence to back it up. After all, Sudou-kun was able to come out unscathed from a fight where he was at an overwhelming disadvantage.

Tomorrow was the first day of July; it was starting to look like summer.

Still not moving from my hiding spot, sweat started forming on the back of my neck.

Without panicking, I decided to leave from my spot quietly.

I just have to avoid being seen and getting involved in the situation.

If I get involved, only a dark future awaits my calm and tranquil school life.

Carefully but quickly, I moved away and left the place behind me.

“Is someone there…?”

Unconsciously wanting to escape, the air slightly changed. Feeling the change in atmosphere, Sudou peered into the location where I was hiding just moments ago. However, I was able to escape by a hair’s breadth.

If I was late by one or two seconds, he would’ve probably seen my retreating figure.