Chapter 393

"What's going on?"

I could see the expressions on the three men's faces change instantly.

They seemed a little intimidated by the approach of a guy who was a full head taller and significantly bulkier than them.

They tried to hide it, but standing together seemed to give them a false sense of courage.

"Matsuken! Those guys were totally hitting on us...!"

Hiyori grabbed Miyuki and Miho and immediately hid behind my back.

She pointed at the men, fuming. It was cute, but a bit dangerous in this situation.

"Hey, what the hell are you saying..."

One of the men scowled and started to stride toward Hiyori.

But he paused when he saw me standing tall in his way, redirecting his anger.

That target was none other than me.

"Who the fuck are you? Their guardian?"

Ah... it had been a very long time since I'd felt this childish vibe.

It reminded me of the incident when I quit my circle at the beginning of the semester last year.

It felt like a punch would fly if I provoked them even a little.

That feeling hit me hard.

"I think there's been a misunderstanding. How about you just leave?"

For now, I tried to send the men away peacefully.

Miyuki hated this kind of situation.

Of course, fighting back against people who picked a fight first was within acceptable bounds.

She hadn't said much when I fought with the Judo club at the start of this semester, either.

Even now, it would be fine if they swung first and I fought back.

Even so, it was best to avoid a physical clash if at all possible.

I also didn't want Miyuki to have to watch it happen.

However, my calm attitude seemed to boost the men's egos.

"Stupid piece of shit..."

A harsh curse slipped from the mouth of the biggest guy in the group.

It seemed he mistakenly thought I was scared.

"What did you say, you crazy bastard!? You're absolute trash!"

The problem was that while I was fine being sworn at, Hiyori was not.

She must have been incredibly furious, pointing her finger and raging. Her voice was so piercing it made me a little dizzy.

"Just because you have a mouth doesn't mean you can spout garbage! You're so damn ugly!"

Hmm. Objectively speaking, he wasn't ugly; he actually fell into the handsome category. But with that adverb attached, she made him sound truly hideous.

I figured his pride was going to take a bit of a hit.

"You wanna fucking die..."

The man's face turned violently red after hearing Hiyori's personal attack.

If she had said it quietly, maybe he could have brushed it off, but she was loud enough for everyone around to hear, which probably added to his humiliation.

Weren't things starting to get a little dangerous?

Just as I had that thought, the man raised an arm.

"Eek...!"

Hiyori shrank back, frightened by the thick hand reaching for her.

But the man's hand was faster. With astonishing speed, as if he'd learned boxing, he tried to snatch Hiyori's wrist.

But my hand was even faster.

Quickly snatching the man's arm, I squeezed his forearm with all my might, as if testing my grip strength.

"Ah...!"

A groan of agony tore from his mouth, followed by...

"Aaaaaah...! Aaaaaaaah...!!!"

Soon, he began to scream in pain.

His arm bent against his will, his knees automatically gave out, and a scream rose in a steep gradient...

It was pathetic, but also kind of funny. This might be a great move to use on Tetsuya later.

I stared calmly down at the man, who was shrieking without even attempting to pry my hand off, then shifted my gaze to his flinching companions.

"I said, just leave."

"Hey... You have to let him go first..."

I clicked my tongue at the sight of them turning into docile sheep, their earlier bravado completely gone.

Once again, brawn beats brains. If I had been even slightly smaller, a full-blown brawl would have broken out, but instead, the situation was resolving itself quite peacefully.

Overwhelming strength was the best.

Shove.

Resolving to train my martial arts even more in the future, I pushed back on the groaning man's arm and let him go.

"Heugh...!"

The man tumbled clumsily into the sand and inspected his arm.

His wrist was raw and red, in stark contrast to his palm, which had gone pure white from the blood flow being cut off by the pressure.

Seeing his wrist trembling violently, he ground his teeth and turned away.

At least he had the sense to be embarrassed and back off quietly.

If it had been Tetsuya, he probably would have threatened to sue.

"Matsuda-kun, are you okay?"

Miyuki asked, having just dialed a number on her phone.

She put her Cell Phone away when she saw me give a light nod.

She had likely been about to call a teacher or the police.

"Haa... My heart is pounding..."

Sighing in relief, Miyuki took a long sip of the fresh fruit juice I had bought.

She patted her chest; she must have been incredibly tense.

I walked over to the ocean to rinse my hands in the seawater, then approached Hiyori, who kept glaring at the men until they were nothing more than small dots in the distance.

"What happened to make you act like you were ready to fight?"

"We were just getting ready to play the game again, but those guys came over and told us to hang out with them. Miyuki Hanazawa told them no, but they thought she was just playing hard to get and tried to rub their dirty asses on our mat. So I got mad, and they just acted even more sleazy."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Miho and Miyuki Hanazawa told them firmly not to sit down, but they didn't listen. They even tried to eat the fruit we were saving for you, sunbae-nim. If Miyuki Hanazawa wasn't on the Student Council, I would have kicked them right in the crotch."

I barely held back a laugh as I watched Hiyori viciously kick the empty air, instead replying dryly.

"All talk and no action."

"Admittedly."

"But what does kicking them in the crotch have to do with Miyuki being on the Student Council?"

"We can't get demerit points. We already got two points yesterday."

Hiyori didn't just resemble Miyuki; she resembled me, too.

Calling other people's body parts 'dirty,' getting angry when strangers did weird things...

She was different in that she outwardly expressed her anger like a highly-strung Chihuahua, but I figured we basically had similar temperaments.

"Miyuki is usually pretty flexible in those situations... but it's admirable that you were thinking that far ahead. Also, didn't I tell you to watch your language?"

When I got to the main point and started scolding her, Hiyori cast her eyes downward.

At first, I thought she was reflecting on her actions... but looking closely, that wasn't the case.

"Yep."

Unlike when she had articulated the situation perfectly just a moment ago, she was now giving a very suspicious response.

Her answer was half-hearted.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Yep."

"Are you an idiot?"

"Yep."

"You were an idiot?"

"Yep."

"Are you a moron?"

"Yep."

Normally, she would have thrown a fit and denied it, but right now, she was just accepting it.

Even when I waved my hand in front of her face, her eyes remained glazed over.

She seemed distracted by something.

Wondering what it was, I followed Hiyori's gaze and saw my own arm.

There was a blatant glint inside her slightly hazy eyes. Did she like how the veins in my forearm bulged when I squeezed that man's arm?

I wondered if she had some kind of fetish for this.

I decided to check.

Flick.

I lightly flicked her cowlick. Only then did she shake her head, snap out of it, and look up at me.

"What? Are you going to nag me?"

"I just did. Did you not hear me?"

"What did you say? Not to speak like that?"

"You nailed it."

"I only did it because I thought it was fine since you were here, sunbae-nim."

"Don't make excuses. You've always been like that."

"Ah, but they kept clinging to us, so what was I supposed to do...!"

Why did Hiyori look so adorable as she buried one foot deep into the sand, looking thoroughly wronged?

She looked like a weak little monster puffing out her cheeks and grumbling because her attacks weren't working.

"I'm not saying you were wrong; I'm telling you to control yourself. Do you even realize you almost got hit by them just now?"

"I wasn't almost hit, I was almost grabbed."

"Same thing."

"But you blocked it for me, sunbae-nim."

"And what are you going to do when I'm not around? Shouldn't you prevent things from getting to that point in the first place? Call a Lifeguard nearby, or phone a teacher immediately."

"Can I touch your arm just once?"

"Don't change the subject."

"Let me touch it, and I'll answer properly."

"No."

"Is now a bad time? Then I'll touch it when Miyuki Hanazawa isn't around."

She was just sitting there, spouting audacious nonsense.

I glanced sideways at Miyuki, who was having a serious conversation with Miho, and pushed Hiyori's forehead very lightly with my finger.

"Anyway, speak nicely."

"Is that a yes?"

"No, it's not."

"You're just embarrassed, aren't you? I get it."

"Right... Think whatever you want about that, but your language..."

"I'll speak nicely. But today really wasn't my fault. You have to speak harshly to guys like that for them to listen."

"I just said, I'm not saying you were wrong. I'm telling you not to just charge headlong into things."

"I got it."

"Don't just say you got it all the time."

"Should I say no, then? Isn't saying 'I got it' the right answer?"

"Now that you mention it, I suppose it is. Anyway, it's a promise, right?"

"Yes."

After wrapping up that brief disciplinary session...

"Asahina!"

I saw Miyuki calling out and waving to Hiyori.

She was telling her to come over and eat some watermelon.

She probably felt both sorry and grateful to Hiyori for drawing the aggressive men's attention away from her.

Hiyori took the watermelon Miyuki offered with a look that clearly said, 'What's gotten into her?'

Opening her tiny mouth wide, she bit into the edge of the watermelon, the corners of her lips curling up happily as the sweet flavor filled her mouth.

However...

"Listen while you eat. About what just happened... You spoke way too harshly. I'm not trying to scold you, but you can't just charge headlong into things. If Matsuda-kun hadn't been here, it could have been a disaster. When the teacher handed out the room keys yesterday, didn't you hear them say to call them if anyone tried to force us to hang out? The Hotel is right behind us in the first place, so if you had just called..."

The moment she began listening to Miyuki's quiet nagging, Hiyori's mouth fell open slightly, and her eyes darted toward me as I sat on the mat eating fruit with Miho.

She looked utterly dumbfounded that Miyuki was saying almost the exact same things I had just said.

It was a nice sight to see—Miyuki talking incessantly as she instilled her values into Hiyori, and Hiyori pretending to listen with a fed-up expression.

With that thought in mind, I speared a neatly cut slice of peach with a fork and offered it to Miho.

"You've been through a lot. Eat up."

"Through a lot? I didn't even do anything..."

"Then just eat it."

"Ah, yes. Thank you..."

Miho was cute, too, accepting the offered fork with both hands while giving her usual plain thanks...

Above all, I was glad that the vigilance woven into Miyuki's attitude toward Hiyori seemed lower than usual.

As expected, people only really get close when they overcome hardships together.

If someone were to ask me whether this was going to be a fulfilling day, I think I could confidently say yes.