14. Ishida Shoya, get over here and die!

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Takeuchi first led everyone through warm-up exercises, then began organizing the lesson plan.

Yes, he was also the PE teacher.

Vaulting horse, also known as "leapfrog."

In the corner at the front of the gymnasium, a whiteboard was set up. Takeuchi wrote and drew on it, explaining the sequence of activities for the class.

First was “leapfrog,” where one person bends over and another jumps over them. Then it would advance to two people standing side by side bent over, increasing the jumping distance. After that, the students would line up with intervals; the person at the front would continuously leap over those behind, then bend down at the end to repeat the cycle.

After leapfrog came the vaulting horse, a wooden box...

Having explained the lesson, Takeuchi looked at Shoko Nishinomiya with a worried expression. He had been specifically warned earlier that she must avoid strenuous exercise, as it might worsen her hearing impairment.

Shoko had been eagerly listening to Takeuchi, looking forward to playing leapfrog with Kyosuke Hojo. But seeing Takeuchi’s gaze fixed on her, she immediately remembered she couldn’t participate in this activity. Her little head drooped in disappointment.

Takeuchi’s prolonged silence drew the students’ attention. Following his gaze, they noticed Shoko, and quiet murmurs spread.

“Um, Nishinomiya, during class, you could…”

Takeuchi intended for Shoko to sit on the sidelines to watch, to avoid any problems.

“Teacher, I’ll take Shoko to play dodgeball with Class One,” Kyosuke Hojo raised his hand, interrupting Takeuchi.

“That’s fine, but you must be extra careful with Nishinomiya’s safety.”

Takeuchi was relieved someone was willing to take on this hot potato.

“Let’s go, Shoko.”

Kyosuke stood and waved to Shoko.

“Okay.”

Shoko had expected to sit out the PE class again, like at her previous schools, watching enviously as classmates ran and played happily. She hadn’t expected Kyosuke to take her to play with students from the neighboring class.

Such behavior, breaking away from the group, was often frowned upon and might lead to exclusion by classmates. Moreover, the other class might not welcome them.

But these concerns were irrelevant for Kyosuke, who was already an outcast in his own class. The neighboring class belonged to Sakura Yamauchi, the class darling, well-liked by everyone. Anyone introduced by her would surely be accepted.

“Sakura, we came to play with you.”

Kyosuke led Shoko to Class 6-1. Unlike their neat and orderly line, the students in Class 1 were running about clutching balls.

Dodgeball was meant to foster the basics of baseball from a young age, but in practice, it was just students given lightweight rubber balls; some ran according to baseball rules, some tossed balls to each other, others dribbled in place.

Sakura was leading Kyoko Takimoto and a few other girls in dribbling and passing.

“Hi, Shoko. Kyosuke, why are you here so early?”

“Our class is doing vaulting horse, which isn’t suitable for Shoko, so I brought her to play ball with you.”

“Great, then let’s play together, Shoko.”

Sakura said cheerfully and introduced Shoko to her friends. As Kyosuke had thought, anyone Sakura requested was never refused. The girls happily welcomed Shoko.

Pulled along by Sakura as she explained the game rules, Shoko gazed at the seemingly ever-energetic girl and momentarily lost herself. She truly was like the sun.

“Kyosuke, aren’t you playing?”

“I’ll pass. I’m just going to rest nearby. After a whole day of classes, I’m tired. Take good care of Shoko.”

“Ah, come on! PE is for exercise. You’re such a lazybones, Kyosuke.”

Sakura made a funny face at Kyosuke.

“Then run five hundred meters extra tomorrow morning.”

“My mistake, Lord Kyosuke. Shall I fan you while you sleep?”

Kyosuke waved dismissively without turning back and headed toward the pile of mats at the edge of the gym. Increasing training had been planned; with their physical condition, it was time to step it up.

“Oh no.”

Sakura hugged Shoko pitifully.

Their conversation was distant and at normal speed, so Shoko couldn’t catch what they were saying and was startled by Sakura’s expression, growing anxious.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen? Are you okay, Yamauchi?”

“You’re really adorable, Shoko-chan. Also, call me Sakura now—we’re friends, right?”

“Okay, but what happened? Did you and Kyosuke have a fight?”

“No, no, don’t worry. It’s just…”

Sakura then told Shoko about how she and Kyosuke had been running and training together since childhood.

“Starting tomorrow, he has to run five hundred meters more. Nope, Kyosuke has to make me a new dessert!”

“Kyosuke can cook?”

“Of course. I’m telling you, Kyosuke can make…”

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“Hey, Sakura! Come play with us!”

“Ah, sorry, sorry.”

Hearing Kyoko Takimoto’s call after waiting for a while, Sakura quickly clasped her hands apologetically.

“I’ll tell you later, Shoko. Let’s go play ball.”

“Okay.”

Shoko smiled happily and ran off with Sakura.

Kyosuke, already by the mats, had made himself a comfortable “lounge” and, as he said, truly closed his eyes and fell asleep.

After a whole day of either studying or teaching Shoko to speak, he was genuinely tired. Unlike other students who were energized by PE, he still felt mature despite years of being a kid. Now, he just wanted quiet rest.

“What’s your name?”

Someone called him in a dream.

What was that? Kyosuke’s closed eyes flickered as if trying to see who was calling.

“What’s your name…”

The mist in the dream began to clear, almost revealing the figure.

Suddenly, a loud noise pierced his ears, shattering the dream entirely.

Irritated, Kyosuke opened his eyes and looked toward the noisy crowd that had woken him.

How long had he been asleep?

In the crowd, Shoko lay on the ground, Sakura gripping Masaya Ishida’s collar, angrily confronting him. Kyoko Takimoto looked furious too. Naoka Ueno was pulling Ishida’s arm, trying to get an adult involved.

Kyosuke hurried over, ignoring his rumpled clothes.

“Sakura, what’s going on?”

Pulling Sakura behind him, he asked.

“After free time, Shoko said she had something to do. Then I heard a noise and saw that guy push Shoko down and tried to hit her.”

Sakura was angry. It was outrageous to hurt such a sweet girl like Shoko.

“Oh, and here’s Shoko-chan.”

Sakura helped the still-sitting Shoko up, brushing dust off her hands and pants.

“Shoko, are you okay? Any injuries?”

Despite having been roughly pushed down, Shoko smiled calmly and shook her head at Sakura’s concern.

“I’m fine, thank you, Sakura.”

She communicated this with simple gestures.

“What happened, Shoko?”

Facing Kyosuke’s question, Shoko lowered her head, lips pressed tightly.

She couldn’t say—if she did, it would only cause trouble for Kyosuke.

“I’m fine, Kyosuke. Let’s go play dodgeball.”

Now that Kyosuke could barely understand her, Shoko could speak directly.

“Ueno?”

Kyosuke wasn’t going to let this go. He looked at Naoka Ueno, still holding Ishida. This was their class’s activity area; Ueno should know what happened.

Frowning, Ueno released the struggling Ishida.

“Honestly, I’m done with you guys. Just now, Nishinomiya ran over and said something to Ishida, gesturing a bit and handing him a note. Then Ishida pushed her. That’s all I know.”

With that, Ueno walked away.

Kyosuke scanned around. Takeuchi wasn’t here, nor was the homeroom teacher of Sakura’s class; only students were in the gym.

Then he spotted the note on the floor, the one Ueno mentioned Shoko had given Ishida. It stood out starkly on the polished gym floor.

Picking it up, he read:

“I want to be friends with you.”

Kyosuke looked at Shoko, who still kept her head lowered.

“Shoko…”

“I don’t want to cause trouble for Kyosuke anymore, nor have him get in conflicts because of me. So I thought if I could be friends with Ishida, everyone could get along peacefully.”

“That’s a lie! If you have a problem, just say it!”

From the sidelines, Masaya Ishida shouted loudly. It was unclear how he heard Shoko speak—maybe some special talent.

Shoko took a small step back, frightened by Ishida’s fierce expression.

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“I don’t need you worrying about me. Just focus on studying with me, and I’ll be happy.”

Ruffling Shoko’s head, Kyosuke was at a loss for words.

“Ishida, let’s fight. I know you’ve wanted to hit me for a while.”

Since Shoko had approached Ishida first, Kyosuke wasn’t going to dwell on it; he decided to be straightforward.

“Huh? Perfect. I’ve hated you for a long time. You jerk, always acting like you look down on everyone.”

With that battle cry, Ishida charged at Kyosuke with fists raised. Ueno wasn’t nearby this time; no one could stop him.

Though still scared, Shoko tried to rush forward as a human shield but was quickly held back by Sakura.

“Ugh.”

Pulled back, Shoko anxiously pointed at Kyosuke, shouting something.

“Don’t worry. Even if two more like you came, Kyosuke would take them all down.”

Hearing Sakura’s words, Shoko calmed down and looked away. Sakura wore a carefree, excited expression, as if enjoying the show.

Just as Sakura said, despite no professional fighting training, Kyosuke’s long-term conditioning gave him far superior physical abilities compared to Ishida. Not to mention, an adult’s spirit resided within him.

The worst thing in a fight is panic. Most people’s adrenaline surges wildly, their brains unable to think—just like Ishida now.

Kyosuke, even with fists nearly hitting his face, stayed calm, planning his response.

This time, without holding back as before in the classroom, he lifted his foot and delivered a direct front kick.

“Pfft!”

Ishida was kicked so hard he lost contact with the ground, eyes bulging, spitting saliva, then fell, clutching his stomach and coughing violently.

If no one were around, Kyosuke would have followed up, but now he just retracted his leg and stood watching Ishida curl up like a shrimp on the floor.

The previously noisy students fell silent at that kick, the scene perhaps too brutal for elementary students.

“Pathetic, Ishida.”

A sneering voice came from the crowd—Hirose Keisuke, Ishida’s chubby teammate.

“Want me to call an ambulance, Ishida?” Shimada Kazuki chimed in.

“Aren’t you supposed to be Ishida’s friends? Why aren’t you helping him up and just talking trash?”

Naoka Ueno, who had just returned to the gym edge, angrily rebuked them.

Seeing Hirose and Shimada still unwilling to help, Ueno gritted her teeth and tried to lift Ishida herself.

“Get lost! I don’t want your fake help! You’re with them anyway, and you hate Nishinomiya just as much, don’t you?”

Ishida flung his arm, pushing Ueno to the ground.

“Ishida, what are you saying?”

Ueno’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Isn’t it true? Yesterday, when Nishinomiya was reading aloud, you looked really upset, so I was just getting revenge for you.”

“What are you talking about? That’s not true at all…”

Before Ueno finished, Ishida continued.

“And Miki Kawai and the others—they all hate Nishinomiya, calling her a muscle girl who doesn’t get social cues. But they pretend to be nice. You’re all disgusting!

Shimada, Hirose, didn’t you two plan to deal with Nishinomiya after school yesterday?”

Ishida spoke despondently, not understanding how things got so twisted—everyone hated Shoko, yet he was now the villain.

The named students became the center of attention, classmates pointing fingers.

“That’s awful. I’d never do that.”

Miki Kawai, caught off guard, removed her glasses with a hurt expression, tears streaming.

“Hey, Ishida, we didn’t do that. I went to cram school right after school yesterday,” Shimada said.

“Ishida, don’t say nonsense,” Hirose added.

Ueno said nothing, still sitting in disbelief, watching Ishida’s outburst.

Perhaps Kawai’s convincing performance made everyone doubt Ishida’s words, and the crowd’s focus shifted back to him.

“You guys!”

Ishida was now the one in disbelief.

“Hey, why are you all gathered here?”

Takeuchi appeared just then, hoping he could have stayed at the meeting place rather than deal with this mess.