5 The Five of East City
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“Hey, Hojo Kyosuke, do you want to become one of my underlings?”
During the break, Hanagaki Takemichi turned around and addressed Hojo Kyosuke.
“Huh?”
What was I supposed to do when someone suddenly asked me to become his underling?
With a huge question mark hovering over his head, Kyosuke wanted to ask Yamauchi Sakura about it. She was probably the only person who could make sense of such a ridiculous statement.
The commotion Takemichi was making also attracted the attention of the other students sitting in the back row.
When Ishida Shoya and Shimada Kazuki heard those words, they both turned around, unable to bear watching any longer. They knew a new victim was about to appear.
Hanagaki Takemichi was truly incredible. Not only had he provoked that demon, but now he even wanted to take him on as an underling.
Seeing the sword bag leaning against the wall reminded Shoya of the news he had heard during the vacation.
“Hojo Kyosuke has been studying kendo all through the holidays. He even obtained a license in Hokushin Itto-ryu, an old-school style of swordsmanship.”
That demon had become even stronger.
Shoya trembled inwardly.
Heaven only knew how despairing it had been when he saw Hojo Kyosuke’s name on the class assignment list. He had immediately resolved not to have anything to do with Kyosuke throughout middle school.
Run, Hanagaki Takemichi!
Takemichi knew nothing of Shoya’s inner turmoil. He assumed Kyosuke was overjoyed at the prospect of receiving such a generous offer, and continued speaking with great importance.
“Well? As long as you become one of the Tojo Five’s underlings, nobody will bully you.”
“Yeah. Takemichi’s cousin is the leader of Shibuya Third Middle School and a member of the Kanto Manji Gang. From now on, all of Tojo will be our territory.”
Sendo Atsushi came over just then. Although he had no idea what Takemichi was up to, he still supported his good friend by backing him up.
Before Kyosuke could say anything, Kisaki Tetta suddenly burst out laughing.
“What are you laughing at? Are you looking down on us?”
The other three members of the Tojo Five gathered around as well. The one who spoke was the only black-haired member, Suzuki Makoto.
“No, no. How could I possibly look down on the ‘Tojo Five’?”
Kisaki waved his hands repeatedly in denial, but when he mentioned the Tojo Five, he could not stop himself from laughing again.
“You bastard! You say you aren’t looking down on us, so what are you laughing at?”
“I just remembered something funny.”
“What is it, punk? If you can’t tell us, you’re dead!”
That was Yamagishi Kazushi, a boy who was clearly weak despite speaking with astonishing arrogance.
Kisaki wore an insincere smile and pushed up his glasses.
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“What I’m happy about is that you Tojo Five will soon have the chance to make a name for yourselves throughout Tojo.”
The moment he finished speaking, the classroom door was violently flung open with a bang, and several students who were clearly upperclassmen walked in.
At the front was a boy with a hedgehog hairstyle—not the naturally spiky kind Ishida had, but one with spikes sharp enough to pick a lock.
“I could have sworn I heard someone say Tojo was their territory.”
He lowered his head and glared fiercely at the most conspicuous group in the room: Takemichi and the others.
“Well…”
Although they had sounded bold enough a moment earlier, Takemichi and his friends were merely good students who had just begun learning how to act like delinquents. The moment a real delinquent shouted at them, their true nature was exposed.
Sendo and the others were too frightened to speak.
“I’m Tsuzuki Yoshio, a second-year. Remember this: Tojo has only one boss, and that’s the ‘Runaway Angel’ of the kendo club—the Runaway Angels of Tojo Middle School, the ones who rule the entire Bunkyo Ward.”
As he spoke, Tsuzuki reached out and patted Takemichi on the cheek.
“You’re only first-years who just enrolled, so I’ll let it go this time. Watch yourselves from now on.”
“Yes, sir,” the members of the Tojo Five replied quietly.
“What, did you eat nothing for breakfast? That isn’t how people from Tojo speak! Put some spirit into it!” Tsuzuki bellowed. The second-years behind him joined in, scolding them as well.
“We hear you!” the five shouted together.
Takemichi and the others stood at attention, bowed ninety degrees, and yelled at the tops of their voices.
“Let’s go.”
Satisfied with their response, Tsuzuki led his group away.
“Phew. We’re saved.”
As soon as the upperclassmen left, all five members of the group slumped into their chairs.
“So this is what a real delinquent gang is like? I thought I was about to die,” Yamagishi said.
“Yeah. The moment that senior looked at me, I couldn’t even get a word out.” Takemichi wiped away his cold sweat, still shaken.
“You knew those upperclassmen were coming, didn’t you?”
Sendo turned toward Kisaki, who had seemed almost invisible ever since the seniors arrived.
“Of course. You said you were going to turn Tojo into your territory, didn’t you? The strongest group in Tojo, the kendo club, practically came to your door. Shouldn’t you be happy?”
Kisaki smiled as he spoke, the expression just as unsettling as ever.
“Forget it. Come on, Atsushi. Let’s go to the bathroom.”
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Watching Kisaki smile, Takemichi felt as though he were being watched by a venomous snake.
After the five had left, Kisaki struck up another conversation with Kyosuke.
“Kyosuke, you didn’t seem frightened at all when those seniors came in just now.”
“Neither did you.”
After entering middle school, Kyosuke had decided not to go through life without making a single friend, as he had in elementary school.
Shoko and Naoka had gone to the affiliated middle school of Ochanomizu University for Women, while Sakura had enrolled at Shirayuri Academy, a school specializing in raising refined young ladies. Kyosuke wondered whether they might finally manage to make her a little more ladylike.
In any case, those little girls were no longer by his side.
Well, they were young women now.
Remembering their graceful figures, still only beginning to take shape, at the final gathering before the new term began, Kyosuke corrected himself.
They had all become beautiful young women.
Without their company, Kyosuke still intended to make a few friends in middle school. Otherwise, three years would be unbearably boring. He also planned to join two clubs. The first would naturally be the kendo club, which would allow him to carry a bamboo sword openly and legitimately.
For all these reasons, Kyosuke was quite pleased that the second-ranked student in the grade had started a conversation with him.
“I knew those seniors wouldn’t give me any trouble, so I wasn’t afraid. But you’re different, Kyosuke.”
“How am I different? Maybe I only looked calm on the outside while I was trembling in terror inside.”
Kyosuke asked curiously what Kisaki was getting at.
“You came to school carrying a bamboo sword on only your second day. You haven’t joined the kendo club yet, have you? Then why bring one with you? It seems you must have trained in kendo before. And when faced with those aggressive seniors, you weren’t afraid at all. That means you trust your swordsmanship to deal with all of them, doesn’t it?”
Kisaki finished laying out his deductions in one breath.
“Are all smart students this amazing?”
Kyosuke’s eyes widened. He still had little awareness of himself as a model student. Before receiving his rewards, he had relied on the advantages inherited from his previous life. After receiving them, he was practically cheating.
“I’m merely good at observing people. Anyway, what do you think of Hanagaki’s suggestion just now?”
“What suggestion? Joining their little five-man group?”
“No. I mean taking over Tojo!”
Kisaki finally revealed his true intentions. He was thrilled to find such an ideal candidate in his class, someone who possessed both intelligence and strength.
Back in elementary school, he had attended the same cram school as a girl named Tachibana Hinata. He had fallen in love with her back then.
Unfortunately, Hinata had fallen for Hanagaki Takemichi, who dreamed of becoming the top delinquent in Japan. So Kisaki had resolved to become the most powerful student of all and win Hinata back.
He himself lacked the physical strength required to become a delinquent, but he was good at finding powerful leaders.
And now, he had found the perfect candidate.
He believed that, with his intelligence, he could push his big brother to the position of Japan’s number-one student. Then he would remain behind the scenes as a shadow emperor.
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