Taniguchi Masaki was still bowing, saying “Hello,” and giving everyone a vague, embarrassed smile. Shinjirou didn’t think it suited his handsome features at all, but all the girls just kept yelling stuff like “Oh, wow!,” and “He’s so cute!”
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He couldn’t stop himself from feeling immensely irritated.
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The very sight of Masaki giving his feeble little friendly smile was unbearably unpleasant for him.
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Shinjirou shouted inside himself, ‘Stop doing that! Stop smilingl! It’s not right!!!’ An incomprehensible urge to strangle Masaki fluttered deep in his heart.
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For starters, the boy should have been going to a much better school than this one. On top of that, everyone was right in the middle of exams, so the girls bombarded Masaki all at once with pleas to check their homework. He hardly ever refused, and as a result, he was almost always surrounded by throngs of ladies whenever he was at school.
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(Shit...)
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Shinjirou spied the action all from the desolate safety of his far corner seat. It was clear that every glare he gave in Masaki’s direction was always filled with icy anger and resentment.
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If only he could talk to Masaki like that. . .he found himself thinking.
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“Doesn’t he just piss you off?” the guy next to him would ask.
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“Mm?” he started, turning towards his classmate.
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The guy nodded, “I know how you feel, man. Guy pisses me off to no end.”
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“Y-yeah. . .” Shinjirou had, somehow, become the boy in school who hated Masaki the most. Despite never having actually fought with him, he’d somehow earned that reputation.
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And thus, all the girls hated him.
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“What the hell is Anou’s problem?”
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“Oh, he’s just jealous.”
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“Never heard of anything so pathetic.”
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Their whispers were easily overheard, and only served to direct his anger even more.
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Even Masaki thought Shinjirou hated him. That blow was the one that hurt Shinjirou the most.
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But he still didn’t understand his own feelings.
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He couldn’t work out why Taniguchi Masaki preyed on his mind like this. The conscious knowledge that they were the same gender prevented him from grasping the true nature of his all too obvious emotions. His previous lack of interest in other men besides Masaki was another big reason for his sudden confusion.
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His environment didn’t give him the latitude to work things out. Even if he had understood the true nature of his feelings, there was nowhere and no one he could ever go to where those feelings would be accepted.
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If his classmates found out, he would be shunned. They didn’t even like him much as it was now, but if they knew. . .he would be considered less than human.
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If his parents found out, they’d disown him or worse. . .haul him off to a psychiatric ward.
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Shinjirou’s mind was a thunderstorm of confusion and doubt.
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Fear of the unknown meant he couldn’t act on his feelings. And as a result, he made no real attempt to ever sort things out.
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But despite his ignorance, the feelings kept surging up inside him, unconsciously causing him pain.
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He wanted to talk to Masaki. He wanted to be near him. He didn’t know why, but he knew he had no choice.
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(Aahhhhhhh...!!!)
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Miserable, he began yelling at people for absolutely no reason, he would disobey his teachers at every turn, and he would get into full-blown fist fights over the most trivial things.
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Then one day, the pressure got too much for him, and he managed to convince all of his club’s kouhai into mounting an assault on Masaki. They all had a grudge against “Study Abroad”-Taniguchi Masaki-to begin with, so they didn’t need much persuading.
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“Heh heh, let’s do it.”
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“That asshole’s been on my shit list for a while.”
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“We’ll show him how far his pretty face can take him.”
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“Good,” Shinjirou grinned, but in fact, he was planning to burst onto the scene and rescue Masaki.
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He wanted to make friends with him. If this gave him a chance to do that, then he didn’t care what crap he had to take from his kouhai afterwards-his emotions left him no choice.
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This ‘strategy’ went into motion a few days later after school.
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They followed Masaki on his usual trip home, and when Masaki ducked into his usual back alley shortcut to the train station, Shinjirou signaled to his five kouhai, “Go for it.”
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The five boys quickly snuck into the deserted alley. By the time Masaki realized he was being followed, it was too late. . .he was already surrounded.
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“So, Mr. Study Abroad. You’ve been doing pretty well for yourself, haven’t ya?” It was obvious they were trying to sound tough.
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But things didn’t progress as Shinjirou had originally hoped.
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He had been so sure that Masaki would be scared out of his wits that he never considered the possibility that maybe, just maybe, Masaki would instead take the scenario in stride and be totally calm and collected. “Right. . .I’ll be more careful,” Masaki replied, just standing there and accepting their aggression.
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They threatened him, they pushed him, but no matter what they said. . .his response was completely serene.
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(......?)
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Watching this from the sidelines, Shinjirou started to fret.
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Ladies’ men weren’t supposed to act like this.
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Eventually one of his kouhai lost his temper and let loose, punching Masaki in the cheek.
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(Ah-!)
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Shinjirou almost shrieked. He had never planned to let it go that far. He quickly stepped forward, intending to intervene...
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But something happened.
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A girl appeared, entering the alley from the side opposite to where Shinjirou was hiding.
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“Hey,” she said, her voice empty, dispassionate. “What is your purpose? What failing of his caused this behavior?” She talked like a windup doll.
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(Wh-who the hell is she?)
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Shinjirou gaped at her, completely blowing the timing of his entrance.
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“Hey, this guy thinks he’s Don Juan,” his kouhai snarled, switchblade in hand. “Looking like this, tricking girls into falling for him.”
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“Huh. . .so, he stole your girlfriends, then? The cause of your anger is sexual frustration?” What in the world was this girl’s problem?!
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“Uh. . .what? What did she say?”
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“I’m asking if this attack is a way of forgetting that your sexual partners all hate you.”
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“You. . ..bitch!”
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The situation was rapidly spiraling in a sinister direction.
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Shinjirou didn’t know what to do, and he couldn’t force himself out of hiding.
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As if things weren’t confusing enough already, the girl suddenly tore her own shirt off and stood there bare-chested.
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“If you have frustrated desires, I can fulfill them,” she said in the most deadpan voice. This girl was out of freaking control.
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“Uuuum..."
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“H-hey..."
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“Whoa! Wait a minute,” Masaki yelped, flustered. He had been totally unfazed when he himself was in danger, but once the girl got mixed up in it, his attitude changed.
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Watching this, Shinjirou thought, ‘Oh, crap!’
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He knew he’d made a terrible mistake.
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Quickly, he took a step forward, but even as he did, someone even stranger appeared on the scene.
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“Well, this is easy to figure out!”
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A young man in white clothes, positively exuding confidence, strode directly into the alley.
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"...! Wh-who are you?!”
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“Just to make sure, I’d better ask. You there,” he pointed at Masaki. “Do you want to save this girl?”
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Masaki nodded, “Y-yes.”
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“Then take her and run!”
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With lightning speed, the man pulled the girl out of the ring of kouhai and shoved her towards Masaki.
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Taking the man at his word, Masaki took the girl’s arm, and fled the scene.
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(Wahhh?!)
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Shinjirou was horrified. They were running straight towards him.
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But they were going too fast, and ran right past him without ever noticing that he was there.
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(Wh-what’s going on?)
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He was a little relieved, but now more confused than ever.
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Things were playing out in a way that bore no resemblance to his original plans, and he could no longer follow anything.
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He looked back at the man in white, and somehow, all his kouhai had already been defeated, and were lying in a bloody heap on the ground.
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“Eeek!” Shinjirou let out a little shriek, and the man turned towards him.
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“Can’t say I think much of your methods,” the man said, like he had been well aware that Shinj irou had been hiding there all along.
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The man smiled. It was a villainous, heartless smile.
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“Aaaaugh!” Shinjirou ran for it.
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He ran as hard as he could, not stopping until he reached the square by the side of the station.
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Feeling safe, he relaxed. . .and realized that Masaki and the girl were sitting together on a bench on the other side of the square.
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“Ah. . . l” he wailed.
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He had been right.
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It was obvious that they were drawn to each other. Especially Masaki, whose heart had been stolen by the girl. It was written all over his face. He’d never looked like that at school, all red faced and smiling.
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“............!”
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In that very moment, Shinjirou felt all of the energy drain out of his body.
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Shinjirou watched from the shadows, having followed Masaki every day since the incident.