Chapter 38: THE TITAN'S GRASP (Part 2)
CRASH! BAM!
Yoshiro, along with the cycle, crashed so brutally into the gym wall that the sound echoed throughout the campus.
"NOOOOOOOO!"
Dust began to fly.
When the dust settled, everyone saw Yoshiro lying upside down on the ground.
A huge, cartoonish bump had formed on his head.
He was seeing stars in broad daylight, and his face was locked in a completely Dazed expression.
His eyes were spinning.
All the class students watched in silence at first, and then, clutching their stomachs, they started Crying with Laughter at Yoshiro's incredibly comical condition.
Honoka Aizawa crossed her arms, and with a Disgusted expression, thought in her mind: *"What an absolute idiot."*
Junpei Kurodan was still holding Takeshi sensei mid-air with his one hand.
Takeshi sir, whose eyes were still shut in fear, covered his face with both his hands while crying.
"OH WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME?!"
Takeshi began to cry with a Bawling expression, kicking his legs in the air.
"Why did I die?!
I haven't even gotten married yet!
Oh Lord, why did you call me to you so early?!
What will happen to my Ryouko?!"
Tsuyoshi Taro quickly stepped forward, went near Takeshi sir, and said, "Sir... are you alright?"
Takeshi kept crying while dangling in the air, speaking absolute nonsense.
Tsuyoshi started getting a little angry.
He shouted loudly with his loud voice,
"SIR! YOU ARE ALIVE!
Open your eyes!"
Hearing Tsuyoshi's thundering voice, Takeshi slowly opened his eyes.
When he saw that he was hanging in the air above the ground and his students were looking at him with weird gazes, a wave of happiness suddenly ran across his face.
Suddenly getting happy, placing his hands on his face, he said with relief and a [Happy] expression,
"Oh Lord!
Is this true?!
Am I really still alive?!"
As soon as he said this, Junpei quietly, without giving any expression, let go of his hand.
THUD!
"AAOUCH!"
Takeshi sir fell harshly straight onto the ground on his hip.
He took a heavy hit.
Takeshi got up with a Grumpy expression and glared at Junpei.
"Hey boy! Why did you drop me down so suddenly?!"
Yoko Fujimoto spoke from behind in her cold voice,
"Sir, it was for your own good.
He is the one who saved your life."
Takeshi made a grumpy face, dusted off his clothes, and said,
"Alright... alright.
You are forgiven, forgiven."
Just then, from down the path, Taiki and Daiki (Yoshiro's lackeys) came running.
They saw their boss (Yoshiro) lying unconscious near the gym wall.
Both brothers looked at each other and instantly began their overacting.
Both ran to Yoshiro, fell to their knees, and started acting like they were trying to wake him up.
Taiki made a Whimpering expression and started fake-crying loudly,
"Boss!
Oh Boss!
Why did you leave us and go away so soon?!"
Daiki also yelled while acting like he was wiping his tears,
"Oh Boss!
You can't leave us and go like this!
What will happen to us without you?!"
Making crying noises and overacting, Taiki said,
"Who will we call 'Boss' in school now?!
Whose fun will we make now, Boss?!"
Looking towards the sky, Daiki said while crying,
"And the biggest thing is...
Who will feed us for free now?!
Who will pay our canteen bill?!"
Suddenly, Yoshiro's eyes, who was lying on the ground, snapped open. There was a dangerous, demonic rage in his bloodshot eyes.
"YOU BASTARDS!"
Yoshiro sprang up from the ground in a flash.
"You motherfuckers,
I am still alive! I'm not dead!
And I heard all your fucking bullshit!"
Taiki and Daiki took a step back out of fear. Their Uh-Oh expression was worth seeing.
"Oh... Boss!
You are alive!
It's not your ghost!"
Yoshiro gritted his teeth with a Vengeful expression.
"Before I die,
I'll fuck you both up,
you bastards!
You scumbags,
when trouble came, you left me alone on the path of death and jumped onto the grass yourselves!
And on top of that, just to mock me, you wished me 'All the Best', you jokers?!"
Yoshiro pounced on both of them, and an incredibly funny and cartoonish fight began right there.
(Scene shift to renjiro)
Far away from all this chaos and comedy, a lone boy was walking down a quiet school corridor.
This was Renjiro Hoshino.
There was a heavy sadness in his walk.
With his head bowed, he was immersed in a deeply Thinking] expression.
Yoshiro's words and his threatening demand for a protection fee kept circling in his mind constantly.
*"Should I think about it?"*
Renjiro thought to himself as he walked.
*"Should I just quietly accept what he says?
What he was saying... was it true?
If I don't meet his demand, what will happen to me?"*
As he walked, he stopped near a large window.
The massive campus of Hoshigawa High was in front of him, but it all seemed very terrifying to him.
*"I shouldn't have come to this school,"*
he took a deep, pained breath.
*"This school looks... even more terrifying than Hakuho High.
After all, what is my fault?"*
Renjiro looked at his reflection in the window glass.
*"Is it my fault that I look fat?
Is this the only reason I always see myself as weak in front of others?
Is this the secret of my insecurity?"*
He stood there in silence for two minutes.
All the bad moments from his past flashed before his eyes—when people had suppressed him, humiliated him.
But at that exact moment, the suppressed feelings inside him crossed a limit.
Suddenly, the clouds of fear and sadness began to clear from Renjiro's face.
A strange spark appeared in his eyes, a fierce gleam he had never felt before.
His expression abruptly changed to Determined.
He clenched his fist tightly.
"No," Renjiro said in a low but incredibly firm voice.
"I don't want to bow down anymore."
He looked his reflection straight in the eyes.
"I want to change myself.
I need to find this weakness of mine, and prove to myself that I wasn't made to always get beaten down."
The 'Beast' inside Renjiro was now slowly opening its eyes.
"I will not accept any of his demands.
No matter what happens,
I won't back down now.
Just like last time,
I will not fall for someone's intimidation again.
Never again.
Never!"
He took a deep breath and looked at the large clock mounted in the corridor.
The time for P.E. class to begin had long passed.
*"I am late.
The gym class line-up must have already started.
Everyone must have reached there by now,"*
Renjiro thought in his mind.
*"The old Renjiro would have hidden away out of fear of being late to class and to avoid people's gazes.
But not today.
I will face it.
I will walk right onto that ground."*
He turned his steps back toward the gym ground.
This time, there was no hesitation in his steps, but a new confidence.
His head was held high.
This was a new beginning for Renjiro Hoshino, leading him right to that track where all of Class 2-A was waiting for him.
CHAPTER ENDS