JSWGAS Chapter 53

53.

As the end of the term approached, Yatsumoto and Nijimura gathered at Kokonoe Taka’s house for a cram session.

Kokonoe Taka went downstairs to the kitchen to bring up the fruit and snacks his grandmother had prepared for them. As he went upstairs, he faintly heard laughter and playful noises coming from his room. But when he walked in, he only saw the two of them hunched over, studying diligently, as if the sounds he heard were just a hallucination.

“Hey, you’re holding the book upside down.”

He took a bite of fruit, sat down opposite the two of them, and said to Nijimura.

The latter was startled: “Huh?! Why didn’t you remind me, Taka!”

Yatsumoto: “…He’s tricking you! Don’t fall for it so easily!”

“It’s so unfair, Taka! Why do I have to do the National Language test?” Nijimura Shuzo simply stopped pretending, slamming the table indignantly. “I want to do math, math!”

“Shuzo, the National Language teacher won’t give you a passing grade in National Language just because you get a perfect score in math.” Kokonoe Taka retorted without hesitation. “Since you said you were coming to my house for tutoring, do as I say.”

Yatsumoto: “Taka, you’re so strict.”

Nijimura: “…I’d say that’s more like dictatorship.”

Yatsumoto: “And those are the fruits that Kokonoe-grandma specifically rewarded us with! Why are you eating so much of them!”

Nijimura shouted: “Ah! The last piece–”

Kokonoe Taka swallowed the last bite of apple and pushed the empty plate forward: “Because some people still haven’t finished a single test paper. To keep them from getting distracted, I can only reluctantly take it upon myself to solve these.”

“…Nonsense, you’re clearly doing it on purpose.”

Kokonoe Taka tapped the table. “Alright, Yatsumoto, hurry up and do yours too. Shuzo is an ultimate one-sided idiot, and although you’re a little better than him, you still failed the last math quiz, right?”

Unlike Kokonoe, the top student whose ranking had risen again a few days ago, Nijimura Shuzo was extremely lopsided: he could do math with ease, but he knew nothing about National Language; Yatsumoto was a little better than him, with balanced development, but he struggled with science.

And if they failed a subject, the school would arrange tutoring for them on weekends, which would clash with the matches.

So, to prevent the two of them from being unable to attend the weekend matches because of tutoring, Kokonoe Taka simply dragged them to his house and watched them study.

Under his gaze, the two of them were very well-behaved for a while. Nijimura was the first to hand in his paper. He couldn’t wait to stretch out his legs, which had been curled up in grievance, and stood up to move his sore hands and feet. “By the way, did Shiraiwa cause you any more trouble after that?”

Kokonoe buried himself in grading the papers, only Yatsumoto answered him: “No, and there haven’t been any more small frictions…” He looked up, breaking free from the vast sea of ​​questions. “Shiraiwa has become very well-behaved, disappearing as soon as club activities end, and Maki hasn’t been messing around with small groups either.”

“Huh? It’s not like they suddenly had a change of heart. They might cause more trouble.” Nijimura said lazily, staring at the photo frame Kokonoe Taka had placed in the cabinet. “Taka, what about you?”

Only then did Kokonoe Taka slowly raise his head. He was holding Nijimura’s test paper in his hand, covered in red check marks, with only a few pitiful red circles representing correctness interspersed in between.

“That.” He slapped the test paper down on Nijimura’s desk. “That kind of situation won’t happen again.”

Nijimura Shuzo instantly turned his head, and Yatsumoto also looked up at him.

“What do you mean?”

“I went and talked to the person in charge.” Under the gaze of the two, Kokonoe Taka calmly dropped a bombshell. “The other party said they would restrain Shiraiwa afterwards. As for Maki… that guy was originally completely unaware and wanted to get revenge for his good brother, but he was beaten up and became well-behaved.”

As he spoke, the corresponding memories also surfaced in his mind.

That day, after he made the phone call, the delinquents seemed to be really afraid that Kokonoe Taka would find someone to bury them, and quickly confessed that they had only taken action to help Shiraiwa because of Shiraiwa’s brother. Moreover, Shiraiwa’s brother didn’t know about the trouble his younger brother had caused in private.

Kokonoe Taka then returned the phone to the flattop delinquent and asked him to come over after school the next day to take him to meet ‘Shiraiwa’s brother’. The next evening, he met the other party at the flattop’s introduction. Shiraiwa’s brother didn’t look like Shiraiwa at all. The former was sturdy, and his exposed half-arm was tattooed with an azure dragon and a white tiger.

But compared to his rather fierce appearance, Shiraiwa’s brother was surprisingly easy to talk to. After listening to Kokonoe Taka explain the situation, he said that he would restrain his younger brother’s behavior – “I let that kid go to Teiko to study, originally just wanting him to not be like me.” He said frankly, pointing to the bar behind him, where he was a bouncer.

They met near the bar. Kokonoe Taka looked in the direction he was pointing. Under the red lights and green wine, there were women in revealing clothes and men with wide-open collars. He withdrew his gaze without interest. “I thought you would get revenge for Shiraiwa.”

“That kid brought it on himself, he clearly called people over but was still beaten back in a mess. So I won’t pursue it.” Shiraiwa’s brother took a puff of smoke, pensive. “But I’m more surprised that you wanted to meet me, and you dared to come to this kind of place for an appointment. Aren’t you afraid I’ll cause trouble?” The atmosphere gradually became dangerous.

Kokonoe Taka straightened his back and spoke politely. Standing next to the imposing Shiraiwa’s brother, he really looked like a helpless little white rabbit. He looked up slightly and said coldly: “I don’t believe the flattop didn’t tell you anything.”

“? Pfft… Flat, flattop…”

The flattop, who was standing not far away keeping watch, turned back to glare at them: That kid is one thing, but why are you laughing, Shiraiwa-bro!

Kokonoe Taka was not affected by Shiraiwa’s brother’s suppressed laughter and continued: “Even if you want to do something… if I can’t beat you, can’t I run away?”

“Wow, you’re pretty good.” Shiraiwa’s brother shrugged. “I get it. Anyway, I’ll keep an eye on him.”

Kokonoe Taka nodded and was about to leave when he saw a familiar figure flashing in the distance. He stopped and asked the burly man next to him: “By the way, do you know Maki?”

“Maki? I know him. Maki’s father used to be a bouncer like me, doing some debt collection on the side. But I heard that he had his legs broken while collecting debts and became a cripple. His mother ran away with someone.” Shiraiwa’s brother was a little surprised, but he still told Kokonoe Taka. He followed where Kokonoe Taka’s gaze was fixed. “Ah, isn’t that the kid? Speaking of which, his recent part-time jobs seem to be running around here often…”

Kokonoe Taka nodded and left neatly.

Shiraiwa’s brother watched his back and sighed slightly, beckoning the flattop: “Hey, are you hungry? Have Maki that kid send some food over…”

And Maki came to the door two days later: to be precise, Kokonoe Taka deliberately picked a time to drive away Yatsumoto and Nijimura, and was ‘successfully’ blocked by him on the rooftop.

Maki was obviously unaware of the ins and outs. He was just a fool who came to get revenge because he saw Shiraiwa beaten so badly. After saying some harsh words, he rushed over and was punched in the face by Kokonoe Taka, seeing stars. His silly appearance even made Kokonoe Taka reluctant to continue attacking.

He sighed and squatted down in front of Maki, tousling his messy yellow hair like weeds. “I remember that we have a training match to play together in the next two days, right? Let’s compete again then.”

Maki was dizzy, letting Kokonoe Taka mess with his hair. “Ah? Oh…”

And that’s how he was muddled through.

End of memory.

Kokonoe Taka raised his eyes and saw the two fools staring at him seriously, and couldn’t help but ask: “What?”

Yatsumoto: “…I’m thinking about whether I’ve offended Taka before.”

Nijimura: “Probably not, we survived.”

Kokonoe Taka: “…”

Kokonoe Taka: “…Even if you didn’t before, you have now. Shuzo, are you a little kid who can only write katakana?” He sneered, slamming the table with a ‘bang’ and roaring, “This is reading comprehension, not solving for unknowns!”

“Do it again!”

Nijimura Shuzo was startled and hurriedly sat back at the table, looking aggrieved. Yatsumoto couldn’t help but snicker, but a penetrating gaze stared at him. “Yatsumoto, why haven’t you finished yet? Do I need to start from”

One more person dared not say a word.

The room returned to its initial silence.

After confirming that the two of them were really doing the questions seriously this time, Kokonoe Taka lowered his head and looked at the unread messages on his phone.

Although he hadn’t returned to Miyagi since coming to Tokyo, the contact had never been broken. Oikawa Toru sent him all kinds of messages very frequently: complaining that Iwaizumi Hajime had punched him a few more times today, increasing the level of violence; flaunting that his volleyball skills had improved again, emphasizing that he should wait for him at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium…

The messages from Iwaizumi Hajime were much more reliable. He unceremoniously revealed the context of Oikawa Toru getting beaten, and anyone who saw it could only say he brought it on himself; when Oikawa Toru flaunted his progress, Iwaizumi Hajime sent him a series of clips of him getting hit in the face and head by volleyballs, making people sigh that it was truly ‘wonderful’.

Of course, in addition to that, Iwaizumi Hajime would also talk about some everyday interesting things.

But recently, the two of them had both started remotely seeking help because of the end-of-term exams. Although their grades weren’t bad, Iwaizumi had always been the type to do his best in everything, so he naturally took his studies very seriously; Oikawa, on the other hand, had been indulging in training during this time and hadn’t been paying attention in class, so he was seeking outside help because his grades were in danger of barely passing.

Kokonoe Taka looked down at the questions Iwaizumi and Oikawa sent him, did some rough calculations on paper, and ruthlessly slapped Yatsumoto and Nijimura a few times when they got distracted. He also had to patiently answer some of Nijimura’s questions – “Why is Komiyo’s mood like this in this place? This doesn’t make sense, why would they ask this kind of question?”

And Yatsumoto’s flustered: “Hey, what formula should I use in this place…”

The latter question was answered by Nijimura, but Yatsumoto searched through the textbook and couldn’t find the formula in the end, finally throwing down the book and shouting, “You’re talking about a high school formula, right?!”

Nijimura shouted back: “It’s just a high school formula! If you try hard, you’ll learn it!”

Kokonoe Taka: “Be quiet! It’s on page thirty-five of the book! Go find it yourself!”

After all this, his mood visibly became irritable. He simply rolled up the test paper into a tube and slapped it on the two people’s heads twice.

Thousands of miles away in Miyagi, Iwaizumi Hajime and Oikawa Toru were gathered at Iwaizumi’s house for tutoring. Oikawa Toru stared at the phone screen for a long time and handed it to Iwaizumi: “Iwa-chan, is Taka going through menopause? Why do I feel like he’s scolding me?”

Iwaizumi Hajime took the phone and saw the powerful strokes on the calculation paper, as well as the postscript – “Don’t ask me such idiotic questions!”

He sincerely replied to Oikawa: “You’re not wrong.”