So where should I start, and how should I break this open?
"Next week, there will be a meeting in Class C with the homeroom teacher present. That’s where the punishment will be decided. If the charges stick, this month’s points will drop to zero and Sudo will, at the very least, be suspended—worst-case scenario, expelled."
Chabashira said that with the same contemptuous glance she had when she first saw us.
"Do your best to handle it."
That was all she said.
"Damn it... damn it...!"
After the teacher left, Sudo collapsed onto his desk, spouting curses in frustration. In response, Koenji threw out a barbed remark.
"Red hair, wouldn’t it be better if you were expelled? Your behavior and way of thinking are far too... unrefined."
"What did you say, you bastard!"
"Sudo! Calm down!"
Yosuke rushed over and barely managed to hold him back, but even after being drawn into the melee, Sudo was already swinging wildly at Koenji once more.
It seemed that unless his basic nature changed, Sudo would keep drawing the wrath of Class C.
...Maybe stepping in wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
"Cut it out, Sudo. If you push this any further, you’re just going to rack up more charges."
"Huh? What’s that supposed to mean, Ian! Are you siding with these guys too?!"
"It’s not about taking sides—it just means you need to stop causing a scene. Look around; everyone’s terrified."
I said this while glancing at Sakura sitting next to me. At my words, she flinched as if struck by something more than mere surprise.
"Huh?"
It wasn’t just Sudo’s violent outburst that had unsettled her. I sensed there was something more behind her reaction, when suddenly...
"You too, and you too...! Don’t look down on me!"
Sudo shook off Yosuke’s grasp and hurled a punch directly at me.
I hadn’t expected him to actually follow through with his threat.
The punch came with surprising speed and weight, aimed straight for my jaw—a clear sign he’d been in plenty of fights before.
Dodging was simple, but...
'Sakura behind me might get caught in this.'
If Sakura were injured, Sudo’s guilt would only grow, and the class’s unity would shatter completely. That outcome was far from desirable.
"Ian! Move!"
Yosuke shouted in alarm as he tried to pull me out of harm’s way.
'...It probably wouldn’t hurt that much anyway.'
Since things had escalated this far, I decided to treat it as an opportunity.
Muscle gorilla rehabilitation training—commence.
I quickly raised my hand to block the incoming punch aimed at my jaw and deflected it upward with an elbow strike.
Block & Parry
That’s basic boxing technique.
"Whoa?!"
This must have been the first time Sudo’s strike was so neatly redirected—his body wavered, and his stance began to crumble. It made sense; he had committed too much force and weight into the blow.
Seizing the moment, I spun around, grabbed the arm Sudo had thrown with both hands, and flipped him over.
The classic judo move—a one-arm shoulder throw.
Bang!
It wasn’t executed at full power, and on a classroom floor instead of asphalt there wasn’t much damage—but the impact was enough.
"Guh?!"
The fall would sting, especially for someone accustomed only to brawls rather than refined combat training.
Even so, the remnants of his athleticism kicked in as Sudo instinctively tumbled correctly, wiping drool from his mouth as he got back on his feet.
'Tougher than I expected.'
I had held back a bit, but I hadn’t imagined he’d recover so swiftly.
So it turns out there’s a reason they call him a muscle gorilla.
'Ah, right—I was the one who coined that.'
"You bastard...!"
"S-stop it!"
Sudo wiped his mouth and charged at me again, while Kushida screamed for him to stop.
'Sorry, but the most important part of first-day training is making sure you completely subdue them.'
Since I’d already started, I wasn’t about to stop now.
"Uoooooooh!"
Intent on pinning me down rather than throwing another punch, Sudo reached out with both hands, grabbed me, and used his weight to slam me onto the floor.
In our class, I was one of the bigger guys—after Koenji and Sudo—and though my frame was compactly muscular rather than overtly bulky, being pinned like that wasn’t a flattering sight for anyone. Sudo, with his face flushed and eyes wild, wasn’t faring any better.
"No way! Stop him!"
Yosuke shouted as he saw me pinned down with Sudo raising his fist overhead.
But why did anyone think I’d let myself be caught? There was a method behind my decision to bring him into a mount.
The moment Sudo grabbed my collar to swing again, I clutched both of his hands and used the momentum of my hips to shift into an awkward counter posture.
There are several ways to escape a mount in jiu-jitsu.
We weren’t massively mismatched in build—in fact, if anything, I might have had a slight advantage in muscle mass—so I couldn’t fathom what he hoped to achieve by going for the mount. In a street fight, such a maneuver might decide the bout, but...
I was essentially just toying with him.
"Ghk?!"
Clearly flustered by my sudden counter, Sudo scrambled to raise his guard, but...
'Honestly, I wasn’t planning on punching his face anyway.'
If I had, everyone would follow your example—so I simply brushed aside his hands and used his own momentum to roll off his stomach.
"Huh?"
As Sudo blinked in confusion, expecting another attack, I couldn’t help but offer a small sneer as he lay there staring up at me.
"You’re weak."
I taunted him.
Enraged, Sudo roared,
"You bastard...!"
He shouted as he struggled to rise, but I had been waiting for that very moment.
Like a cop subduing a criminal, I swept out a kick aimed at Sudo’s heel as he tried to stand, shattering his balance.
"Gah?!"
"Did you drop a coin? At this rate, you’ll be kissing the floor, hey."
"You... bastard...!"
"Aren’t you the one fussing because you’re weak, Sudo?"
I continued tripping him every time he attempted to rise, sending him crashing back down repeatedly.
At first, Yosuke and Kushida had been yelling for him to stop, and even the other students watching from afar looked alarmed. But gradually, everyone began to understand what was unfolding.
Sudo had completely lost—it was clear he wasn’t even a match for me.
In a fight that, in a sense, was a matter of pride, he had lost to someone who hadn’t even struck him once.
...A judo throw and a leg sweep aren’t exactly striking techniques, now are they?
"You... you’re just toying with me!"
"You sure do talk a lot for someone so weak, Sudo."
"Grr...?!"
Finally, it was clear Sudo had given up on getting back up. I looked down at him—kneeling on the floor, utterly flattened—and said,
"Knock that fiery temper of yours down. How many more people have to suffer because of one reckless move?"
"I was only acting in self-defense..."
"You call using violence to counter violence self-defense? Come on. Your life wasn’t threatened, and all you did was swing back because he hit at you. What are you—childish?"
"Ghk...?!"
I swept Sudo’s legs out from under him, and he sprawled flat on the floor once again.
That looked much better.
"From now on, keep that temper in check. If you ever threaten the others again, I won’t let it end like this."
Then I stepped closer, feigning assistance as I whispered into his ear,
"I could easily make you so uncoordinated on the court that you’ll never play basketball again."
Flinch
My sincere threat made Sudo’s shoulders twitch. Gripping his ankle tightly as I spoke those words, I meant every word.
Though I was only holding his ankle, the strength of my grip drew a small cry from him.
"A-Agh...!"
"Come on, let’s settle this like adults. Please—just be friends, Sudo."
"O-Okay...! I get it...! Just... stop...!"
"You owe me an apology, Sudo."
"Ghk...?!"
His pride clearly stung as he clamped his mouth shut, but when I tightened my grip on his ankle and twisted it slightly, he finally managed,
"Ghh, aaaaah...! S-Sorry...! I’m sorry, so...! Just... stop...!"
At last, I received the apology I wanted.
Mm. Much better.
Ignoring the sprawled Sudo, I scanned the room.
Every student was staring at us with shocked faces.
...Now, what do I do?
It was just before first period, so the once noisy classroom gradually returned to normal. Sudo, who had been lying face-down on the floor, awkwardly rose to his seat as soon as the teacher arrived, clearly embarrassed.
And I...
"...Boxing, judo, jiu-jitsu, even self-defense—you’ve learned quite a lot, Ian."
"It’s class time, Horikita. Are you about to deduct more class points?"
"I think I just saw something worth far more than a point or two."
"...Come on, give me a break."
I was growing tired of Horikita’s endless barrage of questions, but nothing irritated me more than...
'...What the hell are you looking at me like that for? It’s seriously annoying.'
Even though I couldn’t see him—he was behind me—Ayanokouji’s blatant, piercing gaze along my back was even more infuriating.
Ah, maybe I really shouldn’t have intervened?
'No, look at it this way: if I can tame a gorilla, that’s practically a bargain.'
I hadn’t used any striking techniques on purpose; I had simply overwhelmed him with grappling and forced him to the floor. Then, in a hushed tone away from prying ears, I delivered a threat. If he felt the difference deeply enough, he wouldn’t dare charge at me again.
Of course, I wasn’t expecting him to remain silent forever. But until the dust settled with Class C, I wasn’t about to let any more needless trouble erupt.
And so the first period passed in an uncomfortably charged atmosphere.
During break, the moment the teacher left, Sudo abruptly stood up with a resounding bang.
Sakura jumped in surprise, but...
"Tch..."
With that, Sudo calmly walked out of the classroom. He hadn’t even grabbed his bag, so he probably headed to the bathroom—or perhaps he just couldn’t bear staying in the room any longer.
'Good. I’ve at least managed to break his temper for now.'
If he came at me again, I was ready with a second or even third lesson, but it seemed that after one firm blow, the so-called gorilla—Sudo—had wisely decided to retreat.
Watching him disappear, a quiet satisfaction filled me, and then Yosuke approached with an awkward smile.
"Are you okay, Ian?"
I gave a small nod and replied,
"I’m fine. I didn’t really get hit. I should be apologizing for all this commotion."
"No, it’s fine. Sudo started the violence. And Ian—you didn’t actually hit him, did you?"
I had done something far uglier than merely landing a punch.
"Still, you’re good at fighting. It looked like some kind of martial art. Did you learn that somewhere?"
Before I could launch into my pre-prepared explanation, Yosuke continued,
"Yeah, yeah! Ian, you were so cool! Where did you pick up those moves? Hup!"
Kushida, who had joined us, smiled and playfully mimicked one of my jabs.
What was that about—was she trying to be endearingly cute?
"I’m curious too. Did you learn something special?"
Before I could properly answer Yosuke’s question, Horikita, who had been lingering behind me, stepped forward and asked the same.
...What, is this some kind of grilling interview? Not bad—I was getting so tense I could hardly breathe.
"...I just got into a bit of trouble in middle school. I was a bit of a delinquent, you could say."
"Really? For someone like that, you’ve managed to behave well at this school. And those techniques aren’t something you can explain away with a simple excuse."
"...Do I really have to answer?"
With Horikita’s skeptical tone, I scrapped all my pre-prepared excuses and replied tersely,
"Eep..."
My expression must have echoed the image of me single-handedly putting Sudo on the floor just moments before, because Horikita took a step back.
Huh? I wasn’t trying to scare you.
"Just kidding, just kidding. My father runs a dojo, so I picked up a bit of self-defense back then."
"Really? That’s all?"
"...Is that so?"
At my response, Kushida chuckled softly while Horikita still looked unconvinced, eventually returning to her seat.
Meanwhile, Kushida lingered beside me, smiling and chattering.
"Think you could teach me sometime? Hup, hup!"
"I’m not really cut out for teaching others, sorry."
"Aww... what a shame."
After exchanging a few more trivial remarks—and dismissing them all—Kushida eventually gave up and returned to her seat. Gradually, the watching eyes of the other students began to fade away.
"Hmph~."
Koenji hadn’t so much glanced our way as he had continued to stare into the mirror.
Frankly, that was probably for the best.
Then, lunchtime arrived.
"Horikita, Ayanokouji, do you two want to talk for a bit?"
I called the two of them over from my side.
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