Prologue
Another bust, huh?
I, Fujisaki Yuuto—currently a second-year ronin student waiting for another shot at college—stared at the results of my returned national mock exam in despair.
But I couldn't spend forever moping. Where there's a will, there's a way. That was my motto.
I just hadn't worked hard enough yet.
With that thought firmly in mind, I continued studying for my third attempt at the entrance exams.
Up until now, I’d only been studying twelve hours a day. Starting today, I’d bump that up to fifteen.
And once I passed, I wanted to play baseball in college.
For the record, my first choice hadn't changed in three years: Japan's largest "mammoth" university. The deviation score was right around fifty—average.
My classmates had only started studying around the summer of their third year of high school, yet they’d all passed into universities with higher rankings than mine. I, on the other hand, had been studying my ass off since my first year of high school.
There was a time when I felt jealous, watching them pass as if mocking my efforts.
But I just told myself my efforts were insufficient.
It was the same with baseball.
I’d played since before elementary school, yet I never once became a regular starter. My middle school and high school teams weren’t even powerhouses. And yet, throughout my high school career, I never even made it to the bench.
I have to try harder, I told myself, letting my mechanical pencil race across the paper.
Snap.
After several hours of studying, the lead broke.
I was out of refills, so I decided to make a run to the neighborhood convenience store. I was running low on loose-leaf paper, too, so I figured I’d pick some up while I was at it.
I got dressed and headed out into the late-night air.
Outside, a torrential rain was falling, accompanied by the rumble of thunder.
As soon as I arrived at the store, nature called, so I flagged down the female clerk.
"Excuse me, could I use the restroom?"
"Yes. Go right ahead."
Was she new? She looked about my age. I didn't recall there being such a cute clerk here before. I used this store constantly, so if I hadn't seen her, she had to be new.
Thinking about that, I finished my business. But the moment I stepped out of the restroom, I realized the atmosphere in the store had changed.
I heard a man yelling.
"Money! Put it in the bag!"
A man in a balaclava was shouting at the new girl, a knife thrust toward her.
I could see a male employee watching from the back room. He showed absolutely no sign of coming to help her. Was that the manual's protocol?
The new girl seemed calm. She immediately opened the register and handed over the cash.
But the robber, upon snatching it, wasn't satisfied.
"Don't screw with me! This isn't enough! Empty the other register too!"
He was agitated, screaming at her.
Seeing his attention scatter in his excitement, I used the opening to creep up behind him.
"Hurry up! Move it! Or I'll kill you!"
The robber continued to scream, spitting as he yelled.
Just as he was about to lunge the knife toward the girl, I made my move.
Killing my footsteps, I circled behind him. I gripped the deck brush I’d grabbed from the restroom and, aiming for the man's arm, unleashed a full swing.
My ten years of practice swings were all for this moment!
And the results were spectacular.
Wham!
With a sharp cutting sound, the deck brush connected perfectly with the man's right shoulder.
"Gaaah!"
Overcome with pain, the robber dropped the knife from his right hand.
"I'm gonna fucking kill you!"
He glared at me and screamed, pulling a fresh knife from his hoodie pocket with his left hand. He began backing away toward the entrance to avoid being pincered by the girl and me.
His right arm hung limp—my full-force swing must have done some real damage.
In my hands, I held the deck brush, now snapped in two from the impact. In a way, its attack power was probably higher now; the broken end was jagged and sharp.
We stared each other down for a moment until the female clerk saw an opening and hit the alarm.
BZZZZZZZZZZZT!
The moment the alarm blared, the robber seemed to give up and fled outside.
I didn't intend to chase him, but I wanted to see which direction he went, so I stepped out as well.
But the moment I got outside, the robber stopped fleeing. He raised his knife and charged straight at me.
I braced my broken deck brush to defend against the swinging blade.
The visibility was terrible due to the heavy rain. Whenever I lost sight of the knife, I took a large step back.
Then, he brought the knife down.
I stepped back to parry it, but he stopped his downward swing mid-motion and lunged straight forward.
Up until now, he’d only been swinging wildly. Now, suddenly, he was thrusting to stab.
I couldn't react to the sudden change in pattern. I wasn't going to dodge this in time.
The robber, thinking he had me, grinned as he closed the distance.
Just as the blade was about to pierce my arm, a smack echoed out, and the knife was knocked to the ground.
The female clerk had swung something like a stick, striking the robber's hand perfectly.
She stood there, dignified. Even with her face soaked by rain, she was beautiful.
"Thank you! You saved me!"
"No, thank you! You saved me too!"
We both shouted our thanks without taking our eyes off the robber.
Then, just as we moved in to subdue him together...
A blinding light enveloped the three of us.
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Swallowed by a torrent of light, my consciousness faded away.
Post a Comment