The long break arrived unnoticed.
As soon as the bell rang, our entire group stood up from their seats almost simultaneously.
The cafeteria was especially noisy today.
Students chatted among themselves, occupied free tables, and some were already hurrying back to class.
We sat together as usual.
As always, I took a double portion.
Mio, seeing my tray, just shook her head.
“Kurisaki…
Do you ever get full?”
I calmly broke off a piece of chicken.
“I have to.
A body like this doesn’t feed itself.”
Ayaka snorted.
“You’d be better off pouring feed into a trough, since you eat by volume…”
Rin quietly laughed.
“To be honest…
I’m also curious how many calories you eat per day.”
I thought for a second.
“Around five thousand.”
Everyone fell silent at once.
Even Yuki looked up in surprise.
Mio was the first to break the silence.
“Five…
Thousand?
Are you kidding?”
I calmly shrugged.
“If I eat less…
I start losing weight.
And with it, my muscles.”
Ayaka demonstratively looked at her plate.
“I thought I was a glutton.”
Mio laughed.
“So we’re the skinny ones!”
“Of course!
Can you imagine how much money goes just to his food?
Better not to think about it,” I smirked.
Laughter rang out at the table again.
Hayato quickly finished his portion and put the tray on the table.
“Well?
Shall we go?”
I looked at the clock.
There was still enough time until the end of the break.
“Let’s go.”
Our whole group headed to the sports building.
On the way, Mio couldn’t calm down.
“I wonder…
Will the club president make you spar right away?”
Hayato smiled nervously.
“I hope not.
At least fill out the application form first…”
“Coward,” Ayaka said quietly.
“Of course I’m a coward!
I’ve never done boxing before!”
Rin smiled.
“Don’t worry.
I think they’ll just introduce you to the club first.”
Yuki walked silently next to us the whole time.
Occasionally glancing at Hayato.
A few minutes later we stopped in front of a large metal door.
A neat sign hung on it.
“Boxing Club.”
From inside, almost nothing could be heard.
Only occasional muffled blows.
Hayato took a deep breath.
Then carefully knocked.
“Excuse me for the disturbance.”
A calm female voice came from inside almost immediately.
“Come in.”
The door to the boxing club slowly opened.
We entered.
The hall turned out to be spacious and surprisingly clean. Heavy punching bags hung along the walls, a real ring stood in the corner, and several students were practicing strikes in front of the mirrors. Despite the long break, it was quiet inside — only a few club members were doing their own thing.
A girl was sitting at a long table near the entrance.
Tall.
Slender.
With perfect posture.
Her long black hair was tied in a high ponytail, and the armband of the disciplinary committee chairman stood out on the sleeve of her school jacket.
A stack of documents lay in front of her.
She raised her head and scanned each of us with a calm, appraising gaze.
Her eyes showed the habit of instantly noticing any detail.
“Are you all here to join the club?” she asked in an even, confident voice.
Mio smirked quietly.
“No, no.”
She nodded toward Hayato.
“Today there’s only one hero.”
Hayato took a step forward.
“Hello.
I would like to join the boxing club.”
The girl was about to respond in her usual official tone…
But suddenly looked attentively at his face.
Her cold expression instantly softened.
A barely noticeable smile appeared on her lips.
Not the one she showed to the others.
“…Hayato?”
He blinked in surprise.
“Eh?”
“You…”
She slowly stood up from behind the table.
“You don’t remember me?”
Hayato stared at her face tensely for a few seconds.
Then smiled guiltily.
“I’m sorry…
It seems…
No.”
She sighed quietly.
“That’s what I expected.”
The girl opened the top drawer of the table, took out an old photo, and placed it in front of us.
In the photo stood a plump, shy girl with short hair.
Next to her, a very young Hayato was smiling.
Silence fell.
Yuki was the first to gasp.
“It can’t be…”
Rin’s eyes widened.
“This… is you?”
Even Mio looked shocked.
“Seriously?!”
Ayaka looked incredulously from the photo to the girl.
“No way…”
Hayato finally remembered too.
“Satomi?..”
Now he looked at her with genuine surprise.
“Is it really you?”
She nodded slightly.
Her smile became even warmer.
“Yes.
It’s been a while.”
I calmly watched what was happening.
“Everything is exactly as it was in the game.”
“Nothing new.”
Satomi put the photo back in the table and took out a form.
“If you really want to join…”
She placed the sheet in front of Hayato.
“Fill out the application.”
He immediately sat down at the table.
Satomi leaned just a little closer, pointing where to sign.
“Here.”
Her fingers seemed to accidentally touch his wrist.
Hayato noticeably blushed.
“Ah… thank you…”
He hurriedly began filling out the document.
I noticed out of the corner of my eye how Mio and Ayaka exchanged glances.
Both clearly understood something.
When the application was filled out, Satomi carefully took it.
She scanned the lines.
And said calmly:
“The rest of you can return.
I need to discuss the internal rules and schedule with the new club member.”
Mio looked surprised.
“And us?”
“You have nothing more to do here.”
Her voice became official again.
“As the head of the disciplinary committee, I ask you not to create a crowd of students during the break.”
There was nothing to argue with.
Even Ayaka just clicked her tongue in displeasure.
We started leaving.
When I was already passing her table, a calm voice stopped me.
“Young man.”
I turned around.
Her gaze carefully studied me from head to toe.
“Why do you have dyed hair?
Violation of the uniform.”
A short pause.
“And what about your clothes?
Also…
A tattoo under your shirt?”
I just smiled calmly.
“Kurisaki Ren.”
I bowed slightly.
“Nice to meet you, Kiryuin-senpai.”
Without adding anything else, I calmly turned around and walked out after the others.
Behind me, silence hung for a few seconds.
Satomi watched me with a thoughtful gaze.
“Strange… and dangerous…”
As soon as the door to the boxing club closed behind us, Mio exhaled loudly.
“She’s such a pain…”
Ayaka snorted.
“She’s always been like that.
Looks down on everyone as if they’re all rule-breakers.”
Rin calmly adjusted her hair.
“Still, she is the head of the disciplinary committee.
It’s part of her job.”
“I know,” Mio replied displeasedly. “But it still pisses me off.”
Yuki quietly looked at the closed door.
“But…
When she saw Hayato…
She changed completely.”
Ayaka smirked.
“Exactly.
Now at least it’s clear why she hung around him so much.”
Rin nodded.
“She even kept the photo all this time.
So her feelings appeared back in middle school.”
Mio crossed her arms.
“And now she doesn’t even hide it.
As if she decided to stake her claim right away.”
Ayaka sighed heavily.
“Poor Hayato.
Another contender.”
Yuki silently lowered her gaze.
I calmly listened to their conversation.
“Yes.”
“And this is just the beginning.”
“The most obsessive of all the heroines hasn’t even shown her true face yet.”
The rest of the lessons passed calmly.
During breaks, I, as promised, several times deliberately steered the conversation to topics where Yuki felt more confident.
She no longer stayed silent for so long.
Sometimes she even answered first.
Sometimes she even asked Hayato questions.
Short ones.
But the progress was noticeable.
Even Mio said in surprise:
“Amano-san.
You’re much more talkative today.”
Yuki smiled shyly.
“Really?..”
Finally, the last bell rang.
Students began to disperse to clubs and home.
Hayato stayed in the sports building — he had his first introduction to the boxers and the coach ahead.
Mio also ran off, promising to ask him about everything later.
Rin said goodbye and headed to the car waiting for her.
Ayaka lazily waved her hand.
“Don’t stay out too late.
See you.”
A few minutes later, only Yuki and I remained by the school gates.
She was gripping the strap of her bag tightly.
“Kurisaki-kun…
Are we really…
Going?”
I nodded calmly.
“Of course.
We’re starting training today.”
She took a deep breath and stepped next to me.
Twenty minutes later we had already entered a large shopping center.
In the evening it was crowded here.
Families, schoolchildren, office workers walked everywhere.
Yuki noticeably tensed.
She instinctively moved half a step closer to me.
I stopped.
“Amano-san.”
She looked at me.
“Today we won’t do anything complicated.
We’ll start with small steps.”
She nodded uncertainly.
“Okay…”
I looked around.
There was an information stand not far away.
Dozens of people were passing by.
“First task.
Approach any person and ask what time it is.”
Yuki swallowed nervously.
“O-Okay…”
She slowly headed toward the first man she came across.
“Excuse me…
Could you tell me the time, please?”
The man didn’t even look in her direction.
He just quickened his pace and walked past.
Yuki lowered her head in confusion.
“I…
Probably bothered him…”
She was about to step away.
I calmly took a few steps forward and ended up in front of the man.
He stopped in displeasure.
“What?”
I calmly looked him in the eyes.
“The girl politely asked you a question.”
He shrugged irritably.
“I’m not obligated to answer everyone…”
I didn’t raise my voice.
But spoke noticeably colder:
“If you don’t tell her what time it is right now…
I’ll take it from you.”
The man noticeably tensed.
His gaze quickly ran over my figure.
Then he nervously looked at his watch.
I nodded slightly toward Yuki.
“Tell her.”
He hurriedly turned to the girl.
“It’s… five to five.”
Yuki was a little confused.
“T-Thank you very much.”
I looked at the man again.
“And one more thing.”
He froze.
“If I see that expression on your face again when this girl politely addresses you.
I’ll have to explain why you shouldn’t do that.”
The man hurriedly nodded.
“Understood.
Sorry.”
He hurried to disappear into the crowd.
Yuki silently watched him go.
Then she shifted her gaze to me.
“Kurisaki-kun…
Thank you…”
I shook my head.
“No need to thank me yet.
Today your goal is to understand that one unpleasant experience doesn’t mean anything. Most people will still answer normally.”
From Yuki’s perspective
At first it was scary.
Every time I approached a stranger, my heart started pounding so hard it seemed everyone around could hear it.
But…
As soon as I felt that Kurisaki-kun was standing just a few steps behind…
The fear somehow receded.
I knew.
If something went wrong…
He was nearby.
This strange feeling of calm was something I had never experienced before.
Probably because of this, after the first task everything became much easier.
“Excuse me, please…
Could you tell me where the electronics store is?”
“Of course. On the third floor, then to the right.”
“Thank you very much!”
Then another time.
“Excuse me, is there an ATM here?”
“Yes, near the supermarket.”
“Thank you!”
Then again.
And sometimes the conversation didn’t even end with one answer.
“Do you come here often?”
“Yes, almost every weekend.”
“Then could you recommend a good cafe?”
“If you like sweets, you should definitely check out…”
I myself didn’t notice how I started maintaining very short conversations.
After each conversation, Kurisaki-kun only calmly nodded.
“Good.
You’re already much more confident.”
And for some reason…
His praise made me feel very warm inside.
“Could it really…
Be me?”
I had always thought I didn’t know how to talk to people.
But now…
It turned out not to be so scary.
On the contrary.
It was even interesting.
And also…
So many people smiled at me.
Genuinely.
Kindly.
Of course, there were unpleasant people too.
But as soon as they shifted their gaze to Kurisaki-kun…
Their tone somehow immediately became much more polite.
I involuntarily smiled.
“How calm it is…
When he’s nearby.”
I didn’t even notice how I stopped slouching.
My back straightened.
My shoulders relaxed.
My step became more confident.
And inside there appeared some strange lightness.
I felt…
Happy.
And it was at that moment that I suddenly wanted to tease Kurisaki-kun a little.
I turned to him.
He, as usual, calmly walked next to me with his hands in his pockets.
“Kurisaki-kun.”
“Hm?”
“Did you see how that guy got scared of you?”
He calmly looked at me.
“I saw.”
I barely held back a chuckle.
“You should definitely star in a horror movie.”
He raised an eyebrow questioningly.
“Why?”
I smiled even wider.
“Because sometimes you look in such a way that even I get scared.”
He sighed heavily.
“Very funny.”
I couldn’t hold it in and laughed out loud.
“No, really.
I lost sight of you for a second.
But then I just looked up…
And immediately found you.
It’s hard not to notice such a pillar in the middle of a shopping center.”
Not a single muscle twitched on Kurisaki-kun’s face.
But…
It seemed to me that the corner of his lip twitched slightly.
I couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.
“Sorry!
But it’s true!”
He slowly looked me up and down.
“Finished?”
I tried with all my might to make a serious face.
“Y-Yes…”
But as soon as I met his imperturbable gaze…
I burst out laughing again.
He just shook his head.
“So that’s how it is.
You help a person become more confident…
And in return you get insults.”
I barely managed to say through laughter:
“It’s not an insult…
It’s… an observation…”
He sighed heavily again.
“I’ll keep that in mind.
No more psychological help.
Deal with it yourself.”
I instantly stopped laughing and waved my hands in panic.
“N-No!
I was joking!”
He was silent for a couple more seconds.
And then the corner of his lip finally twitched.
And I suddenly realized…
That for the first time in a very long time I was laughing so sincerely and not thinking at all about how I looked from the outside.
I automatically looked at my phone.
It was almost seven in the evening.
There was already a message from mom on the screen.
“Yuki, where are you? Dinner soon.”
I quickly typed a reply.
“I’m already on my way home.”
Putting the phone in my pocket, I looked at Kurisaki-kun and smiled widely.
“Thank you so much, Kurisaki-kun!”
He nodded calmly.
“No problem.
I’ll wait for you at morning exercises tomorrow.
Don’t oversleep.”
“I won’t oversleep!”
I answered confidently.
He silently opened the door to his apartment.
He didn’t turn around.
He didn’t say another word.
As if everything was exactly how it should be.
The door quietly closed.
I stared at it for a few more seconds.
Then quietly snorted.
“Grumpy…”
But for some reason…
The smile didn’t leave my face.