Chapter 35

“You

i

bastardssssssss―!! What are you

i

doing in front of the

i

store, you

i

damn kids aaaaaaaaah!!”

An

i

unfamiliar, high-pitched voice assaulted from

i

the side. Not merely me, but

i

the guy who was

i

clutching my chest

i

was taken aback

i

by it as

i

well, and momentarily

i

froze.

What…Not shared on lightnovelreader.me

When

i

I stretched

i

my neck out

i

from the man’s shadow

i

and checked, it turned

i

out that Aoyama

i

was the one yelling

i

with a threatening attitude at the entrance of the

i

store.

“You

i

know

i

the consequences if you don’t get your hands

i

off of him at

i

once, don’t you, you

i

greenhorn!?”

I mean, it

i

was

i

Aoyama…?

As

i

he glared

i

up at the

i

bikers with the ferocity

i

of a

i

beast, his

i

tone, no, not

i

simply the

i

quality of his

i

voice, but even

i

he sounded incredibly masculine, threatening, or

i

spirited. Even

i

I had to

i

admit that

i

Aoyama was giving me

i

goosebumps.

Who

i

was

i

this

i

person?

Not

i

only was I astounded

i

by

i

the transformation of Aoyama, but

i

so were all the

i

other delinquents.

The

i

leader of the group

i

suddenly jumped

i

out at Aoyama, his facial muscles twitching, and

i

he, likewise, exclaimed in a tremendous

i

voice.

“What! Baldy! You

i

got a problem

i

with me huh!!”

It was

i

a scream imbued with ferocity. Even so, Aoyama

i

yelled back, unperturbed, which

i

was remarkable.

“Didn’t you

i

hear me when I told you

i

to let go of my staff, you

i

moron?!!”

“Are you

i

picking a fight

i

with me!!”

“You

i

want me to call the police

i

via Secom! Aah!?”

When

i

I saw him agitating with

i

the delinquents, thinking

i

that this was absolutely a

i

bloodbath, it

i

made me wish

i

I could cover

i

my eyes, but apparently that was the

i

deciding factor.

“Do

i

you

i

want me to press the Secom!!”

At

i

the mention

i

of, “Secom,” the delinquents were so

i

perturbed that rustle

i

started to spread.

“Oi… Isn’t this

i

bad?”

“If he

i

calls the

i

cops…”

The

i

cronies began to clamor

i

and the leader

i

of the group

i

clicked his tongue

i

sharply and flung

i

me to the

i

ground before leaving.

“Let’s

i

go.”Translator: MadHatter

With

i

that low, distinctly

i

enraged remark, all the

i

guys sprang into movement, straddled their bikes, and

i

rode off one after the other. For a

i

while, sounds

i

of engines rumbled over

i

the road, but gradually

i

silence descended, followed

i

by the return

i

of the ever-present peace in front of the

i

convenience store, despite the scattered cans

i

of alcohol and

i

cigarette butts.

“Clean

i

up the trash! You

i

scum of

i

society! Next

i

time you try

i

anything, I’ll turn

i

you in to

i

the police, every

i

last one

i

of you!”

Aoyama

i

spat loudly

i

at them as they

i

sped away, but

i

none of them ever came

i

back.

O-Or

i

rather…enhcweg

What

i

should I

i

do? My

i

shaking wouldn’t

i

cease. My

i

hips

i

went limp.

To

i

top it all

i

off, my heart throbbed so

i

much that

i

it hurt.

Aoyama

i

was… too

i

terrifying.

Garbage

i

cans that bikers

i

had left

i

behind were laying

i

on the ground

i

as warm winds swept

i

in.

“Hakamada…! Are

i

you

i

okay?! Did

i

you get

i

hurt?!”

Aoyama, who

i

had been

i

raging like

i

a wild

i

bull earlier, regained

i

his usual expression and carefully helped

i

me up with

i

both hands while

i

I was still on my

i

buttocks.

“Oh… no, I-I am

i

fine.”

“You

i

must have

i

been shocked. I should

i

have told you because sometimes those guys

i

get things complicated.”

“Hah… Hie.”gewniojswqr32

“Oh

i

my, can you

i

stand?”3dd

My

i

feet were unsteady, and even

i

my voice had

i

turned unintelligible, leaving

i

me in a state

i

where I could hardly

i

say I was fine.

Furthermore, it

i

was not only

i

the hordes of delinquents

i

that were giving me the fright, but Aoyama himself as

i

well.

Although

i

his tone of voice and mannerisms had returned to normal, I had

i

never imagined that Aoyama would

i

be so bold

i

as to stand up

i

to the delinquents and

i

even drive them away. The impact

i

was so overwhelming that even

i

now my facial muscles twitched.

To

i

think that he

i

had this

i

aspect of him… This

i

person… he was not

i

ordinary.

The

i

consternation apparently manifested

i

itself in my face, and

i

when Aoyama

i

peeked into my face, for

i

some reason he

i

held his cheeks with

i

his hands and

i

flushed.

“Oh my. Did I perhaps

i

scare you…?”

R-Right… Indeed

i

so. But why

i

were you blushing? Not shared on aggregator website

“I

i

mean, If I

i

am not here, you

i

would have been

i

in a risky position, you

i

know.” ew

That

i

was

i

definite. Translator: MadHatter

“T-Thank… you

i

very much.”

After

i

all, I would have

i

been beaten up

i

if it weren’t for him. I

i

gave

i

a bow.

“Even

i

so, that was amazing…”wqef

“Huh?”gernbdr33

“I

i

was genuinely flabbergasted that

i

you reacted that way toward the

i

delinquents, Aoyama.”

“Oh, heh, heh. I

i

couldn’t help but let off some momentum from

i

my days in

i

the Self-defense Forces.”

“Heh… Self-Defense Forces…”

…Not shared on aggregator websites

Self-Defense

i

Forces…

S-Self… Self-Defense

i

Forces―!?

“Self-Defense

i

Forces, you mean

i

that Self-Defense Forces?!”

“That’s

i

right.”ewg

“Aoyama, you

i

entered the

i

Self-Defense Forces!?”

You

i

were joking, right, oi…

Hmm, no, wait… if that

i

was true, then this muscular body of

i

Aoyama would make sense…

“How

i

nostalgic, it’s been ten years, though… I

i

was called the

i

devil squad leader, and

i

back then I

i

used to treat my underlings harshly…”

“Woah～…”

For

i

real?greb4

“I was so

i

relentless that they

i

called me

i

the ‘blue demon’… and

i

terrified them.”

Blue

i

demon. few35

Apparently, he was

i

being earnest, and Aoyama reminisced about the

i

old days. Really, the

i

night shift here had such strong characters that it stifled me, or

i

rather…

“Well, rather

i

than saying it’s unexpected… but if it weren’t

i

for you, I would have

i

been really wounded, thank

i

you very much.”

“No problem. It’s the veteran’s role

i

to protect the

i

newcomer.”

“…Aoyama.”Not shared on lightnovelreader.me

“Besides, Hakamada, you

i

kind of look

i

alike.”

“Yes?”gew32q

“That

i

pair of slanty eyes… with

i

that person… I was captivated by

i

that person when

i

I was in the Self-Defense Forces… After meeting them, my heart

i

turned all maiden…”

“…”ewg42

“It

i

was a love

i

beyond forgiveness…”

I

i

had no idea

i

why but for

i

a second, I felt a

i

tingle down my spine, and

i

for some reason, I thought

i

I detected

i

a dubious aura that I wasn’t supposed to

i

perceive…

Yeah, I

i

should forget about it. It

i

would be wise

i

to forget it.

Even

i

if it was only

i

for a few moments and I

i

was almost moved

i

by the words this person said, I shall

i

absolutely forget it.

For my

i

own sake.

“Come

i

to think of it, why did they

i

try to lay their hands on you? Did something

i

happen?”

“That’s…”t433

I explained to

i

Aoyama what

i

had occurred and

i

the bombshell remark I had

i

declared on the delinquents.

“Oh

i

my, you

i

said that? You

i

are quite a challenger, Hakamada.”

“Under

i

normal circumstances, I would

i

never have said such

i

a thing! I just

i

didn’t like

i

it…”

“You

i

didn’t

i

like

i

it?”

I

i

muttered, glaring at the dimly

i

lit road, “Those guys

i

ran over… the cat and killed it, yet

i

they were laughing about it.”

Such a

i

thing was not something a normal human being

i

would do.

Even if for any

i

reason, the life you killed over, you should

i

feel at least a little bad, that was

i

what I thought…

Right, that

i

was what I really

i

wanted to tell them. Translator: MadHatter

How

i

many times

i

had I witnessed this

i

cat, which

i

had been mutilated and

i

was run over, while I cast

i

a sidelong glance

i

at it and turned

i

back the way I had

i

come? With

i

its entrails protruding

i

out of its mouth, the

i

cat was still stuck in

i

the middle

i

of a road. The scene was

i

too gruesome, and

i

the bikers’ despicable remarks

i

eventually pushed me

i

over the brink, or rather, I

i

couldn’t stand to watch…qwr

I

i

had decided

i

to bury the

i

cat in the surrounding bushes before

i

I started my

i

next part-time work. If I

i

was going to

i

watch it rot away in silence anyway, I might

i

as well bury it.buyqw

Though

i

I wasn’t certain

i

if that would make the… cat happy. Although

i

a proper burial in

i

the ground and

i

even incense wouldn’t be necessary, I should

i

clasp my hands together

i

and pray for

i

the soul of the

i

cat. wqf

I

i

reasoned it

i

would be preferable to be

i

forced to feel horrible

i

each time I passed

i

by and

i

not having

i

grieved by

i

anyone.