Bronze

"I ain't tellin' nobody ta accept nothin'! What're ya yammerin' about?" Sendo mumbled, turning to face a visibly troubled young man from a different class.

Meanwhile, Sato and Yuuto hurried down to get a closer look at the unfolding drama. A young man, about the same age as Sendo, was pointing his wooden sword at him, his stance challenging yet uncertain.

"I... I don't accept..." he stammered, his body shaking slightly in his full Kendo gear.

'Hmm, must be a Kendo club member, but I don't recognize him. Maybe he's new?' Yuuto thought, surveying the scene.

"Accept what? Out with ya, man!" Sendo urged, his words clear despite his accent. The Kendo club members had formed a circle around them, with the Culture Club members joining the onlookers.

'Not the best choice of words, Sendo...' Yuuto mused inwardly.

"Out with me, huh...? Yeah... I guess you wouldn't want me in the Kendo club..." the young man, Kenichi, murmured, his gaze dropping and his grip on the wooden sword tightening. "Wait, I ain't meant dat like—" Sendo started, but Kenichi, misunderstanding, cut him off. "And I get it, especially with you and Hina dating recently!"

The surrounding crowd began to murmur among themselves.

Approaching the Culture Club with Sato, Yuuto noticed Hiyori's barely contained annoyance as she crossed her arms.

"Hey, Hicchi..." Sato started, Hiyori's cheeks began to fill with blush as she heard his voice... but he was interrupted by Yuuto.

"Hey, Heroine. What's going on here? You look like you know something."

Hiyori sighed, any trace of a blush quickly fading from her cheeks as she fixed Yuuto with a look that swiftly morphed into mild annoyance.

"What's it to you?" she asked, her tone edged with irritation.

"I'm thinking of using this as material for a script. You know, for my adult-doujin artist friend," Yuuto replied nonchalantly.

"Back to that website of yours again, Sakurai?" Shun interjected, a note of exasperation in his voice.

"Always. Got to earn my keep somehow," Yuuto retorted with a shrug.

Around them, a collective thought seemed to hang in the air – Yuuto represented exactly the type of adult they all hoped never to become.

"I-I can't believe I have a Senpai as depraved as you..." Chiyoko mumbled, visibly shivering before she instinctively took a small step away from Yuuto.

"Ew. Do you have to make that, like, your whole personality?" Hiyori chided, her eyes narrowing as she subtly turned her head to distance herself from Yuuto.

Shun let out a weary sigh, the weight of the moment settling on his shoulders.

"Look, it's pretty straightforward stuff, Sakurai. I doubt you'll find anything new in this mess. Guy's been childhood friends with a girl, she ends up falling for someone else – that someone being Sendo. And the left-behind friend? That's Kenichi right there, he chose the day Hina didn't show up for practice to do this, it seems." Shun explained, casting a glance over the unfolding drama.

"Referring to yourself in the third person now, cuckoo?" Yuuto quipped, a faint snicker playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Shut up. My situation was completely different..."

"..." Yuuto raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Alright, slightly different. But still different."

Hiyori raised an eyebrow, looking between them.

"Are you sure it's wise to feed him this info, Shicchi? What if he uses it for something weird..?"

"Don't sweat it. It's not like Sakurai's going to name names in whatever he comes up with."

"I just might."

"... Just don't, okay?"

Sendo was visibly losing his patience.

"I like Hina, so I asked her out. She said yes, that's all there is to it. I ain't about to worry over who she's friends with. If she'd said no, I'd have backed off. Simple as dat."

"You think I'll believe that!? Hina wasn't just a friend! She was my best friend, more than that! She was my everything! You just came and took her away! Did you... Did you manipulate her or something?"

'Sendo, manipulating someone? Really?' Yuuto thought, shaking his head internally.

"Ah... She can still be your everything! I ain't stolen her or anything, we're just dating and-" Sendo paused, glancing around as if searching for the right words. His eyes landed on Yuuto, and his face lit up with a smile, sending an unexpected chill down Yuuto's spine.

'Oh, no, no, no...'

"Ah, Senpai! Yer 'ere for my Kendo club, right? Can ya give me a hand?" Sendo called out.

'Dammit, Sendo!' Yuuto thought, quickly averting his gaze as soon as Sendo looked his way.

"Senpai? Who's he talking about?" Chiyoko whispered, her eyes darting between Shun and Sato. Hiyori, equally curious, followed Chiyoko's gaze, leading Sendo's attention to the Culture Club and drawing all eyes to them.

"Shicchi, are you guys friends or something?"

"Uh, not really... We've only met a couple of times. Me? Friends with Sendo-kun?" Shun questioned, pointing at himself in confusion. Meanwhile, Kenichi's gaze remained intensely focused on Sendo.

"Senpaiii, over here! I really need your help!" Sendo persisted, his gaze unwaveringly fixed on Yuuto.

"No one's going to bail you out of this, Sendo! We'll settle it with a fight! If I win, you leave Hina alone!" Kenichi declared with determination.

As Sendo's gaze lingered on Yuuto, the others followed suit, their expressions turning to realization as they spotted Yuuto.

The members of the Kendo club began whispering among themselves.

"The weirdo from Class 3-1?"

"The anime pillow guy?"

'Ah, damn it, Sendo. Why'd you have to drag me into this...?' Yuuto thought, a sense of frustration building within him.

"N-no way... Sakurai?" Hiyori whispered in disbelief, her eyes widening. Chiyoko, her imagination running wild, pictured Yuuto in a black tuxedo, offering risqué doujins to an unsuspecting Sendo. She felt a pang of sadness at her own mental image.

"Ooh!" Sato exclaimed, his eyes flicking to Yuuto in surprise.

'Great. Now they all think I'm some sort of romance guru... I mean, I am... But not for childish stuff like this.' Yuuto thought, his annoyance growing.

"Yelling about a weirdo won't change anything, Sendo! I'm not letting myself get sidetracked by that."

"Hey, Senpai might be odd, but he's got a knack for romantic stuff," Sendo blurted out, causing a ripple of surprise among the crowd.

With a resigned sigh, Yuuto stepped forward. The members of the Kendo club parted, creating a path for him.

"Senpai, how ya been?" Sendo greeted him casually.

Yuuto took a deep breath, steeling himself for the inevitable confrontation.

"I thought you weren't a fan of my methods, Sendo," he said in a low voice, only for Sendo to hear.

"I know, I know, but I'm at a loss here. I don't want to fight Kenichi unless I absolutely have to... And you seem to have a handle on these kinds of things," Sendo replied, his voice just loud enough for the others to overhear.

'Tactless little...!!' Yuuto thought, then raised his voice to match Sendo's. "You're both just kids. I'm not getting involved in children's squabbles. Figure it out on your own and learn from it. That's my advice," he declared, turning to leave.

"Wait, Senpai-"

"STOP IGNORING ME!!!" Kenichi's shout cut through the air, echoing across the stadium and bringing a sudden silence.

All eyes instantly turned to Kenichi, the shock palpable among the crowd.

"I... I love her... You just swept her away.. Just because you're good at some stupid Kendo... Because of this shit club... If it wasn't for all of this, she'd still be with me—"

Kenichi's voice was charged with emotion, his words laced with bitterness. But it was Sendo's reaction that stunned everyone. In a blur of motion, Sendo struck Kenichi on the head with the side of his wooden sword, knocking him to the ground in one fluid, swift movement.

"Uh, what just happened!?" Chiyoko exclaimed, her eyes wide in disbelief at Sendo's speed.

"I didn't even see him move...!" Hiyori added, her gaze fixed on the scene.

'He's gotten faster...' Yuuto observed, feeling a gust of wind ruffle his fake hair following Sendo's strike. 'He used the side of the sword to lessen the blow... Still, I've never seen him this enraged. Not even at the hospital. I guess he really does have nothing but Kendo on his mind, that simpleton.'

Sendo looked down at Kenichi, who was still trying to recover on the floor, his hand going to his forehead to check for blood.

"Relax. Didn't hit ya that hard," Sendo said calmly, his voice steady.

Kenichi looked up at Sendo, his expression a mix of pain and defiance.

"I don't care if ya got a crush you ain't never confessed to. It don' matter to me if she's your whole world. She can be whatever you want 'er to be – a friend, a lover, a mother figure, whatever."

"But talk smack about Kendo or this club again, and next time Imma hit ya harder," Sendo warned, his stance resolute. Kenichi, silent, ground his teeth in frustration.

"Now, get up and—"

"Y-you... You're just a bully... A delinquent with no parents... A nobody!" Kenichi spat out, tears brimming in his eyes. Sendo stood still, his wooden sword pointed at him. The whole group surrounding them watched without a word.

"Just some orphan punk... Got into a good school because you're strong. Without that, you're nothing."

"That's enough," a calm, authoritative voice interjected. It was Yuuto, stepping into the center of the circle.

"I usually don't get involved in kids' fights, but you're wrong about two things. First, being an orphan or fatherless, like you, doesn't define a person's worth. Sendo's not just that," Yuuto stated, walking over to Sendo, whose face was an unreadable mask. He casually placed his hand on Sendo's head, seemingly contradicting his earlier disinterest.

"Second, Sendo as a manipulator? That's a laugh. He's tactless, straightforward, naive, and, frankly, kind of a moron. His brain's more sword than sense. The only manipulation he's capable of is probably coaxing someone to join the Kendo club."

"...But more than anything," Yuuto continued, his speech seeming to inadvertently ease the tension. The Kendo club members nodded along, some agreement apparent in their expressions.

Shun watched Yuuto, a glimmer of admiration in his eyes. Hiyori and Chiyoko, who had been skeptical of Yuuto, began to reconsider their opinions of this unconventional guy.

"He's not the type to pull off what you'd call classic NTRing." As soon as Yuuto dropped the term 'NTR,' whispers erupted amongst the crowd. Confusion mixed with a tinge of disgust flickered across Hiyori and Chiyoko's faces.

"NTR?"

"Cuckoldry? But isn't this more unrequited love than anything else?"

Shun felt his optimism deflate.

'Oh no, not this... Just when things were looking up...'

Yuuto, seemingly oblivious to the shifting mood, pressed on.

"He's too dim-witted for that."

Sendo, growing increasingly uncomfortable, tried to interject.

"Uh, Senpai?"

"His IQ's at room temperature, MAX" Yuuto remarked, unfazed.

"Senpai, please, that's not very kind—"

"He's not the mastermind you're making him out to be. Accusing this single-brain-celled neanderthal of orchestrating some grand scheme to win over your childhood friend? That's absurd."

"Senpai, I think he understands—"

"Seriously, if she chose him, it says more about you than him."

Shun watched the scene unfold with a sense of deflation. 'Ahh... He just had to ruin it. We were almost in a perfect slice-of-life manga moment, and he just trashed it...' he thought, a sense of resignation washing over him.

"Stop bad-mouthing Sendo, you asshole!"

"Age doesn't matter! You can't just insult Sendo like that and get away with it! You can be an adult or a little kid!"

The crowd began to close in around Yuuto, their expressions a mix of indignation and protectiveness.

In response, Yuuto nonchalantly pulled out his phone and started recording.

"Ah, ah, ahh! Touch me and I'll be straight to the principal's office with this," he warned, brandishing his phone like a shield.

Hiyori, Shun, and Chiyoko watched from a distance, appalled by the example Yuuto was setting for the younger students.

"Hah," Sato chuckled, observing from the sidelines.

Shun glanced over at him. "What's funny, Sato-kun?"

"Oh, nothing much... It's just interesting to see how Yuuto's intervention shifted the focus from Kenichi's outburst. He has a unique way of defusing situations," Sato remarked, his smile unwavering as he watched the Kendo club and Sendo's attention turn from Kenichi to Yuuto.

"Uhm, no, Sato-kun. I get your enthusiasm, but that was 100% a fluke."

"MAYBE! I still like it, though!"

"Hehe... Well. I agree, it's somewhat calmer now." Shun replied as Yuuto slowly backed away from the stadium, the phone is held steadily in his palm, as if he's wielding a riot-shield - keeping the angry Kendo club at bay.

"...Somewhat."

Kenichi sat on the floor, visibly shaken, his gaze fixed downward in a mix of shame and disbelief.

"Kenichi," Sendo spoke softly as he sheathed his Kendo sword and walked over to him.

"What do you want? Came to gloat?" Kenichi responded bitterly, forcing a smile as he averted his eyes.

"Don't quit Kendo 'cus of me," Sendo urged gently.

"...What...?" Kenichi looked up, his expression a mix of surprise and confusion.

"Hina really liked Kendo. She said it changed her life. She was da first person, apart from my Aniki, who really got it. She'd come to watch practices, her eyes lightin' up whenever I swung the sword. She always wanted ta try Kendo but never found the time until recently..."

The Culture Club members exchanged glances, a collective realization dawning on them. 'Sendo was the one being manipulated all along...'

"What's your point...? Are you trying to rub it in?" Kenichi's voice trembled with a mix of anger and hurt.

"Noh, man, that's not it," Sendo replied, scratching his head in frustration, his eyes searching the ceiling for the right words. "I noticed ya joined Kendo for 'er. I held back my feelings for Hina because I saw you were enjoying Kendo and ya' might quit if I did dat... So, just don't quit because of her-"

"Shut up!" Kenichi yelled, cutting Sendo off as he stood up, his Kendo sword clenched tightly in his hand.

"Just... just leave me alone!" he muttered, his voice breaking as he walked past the stunned onlookers and out of the stadium, leaving behind a confused and concerned crowd in his wake.

Chiyoko cautiously approached Sendo, concern etched on her face.

"Are you really okay with letting him go like that, Sendo-kun?"

Sendo offered a warm, reassuring smirk.

"Yah... Look, he's still carryin' his Kendo sword with 'im."

"... Seriously? Is Kendo all you ever think about? You could be easily exploited (again) if you keep being so simple-minded... You're lucky Hina's harmless..." She replied with a sigh.

"Eh? Was' dat supposed ta' mean, Chiyo?"

Meanwhile, at a distant corner of the stadium near the opposite entrance, a striking figure stood watching the scene unfold. A tall, lean foreigner with pale-white skin, piercing blue eyes, and natural, smooth blonde hair adorned with piercings observed the events with an intrigued smile.

(In English)"...I thought I'd give my cute little brother Sendo a surprise visit after my long trip in South America..."

"But an interesting character caught my eye... He actually managed to keep up with Sendo's attack..."