#9 Accident

"Shishō!" Yuichi once again arrived at the old building where the old man was living and greeted him with a light bow and bright smile.

'...I have heard about what happened from his parents...Isn't he a bit too cheerful when his best friend just moved away? There is something wrong with this kid...' The old man who saw Yuichi's face immediately thought with a furrowed brows.

"Good afternoon to you too" The old man replied with a small nod, covering his suspicious expression.

During today's session, they were sparring together although Yuichi was always a few steps behind the old man.

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"What was up with those aggressive moves today? Haven't I taught you that there is only need for gentle strikes to subdue your opponent?" The old man asked with a raised brow.

"I apologize for that, Shishō. I just wanted to try something new and see how draining and effective it is when it comes to my stamina." Yuichi said while bowing.

'Normally, I wouldn't care about that but he is really making me worried.' The old man thought while rubbing his chin.

"Anyway, it was a nice training session as always, see you later, Shishō!" Yuichi got up and took his bag, however before he could leave, he was stopped by the old man.

"Yuichi, wait a second!"

"Hm? Yes, Shishō?" Yuichi stopped and turned at the old man with a confused expression.

"I want you to promise you that you won't beat up anyone before your graduation. Self-defense is fine but don't go looking for fights. Can you promise me that?" The old man asked with a furrowed brow.

"...Of course. I promise you that I won't beat anyone up out of my own volition!" Yuichi stopped for a few seconds to think before replying with a bright smile.

'That sounded really sincere even though it took him a few seconds to reply...' The old man thought and nodded at Yuichi, indicating that he can leave.

When Yuichi turned towards the exit and resumed walking, the old man narrowed his eyes and stared deeply at Yuichi's back.

'Is it perhaps possible that he has 2 different personalities? There is simply too many strange things, he appears to be just as innocent and cheerful as before however sometimes during the sparring I could see a ruthlessness deep hidden in his eyes. Now the question is...Is he aware of it or not?' The old man thought before he lost the sight of Yuichi's back behind the door.

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Days were passing by and those 3 bullies were actually feeling very strange by Yuichi's behavior, how he never even tried to get revenge or confront them.

They were quite worried about this matter however graduation for them very quickly arrived and it was just 1 day before the graduation ceremony. They were currently going to the arcade as always after school. They were using completely same routines for a few months already, going through the construction site, using it as a shortcut.

They slipped under the tape with a warning about the construction site. A few workers noticed them and started shouting at them however when they saw that they are being ignored, they simply focused on their work.

When the trio was almost at the exit something unexpected happened.

"Jump away, kids!" One of the workers shouted at them with much more vigor which caused them to at least look up at him just to see a few metal bars falling down right on them.

*THUD* *CLANG* The metal bars have fallen down on the horrified faces of 3 bullies causing a lot of commotion, catching the attention of all workers.

"Call the ambulance, quickly!" Workers on the site immediately called for the ambulance as they started throwing the metal bars to the side to dig out the boys under them, thankfully, they were just hollow metal bars so they didn't weight so much.

*Clack* *Clack* Another person approached the tape at the beginning of the construction site.

"*sigh* Guess I will have to walk all around."

It was exactly Yuichi who muttered with a disappointed expression, deciding to respect the tape and walk all around the construction site.

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The next day at school, there were rumors about the 3 bullies ending up in the hospital with a few broken bones therefore they couldn't arrive for the graduation ceremony however the school would hold another one privately for just 3 of them alone.

Everyone heard that they were walking through the construction site and some metal bars had fallen on them.

"That's karma for you, I tell you. They are always ignoring all kinds of warnings and rules and this is where it got them."

"I heard that this case was already closed as an accident, not to mention they had nothing to do there so they might also face some problems for disturbing the workers and their working plan."

"Oi, isn't that a bit too cruel? I think they have suffered enough."

"Hey, I am not the one who decided that."

Yuichi and Mei walked through the school gate and immediately heard a lot of students gossiping like there was no tomorrow.

"What is it about? Aren't those 3 students you were greeting almost every morning?" Mei asked with a worried expression.

"Yes...This is a really unfortunate incident, right during their graduation ceremony, however, they should have never been there to begin with..." Yuichi replied with closed eyes while shaking his head in a slightly regrettable manner.

"Well, as long as they are fine, I think they can change their ways." Mei replied with a faint smile.

"I can't agree more" Yuichi nodded his head with a faint smile before greeting a few people on the way to his class.

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That day Yuichi went to train with the old man once again however once he arrived, the old man was frowning at him.

"Shishō! What's wrong?" Yuichi asked with a confused expression and as he was putting his bag down, he saw a shadow nearing his head which prompted him to perform a quick roll to the back before getting up.

"?" Yuichi looked at the old man with a confused expression as he saw his extended leg.

"You are the reason behind what happened to those 3 students from your school, right? They could have died if something went horribly wrong!" The old man shouted at Yuichi with his pitch-black narrowed eyes

"But they didn't and I could have died just now too if I hadn't dodged that kick, my neck could have snapped. I know that I promised Shishō not to beat anyone up on my own volition and I have also never touched anyone so I never broke any promise." Yuichi said with an honest smile before lightly bowing to show his sincerity.

'He doesn't even try to hide it...is it because he still trusts me? I am pretty sure that there is still that innocent yet cautious old Yuichi. Otherwise, I don't see any reason for him to just admit it when I just made a wild guess.

"Yuichi...I think that attending those 2 clubs, losing connections to all your other friends and expectations from school as a Captain of 2 clubs now together with the loss of your best friend broke you." The old man said with a worried expression.

"Shishō, are you not going to yell at me how wrong it was?" Yuichi asked with a confused expression.

"...They definitely deserved punishment however I think it would have been better if you would have just beat them up instead of risking something so dangerous. You are lucky that they closed the case as an accident...*sigh* I am not going to tell this to your parents because it would cause a lot of troubles but please don't do anything like that anymore. Also don't twist my words, I don't want you to hurt anyone else." The old man closed his eyes with a tired expression and said.

'At least it looks like he actually honors his promises even though he twisted my words.' The old man thought.

"Shishō, I would have never hurt anyone who has never done anything to me or people close to me." Yuichi said with a serious expression that looked as if it was a combination of his ruthless side and innocent playful side.

"Hmm, then everything is alright, let's proceed with the training. Today, I will teach you a bit more moves from different martial arts, it will be up to you to decide which suits your style the best." The old man held his chin and said with a thoughtful expression.

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When Yuichi left after intense training with his clothes drenched in sweat...

'That kid...It feels like he matured too early. I don't think it would be good to let him attend just any public Senior High school...' The old man thought while looking at the door before turning around, approaching the window with both his hands joined behind his back.

'Maybe I can recommend his parents that school...They definitely have much better security there than in this vast town where there are thousands of dark alleys without any surveillance cameras installed within them. I will still have to come up with the reason though, well, it's one of the most elite schools, which parents wouldn't want their children to at least try to apply?' The old man thought about the future while looking out of the window at the setting sun.