Chapter 118 – Don't sweat the small stuff

Yukio inwardly marveled, wondering if these days really anything goes. Could just anyone come out of nowhere and presume to teach him something? And he was expected to seek advice from them?

"!" Nagumo was initially unable to react when Yukio's foot pressed down on his head, forcing his face downwards under the pressure, almost hitting the water's surface of the pool.

It was fortunate that this was an indoor large pool and not the unfathomable depths of the ocean. With Nagumo's height, the water only came up a bit above his waist, and his feet could touch the bottom of the pool.

Otherwise, Nagumo might have been completely submerged by Yukio's action.

Yukio's brazen behavior caused the onlooking students to collectively gasp: "What is he doing?!"

Among the spectators, some recognized Nagumo, and others knew Yukio. Through exchanging information, they quickly understood the status of the two individuals.

One was Yukio, who had led Class C to overtake and reach Class A during the summer vacation through two special exams, becoming a dominant first-year leader. The other was Nagumo Miyabi, a controlling figure reigning over the second year.

As the students watched Nagumo approach Yukio, they wondered what these two would discuss. Would it be a mutual recognition of each other's strengths, or a clash of titans where two tigers cannot share one mountain?

But no matter how wild the students' imaginations ran, none expected Yukio to start by stepping on Nagumo's head, nearly pushing him into the water!

There was no mutual appreciation or confrontation; there was just a foot!

"How can he do that?! If there's a joint special exam involving all three grades in the future, he'll be ruthlessly targeted by Nagumo, right?!"

"My God? This can't be real, right? They're going to fight, aren't they? Definitely, should we go find a lifeguard or call a teacher?"

"Yukio is still so reckless, I'm telling you, I saw it during the summer special exam, this guy really is something!"

The murmurs of the onlookers were like invisible slaps, floating over from a distance and striking Nagumo's face with force!

Since entering the Advanced Nurturing High School, when had Nagumo ever been subjected to such humiliation? When had he been treated like this? When had his authority been so openly challenged and disregarded?

Having a junior step on his head, surrounded by people's comments, left Nagumo utterly stunned. He felt a mix of anger and confusion—angry at Yukio's audacity and baffled as to how Yukio dared to do such a thing. Was he not afraid at all?!

The remarks aimed at him felt like slaps on his face, snapping Nagumo back to reality. Why bother thinking so much at this moment? The most important thing was… he hastily stepped back, freeing himself from Yukio's foot. No longer being stepped on.

"Yukio-kun? You, you…?" Ichinose, right beside Yukio, had seen everything clearly.

She stared at Yukio, dumbfounded, at a loss for words!

Ryuen, with his arms crossed, looked amused. 'So this is the Student Council of the Advanced Nurturing High School, huh? The Vice President is just this? Still got stepped on by Yukio?'

After the ordeal of being drenched on the opening day, Ryuen's heart had undergone a slight change.

He found particular joy in seeing others suffer at Yukio's hands. The more they suffered, the happier he felt. Schadenfreude had become Ryuen's newly acquired interest this semester.

Ishizaki was the most straightforward, his eyes shining as he looked up to Yukio with admiration, thinking how deserving Yukio was of respect! If possible, he too wanted to step on the Vice President's head like Yukio did!

Awoken by Ichinose's words, Nagumo's confusion turned into rising anger, with even the veins on his forehead becoming visible!

Standing in the pool, he had to look up to meet Yukio's gaze: "Do you realize what you're doing?"

"Do you think you can do whatever you want just because we're in different grades? If that's what you think, then I must tell you, you are greatly mistaken."

"October is almost here, and every year at this time, the school hosts the annual sports festival! All grades participate, and you won't be able to avoid it!"

"I'm looking forward to seeing how you're going to apologize to me then!"

Tough words, full of menace.

Nagumo's choice to utter threats instead of letting his anger take control was commendable. How many second-year boys could tolerate Yukio's action of stepping on their head? But he managed to maintain a semblance of composure.

Nagumo was acutely aware of one thing: Yukio had the high ground, unbound and free, while he was at a disadvantage from below. If a fight were to break out, he would inevitably be beaten down by Yukio, like a dog in the water.

For someone standing on the shore to hit someone in the water, the advantage is immense. Nagumo, being in the pool, would face significant resistance from the water, making it impossible to win unless he was far stronger than Yukio.

Though Yukio's act of stepping on his head was a massive humiliation and infuriating, it also made Nagumo realize Yukio was extremely quick and must have trained. Otherwise, Nagumo would have been able to dodge that step.

Knowing he couldn't match Yukio in physical strength, Nagumo knew he had to hold back. If he were kicked into the water again and beaten instead of getting revenge, wouldn't that be even more embarrassing?!

Weighing the lesser of two evils, Nagumo chose not to let hot blood dictate his actions, opting for a later reckoning. He even issued a strong warning to silence the buzzing crowd of onlookers.

Before Yukio could respond to the threat, Ichinose hurriedly stepped forward: "Nagumo-senpai! There must be some misunderstanding! Yukio-kun isn't like that! Revenge at the sports festival shouldn't happen!"

"Misunderstanding?" Nagumo was barely controlling his rage, his fists clenched tight beneath the water, unseen by others.

Hearing Ichinose's plea almost pushed his anger beyond his control, making him sound especially sinister instead of shouting: "What misunderstanding could there possibly be?"

"Yes, there is." Yukio casually took over the conversation, not letting Ichinose face Nagumo for him: "Nice to meet you, Nagumo. Actually, it's mainly because you leaned your head over."

"Think about it, with that height difference, your head was like a footrest handed over by a servant. It looked so inviting that a light kick would do the trick. It would be unreasonable not to step on it."

"Don't sweat the small stuff."

A small matter? You call stepping on someone's head a small matter?! Not stepping would be unreasonable?

Merely clenching his fists wasn't enough to contain his anger. Nagumo had to bite down hard, his jaw's force causing the temples to slightly indent into his head, to restrain himself from lashing out.

***

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