#7 The Beginning of the Change

The match ended 5:2 in Yuichi's school favor.

When they were leaving the school grounds, Yuichi had a gloomy expression while walking and looking at the ground in front of him.

"Hey! What's with that gloomy expression?!" Ren put his arm around Yuichi's neck and asked with a cheerful expression however that cheerful expression quickly disappeared when they were leaving through the school gate.

Yuichi noticed this change and glanced around and saw a few groups of students leaving with them but only one group of 3 most likely 3rd-years students were talking near the gate while looking straight at Yuichi and Ren however it was nothing special since they just had a great match and a lot of people saw that therefore the attention was nothing suspicious.

"It's nothing! I just think that I could have played better today..." Yuichi blurted out while forcing out a smile.

"Oh? You are too hard on yourself! You are the Captain of 2 different clubs, you should take it a bit easy or your body will crumble down." Ren woke up from his daze and replied with a previous cheerful smile but there was something off about this smile this time, perhaps the way he was cautious out of nowhere.

'Should I ask him about that time? Should I even say that I saw "those"?' Yuichi thought with frowned expression, keeping faces of those 3 students looking straight at them in mind just in case.

"*Hey, You know...I have heard that Arakawa-san has her eyes on you...you know, that beauty in 3rd year? Ever since a few girls graduated last year, she became undisputedly the most beautiful girl in this school.*" Ren whispered to Yuichi with a smug smile.

"Hm? Why? We have never talked to each other, I doubt that I even know how she looks since her name doesn't ring a bell to me..." Yuichi looked at his friend with a disinterested expression.

"...You kidding, right?" Ren asked with a dumbfounded expression.

'How can he be so indifferent when it comes to those advantages that come together with his hard work? He can have whatever he wants yet he doesn't go for any of those things...yet I am here...envious of my own friend!' Ren thought while biting his lower lip and tightly gripping his arm.

"I am not...I really do not know her, neither I have time to get to know her. I am glad that I have some time to spend with you and Mei, not to mention another girl..." Yuichi said and rolled his eyes as if the entire matter for him was just a hassle.

'...I am a really bad friend...as they said before.' Ren thought after hearing Yuichi's warm words.

"I guess you are right, anyway, it's just a rumor, something I heard some girls talking about so there is no evidence that this information is truthful." Ren said with a faint smile.

Two of them continued walking home until they had to part the ways since Ren's house was closer to the school than Yuichi's house. Mei unfortunately had to go home early so she also missed their match therefore Yuichi was now walking alone.

'Those 3 students...why were they looking at us with those weird smiles. ?! Maybe they weren't looking at us but only at Ren.' Yuichi thought while holding his chin.

'I will have to gather more information about them, however, that will be hard without knowing their name' Yuichi frowned, a little troubled by this problem.

'Wait! What about online records of all students attending the school?! I remember my parents agreeing that school can share photos of me. I should be able to find those 3 there and get to know their names at least.' Yuichi's expression immediately brightened and he started to jog to home.

Yuichi used the computer in his room to browse the school's site and its records of all students. Finding students that graduated from there was an easy task but finding current students proved a bit difficult however he managed to find what he was looking for after an hour of searching.

'A several suspensions...those 3 guys are that infamous group of troublemakers?' Yuichi thought immediately after reading their names, he heard a lot of rumors in his school. Like, if you confess behind the school building and the person you are interested in accept your confession, that couple will stay happy for the whole life. And another one was about an infamous group of troublemakers who did a lot of things against the school rules yet they were only suspended for a few weeks at most despite causing a lot of trouble.

The next day, Yuichi went to school however he skipped the club activities and focused on gathering information from all students until someone finally told him where they usually gather at.

Yuichi quickly found them however instead of confronting them on the school grounds, he waited until they left and then he followed them.

When they were far away from the school and no people were in vicinity, Yuichi decided to confront them.

"Hey!" Yuichi called out to them from behind, causing them to turn around with surprised expressions.

"Yo, aren't you that famous Captain of the 2 clubs at the same time, Iwamura Yuichi? What do you need from us?" The guy in the middle stepped forward and asked with a confused expression.

"I saw you that day at the school gate, looking at us...or should I say, looking at my friend, Ren Nakada?" Yuichi said while narrowing his eyes.

His words slightly surprised trio but they quickly acted confused.

"What are you doing to my friend?" Yuichi said with a gloomy expression.

"Eh? We have no idea what you are talking about, man. Are you sure you've got the right people?" The same guy replied with a confused expression.

"Don't try to fool me, I have seen your microexpressions plus you have nothing to hide from me since I have heard this information right from my friend!" Yuichi said while pointing at the guy's face with his index finger.

'Microexpressions? What are you, a freak?'

Hearing his words, the trio dropped their act and their expressions immediately became indifferent.

"So that little shit told you despite us warning him numerous times, huh?" The middle guy muttered with a face saying "what a hassle"

Hearing his words, Yuichi clenched his fists as he grit his teeth as hard as he could.

'So it's the truth! ...Take a deep breath.' Yuichi thought while taking a deep breath since he knew that by beating them up he would create only more trouble despite having the urge to kick their asses.

"Why are you doing this? Has he ever done anything to you?" Yuichi managed to keep the cool head and asked although his tone was shaking in anger.

"...You really have no idea, huh? Let's just say that there are always shrimps that are predestined to be bullied. All schools have their bullies and victims of bullying." The guy shrugged his shoulders while saying this with an indifferent expression.

'Shit...These guys...It has been a big mistake to confront them about it and I only worsened it by tricking them into admitting it...If I won't do anything, their bullying will only worsen however just beating them up won't solve anything since they will only vent out on Ren and I can't keep standing by his side the entire day since the only time I spend with him is at school and during the soccer club activities.' Yuichi just realized that he got tangled into a very delicate situation.

"How about you stop? I don't see any reason for you to continue this bullying...Does it even give you anything?" Yuichi asked pretty stupid questions however he was only focusing on not jumping on them and kicking their asses.

"Well, it gives us satisfaction and also free meals. Plus almost everyone knows about it...even some people in that soccer club of yours, yet no one has ever confronted us about it so I guess no one truly minds it."

'They didn't confront you because there are 3 of you and because they are afraid of becoming your primary target...' Yuichi thought and decided that talking with someone who gets satisfaction from feeding on someone weaker doesn't have any meaning.

He just turned around and left while gritting his teeth, leaving a bit surprised group by his sudden departure.

---

"Tch! Why did we even talk to him?" One of the guys that never said anything asked their leader who did all the talking.

"We can't bully someone like him, even though we have some power in the school, it's not like they will allow us bullying someone as prominent as him. He is literally bringing this school all prestige by getting 2 different clubs to the nationals." The leader replied with a shake of his head.

"Tsk, he is really annoying with his popularity at school." Another guy commented.

"That's why we targeted his friend, to begin with, haven't we?" The leader replied with a nasty smile and the other 2 guys returned the same smile.