Chapter 7: Trouble

High school classes were far more boring than Ryuji had imagined.

Before his time travel, he had to attend class. Now, after time traveling, he still had to attend class. It gave him a strange sense of déjà vu, as if his reincarnation had been for nothing. He had initially planned to find a ghost during lunch to satiate his hunger, but such things were elusive. When he wanted to find it, it was nowhere to be found.

The school day ended before 3 PM.

At Sobu High, they believed in the concept of "happy education," meaning classes usually ended by 2 PM. After that, most students would either join their respective clubs or go home.

Naturally, there were students like Ryuji who didn't join any clubs and went straight home.

Ryuji had considered looking for Miko, but just as he was packing up his things to leave, someone called out.

"Hey, is Hoshino kun in a hurry to leave?"

"Didn't I tell you yesterday? Surely you haven't forgotten already, right?"

Three figures entered through the back door of the classroom.

At that moment, the few students still left in the classroom turned their attention toward the scene.

"Yesterday?"

Seeing the trio, Ryuji suddenly recalled something.

These three looked like typical delinquents Hikawa Okazaka was their leader. Before Ryuji's reincarnation, they had bullied him for quite some time, often extorting him for money.

Just yesterday, these guys had come to him after school and demanded he bring 10,000 yen by today as "protection money." Ryuji had been weak-minded before as an orphan with no parents to rely on and the relentless bullying had driven him to the point of jumping into the river out of despair.

"Still don't remember?"

"Well, let us jog your memory."

Seeing Ryuji's indifferent expression, Hikawa Okazaka was starting to lose his patience. He gestured for his lackeys to drag Ryuji out of the classroom.

Even though they were notorious bullies, they weren't dumb enough to start something in front of witnesses.

"Alright then."

The memories of his past life resurfaced, but instead of feeling scared, Ryuji smiled at them.

Without a word, he stood up and followed them out.

"???"

They were surprised. In the past, Ryuji would resist or cower in fear, but this time, he followed them without any fuss. Confused for a moment, Hikawa and his cronies quickly surrounded him and led him outside the classroom. After all, with the three of them together, they had nothing to fear.

The other students in the classroom saw what was happening, but they acted as if it was business as usual. Some looked concerned, but most were indifferent. When it came to things outside their own social circles, they chose to stay out of it.

"Yumiko, do you think we should report this to the teacher?" Yuigahama Yui asked nervously. After all, they were in the same class; it didn't feel right to just stand by and watch.

Miura Yumiko, who had a reputation for being the "Queen" of their clique, wasn't completely heartless despite her sharp tongue and bossy demeanor.

"The last homeroom teacher didn't care at all about these kinds of things. What if…?"

Miura had brought it up before, but the previous teacher had turned a blind eye. The culture of bullying was deeply ingrained in Sobu High. Who knew how the new homeroom teacher would react? If they reported it and nothing changed, wouldn't it just be a waste of time?

"Why don't we give it a try?" Yuigahama Yui, being the kind person she was, suggested softly.

Seeing Yui's persistence, Miura Yumiko hesitated but was ready to agree.

But before they could act

"Oh, why bother helping a loner like that?"

Tobe Sho, one of the boys in their group, waved dismissively. In his eyes, Ryuji wasn't worth their time. He was more interested in preserving the harmony of their current friend group than in helping an outcast.

"How about you guys head to the club first? I'll go inform the teacher," Tobe suggested nonchalantly.

"Thanks, Tobe!" everyone said without a second thought, trusting their friend.

However, after leaving the classroom, Tobe Sho walked toward the teacher's office for a bit before quickly ducking into the bathroom.

"Tch, what's the point of helping a loser like that? Tch, why would I stick my neck out for him?" Tobe muttered to himself as he entered the bathroom.

He was only putting on an act to impress Ebina Hina, a girl he had a crush on in their group.

Even if he had gone to the teacher, he doubted the new homeroom teacher, Hiratsuka Shizuka, would care any more than the previous one.

At worst, he could just say the teacher didn't give a damn nobody would know the truth anyway.

"Huh?"

Just as he was about to leave the bathroom, Tobe noticed a CD lying on the floor near his feet.

"What's this?"

His face turned red as he realized what it was.

It was that kind of CD.

"Someone must've dropped it," he muttered to himself, looking around. Seeing no one nearby, he quickly snatched it up and hid it, excited at the thought of watching it later.

After pocketing the CD, he rushed out of the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Ryuji had followed Hikawa Okazaka and his two lackeys to a secluded area of the school grounds, near a small patch of woods by the playground. It was out of sight, and more importantly, there were no security cameras around.

Once they were confident no one would disturb them, Hikawa Okazaka turned to Ryuji and said menacingly, "Alright, Hoshino. Either you hand over 10,000 yen today, or we'll send you to the hospital for a month!"

He cracked his knuckles as he spoke, while his two lackeys smirked and surrounded Ryuji menacingly.

"Actually, I have a third option," Ryuji replied casually.

If this had been yesterday, he might have felt cornered, but today? Things were different now.

Ignoring their threats, Ryuji smiled confidently. "How about you kneel down and beg for mercy? If you do, maybe I'll let you walk away."

"What did you just say?" Hikawa Okazaka's eyes widened in disbelief. Was this guy crazy?

"Are you out of your mind? Who do you think you are?"

Smack!

Before Hikawa could finish, Ryuji's hand flashed, landing a heavy slap across his face.

The force sent Hikawa flying several meters away. His face swelled almost instantly, and a few teeth flew out, glinting in the sunlight as they spun through the air.

"It seems like you're not interested in kneeling. How about I help you with that?" Ryuji said calmly, flexing his wrist.

Even though he had held back, the slap was more than enough to leave Hikawa seeing stars. If Ryuji had gone all out with his current strength, he could have easily turned their heads into mush.

"Monster! He's a monster!" Hikawa's two lackeys, terrified by the sudden display of power, shrieked in fear and scrambled to run away.