Garbage Collection Event (1)

The snow drifted down over Ginsukimura, blanketing the city in a slow, steady descent, though the streets remained anything but silent. Despite the early hour, the usual calm was broken because today marked the beginning of the Garbage Collection Event. People were already moving, and the air buzzed with the energy of what was to come.

Yasushi had gotten up long before dawn. It had been a month of planning, scouting out the locations they needed to hit and piecing together their strategy. This wasn't some half-baked effort; they had mapped it all out meticulously. He and his group had to stay sharp today. They knew what Youta was up to — he and his bunch were out to mess up everyone else's chances and snatch the victory for themselves. But Yasushi wasn't worried. They were ready for him. Every sneaky little move Youta could try was something they had already accounted for.

Furuya stretched, his jaw cracking as he let out a huge yawn, rubbing his eyes in an effort to chase off the last bit of sleep clinging to him. "Man, I still hate waking up for this, even if it's the last time."

Yasushi let out a quiet sigh, his breath misting in the cold air. "We just need to push through. Anyway, everyone's already in position. We figured out we don't all need to meet up at once, so that's what we're going with. We're just here for the principal's speech, nothing more." His eyes flicked to the crowd forming ahead, waiting for the event to kick off. He knew they were prepared — everything had been accounted for, down to the smallest detail.

At that moment, the loudspeakers scattered around the school crackled to life, and students who had been moving in their own directions either paused or continued on their way toward where the principal stood.

"It's starting, get ready. Is Catherine on standby?" Yasushi asked, glancing at his friend with a sharp focus.

"Yeah… she's ready, along with Yunxue," his friend replied, giving his cheeks a quick slap to shake off the last traces of sleep.

The principal took the stage, his voice cutting through the crisp morning air as he began his annual speech. He aimed to fire up the students, to push their enthusiasm for the event. Yet, this was a well-known tradition, and many students had long grown accustomed to the ritual. They only really perked up when the principal mentioned the "prize" for the winners.

"This year, we have something special!" the principal declared, his voice brimming with enthusiasm. "The winning group will receive a voucher for five free pizzas from the newest hit restaurant in town! And that's not all — each member of the winning team will also get fifteen vouchers for discounts at various shops across the city! Among these, three vouchers offer discounts of at least 50%!" His voice boomed with excitement, drawing a noticeable shift in the crowd's attention as the stakes of the competition were laid out.

"We already knew about that," Furuya muttered, letting out another long yawn as he tried to shake off his lingering drowsiness.

The principal droned on with his speech for a few more minutes, building up the excitement before finally signaling the start of the event. As soon as he gave the signal, students surged into action. They scattered in all directions: some jumped onto bikes, others took off on foot, and many hopped into cars or revved up motorcycles, each group racing to their respective starting points.

"Alright, let's get moving. I've already texted everyone to let them know we're starting," Yasushi said, slipping his phone back into his pocket with a decisive snap.

Furuya gave a quick nod and dashed out of the school. He rounded a corner and spotted Catherine waiting with a bike, a two-seater. He hopped on, and Catherine climbed on behind him. "Let's do this! We've got those pizza vouchers to win!" Furuya joked, his voice full of enthusiasm.

Catherine smiled, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her face gently against his back. As Furuya started pedaling, they sped off, their combined excitement for the challenge ahead propelling them forward.

Yasushi smirked, observing how much closer Furuya and Catherine had become after their break. The time apart had seemingly allowed them to reconnect and forge a stronger bond. As Yasushi made his way to a different spot, he approached the parking lot where staff and students had parked their vehicles. There, he spotted Yunxue waiting by her motorcycle.

"This is pretty exciting! It's not every day you get to take part in such a big event!" Yunxue said, her enthusiasm evident as Yasushi walked up to his Kawasaki Z900RS Café.

The bike was a recent purchase, one he had acquired a week after their scouting trip. Yasushi had chosen it as a fast, convenient way to navigate the city without committing to a car. His previous life had included motorcycle riding, so getting used to the bike in this life had been a relatively smooth process.

"Ready?" Yasushi asked, swinging a leg over his bike and adjusting his helmet.

Yunxue nodded, mirroring his actions. She settled onto the bike behind him, her arms wrapping securely around his waist. "Ready!" she confirmed. With that, they roared off, ready to dive into the event.

+-+

It didn't take long for Yasushi and Yunxue to reach their first designated spot for garbage collection. Upon arrival, they were met with an unexpected sight: Layena, Jingliu, and Xinyi were already hard at work. To their surprise, four bags of garbage were already filled.

"Quit standing around and get over here!" Xinyi called out, tossing a pile of clothes in their direction as Yasushi and Yunxue dismounted from the motorcycle. They removed their helmets and slipped on their gloves, then joined the others in the task at hand.

Yasushi began to gather trash from the area. This spot was a smaller park, noticeably less maintained than others, with litter scattered across the ground.

"Any updates from the rest?" Yasushi asked, sorting through the debris.

"They're making headway," Xinyi replied, glancing at the growing pile of trash bags. "Splitting into two groups was a smart move. It might limit the areas we cover, but we should be able to clear out each location more quickly."

They moved through the park, methodically collecting trash from spots that seemed oddly specific and difficult to reach — plastic wrappers tangled in tree branches, crushed cans stuffed beneath rocks, and heaps of garbage lodged inside bushes or behind trashcans. What really threw them off were the kinds of things they were finding. Knives, discarded condom wrappers, half-empty bottles of alcohol. Some of it was straight-up disturbing.

"God, people are disgusting," Xinyi muttered, wrinkling her nose as she used a pair of tongs to handle a crumpled condom wrapper, dropping it into one of the overflowing black bags.

Yasushi was wrestling with a beat-up cardboard box wedged beneath some debris. It took him a minute, but he finally managed to yank it free. He frowned, curious but hesitant. Opening the box, his expression shifted to one of pure disbelief. Jingliu happened to be nearby and glanced inside the box as well. Her eyes widened, and for a second, her face flushed with embarrassment.

"Are you serious? Porn magazines?" Yasushi said, shaking his head in disbelief. "What is this, the 90s?" He stared at the stack like it didn't belong in this century, let alone abandoned in a park.

Xinyi couldn't stop laughing, holding up the magazine like it was some kind of prize. "Seriously? MILF mags in the park? Whoever dropped this must be real proud of their taste," she said, still flipping through the pages without batting an eye.

Yunxue, meanwhile, was completely frozen, her face turning redder with every image. "P-people actually buy these..." she stammered, her voice barely a whisper, but her gaze was glued to the magazine, not daring to look away.

The other girls, curious despite themselves, started inching closer. It didn't take long before they were all crowded around Xinyi, their faces matching Yunxue's deep shade of crimson as they flipped through the magazine, page after page of explicit content making them more and more flustered.

Yasushi, watching from the side, raised an eyebrow, more amused than anything. "You're all acting like you've never seen this stuff before. Porn's been online for decades. Pretty sure half the internet is like this." He chuckled, shaking his head at the whole scene, finding it more funny than surprising.

Layena's cheeks burned a deep shade of red. "W-we don't go out of our way to look for… these kinds of things," she stammered, her face a mask of embarrassment.

Jingliu, clearly losing her patience, snatched the magazine from Xinyi and threw it back into the box, slamming it shut. She then turned her attention to Yasushi. "We need to stay focused on the task at hand and not get sidetracked," she said firmly. "You take care of this and pack it away with the other bags."

Yasushi promptly followed her instructions. He slid the box into one of the black trash bags and secured it with tape, ensuring it was sealed tightly. As he looked back at the group, he saw that they had resumed their work, though it was clear that the magazine's content was still on their minds. Their flushed faces and occasional glances made that much obvious.

Yasushi found their reactions somewhat amusing but kept his thoughts to himself. Before he could rejoin the others, his phone rang. He answered with, "Hello?"

"It's me, Bhaqui. We are near where Youta and his group are. We'll be following them and recording everything they say. We also received a text from Furuya's group — seems like they've noticed other groups being targeted by the delinquents Youta hired to scare them off," Bhaqui said through the phone, his tone as steady as ever, no hurry or signs of urgency.

Yasushi's eyes narrowed at the information. "Good. Stick close to them and gather as much evidence as you can. Tell Furuya's group to reach out to Yinhaie, so they can send staff members to intervene before the attacks escalate," he said without a hint of hesitation.

"Roger that. How are things going on your end?" Bhaqui asked, his voice still even, as though he wasn't moving around or pressed for time.

"We're fine. We should be done here in about fifteen minutes. I'll leave you to it. Good luck," Yasushi replied, cutting the call and slipping the phone back into his pocket.

He approached his group and relayed what was happening, keeping his voice level but clear. The others understood instantly, their eyes narrowing, faces showing they were on the same page without needing to say much more. They knew what needed to be done.

In the next several minutes, they worked at a faster pace, running around to pick up the scattered trash, bagging it quickly without cutting any corners. When the job was done, the area was spotless, every last piece of debris collected and secured in bags.

+-+

Yasushi had dropped off the black trash bags at school earlier, rejoining his group at the spot Furuya had mentioned in his text. It had also been confirmed through a message from one of the CCTV operators keeping an eye on the city, someone working with them from behind the scenes.

"Hmm? Ah… someone's over there," Yunxue said, her voice low as she pointed toward the right. There, lying on the ground, was a figure barely moving.

They rushed over without a second thought. The person lying there was from the class next to theirs. Yasushi knelt beside him, carefully propping him up with his hands, concern flickering in his expression. "Hey, are you alright? What happened?" he asked, his voice steady but not without a hint of urgency.

The boy had short white hair, and when his black eyes slowly opened, he groaned in pain. His voice was weak as he responded, struggling to speak clearly. "I... don't know... A bunch of delinquents just showed up... out of nowhere and attacked us. We tried to run, but I couldn't keep up... They caught me, beat me up, and took some of our trash bags before they left..."

Xinyi suddenly pulled out her phone, her brow furrowing as she scanned through the texts. "There are about four groups, each with ten delinquents, roaming the city, looking for anyone not in Youta's group and beating them senseless. This whole thing is way bigger than we thought," she said, her voice tinged with frustration.

"Yunxue, Layena, take him to the hospital and then notify the school. We've gathered enough evidence by now, but before you contact the school, search for others who were hit and make sure they're safe," Yasushi instructed, his gaze sharp as it fell on them.

They didn't hesitate for a second, both of them moving quickly to support the injured boy. They flagged down a cab, lifting him inside with care before heading off without looking back.

"Let's keep picking up trash while we search for more people who might've been targeted. Bhaqui's group can handle the main part of the objective," Yasushi said, his focus shifting to the task still at hand.

Xinyi and Jingliu nodded in agreement, the two of them the only ones left. The group continued their search briefly, scoping out the area before moving on with purpose. They were determined to see this event through to the end, winning it while also stopping Youta's idiotic plan from doing more damage to the people caught in its wake.