Chapter 9: Fighting (1)
The next day came way too fast for Haruto’s liking. He’d spent most of the night staring at his ceiling, thinking about Kazuma’s "offer" and what it really meant. Join the guy’s gang and become another thug, or refuse and probably get his ass kicked by half the school. Not exactly what you’d call great options.
But when morning rolled around, his decision was already made. He wasn’t about to become someone’s lapdog just because they had a reputation for being tough. He’d dealt with bullies before, and this Kazuma guy didn’t seem all that different from the rest of them when you got right down to it.
The school day dragged by at a snail’s pace. Jun kept shooting him worried looks during class, and Miki seemed jumpy every time the door opened. They both knew what was coming – it was just a matter of when.
Sure enough, right after lunch, the same lackey from yesterday showed up at their classroom door. Kenji, that was his name. The guy looked even more nervous than before, if that was possible.
"Haruto," he called out, his voice cracking slightly. "Boss wants to see you again. Same place."
The whole class went dead silent again, just like yesterday. But this time, there was a different kind of tension in the air. Everyone knew this was it – decision time. Either Haruto was about to join Kazuma’s crew, or things were about to get very ugly.
Haruto stood up slowly, grabbing his bag. Jun started to say something, but Haruto just shook his head.
"Don’t worry about it," he said quietly. "I’ll handle this."
The walk to the roof felt like a death march. Kenji didn’t say a word the whole way up, just kept glancing back at him like he was escorting a condemned man to his execution. Which, considering what Haruto was about to do, maybe wasn’t that far off.
The roof was packed when they got there. Kazuma had brought what looked like his entire crew – maybe thirty or forty guys, all standing around in a loose circle. They were trying to look intimidating, but mostly they just looked like a bunch of teenagers playing dress-up. Still, thirty against one weren’t great odds, even for someone with Haruto’s skills.
Kazuma was standing in the center of it all, arms crossed, wearing that same fake smile from yesterday. But Haruto could see the coldness in his eyes now, the calculation. This wasn’t going to be a friendly chat.
"So," Kazuma said as Haruto approached. "Have you thought about my offer?"