Chapter 17: Jealousy
Meanwhile, across town in an abandoned warehouse that served as the unofficial headquarters for the local delinquent gang, Kazuma was having what could generously be called a bad day. He was slouched in a beat-up chair, his face still showing the bruises and cuts from his recent encounter with Haruto, when one of his underlings came bursting through the door with news.
"Boss! Boss! You gotta hear this!" The kid was practically bouncing with excitement, his eyes wide with the kind of gossip that spreads through high schools like wildfire.
Kazuma looked up with irritation. "What now? Can’t you see I’m trying to think here?"
"It’s about that guy who beat you up, boss. Haruto."
That got Kazuma’s attention. He straightened up in his chair, wincing slightly as his bruised ribs protested the movement. "What about him?"
"There’s this absolute goddess at his school, boss. I mean, we’re talking supermodel-level beautiful. Long black hair, perfect face, body that could stop traffic. And get this—she made him a fancy lunch and fed it to him by hand right in front of everyone!"
The other gang members who had been lounging around the warehouse suddenly perked up, gathering around to hear the story. Kazuma felt something twist in his stomach, and it took him a moment to recognize that it was Jealousy.
"Fed him by hand?" another gang member asked incredulously. "Like, actually put the food in his mouth?"
"With chopsticks and everything! And she was looking at him like he was the only guy in the world. The whole classroom was going crazy with envy. I heard some dude literally said he was so jealous he could die."
Kazuma sat there listening to this, and suddenly his entire youth felt like it had been completely wasted. Here he was, eighteen years old, and what did he have to show for it? A bunch of scars, a reputation for violence, and a gang of misfits who spent their days hanging out in abandoned buildings. Meanwhile, some random guy his age was getting hand-fed by what sounded like a literal angel.