Tanin wo Yosetsukenai Buaisouna Joshi ni Sekkyou shitara, Mechakucha Natsukareta SS4

SS

SS4 The Secretive Yamazaki

TLed by: TanoshiKara

I stopped in my steps.

Thinking back, I get the feeling that this has happened many times before. I had tried to preemptively avoid it but there exists an uncountable number of occasions where I encountered this person.

"What's wrong Ookusu"

"Don't blank out"

Saitou and Shindou, who are walking beside me, called out to me but I was unable to give them even a single reply.

--Right ahead, at the back stands Yamazaki.

Saitou and Shindou looked at each other before walking back to the place where I was standing, stock still. After that, they followed my gaze to find the walking figures of male students, hands in their pockets, with outward appearances that look like that of delinquents.

"Whoa, what's that"

"Scaryyyy"

There is not a single person who is wearing their uniform properly. The buttons of their uniforms, which make it clear that they are from another school, are all unbuttoned regardless of whether they are in place or missing. Some of them even have evidently spiky hair and others have their hair dyed blonde. They are causing trouble for others as they are occupying the pedestrian walkway on the roadside.

At the back, trailing behind them, at an odd distance that makes it difficult to determine whether he is a friend of theirs or not, is Yamazaki.

When I hung out with him, he was not one to walk with this many people. As he was one who did not cause trouble for others, the relationship he has with the people in front of him is unclear. I thought that they were the same faces as the delinquents who came out of the game center, however, the truth of the matter is that I do not remember who was there in the first place.

When we stop in our steps, the delinquents mercilessly closed in on us. As they are walking in a horizontal line, the width of the remaining walkway takes away the option of making space by squeezing close to one another. As such, they got mad at us. Get lost, they said.

Saitou and Shindou obediently did as they were told. They nearly stick their bodies close to the fence to make way but the delinquents walk past them without even a word of gratitude.

"You too, get lost"

Truthfully, the matter would have been settled if I gave way to them right away but, for some reason, I was not in the mood to do so. I stared squarely at the delinquent. What remains of a cut can be seen at the edge of his eyes. He does not have the level of intimidation Yamazaki has but does this person also have quite a lot of experience in street fighting, or so I thought. Can my present self win? From my observation, his feet and arms do not seem to have undergone much training but he may be the type who specializes in agility. He is shorter than me so it may work out if I rely on my weight. Things will probably go smoothly if I first grab anyone with this type of hand.

"Hey!" I come to my senses just by being glared at.

--What-in-the-world was I doing......

When I was originally a delinquent, I had the habit of measuring the strength of my opponent with a single glance. Is it due to that incident at the riverbed? It seems like I was about to slip back into the habit of that time once again.

As I was about to do as he said, a low voice reverberated from the back.

"Hey"

The delinquents turned back simultaneously. Even when he is standing at the back, that height of his makes his presence stand out. Red hair. Wearing an expression that seems to convey that he is annoyed. Judging from the faces of the delinquents, he, as expected, does seem to have quite a lot of influence  

"Don't randomly get involved with others. It's a waste of time"

"But man"

"......You intend to talk back to me?"

I can tell that his voice, which was even lower than before, caused tension to be in the air. The delinquent who stood in front of me, with his still dissatisfied expression, moves to the side and walks past me. Finally, as Yamazaki was walking past me, I noticed that he was glancing at me but I pretended not to know him.

After the storm has passed, Saitou sticks out his tongue.

"So such people do exist huh...... This is the first time I have seen someone with red hair. He is especially tall too, and his intimidating aura. It is like I have entered another world......"

"But is that him saving us?"

"Who knows" I replied curtly when faced with Saitou's seemingly mystified gaze.

"You too, it would have been fine to quickly get away from them......Why would you glare back at him just because he was rude to you? Did you forget what happened at the arcade? We were lucky to have been able to escape then but it is better to act in a manner that will not get us involved in disputes”

"That is true but......How do I put it, my mind wasn't functioning all that well......"

"Guess so, you were in a daze after all"

However, it is as Shindou has said. I tense up whenever I see Yamazaki but it seems like he has no intention of actively involving himself with me either.

"Well, to think that they were this odd. It was to the point that, from when I first saw them, I thought I had stumbled upon the filming of a drama. Especially that tall guy with red hair, his aura was so overpowering that I would be convinced if I was told that he was an actor" Saitou says as he gazes at the backs of the delinquents that were getting farther and farther away.

"That is true. The other delinquents were also scared"

I agreed with them in my mind. Just between you and me, Yamazaki was popular. There was a period of time when he was chased around by a group of females who were a little like the delinquent type. As Yamazaki has that sort of personality, he obviously did not go along with them and the group broke up in the most literal sense.......

"I have not heard anything about there being a school in this area with such ill-behaved students so does this mean that they came here due to some sort of reason? Not like it has anything to do with us though"

"Who knows......"

Just once, I did get Yamazaki to tell me the school that he commutes to and I searched for it online. That school is located at a place that is about two stations away from here. It is not odd at all for him to come here once in a while.

That said, I did tell him that I commute to a school over here so I do think that he will not come here without any reason.

"Let's go"

For now, we put the incident earlier behind us and decided to head home.

* * *

They say that this type of situation is one that goes on for quite a while, as, even after two days have passed, I still ran into Yamazaki.

This time, it was on a weekend. When I finished shopping and was about to head home, the lone figure of a walking Yamazaki entered my field of vision.

"Ah"

"......"

 I subconsciously raised my voice but Yamazaki merely let out a small sigh. His house is quite a distance from here so he probably did not come here to meet me.

I pondered about what to do next. While I thought that I should not involve myself with him, there was also a side of me that cannot stand the awkward atmosphere.

"H-hey"

It seems like Yamazaki did not expect to be talked to. Opening one of his eyes was opened wide, he rubbed the side of his neck, seemingly troubled.

"......What?"

"Well, even if you ask what, we only met by coincidence so......"

Just then, Yamazaki stops in his steps. He immediately looks at the plastic bag in my hand.

"Shopping?"

"Yeah, can't you tell by looking? I usually buy things in bulk during the weekends. There are times when I buy things in place of my dad and Saya too though"

"I see......"

It seems like he was not that interested.

If this was before, there would have been countless topics to talk about as we were living the same lifestyle. Even though we started talking to each other recently, there is that roughly four years of 'blank' period where we did not interact at all and, as my direction in life has also changed, I had no choice but to fumble over my words as I string slowly them together.

At that moment, I recalled the incident that happened two days before. I felt bad that I did not give him my thanks even though he saved me.

"Why were you there two days ago......?"

Even then, the words of appreciation do not leave my mouth. Is this due to the weird sense of awkwardness still remaining within me?

Yamazaki narrowed his eyes.

"Who knows? It's none of your business"

"Ah, wellll. That's true......My bad......"

Silence once again. Even though he is usually in a bad mood, it seems like his mood is on another level today.

In the end, I decided to speak honestly.

"I'm sorry about that time. And also, it was a huge help that you read the room and acted appropriately"

At first, it seemed like he did not get the meaning behind my words. After looking diagonally upwards for several seconds, it seemed to have clicked in his mind as the words yea left his mouth.

"It's not like I did it only for your sake. I hate getting in fights with people who have no will to fight. I merely glared at those idiots as they acted against my wish. I did think that you understood that though"

"Even if that is the case. Thank you"

Those narrowed eyes of Yamazaki's opened slightly. His mood might have improved.

His stiff cheeks loosened up.

"But to think that you are getting by as an honor student. I was not there to see it up close but I sure did not think that this person is the very person who ran that wild in middle school. After all, that friend of yours is very likely the direct opposite of me in terms of type as well"

"......He was saying that you looked like an actor playing a delinquent"

At first, it was a blank face, a real rarity. After that, he looked down and giggled.

"Well, it's probably a world similar to a fairytale for people who don't know. But an actor playing a delinquent, huh. That sure is an interesting friend"

I did think that it was because of that odd hair of his but I refrained from speaking my mind as it would probably infuriate him.

"In any case, there is not one thing for you to worry about. The world that you and I live in is different. It is a miracle that we are here talking like this. I am a good-for-nothing anyway, so I have no business with Mr. Serious"

"Right, I do not smoke and do not fight too......By the way, what is that injury?"

"Hmm?"

Yamazaki points to the edge of his lips.

I did not realize until just a moment ago but there is a slight remains of some blood. There should have been no such wound two days ago.

"Don't make me repeat myself. It's none of your business"

"Seems like there is some relation with you having came all the way from that direction"

I was asking a different question so Yamazaki going don't make me repeat myself is weird. I think that it is not because the answer to both questions is the same.

Tsk, Yamazaki goes as he clicks his tongue.

He probably does not want me to pry. I did not have the intention to ask in detail anyway so, deciding not to pursue further, I replied with, my bad.

"......You are the same, using that head of yours to mull over meaningless things. Or is it that you intend to come back over to this side?"

"There is no way that will happen"

"I see"

For some reason, Yamazaki focuses his gaze on my hand. He then says.

"I see that you went out of your way to walk here to buy such a heavy item. It would've been better to use your bike"

"......Just worked out that way"

"I shall allow you to leave it at that"

I was not able to feel at ease as I felt like I was seen through. It is not like there was any lie in the words I had spoken but I felt like he, in a mere moment, understood the thing that laid deeper within.

--I just am no match for him.

After that, Yamazaki leaves without uttering another word.

As usual, that back of his looks broad. I am able to sense that indomitable feeling from that back of his. It has not changed at all from those days when we had each other's backs.

"Phew" A sigh leaked from my mouth.

Due to the extended amount of time I spent conversing while standing, it felt like my biceps are starting to scream in agony. Just as I could no longer see Yamazaki's back, I too turned back and briskly walked so as to reach home as soon as possible.

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