CH 3.2

( But, even if I tried to save her… What the hell can I do…? )

――I am just a weak person who is bullied by Kawato and others.

It is obvious that if I come to her rescue, I will only get destroyed by them, and it is also obvious that I will make Kawato and his friends even more displeased.

In addition, they do not have to worry about the Empress’s eyes on me today. I don’t know how badly I will be beaten up.

The right thing to do is to leave the alley now and call someone for help.

( But… )

What if Kawato and the others take the black-haired girl away while I’m calling for help?

What if they trampled her dignity?

What if she is scarred both physically and emotionally for life?

The worst imaginations that keep coming up one after another sew both of his legs in place, making it impossible for him to confront Kawato and his friends or to escape from them.

In the meantime, Kawato, pulling the girl’s hand with all his might, approaches the alley with two of his followers.

Shiki is torn between his desire to save the girl and his fear of Kawato and his friends.

( It is right to get out of here and call for help right now! That’s the best I can do! It can’t be helped even if I don’t make it in time! )

He keeps telling himself that.

( …but if the girl suffers worse than what Kawato and his friends are doing to me… )

一一I will probably regret it for the rest of my life.

A regret much heavier than the one that Kawato and the others will get angry at me for letting the girl go and that they will hurt me more than before.

That’s the moment he came to that realization.

Shiki’s inner sense of justice and more than a little bit of good-naturedness overrode his fear of Kawato and the others.

“Whatever happens, happens! “

He shouted and rushed toward Kawato and the others.

Two of his surprised followers moved away to the left and right in surprise, so he used his running momentum to hit Kawato with a body slam.

Perhaps because he was caught by surprise, Kawato, who is taller than the others, rolls on the ground with a flurry, but the girl he was holding in his arm also rolls on the ground with him. Then when Kawato’s hand came off the girl, Shiki said these words to her before she could understand the situation.

“Run away!”

The girl shuddered and began to panic, but Shiki continued.

“Quickly!”

He shouted again, and she responded with a [S-sorry!] Then she quickly got up and ran away toward the main street.

“Wait ! ! !”

Kawato angrily shouted as he tried to get up, but Shiki hurriedly clung to him and pulled him down to the ground again.

Since Shiki and Kawato were struggling in the not-so-wide alley, the two cronies could not follow the girl.

“Get out of the way, damn it! “

Kawato elbows Shiki in the nose as he swats him away, causing Shiki to fall on his back with a bloody nose.

“Just when it looked like it would work out, you interrupted me! Are you ready for this? Aaah! “

While Kawato stood up with a scornful look, one of his followers raised one eyebrow at Shiki.

“Hey-hey! I didn’t recognize him because he wore a hoodie, but he was Orifushi! “

“Huh? !”

Kawato, sounding even more pissed off than before, forcefully moves Shiki’s hand out of his way, who is holding his nose with tears in his eyes.

He grabbed Shiki by the collar and forced him to stand up.

“Seriously, what the hell are you doing, Orifushi?! “

Shiki is pushed off and falls to the ground again.

The pain in his nose and the stench of blood were too much for him to get up.

But he was able to let the girl go.

That was enough, he thought. He decided to think so and feel relieved.

Otherwise, he didn’t feel he could face the disaster that was about to befall him.

“I’m going to have to make you pay for this… There’s a parking lot a little further down the street. You piece of shit, I’m taking you there.”

The two cronies all nodded in agreement, and they dragged Shiki to his feet and started to walk away.

Kawato followed them and spat out before walking away.

Then the three of them walked away with Shiki.

“Senpai… please come here quickly… “

The girl who should have fled to the main street watched them secretly from behind a building.

She makes a phone call to someone called [Senpai], holding her phone to her ear.