A Brother's Sacrifice

Kinoshita was lying down on the ground, covering his bleeding nose. I was looking at him angrily due to the fact that he almost ruined my plan, that was to conquer this school.

If I would have been rusticated, I wouldn't be able to protect Reika at school. So my priority is to take care of the accusations that Kinoshita told the teacher. I must do it flawlessly.

"So, tell me in detail. What did you say to Mr Kimura exactly?"

"..."

"Not gonna talk huh. I guess I'm gonna ask Miyake."

"Wait!... I'll tell you."

"You should've said so in the first place. You are wasting my precious time."

Kinoshita stood up slowly. Incapable of standing straight due to the dizziness caused by the impact, he leaned to the Sakura tree near him.

"I told him that you and Fujimoto were fighting outside of the school with thugs and delinquents."

I thought about it for a second. That doesn't help at all. I need to know everything detail.

"I said tell me the exact words you said to Mr Kimura."

"O-Oh...well I said.....'Kaburagi and Fujimoto were fighting out in the red light district in their school uniforms.' That was what I said."

Well well. That's something. I think I can somehow do something about this. Okay then, time to prepare for some action.

"Aki, do you know where we can buy the same type of hoodie that you have on right now?"

"Yes, I know. But I have a second similar hoodie at my house which is unusable for a long time. You can have it off you want. I don't use it anyway."

"Thanks. That will help a lot."

I looked back at Kinoshita and thought of an idea. I smirked at how smart I am, not that I'm narcissistic or something like that.

"Kinoshita, do you want to protect Miyake?"

"...?"

"Do you want to be strong enough so that you can protect her from any danger. A danger like me?"

Kinoshita was confused but was somehow drawn in into what I am saying.

"Do you want to stay powerless and do nothing when someone just like Aki is insulting, bullying or hitting Miyake."

"...No, i...don't want that!"

"Then there's only one thing that you can do."

He was staring straight into my eyes.

"Become strong. Train hard like a maniac. Only the strong can survive and rule in this cruel world."

Kinoshita looked down on the ground with a sad face.

"But... I can't do that."

"You can!"

Kinoshita looked up to me with a shocked face.

"It just depends on you if you want to become strong and survive or stay weak and be crushed by the strong."

"I want to... but I don't know how."

I reached out my hand to help him stand straight.

"Then I'll teach you and guide you to the right path. You just have to trust me."

He grabbed my hand hesitantly, but I pulled his hands towards me instantly. He was a bit confused.

"Umm... why are you doing all of this?"

"You just...reminded me of someone. Don't ask more."

Now there's one more manpower to my possession. But it will take some time for Kinoshita to be usable. I'm expecting a lot from him.

"From now on, every day you start jogging for at least 1 km in the morning."

"1-1 km!"

"Don't be surprised. There's more to come."

"...Okay."

"When you arrive at school, meet me and Aki at the rooftop in break. We'll train you there."

Kinoshita didn't say anything. It seems like he had lost interest in the training and gave up. I must give him a reminder.

"Remember Kinoshita, you are not doing me any favour. Instead, you are aiming to be strong to protect Miyake, right?"

"Yes..."

"You can train extra at home if you want. I don't mind."

It's not going to be an easy path that you are walking on. You will have to face many dangerous obstacles.

...

Me and Aki were walking down the streets in the direction of our home. Kinoshita already went to his home before us. I was lost in the thought about the matter of the accusations and Kinoshita.

"Aki, I saw someone peeking on us when talking to Kinoshita."

"...What should we do? Do you know her?"

"She's a girl and has red long hair. That's the only thing I know."

"Hmm, I'll ask around to see who it is."

"Thanks."

As expected she's reliable and knows what to do. We kept walking and the silence was surrounding us. We arrived at Aki's house.

"Well, see you tomorrow and don't forget to bring that hoodie."

"Wait."

As I was about to leave, my arm was grabbed by Aki. I looked back at her.

"What is it now?"

"I don't mean to hurt you unintentionally but..."

I saw her face worried about something.

"When you helped Kinoshita, you said that you were reminded of someone in him."

"So?"

"That 'someone' is you, isn't it?"

....Really, this girl. She's putting her nose where it doesn't belong.

"...What led you to this?"

"I mean, you were looking and acting kind of different when you said that to Kinoshita. It seemed like you were looking at yourself."

I grabbed Aki's hand and took it off my arm. She was surprised at me for a moment.

"You are starting to make wrong assumptions now, Aki. You are being too hasty."

"...I just wanted to ask you."

"Is that so. Then so be it."

Aki was now relieved.

"But keep one thing in your mind."

"What?"

"I'll make you fight as many as you want. I'll let you do anything that you want to do and help you achieve it. But..."

I approached her and said.

"Don't pry into my life."

Aki stayed quiet and tried to swallow some saliva which was stuck in her throat due to the pressure caused by me.

"You are a clever girl so I'll trust you to do the best thing possible. See you."

With these last words, I saw her off near her house and went home.

...

I got home and was tired due to many problems which arose in just one day. I took a shower and turned on the t.v.

A few minutes later, Reika came in, exhausted due to club activities but there was a smile on her face.

'Did something good happened to her?'

"I'm home mom, I'll go take a shower."

She went straight to the bathroom, not even turning her head towards me, not even a little.

Curious enough, I went to where mom was putting clothes in the washing machine.

"Hey mom, doesn't Reika lately seems very lively when coming from school?"

"Huh? Didn't you know about that? It's because of her boyfriend."

"...?"

What..? She has a boyfriend!? Already!?!?