Prologue (k)

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"Leave that girl alone, Baba!"

That's what I wanted to say, but, to my surprise, someone beat me to it.

Hitomi: "Ah! It's Yuu-chan!"

Yuu-chan? I think I heard that before...
Ah, of course! She means Yuu Azuma, a second year student and yet another member of the female basket club. She's probably the tallest girl in the school, which is why she was promptly recruited. I don't know much about her, but she's famous for being rather masculine both in appearance and in behavior. That caused a certain group of girls to nickname her "Prince Yuu".
I've heard some funny stories. They told me that she has many female fans that admire her or that even have a crush on her! They told me that two or three girls even went as far as confessing and asking her out, but she always politely refused.
I used to think they were crazy, but after what I've just witnessed I can't make it a laughing matter anymore.
That Yuu Azuma girl is manlier than all the boys in this school. Except me, I mean...
Still, while the attitude is right, does she really has what it takes to get that idiot Baba in line? I sincerely admire her courage, unlike that other girl she knows who she's going against, but it's futile if she ends up becoming the next damsel in distress.
Baba seems to be indecisive about what to do for a moment. Then he lets the first year student go and moves to face Azuma with a revolting smirk.

Baba: "Look at this, isn't it the famous Prince Yuu? I always wondered, why is a prince wearing a skirt? Mu he he he!"

Yuu: "You'd do well to keep your mouth shut and give me your camera without any complaint."

She's got guts! That voice and tone are absolutely terrifying. It's quite easy to forget she's a girl and a year younger to boot!
Baba's expression has changed from amused to irritated. And that's not the only thing. A lot more students are gathering now, attracted by this unusual confrontation. Azuma's fan club must be on the move, they surely wouldn't miss the chance to see their hero in action.
This is bad, if they start throwing fists, it could get ugly. There's not much chance to keep the story under wraps at this point.

Baba: "Why don't you make me, dyke!"

Yuu: "I take it that that means you're refusing to listen to reason."

Baba: "Listen to whom? I hear nothing!"

Yuu: "Very well..."

She steps forth. Baba doesn't move, but I know him well enough to understand that he will attack soon. That beast won't think twice about hurting a girl who's about half his total mass.
Damn, he's charging! He jumps forward while swinging a right arm that's as huge as a ham.
My body moves by its own will, I can't watch anymore of this, I must stop him!
But I barely manage to make a step or two that something incredible happens. Azuma moves aside just a fraction of a second before being hit. Rather than stop her opponent, she grabs his arm and forces it move forward while at the same time she blocks his foot with her own. The inevitable result is that Baba loses his balance and ends up crumbling on the ground with a powerful thud.
The crowd explodes in a choir of surprised cries. There's even students watching the scene from above through the classrooms' windows. The Azuma fan club's groupies are squealing like there's no tomorrow.
That was just awesome. She took him down so easily and she barely touched him. I'm getting more and more impressed by that girl.
Baba is staring at the ground with a dumb expression. He's so fat he can't even turn his head to see what his opponent is doing. He has no choice but trying to stand up first, and for someone as heavy as him, it's a complicated maneuver. This would be the perfect chance for Azuma to finish him off, but she doesn't move at all. She's waiting for him to get up and face her.
Admirable indeed, but she's going to regret it! She can't hope for her trick to work twice, not even Baba is that stupid! He won't charge at her as he did before and he won't lose his balance again so easily.

Yuu: "Are you still willing to fight?"

Baba: "What are you talking about?! I haven't even started!"

Yuu: "Take a look around you. You won't get away with it, if you touch me."

She's right, she's damn right. All these students around us are making too much of a ruckus, a teacher is bound to show up pretty soon. Even Baba must have realized it at this point. He's looking left and right and I see he's sweating more than usual.

Baba: "Well then... I'll be on my way. But it doesn't end here, Prince of dykes! One of these days I'll get you!"

Yuu: "Not so fast!"

That idiot!

Yuu: "You still didn't give me your camera. I'll have you surrender it before you leave."

Baba: "What did you say?"

Yuu: "Surrender it, if you don't want to get in trouble."

Baba: "You... who the hell do you think you're talking to?!"

This is bad! Baba lost his temper, he will act before thinking and he will strike again. In fact, he's moving, he's dangerously approaching Azuma. At this rate he'll get suspended for sure, but I can't just let a girl pay the price for it. In addition she'll get in trouble too, Wakamatsu won't let this slide without any disciplinary sanction. There are way too many people here that can testify she provoked him. Even if she's absolutely right, she's the one who stopped him when he already decided to go on his way.
I have to make a decision quickly. Thanks to Azuma's intervention the setup changed, Baba is now facing the opposite direction and he's not paying attention to anything else. I can get there before he reaches his opponent without letting him notice. There's no time for hesitation, I move.
Like I imagined, Baba is too enraged to realize I'm already behind him. He raises his arm to strike again, and that's exactly the chance I was waiting for. I grab him from behind and lock him as much firmly as I can. Baba is strong, but so am I, in this position he won't be able to free himself... or so I think.
I once again hear the cries of the crowd, they are probably excited at this new development, but I think I also heard some girls yelling that I shouldn't ruin their Prince's awesome moment.
Hitomi just called me stupid, I can't say she's wrong, I really am doing something incredibly stupid right now.
But it's all right, Wakamatsu only warned us about fighting. I'm not fighting right now, I'm not throwing fists or kicking and neither is Baba. I'm just pinning him, this doesn't qualify as fighting, right? Right?
Damn, I'm just pathetically deluding myself here. I'm screwed! I'm so screwed!

Yuu: "You are... Oda-senpai..."

It looks like Yuu is surprised and worried. She must have heard about me from Hitomi.

Meito: "Quickly, take his camera! I won't be able to hold him much longer!"

And more importantly, the fastest you do it, the faster I can run away before a teacher sees me.

Baba: "Gwaaargh! Odaaa! It's you, Odaaa! I'll kick your ass! I'll kill you this time!"

I realize now that I have underestimated his strength. I could have as well tried to pin down a raging bull. I'm still holding onto him, but he can lift me from the ground like nothing! I act before he can manage to throw me away by wrapping my leg around his. This should give me more stability, but I'm not really sure for how long I can resist.
Given the situation, with Baba jumping and moving all around, it would be quite difficult to take his camera, but Azuma is a basket player, this is a joke for her. She easily retrieves the object of contention from Baba's pocket. It's going well, maybe I can get away with this! It can't take that much to delete all those nasty pictures. Just select the option to delete them all, Azuma! There's absolutely no point in being considerate to this poor excuse of a living being...
So I'm saying mentally, but Azuma isn't deleting the pictures at all! She isn't even looking at the camera's display! What the hell is she thinking?!
And then I realize she's approaching the girl that started it all. She takes her hand and stares directly at her eyes.

Yuu: "Are you all right?"

Girl: "Uh... y-yes..."

Yuu: "Here, take the camera. You've been wronged and it would be fitting if it were you to straighten things up."

Girl: "Y-yes... th-thank you..."

Azuma answers with a benevolent smile and delicately places the camera on the girl's hand. The first year student is completely astonished. She looks at her savior with dreamy eyes and reddened cheeks. It's as if I'm looking at a typical scene from a shoujo manga, except this is real and the perfect, handsome man is actually a girl. I can almost see their faces encircled by entwined roses and surrounded by glittering lights.
I'm so captivated by such idyllic scene that for a moment I forget where I am, what am I doing and the dangerous situation I'm in. That causes me to loosen my grip. This would be the perfect opportunity for my sworn enemy to free himself and turn the tides around, but unsurprisingly he's even more enthralled by that view than I am.

Baba: "Ooh... Yuri flag!"

The retarded and perverted comment wakes me from my stupor. I reinforce my lock with renewed strength.

Meito: "What the hell are you trying to imagine with your deranged mind?!"

Baba: "Shut up! You were thinking the same thing!"

Meito: "No, I wasn't!"

Baba: "Yes, you were!"

Nagaoka: "What's happening here?"

My blood freezes.
The usual constant chattering of hundred students suddenly disappeared. Everything fell silent.
It's as if time itself stopped.
I slowly turn my head in the direction where that voice came from, praying with all my strength that I won't see Nagaoka, but another teacher. Everyone would be good, everyone except him and Wakamatsu herself. But it was a male voice, so it certainly couldn't be Wakamatsu. The problem is that I'm pretty certain I discerned Nagaoka's voice, but one can hope. As long as I don't actually see him with my own eyes, I can still hope. That's why I'm turning my head slowly... slowly... slowly...
And when I finally see him... all hopes are lost.
So I nonchalantly detach myself from Baba, and pretend everything is perfectly normal.

Nagaoka: "I thought you two learned your lesson the last time, and I thought you understood well what would have happened if you started it again."

Meito: "Uh... Nagaoka-sensei! You're misunderstanding the situation. Me and my buddy here were just practicing some wrestling moves. He asked me how do you do a... a full rear lock and I showed him. Right... Baba?"

I hope he's smart enough to understand he better play along with my lie. I have attacked him first, but he should know well that neither Nagaoka nor Wakamatsu will give a rat ass about who started what.

Baba: "Right... what Oda said..."

Nagaoka: "Do you really believe you can fool me?! You must be thinking that I'm a complete idiot!"

And here folks you finally understand why of all the teachers that could have seen us Nagaoka was the worst. No matter what we tell him, he will assume we were fighting.

Nagaoka: "This is very regretful, I suppose that unfortunately severe punishments are required for you two to learn discipline."

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