Alex Brim, Hero for Hire

Chapter 3.1

Takechi Hito asked while entering the cafeteria, “How did you do that? And you are not afraid of their revenge? What if they snitch you out to the Principal? You could get a suspension!”

“Don’t worry about them anymore, but if they annoy you again, tell me, ok? I will make sure they have to eat through a straw for six months. After lunch, I will go have a talk with your classmates. They should have helped you, those cowards.”

Takechi Hito looked down and spoke in a low voice, “Sakamo-kun… Thanks… I used to be mocked because of my looks and weight in Middle School, and I thought things would be different once I entered High School, because I could grow up a little and my size could change. I guess… I was wrong.”

Sakamo gently squeezed Takechi’s left shoulder a little and said, “There is nothing wrong with your weight, Takechi-sama, as long as you are ok with it. One of my brothers is a little overweighted by other people’s standards, but he never considered himself as one. In fact, he is one of the strongest and more flexible men I know. You could do some diet, or train to have more muscles. Or you do nothing and be happy with yourself. Either way, I will never mock you and if you want, I can break the hands of anyone that mocks you. I am here to obey, oh great Takechi-sama!”

Takechi Hito muffled his laughter, “Pfff!… Thanks, only you to make me laugh after all that. By the way, you don’t need to keep calling me Takechi-sama, you know? Call me Takechi-kun, like everyone else.”

“I don’t want to. I got used to calling you Takechi-sama or the Great One. I don’t want to change it.”

“Well, I don’t mind if you keep on addressing me with so much respect. I kind of like it. I am more worried about what you did. You are not afraid of being punished by the School if those guys tell what happened to their hands? And how were you able to break their hands so easily?”

Sakamo answered with a serious expression. “I doubt they would be fools enough to snitch me. And if they do it, they will suffer a lot. Let’s drop this subject, ok? I need help on distracting those two crazy girls that are waving and calling us to join them.”

Takechi made a big smile. “Sure, I take the purple one, you can have the yellow-head!”

“Or better yet, you have both of them, so that I can relax for a while! They are tiring!”

Takechi laughed and elbowed Sakamo while going to the table where the two smiling, beautiful girls were seated. Hojo Masako was also there, and she didn’t even raise her head when Sakamo sat in front of her. Tomiko Hari made a forced smile towards Takechi as he sat next to her and said, “I see you got rid of those guys. Good for you!”

Takechi made a forced smile as well. “Not thanks to your help. I could probably forgive you if you hugged me for a while. My heart is still suffering.”

Tomiko Hari hugged him immediately and whispered, “I am sorry. I was never good with violence. Are you ok?”

Takechi whispered back, “Not yet, but if you hug me at least once a day, I will heal quicker.”

Tomiko Hari let him go slowly and poked his nose while smiling. “That depends. Are you a good boy? Or are you some kind of p*****t that wants hugs from any girl around?”

Takechi poked her nose back. “My grandma always says that I am a good boy and I don’t ask any girl to hug me, just the extremely beautiful ones.”

Tomiko Hari froze with her mouth half-open, and she kept on staring at the daring, smiling boy in front of her. Hangaku Mae immediately hugged Sakamo with a huge smile. “Cool, Tomiko-chan got distracted, and that means you are all mine, beautiful!”

Sakamo tried to get rid of the strong and tight hug, mostly because the softness of Hangaku’s breasts were teasing him more than he was used to when he noticed that Hojo Masako was eating in silence without raising her head even with all that mess around her. Sakamo grabbed Hangaku’s arms and slowly, but strongly, made her let him go. “Stop messing with me, will you? Let me eat, or I won’t have time to finish before classes start!”

“Ok… But as soon as you finish, I am going to grab you again like a beautiful mussel! Now, what happened back there?”

Sakamo answered while opening his boxed lunch, “Nothing important, don’t worry. I just made sure those guys never bother Takechi-sama again. And…”

Sadness clouded his features as he looked ahead. “Hojo-san, I apologize for the harsh way I talked to you. I was… angry about that situation, but you were not at fault. I kind of… got disappointed with you.”

Hojo Masako stopped with her chopsticks halfway through her mouth and spoke in a low voice without making eye contact, “That’s ok, I… shouldn’t have said anything at that time. I guess I misjudged you. I thought you were peaceful, but I guess I was wrong. You are more violent than you look.”

Sakamo slowly nodded while eating. “Usually I am, but I never liked bullies. Probably that doesn’t excuse me for what I said to you, but your reaction was unexpected. I thought… Probably because you look so serious, but I thought you would be the first to get angry at what was happening, when in fact you just averted your eyes and even told me not to get myself involved.”

Hojo’s lower lip quivered as she spoke, “It’s just… you don’t know those guys and what they are capable of. Their group is dangerous, and it’s full of guys that are coming and going to prison since they were very young. You are new in this City, of course, you don’t know about them, and I… tried to warn you...”

Sakamo went silent for a while, eating. After taking a sip of his juice, he asked, “Their group, it has a name?”

Hojo nodded with a cloud of sadness passing through her eyes, and she almost dropped the chopsticks. “They… call themselves ‘The Death Bringers’. Such a stupid name, considering none of them actually killed anyone, but they might start with you…”

“You don’t need to worry about me. You would make better use of your time by worrying about them if they come after me. How do you know so much about the criminal world in Tokyo?”

“My… father is a police officer. I heard that name when I told him about those three when they were making problems at the gate of our Middle School. One student fought them when they tried to extort money from me. On the next day, they returned with twenty older guys and that student end up in the Hospital because of the beating. He lost one year of School because he took a lot of time to recover.”

Sakamo noticed the awkward looks on the other girls and said, “I guess he did what he thought was right at that moment. It wasn’t your fault, unless… Do you think you caused all that? Or he was your boyfriend?”

Hojo Masako did her best to hold her tears and spoke with a trembling voice, “I… liked him. I even confessed to him some months before that. He refused me, but of course, he would help me in that situation like he always did when a girl was in trouble. He was that kind of guy. That’s why a lot of girls liked him… myself included… after returning from the Hospital, he avoided me. He even told me one time it was all my fault, that I should have given those guys my money, instead of screaming for help…”

“He was probably angry about what happened to him, and he looked for someone to blame. It was not your fault, it was those guys’ fault. I think I understand why you told me not to get involved. But unlike the boy you knew, those guys will never be able to send me to a Hospital. But just to be sure…”

Sakamo took his phone from his pocket and made a quick call. Hojo Masako looked at him with a puzzled look, when she heard him talking to someone over the phone, “Hello, it’s me. Look up a delinquent group for me. They call themselves ‘The Death Bringers’. No, nothing that serious, just have a look at them to be sure they don’t get near me, or I will have to take things into my own hands. Yes, I know, I won’t do anything rash, as long as you take care of them. Sure, I will go Saturday morning, as usual. Really? The moving company delivered everything? You even bought groceries? Cool, thanks for taking care of that. No, no one delivered my house key yet. Oh, you asked to be delivered to my Principal? Ok, I will ask him. By the way, I am going tomorrow night to the National Stadium at ten with my classmates to see a concert. Yes, I could use a ride, considering I will go straight there after work. Yes, of course, thanks. See you later.”

Sakamo put the phone in his pocket again and continued eating, like if nothing had happened. Everyone was looking at him and at each other, wondering what was all that, until Hojo Masako asked, “What… was that all about? You…”

Sakamo shrugged while swallowing. “I asked a friend to help me, just in case those guys do something weird. If they try anything against me, my friend will catch them, and he will throw away the key. It was cute of you, but you don’t need to worry about me. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

A flush crept up Hojo Masako’s face, and she quickly filled her mouth with food. Hearing Sakamo saying that the way she worried was cute made her feel heat building up on her body.

Hangaku Mae noticed the sudden redness on Hojo’s cheeks and the way she looked so flustered and tried to distract Sakamo. “Did I heard you saying on the phone that you are going to the concert tomorrow after work? And do you really live alone?”

“It’s just a part-time job to earn money for my daily expenses, and yes, I live all alone.”

“Cool, it is a nice apartment? I wouldn’t mind visiting you to listen to some music, or to watch a movie… just the two of us…”

Sakamo almost choked with his food. “Hangaku-san, sometimes you say the craziest things! And the worst part is that you shamefully say it loud!”

Hangaku Mae giggled and caressed Sakamo’s left cheek. “Hihihi! The way you get embarrassed is so cute! But you didn’t answer me, you live in a nice apartment? Is it far from here?”

“No… I… rented a two floors house with a small garden and a balcony, and it’s really nearby. That’s why I chose this School, actually, it was the nearest one.”

Hangaku Mae had her mouth wide open. “No way! A house like that so near the centre of the city? The rent must be absurdly high! How can you pay for such a house?”

Sakamo answered while gulping down the remains of his juice. “I work hard for that. So, what about if we go to the classroom? I don’t want to arrive late again!”

Hangaku slowly nodded with dreamy eyes. “Yeah… Sakamo-kun, you are becoming more and more interesting by the minute… And I will do everything within my power to catch you!”

“Damn woman, lower your horniness! You are scaring me!”

Hangaku Mae tilted her head and made a cute smile while playing with a curl of her hair. “I refuse, I want to make you go crazy about me. I can’t pretend to be some shy damsel, it’s not within me!”

Sakamo blinked a few times, trying to get free from that hypnotic sight. “Yeah, you sure know how to make a guy go crazy, that’s for sure… You are dangerous, Hangaku-san…”

She giggled and answered, “Hihihi! Thanks, I work hard for that!”

She got up and pulled Sakamo by his arm, and leaned her head on his shoulder while he was picking up the now empty box lunch and going to put it in the trash can. Tomiko Hari made a slight smile and asked Takechi Hito, “It’s better if we all go, right?”

Takechi nodded with a big smile. “I will follow you anywhere, my purple Goddess. Lead the way, please.”

Tomiko blinked, surprised by her new nickname and the way Takechi’s eyes were glowing in amazement while looking back at her, and she attempted to stop looking at him and faced Hojo Masako. “Are… you coming or not?”

Hojo disguised a smile because she saw the way Tomiko’s cheeks turned pink. “Yes, but help me clean this table, first.”

Takechi quickly went to get some paper napkins to clean the table while Tomiko and Hojo were gathering the empty boxes, and Hojo spoke when Takechi was far enough. “He is kind of sweet, isn’t he?”