As Nezumi was walking home from school, she noticed the detour from the main road through the industry area since they were working on the pavement. Such a horrible timing but there was nothing she could do about it but just to take the detour since it was the only way to her home.

With her bag hanging over her shoulder she climbed over the fence instead of taking the main route. The people behind this all had made a path through the industry road so people wouldn’t get caught in the more dangerous places, mess with equipment or get hurt in whatever way possible. But that was just a little too boring for Nezumi, plus the path was an even bigger detour than the detour itself so she decided to just follow her own path to get home.

Heading her own way through the area, she could hear the faint sounds of chuckles and the sound of metal being hit. Anyone else’s judgement would just tell the person to keep on walking, keep an eye out for any danger and pretend they didn’t hear a thing. But unfortunately Nezumi didn’t listen to her better judgement, and let her curiousity get the better of her. She deviated from her path and headed for the direction she heard the sounds.

From a safe distance she noticed some familiar faces. Satoshi, Kaneko and Mizusawa were probably heading home together and had to take the detour when they were cornered by this group of yankees. Such a low act to gang up on these guys and she couldn’t help but feel a little sorry.

One of the guys approached Kaneko with a evil grin on his face as Kaneko slightly seemed to cower in fear and doesn’t dare to look at the guy straight up. The guy immediately grabbed his collar and pulled him closer, sneering some things that were too soft for her to hear, but she didn’t like this sight at all. Someone needed to step in and since she didn’t think these guys were going to be able to do something on their own and there was no sight of Wataru anywhere, she had to do it herself. Unbelievable, helping out the people she couldn’t stand. Again.

“Oi!” she called as she jumped over the small pile of boxes. “Pick on someone your own strength!” No real offence towards these guys, but they weren’t exactly talented fighters. They were great with tumbling, doing backflips and cartwheels but she doubted they could land a decent punch. And even though she barely even knew the guys other than that they were Wataru’s friends, she couldn’t stand if the weaker got bullied by anyone other than herself. “Let him go.”

“Nezumi-san...” Satoshi said, surprised to see her pop up like that.

The boy chuckled, letting go of Kaneko’s collar as he tilted his head slightly, taking in her appearence. She knew what he was thinking, it’s what they all thought when they first meet Nezumi and it’s that same misjudgement that would ultimately lead to their downfall. She had never seen these guys around and couldn’t recognize the school crest on one of the boys’ jackets, not that it was surprising since she hadn’t been here for that long herself.

“Oh look, their little girlfriend is sticking up for them,” he snorted to his buddies who mimicked the same amused look. “How cute.”

“Ne, didn’t your mother ever tell you that it’s rude to talk down to people?” Nezumi said as she let her bag slip of her shoulder onto the ground and crossed her arms.

“What do you want, little girl?” the boy chuckled again. He seemed really full of himself, something that needed to change as soon as possible. And luckily she was just the right person to change it.

“Well, I’m a rather selfish person...” she grinned, “So I didn’t want these guys to have all the fun.”

“Fun?” the guy repeated. “Little girl, you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into so you better scram!”

“Ah, so desu ka?” she replied with a slight pout as she took a step forward, her arms still crossed as she stared away for a moment. “Well, you have no idea who you’re talking to either...” she directed her gaze back to the guy and his group. “So if you wanna mess with them, you gotta go through me.”

“Brave words,” he smirked. “I’ll make you regret them,” as soon as he spoke his last words he charged forward with his fist raised into the air. She didn’t understand what it was with these guys and their need for rushed punches but all they did was showcase their bad temper and extremely sloppy technical mistakes.

Wherever he directed his punch was a mystery to Nezumi, not that she really cared. His timing was way off, his strength wasn’t fully concentrated in his fist, his attention was barely focused on the battle itself and that helped Nezumi to smoothly block his punch with her arm. He stared at her for a moment, maybe even a little surprised, but she merely grinned at him. Quickly she pushed his arm away, twirled around and raised her leg to hit his side, giving him a nice stumble to the side as she stood her ground again. Block and Counter 101, this guy hadn’t been taught well.

“Ku so~tsu!” he cursed through gritted teeth, clearly not amused by her counter attack. Well, she did warn him before, didn’t she? So he shouldn’t be that surprised. Not that he really did seem surprise, he rather seemed angered. Or more likely pissed. This guy was probably the top dog of his group and had to keep up a certain image, an image which could be destroyed if he would lose to such a little girl like her. All the more reason for Nezumi to show this guy who the boss was.

He turned around, his hands clenched tightly as he raced towards her again, but she caught both his punches with her hands as she looked up at him once again. “Shall we dance?” she smirked but he didn’t quite seem to like her fooling around, so instead she raised her knee into his gut and released his hands. He clutched his stomach with both arms as he dropped to his knees for a moment, gasping for air. See, the good thing about being short is that the most vulnerable spots are in good reach. And this time she was being gentle, she could’ve aimed her knee a little lower if she really wanted to make him suffer. But not just yet. She liked to play a little longer before stomping him into the ground.

“Ne, are we having fun yet?” she asked him as she brushed her hair over her shoulder and looked up at his group.

They took this as a sign to charge forward as a grin appeared on her face. See, this was the kind of challenge she was talking about. One-on-one battles were so boring, a few perfectly aimed hits and the other guy was out for the count. But if she fought a group, once one was down the other would be right there, ready to take the next fall.

Quickly she glanced back at the guys behind her who were still standing there.

“Word of advice; either play along or stay out of my way,” she warned them. “Once I get fired up in the game, I won’t bother trying to keep the teams apart,” she winked before turning back to the group and rushing towards them as well. She didn’t really want them to play along, more players only made it more distracting since she couldn’t rely on their strength. She would have to be keeping an eye out for them as well as taking care of the pests on her own.

The rather large group of mixed yankees; male and female, all seemed very smug when it came to their own ability. Though they wouldn’t stand a chance against her own gang, it was a nice game to play. Never before had she fought such a large number of yankees at the same time, but that was not going to stop her from having fun. On the contrary, the fact that they were with more only gave her that extra shot of adrenaline she needed to finish this off, her own way.

The group circled around her, some flinging forwards to kick of punch her, most of which she managed to counter with her own fist, while she took the blow on the others. Someone else grabbed her arm, trying to pull her into a hold as another one raised his fist and managed to plant a punch on her face. filled with the bitter taste of metal, a flavor she had tasted too many times before. She felt the bruise starting to take form in the corner of where the guy had hit her. Ah, the good old days. With a grin she looked back at him, surely the punch did a decent amount of pain but it was nothing she wasn’t used to before. Instead she raised her legs to kick him away, turning her head slightly as she dug her elbow in the yankee’s gut that made her loosen her grip on Nezumi’s arms, making it easier for her to pull out of the hold and turn around to punch her in the face.

For a while the fight seemed to be equally matched, they managed to do a decent amount of damage to Nezumi, but she kept smiling all the way through. She stopped in front of  the first guy who she assumed was the leader of the pack, who immediately took charge punching her face. Her body bend with the punches and she quickly bend back straight again, her hair covering her face as she looked back at him with a grin. He hit her again, and again and again and every single time she turned back to him with the same grin. she could tell by his face that this slightly creeped him out but it was safe to say that she did give a fair warning not to mess with her in the first place.

“Why!” he said through gritted teeth as he punched her again.

She turned back and grinned.

“Won’t!”

Another punch. she bend back and grinned at him.

“You!”

Another punch. Another grin.

“Surrender?!”

Another punch.

“Ne,” She grinned at him as she tilted her head, “Okotteru?” he stared at her for a moment before she punched his face and kicked him to the side. One of his buddies charged towards Nezumi from behind, carrying a wooden plank. She turned around, grabbed the plank and ignored the splinters that pierced through her skin as she gripped the rough broken piece of wood. She kicked the guy in the gut, sending him back as she pulled the plank out of his hands and turned to the top dog. With one movement, as if hitting a baseball, she slammed the plank against his head, knocking him over before turning around and proceeding to attack the others the same way.

“Oi! Nezumi!” She looked up by the sound of her name and saw that Wataru, Ryosuke and Nippori had arrived as well to rescue their troubled friends. Just a little too late.

“Eh? You sure are late!” She looked at him for a moment and failed to notice the guy charging up to her until she felt his knuckles collide with her jaw. She bend slightly with the punch, her hair flinging over her shoulder and in front of her face. She glared back at the guy through the strands of hair as she wiped the blood from the corner of her mout and raised the plank up, forcing it against the side of his head and knocking him over. She decided not to pay attention to Wataru for the moment and take care of this fight first, also showcasing her fighting ability and hopefully stimulating Wataru to start a fight with her.

 Eventually she was the last one standing and with a pleased smile she rested the plank on her shoulder as she dropped her other hand to her side. She turned back to the guy she assumed was the top dog and pointed at him with her free hand.

“And you...” She turned around completely with her hand still stretched out in front of her until she was facing the others again and she pointed to Wataru, “Are next!”

“Are are, masaka Nezumi...“ Upon hearing that voice her smile immediately dropped as she kept on staring forward. “Are you still chasing him?”

“Masaka...”

Slowly she turned around and dropped the wooden plank aside. There he was, standing with his arms crossed and that cocky smirk painting his face. His calm posture could easily mislead you from the terror that hid behind those eyes as she had seen him in actions many time before. Luckily she always stayed on his good side so she had never gone through the torture herself but witnessing was a cruel punishment in itself.

“Saburou...?” She uttered his name with slight hesitation. What was he doing here?

“But I do admire you,” he continued, his voice low and smooth. “For single handedly taking care of the grunts of my gang.”

“Eh?” her eyes widened as she listened to his words. She looked over to the group of beaten yankees that were slowly crawling back to Saburou’s side. They were all part of the group? Impossible, they were never part of the group when she was still around.

Saburou Ibuki and Nezumi once belonged to the same yankee gang. He was second in charge right after Mizumi, who was her best friend. The two of them seemed to hit it off pretty nicely, they had known each other for longer than she had known Mizumi and had always stuck together no matter what. Saburou was one of the strongest and most ruthless yankees alive, if you crossed the wrong paths with him it could very well mean the end of your life, though Mizumi was always around to stop him from the ultimate deeds he would have pulled off in a cloud of rage. Though they sometimes butted heads with decisions, Mizumi’s word was the final answer and he had to follow by those rules. The night they returned from a fight that some of us stayed out off, he was the one who had to bare the bad news of Mizumi’s murder when she fought Wataru. After her death he took over the gang but showed no interest whatsoever in vengeance, something that till this day she still didn’t understand. And once she told him she was planning on going out and avenge her leader and best friend he gave her an ultimatum; follow his orders and stay back or go through with her own little plan and break any bonds with the gang.

“Nothing is better than a traitor killing off the weeds in your garden of strength,” those stupid metaphores he spoke with, riddles that no one ever lived long enough for to solve.

“Oi! Who are you?!” Wataru called to break the silence that filled the void between them as she and Saburou kept on glaring at each other. He was up to something, she just knew it and the fact that he actually showed up here with the entire gang only worried her more.

“An old friend,” he told him as he lowered his arms into the pockets of his jacket. “I’ll leave further introduction to our little Nezumi,” he smirked. “We have better things to do.”

He gave a quick salute, his smirk never leaving his face, before turning around and marching off with the others following close behind.

“Such a bother, ne?” Ryosuke sighed as he looked from him to Wataru, “Acting like he’s too good for introductions...”

 Nezumi stared after him for a moment and turned around. She picked up my bag from the ground and threw it over her shoulder. It made mher wonder whether or not he reconsidered the vengeance for Mizumi. And that lead him here. After all, it was him that told her who killed her, yet Wataru didn’t seem to remember Saburou very well. Ah, maybe he had one too many hits to the head and forgot.

“Ne, Nezumi, who was that guy?” Nippori asked bluntly.

“No one,” She told them simply. He was not their concern. Not yet at least. Only hers, and whatever the reason was that brought him here, she didn’t want them to meddle with it. Firstly because they had no idea who they would be messing with in the first place, and secondly because she wanted to have a chance to fight Wataru before Saburou got his hands on him.

“Ah, Nezumi-san!” Satoshi quickly said as she wanted to pass them without a word. “Arigatou.”

She stopped and briefly glanced back at him. He surely seems grateful, not that it would matter. She couldn’t actually believe she helped them out, but now that she knew who the leader behind that group of idiots was, she was glad she did. She gave him a quick nod before walking away, not sparing anyone else a look.

The next day she still couldn’t get Saburou out of her head. It was all just a little too suspicious for her, and she couldn’t stand it if she couldn’t figure out what was going on.
As she arrived at school she noticed Saruwatari sitting on the same spot as usual, but this time she wasn’t reading her book. No, she looked rather distracted and even a little tired.

“Ohayou, Kinoko-atama,” She grinned as she tried to forget her own worries and stopped right in front of her, “You look horrible.”

“How nice,” she nodded vaguely. Did she even understand that Nezumi was insulting her? Instead of reacting like she normally would, she kept on staring at the screen of her phone for no apparent reason.

“What? No counter insult? No about your nickname? Nothing?” She frowned. “Are you sick?”

She sighed frustrated as she looked up at her, “I’m just tired. Leave me alone!” she snapped as she got up, grabbed her bag and marched off towards the school.

Nezumi stared after her and blinked a few times in confusion. That was the weirdest reaction she gave her so far, and she didn’t even really know what she did wrong this time. She liked bothering Saruwatari but she couldn’t take credit before knowing what it was that she did. Maybe the whole thing with Saburou made her a little too suspicious and she actually just reacted normally to Nezumi being a bother.

“Oi! Nezumi!” Oh no, not him again. For once she didn’t want him bothering her or the other way around. In fact, she just wanted to avoid him for a few days.

“What now?” She sighed as she turned around and faced him. Ryosuke and Nippori at his side again, they were like the three musketeers.

“Who was that guy?”

“He said he was an old friend, but he sure isn’t ours.” Ryosuke nodded.

She rolled her eyes, “I’ve already told you. He is no one!”

“How rude. Don’t you want to introduce us to your friends?” Nippori grinned.

“He is not my friend.” She stated.

“Well, he seemed to know you very well,” Wataru replied suspiciously. “And I want to know if we have to worry about him bothering Satoshi and the others again.”

She scoffed which caused him to frown. “Please, they couldn’t care less.” She shook her head. “Listen up and listen good,” She turned to him and glared into his eyes. ”The only person you have to worry about is me, Wataru. I swear now that we will have a fight and I will not lose to you!” with that being said she turned around and marched off to the doors of the school. Seeing Saburou here has only driven her more. She needed to fight Wataru. She needed to get her vengeance and after she had finished with him... Saburou was next. She would show him what a traitor could really do.

The entire day, Wataru had been glaring at Nezumi and awaited her to answer his question about Saburou. Though she thought she had given him a fair warning about what he should be worrying about instead. He even tried to make a deal with her, if she would tell him about Saburou he would fight her, but she didn’t really take his word for it. If only they knew what kind of person Saburou really was, they wouldn’t be so interested.

Saruwatari seemed occupied and distant as well. Deep in thoughts she was staring down at her desk as Kashiwagi-sensei was explaining something that might be important but since she hadn’t been paying attention all day she didn’t think it would matter if she would listen now. He seemed to have more trouble trying to gain Saruwatari’s attention then mine, which was odd since she was usually the one with her hand raised the entire time, asking a lot of questions and answering a few from the teacher which proved that she knew more about the subjects them was healthy. But that was expected from the class representative.

“...Coupling project!” Kashiwagi-sensei finished and finally gained Nezumi’s attention.

“Eh?” What coupling project? What was that all about? Oh, maybe she should’ve paid more attention to what he was telling them.

“I will draw your names from these bowls. One of the girls and one for the boys. And you will be forced to stick together and work together to get to know each other...” he explained with a wide smile. He seemed to be the only person who was actually enthusiastic about this plan.

“Like people would actually spend time together.,” Ryosuke scoffed. “As soon as this class if over, the project ends too.”

“I expected that answer...” He said, slightly hesitantly. “That is why I brought these...” he held up a pair of iron handcuffs from a bag. Was this guy serious? He was going to tie them together for the entire day just to make sure they would actually do the assignment?! And why did they even have to get to know each other. She wasn’t interested in her fellow classmates!

“That is ridiculous!” Nezumi scoffed but he ignored any other comments to his plan.

He pulled out the first name out of the guys’ bowl. It was Kiyama, he was paired with one of the girls from the tumbling team. Ah, at least they had something in common, although neither of them seemed bothered nor interested in working together. The two of them were called forward and Kashiwagi tied them together with the cuffs.

The next name was Ryosuke. He was all ready to be paired up with a girl, probably hoping to score another girlfriend to add to the eight he already had. Or it might be ten already.

“...Saruwatari Michiyo-san.”

Upon hearing her name, Saruwatari finally responded. Though doubtful that she had any idea what was going on but reluctantly came up to the front of the class and waited to be tied to his right arm. Ryosuke seemed slightly mixed about this pairing since she never really showed any interest in him before, but soon enough that same smile appeared on his face again and Saruwatari stared at him with a frown.  Right, she wasn’t pleased at all.

Next was Wataru. Oh how she felt sorry for the poor girl who was going to get stuck to him.

“...Akimoto Ayumi-san.”

“EH?”

“EH?”

Both of them jumped up in surprised. There was no way the two of them were going to be tied together and forced to work together. She didn’t care how important this project might be for her grade, she didn’t want to get to know Wataru and she didn’t want him to get to know her either. Simple as that.

“You have no other choice... Please come here,” he said, trying to stay as calm as possible.

“And you must have a death wish!” Nezumi growled back.

“If you don’t participate in this project you will get a bad grade...” he continued, standing his ground which could be admired since he usually was a little more nervous opposing either one of them. “And a bad grade means study hall and no after school activities.”

“Wataru, think about the competition!” Takenaka immediately told the red head. Right, as soon as tumbling was involved, all of them switched to panic mode. Well, that might be a reason for Wataru to go through with this but Nezumi wasn’t even part of an activity and she couldn’t care less about theirs.

“Fine...” he sighed and reluctantly headed to the front of the class. And stubbornly Nezumi stayed in her  seat. “Oi, Nezumi! Come on!”

“Muri desu.”

“Get up!”

“Dame!”

“Baka!” Wataru growled and cursed under his breath as he roughtly snatched the cuffs out of Kashiwagi’s hands and marched towards her, grabbing her arm and threw one side of the handcuffs over her wrist and locked the other one around his.

“Oi! Baka!” She called as she tugged on the iron ring around her arm to try and get it loose. But it was  stuck and Wataru sort of seemed pleased with this. He could grin all he wanted, this only motivated her more to kick his once this stupid project was over.