Capítulo 10: Trying to Make A Change (2)
A student could walk out of school in the middle of a period with a solid reason. I had prepared an excuse for that long before coming to school, but it didn't seem necessary at all.
The first day was devoted entirely to the introduction of the school. That's not to say that new students can just walk in and out of school at will, of course. In fact, they're the ones that matter the most in this case. [—let's be honest, I could sneak away because the guards were distracted playing games, or whatever that is.]
There were CCTVs at the gate, so my actions will likely get the school's unfavorable attention. But, then again, I've prepared an excuse for that. No, not just one, but a ton of them. Given enough time, I can accumulate many credible lies to others...!
I jogged down the main street. Although I knew where exactly Tsugumi wanted to go, it wasn't like I should go straight to the place in question and magically find her. I inspected places where she might be, somewhere like alleyways, open spaces between abandoned houses, or inside the houses themselves. It didn't take long before I found her.
I hid behind a wall. She was in one of the locations I had been focalizing on, an open space between abandoned houses. It was pretty close to the main road, just by entering a small alley with only two corners. I peeked out.
I was slightly surprised by what I see.
"We should kill her, after all," stating something out of a thriller movie, a bald man in his thirties lifted a machete in his hand. [Let's call him Bald Man.]
"Tch, can't savor her body, then, huh?" Another man who was younger than him, though much older than me retorted disgruntledly. He had a sturdy blunt stick in one of his hands. [That's Stick Man.]
"Y-Yeah, k-kill that bitch!"
The last man seems to have a knife, which now lay by his side. He was slumped over with one hand grasping the other in pain, with the hand in question bent at an unnatural angle. [That one is Bent Man.]
Speaking of which, an object I could only recognize as a gun—a pistol—was also sprawling not far from the group. Unfortunately, it was way out of my reach.
The culprit who did it suffered a similar wound as Bent Man, but to a much greater degree.
"Come get me, freaks," Tsugumi, the culprit, threatened them. In all honesty, it come across as menacing.
Although she had bleeding badly on her right hand— enough to render it effectively unusable— she displayed no fear in the face of the three violent men.
From the looks of it, Bent Man had been the one to did the deed. The knife on the ground covered in fresh blood. So, somehow, Tsugumi found herself in a situation where she got stabbed in the hand, probably the one holding her gun (since I remember she always carry it with her), and couldn't help but let it slip from her grasp. If this went on, even if Tsugumi wouldn't end up dead, her wounds would at least be worse by the time she emerged out of the fight.
[I could help her.]
With Tsugumi close to the wall as the center point, the three people formed a quarter-circle formation. I was positioned behind Bent Man. Incidentally, the entry and exit from the scene only comes from the one I was currently hiding at.
As Stick Man stepped forward, I walked out of my hiding place, taking on a leisure stroll.
The moment I stepped into the open area, I kicked Bent Man in the head, knocking him out in one hit.
"!"
Stick Man and Tsugumi who—location-wise—should have noticed my presence long when I stepped out from the corner's alleyway, both still didn't notice me instantly. Well, it was only a matter of time. I took advantage of that time to pick up the knife on the ground.
"—what...?!"
"?!"
Stick Man and Tsugumi finally registered my presence. Bald Man was a little late in reacting, but because I took my time to pick up the knife on the ground—even if only briefly—he was able to turn around with his long machete speeding towards me. It seemed that he had instinctively did it.
"—ukh?!"
But with a backhand grip on the knife, I carefully caught the machete near the tip of the blade, avoiding it slicing my arm.
I was only using one hand while doing so, which was not exactly efficient, so I quickly swatted away the hand grasping the machete with my free hand. I did that primarily to keep the machete away from me.
It didn't drop his grip on the machete. "Gh!" So I used my knife to the area around his wrist, effectively dropping his machete on the ground.
"The hell—"
After that, it was so easy. I struck the side of his head and put him in the same state as Bent Man.
"—gh...!"
"Who the hell are— Ah, screw it," Stick Man turned around, aiming for a gun far on his back.
"Wai—" Tsugumi tried to move.
"Don't move."
I ordered Tsugumi, throwing the knife squarely at the stick man's leg. "Gah...!"
He fell down.
I grabbed the machete underneath me, then ran towards the man.
"W-Wait! Don't kill me!"
He screamed with great terror.
Since I had a machete above my head, he naturally thought it was carried for him. Unfortunately, I didn't want to complicate this matter with a murder case.
I kicked his chin when his attention was riveted to the machete in my hand, causing him to jerk up before sprawling on the floor, paralyzed. He lost consciousness.
"..." I heaved a sigh.
I stepped over his body and picked up the gun, only a few meters in front of me. I didn't know how it worked, so I handled it with caution, less I might shoot myself accidentally.
I turned around.
"Who are you...?" Tsugumi asked me in a daze.
"Hirosha Yoshikawa," I approached her, face flat. "Putting it aside, let's deal with your wounds."
I tore off the clothes of the men on the ground with the machete.
I kept the gun in my pants pocket in a certain position. I didn't want it to be shot incidentally.
"You don't mind me stopping the bleeding, do you?" I sat down beside her as I asked that.
Tsugumi was about to reply me but "Kh" she groaned slightly, her face contorted in pain. She had a wide wound on her right hand. Blood continues to flow as we speak. I wasn't particularly used to the sight of blood, but I pushed that fact to the corner of my mind and focused on what lay before me.
I kept the machete at my side. "Do you need a cloth in your mouth to not accidentally bite your tongue when I stop the bleeding?"
"...Yes," she said after a moment.
I handed her a thick wad of cloth. It was still fairly clean. She accepted it.
"Nod when you're ready," I said.
After Tsugumi stuffed the wad of cloth into her mouth, she took a few breaths before nodding with a determined expression.
I unhesitatingly inserted the cloth into the wound. The cloth I put in was cut with specific regulations, with specific intentions, but that would be too long to explain. Basically, it took time that wasn't immediate but was more effective in dealing with the wound. Tsugumi whimpered in pain, trying to yank or shove her hand free unconsciously. I restrained her not only with my hand but also with one of my legs. After some time had passed, I could safely think I had stopped the bleeding.
"It's do—" my words were cut short when I laid my eyes on Tsugumi.
"Hngh..." she whimpered.
Saliva ran partly from her lips. Her eyes were glossy as tears also ran down from her eyes. [I know I shouldn't think like this, but, damn, that was actually kind of lewd.]
I pushed away my horrid thoughts and pulled the cloth from her mouth, throwing it away. I glanced at the three men who were still lying on the ground.
[Right, I should call the police.]
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