Despite knowing she shouldn't, fear keeps her from obeying her body's instincts.
Her trembling won't cease, tears fill her eyes, and her legs wobble.
She doesn't want to cry in front of these guys, she doesn't want to become their pawn, but she can't resist.
At that moment, she recalled the senior who had helped her during her first drinking party. Despite usually being unreliable, he always extended a helping hand when she needed it.
It was a fleeting hope that floated in her mind, a futile daydream, if she will, a form of escapism.
However, Hinata was unaware.
There are people who wholeheartedly rush to baseless, faint hopes.
"Hey, what are you guys doing?"
When she heard that voice, Hinata thought it was a dream.
She reflexively turned around and when she saw the figure, she almost burst into tears.
Yamamoto Yuusuke was standing there with a stern expression she had never seen before.
"Huh? What's going on, you?"
Long-haired guy also turned and replied with a commanding tone.
Facing the intimidating aura of these delinquents who commit misdeeds without a care, Hinata involuntarily shuddered.
But Yuusuke continued to approach them without hesitation, closing the distance between him and the men. He briefly glanced at me and muttered, "Ah."
"So, you guys are here too, just like the others?"
"What are you talking about? You looking down on us?"
"Thinking you're some kind of hero of justice, huh?"
"Man, you're an idiot. Should've called some backup."
The men subtly changed their positions to surround Yuusuke, standing not far from Hinata.
The tension was palpable.
If it turned into a brawl, it was clear that in a one-on-one fight, Yuusuke versus three clearly battle-hardened men, she knew who would win.
Despite Hinata's worries, Yuusuke slowly raised his hand.
In his hand was the mobile phone that belonged to one of the men.
"An attempted assault may not lead to serious charges, but if police investigate, they might find some other things."
"What...? Wait, when did you...?"
It's no wonder the man was shocked.
Hinata had no idea when Yuusuke had managed to snatch the mobile phone.
But by provoking the opponent like this, it naturally triggered intense hostility from these hot-blooded men.
"You b*stard!"
Long-haired guy raised his fist and moved towards Yuusuke.
"Senpai!"
Hinata shouted, and the dull sound echoed almost simultaneously.
Long-haired guy had struck Yuusuke's cheek with full force. With an unpleasant sound of bones colliding, Yuusuke's face was deflected.
In an instant, Yuusuke's retaliatory punch sank deep into the long-haired guy's abdomen.
"Eh?"
Before Hinata, who was confused about what had just happened, the long-haired guy collapsed to his knees.
"Ugh... Ugh, no, wha... what?"
Curled up like a baby, the man groaned, tears streaming down his face.
While looking down at him, Yuusuke spoke as if he had never been hit.
"I'll leave the rest to the police. But..."
"You! Do you know what will happen if you do this?"
Facing two men whose faces were contorted in anger and clutching their fists, Yuusuke continued. Calmly, as if hiding his anger.
"You made my cute junior cry. Be prepared for the consequences."
Immediately after those words, Yuusuke punched each of the men in the abdomen one by one. Without allowing any resistance or escape, he stepped into their territory and struck upwards. The impact and the moment their feet left the ground made it clear to Hinata just how powerful it was.
Having knocked all of them down in the blink of an eye, Yuusuke walked toward her.
Honestly, she had no idea what had just happened.
She had never heard that Yuusuke was good at fighting, unlike Souji. And what had just happened didn't even qualify as a fight.
His unseen side was far too violent, beyond her imagination.
"Are you okay, Hinata? They didn't do anything weird, did they? You can relax now; I'll take care of the rest."
But his comforting smile remained the same as always.
"Sen...pai..."
Unbeknownst to me, tears were streaming down my face.
Fear, relief, astonishment, and a jumble of emotions that she couldn't even sort out blended together, and there was no stopping it.
"Don't cry. You're safe."
Yuusuke said to Hinata, trying to reassure her.
Amid the muddled feelings, erratic heartbeats that felt like they might burst, and a flushed face, breathing brought no relief. Emotions turned into tears, one after another.
Among all this chaos, one feeling remained clear: something was terribly wrong.
In the midst of this turmoil, a strong radiance that would never be lost, even in the worst chaos, consumed all emotions and ran wild.
――Indeed, it's a sickness after all.
* * *
I realized that Hinata was missing when I saw Kuroi-san reading alone.
Wait, wasn't Hinata here just a moment ago?
"Kuroi-san, where's Hinata? Wasn't she here with you just now?"
"If you mean Hinata-san, she went with Takayama-senpai to buy some drinks."
Takayama?
For a moment, I didn't know who they were talking about, but then it hit me. Right, the stylish guy with the beard, his name was Takayama. The image of that stylish beard was so strong that I had forgotten his name.
But anyway, yeah, did he finally make his move? Since Hinata usually hangs out with us, there wouldn't have been many chances for him to approach her.
"..."
"Is something wrong, Yuusuke-san?"
"No, it's nothing."
Even though I had been told not to interfere, as long as it wasn't a crime, anyone could approach anyone else. But for some reason, I couldn't shake this subtle sense of unease.
It was a gut feeling, or a premonition, or if I were to put it bluntly, it was my Hero's intuition. Originally, it would have been a reason to laugh it off, but unfortunately, this kind of intuition was eerily accurate. My sense, honed during my Hero days, was sharpened to an irritating degree. Not that I had many fond memories of those times.
"I'm sorry, Lisha, Kanami. I'm going to the restroom."
"Understood. I'll keep an eye on Lisha."
"I'm not a baby, you know..."
Leaving Lisha behind to grumble, I headed towards the beach house. Since they were supposed to buy drinks, they wouldn't be at a vending machine but rather over here.
But to my disappointment, my expectations were in vain, and I couldn't find them anywhere.
Hmm, did they go somewhere else to buy drinks? Actually, there was no need to search so desperately. Despite being a ladies' man, Takayama wasn't a bad guy.
Maybe I should just head back.
Thinking that, as I was about to turn around, I noticed Takayama walking towards me. His beard looked more disheveled, and he looked more disappointed than when he failed a required course.
What's more, strangely, I couldn't see Hinata, who was supposed to be with him.
He seemed to have noticed me as well and walked over.
"What's wrong? You look like you're about to keel over."
"Don't give me that look. Anyway, did you come to look for Hinata?"
"It's not like that."
I dodged the question with an excuse because it felt a bit guilty to have followed them.
In a voice that sounded like a tired old man, Takayama said,
"Well, whatever. She's over at the square, so could you go pick her up? She might have a hard time coming back."
Ah, I see.
Finally, it clicked why Takayama was making such a face and why Hinata wasn't here.
"...Cheer up."
"Shut up! I don't feel happy just because a guy's comforting me!"
I understand your feelings, but calm down.
For now, I knew where Hinata was, and Takayama hadn't done anything strange.
Honestly, there was no need to go pick her up, but it might indeed be difficult for her to come back on her own.
I continued walking towards the square.
There, I saw it.
Three men and their brown hair peeking through the gaps between them.
A shiver ran down my spine as the unpleasant premonition instantly turned into reality. Tension surged like an electric current, rushing ahead of any thoughts in my head.
"Hey, what are you guys doing?"
The words that came out of my mouth were unexpectedly cold and heavy.
It might not be Hinata. They might have been having a casual conversation.
Such a sugary hope vanished in an instant when I saw the displeased expressions of the men and Hinata's teary eyes.
All that remained was a gut-wrenching anger.
Nevertheless, there remained a calm part of my mind, simply because this wasn't my first experience of this kind. After all, the closer I get to the front lines, the blurrier the lines between hostility and malevolence become. Those accustomed to inflicting harm can easily turn to the side of evil. Their eyes had the same look, the kind unafraid to resort to violence.
I wanted to pummel them right here and now, but this wasn't Asteris. If I was going to act, I had to follow the rules. I suppressed the anger that made my fists clench and took their phone, trying to provoke them. The rest would be easy. If I took a hit from them, self-defense would be justified. As long as I didn't go too far, there shouldn't be any problems.
Don't go too far. Control your emotions.
I repeated this to myself and struck each of the men in the stomach, one punch at a time. I hadn't hit them too hard, so there shouldn't be any serious injuries, but they would likely experience a painful twisting sensation in their guts and have trouble breathing for a while.
Once I confirmed that the men showed no signs of getting back up, I lowered my gaze and found Hinata staring up at me with wide eyes. In her eyes, I saw confusion, fear, and relief.
——Ah.
It felt like I had just been slapped in the face.
——Ah, that's right.
Flashes of memories rushed through my mind. The side that helped are not always grateful. The scarier the enemy, the scarier the ally who defeated it. I had faced this fearful gaze many times before.
The look of awe that had been directed at me repeatedly. There was nothing more heart-wrenching than the suspicion and fear directed at the person inside the armor, whether they were human or something else.
And Hinata was just an ordinary person. She wasn't even someone from Asteris, where battles were commonplace. She had lived in a world completely free from violence.
Of course, she would be frightened.
"Are you okay, Hinata? They didn't do anything weird, did they? You can relax now; I'll take care of the rest."
Smile to make it seem less scary, to reassure her as much as possible.
"Sen...pai..."
Tears streaming down, a broken voice. I had made her go through something frightening. When I had that bad feeling, I should have acted with more determination, found a different solution. Regret was a bitter thing.
"Don't cry. You're safe."
If I were someone who could embrace her, pat her head, be there for her, maybe I could have reassured Hinata even more. But I couldn't.
——After all, Hero's (my) hands are stained.
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