Chapter 6: Men's Friendships Often Stem from Being Caught Together

“Ah, the teacher is really a nag.” Walking out of the office, Jonouchi let out a long breath, his posture relaxing.

Honda nudged him. “Hey, let’s get out of here first. Don’t block the way.”

“After all, even though we weren’t caught on camera, you two troublemakers were definitely the prime suspects.”

Hayato was the last to emerge from the office.

After giving the director, Fujita, and the others a sound thrashing, Hayato and his friends had taken the tapes from the cameras and destroyed them. However, because the director’s wails while being beaten were so loud that they attracted unwanted attention, they had been forced to flee the scene in a hurry.

Unfortunately, limited by Yugi’s short legs, just as he was about to be caught by the security guards who had come running, Hayato had volunteered to stay behind to cover their retreat, telling Jonouchi and Honda to take Anzu and Yugi and leave first. Jonouchi wouldn’t hear of it and stubbornly insisted on staying behind as well, and Honda wasn’t about to be outdone.

In the end, Honda, Jonouchi, and Hayato were all “caught” by the security guards and sent to the disciplinary office.

The beaten-up director had initially tried to use his status to demand the school expel the three of them and report them to the public. But once Hayato produced the camera containing footage of “the director directing a cameraman to film Fujita beating up Yugi,” the school’s attitude shifted from timid to aggressive, putting pressure on the director and his two cohorts for “entering the campus without permission and harboring malicious intent toward students.”

The three of them didn’t know the exact details, because after providing the incriminating evidence, they were picked up by their teacher at the principal’s request, while the director and his crew were left to negotiate with the school administration led by the principal. But, well, it was likely just another dirty exchange of interests.

For instance, the school might get more promotional opportunities, and the director could get his leverage erased.

However, for Hayato and the others who had been retrieved by their homeroom teacher, things weren’t over yet. Even though there was no concrete evidence that the other two hadn’t participated in the “brawl” besides Jonouchi, the suspicion on Honda and Hayato hadn’t been cleared. Following the principle of “better to punish the innocent than let a culprit go,” their homeroom teacher gave each of them a penalty.

“Jonouchi has to scrub the school toilets for a week, Honda has to stand guard at the school gate for a week, and both of us have to copy the school rules three times,” Hayato sighed. “Man, we’re miserable.”

“You’re the only one who has no right to say that!”

Jonouchi retorted, “I can understand why my punishment is the heaviest, but why is it that you only have to promise not to fight again?!”

“Exactly!” Honda added, feeling annoyed. “I suspect that old man likes guys; otherwise, why is it that you’re the only one who got off scot-free?”

“Screw you.” Hayato rolled his eyes at Honda, then shrugged helplessly. “I can’t help it. Who told me to always be a good student? Not only do I not cause trouble, but my grades are also quite good. As for you two, ‘notorious’ is the only word to describe you.”

“You’re really asking for a beating,” Jonouchi said, feeling disgruntled. “Just thinking about having to clean the toilets makes me angry.”

“Don’t forget about copying the school rules,” Honda added, looking dejected.

Hayato patted them both on the shoulder. “Worst case scenario, I’ll help you copy the rules, okay?”

“You said it!” “Don’t go back on your word!”

The two, who had been in low spirits just a moment ago, immediately perked up. Though, for two idiots like them, they wouldn’t have kept it on their minds for long anyway.

“Jonouchi, Honda, Kobayashi-kun!” A voice came from behind them, soft and sweet like a grade-schooler’s.

Hayato turned his head. “Isn’t that Yugi-boy?”

Standing behind the three was none other than Mutou Yugi. Watching them walk out of the office, Yugi looked full of apology. “Everyone, I’m really sorry. It’s all because of me that you guys…”

“Don’t say that, Yugi.” Jonouchi wore a brilliant smile, clearly having already put the unpleasantness behind him. “Aren’t we friends?”

“If we’re friends, we shouldn’t be so formal, Yugi,” Honda said with the air of a philosopher, nodding affirmatively.

“Kobayashi-kun, I’m sorry for dragging you into this too.” With Jonouchi’s arm around his head, Yugi looked at Hayato.

“That guy was being so smug, I couldn’t stand it. Even without your situation, I would have taught them a lesson. So, don’t take it to heart, Yugi-boy.” Hayato wore a bright smile.

Anzu whispered from behind Yugi, “Such weird English…”

“Um, thank you, Hayato.”

Yugi didn’t pay much attention to Hayato’s strange “Yugi-boy” nickname. However, after saying that, he suddenly seemed hesitant, as if he wanted to say something but didn’t know if he should.

“What’s wrong, Yugi?”

“Um, Kobayashi-kun…”

“Just call me Hayato.”

“Um, Hayato.” Yugi hesitated, then finally got the words out. “Can we be friends?”

A brief look of surprise appeared on Hayato’s face, which then turned into a smile. “What are you saying, Yugi-boy? Aren’t we already friends?”

The group gathered there looked at each other and suddenly burst into laughter in unison.

“Who’s being so noisy outside?!”

The teacher’s roar from the office ruined the harmonious moment, and the group left happily.

After school that day.

“Hayato.”

“What’s up?” Hayato, who was packing his bag, heard his name called. He looked up to see Yugi, already wearing his small backpack.

“Do you like playing Duel Monsters? Jonouchi said he wanted to check out the card shop my family runs. Anzu and Honda are going too. Do you want to come along?”

As he asked, Yugi blinked his large, watery eyes, clearly very much looking forward to Hayato joining them. After all, Yugi really had very few friends, and having made a new one today, he couldn’t wait to go back and share the news with his grandfather.

Hayato reached into his pocket and pulled out a metal case, showing it to Yugi. “Actually, I’m a Duel Monsters enthusiast too. Your family runs a card shop, Yugi? That’s perfect, I was just thinking about buying some cards. I’ll head over to your place tonight; I’ll just call home in a bit.”

“Yay!”

Yugi looked very happy, but then, as if thinking of something, he asked, “But, Hayato, do you have a lot of pocket money? I remember those rare Duel Monsters cards are very expensive, and the non-rare ones don’t seem to be worth buying much.”

“I’m not looking to buy anything too rare, just a few common cards. Because I believe every card has its own value,” Hayato said righteously, while casually pulling out three wallets. “As for money, I think I have enough.”

Yugi vaguely saw a photo inside one of the wallets; it seemed to be the face of the director who had been beaten up by Jonouchi.

I must have seen that wrong, Yugi thought.