Chapter 5: I'll Just Wash the Kelp Directly

Honda noticed Hayato shaking the camera and spoke up with some concern, "Hey, Kobayashi-kun, I went out of my way to borrow this from Miho-chan, so handle it carefully and hold it steady. Don't break it."

"Calling her 'Miho-chan' already? Looks like someone is quite interested in Nozaka-chan, huh?" Hayato said casually, but his words made Honda, who always gave off a "tough" vibe, blush—clearly, his secret had been exposed. "Oh, you're blushing! I guess you really don't get it at all~"

Ignoring Honda, who was about to be teased to death, Jonouchi shook his tired hand and grabbed Fujita by the collar, demanding, "You bastard, I've never seen you around school. Speak! What are you trying to do to Yugi!"

"_( `」∠)_ (It’s not like I wanted to do this, really)!" Fujita was dizzy from Jonouchi’s rough handling, his speech becoming increasingly slurred. "(ω)ノ (The director told me to do it)."

"Director?" Jonouchi listened to Fujita’s mumbling, and after a long moment, he managed to make out the word, repeating it to himself.

Before he could figure out what "director" Fujita was talking about, a person suddenly stood up from the bushes nearby, interrupting Jonouchi’s train of thought: "Enough, let him go!"

Jonouchi turned his head toward the source of the voice and instinctively loosened his grip on Fujita’s collar. Fujita, caught off guard, fell heavily to the ground with an "Ouch."

The director, wearing his baseball cap backward, stood up from the bushes with a gloomy expression and said to Fujita, who was lying on the ground, "Alright, alright, good work, Fujita. You can step aside."

"Director..." Fujita rubbed his backside, checked the director's expression, and confirmed that Jonouchi had no intention of attacking him again before scrambling to his feet and running over to the bushes where the director stood.

"So, you're the director planning to mess with Yugi?" Jonouchi frowned, his knuckles cracking as he clenched his fists, looking ready to strike if the director said anything he didn't like.

"Heh, don't be so agitated, kid. I was actually planning on making your friend a TV star." The director said with a dark face.

"By kicking and punching him? That’s pretty 'nice,' do you want me to give you a taste of that too?" Hayato let go of Honda—who was just as pathetic as Binbin—and stepped forward to stand beside Jonouchi, camera in hand.

"It’s a shame, really. I could have captured some excellent footage: 'Small-statured boy bullied at school.' I’m sure it would have attracted the attention of plenty of people with overflowing sympathy, right? Too bad you lot ruined it." The director shrugged and added with a sinister smile,

"But, the footage I’ve collected now isn't bad either. 'Staff member goes undercover at school and is bullied by delinquents.' It might not be as profitable as the previous project, but as a bonus, you lot are going to suffer, and that makes me happy even if I make a little less money."

"What do you mean?" Jonouchi didn't understand the director's implication. Hayato explained, "It means he’s planning to film a show about 'school bullying.' He picked Yugi before, and now he’s picked you. The thing is, if this show airs, you’ll likely be expelled for being the 'bully,' Jonouchi-kun."

"How could that be?!" Anzu, who had been explaining the situation to Yugi, was shocked. "Didn't the camera record what happened earlier? Yugi is the victim, and Jonouchi was just protecting him."

"What a naive little girl. Have you never heard of editing?" The director sneered. "With just a few simple operations, I can even turn black into white. Honestly, you kids are so innocent; bullying you is like getting no feedback at all."

"You bas—" Jonouchi angrily wanted to rush forward and punch the annoying director, but after taking only one step, the director suddenly called out to him, "Hey, wait a second."

"You're actually capable of feeling fear, too?"

"No, no, just a friendly reminder, kid." The director wore a nasty grin as he paced toward Jonouchi, gesturing toward the cameraman behind him. "The camera is still rolling, you know. If you want to show the national audience more of your violent behavior, feel free to lay a hand on me."

Jonouchi looked toward the cameraman. Just as the director said, the camera was still recording. If he attacked the director, he would only be providing more evidence for this detestable man.

Walking right up to Jonouchi, the director tapped Jonouchi’s face with the crumpled paper tube in his hand. "Are you angry? Frustrated, kid? That’s the expression I was looking for—that look of wanting to kill me but being unable to. Heh heh heh—"

"Um, did you not consider that there might be surveillance cameras here?" Hayato, standing next to Jonouchi, put on a nerdy act. "Security cameras record everything. Your crimes won't escape the reach of the law."

"That’s why you kids are so stupidly cute." The director glanced at Hayato with contempt. "Do you think we adults act as impulsively as you kids without considering the consequences? Naive! I specifically chose this spot after scouting your school. There are no cameras here."

"Oh, no cameras, huh?"

The weak, nerdy look on Hayato’s face vanished instantly. He exchanged a glance with Jonouchi, and both of them broke into a sinister grin.

Jonouchi moved with lightning speed, instantly raising his leg in a knee strike. His hard knee collided with the director’s soft abdomen. A single blow was enough to subdue the man who had been so smug just a moment ago.

"No cameras, and you still dared to be so arrogant?!"

The moment Jonouchi moved, someone bolted from behind him. The bullet-shaped hairstyle announced the person's identity: it was Honda. Having fought alongside Jonouchi since middle school, he could guess what Jonouchi was thinking just by the way he shifted his stance.

Without needing a hint, Honda rushed to Fujita—who had just escaped Jonouchi’s clutches—and slapped the other side of his face, the one that wasn't swollen, to help make his face symmetrical.

The cameraman panicked.

This wasn't right. These students weren't playing by the rules. Usually, people tried to avoid being caught on camera, but these guys were practically shoving the evidence right into the lens. What was going on?

Watching the director being beaten by Jonouchi—"Bastard! Fuck! Bastard! Hit him!"—and Fujita being shaken by his collar by Honda while he shouted "Muda Muda," the cameraman considered turning and running.

Just then, a hand rested on the cameraman’s shoulder.

Turning around in fear, the cameraman saw Kobayashi Hayato’s rather "kind" smile: "Don't be in such a hurry to leave, cameraman-san. Since you’ve come all the way to our high school, you should at least solve a math problem before you go."

"Question: 1000-7=?"

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(End of chapter)