High school csses were far more b than Ryuji had imagined.

  Before his time travel, he had to attend css. Now, after time traveling, he still had to attend css. It gave him a strange sense of déjà vu, as if his reination had been for nothing. He had initially po find a ghost during lunch to satiate his hunger, but such things were elusive. When he wao find it, it was o be found.

  The school day ended before 3 PM.

  At Sobu High, they believed in the cept of "happy education," meaning csses usually ended by 2 PM. After that, most students would either join their respective clubs o home.

  Naturally, there were students like Ryuji who didn't join any clubs a straight home.

  Ryuji had sidered looking for Miko, but just as he ag up his things to leave, someone called out.

  "Hey, is Hoshino kun in a hurry to leave?"

  "Didn't I tell you yesterday? Surely you haven't fotten already, right?"

  Three figures ehrough the back door of the .

  At that moment, the few students still left in the turheir attention toward the se.

  "Yesterday?"

  Seeing the trio, Ryuji suddenly recalled something.

  These three looked like typical delis Hikawa Okazaka was their leader. Before Ryuji's reination, they had bullied him for quite some time, ofte him for money.

  Just yesterday, these guys had e to him after school and demanded he bring 10,000 yen by today as "proteoney." Ryuji had been weak-minded before as an orphan with no parents to rely on and the relentless bullying had driven him to the point of jumping into the river out of despair.

  "Still don't remember?"

  "Well, let us jog your memory."

  Seeing Ryuji's indifferent expression, Hikawa Okazaka was starting to lose his patience. He gestured for his ckeys t Ryuji out of the .

  Even though they were notorious bullies, they weren't dumb enough to start something in front of witnesses.

  "Alright then."

  The memories of his past life resurfaced, but instead of feeling scared, Ryuji smiled at them.

  Without a word, he stood up and followed them out.

  "???"

  They were surprised. In the past, Ryuji would resist or cower in fear, but this time, he followed them without any fuss. fused for a moment, Hikawa and his ies quickly surrounded him and led him outside the . After all, with the three of them together, they had nothing to fear.

  The other students in the saw what was happening, but they acted as if it was business as usual. Some looked ed, but most were indifferent. When it came to things outside their own social circles, they chose to stay out of it.

  "Yumiko, do you think we should report this to the teacher?" Yuigahama Yui asked nervously. After all, they were in the same css; it didn't feel right to just stand by and watch.

  Miura Yumiko, who had a reputation for being the "Queen" of their clique, wasn't pletely heartless despite her sharp tongue and bossy demeanor.

  "The st homeroom teacher didn't care at all about these kinds of things. What if…?"

  Miura had brought it up before, but the previous teacher had turned a blind eye. The culture of bullying was deeply ingrained in Sakura High. Who knew how the new homeroom teacher would react? If they reported it and nothing ged, wouldn't it just be a waste of time?

  "Why don't we give it a try?" Yuigahama Yui, being the kind person she was, suggested softly.

  Seeing Yui's persistence, Miura Yumiko hesitated but was ready to agree.

  But before they could act

  "Oh, why bother helping a loner like that?"

  Tobe Sho, one of the boys in their group, waved dismissively. In his eyes, Ryuji wasn't worth their time. He was more ied in preserving the harmony of their current friend group than in helping an outcast.

  "How about you guys head to the club first? I'll go inform the teacher," Tobe suggested nontly.

  "Thanks, Tobe!" everyone said without a sed thought, trusting their friend.

  However, after leaving the , Tobe Sho walked toward the teacher's office for a bit before quickly dug into the bathroom.

  "Tch, what's the point of helping a loser like that? Tch, why would I stick my neck out for him?" Tobe muttered to himself as he ehe bathroom.

  He was only putting on an apress Ebina Hina, a girl he had a crush on in their group.

  Even if he had goo the teacher, he doubted the new homeroom teacher, Hiratsuka Shizuka, would care any more than the previous one.

  At worst, he could just say the teacher didn't give a damn nobody would know the truth anyway.

  "Huh?"

  Just as he was about to leave the bathroom, Tobe noticed a CD lying on the floor near his feet.

  "What's this?"

  His face turned red as he realized what it was.

  It was that kind of bsp;

  "Someone must've dropped it," he muttered to himself, looking around. Seeing no one nearby, he quickly snatched it up and hid it, excited at the thought of watg it ter.

  After pocketing the CD, he rushed out of the bathroom.

  Meanwhile, Ryuji had followed Hikawa Okazaka and his two ckeys to a secluded area of the school grounds, near a small patch of woods by the pyground. It was out of sight, and more importantly, there were no security cameras around.

  Ohey were fident no one would disturb them, Hikawa Okazaka turo Ryuji and said menagly, "Alright, Hoshiher you hand over 10,000 yen today, or we'll send you to the hospital for a month!"

  He cracked his knuckles as he spoke, while his two ckeys smirked and surrounded Ryuji menagly.

  "Actually, I have a third option," Ryuji replied casually.

  If this had beeerday, he might have felt ered, but today? Things were different now.

  Ign their threats, Ryuji smiled fidently. "How about you kneel down and beg for mercy? If you do, maybe I'll let you walk away."

  "What did you just say?" Hikawa Okazaka's eyes widened in disbelief. Was this guy crazy?

  "Are you out of your mind? Who do you think you are?"

  Smack!

  Before Hikawa could finish, Ryuji's hand fshed, nding a heavy sp across his face.

  The force sent Hikawa flying several meters away. His face swelled almost instantly, and a few teeth flew out, glinting in the sunlight as they spun through the air.

  "It seems like you're not ied in kneeling. How about I help you with that?" Ryuji said calmly, flexing his wrist.

  Even though he had held back, the sp was more than enough to leave Hikawa seeing stars. If Ryuji had gone all out with his current strength, he could have easily turheir heads into mush.

  "Monster! He's a monster!" Hikawa's two ckeys, terrified by the sudden dispy of power, shrieked in fear and scrambled to run away.