Incident

As Yasushi followed Jingliu, he kept looking back and forth between her graceful figure and the three suspicious guys lurking behind her. He recognized them as the school's notorious troublemakers, known for their antics and bad reputation.

In the middle of Japan's strict focus on being proper and working hard in school, seeing characters like that seemed almost cliché to Yasushi, like something straight out of an anime. Still, there was something interesting about watching this clash of different types of people, a strange mix of social expectations and rebellious attitudes.

They walked through winding streets and busy intersections until Jingliu stopped at a cute bakery. A few minutes later, she came out carrying a bag full of freshly baked bread, delicious pastries, and tempting sweets. Yasushi couldn't help but smile as she ate a cupcake with delicate pink frosting.

Jingliu walked away from the bakery, heading down a narrow street as if she knew exactly where she was going. It was at that moment that the three troublemakers decided to put their plan into action. They hurried to catch up with her, only to be stopped when she suddenly turned into an alleyway, a dead-end waiting for her like it was meant to be.

Turning to face the guys following her, Jingliu's eyes showed a simmering anger that matched the tense atmosphere. "What do you want?" Her words cut through the silence, a challenge wrapped in defiance.

"Don't be such a bitch; we just want to have a friendly chat," one of the boys replied, his face marked by a scar under his eye and a scruffy mustache that suggested a rough background.

"It's just business, nothing personal. Save your hatred for the person who's paying us," another guy added, his buck teeth flashing as he rubbed his hands together, looking forward to getting paid. His blue afro made the tense scene even weirder.

"I—" The last guy, with messy blonde hair and tanned skin that stood out against his brown eyes, tried to say something but was quickly cut off by Jingliu's commanding voice.

"Enough with the theatrics. You guys sound like cheesy villains from a bad TV show," she interrupted, her words cutting through the air so sharply that the three boys were stunned for a moment. Then, as if they'd planned it, they burst out laughing, their laughter echoing off the alley walls while Jingliu looked at them with narrowed eyes.

"Don't you get it, you clueless girl? We're not here to talk. We're here to teach you a lesson," the first boy with the mustache said, his voice a mix of confidence and menace. His words hung in the air, a clear threat that lingered like a storm on the horizon.

Jingliu sighed, setting down her bag of treats with purpose. Without hesitating, she started to stretch her body, a strange act given the tense atmosphere of the alleyway, which confused the three boys in front of her.

One of them found the courage to ask what she was doing, but before he could finish his question, Jingliu lunged forward with lightning speed. In a quick movement, she got in front of the boy with buck teeth and delivered a precise elbow strike to his stomach. As he bent over, gasping for air, she quickly followed up with a well-aimed kick between his legs, causing him to collapse and pass out.

The other two boys froze, too shocked to move. Jingliu used this chance to punch the blonde-haired boy hard in the chin, making him stumble backward.

Before he could get his balance back, she struck again, this time hitting him in a sensitive area. As he fell to the ground, she finished it off with a punch to his chest, the sound echoing softly in the still alley, leaving him unconscious next to his friend.

The leader of the group, the boy with the mustache, stuttered in shock, "W-w-what the hell!?" His protest was cut short when Jingliu punched him hard in the stomach, causing him to double over and throw up.

With an icy calmness in her voice, she said, "Keep bothering me, and I won't just leave you with bruises. I'll make sure you never have the chance to have a family. And tell your cowardly boss to come talk to me himself. Sending others to do his dirty work is a sign that he's weak."

Quickly, she grabbed the boy's head and slammed it against the hard wall of the alley before throwing him to the ground. The three troublemakers were now lying unconscious, taken down by Jingliu's decisive actions.

Jingliu spun around sharply, her eyes locked on the only way out of the alley, where Yasushi stood with his mouth hanging open, phone in his hand, recording what was happening. Realizing that he'd been seen, he quickly stopped recording and put his phone away.

Without saying a word, Jingliu picked up her bag and walked over to Yasushi, standing next to him and looking at him from the side. "Are you one of them?" Her voice was still cool and calm, not showing any of the chaos that had just happened.

"No," Yasushi answered calmly. "I saw them following you earlier, so I followed too. I've been recording since we passed a certain street in the city. If you need proof in case they try to sue you, I can give it to you." His words were reassuring, showing that he was willing to help her deal with what might come after the fight.

"I'll keep that in mind," Jingliu replied before confidently walking out of the alleyway.

Yasushi turned to watch her leave, sighing in admiration. "Damn, that was cool," he muttered to himself, his eyes fixed on Jingliu's disappearing figure. She was like a badass anime character come to life, someone you wouldn't want to mess with.

His first thought was to record the fight and step in if he needed to, but Jingliu's quick and strong actions left him speechless. She had taken care of the troublemakers without any trouble, leaving him with nothing to do except offer his recordings as support if she had any legal problems later on.

Looking back at the unconscious guys, Yasushi made a silent decision. "Nope, I'm not helping them," he said to himself as he walked away. This encounter with Jingliu was something he wouldn't forget, a reminder of her strength and determination.

+-+

That night, Yasushi was in his room, boredly scrolling through his social media feeds, not finding anything interesting until a sudden refresh showed a bunch of posts of the three troublemakers looking beat up — bloody and bruised. Intrigued, Yasushi looked at the comments, where everyone was guessing who could have done that to them.

Yasushi smirked as he read through the comments, knowing exactly what had happened earlier. Among all the comments from the popular kids at school, he noticed that Jishiha hadn't said anything, which was unusual for him.

Known for his strange comments, his silence made people curious, and some even tagged him in the discussions.

After a tense ten minutes, Jishiha finally said something, leaving a cryptic comment: "Let's hope they get what they deserve for crossing the line." The mysterious nature of his words only added to the intrigue surrounding the situation, making everyone wonder what the troublemakers had really done and what would happen to them next.

"I didn't think you'd stoop that low so fast," Yasushi mumbled to himself, shaking his head in disbelief and resignation. Just then, his phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. It was his friend Furuya calling.

"Dude! Have you seen what's going on?!" Furuya's excited voice burst through the phone.

"Yeah, I just heard about it. What do you think?" Yasushi replied, sounding more subdued.

"And? What do you think about it?" Furuya pressed eagerly.

Yasushi paused for a moment before answering carefully, "Honestly, not much. Those three were bound to run into someone who could handle them sooner or later. If you bully the wrong person for long enough, you're going to get what's coming to you. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a group of students who were fed up and decided to take things into their own hands." He hid the fact that he was somewhat involved in the incident, keeping his thoughts to himself as he talked to Furuya.

"Haha, true, we Japanese tend to be reserved and just deal with things quietly," Furuya laughed in response.

Yasushi nodded, but he was thinking about something else. "Yeah, but considering what happened, it's not that unlikely. Anyway, did you just call to talk about this? It might be better to talk about it in person at school. We'll get to hear what more people think then."

"Good point. Let's save this conversation for tomorrow then. See you at school!" Furuya exclaimed before hanging up suddenly, not giving Yasushi a chance to say anything.

Yasushi sighed, shaking his head at how quick teenagers were to gossip. "Teenagers and their drama," he muttered as he put his phone on the nightstand. "Tomorrow might get messy if they find out Jingliu was involved. I might get dragged into it too."

With a final sigh, Yasushi got into bed, feeling a little worried as he thought about the potential chaos that was waiting for him the next day.