Chapter 13
Even though they were classmates, the only one who remembered Megumi Kato's name correctly was Ethan Kane, the transfer student who had just arrived.
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"Who do you think you are, anyway?"
"Why are you defending that birdbrain?"
"Wait, don't tell me—you've got chuunibyou too?"
The barbed accusations came fast and loud. Sagami Minami's clique was nothing if not predictable—intimidate, then isolate.
Megumi didn't flinch.
"Whether or not I have chuunibyou," she said calmly, "doesn't change the fact that you're bullying Rikka Takanashi."
It hit like a dart to the chest.
"You're twisting it!" one of the girls snapped.
"When did we ever bully her?"
"Yeah, where's your proof?"
Their eyes scanned the room, daring anyone to speak up.
No one did.
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"Umm… Sagami," a small voice finally spoke. "You guys are kind of… crossing a line."
Yuigahama Yui.
Timid. Nervous. But this time—speaking up.
Sagami turned on her like a thundercloud.
"Yui," she growled, "say that again."
Yui trembled but held her ground.
To Sagami, Yui had always been easy to control—an obedient background character.
Now she was rebelling?
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"Don't you dare yell at my Yui."
Yumiko Miura stepped in sharply, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.
"Miura, you—?" Sagami's eyes widened.
"What's your problem?"
Yumiko stepped between them, protective and unflinching.
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"Hey, hey! Let's all calm down," Hayato Hayama interjected. "We're all classmates. No need to fight. Let's talk this out."
As the class president and golden boy, Hayato's words usually calmed storms.
And for a moment, it seemed to work.
Miura backed off slightly. Sagami too.
"Hayato is amazing," someone whispered. "Such a natural leader."
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But Megumi frowned.
You're asking everyone to 'calm down'?
When it was clearly Sagami's group that instigated everything?
That didn't sit right with her.
It felt like papering over rot.
---
The tension began to ease.
Then—
"Yo. I could hear you guys bickering from halfway down the hall."
Ethan Kane entered the classroom, voice cold and sharp.
And the temperature dropped five degrees.
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"Ethan!" Rikka Takanashi's eyes lit up.
Relief washed over her face. Her champion had arrived.
"Are you alright?" Ethan asked her, his voice softening for her alone.
She nodded.
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"We didn't bully her!" a girl from Sagami's group blurted out.
Idiot!
Sagami grit her teeth. That was practically a confession.
She quickly stepped forward, forcing a smile.
"Ethan, it's just a misunderstanding," she said sweetly. "We were just teasing Rikka a little, that's all…"
Smack.
Ethan didn't wait for her to finish.
His slap cracked through the classroom like thunder.
Sagami froze, mouth agape.
"You can slap yourself," Ethan said icily, "or I'll do it for you."
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"E-Ethan…" Hayato stepped in. "That's going too far."
"Yeah!" another boy echoed. "That's not okay!"
"Shut it," Ethan snapped. "All of you."
He glared at them.
"When Rikka was being harassed, where were you?"
"Why is it that the victim has to 'reconcile' while the bullies walk away untouched?"
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"I…" Hayato faltered.
He had no answer.
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"Don't talk to Hayato like that!" Miura snapped.
"You stay out of this," Ethan barked. "You're just another loudmouth who kisses up to whoever's convenient."
Miura flushed crimson.
She opened her mouth to respond—but no words came.
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Yuigahama Yui blinked in awe.
He's amazing...
He says exactly what he feels—without apologizing for it.
Her cheeks turned pink, and she quickly looked away.
---
Ethan had just taken on the two strongest social groups in class—and silenced them both.
But what happened next sent real shockwaves through the room.
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Bang.
A second slap.
Ethan struck Sagami Minami full in the face.
She spun and collapsed to the floor, her cheek already swelling.
But the pain was nothing compared to the humiliation.
Tears welled in her eyes.
She didn't scream. She didn't get up.
She just sat there, shaking.
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Ethan shook out his hand in disgust.
"Ugh. Dirty."
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"That's enough!"
Hayato exploded.
He charged forward and grabbed Ethan by the collar, trying to lift him off the ground.
But Ethan didn't move.
Not an inch.
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"There were other ways to handle this!" Hayato shouted. "You didn't have to resort to violence!"
"You're wrong," Ethan said, voice low.
"Maybe there were better ways. But me?"
"I prefer the kind that works."
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He grabbed Hayato's wrists, twisted, and slammed him to the floor in a smooth, controlled takedown.
The class gasped.
Hayato, their top athlete, was pinned with ease.
His arms trembled, but he couldn't escape.
---
"Violence," Ethan said calmly, "might not solve every problem."
"But it sure as hell solves the people who cause them."
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End of Chapter 13
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