Chapter 56: The Rumored Biker Gang
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 56: The Rumored Biker Gang
The three-day-long midterms finally ended today.
Honestly, I barely remember how those three days went by.
Still, I suppose I should be glad I seem to have done well on the tests.
I didn't make any particular mistakes, so I expected my scores to be good.
As I was packing my bag to go home, Satoru, who sat in front of me, asked with an urgent expression.
"Yoo-Sung, how were the exams?"
"They were pretty average. The questions didn't seem designed to separate the scores much, so the final will probably be harder."
"Gah! I'm screwed! Why was it so hard for me?!"
"Well, you should've studied harder."
As I shrugged and told him he was reaping what he sowed, Rika, who was next to me, spoke with a bright expression.
"I think I did way better than usual on these exams! It must be all thanks to you, Yoo-Sung!"
"What are you talking about? I barely taught you anything. It's the result of your own hard work."
"You think so? Hehe."
Rika scratched the back of her head shyly and grinned.
"Anyway, since the exams are over, you guys want to go hang out somewhere? Karaoke is on me today."
"Oh, sounds good."
"Satoru, you coming too?"
"What, were you planning on going without me? You snake."
Satoru said, trying to put me in a headlock, but he gave up quickly, probably because of the huge difference in our sitting heights.
"Oh, by the way, Yoo-Sung. Did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"You've got another rumor going around. And not in a good way."
"What is it this time?"
"They're saying you fought the Russian mafia, 20-to-1."
"..."
Could someone have seen me fighting in Akihabara during Golden Week?
I broke out in a cold sweat without even realizing it.
"Haha, I should've known when people actually believed I fought 50 bikers, but the Russian mafia? Haven't they been watching too many movies?"
"Y-yeah, I guess so."
I forced a smile and played along with Satoru, hoping this uncomfortable topic would pass as quickly as possible.
Just then, Sasha approached us, holding her bag.
"Yoo-Sung! I heard everything from the front row! You're going to karaoke today! Then I shall let you hear my heavenly voice!"
As confident as ever, Sasha boasted with an air of superiority.
Calling her own voice heavenly... just how thick is her skin?
Satoru asked her.
"What kind of songs are you going to sing?"
"Anisongs, of course."
"Wow, cringe..."
Dude, don't say that right to her face.
But Sasha didn't seem to be hurt by such a comment. Instead, she casually rummaged through her bag.
Click-!
"Say that again, Momochi."
With the black barrel of a gun shoved right in his face, Momochi freaked out and raised both hands.
"I'm sorry! I didn't know my place!"
"As long as you know."
Having extracted an apology by instilling some manners in the simplest way possible, Sasha blew on the muzzle of the unfired gun and put it back in her bag.
Seeing this, Rika's eyes sparkled as she asked.
"Sasha-chan, is that a model gun?"
"It's a TT-33 automatic pistol. I illegally modified it to increase the number of rounds it can hold. I also attached a silencer, just in case."
Seeing her dodge the question, Momochi asked with a nervous look.
"...It is a model gun, right?"
"Who knows."
Sasha gave another ambiguous answer before turning to me, still in my seat.
"Is the redhead going to karaoke too?"
"Probably, yeah."
"Hmph, then the time has come to crush her with my skill."
"...You think it'll be that easy?"
I learned this last time I went to karaoke with Karen, but she's actually an amazing singer.
Except for the fact that her song selection was heavily skewed toward enka.
"What, you don't trust my skills? I have always been perfect. That will not change."
Sasha said, lifting her chin and burning with fighting spirit toward Karen.
It seemed those two were planning to fight again today.
Since it was practically a daily occurrence now, I stopped thinking too deeply about it.
*
After meeting up with Karen, we headed to a karaoke place in Shibuya, which was basically the next town over.
Being in a busy district, the prices weren't exactly cheap, but all the girls here were rich, so an expense like this was nothing to them.
Thanks to that, only Satoru and I, who came from a middle school in a different district, had a realistic sense of money.
A karaoke room that costs 2000 yen an hour... honestly, isn't that too expensive for a student's allowance...?
On top of that, drinks cost extra.
Rika, Karen, and Sasha's tastes were clearly divided from the song selection stage. Rika covered a wide range, from the latest hits to idol songs and famous anisongs. Karen, on the other hand, focused on enka, while Sasha stuck to anisongs.
Both of their selections were quite extreme.
But I couldn't criticize them, because both Karen and Sasha had near-professional vocal volume and projection.
So much so that Rika, who was a decent singer herself, seemed to pale in comparison.
After we each took turns reserving our songs, it was my turn again.
Holding the karaoke remote, I chose a song by an artist that had recently left an impression on me without much thought.
「Moshiya (If by chance)」
It was the kind of song that felt like you just had to sing it at least once when you went to karaoke.
*
"Ah, that was fun~"
Somehow, we ended up spending nearly three hours at the karaoke place.
But since school let out much earlier than usual because of exams, it was only two in the afternoon.
Satoru, who was leading the way through the Shibuya streets bustling with students fresh out of exams, turned around and asked.
"I'm hungry since we haven't had lunch yet. You guys want to go to that craft burger place up ahead?"
"Sounds good."
"I'm in."
"Not a bad suggestion."
It was such a perfectly timed suggestion that even Sasha praised it for once.
Well, with a group of high schoolers who get hungry the moment they turn around, this kind of reaction was only natural.
"Alright. Then just trust me and follow me."
The moment Satoru said that and turned around.
BEEEEEEEEP!
"Watch where you're going, you asshole!"
"Whoa!"
Suddenly, a motorcycle blared its horn and sped past him.
I looked to see what was going on and saw a delinquent in flashy clothes sitting on a heavily customized motorcycle, flipping Satoru the middle finger.
"..."
The guy seemed to have spotted me standing next to Satoru, as he flinched slightly, but then he forced a cocky smile and said.
"What are you staring at, asshole?! You wanna go?"
I didn't waste any words.
I handed my shoulder bag to Satoru, then slowly walked forward and said.
"Get off."
*
"Y-yes, sir."
The delinquent, who had been maintaining his cocky attitude just a moment ago, immediately got off his bike, completely terrified.
We weren't far apart, so I quickly reached him. I looked down at the guy, who couldn't have been more than 170cm tall, and spoke.
"When a person does something wrong, what are they supposed to do?"
The delinquent trembled, unable to even meet my eyes.
"Th-they have to apologize."
I patted his shoulder and pointed to Satoru, who was holding my bag for me.
"So, what do you have to say?"
The delinquent broke out in a cold sweat and immediately bowed his head.
"It was my fault! I'm sorry for picking a fight for no reason!"
Now that he seemed to have finally learned some proper traffic etiquette, I patted his shoulder and said.
"Let's be careful."
The delinquent nodded his head vigorously.
And when I told him he could go, he hopped on his bike and fled without a single look back.
Tsk, why act tough if you're just going to do that?
After I finished directing traffic and rejoined the group, Satoru looked at me with an uncomfortably moved expression.
"Yoo-Sung..."
"Just give me my bag."
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I spoke bluntly and snatched my bag back from Satoru.
Karen, who had been watching the whole thing from the side, asked in a quiet voice.
"Should I ask my father to... clean up all the biker gangs around here? They seem to be getting a little bold lately."
Not to be outdone, Sasha chimed in.
"If we use our special agents, we can make sure they're never found."
I told the two of them to drop it before they blew things out of proportion and said we should hurry and get some burgers since I was hungry.
The two of them clicked their tongues in disappointment, but they didn't try to do anything more.
"Let's go, Satoru."
When I said that and gave him a push, Satoru nodded and led us to a craft burger joint he knew.
*
After going to karaoke with my friends and having a simple lunch at the burger place, I took the subway home. When I arrived, there was an unfamiliar motorcycle parked in front of our restaurant.
Wondering if it belonged to a customer, I tilted my head and entered the first-floor restaurant. Inside, a young man with a pompadour, sweating profusely while eating a bowl of spicy beef soup, waved at me.
"It's me! Hyung-nim!"
...Who are you?