Hirai’s Secret IV |
“You bastardssssssss―!! What are you doing in front of the store, you damn kids aaaaaaaaah!!”
An unfamiliar, high-pitched voice assaulted from the side. Not merely me, but the guy who was clutching my chest was taken aback by it as well, and momentarily froze.
What…
When I stretched my neck out from the man’s shadow and checked, it turned out that Aoyama was the one yelling with a threatening attitude at the entrance of the store.
“You know the consequences if you don’t get your hands off of him at once, don’t you, you greenhorn!?”
I mean, it was Aoyama…?
As he glared up at the bikers with the ferocity of a beast, his tone, no, not simply the quality of his voice, but even he sounded incredibly masculine, threatening, or spirited. Even I had to admit that Aoyama was giving me goosebumps.
Who was this person?
Not only was I astounded by the transformation of Aoyama, but so were all the other delinquents.
“What! Baldy! You got a problem with me huh!!”
It was a scream imbued with ferocity. Even so, Aoyama yelled back, unperturbed, which was remarkable.
“Didn’t you hear me when I told you to let go of my staff, you moron?!!”
“Are you picking a fight with me!!”
“You want me to call the police via Secom! Aah!?”
When I saw him agitating with the delinquents, thinking that this was absolutely a bloodbath, it made me wish I could cover my eyes, but apparently that was the deciding factor.
“Do you want me to press the Secom!!”
At the mention of, “Secom,” the delinquents were so perturbed that rustle started to spread.
“Oi… Isn’t this bad?”
“If he calls the cops…”
The cronies began to clamor and the leader of the group clicked his tongue sharply and flung me to the ground before leaving.
“Let’s go.”
With that low, distinctly enraged remark, all the guys sprang into movement, straddled their bikes, and rode off one after the other. For a while, sounds of engines rumbled over the road, but gradually silence descended, followed by the return of the ever-present peace in front of the convenience store, despite the scattered cans of alcohol and cigarette butts.
“Clean up the trash! You scum of society! Next time you try anything, I’ll turn you in to the police, every last one of you!”
Aoyama spat loudly at them as they sped away, but none of them ever came back.
O-Or rather…
What should I do? My shaking wouldn’t cease. My hips went limp.
To top it all off, my heart throbbed so much that it hurt.
Aoyama was… too terrifying.
Garbage cans that bikers had left behind were laying on the ground as warm winds swept in.
“Hakamada…! Are you okay?! Did you get hurt?!”
Aoyama, who had been raging like a wild bull earlier, regained his usual expression and carefully helped me up with both hands while I was still on my buttocks.
“Oh… no, I-I am fine.”
“You must have been shocked. I should have told you because sometimes those guys get things complicated.”
“Hah… Hie.”
“Oh my, can you stand?”
My feet were unsteady, and even my voice had turned unintelligible, leaving me in a state where I could hardly say I was fine.
Furthermore, it was not only the hordes of delinquents that were giving me the fright, but Aoyama himself as well.
Although his tone of voice and mannerisms had returned to normal, I had never imagined that Aoyama would be so bold as to stand up to the delinquents and even drive them away. The impact was so overwhelming that even now my facial muscles twitched.
To think that he had this aspect of him… This person… he was not ordinary.
The consternation apparently manifested itself in my face, and when Aoyama peeked into my face, for some reason he held his cheeks with his hands and flushed.
“Oh my. Did I perhaps scare you…?”
R-Right… Indeed so. But why were you blushing?
“I mean, If I am not here, you would have been in a risky position, you know.”
That was definite.
“T-Thank… you very much.”
After all, I would have been beaten up if it weren’t for him. I gave a bow.
“Even so, that was amazing…”
“Huh?”
“I was genuinely flabbergasted that you reacted that way toward the delinquents, Aoyama.”
“Oh, heh, heh. I couldn’t help but let off some momentum from my days in the Self-defense Forces.”
“Heh… Self-Defense Forces…”
…
Self-Defense Forces…
S-Self… Self-Defense Forces―!?
“Self-Defense Forces, you mean that Self-Defense Forces?!”
“That’s right.”
“Aoyama, you entered the Self-Defense Forces!?”
You were joking, right, oi…
Hmm, no, wait… if that was true, then this muscular body of Aoyama would make sense…
“How nostalgic, it’s been ten years, though… I was called the devil squad leader, and back then I used to treat my underlings harshly…”
“Woah～…”
For real?
“I was so relentless that they called me the ‘blue demon’… and terrified them.”
Blue demon.
Apparently, he was being earnest, and Aoyama reminisced about the old days. Really, the night shift here had such strong characters that it stifled me, or rather…
“Well, rather than saying it’s unexpected… but if it weren’t for you, I would have been really wounded, thank you very much.”
“No problem. It’s the veteran’s role to protect the newcomer.”
“…Aoyama.”
“Besides, Hakamada, you kind of look alike.”
“Yes?”
“That pair of slanty eyes… with that person… I was captivated by that person when I was in the Self-Defense Forces… After meeting them, my heart turned all maiden…”
“…”
“It was a love beyond forgiveness…”
I had no idea why but for a second, I felt a tingle down my spine, and for some reason, I thought I detected a dubious aura that I wasn’t supposed to perceive…
Yeah, I should forget about it. It would be wise to forget it.
Even if it was only for a few moments and I was almost moved by the words this person said, I shall absolutely forget it.
For my own sake.
“Come to think of it, why did they try to lay their hands on you? Did something happen?”
“That’s…”
I explained to Aoyama what had occurred and the bombshell remark I had declared on the delinquents.
“Oh my, you said that? You are quite a challenger, Hakamada.”
“Under normal circumstances, I would never have said such a thing! I just didn’t like it…”
“You didn’t like it?”
I muttered, glaring at the dimly lit road, “Those guys ran over… the cat and killed it, yet they were laughing about it.”
Such a thing was not something a normal human being would do.
Even if for any reason, the life you killed over, you should feel at least a little bad, that was what I thought…
Right, that was what I really wanted to tell them.
How many times had I witnessed this cat, which had been mutilated and was run over, while I cast a sidelong glance at it and turned back the way I had come? With its entrails protruding out of its mouth, the cat was still stuck in the middle of a road. The scene was too gruesome, and the bikers’ despicable remarks eventually pushed me over the brink, or rather, I couldn’t stand to watch…
I had decided to bury the cat in the surrounding bushes before I started my next part-time work. If I was going to watch it rot away in silence anyway, I might as well bury it.
Though I wasn’t certain if that would make the… cat happy. Although a proper burial in the ground and even incense wouldn’t be necessary, I should clasp my hands together and pray for the soul of the cat.
I reasoned it would be preferable to be forced to feel horrible each time I passed by and not having grieved by anyone.