I remembered the first time I met her.

+Flashback+

“Hey you!”, a voice called me.

“Hmmm?” I looked back.

There was a red-haired girl standing behind me. There were also five more girls who surrounded us.

“You’re the Chizome no Byakko, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Well no... My name is not Chizome no Byakko. I’m Kamishiro Mikage”, I answered.

“Those eyes that look like a hungry tiger looking for a fight tells me otherwise. I’m Yogiri, the leader of the Reika Mutsuki.”

I had an idea on what she wanted and I didn’t want to get involved with her any further.

“Good for you... If you’ll excuse me, I got somewhere I need to be”, I was about to leave but 2 girls blocked my path.

“Not so fast, Chizome no Byakko”, she said.

“Look here... I didn’t ask for this. I just want to be left alone”, I told her.

“You should have thought of that before taking the title of Amezakura West Middle School’s Strongest for yourself!”

“What? I don’t remember taking a title like that. Chizome no Byakko is already a scary title for me.”

“Doesn’t matter if you remember it or not. I’m challenging you!”

“I refuse.”

I was about to leave when she punched my stomach.

“Don’t underestimate me because I’m a girl”, she growled.

Alright... That’s it... No more Mr. Nice Guy.

I clenched my fist and delivered a right hook. She got knocked away and dropped to the ground.

“What?! You would hit a girl?!” one of the girls surrounding me asked.

“You didn’t even give out a warning!” another shouted.

“I yearn for true gender equality. You punch me, I punch you back”, I said and the girls quieted down.

Yogiri laughed, “Gender equality?? That’s a good one!”

I sighed as she stood up.

“Are we doing this? If you guys are coming at me, then go already. I still need to study for this afternoon’s quiz”, I said.

“Don’t worry. My girls won’t make a move. I’m taking the title of Amezakura West Middle School’s Strongest by myself!” she charged towards me.

Our brawl ended with me standing up while Yogiri was lying on the ground.

“Damn it. You really are strong”, she said.

“You’re pretty good yourself too”, I replied.

“Good? I could barely land a hit on you.”

“No. I could tell your punches are strong. That’s why I did my best in avoiding them.”

“Wait... You were watching me closely?”

“Yeah. I do it for every opponent I face. Doesn’t matter if they’re young or old or a boy or a girl. I never underestimate my opponents.”

Yogiri laughed, “You know what? I like you. I don’t mind handing over that title to you.”

“Oh please.. I don’t want to have another scary title added to my reputation.”

We both then had a laugh. Wait... She wasn’t serious about handing that title to me, right?

+End of Flashback+

I ran as fast as I could... Why would Yogiri be caught by some people? Why did they send that message to me? I had so many questions. However, I was sure about one thing: my friend needs my help.

The sun was almost setting when I arrived at Warehouse #3. 4 people were standing outside.

“Are you the Chizome no Byakko? You look a bit ta-”, he couldn’t finish what he said since I punched him in the face.

If he knew who I was, then he was part of the group who lured me in.

“Where is Yogiri?” I asked.

I didn’t wait for the others to answer as I charged at them. It was the first time that I picked a fight on my own. I never felt this angry before. I just want to beat up anyone who dared to hurt her.

More people ran towards us but I continued fighting them despite being outnumbered. I didn’t count how many I defeated. It didn’t matter anyway. The fact was that they hurt my friend and so they were at fault.

The number of unconscious bodies lying near me increased as I continued punching the others. It didn’t matter how many hits I got. I didn’t even feel any pain as adrenaline pumped my body.

“He’s a monster”, one of them said.

“He’s just one kid! He’ll eventually tire out!” another shouted and they charged at me.

It didn’t matter how many of them would come towards me. I would be sure to take them all out.

After all of them were knocked out, I went towards the warehouse. There were 4 people waiting there and Yogiri was lying behind them.

“Seriously? We had around 35 people waiting outside and you still got here? You really are a legend”, one guy wearing a white bandana said.

“Why did you harm Yogiri?” I asked.

“She’s the one who challenged us saying that she needs to prove she’s the strongest. Dumb broad thinking she could take on the White Square. When we found out she was related to you, we just had to issue a challenge”, he answered.

“I’m guessing you’re not going to let her go.”

“If we take down the Chizome no Byakko, we would be even more famous. So come over and-” I punched his face before he could continue.

I was sick of it. I didn’t mind if people would harm me or anything. But because they found out that Yogiri was my friend, they harmed her.... That was unforgivable.

“You look like a dead man who rose up from his grave and yet you still want to fight? You’re as crazy as we thought you were. Get him!”, the man rubbed his bloody nose as the other guys charged at me.

It was a tough fight. They were clearly more experienced and had longer reach than me. One guy managed to hit my head and I collapsed to the ground.

“He’s a monster...” one of them said.

My head hurt and my body felt heavy. Maybe this was for the best... If I lose here, then my legend would end... I could leave behind my delinquent life...

“Let’s make sure he gets hurt enough to prove that we actually won”, the guy in the white bandana picked up a wooden bat.

“Damn. He’s still conscious despite receiving a beating... He sure is scary”, a guy commented.

The guy in the white bandana stood near me and swung the bat.

If you want, you could start losing fights. The only reason why they challenge you is because you’re almost impossible to beat, Yogiri’s words echoed in my mind.

“What?!” all of them were surprised.

They were surprised since the guy they worked hard on beating up managed to stand up and avoid the bat in time.

Screw losing purposely. I don’t wanna get hurt.

“If you think this tiger is going down that easily, then you’re wrong!” I used up whatever energy was left in my body.

Round 2 of the fight began and my body did its best. By “best”, I meant having all of them unconscious on the ground. However, my body hurt like hell and I was getting lightheaded.

I walked towards Yogiri and she couldn’t look me in the eyes.

“Now then... Can you tell me why you challenged them?” I asked as I untied her. My hands were getting shaky so I fumbled a bit.

“........ It’s because you’re leaving”, she answered after a moment of silence.

“What?”

“Since we were friends, the Reika Mutsuki wasn’t harassed anymore. With our infamy combined, almost no one was messing with my friends... If you leave, people might think that it was a good time to attack my group.”

“And so you challenged this gang to raise your reputation.”

“Yeah. And one of them recognized me to be your friend so they thought of luring you in.”

I landed a chop on her head.

“What was that for?!” she asked.

“Why are you that scared of other people? You can protect your friends even without me. That’s what you have been doing before we met”, I said.

“Sorry... Because of me, you got beaten up pretty badly. Why did you even push yourself that hard?”

“Idiot. Do you need a reason to save someone?”

The truth was that I just didn’t want to get hurt and somehow defeated everyone. I was getting dizzy and passed out.

###

I spent a whole week in the hospital. I had a few cracked ribs and lost a huge amount of blood. When I was released, we were about to move away.

Despite being released recently, I was forced to do manual labor as I loaded some boxes in our car. I heard footsteps behind me and when I turned around. I saw Yogiri and her group.

“School’s still on. Why are you skipping class?” I asked.

“And don’t see you off? We’re friends so it’s natural for me to say goodbye to you”, Yogiri answered.

She stood straight and after snapping her fingers, she and her group bowed.

“HAVE A SAFE TRIP!” they shouted.

I smiled... I thought no one would miss me since I was a thorn in everyone’s neck but it seemed that I made friends.

“Oh yeah. I got something for you now that you’re here”, I said and handed Yogiri my white school uniform.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“You take on the name, Chizome no Byakko. I would be happy if you were the one to inherit it.”

“So you’re telling me to wear a white uniform despite having the girls’ uniform of our school to be black?”

“Hey... You already modified your uniform and got away with it. Changing colors is not a big deal.”

Yogiri grinned, “Fine then. I’ll gladly take the name. Chizome no Byakko is now a girl.”

“And that’s not a bad thing.”

We gave each other a fist bump.

“I’m gonna miss you, Mikage”, she said.

“Same here, Yogiri”, I replied.

I rode in our car and we left the city... Now that I thought about it, that was the first time Yogiri called me by my name.... Oh yeah, I never heard Yogiri’s full name.

Well whatever.... It was time for a fresh start in a new city.