Chapter 5: The Lion’s Roar

*Ding* *Dong* *Ding* *Dong*

The lunch bell rang monotonously, accompanied by the clatter of seats and thumping of footsteps.

In the midst of the excited students getting ready for lunch, however, were two delicate beauties who slowly made their own preparations for the midday break.

「Should we go eat lunch at the student council room?」

Shiori asked her friend with jet-black hair as the two began to pack their books.

Yet, in response to her childhood friend’s suggestion, Mana could only sigh----exhausted by the task of sitting at a desk for hours on end.

「Sure. I could use the quiet.」

The Student Council, AKA the top 10 ranked students of the school, were given several privileges in accordance with their status.

And one of those privileges included permission to enter the Student Council Room, a highly furnished area equipped with advanced utilities.

Of course, Shiori’s high rank of 9 and Mana’s even higher rank of 6 earned both of them that honour.

「But Mana-chan(1), what about Junichi-kun(2)?」

Shiori asked, turning her head towards the dark-haired boy that had suffered his sister’s wrath.

Needless to say--

*Snore…*

--the youth continued to sleep, oblivious to the world whilst submerged in the land of dreams.

「Hmph! Just leave him be. He can sleep through all of lunch for all I care!」

Mana spoke sharply, turning towards the door with a handkerchief-covered bento in hand.

Although Shiori thought Mana was being slightly harsh, she simply smiled wryly.

After all, the real side of Junichi’s little sister was known for being quite bipolar, even if she vehemently denies being so.

Whether this quirk of hers was an act to get her older brother to notice her, or a part of a rebellious phase, one couldn’t say.

Regardless, the siblings’ childhood friend Shiori could only shrug her shoulders before accompanying her best friend to their dining destination.

……however, just before the two girls even had the chance to get out of their seats-

*Bang*

-the sound of the door being kicked in stopped them in their tracks.

「Oi! Saito Junichi!」

A voice befitting a delinquent bellowed, shattering the peace as his booming voice brought an unsettling order to the chaos.

Yet, in the face of this disturbance-

*Snore…*

Saito Junichi simply continued his slumber as the entire class held their breath.

Then again, who could blame them?

After all, the figure of a fairly built, threatening young man had stormed into the classroom.

The enraged youth, with his menacingly slanted eyes, had blond hair styled in an intimidating crew cut. His face was also covered with facial hair, mainly a fuzzy beard that smoothed into his blond sideburns.

(Isayama Masaru. What’s the No. 10 doing here?)

Mana glared at the figure.

That said, her hostility was understandable.

The boy known as Isayama Masaru had quite the reputation of ruthlessly stealing points through violence. And, while the school rules encouraged the stealing of points, all of his victims have been left with severe injuries and were taken to the hospital under intensive care.

Of course, his renowned ferocity and his distinct stubble earned him the title of 〚Lion Mane Masaru〛. Those who come face-to-face with his so-called mane and unruly physique genuinely feared him.

That is, all but a certain dark-haired boy.

(C’mon, just leave already.)

Saito Junichi thought to himself as he feigned sleep.

(I don’t want to deal with you today…)

「Oh, so there you are!」

The 〚Lion〛 roared as he spotted the drowsy youth.

(Argh, damn it!)

「I’m gonna fucking kill you for last week!」

Obviously enraged, the boy with the stubble made large strides as he approached the sleeping youth’s desk.

As for the youth, however-

(Last week…)

Junichi began to search his memory in order to identify the cause of the 〚Lion’s〛 rage.

「So? What’s the big idea?」

Junichi asked as he surveyed the situation.

Sleeping peacefully on a bench during the lunch break, he was roused by 3 young men of various statures.

A midget with a buzz cut who was playing with a dangerous-looking piece of silver metal.

A greasy haired teen who had a wooden bat slouched on his shoulder.

A youth that possessed a blond mane with silver knuckles on both his hands.

All of the delinquent-esque figures had the top buttons of their uniform undone and no tie, implying that they were too cool for school rules.

Then again, seeing how Junichi often kept his attire shockingly untidy, he wasn’t in the best position to judge their appearances.

「*Yawn* So what does the 〚Lion〛 want with me?」

Junichi lazily asked, positioning himself so that his body was upright.

Yet, while the boy’s mental fortitude was quite commendable, it seemed to have annoyed one of the students that had approached him.

「T-this guy-!」

The midget was agitated due to the Junichi’s lack of fear, drawing his knife into an aggressive stance.

Naturally, this aggressive display caused some raised eyebrows in the surroundings.

Especially from a certain, blond-haired delinquent.

「Calm down, Sadao.」

Isayama Masaru ordered, his amber eyes hardened as they continued to stare at the boy of black.

「But, Masaru-」

「Just drop it, Sadao.」

Advising his colleague to simply listen to the 〚Lion’s〛 commands was a greasy-haired male, his speech slurred.

「Besides, that’s not what we’re here for.」

(Ah, damn it. I could’ve gotten about 5 minutes more of sleep by now.)

Junichi murmured, lamenting the lost time he could have spent catching some shut-eye.

Yet, unaware of this grief, the blond-haired delinquent walked slowly forward until he was face-to-face with his prey.

「So what do you want, oh almighty 〚Lion-sama(3)〛?」

Junichi taunted the school’s No. 10, causing veins to bulge out of the blond boy’s forehead.

However, instead of exploding, Masaru swallowed his temper before he began to mumble inaudibly.

「..at..…ou…..ist…..」

「Huh? What was that?」

「I said, what does your little sister want for her birthday?」

Masaru whispered, his voice so low that only Junichi could hear his message.

In spite of its clarity, however, it still took the boy several moments before he could comprehend the question proposed by the almighty 〚Lion〛.

「…wait, you want to give a birthday present to Mana?」

Junichi staggered as he noticed the 〚Lion’s〛 flushed cheeks.

It didn’t take the boy long to decipher the significance behind this peculiar reaction.

(Don’t tell me……this guy has a crush on Mana?)

Junichi furrowed his brow slightly, feeling somewhat conflicted about this whole scenario.

That said, his inner turmoil didn’t last long as he realised the following.

(……I could have fun with this.)

A dark, conniving laugh resounded in the depths of Junichi’s heart.

(Mana………doesn’t like raw fish, does she?)

----and then, on the day of Mana’s Birthday---

「F-F-FISH!? STAY AWAAAAAY!!!」

「UUWWAAAAAA!!!!」

A spectacular drop-kick by the shrieking Mana knocked the great 『Lion Mane Masaru』 out cold for at least 3 hours.

-And so-

Snapping out of his daze, Junichi found himself held aloft by his collar.

Yawning, he simply stared at the figure that was ready to strangle him before stating the following.

「Morning. What’s up?」

Everyone present dropped their jaws, amazed by the gall of this dark-haired boy.

「You know very well what’s up.」

Masaru tightened his grip on Junichi’s collar as he snarled.

「C’mon, it was just a small joke. Besides, lions are cats, right? All cats like fish~」

Junichi spoke as his habit began to kick up once more.

For those unaware, the youth known as Saito Junichi had an incredibly bad habit of teasing people.

That said, now probably wasn’t the best time for said habit to begin acting up.

「Bastard!」

Masaru raised his clenched fist, furious as he began to swing his arm.

However, before his fist collided with Junichi’s face…

「S-stop this right now!」

A trembling Shiori rushed in to try and stop Masaru.

「Shiori!?」

Mana sharply gasped at Shiori’s sudden action.

As for her older brother, however-

(Well, thing’s just got interesting.)

Junichi’s thoughts ran in an unexpected direction.

Even though Shiori is known as the school’s No. 9, her points were only earned through tag duels with Mana, extracurricular activities, and exceptional work ethics that awarded her top grades within the school.

Of course, this meant her talent in combat was lacking considerably compared to the rest of the Student Council. So naturally it was strange for her to actively defend someone.

Even more so considering what happened in the [Accident] 10 years ago.

「What’s your problem, No. 9?」

Masaru coldly glanced at the quivering mediator, his hand involuntarily loosening its grip of Junichi’s collar.

As for the 〚Lion’s〛 victim, his emerald eyes also fell upon Shiori as they waited for her next course of action with anticipation.

「Y-you s-shouldn’t use violence! It’s bad!」

Shiori stammered, her fragile frame shivering in the face of the terrifying predator.

「You idiot! Telling a delinquent not to use violence is like telling humans not to eat!」

-is what Junichi wanted to say, but instead made an exasperated expression as he sat back in his chair.

「Haah!?」

「Eek!」

Shiori cowered as she was oppressed by the angered 〚Lion〛.

And of course, this ended up causing a certain girl of jet-black to defend her timid friend.

「Hey! Isayama-kun, what do you think you’re doing?」

「Ngh! I’m sorry, Mana-san(4), but could you stay out of this?」

The 〚Lion’s〛 rage subsided for a split second as he was overcome by Mana’s beauty.

--which gave the girl a chance to try and figure out what his motive was for doing this.

「Not until you tell me what in the world is going on!」

At Mana’s ignorance of his disgrace, Masaru’s face flushed red, either from rage or genuine embarrassment.

「W-why don’t you ask your idiot brother!?」

Masaru turned, bringing attention to the boy known as Saito Junichi.

AKA the dark-haired boy who, once again, began to snore as he slept atop his desk.

Who could sleep in this situation?

-is what most people would think as they observed the sleeping youth.

However, Saito Junichi was notorious for being the laziest student in 【Phoenix Gakuen】.

Sleeping in the middle of an all-out war was nothing to him.

Which meant that, in the eyes of the students, he was easy prey.

Many would often challenge him to a duel, only for him to give them the slip as he avoided confrontation completely.

And it was for this exact reason that Junichi remained ranked last.

But of course, the 〚Last Ranker〛 had no intention of being anything but.

(Just go already. I don’t want to deal with you.)

「Asshole!」

Justifiably outraged, Masaru slammed his fist right next to Junichi’s head, causing the accumulated pool of drool to splashed onto the sleeping boy’s face.

「I’m trying to settle a score with you and you’re just going to take a nap!?」

「Look, knucklehead. Not interested.」

Junichi drowsily muttered in response.

「T-This bastard!」

Sent into a blind fervour, Masaru grabbed Shiori by the collar, choking her due to the force of his grip.

「If you’re not out there in ten minutes, I’m going to clobber this girl!」

「I-Isayama-kun!? What are you saying!?」

An utterly bewildered Mana asked, shocked by the 〚Lion’s〛 outrageous declaration.

And yet, Junichi was unresponsive as he continued to doze off on his desk.

「Sorry, Mana-san, but this is necessary.」

「How is this necessary!?」

Mana exclaimed, her confusion almost reaching a breaking point.

「If you don’t want No. 9 to be hurt, I suggest you wake that asshole up.」

Masaru said, dragging the suffocating Shiori with him.

「W-wait! Isayama-kun!?」

Mana hurriedly followed behind, trying to reason with the 〚Lion〛.

The rest of the class also followed the three, taking the commotion outside of the classroom and into the courtyard.

Leaving the indifferent Saito Junichi asleep in the classroom-

-or so it would seem.

「So he’s going to fight Shiori, huh?」

Junichi muttered to himself, leaning back while staring at the ceiling with his murky green eyes.

Needless to say, as he continued to gaze upon the unchanging sky, thoughts began to race within the young man’s head.

Thoughts of his intellectual childhood friend whose weak body would surely get pummelled by the 〚Lion’s〛 merciless fists.

Thoughts that were soon cut short by the appearance of an intruder.

「You worried?」

A shaggy man with brown hair stood in the doorway near the opposite end of the classroom.

「Worried? I guess I am.」

「Then should you be sitting here, counting the panels on the ceiling?」

「Shiori’s got limited combat experience to begin with. She’ll need to learn how to fight better if she wants to stay at this school.」

Junichi coldly analysed his childhood friend’s weakness.

「Sure, but is it a good idea for 〚Lion Mane Masaru〛 to be her first opponent?」

Nogi-sensei(5) calmly took out a cigarette while offering his own opinion to the dark-haired youth.

「What, that weakling?」

「Remember, she’s not as strong as you are.」

「…」

Junichi once again drifted into silence.

「So? What’re you gonna do, No. 15967?」

Nogi-sensei narrowed his eyes as he took a puff of his cigarette.

「No……〔Gun〕?」