Will Ichihara Jun listen to me, someone who pretty much brings his relationship with Marika down to almost nonexistence?
Of course, he won't. I expected as much from him.
He has this damn pride that placed him atop the hierarchy. Even if he's already becoming apprehensive about facing me head-on, he will never accept that I'm superior to him in any way.
That's my read on his character based on the few times I've seen and interacted with him as well as the stories I've heard about him.
Unlike Ogawa who was just a deluded idiot, this guy truly had the foundation for why he's holding himself that high.
I mean, all his life, he's already designated as the heir to their family-founded business. Even if he wasn't initially a power-tripping playboy who thinks everything is within his palm, getting spoiled a lot pushed him to it.
At most, he was only ever reprimanded and not punished severely after they cleaned up after him. And so, that planted the idea in his head that he's invincible.
Certainly, he's not as I have already demonstrated that twice.
Not to mention, Marika got a higher score than me.
Within the short time that she got exposed to my influence which led her to contemplate her own choices, she already fooled him five times.
First in the Theater Club.
Second in my office.
Third in that padlocked room
Fourth inside her house last night.
And fifth, less than an hour ago.
Those are factual events. However, I doubt they even sank in his mind. He's a selfish bastard who has no other consideration for anyone apart from himself.
That's another difference between us. I'm conscious about my selfishness and more often than not, that selfishness is tied to my girls I care about. Hence, they've been seeing it as my excessive consideration or selflessness.
Anyway, enough about that.
Even if my reminder was reasonable and actually would do him good in this situation, it simply went in one of his ears and out the other.
His furrowed brows slanted further. Just a little more and they will become vertical instead of horizontal.
Then, arriving at an idiotic choice, he attempted to completely ignore me.
He resumed his steps and tried to walk past me without crashing.
Too bad, I took a side step and blocked him when his right foot was about to land on an area behind me.
"Y-you!"
Ichihara Jun could only shout that when he found himself out of balance. With his hands reflexively trying to grab on me, I subtly blocked him from doing so by dusting my shoulder.
His chest crashed against my elbow which made him stagger backward. It’s probably painful with how I angled it that he immediately clutched his chest.
I could've prevented him from crashing on his ass but I acted oblivious by switching to dust the other side.
"Whoa!"
"Ugh! Damn it!"
A collective gasp echoed from those who were keenly watching the proceedings followed by the clear loud thud of his crash onto the floor as well as his pained groan and curse.
Taking this moment to make sure that I would look a little bit innocent, I stretched my hand out to him and said in a worried tone.
"Oops. Senpai, that's not good. You should be more careful. This is uneven ground, slipping up is bound to happen."
I made sure not to smirk even if I was having a huge urge to do so.
And while that was happening, his followers all stood up and ran to his side.
One by one, they tried to help him up. However, even if they're all doing their best on that, I kept my hand stretched out to Ichihara Jun. It's building up his fury.
He's glaring at me as if he's already beating me up in his head.
Yeah. That will remain in his head.
A few seconds later, Marika walked over and peeked her head from behind me.
"Eh? What happened? Jun-kun, are you okay?"
She sounded worried but instead of coming to his side, the girl remained behind me, her hands gripping around my waist.
Even if it's not an actual embrace, it surely looked like that whether it's Ichihara Jun's perspective or anybody else.
Silence reigned quickly with no one daring to breathe.
Most were probably hoping for Ichihara Jun to lash out against me and his followers were already gearing up to throw their fists at me.
What loyal idiots. They're probably trying to gain more points.
Unfortunately, the fun was cut short right there.
Someone from the managing staff of the sports complex came forward, perhaps noticing the commotion.
"Excuse me, what is happening there? It's not a fight, I presume."
Yeah. Even without mentioning it, it's already as good as a warning.
I turned around to face Marika before looking up to that staff. And with a smile, I explained to him even before anyone could do so.
"Oh. No. My senior tripped and we're trying to help him up. It's nothing too serious. Thanks for the good work."
"Is that so? Okay then..."
He's still suspicious but with no one speaking up to give another view of the situation, he couldn't simply assume anything.
When the staff left, Ichihara Jun was already standing on his feet.
His eyes remained fixed on us. Whatever was on his mind, he was definitely still not going to let this go.
I looked behind me and checked on my girls. They're all waiting and those who weren't used to me being in conflict with someone looked on worriedly, especially Sumire and Umi. They're both clinging to Chii as though they're channeling their strength from her.
Kikuchi and the two gyaru friends of Chii were also watching in interest. Well, they'll be coming with us so... it's inevitable for them to see this.
After much deliberation, Ichihara Jun soon told his followers to back down. Then, while acting like he still has the moral high ground, he spoke to me. However, it's in a voice that only the three of us could hear.
"Are you keen on meddling with us? Marika favors you but that doesn't mean you can just do everything you want. Don't you know what else I can do?"
Was that a threat? Perhaps.
But when Marika heard that, the ringlet girl was almost ready to jump out to shut him down.
I stopped her.
"Senpai, if that's a threat, I recommend you to refine it more. I understand that Marika-senpai is engaged to you. However, that doesn't mean you can just cage her like a bird. She's a person. And a precious one at that. Now, ask yourself how you are treating her for the past few years. Did you treat her well?"
As I delivered those word for word, I intentionally brought the girl behind me. It's a little gesture but that's more than enough to show that I will be protecting her, no matter what.
Ichihara Jun was stumped. But it's not like his mind froze. He's just aware of how shitty he was.
Whether that would spell his change in attitude, I had no idea. With his huge ego, probably not.
At the very least, this should be the end of this confrontation.
After a period of long silence, he shook his head disappointedly and walked past us to move toward the exit.
He probably couldn't care enough about his reputation anymore, he just wanted to get away from here.
Everyone followed him with their eyes. And soon enough, his followers chased after him.
With the awkward air starting to permeate our surroundings, I grabbed Marika's hand and returned.
Shizu meaningfully smiled upon seeing us return before standing up to break whatever spell the onlookers were put into. Using her authoritative tone, she directed them to leave the venue if they were not going to watch the next match anymore.
Once that was done, our group also headed to the exit, leaving behind the mesmerized onlookers.
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