Chapter Thirty-Four: Pine Valley Wilderness

"Excuse me, teacher, I'm late."

A boy with tousled hair, gold-rimmed glasses, and a refined appearance, dressed in a school uniform, appeared at the classroom door.

"No, no problem at all. Please, come in." The teacher standing at the podium looked at the boy and spoke in a somewhat timid voice, as if this seemingly refined student were someone to be feared.

"Thank you." The boy offered the teacher a polite smile and walked toward the back of the classroom.

As he neared the back row, he looked up at the seat Hei Yuyi was occupying—a seat that originally belonged to him—and arched an eyebrow in mild surprise.

"Oh, he's done for now."

Uno Taku and Miyamoto Tsune-yasu slowly stood up, waiting for the boy's next move.

Aside from these two, the other students in the classroom, including the teacher at the podium, watched the back row in quiet, furtive anticipation.

The boy stood in front of Hei Yuyi.

"Hello, my name is Hei Yuyi. I'm a new transfer student. Please take care of me, Boss."

Hei Yuyi stood up, extended his right hand with a familiar grin, and—adopting the local customs—addressed the boy as "Boss."

"This seat?"

The boy seemed surprised by Hei Yuyi's enthusiasm. He raised an eyebrow and smiled back at him.

"Yeah, isn't this the seat of the Class 5 boss?" Hei Yuyi asked with a laugh, pointing to the seat next to his own on the right—the one he was supposed to be sitting in.

"Interesting."

The boy was no fool; he understood Hei Yuyi's implication immediately. The seat on the right was the one belonging to the boss of Class 5. If he were to let the other boy sit there, he would be tacitly admitting that this new stranger was the real boss of Class 5.

"Are you looking to die?"

Uno Taku realized what was happening a moment later. He slammed his desk in anger. Others could mock him, but they could not mock his boss. He had kept an unusually low profile that morning, not laying a hand on Hei Yuyi—he had even swallowed his pride when Hei Yuyi took his breakfast—all because today was the day his boss was returning.

Now that Hei Yuyi dared to challenge the authority of the Class 5 boss, almost everyone in the room stood up.

"No matter which seat he sits in, we have only one boss."

Miyamoto Tsune-yasu glared at Hei Yuyi and spoke up, taking the lead.

"That's right, we only have one boss." The other boys chimed in, egging him on.

"Exactly, only Matsutani No-ya is qualified to be the boss of Class 5." A few girls sitting together even joined in the chorus.

Matsutani No-ya didn't speak. Listening to his classmates' support, a smug smile played on his lips. He tilted his head, watching Hei Yuyi as if to intimidate him.

"Everyone, I didn't say anything! You've misunderstood. Matsutani is the boss. Boss Matsutani, please, take a seat. Don't stand for too long; you'll get tired. How could I let the boss stand while talking to me?"

Hei Yuyi wore a fawning smile and gestured with both hands, bowing slightly to invite Matsutani No-ya to sit.

"Hmph."

Seeing Hei Yuyi's "humble" attitude, Matsutani No-ya gave a disdainful grunt. A look of contempt flickered behind his gold-rimmed glasses, and without hesitation, he sat down.

"Boss." Miyamoto Tsune-yasu whispered.

Matsutani No-ya shifted his gaze to Miyamoto. Miyamoto frowned at him and flicked his eyes up and down.

"Damn it."

Matsutani No-ya realized what had happened: he had followed Hei Yuyi's suggestion and sat in the last row of the second column—the seat on Hei Yuyi's right, which was supposed to be Hei Yuyi's seat.

"Classmates, the teacher is still here. Since the boss has sat down, you should all sit down too. Don't make things difficult for the teacher." Hei Yuyi gestured toward the teacher and sat back in his own seat.

Except for Miyamoto Tsune-yasu, who realized that Matsutani had been played by Hei Yuyi, the other students—including Uno Taku—saw the boss sit down and assumed things had settled. With Hei Yuyi's "interpretation," they took it as a sign that Matsutani had decided not to pursue the matter, or perhaps not right now. There was a rule in Class 5: when Matsutani No-ya was in class, everyone had to stay quiet. In Class 5, Matsutani's word carried more weight than that of the class monitor or the teachers.

Of course, Matsutani didn't make this rule for his own studies; he just wanted a quiet environment to sleep, or perhaps to ensure someone else had a quiet environment to study.

That "someone else" was naturally Watanabe Reimu. The reason he insisted on that seat was clear: to warn others that Watanabe Reimu was his. Even if she didn't agree to be with him for the time being, at least there wouldn't be any romantic rivals. The only motivation he had for coming to school every day was to see Watanabe Reimu more often and "nurture their relationship."

"Right, let's start the lesson."

Matsutani No-ya nodded. As the boss, he had to save face. Besides, Watanabe Reimu wasn't coming in today, so it didn't matter where he sat. As long as Hei Yuyi wasn't there tomorrow, he could return to his usual seat. He had come to school today specifically to deal with Hei Yuyi, this stranger who didn't know the rules of Rinchuan Academy.

"Um, actually, you don't need to mind me."

The teacher at the podium hadn't said a single word of protest from the beginning. He kept his back to them, lecturing as if nothing had happened. When he heard Hei Yuyi drag him into the conversation, he cursed Hei Yuyi silently a dozen times. He was just a teacher with no backing; how could he dare to challenge students with such influence, especially Matsutani No-ya, the acknowledged boss of Rinchuan Middle School?

"The boss told you to teach, can't you hear? Where were we? I wasn't listening just now, start over."

Miyamoto Tsune-yasu opened his book, picked up a pen, and was the first to sit down.

The other students followed suit, sitting down one by one. Some listened, some slept, and some played games. Except for the teacher, not a single sound was made in the entire classroom. The "study" atmosphere was comparable to an elite honors class.

"Uh, alright."

The teacher offered a bitter smile, wiped the chalkboard clean, picked up his chalk and notes, and began the lecture again without a hint of complaint.

Hei Yuyi opened his book and began to listen attentively.

Matsutani No-ya tilted his head and stared at Hei Yuyi, as if trying to discern something from his face. But at that moment, other than looking like a diligent student, Hei Yuyi showed nothing at all.

*It doesn't matter who you are,* Matsutani thought. *Once you're on my turf, if you're a tiger, you'll lie down for me. If you're a dragon, you'll coil up for me.*

*And if you're neither... then don't blame me for what happens.*

Matsutani No-ya let out a cold snort and slumped over his desk to sleep.

Uno Taku rested his head on his right hand, watching Hei Yuyi and Matsutani. He still couldn't understand what his boss was playing at. Was he just going to let a poor kid steal his seat? He didn't know, of course, that Matsutani had only sat there out of carelessness, falling straight into Hei Yuyi's trap.

As the whole class guessed and fantasized about the miserable end awaiting Hei Yuyi, only one girl secretly glanced back at him, her eyes filled with complex emotions and a hint of worry.