MAD BADDIE

The warning bell sends most students through Seishin Academy's gates, but Aiko remains nearby, hugging her books and watching Akuyaku with open curiosity.

Ryuji "Ryu" Kanzaki steps from beside the station-side wall, visibly out of place among the uniforms. The athletic young man wears a dark jacket, worn boots, and a guarded expression beneath shaggy black hair.

The name travels through the remaining students like a spark. Ryu does not advance, raise his hands, or even glance at the curious faces gathering near the entrance.

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Akuyaku gives only a noncommittal hum. His expression stays bored, but the attention around the gates tightens as students pretend not to listen.

Aiko shifts her books against her chest and angles herself between Akuyaku and the nearest onlookers, making the exchange feel less like a public interrogation.

Ryu's guarded eyes flick toward the gates, then back to Akuyaku. The warning bell finishes ringing, leaving only footsteps and the low murmur of students moving inside.

Akuyaku turns toward the gates, but the denial carries across the quiet entrance. Several students stop pretending not to listen, and the rumor sharpens instead of fading.

Aiko starts walking beside him, but two students hurry ahead toward the main building, whispering his denial to friends. The crowd now follows the story rather than dispersing.

The gates swallow the students, but curious faces keep turning toward Akuyaku. Aiko leads him toward the classroom wing while Ryu remains behind, his warning no longer private.

Akuyaku's apology carries through the entrance hall. The students quiet for a beat, then several exchange looks, accepting the introduction while clearly memorizing it.

A student near the doors, a teenage boy with a slim build, short dark hair, and a red hoodie beneath a black school jacket lifts a phone, openly recording the exchange before a teacher's sharp glance makes him lower it. The clip is already saved.

Aiko guides Akuyaku toward the classroom wing. Behind them, the whispers change from “Mad Baddie” to “the transfer student named Akuyaku,” but they do not stop.

The boast lands in the classroom corridor just as Akuyaku and Aiko pass a cluster of students. Two heads turn immediately, and one girl, a slim teenage student with warm brown skin, shoulder-length dark hair, and a pale yellow cardigan over her school uniform hides a laugh behind her sleeve.

Aiko's smile gives away that she is teasing, not offended. Behind her, the boy with the phone glances from his screen to Akuyaku, clearly reconsidering what kind of transfer student he is.

The classroom door stands ahead, crowded with curious faces. Akuyaku's joke has softened the attention into amusement, but his name still travels through the hall behind him.

Aiko opens the classroom door and guides Akuyaku inside before the late bell finishes ringing. The transfer student reaches his assigned desk, successfully in class, but every nearby conversation now carries his name.

A few students glance between Akuyaku and the boy’s phone. The hallway clip has already been posted to a class group, turning his joke and denial into a concrete new rumor.

Ryu remains outside the classroom rather than entering. The teacher’s footsteps approach from the corridor, and he steps back toward the station-side exit, leaving the warning behind him.

The teacher enters, a middle-aged woman with short gray hair, a composed face, and a dark blazer over a pale blouse, and the room settles into reluctant silence. Akuyaku sits among his new classmates, safely at class, while suspicion has become the cost of arriving there.

The classroom quiets around Akuyaku's desk. The teacher pauses beside the attendance roster, while several students turn from their phones to watch him.

Her composed expression softens into professional attention, giving him the floor without making him stand. The room remains quiet enough that his classmates can hear the exchange.

A few students suppress laughs at the correction. Akuyaku has the teacher's attention, but the casual greeting adds another small detail to the class's growing impression of him.

His question carries farther than intended in the quiet classroom. Several students glance up from their phones, and the boy with the saved hallway clip quietly starts typing again.

Ms. Hayashi checks the roster, then points toward a printed notice beside the board. The date, time, and gymnasium location are clearly posted there.

A few classmates whisper about which clubs might suit the broad-shouldered transfer student. The attention is harmless, but his question has added another detail to the rumor surrounding him.

When the lesson ends, Akuyaku heads for the Seishin Boxing Gym, where the sports coaches are gathering flyers and registration sheets for next Friday's fair.

Coach Daigo Sakamoto looks up from a battered folding table. Around him, coaches from track, judo, volleyball, and boxing sort equipment lists and club forms.

Akuyaku moves from booth to booth, hearing brief pitches about conditioning, competition schedules, and commitment. He gets the information he came for, but the hallway clip makes every coach recognize him.

A registration packet ends up in Akuyaku's hands, along with schedules for each club. The coaches return to their preparations, while two students outside the gym whisper that the transfer student is choosing boxing.

The registration packet lowers slightly in Akuyaku's hand. Around the gym, the other coaches pause their sorting, listening without interrupting.

Daigo taps the worn table, then gestures toward the neglected ring, aging heavy bags, and a rack of carefully maintained gloves.

The answer settles plainly between them. Akuyaku now knows the club's weaknesses, its instruction, and the exact tradeoff behind the packet in his hands.

Daigo's hand pauses over the registration forms. His eyes move toward the empty ring, where old ropes and patched canvas offer little glamour but plenty of history.

The name draws a few glances from the nearby coaches. One judo instructor quietly recognizes it, while the boxing students outside the gym lower their voices to listen.

Daigo studies Akuyaku for a moment, then sets the registration forms aside. The nearby coaches quiet again, sensing the question matters more than ordinary club gossip.

Daigo pulls a thin folder from beneath the forms and opens it to Kaito's old captain records. The pages show tournament results, training notes, and a recent withdrawal notice.

A student outside the gym catches the name Kaito Arashima and immediately types it into the class group. Daigo notices, and the cost of Akuyaku's question becomes concrete: his interest is now public.

Daigo’s thumb rests on Kaito’s withdrawal notice. The gym’s fluorescent lights hum above the empty ring, where patched canvas and silent ropes preserve the shape of old routines.

Daigo closes the folder halfway, revealing notes about repeated pain, shortened sessions, and medical warnings. Nothing describes a clean ending.

The gym goes quiet. Daigo looks from Akuyaku to Kaito’s medical notes, while Aiko’s teasing expression fades into careful attention.

Daigo writes the recommendation into Kaito’s folder, accepting the possibility outright. The cost arrives when a nearby student quietly records the exchange, making Akuyaku’s medical confidence another rumor attached to his name.

The unfinished sentence settles over the gym. Daigo does not press it. Instead, he gestures toward the ring, heavy bags, speed bags, and neatly arranged gloves.

Daigo leads Akuyaku around the facility, pointing out the patched ring canvas, worn but maintained gloves, timing equipment, and the small locker area. Nothing is polished, but everything is usable.

By the end of the tour, Akuyaku has seen the club’s full offering and its limits. Daigo returns the registration packet, leaving the choice in his hands.

The question lands beside the registration packet. Aiko’s eyebrows rise, while Daigo glances toward the gym entrance where the latest rumors began.

Daigo studies Akuyaku’s face, then the scars along his arms and neck. His expression remains professional, but recognition settles behind it.

The boast rolls across the neglected gym with enough confidence to draw attention from the nearby coaches. Aiko studies Akuyaku, amused but sharper now, while Daigo folds his arms.

Daigo gestures toward the ring, not treating the claim as a joke. The registration packet remains within reach, while Aiko’s smile suggests the challenge has become personal enough to remember.

Daigo studies him, then waves the other coaches and students out for the next meeting. Within minutes, the gym empties, leaving only the ring, the bags, and the hum of fluorescent lights.

Akuyaku steps into the ring and works through the basics, then lets instinct sharpen them: clean footwork, tight combinations, sudden angles, and power controlled before it becomes reckless.

Daigo opens the club’s private training ledger and adds Akuyaku’s name to a reserved evaluation slot, giving him access to supervised sessions before the fair makes him public.

Daigo looks from Akuyaku to the private ledger, weighing the straightforward request against the talent he has just witnessed. The empty gym makes the decision feel deliberately quiet.

He writes Akuyaku’s name beneath the reserved evaluation slot, then adds the club schedule and training requirements. The registration becomes official before the next bell can interrupt.

Daigo hands over the completed club form and a key for the student locker area. The neglected gym is no longer merely an option Akuyaku inspected, but a team he has joined.

Daigo pauses with the completed membership form in hand, then reaches for his phone. The request receives his full attention, without teasing or suspicion.

Daigo sends the message and waits. The gym stays quiet except for the fluorescent hum and the faint creak of the ring ropes.

Daigo nods and adds the message to the conversation, keeping his phone angled toward the empty ring. The gym remains quiet around the exchange.

A reply arrives before Daigo can put the phone away. Kaito answers from somewhere else on campus, his message brief and controlled.

Daigo saves Kaito’s contact and shows the screen to Akuyaku. The connection is established, while the private meeting remains open for another time.

Daigo's phone vibrates again. This time, the screen fills with messages from the club group chat, all repeating the same rumor: a video of Akuyaku's gym assessment is spreading through campus.

The clip shows only fragments: Akuyaku's footwork, a sharp combination, and Daigo's reaction. It avoids his face, but the timestamp and club ledger make the source obvious.

Another message appears from an unknown student account, tagging Akuyaku beneath the video: “Mad Baddie, prove it in the ring.” The challenge gathers reactions by the second.

The message goes through Daigo's phone, but the school challenge remains attached beneath it. Kaito receives Akuyaku's words alongside the clip and the rumors.

Daigo looks toward the gym window, where the recording was made, then locks the group chat from further replies. The public bait stays unanswered, but the misunderstanding deepens.

The rumor remains active, and Kaito still doubts Akuyaku's denial, but a practical opening appears: a private account of the name before the school decides its meaning for him.

Akuyaku pockets the registration papers and leaves the ring behind. The gym door swings shut after him, separating him from the lingering challenge and the watching window.

Outside Seishin Boxing Gym, afternoon light stretches across the campus walkway. Students glance up from their screens as Akuyaku passes, but nobody blocks his route.

The school gates open onto Hoshikawa’s streets and nearby convenience stores. Behind him, the gym keeps its secrets; ahead, a replacement phone and a quieter exit from campus wait.