Ugly Bastard System

Dham!

Gojima swiftly landed on the other side of the boundary wall, which he had climbed to get out of the school premise. It might be an irony—or maybe even scandalous—for a PE teacher to escape from the school without using the front gate, but he had no interest in dealing with the journalists who were snooping around nearby.

With the video clip going around and also rumors about him stopping a bullet train with his bare hands (seriously?!), everybody wanted to hear what happened from the man, the wonder himself.

He just wanted to rest.

Eventually by the time the sun had almost set, he managed to get to his home without getting found by the journalists who were also snooping around in the neighborhood, with his own skills and maybe with a little help from Ubs’ botched detective module. He put down his bag on the table and looked for some instant noodles inside the drawer. He was in no mood to cook dinner. He would just take a bath, have his 'dinner', maybe watch TV for a while and then call it a day—

The doorbell rang at that very moment. Who was it this time?

He opened the door.

"Ah, good evening, Gojima Kenzaburou san! I am Takahashi Manabe from Frog News and—"

"Sorry, not interested."

He slammed the door in front of the smiling journalist. He did not avoid them all the way just to get tangled with them at home. The bell rang a few times, but he did not open it anymore.

"Hm?"

He looked at the window as it rattled from the wind. He took a look towards the sky before he shut it.

"Damn, the wind is chilly. It looks like there will be a storm soon."

It seems so. Good thing, those journalists will probably not bother you anymore.

"Hm, I hope so."

Gojima sat down on the floor and opened the TV. His doubts were confirmed as the weather reporter told about a cyclone.

The doorbell rang again,but this time, he deliberately ignored it. Sooner or later, the journalists will eventually get weary of the weather and leave—

"Ano, Gojima san? It's me, Sayuri."

—except the one behind the door this time was not a journalist, but his neighbor instead.

'Hm? Why is she...'

Gojima opened the door to see Sayuri standing with a box in her hands.

"Sa-Hanazono san? What brings you here?"

"I-I just wanted to give you this honey lemon and porridge."

"...Thank you?"

"Y-You see, I kinda made some extra and it was a bit too much for me to finish, so I thought why not share it with my neighbors!"

"O-Oh. Thank you for always taking care of me."

"Oh, it's nothing! Helping each other is what neighbors do, right?"

"I guess they do. Although it is always me that ends up receiving the help. You can also ask me anything for help if you want."

"N-No, not at all... a-anything?"

"Y-Yes?"

"..."

"..."

Gojima san, you see... my husband has not returned home in a long time, and I really feel lonely and unsatisfied someti—

'Shut up Ubs.'

Whish!

Gojima flinched as Sayuri loudly slapped her own cheek with her hand.

"A-Ahh! A mosquito... there has really been a lot of mosquitos around recently! I wonder what the association is doing, hahaha..."

"...Mosquitos rarely bother me so I cannot relate much. Sorry."

"Wow, really? I am jealous! I am always bothered by mosquitos! Although Misaki says that is because I am a really sweet person, hahaha—ah, Misaki is that friend of mine that you met yesterday."

"Ah, yes, I remember her."

Sayuri pursed her lips, and then apologetically bowed.

"I'm sorry, Gojima san! I tried to ignore you last time! I was not sure how to introduce you to her."

"It's okay, I understand."

"...Thank you," she rose again, "Misaki had a really good first impression of you, by the way! A-As a person! She would definitely like to meet you and Sawashiro san again!"

"Same here."

"..."

"..."

"Uhh... Gojima san?"

"Yes?"

"Are you... alright?"

"...Yes, I am quite fine."

"Umm... actually, I kinda saw you in a video clip, where you were taken to the hospital in an ambulance," Sayuri said with concern in her voice, "what you did was quite dangerous, you know? You could have gotten seriously injured!"

"..."

Sayuri just saw Gojima looking downwards silently. For once, she felt that she might be overstepping her bounds, but she also felt like she had to ask him now. It was now, or never.

"Gojima san. Please look into my eyes."

Gojima did so after a few moments, and saw a woman with only care and concern in her eyes, and maybe a little bit of... sadness? Pity? He did not know.

"Gojima san, why do you always take such risks? What drives you to such lengths? It cannot be just pure altruism, right? I have seen it in your eyes, when you saved me. Pain, sadness and regret."

"..."

"...Why do you sometimes look like you wish to die?"

The wind was getting faster and louder with every second. The lone man and the housewife were just standing there, silently, staring at each other—not romantically or longingly, the woman just trying to understand the pain he always hid.

"I—"

"Hanazono san! Gojima san!"

At that very same moment, the Kobayashi couple came running towards them along with Sunohara.

"Have you seen Takeshi and Ruri chan?"

They both looked at the haggard apparence of all three.

"N-No, I haven't," Gojima replied.

"Me neither," Sayuri said, "a-are they not home yet?"

"No, we couldn't find them anywhere," Koharu looked like she was about to cry, "I've contacted their friends, they do not know anything either! His bike is also missing! Where could have they gone in such rough weather?! I-I... what should we do?"

She started to cry as her husband held her tightly. As the man of the household, he had to stay strong—but he also looked worried.

"Oi," Sunohara threateningly asked Gojima, "do you really not know where Ruri is?"

"...No, I don't," Gojima replied as precisely as possible because he did not want any drama at this moment, "I only came back home after almost two days. I do not know where they are." Right now, he was more concerned about those two.

Sayuri said nothing and just grabbed Koharu's hands. This was the only thing she could do right now. She looked towards the raging sky and prayed to every deities she knew of for their safety.

 

---

 

"Argh dammit! I told you we should have turned back when I had the chance!" Ruri shouted, her voice getting completely muted by the howling wind.

"There was no way we could have made back to the town before the storm had arrived! We would have been stranded inside a forest during the storm! At least we are inside the shrine now!"

"Dammit! Why didn't you look at the weather report?!"

"Why didn't you look at it either?!"

"Arrrrrrgh...."

Ruri felt like tearing her hair off at the current moment. There was no network here, and there was no way to contact anyone! The others must be so worried!

It was all Takeshi's fault! And also her because she blabbered out yes back then!

"Stupid Takkun! And equally stupid me!!!"