“They won’t understand a thing, until you beat it into them.
Suo looks at the Shishitoren members with a smile, his tassels swaying as he moves his head. Quickly, the one with the hat walks up and yanks on Suo’s gakuran with a cackle. “Then why don’t YOU try it, Punk?”
“Hey…” Tomiyama interjects “You’re not the one who’s going to face that kid.”
“Stand down,” He orders, a threatening aura surrounding the leader. The order makes the two Shishitoren flinch and quickly walk away.
“Okay, Let’s go! Next, Next!! Who’s up next?”
“Great. I’ll go and—” Sakura gets cut off by Suo.
“Don’t be dumb. Based on the order, I’m next,” Suo informs him.
“WHO’RE YOU CALLING DUMB?!” Sakura yells.
Suo turns his head to face the anxious man-bun guy who is nervously biting at his nails. “You game, little baby?” Suo teases the male. “You seem pretty stressed. Why don’t we do a bit of exercise to loosen up those muscles, hm?” He smiles.
Kanuma stands up, getting out of his seat and walking towards the stage. Turning around in his seat, Tomiyama cheers “YEAH! NUMA-CHAN, GET HIM!”
“Y-YEAH! KANUMA, TEACH THAT KID A LESSON!!” other Shishitoren members call out to him, wanting to get a rise on the Bofurin member and hype up the anxious teen who’s about to fight.
“Sakura-kun,” Suo stands up while he addresses the rambunctious male.
“When you said you came here to usurp the top… I did think you were pretty stupid.”
“YOU’VE BEEN TRYIN’ TO PICK A FIGHT WITH ME FOR A WHILE NOW! SURE, LET’S GO ASSHOLE!!” Sakura sits up angrily, making bot Nirei and Ryuu go to calm him down, Ryuu stretching his left arm across Sakura’s torso.
“I mean, I’m sorry,” Suo laughs at himself “I thought those were just empty threats.”
“But what I found is a solid CORE in both your words and actions.
And that makes me think you’re pretty cool.”
Sakura looks at Suo with wide-ish eyes at the compliment. Suo turns his head slightly to look at Sakura, cherry-brown hair flowing gracefully along with his tassel earrings, a handsome smile on his face.
“So, in order for me not to lose to you… I’m going to give it my all, too!”
“J…JUST HURRY YOUR ASS OVER THERE!!” Sakura turns with a bright blush on his cheeks before Suo walks away and up onto the stage.
“...What’s his deal?” Sakura asks.
“Oh, Yeah! Kanuma-san, right?” Nirei flips through his book, trying to find the Shishitoren member.
“I’m not asking about the loser!”
“Huh? You mean Suo-san?!”
“He’s been famously strong ever since his junior high days,” Nirei explains.
“Duh! I can tell he’s strong just from lookin’ at him! Don’t you have anything else?!”
“WHAT?! YOU CAN TELL JUST FROM LOOKING?!”
“WHO CARES ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW?!”
“...” Nirei stays silent for a bit before continuing. “Well, about Suo-san… He’s famous, but there aren’t a lot of details… Not about him, or exactly who he won against.”
“What?! How’s that even possible…?”
Ryuu stays quiet, enjoying the interaction beside him. He’s enjoying listening to their voices as it distracts him from the upcoming fight he has to go through. He breathes, holds it, and releases.
“I’ve heard his name quite a lot… But I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout the kid… he went to a different junior high.” Hiragi cuts into their conversation.
“I don’t know much about Suo either. But..” Umemiya smiles up at the stage “It was clear to me when I met him… No question, this guy’s a gentleman.”
Up on the stage, Kanuma bites at his nails nervously before speaking, keeping his hand near his mouth. “Thanks to you assholes’, Arima’s turned into a joke,” He says.
“Oh?” Suo smiles like he always does, his eye closed “You’re mad for your friend, huh?”
“That’s…” He pauses, remembering what happened when they first met at the entrance of the Shishitoren land. “Quite different front the first time we met.” He teases.
“Arima and I were always together,” Kanuma became more and more anxious. “Anyone would be pissed if their bro got beat into the ground…”
“Hahaha,” Suo laughs at the situation “So basically, you only complain when YOU’RE the victim.”
“You’re not any different from a whiny child.”
Ryuu shakes his head. ‘This guy’s a gentleman my ass, he’s scolding the dude like he’s a kid right now,’ he thinks.
“You must have had it so hard… Little boy.”
Suo teased, the air surrounding him becoming threatening, the smell of Sandalwood and Bergamot invading his nose
‘Does that face really belong to someone who’s supposed to be a gentleman?’ Sakura thought as he, and the rest of the guys, watched the interaction.
At that, Kanuma snaps before rushing forward and aiming a punch towards Suo, only for it to hit his palm, the fist being grabbed by Suo’s quick hand, and pushed away; the Bofurin student dodging gracefully and getting behind the ‘lion’. Such a quick movement from Suo made the audience watch in amazement.
“Sorry…” He sighs as he turns “but tantrums never look cute… Well, not outside of grade school, that is,” Suo teases. “Now…” Suo brings his left hand up, his right hand coming to comfortably sit on his back “Why don’t you come with me… and take a step up the staircase to adulthood?”
As he asks that, he smiles.
This time, his smile doesn’t reach his eyes.
In front of the stage, the audience mumbled and muttered about what just happened.
‘In a flash, he got behind me?!’ Kanuma asks himself ‘There’s something up with his movements… In that case…’ Kanuma takes a stance.
‘I just needa hit him fast enough so that he can’t dodge!!’ and he pounces, fist forward, which is again; only grabbed by Suo’s swift and gentle hand before Kanuma is spun around, being dragged by his hold on the Suo’s pant leg, and slammed to the floor, which entices a loud grunt from the male in orange.
“Heh heh heh,” Suo chuckles as he stands above the fallen male “That was a nasty fall,” he teases with a closed eyed smile.
Kanuma blushes in embarrassment, quickly sitting up and grabbing Suo’s loose pants while calling out a “YOU ASSHOLE!”
Suo stays silent as he quickly spins the piece of clothing that’s being grasped around his leg, locking the male's arm before he kicks him away with that same leg. Ryuu huffs a smile, looking quite proud at the quick movements of the cherry-brunette male.
The Shishitoren member hits the ground harshly with another grunt, sitting up instantly, his face becoming a brighter pink every second due to embarrassment. “I’ve got a question for you…” Suo starts “What do you think… is the key piece you need to become an adult?” he asks.
Kanuma stares up at the smiling teen in curiosity before gritting his teeth and dashing towards his humiliator. “QUIT SPOUTING BULL-SHIT… THAT NO ONE UNDERSTANDS!!” He yells.
“W-Wow…” Nirei stares in amazement “It looks like… his opponent’s just falling on his own…” He says as Suo pushes Nakuma down to the floor again.
Yelling came from behind them.
“GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME!!”
“YOU’VE GOTTA BE SHITTIN’ ME KANUMAAA!!!”
“yOU’R NOT TAKIN’ THIS SERIOUSLY AT ALL!!”
‘They don’t even know… ME?! FOOLING AROUND?!’ Kanuma grits his teeth in anger and embarrassment, a vein pulsing at his temple. ‘Even if I push, if I pull, or if I grab him… He’d turn it around on me in the blink of an eye.’
‘IF YOU GUYS GOT COMPLAINTS… THEN YOU TRY TO FIGHT THIS GUY!!
Umemiya laughs “He’s not just kind, is he?”
“There isn’t even a fragment of kindness in this,” Sakura denies “All he's got is a rotten, garbage personality.”
“Huh?” Nirei turns to Sakura, confused.
Ryuu nods, closing his eyes.
“He’s keepin’ the guy weaker than him alive in a living hell,” Sakura explains “He’s just making a fool of his opponent.”
They watch as Suo swiftly pushes Kanuma down to the floor again.
“The poor guy’s forced to face the overwhelming difference in their strengths over and over,” Sakura frowns. “If it were me up there, I’d rather be killed than let That go on.”
“I-I see. That’s a bit too brutal.”
“Not like I’d end up in his shoes.”
“He’s embarrassing him…” Ryuu starts, making Sakura and Nirei look at him “Humiliation takes control of many emotions, which makes Nakuma’s moves become more and more desperate, so he’s able to feel accomplished.”
“Each desperate move becomes more and more readable for Suo, which clouds Nakuma’s thoughts with more shame and embarrassment,” Ryuu looks at Sakura and Nirei from the corner of his eye before looking back at the fight. Ryuu re-crosses his left leg over his right leg, crossing his arms, and leaning back as he watches the fight.
“Well…” Hiragi says “I’m sure he has his own thoughts after watchin’ the Shishitoren punks.”
“But I’ll admit I’m surprised to see him get so emotional.”
“I mean,” Hajime grabs their attention. “This is probably one of those cases, right?”
“Where someone close by… is drawing out that side of him,” Hajime finishes.
Nirei stares up at the stage, remembering Suo’s words to Sakura before he went up to the stage.
“Hey…” Sakura leans forward.
“What do you think I gotta do to make him fight me seriously…?” Sakura asks.
Up on the stage, Suo makes Kanuma fall to the ground again, Shishitoren members in the crowd yelled and complained as they watched the repeating scene.
“STOP SCREWIN’ AROUND, KANUMA!”
“ARE YOU EVEN BEING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!”
Kanuma ran around the stage, before doubling down, hands on his knee as he breathed heavily before running forward towards Suo again. His punches are dodged quickly, a calm but taunting smile on Suo’s face as he dodges or blocks each punch, pushing the teen in orange back and making him fall and making him get up again.
Kanuma jumps back before going to punch Suo again, only to get smacked and then punched on the side, pushing him back each time. Suo grabs Kanuma’s wrist and throws him to the floor, making the Shishitoren member grunt, before he’s made to get up again and then thrown to the floor again.
Kanuma gets up quickly, going in to tackle Suo, only for Suo to grab him and majestically spin around and throw Kanuma to the floor again.
“I have to give it to that Shishitoren member…” Ryuu says “He’s quite determined!”
Kanuma throws another punch at Suo, only for Suo to dodge it and quickly move himself behind Kanuma, grabbing at the hood of Kanuma’s hoodie, spinning him around before bringing his arm back and knocking him in the neck with it, before Kauma is thrown down on the ground again. He stays still there for a while, silently panicking at the loud call outs
Kanuma looks into the crowd, glancing at where his leader and second-in-command are sitting. What he sees is a disappointed Togame and an asleep Tomiyama. The sight made him shudder in fear, his brain creating image after image of him in the place of Saruwatari, being beaten and his baseball jacket being taken away by Togame.
‘Huh? No way… at this rate, I'm gonna…’
“About time…” Suo interrupts, making Kanuma gasp. “You’re starting to figure out the answer. I can see those gears turning,” Suo teases, tilting his head to the side.
“No…Not again…” Kanuma shakes “This… isn’t happenin’.”
“THIS ISN’T HAPPENING! THIS ISN’T HAPPENING! NOT TO ME!”
Kanuma stands up, quickly turning and rushing to throw a punch at Suo like he has been trying for the past few, long, minutes, yelling out in frustration; only to be stopped by the bottom of Suo’s kung fu shoe.
“Why don’t I…” Suo smirks “Try guessing what you’re thinking right now?”
Kanuma freezes, sweating with his lips trembling.
“You’re overlapping the image of the man you once laughed at… with your own self.”
“THAT’S the answer to my question… What you need to become an adult is… The Power of Imagination.”
Kanuma pushes himself away, falling on his ass with a THUD and a scream of fear. Suo looks down at him with a serious face before he opens his arms. “Now… After you’ve done it once, you’ll be on your way to success!” Suo smiles “So, before you forget how it feels, let's move on to the next step!”
“What do you think is necessary… in order to strengthen that imagination?” Kanuma stares at Suo, sweating and hair a mess in fear.
“Well,” Suo brings his hand up, pointing up “The answer is… to make your imagination..” Suo smiles at the male “Into a Reality.”
Suo gets into a fighting position, making Kanuma freak out and call out a shaky “W…WAIT!”
From the corner of Ryuu’s eye, Togame stands up. “All right, stop,” Togame calls out “That’s… enough.”
“Sorry, eyepatch-kun. Can you step down?”
“AaAh… I, UhH,” Kanuma trembles out, “Wh-why…?”
“Don’t embarrass us any further,” Togame scolds “Or, I guess… It’s not really an embarrassment anymore…”
“Since you’re off the team now.”
Those words shatter Kanuma, his dreams, his heart, his everything.
Suo steps forward, face serious, and he walks away.
“To become an adult… means that you have to engage in other people’s feelings. That’s where you’ll need both imagination and experience.”
“You’ve… managed to take at least one step up those stairs.”
Suo says as he walks down the stairs into the audience.
