A wooden stick was approaching. The figure gets bigger and bigger. The delinquent clenched his teeth as he leaped up to slam it into me.\n
I move slightly off to the side and put my arms out in front of me.\n
The stick hits me directly in the arm.\n
āā¦ā¦ā\n
Itās not as bad as I thought it would be. Itās not like these guys are used to fighting. Even when they were bullying the little guy earlier, they were taking advantage of the cigarettes and the river.\n
However, I was immediately hit with a huge jolt in my side.\n
I exaggeratedly rolled to the side. There was more than one person who had attacked me. I pulled away and looked back to where I was and saw two other delinquents standing there.\n
āOh?ā\n
I lay down on my back in the grass. It wasnāt so bad that I couldnāt get up. But I frowned blatantly and rubbed my hand on the spot where I had been kicked in pain.\n
āHey, hey, whatās this guy? Isnāt he a fucking small fry?ā\n
The leader of the group was smiling happily as if he had just lied before.\n
āHa, ha. Thatās good. Itās like he came all the way from the other side to be beaten up. Thanks a lot, Oiā\n
He slowly approached me. I looked at him sideways and curled my body up painfully. I breathed in and out, saliva dripping from my mouth.\n
āHow dare you act all high and mighty just now!ā\n
The leaderās foot was lowered onto my stomach.\n
āI ā¦ā¦!ā\n\n
ā¦ā¦ā¦.That went into the solar plexus\n
That really hurt. Itās tough.\n
My vision goes dark for a moment. The pain is distorting my vision.\n
It felt as if my nose was being crushed. The slickers on the shoes scratched my cheeks.\n
āCome on, come on, come on!ā\n\n
Again and again.\n
My face was stomped on.\n
It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.\n
Each time I was stomped on, intense pain hit me.\n
Perhaps he was enjoying the sight of me suffering, the force of his stomping gradually became stronger. I canāt even think about pain or suffering.\n
āā¦ā¦.uhā\n
āItās your fault for making a fool of me. Youāre going to die.ā\n
The leader shouted, and his cronies nodded.\n
He grabbed me by the collar and forced me to stand up.\n
I was in so much pain that I couldnāt look up. My face must already be swollen. I lifted my eyes to look at the leaderās face.\n
The leader was smiling at me.\n
āI heard about you, about the old days.ā\n
He grabbed me by my hair.\n
He lifted my face forcibly. Every time the wind blew, the scar on my face hurt.\n
āI heard you were pretty badass a few years ago.ā\n\n
Shut up. I glared at him.\n
āBut after your mother died, I heard you became a coward.ā\n
I hear a dirty laugh.\n
Itās not just one person laughing. Almost everyone in the place was laughing.\n
The little guy, who had been beaten up earlier, was hunched over by the other delinquents.\n
āIāll let you see your precious mom~ā\n\n
I knew it was a provocation. In fact, my heart was overwhelmed with anger.\n
What do you know?\n
That pain. The sadness. The feeling that everything was falling apart.\n
My world has changed so much since that day. There hasnāt been a single day that I havenāt regretted.\n
But thatās why I found something I had to do.\n
I didnāt raise my hand and kept glaring at him.\n
He didnāt seem to like that. The delinquent clicked his tongue.\n\n
āOh, no. If you had cried and begged for forgiveness, I would have forgiven you. It seems that you have not been beaten up enough yet.ā\n
He grabbed my cheek with one hand.\n
Iāll keep my mouth shut.\n
āI donāt care what happens to you!ā\n
Then he jumps up and kicks me in the stomach as hard as he can.\n
āUgh. ā¦ā¦ā\n
An inarticulate groan escapes me. My back slammed into the ground with force.\n
I couldnāt properly recognize what happened next.\n
Repeated kicks and blows. Only the pain tormented my brain repeatedly.\n
My vision wavered. I couldnāt tell which way was up and which way was down. The world keeps spinning.\n
I hear a voice. Itās a creepy voice. Every time the voice falls, my body aches. I thought I was looking at the sky, but now Iām smelling the dirt. My face is pressed into the ground, and then my body is flying through the air. A hard fist sticks to me. Rough shoes poke me. I feel dizzy. I donāt even know if Iām in pain or not. But my vision bounces and bounces. I eat dirt. Saliva spits out of my mouth. My sense of equilibrium had long since died. I donāt even know if itās my body anymore. I donāt know how to move my body. I donāt know how to speak. I could only stare at the spinning world in a daze for a long time.\n
Eventually, the world stopped spinning.\n
It seemed to have come to an end.\n
I donāt even know how much time has passed. My vision was almost completely blurred, and I doubted if my ears were functioning.\n
The only thing I can see is the faces of the delinquents.\n
Thereās nothing I can do about it.\n
āSuck it up. A small fry like you shouldnāt have involved with meā\n
Apparently, my ears were still functioning.\n
āSee you later.ā\n
The view was familiar. As soon as the sole of a shoe occupied my field of vision, I felt a shock on my face.\n
I couldnāt keep my balance any longer. I fell back down.\n
The sound of water. Suffocation. The sensation of water seeping into my wounds. Something black and shimmering fills the air in front of me.\n
Thatās how I knew Iād been pushed into the river.\n
As I reached out my hand, I thought.\n
This is my punishment. I made a mistake, and itās my sin.\n
When I lost my mother, and then when I realized that Sayaka was in danger. I realized that both of them were my fault.\n
Iām such a fool, arenāt I? Why am I such a helpless person? I try to do everything perfectly, but I always end up failing.\n\n
At that moment, I remembered what had happened four years ago.\n\n
<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide">\nTN: This chapter really shows our MCs determination. He knows retaliation will only result in more retaliation. Gotta respect.\n\n