I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

One Strike.
The range of self-defense permitted by the police, in my understanding, was exactly one strike.
Any more than that would count as excessive force, so I resolved the situation with a single punch.

The slicked-back man, struck by a counter punch, flew through the air like a ragdoll.
White teeth scattered like flower petals.
THUD!!

Spewing a torrent of blood from his nose and mouth, the man only stopped flying after crashing into a vending machine about three meters away.
“Hyung-nim!”
“Hayashi-hyung!”

The punks panicked and ran over to the fallen man.
I clenched and unclenched my right fist, which still held the weight of impact, and stood behind the two who were frantically shaking the unconscious man.
“You laid a hand on my friend. I hope you’re ready to face the consequences?”

Hearing that, the two—both wearing neck and wrist braces—shrieked and fell backwards, shouting desperately:
“If you touch us, we’ll report you to the police! My dad knows someone in the Metropolitan Police Department!”
“My dad’s a police executive! You know what’ll happen if you lay a hand on me?!”

What a textbook threat.
Do these guys not know the saying, “The law is far, but the fist is near”?
I placed one palm each over their faces.

“I’ll straighten out those rotten heads of yours.”
The move was called the Iron Claw, often used in pro wrestling.
Its advantage? You can inflict tremendous pain by applying pressure to the temples with one hand—and if you control your strength, it won’t even leave a visible mark.
“Aaagh! Aaaaaagh! It hurts! It hurts! I think I’m gonna die!”

“Please! Please spare me! Somebody help! I was wrong!”
Lifted into the air with their vision blocked and immense pressure crushing their temples, the two flailed their limbs and cried with snot and tears pouring down.
After holding them up like that for about thirty seconds, I finally let go. The two pissed their pants and begged for their lives with trembling hands.

I looked down at them with a cold gaze and said,
“Leave. And never show your faces again in front of Tojo or Sakamoto.”
The punks nodded frantically, then picked up their fallen “Hayashi-hyung” and fled the park in a panic.

“Phew…”
In the end, blood was spilled on what was supposed to be a good day.
If it happened again, I wouldn’t hesitate to protect my friends, but the fact that I seemed to be slipping further from the bounds of ordinary humanity left a bitter taste.

Is this the fate of the muscle-bound gag character…?
As I stared at both palms, still tingling from impact, Kishimoto—who’d been watching from afar—came running and waving.
“Ryu-chan! Are you okay?!”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Aside from a minor scrape, I’m not hurt.”
I said it to reassure her, but she still pointed at my forehead in alarm.
“But blood is still streaming down your forehead!”

That’s when I finally remembered I’d cut it. I pulled out a handkerchief from my pocket to press against it.
“This kind of wound heals with just a little spit.”
Kishimoto, rarely angry, grabbed my arm and snapped.

“Don’t say something so stupid—get to the pharmacy now!”
In the end, unable to go against her insistence, I headed for a small pharmacy near the park.
***

After applying the medicine and patching my forehead with a square bandage, I was finally able to return to the original spot.
While I was dealing with the delinquents, Tojo had carried the collapsed Sakamoto to a nearby bench. He seemed to have regained some strength now.
Honestly, I wanted to ask if they were both okay, but there was an awkward atmosphere between the two, so Kishimoto and I quietly watched from a short distance.

Eventually, Tojo spoke up first.
“I’m sorry, Sakamoto. You got hurt because of me.”
Sakamoto, sitting beside her, shook his head and replied.

“No, I should be the one apologizing. They came after me because they had a grudge.”
A brief silence fell between them.
Then Tojo, fiddling nervously with her hands and lowering her head, mustered up her courage and said,

“Sakamoto! I like you! Please go out with me!”
Sakamoto opened his eyes slightly wider, then smiled bitterly.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can give you the answer you want.”

“Why not?! Is it because I’m too tomboyish?! If that’s the reason, then from now on—!”
Sakamoto hurriedly waved his hands.
“No, it’s not that. Tojo-san, you’re honestly too good for me. But I have my reasons.”

“Reasons?”
“There’s a girl I promised to marry when we were kids. At least until I meet her again, I don’t want to date anyone.”
Tojo turned her head forward and asked,

“Do you still like her that much?”
“That… I’m not sure. But I do remember liking her a lot. I cried my eyes out the day she moved away.”
“So… she was your first love?”

“Yeah. You could say that. She was my first love.”
“…I see.”
Tojo nodded and stood up from the bench with a bright smile.

“If you really don’t want to, then I can’t help it. I’ll give up cleanly. Today was really fun! See you at school next week, Sakamoto!”
She said it brightly and then ran off from the park without looking back.
Sakamoto watched her retreating figure wistfully—but didn’t chase after her.

He must’ve been sincere about not wanting to date her.
“…What now.”
Kishimoto murmured, covering her mouth with her hand, her eyes filled with heaviness.

I watched Tojo’s retreating back quietly, then turned to Kishimoto.
“Rika, you should head home now. I’ll go after Tojo.”
“You sure you’ll be okay alone?”

“Even if I’m not, someone’s got to comfort her.”
Kishimoto hesitated, then nodded.
“Alright. I’ll leave Tojo-san to you.”

“See you at school next week.”
“Yeah. You did great today, Ryu-chan.”
After a short goodbye, I turned and dashed with everything I had in the direction Tojo had run off.

***
Tojo, who had bolted from the park, fortunately hadn’t gotten far.
She was probably slowed down by the unfamiliar high-heeled shoes.

Sitting alone at an empty bus stop, staring blankly at the passing cars—when a shadow fell over her head, she looked up at me with tear-soaked eyes.
“You okay?”
She forced a smile and replied,

“Of course I’m not.”
I tried to hand her my handkerchief, but then remembered I’d used it to wipe the blood from my forehead—it was a # Nоvеlight # mess. Embarrassed, I put it back in my pocket and instead pulled out tissues to dab at her tears.
“Geez, such a mess. Tch.”

“Sniff…”
As I wiped away her tear- and snot-streaked face, the makeup faded, revealing her true self beneath.
With her makeup gone, she scratched the back of her head awkwardly, trying to play it off.

“This is embarrassing… I’ve never let anyone see me cry before.”
I sat beside her on the empty bench and said,
“We’re friends. So what.”

“Friends, huh…”
Tojo mumbled that as she looked up at the blue sky.
“You know, I realized midway that you and Kishimoto were tailing me.”

“…Really?”
That was unexpected.
In romcoms, no matter how obvious the tailing is, the person being followed never notices—wasn’t that the rule?

Feeling embarrassed, I looked away, and Tojo patted my shoulder.
“I’m not going to get mad about it. It just shows how unreliable I was. If the people who gave me advice had to tail me all day, it means I didn’t inspire much confidence.”
“That’s not why we…”

“I’m sorry. I failed in the end.”
Tojo bowed her head suddenly.
“I thought if I changed myself, I could win Sakamoto’s heart. But it was my arrogant delusion. There was never room for me in his heart to begin with.”

She choked up.
“I knew it all along, but I turned away from the truth. And this is the result.”
Clutching her chest in frustration, Tojo Karen spoke:

“It hurts here. It hurts so much, I think I’m going crazy. But there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s a feeling I’ve never known before.”
She bowed her head and let out a cry of anguish.
“I—!!”

As if possessed, in the empty bus stop with just the two of us, she shouted with all her might.
“I really, truly liked him!!”
Huff… huff…

I quietly looked at Tojo Karen’s side profile, pained by the rejection of her first love.
To be honest, at first, I thought of her as just a character in a manga.
Same with Kishimoto.

Even if we laughed and spent time together, I always kept a clear line between us.
Probably because I was an outsider thrown into the world of Scramble Love.
But now, the girl in front of me was no manga character.

She was Tojo Karen—a living human being.
A fragile girl, in pain and turmoil after the collapse of her first love.
It hit me late—but from now on, I decided to act according to what my heart told me.

“Karen, stand up.”
“…What?”
Maybe because I called her name without permission, Karen looked up at me with surprise.

“If you scream like that here, you’ll get reported for causing a public disturbance.”
Karen stared at me blankly for a second, then suddenly chuckled.
“You… seriously? That’s what you say in this situation?”

“Yeah. Laugh instead. You look better that way.”
I said that and pulled her up from the bench.
Still dazed, she looked up at me with reddened, rabbit-like eyes and asked,

“Okay, I stood up like you said. Now what?”
I took off my hoodie, draped it over her shoulders, pulled up the hood, and said,
“We’re going to karaoke. Let’s scream our hearts out and vent everything. That way, maybe you’ll be able to accept being rejected.”

“…What?”
Ignoring her stunned voice, I pulled out my phone and searched for a nearby karaoke joint.
The closest one was on the second floor of Sunshine City.

A cultural complex that really has everything.
I gestured for Karen—who looked like she was wearing a blanket—to follow me and started walking.
“Hey! Kim Yu-seong! Wait! Walk with me!”

Looking back briefly, I saw her face—which had been gloomy like a thundercloud—had already brightened up completely.
***
“…That Kim Yu-seong kid. He’s a good one.”

“Sniff… Miss Tojo is lucky to have a friend like that.”
“This old man hasn’t seen something that touching in a while…”
The yakuza stood up one by one, each muttering their own impression as they got ready to leave.

Tojo Naoto watched the backs of his daughter and Kim Yu-seong growing distant and let out a satisfied smile.
“In this cold, ruthless world, he’s a rare sight indeed.”
Humanity and Honor!

Toseikai’s sixth boss, Tojo Naoto, looked at Kim Yu-seong and recalled a long-forgotten word.
Maybe he—just maybe—could revive the name of the chivalrous warriors, the vanishing ghosts of another era, in this land once more!
“If fate allows, let’s meet again, young man.”

April 22 (Sat) [PM 3:18]
Date: Over!