I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

Goto Kazuya first told his underlings to come in for a moment.
"Kazu~ who's here?"
"Ah, just some friends dropped by! I’ll be right back!"

He casually brushed off his unsuspecting mother, then entered his room and locked the door.
Sitting on the edge of his bed instead of a chair, he asked,
"What the hell’s going on? Mito betrayed us?"

His underlings, faces swollen and covered in bandages and gauze, replied tearfully.
"Two weeks ago, after you suddenly resigned from your position as boss and left, you handed over the leadership to Mito, who was the vice boss, right?"
"Yeah, I did."

"Turns out, Mito was secretly working with those Devil Riders. We didn’t know anything and were lured into their meeting spot—next thing we knew, we were surrounded and got gang-beaten. It has to be some trick cooked up by that bastard Maou, the leader of Devil Riders!"
"That bastard Maou…"
Grinding his teeth, Goto recalled Maou—once his greatest rival.

"Boss! Please help us! Without you, there’s no one left to protect Hyakki Yagyō!"
"But… I’ve already left all that behind."
"If this keeps up, the white special uniform that’s been passed down since the first generation will fall into Maou’s hands! Are you really going to just stand by and watch?!"

"……"
Goto hesitated.
He had already washed his hands of this.

If a guy like that suddenly came back after just two weeks of retirement? Not just him, but all of Hyakki Yagyō would become a laughingstock.
And there was also the promise he made with his hyung-nim.
That if he didn’t give up and stayed for three days, he’d be accepted as a disciple.
But even so, he couldn’t just let this go. Hyakki Yagyō was a group filled with his romance and memories.

There were still junior members left, and he didn’t want the name Hyakki Yagyō to disappear like this.
As he struggled, he caught sight of his juniors staring at him anxiously—and suddenly let out a smirk.
'Since when did I start agonizing over crap like this?'

Goto immediately opened his closet and pulled out his black special-issue uniform.
Originally, he’d planned to seal it away forever.
But just this once, he had to bring it back out from the past.

As he slipped it on, he asked his old underlings,
"Let’s go. Where’s that bastard Maou?"
***

It was already past 2 p.m., the time they agreed to meet in the morning, and Goto still hadn’t shown up.
“…What the hell?”
He didn’t seem like the type to flake out.

Especially not today—this was the last day.
If he were going to give up, he would’ve done so long ago.
Judging from all the signs, something had definitely happened to Goto.

Otherwise, there was no way he wouldn’t have shown up by now.
I regretted not asking for his phone number, thinking our relationship would be brief.
If I had it, I could at least ask why he wasn’t coming.

But there was no point in regretting it now.
I decided to help out at the shop and clear my head.
There wasn’t anything I could do at the moment anyway.

All I could do was wait for Goto to show up on his own.
As I thought that, wiping down the table with a dry towel—
Click.

"Excuse me!"
"Welcome."
I turned around, expecting a customer, but flinched when I saw a delinquent with bright yellow-dyed hair standing at the entrance.

He looked exactly like someone related to Goto.
And I wasn’t wrong.
Avoiding my gaze awkwardly, the blonde delinquent said,

"U-Um… are you Goto-hyung-nim’s hyung-nim?"
…Hyung-nim’s hyung-nim, what the hell is that.
Normally, I’d have firmly denied it at such a headache-inducing title, but since I was curious about why Goto hadn’t shown up, I gave a casual nod.

"Yeah. Did Goto send you?"
"Y-Yes. Uh, Kazu—no, Goto-hyung-nim asked me to pass along a message. He probably won’t be able to come to the shop today."
"……"

So something really had happened.
There must be a serious reason for someone who pleaded so desperately to become my disciple to suddenly ghost me like this.
"Then… I’ve delivered the message, so I’ll be going now."

The blonde delinquent said that with a bow and hurried to leave the shop.
"Hold up."
"Y-Yes?"

Hearing my voice, the delinquent froze like a statue and turned around with a bewildered look.
I untied my apron and said,
"Can you tell me what’s keeping Goto from coming?"

The delinquent bit his ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) lip and hesitated, then slowly nodded.
"Understood."
***

"So what you’re saying is, that guy Mito, who used to be Hyakki Yagyō’s vice boss, was secretly colluding with that Devil Riders guy Maou, and right after Goto retired and Mito took power, he tried to merge with Devil Riders?"
"Yes, that’s right."
The blonde delinquent sitting beside me, looking like a criminal being interrogated, explained everything down to the last detail.

After organizing what I’d heard in my head, I casually asked,
"What do you think Maou’s goal is?"
"…Probably to make Devil Riders the strongest team in Tokyo? Until now, they couldn’t touch Setagaya because of Goto-hyung-nim and Hyakki Yagyō. But if the merger goes through, they’ll instantly become the biggest force in Tokyo."

"So Goto got dragged into a gang power struggle even after retiring?"
"We're really sorry about that. But without Goto-hyung-nim, who was feared as one of the Two Demons, no one in Tokyo can stop Maou and the Devil Riders. Maou even sees Goto-hyung-nim as his rival."
"…Alright, I get the situation."

If that’s how it was, then Goto really couldn’t help it.
He’s a bit simple, a bit of an idiot, and super passionate—if his old underlings begged for help, there’s no way he could say no.
I decided to cut him some slack for a day once all this was over.

Then, seeing the blonde delinquent glance nervously at the clock, I asked,
"Why the rush? Got somewhere to be?"
"No, it’s just… Maou set a deadline, and it’s almost time. He said if Goto-hyung-nim didn’t show up by then, he wouldn’t leave our teammates alone. Even if I’m just a pair of cat’s paws, I gotta go."

"If that’s the case, then get going. I’ve been holding you up."
"Y-Yes! Thank you! Hyung-nim’s hyung-nim!"
The blonde delinquent bowed over and over, then bolted out the door.

Watching him, I thought maybe I should get in some training while I was alone—but then I remembered something important.
"Oh, the muscle soreness."
Right now, Goto probably couldn’t use anything except his legs.

***
BUAAAAANG!
Goto Kazuya, riding his beloved bike, arrived at a construction site near Setagaya with thirty elite members of Hyakki Yagyō in tow.

The site had been abandoned for two years due to unpaid wages by the contractor. Dimly lit, shielded from wind—it was basically the perfect hideout for runaway delinquents.
As dozens of motorcycles rolled into the unfinished building, floodlights suddenly flared on from all directions.
Pop! Pop! Pop!

"You finally came, Goto Kazuya."
Devil Riders.
A biker gang formed two years ago, dreaming of unifying Tokyo under the iron rule of its leader, Sakagami Maou.

Amid a sea of delinquents with flashy mohawks, a man wearing a helmet painted with a red bull sat atop his bike and faced Goto.
Wearing a black special-issue uniform and gripping a wooden sword in his right hand, Goto pointed it at Maou and said,
"I heard my underlings owe you a debt, Maou."

From beneath the helmet came a restrained chuckle.
"Kuhuhu—your underlings? You mean your ‘former’ underlings, don’t you?"
Correcting Goto’s words himself, Maou mockingly placed a hand on the shoulder of Mito—now Hyakki Yagyō’s 4th boss—who had approached him.

"Thanks to you stepping down voluntarily, we were able to devour Hyakki Yagyō whole. Goto."
Goto clenched his teeth and growled,
"…Bullshit. Hyakki Yagyō belongs to no one."

"Is that so? Your underlings don’t seem to think that way."
Snap!
Maou snapped his fingers, and out from the dark corners of the building stepped several frightened faces—gripping metal pipes and wooden clubs.

"We’re sorry… Goto-san…"
They had originally been members of Hyakki Yagyō.
But after being dragged here and beaten relentlessly, there wasn’t a single unbruised spot on them.

"We had no choice if we wanted to survive…"
Seeing this, Goto’s eyes turned red with rage.
"Maou, you bastard!"

He revved his engine and charged.
But standing in his way wasn’t Maou—it was his former underling, now the 4th boss of Hyakki Yagyō, Mito.
"Out of my way, Meat! Before I turn you into ground beef!"

"Don’t call me by that nickname ever againnnnn!"
The two clashed in midair with wooden swords.
The members of Hyakki Yagyō began fighting among themselves.

As he watched their shattered camaraderie crumble, Sakagami Maou burst into maniacal laughter.
"KUHAHAHAHAHA! Fight more! Keep fighting! Until one of you drops dead!"
And at that very moment—

"So this is where you were."
A voice rang out as someone stepped into the darkness of the building.