We stared into each other's eyes for a moment, before my face exploded in heat and I jumped, pulling Saya up from my lap.

"S, sis...?" Saya raised a hand to her lips in surprise, a light blush on her face.

"T, that was...!" I breathed.

Saya was watching my reaction puzzledly while I was having a full blown meltdown, "Sis, it's okay... it's just me, good thing it wasn't anyone else...", she said.

"Aaaaah! I can't take this anymore!" I screamed, turning to face the wall of the dressing room and smacked my head into it repeatedly.

"Wh, what are you doing, sis...?!"

"Waaaaaaaaah!!"

Watching me smash my head into the wall for a few more seconds, Saya broke out of her shock, quickly pulling me away from the wall.

"Sis?!" Saya said, "What the heck are you doing?! Seriously!"

"Just cooling down..." I sighed with a dizzy head.

"T, that's enough shopping for today, sis! We're going home!!"

~x~

What a day yesterday was.

Slumped down over my desk in class, I glanced to my side at Saya who was looking over her notes diligently.

She didn't seem too bothered about what happened yesterday, but that was quite obvious considering that she saw me as only her sister.

On the other hand, it was still me, Takeru inside this body...

"Kaya~!" Ueko's voice sang in front of me and the weight of her body came down on the desk as she planted a hand down, "It's time for lunch! What are you still daydreaming about?"

"Huh?" I glanced up at Ueko unfocusedly, then back around the classroom again to see that she was right.

I had been so deep in my thoughts that I hadn't realised it at all.

"Hm?" Ueko leaned down closer to look at my face, "Something good happened on the weekend?"

"Tch, it's nothing like that!" I shifted away from her, grabbing my lunchbox out of my bag, before getting up from my seat.

Then, I glanced to my side at Saya to see her eating with her friend as usual.

Saya glanced over, noticing that I was look at her, and smiled, waving her hand, "Have a good lunch, sis! I made something special for you today!"

"Hahaha..." I laughed weakly, still awkward over what happened in the weekend, "Thank you so much, Saya..."

Ueko glanced at my expression as we walked out of the classroom together.

"Did something happen between you and Saya?" Ueko asked, her hands held behind her back as she followed me through the school hallway.

"Nothing!" I snapped, not wanting to talk about the topic, especially not to Ueko.

~x~

We ended up sitting outside at our usual spot near the school oval, watching people running around as we ate our lunch.

"Ah, this is so good!" I cried cheerfully as I placed a piece of fried tempura in my mouth, "Saya is really the greatest sister in the world!"

Ueko laughed next to me, holding onto her sandwich, "Well, that was easy for you to cheer up!"

"It's not like that..." I glared sideways at Ueko, chewing onto my food, "I was just really hungry... that's all..."

"Sure, if you say so," Ueko chuckled, then took a small bite of her sandwich.

I glanced down at her plain looking sandwich, "Er, Ueko, you always eat a sandwich for lunch... Don't you ever change it up?"

"Not everyone has a great little sister to cook for them," Ueko said, rolling her eyes.

"Ah, sorry, Ueko," I said, then raised my lunchbox towards her, "You can have some of mine if you want."

Ueko laughed, shaking a hand, "What? You took me so seriously, Kaya! I was just joking. Thanks for the offer anyways."

Ueko glanced back down at her sandwich, then took another bite, "Besides, I'm not a fussy eater. That's why I make the same thing every morning. It's just the easiest thing to make."

"Eh? What about your parents, Ueko? Don't they cook for you?"

"Nope, my parents are always busy with work, you know that, Kaya."

"O-oh right!" I coughed quickly, "I remember..."

"They probably haven't even been home for a whole month this year," Ueko said casually, "Not that I care."

"Damn, they sound pretty shitty..."

Ueko glanced over at me, surprised at what I said.

Then, she chuckled with a shake of her head, "I guess they really are, huh."

She turned back to her sandwich, "Anyways, what do you thi..."

Ueko stopped talking as we saw a boy on the side of the oval being pushed down to the ground by a group of students.

It looked as though they were taunting the boy on the ground.

"Oh, not again..." Ueko sighed.

"You know what's going on over there?" I asked Ueko.

"Yeah, it's always that same group of seniors." Ueko said with an annoyed look on her face, "They find a junior student to pick on, then make that junior their lackey for the rest of the term, running stupid errands for them and ransoming them for money."

I watched as the group of seniors started dragging the boy across the grass of the oval, heading for the back of the school building.

"Kaya? You're not thinking about..."

"Wait here," I rose up from the ground, "I'll be right back, alright."

"K, Kaya...!" Ueko chased after me as I headed for the back of the school building where the seniors had went.

"It's not worth it, Kaya...!" Ueko said, pacing quickly besides me to keep up, "The teachers and principal won't do anything about those guys! You're just going to end up as their next victim!"

"Heh," I chuckled darkly, "As if I would go to the teachers. I would only go to a teacher if I needed help going to sleep... Actually, I might be sending those senior students to sleep too."

"W, what...?! You're not thinking about..."

I stopped for a moment, realising that Ueko was following me, and Ueko stopped too besides me.

Hang on.

I can't have Ueko going with me when I confront those senior students.

Once again, I had forgotten momentarily that I was supposed to be a high school chick and not a yakuza gang leader.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"Um, listen..." I said, speaking to Ueko who was watching me bewilderedly, "I'm just going to have a little chat with those guys, okay...? You probably shouldn't come with me, Ueko..."

"What are you talking about, Kaya?" Ueko said in disbelief, "How are you going to stop those senior students all by yourself? Have you gone crazy?"

Aah, I didn't really want to explain myself.

"J, just go get the nurses--I mean, teachers, in case anything happens, okay, Ueko?!" I gave her a little encouraging push from her back to go the other way. "Trust me, I'll be fine!"

"W, what...? Why are you doing this, Kaya? I don't get it..."

I sighed, "It's for Saya."

"Saya...?" Ueko said, seeming even more confused than before.

"Yeah, she told me before to protect those that are weak."

"...?!"

Turning away, I left Ueko behind me as I headed over to the back of the school building by myself.

~x~

2 years ago...

Heavy rain poured down from the dark, stormy sky, and thunder boomed faintly in the distance.

"Y, you son of a bastard--!!"

The last standing yakuza, dressed in a black suit rushed at me from behind, just as I had finished with his friend and I felt a loud dull thud on the side of my head as I fell face first into the pavement.

"S, shit..." I mumbled to myself, feeling rain and blood soaking up my face and mouth as I tried to get up from the ground, "What the fuck, there was one more...?"

The yakuza smashed a metal rod onto the top of my head again and I fell back down into the pavement, pain searing across my head.

"You're just a fuckin' highschooler and you dare mess with the yakuza...?!" The yakuza was puffing behind gritted teeth, his eyes lit with rage, "Go to hell, bastard...!!"

The metal rod swung down again, but this time I managed to roll myself away, narrowly avoiding the rod as it hit into the concrete ground.

The force at which he threw the rod down caused the rod to slip out of his hand, repelling backwards as it smashed into his own face, sending him flying backwards and landing unconscious.

Pulling myself up from the ground, I stared down at the yakuza, panting heavily.

"Tch, dumbass..." I spat out, then walked with a limp to get away from the scene, one hand holding onto my throbbing head.

Shit, there was like thirty of those assholes lying around.

I had to get out of here before anyone found me like this.

After walking for a very long time, so long in fact that I had no idea where I was, I ended up inside some shed, hiding at the back behind the equipment inside.

The bleeding from my head wasn't stopping, and I was feeling more and more out of breath, now unable to move.

I moved my hand around in the darkness, trying to see if I could find anything to useful to wrap around my head, and pulled the solid object that I felt towards my eyes.

A baseball glove with the words 'PROPERTY OF KOHAKU JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL' written in a tag that was stuck on it.

Was this a joke...?

In my stupor, I had ended up at school, the place that I hated the most in my life.

"Heh..." I chuckled to myself at the irony of the situation, then tossed the baseball glove away.

It hit into some other equipment inside the shed and I heard things falling down to the ground noisily.

"Sh, shit..." I mumbled, but was too tired to do anything.

Ah, what the hell, it's not like anyone will hear me inside the shed under this heavy rain...

"Is someone in there...?"

The shed door creaked open and a girl with cherry pink hair and large marigold eyes peeked inside, dressed in a raincoat.

"Helloo--w, what the HECK--?!?"

The girl almost screamed, seeing me lying at the back of the shed, heavily soaked in blood and rain.

I didn't even have the energy to make up an excuse.

She ran over to me, leaning down to check on me, her pretty face frightened and worried, "A, are you okay?! You're bleeding so much!!"

"S, shut up..." I said weakly, "You're so loud... just leave me alone..."

"How can I leave you alone?!" The girl said, then she peered closer at my face, "You're Takeru, right...?" She paused for a few seconds, then turned around, "Hold on for a bit, I'll come back!"

She left the shed, and I was alone for a moment, still drifting in and out of consciousness.

When I found myself conscious again, I was staring up into the girl's marigold eyes, feeling something wrapped around my head and the back of my head lying onto something warm.

I tried to get up, moving my head to the side and realised that I was lying onto her lap. The girl stopped me, keeping me in place and I wasn't able to resist with how weary I was.

"Stop moving, okay..." She said, "The bleeding only just started to slow, if you keep moving, you're going to start bleeding again."

"..."

I stayed still reluctantly and we remained that way for a moment.

"Why didn't you call the cops?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Call the cops?" She said, "And watch you get arrested?"

"Heh..." I closed my eyes, trying not to strain them, "So you knew... and yet you still helped me..."

Then, I opened my eyes again after a while, looking into the girl's face, "...Saya, right...?"

"You remembered my name." Saya smiled, and I felt my face reddened slightly, seeing her smile.

Shit, what was this...?

"Stop moving!" Saya said, holding my head in place on her lap, "Geez..."

"..."

"Do you remember what I said about that you might need help one day?" Saya asked.

"I knew you were going to mention that," I sighed, then I glanced away, "So what is it that you want? You want me to pay you back? Got any bullies you don't like at school? How do you want me to repay you?"

Saya shook her head, then chuckled, "I don't want anything like that, Takeru."

"What is it then?"

"Just help those that are in need," Saya smiled, "Help those that are weaker than you."

"..."

I glanced away again, feeling embarrassed by her smile and her stare.

"Alright, fine... I promise you..."

~x~

Present...

"Hey assholes."

I stopped at the end of the corner behind the school building where the senior students had gone.

They turned to glance at me, the junior student lying on the ground in the middle of their circle. He had bruises and scratches all over his body from being dragged and kicked around.

For a second, the senior students blinked, glancing behind me to see if there was anyone there, then upon confirming that it was indeed me that had spoken, one of the seniors stepped forward.

"What are you looking at?"

A boy with faded green hair and eyes like a hawk stared at me blankly, quite clearly seeing me as not a threat.

"Your ugly mug." I replied back, "It's been pissing me off for a while, don't you know that dying your hair is against the school rules? Especially with such a terrible colour."

"What did you...!"

The seniors behind the boy stepped towards me, their faces agitated.

"Hehe..." The boy with green hair chuckled in amusement, "Well... I was not expecting that."

He gave me a glance over, a hint of interest now showing in his previously blank eyes but the rest of his face remained stoic.

"Tell you what," He began, glancing back up at me, "I'll give you a chance to apologise. You're the new transfer student in the junior year, right? That's probably why you don't recognise me."

He raised a hand, brushing back his faded green hair from his smooth face to look down at me with a frightening look, "My name is Shigeo. To put it simply, I'm the kingpin of this school. My family are all yakuzas in very high ranking positions within the Nishi family. Not that you would know of them."

Nishi family.

Was this guy serious?

The Nishi family were one of the major yakuza families that controlled the Tokyo area, but for a small timer like him to claim to have ties with them?

...

I couldn't tell if he was being serious.

But frankly, I couldn't care less either ways.

"So what do you say?" Shigeo smiled at me, his eyes cold, "How about you just apologise and turn around? And we will just leave it at that."

"Right," I sighed, "I understand..."

Making a move as though I was about to bow, his lackeys behind him started laughing.

"That's what we thought!"

"Be grateful that Shigeo is allowing you get away with just this!"

"Stupid bitch!"

I bowed down to reach into my pocket, then pulled my middle finger out, sticking it out firmly in front of the seniors, "Here's your apology, fuckers," I said, "Do you want me to shove it up your ass for you or is here fine?"

Looks of stunned silence fell upon the seniors' faces, even Shigeo appeared to be at a loss for words for a second.

"Is this bitch serious...?"

"What is wrong with this girl...?"

The lackeys started murmuring to one another, gradually getting over their shock.

"Wh, what are you doing...?!" The junior student on the ground started shouting at me, his face horrified, "Get out of here before they..."

Shigeo turned back casually, then threw his feet across the junior student's face, knocking him out unconscious.

"Annoying little shit..." Shigeo sighed, then turned back to me, "You," He said, a creepy smile spreading across his face, "You will be my new toy in replacement of him."

"Heh," I cracked my knuckle with a solemn grin, "Let's see how tough that shit-eating face of yours is after my fist has kissed it..."

I stopped when I saw the seniors glancing behind me, and I looked back to see two figures running up to us, my mouth dropping to the floor.

What the hell?!

It was Ueko and Saya!

"W, what the heck are you doing, sis?!" Saya cried, as the two of them stopped behind me, "Are you getting into a fight...?!"

"I, I didn't know who else to talk to..." Ueko said, glancing at me with apologetic eyes, "And Saya asked where you were, so..."

Saya walked up to me and grabbed onto my arm, then she glanced at the seniors, "Sis, who are they...?"

"U, um...!" Straight away I had switched back to this body's natural femine voice talking to Saya, "They're just some senior students... You really shouldn't be here, Saya... You should go before you get hurt...!"

The seniors started laughing hysterically.

"Acting so tough before and now she's actually talking like a normal girl!"

"So it really was just all an act before!"

Shigeo took a step forward, a small amused smirk on his otherwisedly stoic face, "How nice of you... to bring your friends here for us to play with."

Shit!

Now that Saya was here, I couldn't proceed with my plan of beating the shit out of Shigeo and his friends.

There was no way Saya was just going to let it go if she saw that!

I glanced between the girls and the seniors, then down at the junior who was knocked out cold on the ground.

Sorry, fella, but Saya came first.

I grabbed Saya's hand besides me, "Run!" I exclaimed to both Saya and Ueko, then started sprinting.

Just as we were about to reach the end of the walkway behind the school building, more senior students stepped out from the corner, blocking our way and we were forced to come to a stop.

"S, sis...!" Saya said, glancing behind us and I followed her eyes to look behind us to see Shigeo and his friends walking towards us casually, dark smirks on their faces.

"No way, we're trapped from both sides...!" Ueko said, gritting her teeth in frustration.

"You think we were going to let you go that easily?" Shigeo asked, stopping behind us as he cracked both sides of his neck, "Come on, we haven't even had our fun yet."

Dammit...!

I glanced both ways, seeing no escape route for us.

If it was just me, then I could just fight all the senior students, but...

I glanced besides me at Saya whom was staring worriedly at the senior students closing in on us.

Do I really have no choice right now but to reveal myself in front of Saya...?