Chapter 5

Christ… You always just do whatever the heck you want, huh Rinne-han.

Oukawa.

Um. I’m only asking to be sure, but… earlier, at the ryokan—

… ♪

Eep… Wh–why are you hugging me? In front of all these people, too…

Oh, hush~… I don’t want anyone listenin’ in. Lemme whisper in your ear so no one else can hear.

Well, Rinne-han and those other two are singin’ mighty loud, so I guess I don’t really have to worry ‘bout that.

“♪ ~ ♪ ~ ♪”

“~… ♪”

Fufu. It seems as though your companions have taken it upon themselves to do exactly what you wish of them. You’ve made some good friends, Oukawa.

They ain’t exactly my friends. More like business associates. …But I do reckon we’ll be goin’ to the grave together.

What a curious relationship it is, to be part of a unit with someone. You’re like family, like friends, and occasionally like rivals competing against each other—

I never learned about this type of relationship from neither my parents, nor my teachers in school, nor even my home tutors.

That’s why I still don’t know the correct way to act; it troubles me at times.

Why worry? That’s just how life goes.

You sure talk as if you know everything for someone younger than me.

You’re just a teensy bit older than I am, but you’re still always ridin’ around on your high horse. I’d say we’re even.

…Yanno, right up until the very end, Rinne-han’s secret order was never revealed to the public, or to anyone at all.

I ended up pryin’ it outta him, though. I’m none too happy I was left in the dark while they went and did whatever they felt like doin’.

……

Like you heard before, Rinne-han was—well no, Crazy:B as a whole was workin’ with Gatekeeper this time around.

I know. He told you what everyone’s orders were and made various accommodations for you.

Sure, but it ain’t like we got friendly with him. No way we’d have that kinda relationship; we just teamed up ‘cause our interests aligned.

Which is why, at the very last minute, Gatekeeper shackled Rinne-han with a secret order too, to keep him from betrayin’ him.

An’ that order was: “By the end of the SS Qualifying Rounds, you must have more SSL$ in your possession than Knights.”

Basically, it looks like he wanted us to beat Knights in the Qualifiers.

His aim was to ruin ES’s plans by bringin’ y’all down, since they were tryin’ to set you up for victory.

Gatekeeper would’ve been in hot water if the only ones who moved on were the ones that benefitted ES.

‘Course, there was also the fact he wanted to make sure NewDi didn’t gain too much power.

…And so you lot complied with the secret order. We—I was thoroughly beaten.

You sure were. My chief’s a real dirty guy, ain’t he? When he sets his eyes on the prize, he’ll do whatever it takes to win.

By the way, Gatekeeper was also responsible for your older members havin’ to leave in the middle of the Qualifiers.

Rinne-han went an’ asked him for it.

Everything was all for the sake of takin’ Knights down.

……

‘Course, the fact we were tied up with a secret order doesn’t mean we’re not guilty for what we did to ya.

We can’t just write it off sayin’ we had no choice.

We went in with the full intention of beatin’ y’all, ‘cause that’s what we wanted to do. ‘Cause it was in our best interest.

So I don’t mind if you hold a grudge against us. We humiliated you, after all.

But if you’re gonna hold a grudge, I’d like it if you could hold it against just me alone, Bou.

Against you…? But you—you never did anything wrong, did you?

You were deliberately left in the dark about everything that happened, and your companions in Crazy:B did nothing to inform you of anything… Am I wrong?

Nah, you’re right. But everyone in Crazy:B did a whole lotta underhanded stuff for my sake. Which is why in the end, it’s all my fault.

What do you mean by that…?

…If Rinne-han hadn’t fulfilled his secret order, then we—the whole Oukawa clan—would’ve been massacred as a penalty.

M–massacred? That’s surely a metaphor for something… right?

It’s exactly what’s on the tin. I doubt you know anything about this, Bou, but right now there’s a bit of a problem croppin’ up in the underbelly of society.

Some kinda mafia organization from overseas is invadin’ Japan.

Since we Oukawas are part of that underbelly, we just so happen to be in their way.

Kinda like how your old mom an’ pops that’ve been around since forever are an eyesore for the fancy new boutiques that wanna set up shop. If possible, they wanna get rid of ‘em.

But apparently, if Rinne-han followed his secret order, or more like if he worked alongside Gatekeeper—

He said he’d take the target off the Oukawas’ backs. And then we could keep on livin’ without anyone touchin’ us.

That’s why Rinne-han complied. If it were just about him, he’d have stayed calm and ignored it. Clenched his teeth and pushed through it—even if they threatened to destroy his own hometown.

But when he heard my family, the family I care about so much, was in danger, he couldn’t overlook that.

What a moron. What kinda logic is that? I haven’t even known him for half a year yet.

He prolly thinks of me as his family or something…

He cares about me like his own precious li’l brother—so he tried to protect me.

Family, you say.

Yep. Just like you an’ me—family.

I’m sure you of all people know how Rinne-han feels, Bou. Looks like the penalty for violatin’ your secret order was pretty close to his.

Indeed… The secret order I was given was a ban on live showdowns.

And… the penalty for violating said order was that the Oukawa clan would be brought to ruin, and all connections between us would be cut off.

I was told that I would have to discard all of you—that we would be reduced to mere strangers.