"Mmmph! Liars!"
Hibiki Sakura's cheeks puffed up like a blowfish in anger, and she freaked out like a kitten facing Satomi Tachibana and Ayaka Uehara, who arrived late.
One or two of them, they weren't paying a registration fee anyway! Even a first-round loss with her would have been fine!
"Well, since Hibiki is here, we can't possibly win anyway~"
"You can't just leave me alone! It's lonely, okay! This is blatant isolation!"
"Regarding this, I strongly agree!"
Miyazawa Yuu seriously crossed his arms and nodded. Although there was a reason, it was like agreeing to play a game together, but when the time came to log in, you were the only one there.
"Flaking" is an extremely heinous act, so they must not be easily forgiven! They should at least apologize with a scallion stuck up their butts!
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Clapping her hands together, Ayaka Uehara closed one eye and apologized profusely to appease him: "I'll go shopping with Hibiki this afternoon, please forgive me~"
"Yosh! I forgive you!"
"Eh? Is it that simple?"
"Um..."
Looking in confusion at the long, green object in Miyazawa Yuu's hand, Satomi Tachibana tilted her head, instinctively sensing an unpleasant aura from it. "What is this scallion for?"
"Nothing. It's not common sense that a scumbag's hands will randomly refresh with a handy weapon within a five-kilometer radius?"
Spreading his hands and calmly explaining, Miyazawa Yuu then disappointedly deposited the scallion at the front desk.
Coincidentally, the price of scallions in Japan has been soaring recently, so he'll use it for cooking tonight, and he can save some of his private money.
"What galaxy is this common sense from..."
Feeling that Yuu was not only more abstract than before but also seemed to have acquired many strange passive skills, the sense of crisis in Satomi Tachibana's heart suddenly increased.
If he continues to develop like this, he shouldn't become a bad kid who threatens people with leverage, should he?
What to do? She suddenly feels her personal safety is very much at risk!
"The women's group preliminary round is the final..."
On the other side, looking at the extremely simple competition process for the women's group, Ayaka scratched her face awkwardly, glad that she hadn't participated.
Hibiki's opponent was a Russian woman, who, based on her nationality alone, looked like a master who frequently spars with Siberian brown bears.
If she went up for a round-robin and was successively knocked out by both the Russian woman and Hibiki, she would probably be so embarrassed she'd hit her head on a block of tofu and die!
In contrast, although the men's group was also an open-weight competition, the density of participants was completely on a different level from the women's group.
As for the participants...
"Shhhhwiiip—!"
The door of SILVERMAN GYM was yanked open, and four burly men, all exuding an ominous aura, walked in side-by-side. Their uniform black eyes made them look like a criminal syndicate at a glance.
"Wuwah! Super hardcore, Big Brother Yuu, won't you get shot dead if you win?"
"Why do you ask that?"
"Of course! These people don't look like good people at all, do they?"
The naive Ayaka completely failed to realize that the scallion earlier was meant for her and was instead worried about Miyazawa Yuu's safety.
"Like the man in the black suit over there, he's a mafia member, right! He's definitely a mafia member, right!?"
"Impossible, let me see..."
Comforting Ayaka, Miyazawa Yuu turned to look in the direction of her pointed finger.
Black hat, black trench coat, plus black leather shoes suitable for working in the rain even if stained with blood—the big man all in black certainly looked like a bad guy.
However, he didn't have the calluses from long-term gun holding, and gun control in Japan has been effective for so many years that it's impossible for foreigners to bring guns into the country.
In short, although he looked scary, judging from the cautious way he slowly closed the glass door of SILVERMAN GYM, he was actually a very meticulous and serious good person!
"..."
Doubtful of Miyazawa Yuu's "good person" conclusion, Ayaka widened her eyes and carefully pointed to the naked big man next to him, whispering softly.
"Then what do you think of this one? Walking on the street only wearing panties in broad daylight must make him a bad person, right!"
"Ya! Ya! Ayaka-chan, clothing can be deceiving!"
Shaking his head in criticism, Miyazawa Yuu actually found the muscular Russian strongman with a full beard, chest hair like a chest protector, and scars all over his body to be particularly friendly.
Especially the fact that he was only wearing panties, which was perfectly consistent with the philosophy of the Pab Club!
Of course, the other party was certainly not just high from playing Baseball Punch (Yakyū-ken). Judging by his attire, this should be a Russian wrestler, and this is perfectly normal for his everyday battle gear!
Except that...
"Ah~! Excuse me, smoking is not allowed here. Could you please extinguish your cigarette?"
"Eh!"
Seeing Yuu casually walk up to the yakuza member whose entire upper body was covered in dragon tattoos, Ayaka Uehara instantly burst into tears—
If you talk to a yakuza member so casually, you'll be stabbed by a crazy fighting fanatic!
Phone! Where is the phone, quickly call an ambulance, otherwise it will be too late...
"Huh? Is there a rule like that here? It's my fault for not knowing the rules of this territory!"
Raising his neck arrogantly, the tattooed man extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray with a pacha sound, and then reached into his sling bag with his right hand and pulled out...
Supermarket vouchers!
"How rude of me. Please accept these convenience store vouchers as compensation!"
"No need, but one really should be mindful of others' feelings in a public place..."
"You are absolutely right! Thank you very much!!!"
"..."
Unable to find her phone, Ayaka Uehara, who was so anxious that her hands were frantically searching for Tachibana-sensei's phone, stopped as she watched the yakuza member hand Yuu the vouchers and a phone number. Her brain completely crashed.
Although he looked like a yakuza member, why did he give off the impression of a househusband? Was it just her imagination?
"See? Everyone is very muscular, but they are actually very good people!"
"Uh... um, though it's a bit unbelievable..."
Seeing everyone harmoniously signing in and chatting, and not smashing the glass of the vending machine but paying normally for chocolate.
Ayaka Uehara rested her chin on her hand, her small face crumpled, barely managing to categorize all the big men as good people.
"Yuu, come sign in, the competition is about to begin!"
"Coming!"
Stripping off his shirt to reveal his inverted triangle physique, Miyazawa Yuu effortlessly blended into the team of strangely dressed individuals.
Everyone here was super friendly and spoke nicely, he really liked it here!
Just as he was drawing a checkmark next to his name and preparing to enter the venue, a somewhat familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Kid! Long time no see! How have you been?"
"Ah! It's the Virgin Big Guy! It really has been a long time! I've been having a great time with my friends recently!"
Turning to look at the muscular man who was a full head taller than himself, Miyazawa Yuu hesitated for two seconds and instantly recognized his old acquaintance from Tokyo!
It's such a wonderful twist of fate that his opponent from the rock-paper-scissors competition would meet him here!
"Hahaha! If you slack off like that, I might surpass you! Thanks to your recommendation, I finally found my community at SILVERMAN GYM!"
"Eh~ Is that so? I mean..."
Slightly comparing their heights, Miyazawa Yuu's eyes showed intense confusion—this big guy seemed so different from when they were in Tokyo!
Although his face and way of speaking hadn't changed, his height had definitely surged by at least twenty centimeters. Did he wear elevator shoes?
"Did you notice? That's right! After a month of intense training, I had a second growth spurt!"
"Hold on a second (Chotto Matte)!"
Speechlessly lowering his head, not wanting to see the Virgin Big Guy's smug smile, Miyazawa Yuu said in a deep voice, reproaching himself: "So not only is his mental age that of a virgin, but even his body is still in a virgin state?"
"I'm truly a terrible person for mocking a man who's trying to live!"
"What are you muttering about?"
A confident smile means showing your gums. The Virgin Big Guy put on a particularly arrogant bodybuilding pose and boasted proudly: "I am no longer who I used to be. As your first opponent, I will definitely make you understand that 'a person who has been away for three days should be greeted by a sweeping of the room'!"
"It should be 'be looked at with new eyes'..."
Patting the former's shoulder kindly, Miyazawa Yuu's tone carried the indulgence reserved for small children.
After all, the Virgin Big Guy doesn't seem to be very bright either, and bullying a fool will bring bad karma!
But he really didn't expect that just like in Tokyo, the two of them would face off. This time, they ran into each other again, proving that 'enemies always meet.' It seems the big guy's first-round exit is inevitable!
"Alright, go play~"
"Hiss... I don't know why, but your way of speaking makes me very uncomfortable..."
"Don't worry about the minor details. Friendship first, competition second, okay!"
"..."
Looking at Yuu, who had completely integrated with the big men and entered the venue early, Hibiki Sakura and the others were all speechless.
Do all muscular men share one brain? The atmosphere actually seems more harmonious than a girls' school field trip!