Challenge: The Fool with the Surname Okayamine

Chapter 3 The Self-Cultivation of a Straight Man

After Okamine Mei stopped Yosuke, an unknown classmate went to the homeroom teacher's office to complain, which led to Erii Hino-sensei coming in and the matter was finally resolved.

Afterwards, in front of the teacher's office.

Ming leaned against the wall by the office door, leisurely observing the outcome of the teacher's handling of the cases involving Tian Heng Youjie and Yamada Sawa, who had been called in.

Soon after~

The two were led out of the office by Ms. Erii. To her left was Sawa, who was looking at her with a face full of guilt, and to her left was Tensei Yosuke, who was staring at her with hatred.

'Hmm…it seems like there's something…guilty in her eyes when she looks at me! Why is that?'

Ming, who had the ability to easily read micro-expressions, thought with a slight doubt.

After a while, the two had been called back to the classroom by the teacher. Ming was about to leave the office when Erii-sensei called out to him:

"Wait a minute, little brother Gangfeng, I have something to ask you!"

"what's up."

Hearing the teacher call his name, Ming turned around and asked indifferently.

Seeing Ming turn his head and look at her with an indifferent expression that shouldn't be on a child his age, Ms. Erii's heart skipped a beat before she came to her senses and asked:

“Gangfeng… little… brother, can you tell me what exactly happened down there? The people who complained at first said it was bullying or something, but when they came, they told me it was just a little playful fight, just a joke.”

“But I saw panic in the eyes of the children in Shanta… As a kindergarten teacher, I want to pay close attention to the growth of each student and I don’t want their childhood to be unhappy, so can you tell me?”

Ms. Erii looked earnestly at Ming, who was standing in front of her, but upon hearing the teacher's explanation, Ming simply crossed his arms silently, as if he were deep in thought.

'Is that so? Because of weakness... or because she doesn't want to burden her parents, she doesn't report it and silently endures it? Ha... If this method only treats the symptoms and not the root cause, then those who bully her will only continue to harm her.'

'Of course…it's her choice after all, so I naturally won't interfere.'

Ming thought coldly, then made up a few things to Teacher Eri, "Nothing, teacher. It's probably just a child's accident while playing. We can talk about it and it'll be fine. No need to worry about it."

"Oh…"

From her tone, it was clear that Ms. Erii did not believe Ming's words. Unfortunately, Ming did not give her a chance to ask further questions and went straight back to the classroom.

After that, the gears of time slowly turned, and in the blink of an eye, it was noon, and the kindergarten was ready for lunch.

Ming was still sitting alone in the corner, opening his bento box and eating. Inside were two large rice balls and a bowl of miso soup, which looked rather meager.

No, it's not that. The Okamine family, an aristocratic family, has fallen from grace. It's just that they don't dare to eat Japanese seafood themselves. Those who know about "nuclear radiation" understand. Although they don't know which world they've traveled to, they still need to be on the safe side.

Ming ate while thinking, and of course he could notice that not far ahead, there was Tian Hengyangjie with that "you'll see" look in his eyes, and the girl with that look in her eyes as if she was considering something.

Despite this, Ming ignored everything and started eating. Even without showing any fierce movements or expressions, his expressionless face still created a sense of oppression.

...The Scarlet King! Jump the time to 2:05 PM, the time when school ends.

As soon as school was over, Ming left the kindergarten by himself with his schoolbag on his back.

His small figure walked somewhat lonely in the crowd when suddenly a shy, soft girl's voice called out to him:

"Um... Ming, could you stop for a moment?"

Hearing someone call his name, Ming stopped and turned to look at the source of the voice. It was a chestnut-haired girl named Yamada Sawa, who was also carrying a schoolbag alone and had her head down, not daring to look him in the eye.

"what's up."

Ming asked impatiently, his face expressionless.

"Ming... are you going home alone too? I... I want to walk with you, and... thank you for helping me!"

Sawa lowered her head, her hands tightly gripping the hem of the little girl's clothes, seemingly feeling guilty but also genuinely grateful, and extending an invitation to Ming to go home together.

Upon hearing the invitation, Ming turned around without a word and walked silently toward home without replying.

Seeing this, the little girl followed closely behind, slowly keeping up.

Ming walked on, oblivious to Sawa behind him. Sawa tried to keep up with him, taking small steps, but always kept a distance.

Suddenly, Ming seemed to remember something and stopped walking. Sawa, not paying attention, bumped into him.

"It hurts..." Sawa whispered, clutching her head that had hit Ming's lower back.

Hearing the sound, Ming turned around impatiently and asked the girl:

Why are you still following me?

"I...I just wanted to say thank you..." Sawa rubbed her head, looking a little guilty as she met Ming's empty eyes.

"Thank you? No need. I'm just following his example and abiding by the law of the jungle. He bullies you, I bully him. It's just my personal interest, not some act of kindness. I'm an egoist."

After explaining, Ming left again without looking back. Before leaving, he said to Shahe one last time:

"You know what? I'm a selfish person. I won't do anything unless it benefits me." He tried to get the girl to leave quickly.

Upon hearing this, the girl lowered her head again, but as if she had made up her mind, she placed her hand on the outside of her schoolbag, loosened it slightly, held the cat keychain in her hand, and then handed it to Ming, who was about to leave.

Ming took a look at the pendant after receiving it. It was a white, fluffy little cat doll, and the girl's name was engraved on the pendant's cord. Overall, it was very cute, and as a cat lover, he almost couldn't resist.

But when he couldn't control himself and was about to accept it, he saw Saya looking at him with a pitiful expression that was three parts expectation and seven parts reluctance. It was as if Ming saw his former weak self in her. Ming hesitated. He didn't like to take what others loved, but the girl's eyes were very touching.

“…Childish.” Ming said, returning the cat keychain to the girl. Seeing this, Sawa lowered her head in disappointment. Then Ming added:

"Come on over, it looks like you live in the same direction as me. Also, consider this a reminder you gave me when we first started class, I'm making up for it now... Don't get me wrong."

"Thank you!"

The girl nodded happily and followed Ming's footsteps, forming a beautiful scene on the way home. Ming walked silently, while Sha and the girl talked to themselves.

As they walked, Ming suddenly became curious and turned to Sawa to ask:

"Speaking of which, I haven't asked you why you're following me yet. Although I've said I'm not opposed to it, I still want to hear it."

"Because... Yosuke lives near my house, and he pulls my braids every day, and even steals my newly bought plush toy and bullies me. I don't dare to fight back, afraid of putting pressure on my parents who are working hard right now, so I can only let them bully me..."

Sawa lowered her head, her face showing a look of recalling something unpleasant. Her voice grew softer and softer until she finally continued:

"Because... Ming, you can beat them! I want you to protect me... Maybe... this is a little selfish, but please protect me... okay?"

As the girl spoke, a tear slid down her cheek, and she looked at herself with a hint of embarrassment.

Upon hearing Sawa's words, Ming felt a surge of sympathy.

He recalled the days when he was bullied in his previous life, and the helplessness and fear he felt were still fresh in his memory.

"I see... Is it because you were afraid of retaliation later... or that your parents would find out? That's why you didn't tell the teacher."

Ming suddenly realized and understood a little about the girl's words and actions. He could even say he admired her. She was able to remind him of his morning self under such high pressure, while he was overly indifferent. A sense of guilt arose in Ming's heart.

After understanding all this, Ming nodded lightly to indicate that he understood, and subconsciously patted the girl's head to comfort her.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from now on. From now on, you'll be my..." Hearing this, Shahe looked up at Ming and waited for the rest of her words, "Be my brother. You'll be my brother, and with my name protecting you, no one will hurt you."

Ming spoke to the girl calmly, his face expressionless.

"What...brother?" the girl repeated in confusion.

"Yes, sworn brothers! Back then, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei swore brotherhood under a peach tree. In the future, Guan Yu will become famous far and wide, and he will also bring good fortune to all his brothers. So, this is the best way to honor you."

Ming spoke in a serious tone, but the atmosphere had already dropped to its lowest point, and he himself was unaware of it.

Sawa was clearly stunned after hearing this, and it could be said that she didn't understand almost a single word, but she quickly composed herself.

“Thank you for accepting me!” Sawa said. “Even when I was in kindergarten, I felt that the word ‘brother’ was a bit strange, but it’s not bad.”

Thinking of this, Sawa smiled brightly, revealing a prominent canine tooth in her mouth. She then wrapped her arms around Ming's waist, looking very happy.

Ming, however, felt something was off, as if the order of things was wrong.

Just as Ming was still feeling something was off, a suddenly unpleasant voice came from behind:

"Haha, it really came to me without any effort!"

Tengen Yosuke's voice rang out, "Boss, is that the guy? How dare he embarrass you?" A nameless henchman chimed in angrily.

Ming turned around and saw Tian Hengyangjie walking over with five or six underlings who were about the same height as him.

Ming instinctively shielded Shahe behind him, prioritizing his protection of his brother, and then looked at them with a relaxed expression.

"What, haven't you been beaten enough? You even led the team to receive punishment, could it be... you're a masochist?"

Ming laughed and mocked.

"Enough with the nonsense!" Tian Hengyang roared. "I'm here today to teach you a lesson!" As he spoke, he brandished his fist in an extremely arrogant pose.

"Look, there's a small alley over there. We need to fight our way in there," Ming casually pointed, then turned to his mountain bandits, whom he hadn't even had a proper greeting with, and reminded them:

"Brother, go home first, leave the rest to me."

Sawa blinked, a little worried, and said:

"Ming...can you win against so many people?"

It wasn't that Sha and Dui were worried; this "brother" they had only known for less than a day was simply concerned about the large number of people on the other side.

Ming gave Sha a cold, but reassuring look.

"Trust me, dealing with a few of them is more than enough, as easy as throwing a bottle of insecticide into a bug nest."

Sawa hesitated for a moment, but ultimately left first.

After Sawa left, Ming led the seven people, including Yosuke, into a deserted alley.

Ming, hands in his pockets, calmly looked at them and said, "Come at me all at once, let's finish this quickly, I'm in a hurry."

"Arrogant! How dare you look down on me like this!" Tian Hengyangjie roared and charged forward first.

Seeing this, the other underlings followed suit.

Ming assumed a Bajiquan stance, dodged Tian Hengyangjie's attack by turning to the side, and then punched him in the stomach.

Then, he flashed in front of another henchman and punched him in the face.

Because he was bullied as a child, Ming's mother took him to an uncle's house to learn some Bajiquan, a traditional Chinese martial art. His uncle, seeing his talent, took full advantage of him, making it easy for Ming to defeat unskilled children with almost one move each.

A fight broke out in the alley, accompanied by screams. Soon after, Ming stood unharmed, while Tian Hengyang and his henchmen lay groaning on the ground.

Ming clapped his hands, glanced at the person on the ground, and said disdainfully, "Is that all the skill you have? You're trying to fight like others." After saying that, he walked out of the alley and disappeared into the sunset.

After that, Ming escorted Shahe home, and then walked to his own home, which was half a street away.

"Mom, I'm home!"

"Welcome back, Xiaoming!" Orihime greeted her child.

Takeichiro: "...How about we talk about creating alt accounts, Orihime?"