At 5:50 AM, the thin mist had not yet entirely dispersed, enveloping the police academy training field in a pale, bluish morning light. The freshman cohort stood in straight rows, their faces a mix of excitement and lingering drowsiness.
While the instructors were busy verifying the attendance roster, Hiromitsu Morofushi cast a worried glance at the two individuals standing beside him.
Furuya Rei had a band-aid affixed to his cheekbone, faint bruises were visibly mapping out across his face, and a corner of his mouth was split. His purple-grey eyes remained as sharp as ever, but a subtle fatigue was discernible—a product of exhaustion from staying up all night mixed with physical pain.
Jinpei Matsuda, standing next to him, appeared to have sustained slightly lighter injuries, but he wasn't faring much better.
Hiromitsu Morofushi inquired in a low voice, "Zero, what exactly happened last night? How did you end up injured like this?"
If it had been a brawl with his roommate Matsuda, Hiromitsu wouldn't have found it surprising, but that was precisely where the anomaly lay. He was highly perceptive when it came to reading the emotional shifts of others, and from the looks of it, the tension between Rei and Matsuda had softened significantly. It didn't seem like the scenario he had initially envisioned.
"...Don't worry, Hiro."
Furuya Rei stole a glance at the "chief culprit" standing a short distance away, who was currently watching them with great relish. Choosing not to disclose the full story, he added, "It's nothing major. I'll fill you in later."
Right then, the metallic note of a blown whistle pierced through the air.
"Assemble! Three vertical columns, count off—!"
Several instructors yelled at the top of their lungs, prompting all the freshmen to line up in an orderly fashion.
"Onizuka Class, attention!"
Instructor Onizuka, forty-eight years of age, radiated an aura of considerable authority based on his appearance alone. However, the moment his eyes landed on Satoru Gojo—whose standing posture was glaringly more relaxed and casual compared to the others—his eyelids twitched with unspeakable misery. Recalling something, he diverted his gaze toward two other highly conspicuous troublemakers.
"Matsuda, Furuya. What is the matter with your faces?"
Furuya Rei stood as immovable as a mountain, hesitating in silence as he ran through potential excuses that wouldn't be easily exposed.
"Do you truly wish to hear it, sir?"
Hachizo Onizuka approached him with a cold sneer. "Naturally. Please, by all means, let me enlighten myself..."
Matsuda was entirely unwilling to disclose the humiliating truth that the two of them had joined forces only to be utterly KO'd by Hisano, but he was genuinely terrible at lying.
"Haha, actually, it's because my room was infested with a massive number of cockroaches, so I invited them over to help exterminate them... Furuya-kun and Matsuda-kun both provided immense help," Wataru Date explained from the side. "They accidentally knocked over a table in the chaos, which is how they ended up like this."
Hearing these words, Furuya and Matsuda let out a collective sigh of relief. Since they lived on the same floor and their dorm rooms were close to each other, they had crossed paths with Wataru Date earlier and knew this tall classmate, appointed as class monitor by the instructor, was a highly chivalrous and dependable guy. The reality proved to be exactly so.
"Is that right?" Onizuka scrutinized them suspiciously, his expression practically screaming, 'I don't believe you.'
Satoru Gojo decided to join in on the fun, proactively raising his hand and chiming in, "It's true~ I can testify to that!"
"Yesterday, there was a twenty-meter-long Cockroach King in Date-san's room. I almost got eaten alive by it."
When it came to "talking utter nonsense with a straight face," he never faltered.
"What?" Onizuka's face contorted into an unspeakable expression.
[Ding! Impression Points from plot character Hachizo Onizuka increased by 200 points!]
Leaving aside the fact that Date's roommate is clearly Hagiwara, why on earth would a cockroach eat you from next door? Furthermore, if there really were a twenty-meter cockroach, shouldn't we be calling Ultraman?
Seeing Hisano painting an increasingly absurd picture, Furuya Rei's mouth twitched.
Wataru Date seized the momentum to gloss over the matter: "In any case, we damaged public property belonging to the academy. As a penalty, let's run an extra lap—"
The stopwatch commenced timing right on cue.
The cohort began to run, effectively preventing Instructor Onizuka from probing any deeper into the root of the matter.
Despite being childhood friends as well, compared to Hiromitsu, who would naturally worry about Rei, Hagiwara acted more like Matsuda's mocking companion. Spotting his friend's injuries, he teased, "What happened to you, Little Jinpei? You really ought to cherish that handsome face of yours!"
"And Furuya-kun as well... you guys didn't actually get bitten by a Cockroach King, did you?"
"Yeah, exactly," Matsuda replied with a fake smile, his words laced with double meaning. "That cockroach from yesterday was truly incredibly troublesome. The two of us combined couldn't even defeat it."
A barely perceptible smirk tugged at the corner of Furuya Rei's mouth.
Satoru Gojo, chewing on a piece of strawberry-flavored bubblegum, regulated his running pace and drifted perfectly into position right beside Matsuda.
"Hey, hey, I helped testify for you guys out of pure goodwill, you know?" He blew a bubble, his voice carrying a syrupy quality. "Describing someone as a cockroach is way too impolite, don't you think?"
"Out of goodwill?" Matsuda snorted. "No matter what... from now on, Hisano, I won't let you have things your way so easily anymore."
Filled with surging fighting spirit, he nudged the black-haired youth's shoulder with his own. "Let's start with this lap right here—want to compete?"
Gojo didn't mind keeping him company for a little game. "Sure~ But if Matsuda-kun gets too tired, you're free to cry about it, okay? I promise I won't laugh at you."
"Ha? Who's going to cry?!"
Watching their figures gradually distance themselves from the main group, Kenji Hagiwara and Hiromitsu Morofushi exchanged a look, faintly guessing the underlying truth.
"So, the three of you had a fight last night?"
Furuya Rei let out a sigh, no longer concealing it. "To be precise, I had a duel with lMatsuda first, and Hisano joined in halfway through."
Hearing this, Hiromitsu recalled Nozomi's midnight invitation to admire the moon. If he had agreed at the time, he probably would have witnessed that chaotic battlefield with his own eyes.
"So Hisano-kun was the ultimate winner?" Hagiwara asked curiously. "By the way, did Furuya-kun settle the score with Little Jinpei before that?"
As a close friend, he naturally knew Matsuda had been trained from a young age by his boxer father and possessed extraordinary combat skills.
Furuya Rei replied without a second thought, "Naturally, I won." If Hisano hadn't shown up, he would have pinned Matsuda to the ground long ago!
Fortunately, Matsuda, who was currently occupied racing against Gojo, didn't catch that statement; otherwise, he would have cleared out of pure rage.
"I see... though I'm not entirely clear on the specifics," Wataru Date laughed heartily. "Remember to bring me along next time!"
Furuya Rei looked at Date's tall, tower-like physique and began to seriously contemplate whether this class monitor possessed the capacity to hold his own against Hisano.
...
After running approximately two kilometers, the pace of quite a few freshmen began to slacken. Matsuda exerted every ounce of his strength, remaining firmly at the very front. The morning sun grew increasingly scorching, causing his breathing rhythm to break as a few small beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
"Hisano—you bastard... why aren't you sweating at all?!"
Satoru Gojo maintained a pace that kept him exactly parallel to him, his relaxed demeanor making it transparent that he was holding back. Matsuda could clearly perceive that the other party could overtake him at any given second, yet chose not to do so intentionally. It made him feel distinctly more frustrated.
"Take a guess?" Gojo remarked unhurriedly. "If you don't admit defeat early, be careful not to aggravate your injuries, Little Matsuda."
"As if I'd ever admit defeat—!"
And address me properly as Matsuda-senpai, you eighteen-year-old brat!
Instructor Onizuka noticed the formation was growing slightly disorganized and immediately barked loudly, "Focus on your running, you little rascals!"
"Yes, sir!"
Catching sight of the two figures at the absolute front clearly competing against each other, he felt a throbbing sensation in his temples.
An instructor from the neighboring class teased, "Onizuka, do the little fellows in your class happen to be a bit troublesome?"
It was significantly more than just a bit troublesome.
"Yeah, and six of them turned up all at once..."
Instructor Onizuka thought back to the specific students under his charge, their backgrounds materializing clearly in his mind. Among them, many details had been thoroughly reviewed during their interviews.
「Furuya Rei. His academic performance is exceptionally outstanding, and his conduct during the opening speech left no room for criticism. However, his overly serious personality and mixed-race background... can easily lead to friction with other students.」
「Hiromitsu Morofushi. His older brother is the excellent detective of the Nagano Prefectural Police, Takaaki Morofushi. Though he possesses a strong sense of justice, he remains deeply affected by that specific case involving his parents to this day...」
「Wataru Date. His comprehensive capabilities rank second in the entire academy, and his leadership skills are outstanding. Yet, because his former police officer father resigned, he tends to get a bit caught up in his own rigid ideas.」
「Kenji Hagiwara. His powers of observation and communication skills are remarkably strong, yet he appears to direct far too much of his energy toward interacting with female students...」
「Jinpei Matsuda. He possesses an extremely high level of proficiency in practical techniques and specialized knowledge. However, he frequently acts as if nobody else is around, lacking coordination.」
「And the individual who leaves me entirely at a loss for words, Hisano Nozomi. At such a young age, he excels beyond ordinary parameters across all domains, virtually devoid of shortcomings in academics and skills, to the extent that even the instructors are no match for him.」
「However, he is far too conceited due to his talent, and he harbors absolutely no reverence for the profession of a police officer, appearing to possess nothing but a mindset geared toward entertainment...」
"Just thinking about how to teach these few brats gives me a massive headache."
Instructor Onizuka: The journey ahead is truly long and arduous...
-----------
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
10 Reviews = 1 Bonus chapter