Free Web NovelChapter 81: Assigned Group
The afternoon sun was as intense as ever, beaming down on the withered grass by the school’s open area. Unsurprisingly, there were no people outside the school except for the occasional gardener who tried to save the grass by turning on the sprinkler. Still, that didn’t change the arid weather that enveloped the entire school, turning it into an open furnace wherein everything slowly dehydrated.
Every classroom had wall fans, but that didn’t help drive out the heat of the summer weather. Quite frankly, all it did was turn the classrooms into an even hotter environment.
"And that’s it for class," Eagerly waving her hand towards her face, Akamine-sensei dismissed the class, bearing the last few seconds of class before she could return to her airconditioned office.
"Stand up. Bow. Thank you so much, Akamine-sensei." Megumi, as the class representative of their class, led her classmates to see their homeroom teacher out. Akamine-sensei bowed towards them before exiting the classroom— she only heard half of their greeting.
Indistinct conversation erupted in the classroom when Akamine-sensei exited, most of them about how hot the weather was and generic stuff that high schoolers talk about. One of these cliched and most expected talks was about the school trip which was conveniently happening tomorrow. A majority started talking about what they’d bring to the two-days-one-night trip, or what they’d buy. In any case, there was a great buzz in the room.
An expression of indifference was clearly written on Hajime’s face as he leaned in and absent-mindedly stared out of the window. Even though he took it upon himself to ditch the school trip altogether since he didn’t have any money, he had no choice but to go.
It was only yesterday when he heard about the assignment. Well, he was kind of hoping that he would be excused from his bodyguarding duties during the entire trip so he could take a day off from work. But rather, he was specifically told by his boss, Megumi’s dad, to be responsible for Megumi. That’s right, those were his exact words. He didn’t just tell him to take care of Megumi for him, or maybe look after her... He explicitly made it clear that he was responsible for Megumi during the entire trip.
Of course, all your expenses will be paid for, and you’d get to have unlimited funds. In return, just promise me that nothing will happen to my daughter, all right?— Those were the last instructions he gave Hajime before he dismissed him from his office. He still vividly remembered the condescending gaze the secretary gave him as she led him out.
’I guess we’re both being worked to the bone, huh,’ Hajime said to himself. ’Still, it feels a bit weird to get such a decent job with good pay at that. Of course, there will be times wherein I have to go out of my comfort zone. That’s what my job calls for and I have to deliver... otherwise, I’ll miss this chance of earning money.’
It had been three weeks since he had ’the talk’ with his employer about the construction company he worked with. His employer, Takai Daichi of Menlo Constructions, had mixed feelings about his resignation. For one, he was an efficient worker and he had the vitality of a young man. Those two alone are enough for him to get a fixed position however... he was still young, eighteen years old. While he is just above the minimum age requirement for working in hazardous occupations, it still is not acceptable since construction work is the subject here. Needless to say, Takai Daichi was also relieved when Hajime resigned, not because he was a bad employee, but because having him as an employee is a risk to his business.
Currently, Hajime had only one job left, his bodyguarding duties with Megumi. Because of that, he had to take this school trip seriously, or else he’d be fired from his job. Mr. Kikuchi’s benevolence was great enough as it is, but in order to do that justice, he had to do an exceedingly good job at his, well, job.
’Tomorrow’s the real deal, huh,’ Hajime said to himself. But at least, he’d get to experience being rich for once. He had unlimited money, and while he’s not planning to spend more than what he needed, at least he will have more than enough money. ’Megumi’s dad sure knows what he’s doing.’
"What are you smiling around for, huh?" One of Hajime’s classmates approached him, or rather, there were three of them. But only the first one spoke while the others were crouched right behind him.
"Kanai Kichiro." Honestly, Hajime didn’t know how to respond to his comment so he just called him by the name.
Kanai Kichiro is the blond hair of the bunch but that was not his natural hair color despite him forcefully admitting to everyone that it, in fact, is. While his behavior should have sent him home, he wasn’t since he had good grades and good standing in school. Additionally, he was handsome, and that was probably one of the deciding factors as to why he wasn’t told to dye his hair back to black. (These were just Hajime’s assumptions so most of them were inaccurate.)
The second person who meekly stood behind Kanai Kichiro was Okamoto Shoichi. His family was well-off since both of his parents are businessmen. In front of other students, he would’ve flaunted his power and money without reprieve but in front of Hajime, he just couldn’t do it. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
That’s because Hajime beat him up once after he picked a fight with him. He was completely defeated and since then he learned not to mess with Hajime ever again. It should be mentioned that Okamoto Shoichi was strong in the sense that he trained in martial arts and boxing. He was physically fit and his firm muscles were proof of that... but Hajime just had more experience when it comes to streetfights so there was no way he’d lose against someone as prim and proper as Shoichi. freёwebnovel.com
As for the third person, Mita Shinji, the reason why he was behind Kichiro was not that he was afraid of Hajime. Unlike the brown-haired Shoichi, Shinji just didn’t care. He knew of Hajime’s reputation and he could tell that his group mates hated him... but he couldn’t care less. The reason why he accompanied the three was that he had a reason— simple as that.
"Listen, you can do whatever you want during the school trip but don’t you go picking fights with the city boys over there, you hear?" Koichi stressed out, before putting the paper he was holding down in front of Hajime.
"What is this?" Hajime perplexedly asked.
