Tokyoites don't have martial virtue

In Wano Country's high schools, most people admire members of sports clubs and the student council. They are high-achieving and possess special skills, making them the fantasy goals of most of their peers.

The "homebody," who was not good at socializing and had no outstanding talents, was always the lowest-ranking student in the school.

Although otaku students may unite and form their own clubs and cliques, it's nothing more than trying to keep warm in the sewers; it doesn't fundamentally change the reality of being discriminated against.

"But, Mizuhashi-kun is free to choose what he likes, isn't he?" Kyushu Makoto frowned slightly and slammed his fist on the table in displeasure.

"He didn't commit murder, arson, or violate public morality! Just because he's a homebody student, has unusual interests, is introverted, or acts effeminately, does that mean he deserves to be bullied?"

Hearing these indignant words, Mizuhashi Eiji's eyes lit up for a moment, but quickly dimmed again.

"Why should I be bullied?" He wanted to ask those people, but bullies often don't need a reason. They just want to pick on the weak to get pleasure from it.

"Alright, I'll take responsibility for this!" Kyushu Makoto's eyes blazed, anger surfacing.

"Mizuhashi-kun, please don't worry. I'll teach those people a lesson and get rid of your suffering!"

"Oh! Count me in!" Tang Zegui also became interested.

"Hmph, let's take those brats outside the school and give them a beating~" Takatsuki Genji sneered, propping his elbows on the table.

"It's not entirely impossible..." Kyushu Makoto stroked his chin and actually began to consider things:

“We can beat them up, but it would be best if we could justify it as ‘self-defense’ to avoid getting ourselves into trouble.”

"I have a feeling... Kyushu-kun said something really scary..." Suzuki Yuujin looked frightened.

While the four were enthusiastically discussing the plan, Eiji Mizuhashi, clutching the buttons on his collar, said with a troubled expression, "Um... please don't do this."

"Why?" Kyushu asked, puzzled.

“Those two people… one of their fathers is a high-ranking member of the ‘Wano Country Purification Association,’ and the other is a member of a Kanagawa Prefecture council.” Mizuhashi Eiji’s eyes darted around, and his voice trailed off.

"If we provoke them... the consequences will be severe..."

Upon hearing this, Kyushu Makoto fell silent.

Needless to say, councilors are government officials of considerable status, and even county councilors are not people that ordinary citizens can easily provoke.

As for the "Wano Country Purification Association," it is a patriotic non-governmental organization that has emerged in recent years with the slogan of "resisting gray industries and bad customs, and improving the happiness of the people." This organization enjoys high social prestige in the country, and it is said that some political figures have endorsed it.

In short, the parents of these two students are clearly formidable figures who are not to be trifled with. If one were to rashly teach them a lesson, it would most likely result in a scenario reminiscent of fantasy novels where "after beating the young, the old ones come to retaliate."

"Besides... your unsolicited help for me... will also be very troubling for me..." Mizuhashi Eiji's voice trembled slightly with a hint of a sob:

"Your kindness, seniors... I'm overwhelmed with gratitude... I'm so sorry... I don't know how to express my thanks... But... please leave me alone... I'm truly sorry..."

20. It seems that junior student Mizuhashi likes to dress up as a boy.

Faced with Mizuhashi Eiji's self-deprecating declaration, Kyushu Makoto was unable to refute it for a moment.

Mizuhashi is right; the fathers of those two bullies are very influential. If you offend the forces behind them, you'll be in serious trouble, if not dead.

Although Kyushu Seiichi is always kind-hearted and always ready to help those in need, his style of helping others still emphasizes "judging the situation."

If you can help, then help wholeheartedly; if you can't, then decisively let go of your desire to help others and respect their fate—after all, trying to be strong without the ability will only make things worse and may even harm yourself, so it's better not to get involved in the first place.

"Their fathers were so outstanding, yet their son only knows how to bully others?" Kyushu Makoto sighed helplessly.

But he quickly had a flash of inspiration and asked his junior, Mizuhashi:

"If I'm just protecting you, I shouldn't face any retaliation, right?"

“Protect me...?” Eiji Mizuhashi asked, puzzled.

"Where do you usually eat lunch?" Kyushu Makoto asked.

"..." Mizuhashi Eiji lowered his head, remained silent for a moment, and then answered, "The toilet..."

"Hey! Really?!" Tang Zegui couldn't stand it anymore and exclaimed loudly, "This is too tragic!"

Kyushu Makoto patted Karasawa Kishou on the head, telling him to stop shouting, and then suggested:

"From now on, will you come to the rooftop and have lunch with us every day at noon?"

"Huh?! Why...why?" A look of surprise appeared in Mizuhashi Eiji's eyes.

"I see, so that's how they protect Mizuhashi-kun!" Suzuki Yuujin exclaimed in realization. "As long as you eat with us from now on, they'll know you're protected by a few upperclassmen, and they won't dare to bully you!"

“That’s right, protecting you is our top priority.” Kyushu Makoto nodded. “As for those scum who bullied you, we’ll figure out a way to teach them a lesson later.”

Upon hearing this, Eiji Mizuhashi's eyes became complicated—gratitude, fear, relief, joy, and sorrow—his emotions were constantly changing, as if he were going through an extremely intense internal struggle.

After a long pause, Eiji Mizuhashi asked in a low voice, "Um...why did you help me?"

"Why does everyone ask me this kind of question?" Kyushu Makoto smiled slightly: "If someone is in trouble, I'll help them if I can. Does that need a reason?"

"Our boss just talks to himself like this, so please understand~" Suzuki Yuujin raised an eyebrow and joked.

"Don't hesitate, just agree!" Tang Ze Guijiang urged, "If you don't agree, Kyushu-kun will really have to teach those two brats a lesson for you!"

“Well…” Mizuhashi bit his lip, finally made up his mind, and bowed his head: “My name is Mizuhashi Eiji. Please take good care of me, seniors!”

With their junior's consent, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“Very well, let’s settle it like this for now!” Kyushu Makoto finished the last fries on his plate, stood up and said, “I’ll go pay the bill.”

"Um... senpai!" Just then, Mizuhashi took out a few 500-yen coins from his pocket and said nervously, "This is the money... please take it to pay the bill, senpai."

Kyushu Makoto looked puzzled and asked, "Why do you want to pay?"

“Because…every time my classmates dragged me out to play, they always made me pay…” Mizuhashi answered softly, a layer of painful shadow clouding his eyes:

"Besides... if the seniors want to protect me, they'll probably ask for protection money or something, right?"

Upon hearing this, Kyushu Makoto's expression gradually turned cold. He frowned and gritted his teeth, saying, "Who are those classmates? Where are they studying now? I want to talk to them."

"Calm down, Kyushu-ge!" Tang Zegui quickly grabbed Kyushu Cheng's arm, afraid that he would do something foolish in a moment of impulse.

Makoto Kyushu took a deep breath, stepped forward, grasped Eiji Mizuhashi's hand, and stuffed the coin back into his pocket.

"You don't need to pay this time, and you won't need to pay in the future either." Kyushu Makoto stared intently into Mizuhashi's eyes and said:

"True friends won't force you to pay. From now on, when you go out with us, the worst-case scenario is that we'll split the bill. Please don't pay for others so casually anymore, understand?"

Suddenly having his hand grasped by his senior, Mizuhashi's small hand trembled slightly with nervousness, yet he dared not pull away. A blush rose on his fair, jade-like cheeks, and he nodded softly, whispering:

"Hmm, I...I understand...not having to pay for the first meal with classmates...it's a bit...uncomfortable..."

After leaving the restaurant, Makoto Kyushu and his junior, Mizuhashi, exchanged contact information.

Before leaving, Kyushu Makoto suddenly asked, "Mizuhashi-kun, do you have a sister around the same age?"

"Huh?" Mizuhashi Eiji was surprised, seemingly as if it was the first time he had been asked such a question.

He quickly shook his head and denied it, saying, "I only have a younger brother who is in elementary school, and I don't have any sisters."

Kyushu Makoto seemed to be thinking about something: "It's alright, see you again tomorrow at noon."

"Yes, senpai!" Mizuhashi Eiji pursed his lips, a rare smile appearing on his face, and gave a polite bow. "See you tomorrow!"

After Mizuhashi left, Kyushu Makoto took out the student ID and couldn't help but feel confused.

Since Mizuhashi doesn't have any sisters, this student ID belongs to him.

However, the gender on the student ID doesn't match, but the names are subtly different by only one character.

Could it be... that there's some unspeakable secret behind this?

Kyushu Makoto had a sudden inspiration and punched his fist in the palm.

"I see! Although Mizuhashi is a girl, she perceives herself as male, so she wears a boys' school uniform, pretends to be a man, and even changed her name to a male's!" Kyushu Makoto exclaimed in sudden realization.

"This seems to be a popular 'political correctness' culture in the West... I didn't know this kind of thing was popular in Tokyo too? As expected of an international metropolis, Tokyo is so trendy!"

Kyushu Makoto made up his mind that he would treat Mizuhashi Eiji as a boy in the future and would never reveal his true gender in public.

Mizuhashi's junior is already going through such a tough time, so we must give him enough recognition and respect, and not hurt him any further.

......

Evening, Adachi Ward, Mizuhashi House

Eiji Mizuhashi opened the door, said "I'm home," and went back to his room.

The mother seemed to be serving her younger brother in the living room, without even saying "Welcome home."

He untied the hair tie from his ponytail, and his shoulder-length short hair fell gently down.

At this moment, he was no longer "Mizuhashi Eiji", but "Mizuhashi Eihime" as a young girl.

She took out a small booklet that looked like a diary and wrote neat lines of words with a ballpoint pen.

May 16th, sunny.

I was helped by four seniors again today. Although they looked intimidating, like delinquents, they were surprisingly kind.

[Especially that senior from Kyushu, who saved me twice like a hero, and even said with a straight face that he would help me get revenge, he was super cool~]

[This is the first time someone has cared about me like this... I'm so happy, it feels like a dream.]

Tomorrow... I'll be having lunch with them. Finally, I won't have to eat alone in the bathroom anymore... I'm so excited, but also nervous; my heart is pounding.

Come to think of it, they don't seem to know I'm a girl...

Pretending to be a boy is so painful. You have to lower your voice, be careful with your words, wear ill-fitting men's clothes, and even hide when you go to the toilet.