The Legend of Level 0 in Academy City

"I'm telling you, you really are an idiot..."

Misaka Mikoto couldn't stand it anymore. She glanced sideways at Kamijou Touma standing next to her, her face full of disdain.

Although she had suspected it before, this time she was finally certain: Kamijou Touma is definitely an idiot!

Saten Ruiko turned around with a troubled expression. She had never doubted whether Kamijou Touma was an idiot!

Even in the short time it takes to eat at home or help tidy up the dishes, someone might drop their phone into the water, or continue to act recklessly despite the nun being clearly angry, ultimately getting bitten on the head. Can you really have high expectations for someone like that?

The answer is of course no.

In light of this, Saten Ruiko decided to give Kamijou Touma a hint.

"Kamijo-senpai, I think you might have misunderstood Eika. He probably just wanted you to touch his body, but you went further and further away, which is why you're so angry, right?"

To be honest, Touma Kamijou is indeed a true genius, just as Rei Ueno thought!

His antics instantly dispelled the serious atmosphere in the room, filling everyone with a strange sense of comedy.

The instigator, however, was completely unaware of this. He cautiously stepped out from behind Saten Ruiko, slowly making his way towards Inoue Hideka, and said warily:

"Let's get this straight, Yinghua! I'm helping you remove the paralysis, so you can't be ungrateful and attack me! Otherwise..."

During his long years with Inoue Hidekazu, Kamijou Touma had the opportunity to experience Inoue Hidekazu's level of violence by chance. Just how terrifying Inoue Hidekazu was when he lost his temper still haunts Kamijou Touma.

The negative shadow in his heart made him never dare to ignore Inoue Hideka's naked and unreserved anger.

Upon hearing Touma Kamijou's words, Inoue Hideka began to suppress her urge to kill Touma Kamijou with all her might, maintaining the purest and kindest smile in her eyes as she gently stared at Touma Kamijou.

"Phew... okay."

Sensing that Inoue Hideka was no longer as angry as before, Kamijou Touma sighed softly, lowered his guard, and gently patted Inoue Hideka's shoulder with his right hand.

"what……"

The numbness in her body vanished instantly, along with the lightness she had grown accustomed to, but Inoue Hideka didn't care about that now.

He stood up from his seat, stretched his muscles which were stiff from maintaining one position for so long, and then walked over to Touma Kamijou's side with a beaming smile, saying with unusual 'gratitude':

"Thank you so much, Touma! You're truly... my savior!"

"It's nothing... Wait, wait a minute! Eika, your expression is terrifying! Hey, you promised! You promised to let Mr. Kamijou go..."

Feeling embarrassed, Touma Kamijou scratched his head. He had originally intended to tell Inoue Eika not to worry about it, but suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

Inoue Hideka's gaze didn't seem as rosy as he'd imagined, and he sensed that things might not be as simple as he thought. Kamijou Touma's face immediately fell.

"Well, never mind!"

After giving Touma Kamijou a slight fright, Inoue Hideka decided not to continue.

Touma Kamijou is just a little slow on the uptake; otherwise, he hasn't really done anything wrong. How could Inoue Eika really take action against her best friend over such a trivial matter?

Moreover, Touma Kamijou's brain was not normal to begin with. Although he avoided amnesia during the Automatic Memory incident, his brain had already been damaged during his experience with Misaki Shokuhou a year ago.

Even if he makes a mistake occasionally, it's not Touma Kamijou's fault.

Given how unlucky he is, the damage to his brain might be even more than this.

It's already pathetic enough. If we were to condemn him for something like this, Inoue Eika would feel unworthy of calling herself Touma Kamijou's best friend.

Turning his head, Inoue Hideka's serious gaze swept over the four members of 'New Moon' as well as Saten Ruiko and Misaka Mikoto.

Feeling Inoue Hidekazu's gaze sweep over them, the four members of 'New Moon', including the just-aggressive Ueno Rei, all lowered their heads like children who had done something wrong.

However, he stubbornly remained silent, staring at the ground.

Clearly, while they felt it was inappropriate to act without considering Inoue Eika's thoughts, they did not believe they had done anything wrong.

Saten Ruiko maintained a serious expression and did not back down when Inoue Eika's gaze swept over her.

The attitude was also very clear: they wanted her to back down?

impossible!

When Misaka Mikoto's gaze met Inoue Eika's in mid-air, she pouted slightly and looked away awkwardly.

She has realized her mistake.

But girls are girls after all, and their emotions always outweigh their rationality.

Even knowing that the most important thing to do now is to apologize to the 'New Moon' group and not put Inoue Eika, who is caught in the middle, in a difficult position.

However, if Inoue Eika were to stand on the side of the "New Moon" group and demand an apology from her, she would definitely feel bad.

If Inoue Hideka wasn't present, an apology would simply be something that got past her 'tsundere' hurdle.

But now that Inoue Hideka has clearly decided to intervene in the conflict between the two sides, the girl's thoughts and concerns become quite complicated when the middleman is a boy who understands her feelings.

This involves the question of what a boyfriend should do when a girl is being bullied, and whether his subordinates or his girlfriend are more important.

Emotional girls usually don't consider who is right or wrong; all they care about is whether the person they like values ​​them and puts them first.

This is a dilemma; favoring his girlfriend will alienate his subordinates.

Protecting subordinates will hurt your girlfriend.

Inoue Hideka observed the reactions of the group, and he was well aware of how difficult the situation was.

You can't offend either side.

But to break the deadlock, something must be done.

It seems we're stuck in a vicious cycle...

Chapter 303 Men are there to protect women from harm!

"Ugh……"

Inoue Hideka sighed helplessly.

The current situation is that the 'New Moon' faction, represented by Ueno Rei, and Saten Ruiko are locked in a stalemate, neither willing to back down.

Although Misaka Mikoto realized her mistake and wanted to apologize to ease the situation, she also wanted to test Inoue Eika's reaction.

Inoue Hideka is caught in a dilemma. Although the scales are temporarily in balance, leaning to either side will create an irreconcilable rift with the other.

But damn it, I'm being chased right now!

They are clearly the biggest victims, okay?

Why did things escalate to the point where I'm caught in the middle, unable to do either way?

"Ugh!"

Sighing once more at her own tragedy, Inoue Eika glanced at the four members of 'New Moon', walked up to Saten Ruiko and Misaka Mikoto, and said with a serious expression:

"First of all, those four idiots over there are my subordinates. I'll explain the details later. Right now, because of my negligence and lax discipline, Mikoto and Ruiko have been wronged, and I apologize on their behalf. I'm sorry, Ruiko, Mikoto, I hope you can forgive them!"

As she spoke, Inoue Hideka bowed deeply to Saten Ruiko and Misaka Mikoto.

Saten Ruiko and Misaka Mikoto were stunned to see Inoue Eika bowing to them.

They couldn't believe that Inoue Hideka would actually stand on the opposite side and apologize for her opponent.

And he apologized in such a serious manner and with such a earnest tone.

So unfamiliar...

This version of Inoue Hideka was unfamiliar to both of them.

In the past, no matter what, Inoue Hideka would always stand by their side, defend them, protect them, and even risk her own life.

This was the first time that Inoue Hideka stood on the opposite side of them.

For some reason, they sensed that the boy in front of them, with his head down, was walking away from them.

Saten Ruiko and Misaka Mikoto suddenly regretted it.

They themselves drove this person to the brink of death, to the point where they had no choice but to make a decision.

And the fact that things have turned out this way is indeed because they were at fault first.

If they hadn't been so unreasonable, if they hadn't been so obsessed with saving face, this person wouldn't be standing on the opposite side of them now.

If only I had been a little calmer just now, things would have been better.

If he weren't so stubborn, if he had asked for the facts before taking action, wouldn't he have avoided being put in a difficult position?

There was no anger, no rage; all that Saten Ruiko and Misaka Mikoto felt now was regret, fear, and panic.

If things aren't discussed openly, I'm afraid we'll always be separated by a layer of glass for the rest of our lives.

Thinking of this, Misaka Mikoto and Saten Ruiko spoke at the same time.

"Hey……"

"Britain……"

But before she could finish speaking, Inoue Hideka straightened up and walked to the other side, leaving them with only a somewhat unfamiliar back view.

"And then... those two girls over there, that's me, um... it's me, you know what I mean, right?"

Inoue Hideka walked up to the four members of 'New Moon', scratching his head awkwardly and stammering that he couldn't explain himself clearly.

"Anyway, they probably misunderstood something. Even so, they still hurt you all. As their... ah... well, I think I should take the punishment for them, right? If you're angry, just vent your anger on me! As long as you can forgive those two fools, I promise I won't make things difficult for you afterwards!"

At this point, Inoue Hideka's serious tone suddenly became casual.

"Anyway, you guys don't really treat me like your boss, right? So just act like usual..."

After a slight pause, Inoue Hideka switched to a look of resignation, and roared in a desperate, defiant manner:

"Go ahead and hit me, scold me, laugh at me, and criticize me! After all, aren't men just there to take the fall for women?"

……

The audience was stunned by Inoue Hideka's sudden change and remained silent for five seconds.

"what……"

Five seconds later, Himuro Rinbe silently exhaled a breath of stale air, turned to look at Ueno Rei and Okita Mai, and said:

"Since the minister has already brought it up, Mai, Rei! Shall we stop here?"

"Tch!" Okita Mai scoffed dismissively, but didn't object.