“What’s the plan?”
“Got powerful backup right here.”
She pulled out her phone and messaged someone. Three guys appeared moments later — backup in the strongest sense. They were the international exchange-student Japan-otaku friends we’d met at the movie theater.
The two African friends from before, plus a similarly-tall and muscular European friend. They greeted Kano with their usual cheer.
“Most-effective backup confirmed.”
“We bumped into them while looking for Suzuno — I had them helping. I don’t love leveraging intimidation, but this kind of opponent — they’re way more effective than us. Let me handle it.”
She walked the three into position between Ayato/Suzuno and the man. The man’s bravado evaporated the instant he saw three muscular hard-faced foreigners step up.
(I remember — that day at the food court I’d genuinely felt could be killed.) He couldn’t understand the words but the threat-radiation was clear; he scuttled away.
The three switched back to cheery the moment he was gone — they really were just nice Japan-otaku underneath. They said something to Kano and Ayato and went off smiling.
“Kano-san — thank you. I couldn’t have solved that alone.”
“Ayato — thanks for trying to save Suzuno.”
“I couldn’t actually do anything…”
He looked frustrated by his own inability.
“You couldn’t finish it, but you stepped between her and the threat.”
“Yeah — old you couldn’t even have done that. You moved.”
“I was so scared. Ayato-kun coming for me — I was so grateful.”
(I knew Ayato had wanted to help bullied-Kano back in elementary too, and couldn’t, and had carried regret ever since. Crossing that line is a big step.)
(My own crash-the-classroom stunt had ended with me beaten up, looking ridiculous — but Kano was grateful then for the same reason. That someone moved for me counts even if they didn’t fix the outcome.)
He cried — quietly, properly. His face was clear — like something heavy had lifted. The Open Campus tension between him and Suzuno repaired itself in real time.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
The recent serious arc closes. Back to regular vibes next chapter. The exchange students are returning characters from chapter 35 — the manga adaptation’s character design was great, so I re-imported them for re-use. They appear in manga chapters 12-13.