19 A man to the through

Even though Isao drove smoothly, it was hard for everyone to sit quietly, especially when they saw how chaotic the city was. When they saw the horrible conditions in the city, they felt terror as they thought that their lives were over. Still, fortunately, Mizuto had talked to them beforehand about their destination and where they would go. 

However, the group led by Shido was different, as Isao hadn't said anything to them. 

While Isao could talk to them about his plan, he felt that this wasn't necessary since he knew that sooner or later, he would talk to them about what he planned to do, so he just waited for that time since he hated to repeat himself. 

Nevertheless, being a good guy was tough, and Mizuto also felt thirsty after he talked so much. Still, if he was a bad guy, would he be troubled like this? Obviously not, since being a bad guy was so easy, considering he only needed to throw Shido out from the bus, so Shido couldn't talk anymore. 

"Hey, we have gone in a different direction from my house..." Saya noticed that Isao had changed the direction of the bus to somewhere. 

"I know. I have a different purpose." 

"If you say so..." Saya didn't argue and let Isao do whatever he wanted since she could tell that trouble was coming soon. 

"Hey, where are we going!?" 

As expected, when the situation calmed down, a loud voice suddenly interrupted all of them. 

"Why are we going to the city? Why should we go there?" 

Even though Isao hadn't said their destination from the direction he had chosen, those who didn't know what he planned to do thought that he was moving to the city. 

"First of all, why did we have to follow what you are planning to do?!" 

One male student with blond hair, who appeared like a delinquent, aggressively acted while looking at the people in the front area. He tried to attract Isao's attention, but as expected, Isao ignored him. Still, he didn't give up since his target wasn't Isao, but at the same time, he looked at Isao angrily, thinking that this underclassman was too arrogant. 

In this country where the older one got everything and was respected as an underclassman, Isao's act of ignoring him was simply a provocation. 

Moreover, with how short-tempered he was, he was already angry. 

If there was a reason why he didn't do anything to Isao, it was because Isao was the one who drove the bus, and as Isao had said before, if he interrupted him, then if they were caught in the accident, then wasn't it his fault?

Yet, what he never thought of his actions by making a fuss and unreasonable anger was simply disturbing.

"You all decided to go back to the city without asking us. Couldn't we just look for a safe place inside the school?" 

"He's right!" Another male student, but with a weak appearance, agreed with this first male student. "We should find somewhere to hide, like the convenience store that we passed nearby!" 

When those words fell, the bus suddenly stopped and startled all of them. 

The delinquent guy, whose name wasn't even mentioned, fell directly on his face, and the weak male student also hit his face against the seat. 

"It hurts!" 

"Ugh!" 

While they were startled by Isao's action to stop the bus so suddenly, what they didn't expect next was that he moved the bus backward and stopped at the convenience store where they had passed early. 

"There is a convenience store. You want to stay there, right? No one is stopping you from leaving." 

Isao turned off the bus, then stood up from his seat, looked at the weak male student, and said calmly. 

"I..." The weak male student couldn't say anything when he was stared at by Isao. 

"Be careful when you are driving, bastard?!" 

Fortunately, the delinquent male student quickly stood up and got angry at Isao, attracting all the attention on him. 

The weak male student sighed in relief, but then again, even if he had said that he wanted to stay at the convenience store, he didn't have any intentions to do so! How could he leave the bus? What if he was beaten by those "things"? There was no way he dared to do it! 

"Then, sit quietly. Did someone tell you to stand up like that?" 

"You bastard!" The delinquent man wanted to get violent to Isao, raising his fist to beat him up, but before he was able to do it, Rei used the blunt part of the broomstick, which she used as a weapon to strike down this delinquent guy on the solar plexus. 

"Guwah!" 

The male student fell to the ground, unable to breathe, and clutched his stomach painfully.

"Are you okay?" Rei asked while looking at Isao's concern. 

"Thanks." Isao smiled softly and said, "I am fine. I will handle this." 

"I will support you." Rei knew that, unlike Takashi, her childhood friend, who just let Shido and his group do whatever they wanted to do in this place, she knew that Isao wouldn't let them do that, and she was more than happy to help Isao achieve that! 

"Mu-Murderer! Murderer!" The weak male student suddenly made a fuss by shouting loudly, but Isao approached him and slapped his cheek. 

*Slap!*

With the tingling pain in his cheek, the male student started to cry and was about to shout, but stopped and shut his mouth when Isao said, "Talk." 

"....." 

Hearing this word, he didn't dare to say anything, kept lowering his head, and didn't dare to look into Isao, who was still staring at him. 

Still, fortunately, someone came to help him.

*Clap! Clap! Clap!*

"What a wonderful performance." 

As expected, Shido came, watching Isao, who slapped the weak male student, then ignored the delinquent student, who was still lying on the ground like a wiggle worm on the scorching road. 

"But as expected, you don't have experience as a leader, Iinuma-kun." Shido sighed with regret. "There are many ways to solve our problem, but violence definitely isn't one of them! Or rather, you don't have a right to use violence on everyone!" 

His voice was loud, full of sadness toward the tragedy that happened before them. 

"Sensei..." 2x

Whether it was the delinquent or the weak male students, they were moved by Shido, but the rest of Shido's group didn't dare to say anything, especially when they saw Isao staring at them. 

Was violence unable to solve their problems?

Then, it meant that they hadn't used enough violence. 

Yet, Isao ignored Shido and said, "Unlike the rest, you guys haven't heard my plan, right? So, you should listen. Whether you want to follow or not, it is your decision, but if you don't want to, I won't force you, and you can follow those three guys who want to stay at the convenience store." 

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Shido was confused by what Isao was saying. He thought that Isao would confront him, but why did it suddenly become that he was going to stay at the convenience store with those two useless guys?!

Yet Shido didn't have a chance to talk since Isao had already talked to them and told them about his plan. His voice was loud, sonorous, and straightforward. His words were easy to understand and easily swayed everyone, especially the girls. Moreover, his act was also supported by the number of people who stood behind him. 

Whether it was Rei, Saeko, Saya, Hirano, Kyoko, or the rest—except for Takashi, who was still confused about what was happening—all of them stood behind Isao, putting immense pressure on those who tried to oppose him. 

Shido also didn't expect Isao to have such a concrete plan for what they planned to do, which made him lament that he didn't know about this problem before. 

"I have never forced you to follow me, and I have never asked you to accept, nor do I have an obligation to save you. Everything is your choice and responsibility, so you should make your decision whether it is to follow me or to follow Shido-sensei, who plans to stay at the convenience store with those two male students." 

"Huh!? How could you make a decision on your—

"Guwah!" 

Shido clutched his stomach painfully as he crumbled to the ground, coughing pathetically as he tried to catch his breath, as he didn't expect Isao to use violence on him!

At this moment, Shido realized how messed up this guy was; he wasn't in control of the situation at all. He also started to feel fear, especially when he had to face Isao, who was physically strong and dared to hit him. 

Everyone also didn't expect Isao's actions as Shido was a teacher and Isao was a student. 

This act of Isao was simply the most disrespectful act toward society, especially when one was expected to respect one's teacher. 

Yet, could one respect such a trashy teacher?

"Hey, what the hell did you—" 

Before this male student finished his word, Isao directly punched him. 

At this moment, except for one male student, who didn't move and just sat tight on his seat, whether it was Shido or all the male students who followed him had been beaten up by Isa. 

"I will follow you!" The first one who said it was the seductive girl who was also part of Shido's group. Her reason was simple. Isao was powerful, that's it. In this world where anything could happen, there was no doubt that Isao was better, and she knew that he could protect her well. Somehow, her face felt hot, especially when she saw his domineering side and powerful body... she wished to be held by him right now!

"Me-Me too!" 

"Ye-Yeah, we will follow you!" 

The other two girls also followed the first girl. 

A woman was like this; when they were in front of the pressure, they were easily affected.

"That's good." Isao nodded and looked at the beaten-up people. "Then, you four, you have made your decision, so you can get out now." 

"Huh? Why should I—"

The delinquent male student stopped his words when he saw a stick was about to strike his face. 

Rei had made her move, and she could deal with this guy anytime. 

"Come on. I am not kidding. I have no obligation to save you. Moreover, you have made your own decisions to stay at the convenience store. You should leave while there is no "them." 

Yet, the four of them didn't move and just lowered their heads in silence. It was clear that they had no intention of leaving, but would this matter be over just like this?

"You three." 

Still, Isao suddenly showed a calm smile and approached the three male students; he held the delinquent and weak male students on their shoulders with a power that made them almost scream in pain, yet they didn't dare to do so as they were afraid of being beaten up by him. 

"Who do you want to follow? Shido-sensei or me?" 

"Yo-You! I want to follow you!" 

"Y-Yeah! I want to follow you, Iinamu-kun!" 

"To be honest, I was forced to cause trouble by Shido-sensei, Iinuma-kun! He told me that you weren't suitable to become a leader!" 

"Ye-Yeah, it was all Shido-sensei's fault!" 

"He has nothing to do with us!" 

At that moment, three male students quickly worked together to blame everything on Shido. 

"You guys..." Shido looked at the three, shocked; he didn't expect this betrayal. 

The rest were also dumbfounded and felt everything was so ugly; at the same time, they also felt fear, especially toward this young man who could control everything singlehandedly. 

Only some were amazed and mesmerized and couldn't look away, for in this world, the strongest got everything. 

"I see..." Isao sighed helplessly. "You three are so pitiful." 

"Ye-Yeah, it was all Shido-sensei's fault!" 

"We want to follow you, Iinuma-kun!" 

"Please, let me call you a leader!" 

"Is that so? Then, as your leader, I will give you the first task, which is to throw Shido-sensei out. If you can't do that, then I will kick all of you out," Isao said with a gentle smile. 

"..." Everyone. 

The three were startled and looked at each other before they made up their minds. Taking a deep breath, they stood up and then walked toward Shido.

"Y-You, what are you planning to do?!" Shido started and looked at the three in fear. 

"It's all your fault, Sensei..." 

"Yes, if you didn't say that to us..." 

"You have to take responsibility!" 

There were three of them, and there was no way they felt fear toward Shido, so they quickly approached and held him as they were ready to throw him out of the bus. 

Watching this, Takashi wanted to say something, but Rei glared at him and said, "Be quiet." 

"Rei!" 

"You have caused so much trouble before. Just believe in him!" Rei's trust in Takashi had hit zero, and she didn't want this guy to mess up. 

"Komuro shut up for a moment," Saya also helped since, compared to Takashi, she believed in Isao more. 

"Takagi, even you..." At this moment, Takashi realized that no one supported him, and they were all staring at him in alienation, which made him feel weak and unable to say anything. 

Yes, he might be a protagonist, but he was just a high school student. Facing this pressure, which was aimed at him at the same time, especially coming from the allies that had entrusted their backs to each other when they faced danger, he couldn't say anything and just slumped in his seat. 

"No! No! Forgive me, Iinuma-kun! I will follow you! I won't cause any trouble again! I beg of you! I beg of you! Please don't throw me out!" 

Shido wasn't an athletic guy; he was a weak, sly guy. He had no other redemptions besides being able to deceive a naive high school student who had no experience in society. His trick and ploy were useful because the protagonist was just a typical high school student, but facing Isao, Shido couldn't do anything except be dragged by three students. 

"Shut up!" 

"It's all your fault!" 

"Sensei, I beg you... this is for all of us..." 

The three beat Shido so this guy could shut up before they continued to pull him up. 

Knowing all the struggle was meaningless, Shido was in despair, but—

"Enough." 

"Eh?" 

"I was joking," Isao said calmly. "Do you think I will really let you throw Shido-sensei out of the bus?" 

"...." Everyone. 

They were, but they kept those words in their minds since they had to say Isao was frightening and under his iron rule, no one could fight him. 

"I have tried hard to protect you, so don't make my hard work meaningless, okay?" 

His words were full of helplessness, and they could even see the wariness in his voice, which made them feel guilty. 

Even Takashi felt intense guilt when he kept misunderstanding Isao, feeling helpless and wondering why he was like this. 

Still, when they sighed in relief after Isao was joking, he approached the group of four and said softly, "Look, I can play your life as I wish. I can throw you out, and I can save you. Even if you make trouble, I can do it again, again, again, again, again, again, and again until I feel bored and throw you out to those "things" in "accident," so try to make a mess, okay? That way, I can have a reason to throw you out." 

"....." 4x

Whether it was Shido or those three male students, they felt their entire bodies were so cold, and their teeth chattered due to fear. 

Still, Isao was done with Shido and his group, then looked at everyone and said, "I am sorry for startling you. I just hope that everyone can work hard so we can arrive at a safe place." 

"It's okay. We understand you, Iinuma-kun." 

"Yeah, you are not at fault, Iinuma-kun." 

"You don't do anything wrong." 

As they tried to console him, Isao smiled and said, "Thank you, but as you have believed in me, I can promise you that if you can call your family and know where they are now, I can drive you there to save them now." 

Unlike Shido, who made an empty promise and caused trouble, Isao showed his capability by action. Nevertheless, no one could call their parents, family, or acquaintances, so there was no need for Isao to do that, yet due to his words, he gained a lot of favorability. 

Still, this wasn't the end since when Isao had decided to do this, he decided to go all out. 

"Hayashi-sensei, can you share the food with everyone?" 

"Eh?" Kyoko was startled and asked, "Are you sure?" 

"Yes." Isao nodded. "We can get food anytime." 

"Okay." Kyoko nodded and obediently followed his words. 

"Take these. I picked up some food before we left the school. They might not be much, but they should at least fill our empty stomachs." 

All the foods that Isao and Kyoko had picked before were shared with everyone, but when Kyoko reached Shido and his group, she hesitated. 

Shido and his group also didn't say anything, but from their eyes, it was easy that they also wanted those foods. Yet, they didn't dare to say it, especially when Isao was present. 

"Give them too, Sensei." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Yeah, give them," Isao said calmly. 

Hearing his words, Kyoko didn't hesitate, but her expression was so stinky and nasty when she had to share their food with Shido and his group. 

While hesitating at first, Shido and his group took the food and then looked at Isao. 

Isao ignored them, so he sat once again in the driving seat and started to drive again. Well, he might have noticed that Shido didn't touch his food until Shido saw the three male students ate the food and were all right. 

When Shido saw that they were all right, he ate the bread in his hand without hesitation. 

Still, Shido and his group were no longer a concern as they were as good as a cripple. 

"Are you going to become a politician in the future?" Saya asked in a joke since she knew that this guy also made some empty promises, but unlike Shido, Isao was much better. 

"My goal is to become a prime minister." 

Isao then glanced at Saya and said, "Also, I am not lying. If they really can call their family now, I will save them." Well, the promise was "now," if it was tomorrow, then he wouldn't do it. 

"..."

Saya wasn't sure whether this guy was joking or not, but regardless, she said, "Good work." There was no doubt among them that Isao was the one who worked the hardest. 

Isao glanced at Saya, but he didn't say anything, and at the same time, as he drank mineral water, he thought that being a good guy was so damn hard.