Vol. 1 Chapter 20: Face-to-face

Posted on July 3, 2022by ynlucca

Translated and Edited by: ynlucca.

Common Honorifics:
-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.
-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.
-chan: A common suffix among people you’re close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it’s cutesy and childlike.
-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one’s older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.

After returning to my seat, I ruminated a bit over what just happened with the teacher… I wasn’t expecting her to be that worried about me.

I’d been yelled at a bunch since yesterday, so I thought she hated me already. That’s why her unexpected kindness came out of left field for me.

As I thought about those things—

“Hey there troublemaker. Why did Hiiragi-chan call you?”

One of my classmates spoke up to me. He was my neighbor, sitting right in front of me, and he had a rather flashy look. His hair was black with a golden mesh mixed in.

“… Troublemaker?”

Eh? Who?

“You, duh. You’re nothing but a troublemaker, being called as soon as the first day of school.”

“… You’re coming up to me out of the blue. Do you not know how to be polite?”

“I don’t wanna hear it from you, problem child, though yesterday was pretty funny.”

He said that and laughed, recalling yesterday’s situation… Well, I was called by Ms. Hiiragi and got yelled at, so I don’t blame him for not being polite. I wasn’t really an example.

“About yesterday… Yeah, it wasn’t polite of me. I regret it.”

“… Y’know, you’re surprisingly straightforward, fella.”

He was surprised at what I said, almost flabbergasted.

“I just admitted I was the one at fault. Either way, my name’s Tatsumi Aizawa, not ‘fella’.”

“Sorry ‘bout that, it’s certainly not nice to just call you that. For real, sorry.’” He bowed his head.

Despite his appearance and tone, he was quite disciplined. After that, he looked up and beamed a rather sus smile. “Well then,” he continued. “It’s not polite not to say my name. I’m Kotetsu Taiga, and all my friends call me Tetsu. Nice to meet ya!”

“… Nice to meet you too, Taiga.”

“Hoh…”

He looked at me as if he was impressed. What a weird guy… After a while of just looking, he suddenly burst out laughing. Loudly, I might add.

“Ha ha ha! ‘I’m not ‘fella’, I’m Aizawa!’ You’re too funny, dude. I was about to go in on you if you were just another douchebag. I’m glad you’re not!”

Ah, so he was thinking about something dangerous… I guess the reason he was laughing earlier was that he had some sort of plan behind that facade. What a dangerous guy.

“Been a while since I laughed like this! I loved it, Aizawa! Y’know what? I’ll give you something special and call you Tatsu!”

… What even is a ‘Tatsu’? A nickname?

Seems I’m already recognized as his friend. Well, he doesn’t seem like a bad guy, but to tell you the truth, he’s a pain in the a*s. I’ll just politely decline him.

“… No, we’re not…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine! Don’t be shy! ”

Saying so, he bumped his shoulder into mine. Holy s— he’s definitely athletic.

Well, it’s not that I was some sort of gloomy mess or anything, I just don’t wanna get involved with someone who’d beat up another person out of nowhere.

Not caring about how I felt, he draped his arm around my shoulder. He wouldn’t let go until I called him by his nickname, and he was pretty strong to boot. I couldn’t just escape from his ‘tiger hug’.

That’s why I gave up and called him by a name I’d be saying many times in the future.

“Haah… Got it, Tetsu.”

As soon as I called him that, he beamed one hell of a smile. He had some pretty sharp canines.