Sayaka and Teshigawara also noticed Minami Manaka standing with a burly man.
Teshigawara swallowed hard, steeling himself before stepping forward.
Even though the townspeople now referred to Mitsuha as the incarnation of a god, to him, she was just a girl and his good friend.
But now, faced with an obvious bully, this was his moment to stand tall.
He had waited for this day for years. It was time to show Yamaaka Shunya who truly deserved to stand beside the shrine maiden!
Just as he was lost in his own dramatic heroism, he suddenly felt a strong yank at the back of his collar, stumbling backward.
Then, he saw Mitsuha stride forward without hesitation.
Kyousuke wasn't about to let the obviously weak Teshigawara step in on his behalf. If this thug Manaka had brought was really here to start trouble, Kyousuke could handle him with one hand.
"Hey, you brat! You think you can just bully my girlfriend?"
The burly man spat his words as he marched toward Kyousuke. Behind him, Manaka smirked in satisfaction.
After being humiliated by Mitsuha the other day, she had initially decided to swallow her pride, heeding her parents' advice to let it go. But then, yesterday, Shunya betrayed their fashion alliance!
She had stood up to Mitsuha for his sake, and now he had turned his back on her?
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. So, she turned to her current boyfriend for help.
Yamada Kazuo came from a wealthy farming family in Itomori. He was an outsider and not afraid of Mitsuha's mayor father or the ancient Miyamizu Shrine.
Sure enough, a little bit of whining was all it took to get her simple-minded boyfriend to pick a fight for her.
What shrine? What so-called incarnation of a god?
At the end of the day, Mitsuha was just a girl. Manaka was determined to see her humiliated today. She could already picture Mitsuha beaten and broken, and the thought made her want to laugh in triumph.
Yamada reached out to grab the girl who barely came up to his chest.
In his mind, this was going to be easy and just one solid grab, and he'd fling her away like a rag doll.
A cruel grin spread across his ugly face.
Yet, standing before the towering brute, Kyousuke remained completely unfazed.
This body might not have been trained for combat, but even back in elementary school, he could hold his own against a dozen opponents with a much weaker frame than this.
One overgrown idiot? Please.
Against a physically stronger opponent, the best strategy was always to use their own strength against them.
As Yamada's hand shot forward, Kyousuke swiftly gripped his wrist, taking a step back while pulling downward with all his strength.
Given the height difference, Yamada's momentum instantly threw him off balance, his body pitching forward uncontrollably.
If Kyousuke had been in his own body, he would've followed up with a knee strike to the face, breaking his nose instantly.
But now? He took one look at Mitsuha's pristine, delicate legs and decided this idiot wasn't even worth that much effort.
Instead, he doubled down on his grip, yanking downward even harder. Just as Yamada completely lost his footing, Kyousuke took a quick step back and delivered a sharp kick to his face.
The satisfying crunch of bone breaking echoed in the air. Even with Mitsuha's smaller frame, a solid kick from her sturdy leather shoes was enough to shatter a nose.
Kyousuke didn't even bother checking the damage. He simply stepped over the groaning mess of a man and walked toward the school gates.
"Kazuo!"
Minami Manaka shrieked, rushing to her boyfriend's side.
She hadn't expected this. One moment, everything was going perfectly and her revenge was all but guaranteed. And now? It was her boyfriend lying on the ground, wailing in pain.
"Oh, right. You."
Kyousuke had initially planned to ignore Manaka, but then he thought if he hadn't been the one in Mitsuha's body today, she would have been in real danger.
That wasn't something he could let slide.
Grabbing a fistful of Manaka's hair, he yanked her forward until their faces were inches apart.
She reeked of cheap perfume.
"What… what do you want?" she stammered, her voice trembling.
She stared into Mitsuha's sharp eyes and suddenly, she saw something—something terrifying.
Demons.
Her mind flashed back to the art class incident, where Mitsuha had crushed her painting underfoot.
Would she do the same to her?
She glanced at her boyfriend, bloodied and broken on the ground.
She could feel herself shaking now. Her beautiful face… would she lose it?
Her vision blurred with tears, her legs giving out beneath her.
Tch. Mitsuha's body really wasn't built for this.
Kyousuke let go, watching as she crumpled to the ground.
"Listen up," he said, bending down to her eye level. His voice was eerily calm.
"Tomorrow, when I come to school, you're going to find Mitsuha and apologize to her. If she doesn't forgive you…" His gaze darkened. "I'll come find you again."
Manaka's breath hitched.
'Find Mitsuha"? "Her"'
In that moment, clarity struck her like lightning.
Yamaaka Shunya was right.
This wasn't Mitsuha.
This was a god.
No… a demon!
Terror consumed her.
Without sparing her another glance, Kyousuke called for Sayaka and Teshigawara, and the three of them headed into the school. He needed to clean his shoes—disgusting.
"Mitsuha… are you sure you'll be okay?" Sayaka asked hesitantly as they stood by the water spout near the field.
She was a timid girl, but that only made her cuter.
"What's there to be afraid of? If he comes back, I'll protect you two!" Teshigawara declared.
"…You?" Sayaka deadpanned. "I saw you trembling back there."
Teshigawara's confidence instantly crumbled.
"…" His pride was officially in ruins.
"That's not true," Kyousuke said, finally satisfied after meticulously wiping down Mitsuha's shoes. "Teshigawara was ready to charge in, but I held him back."
"Yeah! See? I wasn't scared!" Teshigawara huffed, puffing out his chest.
"Oh? So you expected her to protect you instead?" Sayaka scoffed.
"Well, Mitsuha could, so why not you?" he shot back, grinning.
And just like that, the two were at each other's throats again.
Kyousuke chuckled, watching his friends bicker as he made his way toward the school building.
He wasn't worried about any repercussions.
Teshigawara had already given him all the necessary intel—Manaka's boyfriend was an outsider, which meant he had no real influence here.
If they went to the police? Well, the local station was inside the town hall… where Mitsuha's father worked.
And as for the school? Judging by the teachers bowing and addressing him as Mitsuha-sama, he doubted they'd do anything either.
Looks like this little shrine maiden had been making some impressive moves in town.
No classes, no worries and time had flown by, and before he knew it, school was over.
At the classroom door stood Yukino Yukari-sensei.
Teshigawara and Sayaka exchanged a knowing glance.
"See you tomorrow, Mitsuha."
With that, they left Kyousuke to face whatever awaited him next.