Reincarnated Into a Delinquent Manga… Where the Genders Are Reversed and Everyone’s a Girl - Chapter 53 & 54: Strategy | The Cowardly Stalker

Chapter 53: Strategy

“So, Takuma. You went and recruited me, but how exactly do you plan on becoming boss?”

Yayoi was sucking on a piece of candy.

From a distance, she might’ve been mistaken for a kid—

But the sheer pressure radiating off her body erased any chance of that illusion.

I carefully sipped at the coffee Asama had brewed, steam still curling upward.

I’d always been bad with hot drinks, so I let the bitterness just barely wet my lips as I gazed up at the ceiling.

The truth was, I didn’t have any kind of real plan to hand over to Yayoi.

Well—maybe not none, but what I did have leaned way too heavily on coincidence.

Nowhere near enough to convince her.

“…I don’t exactly have a solid plan.”

“…But that face says you’ve got something in mind.”

“Uncertain at best.”

I stood up.

Yayoi, lounging on the sofa, tilted her head to glance up at me.

From this angle, she really did look like a kid—

Well, if you ignored the overwhelming aura she carried.

“First off, the ones we’ve gotta beat are the Myougi faction, the Tanigawa faction, and the Shirane faction.”

“Easier said than done. We don’t have the numbers.”

She pointed a finger.

“All we’ve got is the drunkard over there—and Froggy.”

“…Wait, are you calling me Froggy?”

“Who else but you, Akira?”

“Ehh~… I’d like to file an official objection, thank you very much.”

Akira Narukami puffed out her lips in protest.

She glanced at Asama, who was still sprawled out nearby, and muttered, “I mean, I get calling her the drunkard, but why the hell am I the frog?” Her cheeks puffed out even more.

“I don’t even like frogs, y’know.”

“I like ‘em. What about you, Takuma?”

“Eh? …Ah, well, yeah. I guess I like them.”

“See, Akira? Good for you.”

“Takuma’s saying he likes frogs, not me, though.”

—…Still makes me happy all the same.

Akira wiggled her hips, clearly pleased.

Honestly, the fact that she could be satisfied with such a flimsy excuse made me worry—someday, she was definitely gonna get tricked by some shady guy.

As for the drunkard, Asama showed zero signs of waking up.

So we decided to just leave her there and start the strategy meeting without her.

“First things first—we can’t take on the Myougi faction, the Tanigawa faction, and the Shirane faction all at once.”

“Since Takuma’s not part of the fighting force, that’d mean me, Shinobu, and Akira would each have to take on a whole faction by ourselves.”

“No way I can do that. Maybe Akagi-san could pull it off, but me? Forget it.”

“I couldn’t either,” Yayoi admitted, waving her hand like she couldn’t believe we’d even suggest it.

“So basically, we’ve gotta pick them off one by one.”

“Pick them off one by one, huh… but you mean the three of us—four if you count you—going up against an entire faction at a time? That’s rough.”

She wasn’t wrong.

I agreed with Yayoi’s point.

In fights, numbers usually meant advantage—that was just common sense.

But what really mattered wasn’t numbers. It was the win condition.

“Sure, if it was just a battle royale, then yeah, the bigger group wins. But we’re talking about delinquents here.”

“Yeah.”

“Then shouldn’t we factor in their… behavior patterns?”

“Behavior patterns…?”

Yayoi and the others tilted their heads.

But then something seemed to click.

“…You mean like, gathering the reps for another showdown?”

Yayoi crunched her candy between her teeth.

“That’s not gonna fly, Takuma. No way. The enemy won’t bite. There’s no upside for them. You can try to play the pride card to push for a rep battle, but anyone thinking straight would never agree.”

“Yeah, Takuma. The only reason Akagi-san accepted a rep fight against the Myougi faction before was ‘cause she’s stu—uh, I mean, because she’s got a ridiculously big heart.”

“…Did you just try to call me stupid?”

“No way, not at all! Akagi-san’s so smart, you should get a Nobel Prize!”

“…Alright then.”

They were probably right.

I crossed my arms and nodded.

The way things stood now, the battle was already down to either the Myougi–Tanigawa alliance or the Shirane faction.

There was no reason for them to suddenly drag a brand-new force into the spotlight with some kind of representative match.

But that wasn’t the angle I meant.

When I said behavior patterns, I wasn’t talking about pride.

I was talking about something far more fundamental.

“Delinquents… they actually follow a kind of order, right?”

“Order?”

Yayoi tilted her head, puzzled.

“Order sounds way too rational for the likes of us.”

“Yeah, not rational. More like… instinctual order.”

This was what I meant:

At the root of delinquent society was one simple law.

Power is power.

The strong are strong.

And the strong are the ones on top.

In that world, the head of a delinquent crew was always the strongest.

But if that top dog ever showed weakness, they’d be dragged down instantly.

That was how it worked.

“So if we crush the one at the very top, then groups like the Myougi faction—just a bunch of delinquents thrown together—would collapse easily.”

“You make it sound simple, but…”

“You could do it, right? Yayoi.”

I fixed her with a steady, unwavering look.

Caught off guard, Yayoi choked out a noise—

And actually took a step back.

“If you asked, ‘Who’s the strongest at Shibakata High?’ ninety-nine out of a hundred would answer Yayoi Akagi. This whole mess started because you stepped off the stage in the first place. If you come back, everything fixes itself.”

From the perspective of Fist, though, that was the worst possible move.

The protagonist of this world was Chiaki Haruna, and the Myougi faction she belonged to was supposed to be the ones ruling Shibakata High.

I’d seen their struggle up close—watched them cling to thread-thin chances and finally carve out their place.

I understood just how much it meant.

“You really okay with that? Takuma, you were Myougi faction once. Don’t you still feel attached?”

“…Hmm.”

I pulled a cigarette from my pocket.

The way Yayoi flinched was kind of funny.

“…I don’t care anymore. Protagonist, story developments, whatever. I’m the one living in this world, and I’ll decide what I want to do.”

I set it between my lips, lit it, and exhaled a slow stream of smoke.

Yeah… I was already getting used to the bitterness.

“I still feel attached, sure. But what I want… is to become boss myself.”

“…Heh.” Yayoi’s mouth twisted into a grin.

“Then no need to hold back. You lit the fire in me—so you’d better see this through to the end.”

“…I only meant to light the cigarette.”

“When a guy shows that kind of resolve, a girl can’t afford to chicken out. That’d be pathetic.”

She shook Asama awake and pulled the four of us into a circle.

“Alright! Time to take back the top of Shibakata High—once more!!”

Chapter 54: The Cowardly Stalker

Take down the faction leaders.

If I had to put our goal in the simplest terms, that was it.

But… was it really possible?

As the saying goes, “easier said than done.”

Most of the time, plans like this ended up as nothing more than pretty theories on paper.

Honestly, that outcome was probably more likely.

Everyone knew that if the top got beaten, the faction would crumble.

That was exactly why they made sure it wouldn’t happen so easily.

If the leader ever went out somewhere, other members would act as bodyguards.

So yeah… the so-called strategy I came up with—well, calling it a strategy was generous, it was more like brute force—wasn’t exactly easy to pull off.

But I didn’t see any other way.

At least, none I could think of.

We were too few in number.

Sure, “elite strike team” sounded cool, but in reality, we were just too few.

That’s why my only option was to pick them off one by one.

“…Takuma, isn’t this kinda cowardly?”

“I was already thinking that, so don’t say it out loud.”

Akira grimaced.

Which—fair enough.

Because right now… we were basically stalking Uta Tanigawa, watching her every move.

As delinquents, this was beyond uncool.

In another time and place, we probably would’ve gotten our heads knocked clean off for something this pathetic.

But luckily, I hadn’t been attacked yet.

Yayoi, meanwhile, just kept staring silently at Tanigawa’s back.

So quiet it was honestly scarier than anything else.

Akira and I exchanged uneasy glances—

“…Uh, Takuma, doesn’t Akagi-san look really pissed right now?”

“…No, that’s not an aura of anger.”

“…What even is an aura of anger?”

“…More like… she feels angry, y’know?”

They pressed me for details I absolutely didn’t have.

I just turned my gaze off into the distance.

With Asama knocked out of commission from a hangover, it was just Yayoi, Akira, and me—currently in the middle of a glorious stalking mission.

Tanigawa had about five people trailing with her.

And honestly? I wasn’t much use in a fight.

Best I could do was act as a decoy.

Could Yayoi and Akira really handle that many by themselves?

“Even if we do manage to make you boss this way, people’ll just talk behind our backs, y’know. Doesn’t sit right.”

“Well… maybe the process doesn’t matter that much?”

“Come on, you really think anyone’s gonna respect a boss who won by doing creepy stalker stuff?”

“…Yeah, that might be tough…”

I felt like I’d walked straight into a dead end.

With our tiny numbers, a head-on fight was impossible.

But if we won using dirty tricks, then I’d lose all credibility as a boss anyway.

It was a no-win situation.

And then—

The silence broke.

Yayoi, who hadn’t said a single word until now, slowly turned her head toward us.

“…Shut it.”
“”Sorry.””

Akira and I apologized in perfect unison.

Yayoi’s gravelly voice was enough to make us both shudder—no, more than enough.

For someone who looked like a little girl, the sound that came out of her was terrifying.

Like a voice echoing up from the valley of the dead.

“Quit whining about stalking. Takuma figured this was the only way for us to beat a bigger force, right? Then hold your head high and strike without hesitation. Ambush ‘em.”

Surprisingly, Yayoi showed no disgust for this kind of tactic.

Instead, she gave us something close to approval.

Grateful for that unexpected mercy, I pressed my lips together, steeling myself.

When I glanced beside me, Akira’s eyes had rolled completely white.
Guess she couldn’t handle Yayoi’s sheer pressure.
Poor girl.

We trailed Tanigawa and her group for a while—

And then, almost like they were inviting us, they walked straight into the perfect spot.

A place where voices wouldn’t carry, where foot traffic was thin, so a fight wouldn’t easily be noticed.

Shadows hung heavy, cutting visibility low.

It was as if God Himself had whispered, “Fight here.”

In other words—under the bridge at the riverside.

Thanks to countless delinquent manga, the riverside was already infamous as a classic brawl location.

I thought the same, of course.

But I hadn’t realized just how much adding under the bridge to the equation would crank it up.

This was basically the ultimate ambush stage.

I licked my dry lips and closed my eyes.

Tanigawa and her crew were talking about something—

Probably faction business.

Even from a distance, their heated energy made it obvious.

Given the current climate, it was clear: they were discussing the faction war, and ultimately, the boss’s seat itself.

“Akagi-san, should we go for it?”

“Yeah. But wait a bit. Let them finish talking first.”

“Even an ambush wouldn’t feel right if we cut them off mid-sentence…”

Yayoi raised her palm, signaling us to wait.

Akira gave a small nod, like she understood.

She grew quieter, almost fading into the background, sharpening her focus.

Meanwhile, I still couldn’t get used to this kind of atmosphere.

My heartbeat pounded louder and louder, and I had to concentrate on something I never usually thought about—my breathing—just to keep it under control.

It looked like Tanigawa and her crew had finished their talk.

One by one, they started filing out from under the bridge.

I exchanged eye contact with Yayoi.

She gave a single silent nod.

“—Hey. Long time no see.”

“…Akagi-san.”

Tanigawa’s face seemed to stiffen, almost creaking under the weight of the moment.

Maybe it was just my imagination.

Either way—

The decisive moment had begun.