Reincarnated Into a Delinquent Manga… Where the Genders Are Reversed and Everyone’s a Girl - Chapter 55 & 56: A Showdown Three Years in the Making

Chapter 55: A Showdown Three Years in the Making ①

“You’ve got something you’ve been holding against me, don’t you?”

Yayoi cut straight to the point.

The air froze.

Only those of us here knew the truth—that Tanigawa had always felt inferior to her.

I swallowed hard.

“I wonder…”

Tanigawa tilted her head.

Her expression was unreadable—so unlike her usual sharp, biting self.

But of course, Yayoi saw right through her, pressing further:

“Tell me the truth.”

Unable to withstand the pressure, Tanigawa turned her eyes away.

“…The fact you’re even asking means you already know, huh.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ehh, you’re really making me spell it out?”

She scratched her cheek with a crooked grin.

“About how I feel toward Akagi-san. Yeah… I’ve got something.”

“Then go ahead and tell me.”

“…And if I refuse?”

“Then I’ll chase you down until you do.”

“…With you, Akagi-san, I can actually believe that…”

Her sigh echoed in the quiet.

“I mean, Akagi-san and I were pretty close, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And then, back in middle school, you handed me the boss’s seat.”

“Yeah.”

“After that, people started calling me things like ‘clingy tagalong’ or ‘riding her coattails’…”

—Of course, nobody ever said it to my face. But I still heard the whispers behind my back.

Tanigawa gave a little shrug.

Her expression twisted—like she was forcing herself to swallow every bit of anger and sadness.

Yayoi clicked her tongue.

“I wouldn’t hand over the boss’s seat unless you had the strength to back it up.”

“Yeah, I know that. I do understand.”

“Then why the hell are you acting so distant?”

“…Mm, guess it’s just that sense of inferiority, y’know.”

Tanigawa’s expression crumpled.

“Even if I told myself, ‘Akagi-san wouldn’t do something like that,’ hearing people say it nonstop… it still got to me.”

She scratched the back of her head, as if to say: Talking about this face-to-face is just too much.

From where I was, I couldn’t see Yayoi’s expression.

All I saw was her back—but even from that small frame, a crushing aura radiated out.

Impossible to imagine from someone who looked so much like a kid.

If it felt this overwhelming from where I stood… then how must it feel for Tanigawa, right in front of her?

No wonder she froze up, unable to spit out another word.

“…So that’s why you never even greeted me until now?”

“I do feel sorry about that.”

“Figures. Otherwise, there’s no way you’d go two whole years in the same school without facing me once.”

Yayoi let out a sigh.

But who was it aimed at?

Tanigawa herself?

The ones who’d mocked her?

Or maybe…

She drew in a deep breath, lungs filling, and stretched her arms wide.

“—Let’s fight.”

“…Uh, wait. That’s where this conversation was headed?”

“Doesn’t matter where it was headed. We’re doing this.”

The declaration was so blunt it barely made sense.

Even Tanigawa’s face twitched at how sudden it was.

But Yayoi wasn’t about to back down.

“Right now, I’m part of the Takamure faction. My job is to make the boss the head of Shibakata High.”

“Akagi-san… you actually joined up under someone!?”

“Otherwise, I couldn’t show my face in broad daylight, could I?”

Tanigawa’s sharp eyes locked straight onto me.

My chest tightened with guilt, and I quickly looked away.

Instead, I focused on the ground, counting the pebbles scattered there.

If you wanna call me spineless, go ahead.

But unless you can stare Tanigawa in the eyes and stand tall, you’ve got no right to laugh.

That’s how piercing her gaze was.

“And besides, we’ve got witnesses, don’t we?”

“…Huh?”

“When you and I fight, it’s not just about proving who’s stronger. Well, not that it doesn’t matter—but that’s not the point.”

Yayoi flicked her eyes toward me, with a look that said, Sorry ‘bout this.
Then she turned back to face Tanigawa.

“The important thing here is you, Uta Tanigawa. Your strength. What someone sees with their own eyes—nobody can deny that. Anyone who watches you fight won’t be able to call you my tagalong… or anything like that.”

Tanigawa’s eyes widened.

Then she let out a smile.

Her brows knit like she was exasperated, but the grin carried the warmth of someone thinking, You really haven’t changed, huh.

“You’re the same as always.”

“…Hah?”

“Always reaching out to people like that. And when someone points it out, you just turn away and act like you don’t know what they mean. Totally unchanged.”

“I haven’t turned away yet!!”

“Just a matter of time.”

“…”

Yayoi folded her arms, sulking so obviously she didn’t need words.

Tanigawa only narrowed her eyes in silence.

“…Fine. Let’s fight. Since you went out of your way to invite me.”

“Still feels kinda off somehow, but… if you’re up for it, then good enough.”

Yayoi popped a candy into her mouth, then planted her feet wide, standing tall like a statue.

Her whole stance screamed: Come at me from anywhere—you won’t knock me down.

Tanigawa, in contrast, stood completely natural.

No wasted tension, no stiffness—just a loose, fluid presence that pulled every eye toward her.

And judging from the murmurs around us, I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

Before I knew it, a crowd had gathered along the riverside.

Excited voices rose—“What’s going on? A fight?”—buzzing through the air.

Among them, I even spotted a few in Shibakata High uniforms.

If Yayoi’s goal was to prove Tanigawa’s strength to everyone, then this was the perfect stage.

Glancing at the wall of spectators, Tanigawa calmly raised her fists into a fighting stance.

“…Feels like I’ve suddenly become popular.”

“Pretty sure you really are—!”

And with that, the fight began.

A showdown three years in the making.

Chapter 56: A Showdown Three Years in the Making ②

The air roared.

Their fists moved too fast for the eye to follow.

From where I stood, I couldn’t even process what was happening.

Their mouths twisted into feral grins.

They weren’t fighting like people—they were beasts.

Every punch, every kick—driven not by reason, but by raw instinct.

Yayoi’s eyes widened as she laughed.

“Oy, oy, oy! Been way too long since I felt this!”

“You look like you’re enjoying yourself!”

“Damn right! I’m having a blast fighting my cute junior!!”

A sharp front kick.

Tanigawa calmly shifted her body, stepping in close to catch Yayoi’s leg.

“—Oraaa!!”

But Yayoi kicked off with her other foot, launching a strike midair.

Tanigawa couldn’t react in time—the blow slammed into her stomach.

She staggered back several steps, then brushed aside the damp strands of hair clinging to her cheek.

To me, it looked like an even match—

A clash of equals, trading blow for blow.

But to them, it was different.

“…Guess I really can’t win.”

The words slipped quietly from Tanigawa’s lips, heavy with resignation.

It didn’t sound like something she meant to say—just something that leaked out.

Yayoi planted her hands on her hips, lips jutting forward.

“What, you giving up already?”

“I’m not trying to give up. Just… yeah, I know I probably can’t beat you.”

Her face twisted into a crooked smile, brows dipping as she tilted her head slightly—like she was embarrassed at her own honesty.

Yayoi didn’t accept that.

She bit down on her candy, crunched it to pieces, and spat the stick aside.

“When’d you turn into the type to throw up a white flag so quick?”

“White flag… Do I really look like that?”

“Hell yeah, you do. You’re oozin’ gloomy vibes all over the place.”

Yayoi shrugged with this exaggerated, almost Western-style motion—so over the top it was clearly on purpose.

Tanigawa smacked her own cheek.

“—Hmph.”

“…What was that for?”

“Snapping myself out of it. Felt like I was losing focus.”

She rolled her neck in circles.

Then her shoulders.

Then bounced lightly on her feet.

“Fuu…”

When her eyes opened again, light burned in them.

The weariness from before? Completely gone.

Even Yayoi seemed to notice—or maybe, more than anyone, she was the one who could recognize it.

A grin spread across her lips.

“Now that’s nostalgic. That’s the you from three years ago.”

“I didn’t think I’d changed all that much, honestly.”

“Hah, never looked in a mirror? You’ve changed so much you’re practically a different creature. Like a damn caterpillar.”

“Ehh, I don’t like that. At least call me a butterfly or something cute.”

“You? A butterfly? Gimme a break.”

Their banter was light, easy.

The kind of exchange that carried years of history behind it.

Watching it, I finally unclenched the fist I hadn’t even realized I’d been squeezing.

I’d been worried.

That even if the fight ended, an awkward distance might hang between them—

That maybe they’d never go back to how they used to be.

But looking at them now, I knew that fear was nonsense.

Some people say fighting is violent, pointless, something you should never do.

But there are also people who can only connect through fighting.

Clumsy souls who don’t know any other way to speak.

“—Hell yeah!!”

Words weren’t needed anymore.

At the same instant, the two of them lunged forward.

Feet slammed against the ground, teeth clenched, fists swinging.

A kick lashed out—dodged by a hair’s breadth.

Attack, defend, counter.

Over and over, back and forth.

But sooner or later, one of them had to break.

No matter how insane their stamina or skill seemed, they were still human.

And humans have limits.

Normally, neither of them ever showed fatigue.

But against an opponent of equal strength, the wear piled up fast.

Now both of them leaned forward, hands braced on their knees, shoulders heaving.

“Haa… haa…”

“Akagi-san… your punches are lookin’ a little dull, aren’t they…?”

“Shut it… I’m just goin’ easy on you…”

“‘Going easy,’ huh… doesn’t look like you’ve got much room to talk though…”

Even their trash talk had lost its bite.

Sweat dripped thick down their foreheads, and I swallowed hard—

The end was near.

Staggering, Yayoi forced herself upright.

Her eyes locked on Tanigawa.

Step by step, she closed the distance.

Tanigawa braced herself, ready.

The final clash was about to begin.

“—Doraaah!!”

“—Uoooooh!!”

Their fists shot out at the same time, crashing into each other’s cheeks.

And then—silence.

A crushing stillness swallowed the riverside.

Even the sound of the flowing water felt unbearably loud.

My eyelids twitched from the tension.

My heartbeat thundered, my ears burned hot.

At any second, I felt like I might bolt forward.

Who won?

Neither of them moved—

Still frozen in the moment of that final punch.

—Or maybe, they couldn’t move.

“……………ah.”

I swallowed against the suffocating air, where even breathing felt like a crime.

“Damn… guess I can’t do it after all.”

Almost at the exact same moment, Tanigawa crumpled.

Like her strings had been cut.

Yayoi still stood.

Both feet planted firm on the ground.

Which meant—

“…This one’s mine, Uta.”

“Yeah… I lost, Akagi-san.”

Even sprawled on the ground, Tanigawa’s voice came out steady, if trembling.

She narrowed her eyes as if staring at something dazzling.

And right then—like fate itself had been waiting—

A bird soared high above their heads.

The crowd erupted in noise.

Especially Tanigawa’s followers, who broke into chaos.

Couldn’t blame them—

Their leader had just been defeated.

They rushed to her side in a panic.

“W-What should we do, Uta-san!?”

“We’ve got the numbers! Even now, we could crush them if you give the word!”

Tanigawa covered her eyes with both hands.

“…Don’t be pathetic. I lost. And if I lost, then the Tanigawa faction lost. Sorry, but that’s the reality.”

“No, it can’t be—!”

“But Uta-san, you—!”

“There’s no ‘but’ about it.”

Her legs trembled, but still, she forced herself upright.

And in that moment, her presence radiated dignity—the unmistakable aura of a true leader.

“Akagi-san.”

“Yeah?”

“I lost. Do as you please.”

“Then I’ll take you up on that. You guys—join the Takamure faction.”

The words blindsided me.

The swallow I’d been holding caught in my throat, and I nearly choked.

Tears stung my eyes as I looked up at them.

“Eh, whaaat…?”

“Takuma was going on about picking ‘em off one by one, but honestly, having more numbers is always better. If we absorb their whole crew, we weaken the enemy while making ourselves stronger. Two birds with one stone, right?”

“Well… yeah, when you put it like that…”

But would they really agree to that?

Normally, no way in hell.

I shifted my gaze toward Tanigawa.

“………Fine by me.”

After a long silence, she just shook her head, like it was nothing.

“Ehh!?”

“I already lost. Nothing else left to do.”

—Besides, getting to stick by Akagi-san again… honestly, it felt like a wish come true.

Tanigawa scratched her head, almost sheepishly.

“Ehh…”

And just like that, I got a front-row seat to the bizarre ecosystem of delinquents—

Or maybe it was just Tanigawa being weird.

Either way, their fight was over.

Now, the only walls left in my way to becoming boss were the Myougi faction and the Shirane faction.

As I watched Yayoi and Tanigawa clasp hands,

I tightened my own fist with renewed resolve.