Reincarnated Into a Delinquent Manga… Where the Genders Are Reversed and Everyone’s a Girl - Chapter 57 & 58: A World Turned Upside Down | The Battle of Sekigahara

Chapter 57: A World Turned Upside Down

The whole reason I started aiming for the boss’s seat in the first place was because I got caught between Minato Myougi and Mikoto Shirane.

If I thought about Fist, then logically, I should’ve supported Minato.

But once I learned about Mikoto—really got to know her—there was no way I could just look the other way.

I could’ve tried to play it safe, act vague and two-faced… but that kind of half-baked crap was way too much of a hassle.

More than that, it felt downright disrespectful to both of them.

So I picked the dumbest, simplest solution possible—

To gun for the boss’s seat myself.

At first, even I thought it was impossible.

But then I pulled Yayoi onto my side.

I fought Tanigawa… and even got her to join us.

And now that things had gone this smoothly,

I was starting to think—

Maybe I really could become boss.

“But still…”

I let out a sigh.

Leaning back against the sofa, I stared up at the ceiling.

The tick-tock of the clock echoed through the classroom.

News of Tanigawa’s loss had spread through Shibakata High faster than light.

As a result, the two factions closest to the boss’s seat—Myougi and Shirane—had grown more cautious.

Specifically, their leaders no longer traveled in small groups.

Which… was really bad news for us.

The only reason we’d managed to take down Tanigawa was because of her history with Yayoi.

If that connection hadn’t existed, then even if we’d won the fight, we would’ve been crushed under sheer numbers.

By some miracle, we’d managed to bring the Tanigawa faction under our wing.

But that was only because Uta Tanigawa herself had decided it.

No doubt some of her followers resented it.

Honestly, that was the natural reaction.

So even though, on paper, the Takamure faction now had enough numbers to rival Myougi or Shirane, the truth was we weren’t a solid unit.

We couldn’t make full use of those numbers.

Which left me stuck.

No moves to make.

No strategy coming to mind.

“Haaaaaah…”

Two weeks had crawled by since the fight with Tanigawa.

Since then, nothing major had happened.

On the surface, life was calm—

On the surface, anyway.

“You’ve been groanin’ nonstop. What’s up, Takuma?”

“Ah… Yayoi…”

Yayoi lifted her head from where she’d been sprawled across the desk.

Drool ran down her chin, her cheeks flushed red.

I held back the urge to point it out—she’d just get embarrassed—so I quickly looked away.

“I was just… worrying.”

“Worryin’, huh? Then how ‘bout I play counselor for ya.”

“Now that’s reassuring. So, what do you think I should do?”

“Nothing.”

A clean cut.

Yayoi answered without a shred of hesitation.

I practically toppled over in shock.

“Nothing…?”

“Exactly what I said. There’s nothin’ you can do.”

“Yeah, but… you could at least sugarcoat it a little…”

She wasn’t wrong.

I wasn’t strong in fights.

I wasn’t particularly smart either.

Oh wow.

When I actually listed it out, I didn’t have a single thing to brag about.

“…”

I buried my face in both hands, wallowing in despair.

All I had was manga knowledge.

I wasn’t special at all.

Yayoi didn’t bother comforting me.

Instead, she chomped through her candy.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I said you got nothin’ to do right now.”

“…Meaning?”

“It’s the waiting period. You already took down Uta. That alone’s a huge achievement. I get that you’re restless, but for now, the only move is to sit tight and wait.”

—Unless… you could somehow get Uta’s old crew to move freely under you.

She added this while popping a fresh candy into her mouth.

“Yeah, but still…”

“Don’t rush it. Well, I guess that’s part of bein’ young.”

“Young? You and I are only two years apart, you know.”

…If you counted my previous life, then technically I was older.

Wait—did that mean I was actually less mature than someone younger than me?

Guess I didn’t have that so-called “adult composure” after all.

Maybe I left it behind when I lost my life…

Or maybe I never had anything that refined to begin with.

Either way, it didn’t change the fact—it was pathetic.

God, I was lame.

Meanwhile, Yayoi sat there cool as ever, sucking on her candy.

Her mannerisms might’ve looked childish, sure.

But the engine inside her was running at a level that put grown adults to shame.

Me? I was just a guy who’d aged a little—already waving the white flag without even putting up a fight.

“Waiting, huh…”

Yeah, she was right.

There really wasn’t anything I could do right now.

If I organized the situation logically, that was the only conclusion.

Reason told me to stay put.

But humans can’t live on reason alone.

I’d declared I was gonna be boss.

So of course, I wanted to act like every second counted—

Like I couldn’t afford to waste a single heartbeat.

It wasn’t just a wish—it was a craving.

Deep in my chest, it burned.

My body twitched like it was being seared by candle flame.

I couldn’t stand just sitting still.

If I could’ve, I would’ve bolted out the door right then and there.

And even though it was reckless, even though I should’ve avoided uncertainty…

Some part of me was hoping for something to happen.

And apparently, the gods weren’t interested in letting things stagnate.

“—Akagi-san!!”

The door slammed open with a bang.

A girl stood there, sweat dripping down her forehead.

I recognized her—she’d once been part of the Akagi faction.

Pushing damp strands of hair from her cheek, she rushed into the classroom in a panic.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s… it’s war!!”

“Warrr?”

“Myougi and Shirane—they’re about to start an all-out war!!”

“…What?”

Things had just taken a sudden, violent turn.

Like someone drowning, swept up in a raging current,

I had no idea what to do—

All I could do was mutter blankly.

Chapter 58: The Battle of Sekigahara

Looking back, it was obvious.

The moment I threw my name in as a candidate for boss, the story of Fist completely collapsed.

But somewhere deep down, I’d been oddly optimistic.

Like—my actions won’t really change the big picture anyway.

Turns out my existence carried way more weight than I thought.

The proof?

A full-blown war between the Myougi faction and the Shirane faction—

A development that never even existed in the manga.

Hell, Mikoto Shirane herself barely even appeared in Fist.

I should’ve realized back then that this alone meant things were already way off-script.

My legs gave out, and I couldn’t even stand.

Trying not to let it show, I forced on a cool face and glanced at Yayoi.

“…What do you think?”

“Cause is obvious. It’s ‘cause Uta fell.”

Her answer was blunt.

“With Myougi, Shirane, and Tanigawa all around, the three-way balance kept things stable. But then we took Uta down. Now the other two factions can’t keep standing where they were.”

—We didn’t have the numbers to measure up to them.

Yayoi ran her fingers through her hair as she said it.

“A bunch of upstarts—yeah, that’s us—snatching the boss’s seat? No way they’d ever let that slide.”

“Still, isn’t this move a little too fast?”

“Nah, if anything, it’s late. Delinquents ain’t like government offices—here, power at the top is absolute. One word from the boss, and the whole crew moves instantly. Honestly, I’m impressed it stayed quiet for two weeks.”

Yayoi crossed her arms and propped her feet on the desk.

Rude as hell—but with her vibe, it didn’t feel out of place at all.

I ignored the ache still lingering in my back and pushed the conversation forward.

“So what do we do?”

“Wait and watch. The pieces are moving, so yeah, we keep our heels lifted, ready to step in. But it’s still too early to make a move. Depending on how it plays out, we might even swoop in and snatch the spoils. For now, patience.”

I hadn’t expected that.

For someone who once held the boss’s seat at Shibakata High, I figured Yayoi would be the type to charge in the second she smelled trouble.

But being with her taught me something different.

She was cautious. Careful.

She waited and waited, measuring the exact moment when the effort would be smallest and the impact the greatest—

And only then would she strike.

In other words, she was a tactician.

A tactician with overwhelming firepower of her own—

The strongest kind of tactician there could be.

“Got it.”

“…Huh. That’s pretty obedient of you.”

“I know I can’t win against you in situations like this. Actually, is there any area where I can beat you, Yayoi?”

“…Your looks, maybe.”

“Okay, so nope. Doesn’t exist.”

I already knew that deep down.

But having it shoved in my face still stung.

With a bitter smile, I finally pushed myself up off the sofa.

Even my flimsy back seemed to have recovered after all this time.

“Well, since Takuma can stand now, let’s get moving. Could be we’ll get hit with a surprise attack.”

“…”

I thought I’d been hiding my weakness pretty well, but clearly Yayoi had seen right through me.

She rose smoothly to her feet, brimming with confidence.

Meanwhile, I honestly just wanted to sit back down.

Hell, I wanted to cover my face and retire from life right there.

“…………”

Yeah… so this was what it meant to want to disappear.

◇

A week passed after that.

Shibakata High was drowning in chaos, fights breaking out everywhere you looked.

With the two major factions clashing head-on for control of the school, scenes like this were inevitable.

As for us—we were lying low, like cicadas underground, waiting for the right moment to crawl out.

“Looks like the Myougi faction and the Shirane faction are about the same in strength. So it’s turning into a total stalemate.”

Akira whispered beside me.

Her face was mostly hidden behind her bangs, but the one visible eye shone brightly, brimming with determination.

I clenched the cigarette I’d recently gotten used to smoking without coughing, and blew the smoke away from her direction.

“Yeah, that’s what I figured too.”

“You noticed as well, Takuma?”

“Hard not to. At Shibakata, all you hear is, ‘Nobody knows who’s gonna win, Which side do I join to back the winning horse?’ Stuff like that.”

It was just like the Battle of Sekigahara.

Nobody knew which way the tide would turn.

Everyone was weighing their options, deciding where they could get the biggest payoff.

Even delinquents were no different.

“Takuma, nobody’s dumb enough to back you and rise up with you?”

“Of course not. I’m too much of a long shot.”

“But if you pulled it off, the odds would be insane.”

“Yeah, and a losing ticket’s just scrap paper.”

No gambler in their right mind would ever bet on me.

And if someone did, they’d either be a bored rich kid chasing thrills, or a poor soul with nothing left to lose.

That was the reality of my reputation.

Pretty much worthless.

Which was why I could still show up to school like normal—

Meanwhile, Minato Myougi and Mikoto Shirane, the two current top dogs, hadn’t even been attending lately.

I also wasn’t getting jumped on my way to class.

…Though let’s be real, a lot of that probably had to do with Yayoi watching my back.

“But you’re still acting like you’re dead set on winning, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am. Nobody fights expecting to lose.”

Yeah. I fully intended to win.

Didn’t matter what anyone thought of me.

In the end, the one left standing was the winner. That was all there was to it.

I stylishly snuffed out my cigarette.

“…Akira, you got an ashtray on you? I forgot mine.”

“…Hah~~~~~.”