Lightning crackled and thunder boomed as the rain continued to pelt down hard on us.

"My best friend!"

Takayuki, struggling to breathe, started to cough viciously while in my arms.

"M-Mikitaka-san..."

Cuts and grazes were all over his hands and face.

"Don't worry! I'll get help for you! Stay with me for a little bit longer!"

"N-no... leave me behind... you should... go on..."

Takayuki coughed again as he struggled to talk.

"There's no point in goin' ahead... if it's wizout ya!"

"But... you have to... this is your big chance... to meet... your... he... ro..."

"Oi... my best friend... Takayuki-san! Takayuki-san! TAKAYUKIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

I screamed as Takayuki passed out in my arms.

"I swear... I'll save you!"

Just as I was about to put Takayuki on my back so I could carry him home, a shadow emerged from the fog of mist that had formed from the unrelenting storm.

"Who are ya?! Stay back! I'm the great villain Takenaka Mikitaka! If ya know what's good for yer, show yerself!"

I started shouting wildly at the shadow as it drew closer to me and Takayuki, its hand reaching out ominously.

"I'm not jokin'! Don't come any closer or else! I'll kick yer ass if I hafta!"

My pompadour drooped as the rain washed away my hair gel, obscuring my vision. For the safety of my best friend, I started to back away from the shadow.

"Need a doctor?"

Eventually, the shadow spoke. Then, it cut through the mist with its outstretched hand. Just as I was about to say no and leg it, I remembered that Takayuki was passed out on my back.

"Actually... yea, I kinda do."

"I came at the right time... Takenaka-san."

My eyes widened as the shadow revealed itself to me.

It was my hero...

"M-Mikazuchi Kaido-sama?!"

Standing besides him was his personal chef and best friend, Onibitenbu Sakate, holding an umbrella over the two of them to protect them from the rain.

"W-what are ya doin' here?!"

"I got bored of waiting for you and decided to track you down myself. Seems like I came at a good time."

"Y-yes! Please help me, my best friend passed out suddenly!"

"Sure thing."

"I can't believe you're actually doing this, Kaido!" Onibitenbu interjected.

"Shut up and help these two onto the yacht, Sakate."

"Hai..."

Onibitenbu handed the umbrella over to Mikazuchi-sama and offered a hand.

"I'll carry Nora-san onto the yacht. You hop on and get yourself dry."

I nodded and passed out Takayuki into Onibitenbu's reliable hands. Then, I ran onto the yacht to escape the pouring rain.

"I can't believe it... I really am on Mikazuchi-sama's personal yacht...!"

My inner fanboy was going crazy right now as I stood in the middle of the yacht, but I knew I had to control myself. After all, in order to play the role of great villain to the legendary hero Mikazuchi-sama, I needed to be levelheaded.

If I acted with no restraint and let my excitement get the better of me, there was a high chance I'd break character and reveal to him how I really was, which would be very bad.

However, before I could even fight Mikazuchi-sama, I had a more pressing matter to attend to. It was Takayuki's current condition.

Right now, Takayuki was laying in bed with an ice pack sitting on top of his bright red face to cool him down.

"How's he, doc?"

Mikazuchi-sama was examining Takayuki, using a stethoscope to listen to his heartbeat.

"He's resting right now."

I breathed a sigh of relief, since Takayuki wasn't dead. Mikazuchi-sama popped a thermometer into Takayuki's mouth and nodded.

"I see. Nora-san has caught a fever, probably from the rain."

"Oh no... will he be okay?!"

"Yeah. I've given him some paracetamol, that should help calm things down."

"Thank god... my best friend, yer gonna be alright!"

Takayuki coughed a little as I slapped his chest gently.

"Damn though... I was lookin' forward to fightin' ya with Takayuki-san by my side..."

The reason why me and Takayuki went out today was because we had been invited onto Mikazuchi-sama's yacht to cardfight him. However, on the way there, it started to rain heavily, which is how we ended up in this situation right now.

"Do you want to postpone the fight until Nora-san's health recovers, then?"

Just as I was about to recklessly say "yes" without a second thought, Takayuki weakly called out to me with a cough.

"Mikitaka-san..."

"Yes, my best friend?!"

"Before you do... anything..."

Takayuki coughed again, turning his head to me.

"Oi, don't push yerself too hard, ya hear?! Save yer breath."

I wanted him to get better, but Takayuki pushed on regardless.

"I wanted to say... fight him."

"Huh?! But we promised we'd do it together, Takayuki-san! There ain't no way I'm fightin' Mikazuchi-sama wizout ya!"

"I'll be there... but from the sidelines... supporting you. That's why... you should fight."

My best friend's smile filled me with power as I started to cry manly tears.

"Takayuki-san..."

I wiped my tears, slicked back my pompadour, and put on a menacing grin.

"Aight... I've decided."

Mikazuchi-sama crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"For the sake of my best friend, Nora Takayuki... me, the delinquent of delinquents and great villain, Takenaka Mikitaka—!"

I pointed a finger at him dramatically.

"—is gonna crush ya, the legendary hero of GEN Academy, Mikazuchi-sama!"

Mikazuchi-sama stepped forward with an accosting smile.

"Hero of GEN Academy? Please."

He slammed his deck down and looked at me with the eyes of a man in his absolute prime.

"I'm the God of GEN Academy. Get your facts right, Takenaka."

"M-Mikazuchi-sama..."

I was in complete awe of his full bodied confidence. He shuffled his deck and drew five cards, choosing to mulligan none back.

"Feel free to call me Kaido, by the way."

"...!"

When he gave me permission to call him by his given name, I screamed it at the top of my lungs joyously.

"KAIDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-SAMA!"

With this burning passion now injected in my chest from saying my hero's name out loud for the first time, I took out my deck and shuffled it furiously.

"Kaido-sama, ya can use my first name too ifcha want!"

"Very well then, Mikitaka-san."

Oh my god, he said my name!

I think today might be the best day of my life, no cap.

Just like Kaido-sama, I slammed down my deck on the table and drew five cards.

"G-good luck, Mikitaka-san!"

Takayuki was cheering for me on the sidelines while eating some chicken noodle soup Onibitenbu had prepared for him.

"Go get him, Kaido!"

"You can do it!"

"Beat that punk's ass straight into tomorrow!"

On the flip side, Kaido-sama's crew - his girlfriend Emma, her twin Strelzia, and Onibitenbu - were all cheering for him.

"Are you ready?" Kaido-sama asked.

"Let's do it!" I exclaimed.

"Stand up, Vanguard!"

Kaido-sama beat me in the end, just like I had hoped.

And with that, there's more reason to keep up this act as a delinquent anymore. I got what I came here for.

From now on, at the rest of my time at this school, I'll focus everything I have into one day reaching A Class together with my best friend.