Chapter 1

This is the first chapter of the *Hitorijime My Hero* manga series.

## Summary

Masahiro brings food for the gang as they talk about the "Bear Killer". When Masahiro returns home, he sees his mother doing things with one of her clients, and he runs away, not wanting to see. When he stops by a park bench, he hears a noise. He discovers Kensuke and a kitten. They take the kitten to Kensuke's house. That's when Kensuke panics, realizing that his brother was going to return home. Kensuke's brother is revealed to be the feared "Bear Killer".

## Characters

* Masahiro Setagawa
* Kensuke Ohshiba
* Sasa (cat)
* Kousuke Ohshiba
* Mitsuru Fukushige

## Plot

### **Chapter 1.1**

Masahiro says he hated all the heroes on TV as a child because they weren't real and no matter how much you needed them, they would never save you.
As he buys something from a store, a thump sounds against the wall. Masahiro apologizes to the annoyed shop owner on their behalf. He hands the gang what they wanted, and they thank him for memorizing what they liked. One member throws him a cigar as a 'reward', but Masahiro knows he will throw it away later. He thinks that it was at least better than at home though.

One of the members talk about a rumored "Bear Killer". He says that the person appeared and beat up half of another gang. The gang member describes the person as someone who wears strange t-shirts, he killed a bear (though the gang disagreed on what type of bear it was), and that he kidnapped people to boil and eat them.

Masahiro shivers and decides to leave. He tells them he is going to the bathroom. As one man reminds him not to forget his club, Masahiro sweatdrops and thinks that their actions didn't match their looks. He thinks about what the gang said, and wistfully thinks that man sounded like a hero.

Later, Masahiro returns. He sees some members lying on the ground. They said that they encountered the Bear Killer, a man with a beauty mark who wore weird t-shirts. Masahiro is partly relieved, but he also doesn't have anywhere to go so he goes back home.

At the apartment, Masahiro sees that the light is on. He opens the door, but slams it abruptly and runs when he sees what his mother is doing with another man. He collapses on a park bench, panting and out of breath. He wants to fit in somewhere, but doesn't know a place.

Then, he hears a sound. Around a bush, he sees a boy about his age. Masahiro remembers that the boy used to be in the same primary school class as him. He comes closer and realizes that Kensuke is leaning over an abandoned kitten. The two introduce themselves, only vaguely remembering each other.

Kensuke says he found the kitten while going to bury his dead pet Beetle.

Masahiro says that giving the cat diluted milk would help. He asks Kensuke if he is going to take the cat home, and Kensuke says yes. As Masahiro is turning to leave, Kensuke pulls his shirt and with wide eyes, calls him a pet expert. He persuades Masahiro to go home with him.

They feed the cat, which makes Kensuke extremely happy. Masahiro thinks that the Ohshiba family is very nice. Suddenly, Kensuke starts to panic. He says that his brother is going to come home at any moment and is going to kill him if he realizes that Kensuke brought a cat home.

Kensuke says that his brother went to organize a Yankee group and was coming home at any moment. Masahiro pales when he hears this. He realizes that the person Kensuke was talking about was the "Bear Killer". Kousuke walks inside with a cigarette in his mouth. He asks about the box and who was talking about him. Kensuke and Masahiro both look at him slowly in fear.

### **Chapter 1.2**

The chapter returns to the present. Kousuke tells the story of meeting Masahiro. He says that Masahiro thought that Kousuke was going to cook him in a hotpot, so Masahiro decided to make dinner in whatever was left in the refrigerator. That's how he became Kousuke's underling.

Kensuke and the rest of the group breaks out laughing. Masahiro defensively says the others would've done the same if they were in the same situation. Shige snorts that he wouldn't have. Masahiro also pipes up that Kensuke was panicking too, but Kensuke only laughs and says he didn't think he would've gotten eaten.

The Class Representative asks why Kousuke attacked delinquents, and Kousuke says that he didn't attack them. He says the delinquents would always attack him first when they called him out. The group silently thinks that they did it because it was either to kill or get killed.

Hasekura fumes and says that after that, Masahiro spent the year getting closer to Kensuke. Masahiro nervously sweats and says that they weren't that close. Haseukra only gets more calmly angry, asking Masahiro about how his school trip was with Kensuke. Kousuke decides to interrupt and say that they were supposed to get along while eating hotpot. He tells Hasekura to stop abusing his Masahiro.

Masahiro suddenly gets embarrassed when he thinks of getting between the two, who he envisions as dogs. He laughs nervously and makes an excuse to leave the table to add some meat to the hotpot. Shige and Class President are confused to why he is embarrassed.

Kensuke says that Masahiro helped him after he got into the fight with Hasekura. He chews on his noodles and tells Hasekura that bullying him was against the rules. Hasekura slowly says he understood. The group sighs as they can finally eat in peace.

Masahiro thinks back to when Kensuke and Hasekura broke their friendship. He reminisces that Kensuke cried for many years because of what happened. It was also rare for Hasekura to come over for hotpot. He was happy for them. Then he thinks of Kousuke briefly.

When they finish eating, Masahiro washes the dishes. his friends tell him that he is knowledgeable and that he sounded like a perfect errand boy. Masahiro doesn't feel complimented. Kousuke tells Masahiro to come over and Masahiro hurriedly goes to where Kousuke is sitting. He asks Masahiro to decide class problems for him.

Then, he asks Masahiro to buy a pack of cigarettes for him. When he hands Masahiro some money, their hands touch and Masahiro's heart skips a beat. Masahiro turns to the rest of the group and asks if they want anything. They tell Masahiro what they want and he leaves.

Kousuke sits down on the coach and pulls out a box of cigarettes, which isn't empty yet. He clenches the box in his hand. Kousuke says to the group that he realizes that Masahiro wasn't old enough to buy cigarettes so he's going to go after him. Kensuke laughs at him and Kousuke throws the crumpled box at his head. Class President says that he could go too to help Masahiro, but Kousuke tells him it won't be necessary. Haseukra just looks at him knowingly.

Kousuke catches up to Masahiro. He asks how Masahiro was doing at home. Masahiro says that he was doing fine because it was his own house. Masahiro says that when he met Kensuke and him, he felt all the scary things fade away.

Kousuke asks him what he thought about Kensuke and Hasekura's relationship. Kousuke asks if he felt jealous.

At home, Hasekura almost beats the highest score on the video game. Kensuke hugs him and Hasekura says he'll stop being mad at Masahiro. He says it's because whatever he does, Masahiro was already...

Kousuke says that it was his mistake for letting Masahiro stay that close to him. Masahiro nervously asks what he means. Kousuke responds by saying that he was sorry but he couldn't return his feelings. Masahiro says that he didn't understand. Kousuke bluntly states that Masahiro always made an expression toward him that screamed "I want you to screw me".

Hasekura finishes his sentence by saying that Masahiro was already very misfortunate.

Masahiro's eyes widen.