The school was ecstatic as it was announced that Joshua would be returning. The rich crowd, specifically Sakura, were itching to get their hooks into him as soon as humanly possible. They had their chance as the Kiryu limo once again pulled into the parking lot, and the ash-blond tycoon stepped out, flipping his hair as if nothing had happened.

"That will be all, Kariya. You can have the rest of the day to do...whatever you do when you aren't working. Just remember to file your paperwork and draft those players for me, ok?"

The redhead gripped the steering wheel, but played along "Yeah, ok boss."

"Excellent."

Joshua barely got out of the parking lot before the entire student body began their ritualistic flanking, flocking behind him and many people asking if he really felt well enough to be at school. He flashed his grin, picked up his pace, and swaggered to class.

Neku snorted and headed to his homeroom, a wry smile hidden by his collar. The Composer was loving the attention, but even He would get tired of being stifled sooner or later and get uncomfortable. The Proxy could deal with that, relish it actually. There had to be some consequence for the blond worrying his friends like he had, and Neku was satisfied with that result.

Rhyme on the other hand, was not so keen on letting the Composer get to the point of being annoyed. She was not a fool, nor did she have a naive thought that Joshua would tolerate the annoyances for very long. The girl had noticed a change in the blond since he'd been released from the hospital. He was irritable, more vulnerable to lashing out. Something was bugging him, and if he got annoyed too badly...it would prove disastrous. So Rhyme stuck close, watching, making sure he kept his head, waiting for him to snap.

She did not have long to wait.

Joshua was fine with Sakura's ridiculous flirtations, as well as the Sarahara twins playfully swooning over him as he passed them in the halls on the way to his next class. What he was not willing to tolerate, at least not any more, were those people who wanted to test their luck because of his frail physique. He wasn't so petty as to visibly display disdane for physical contact, but he was no longer willing to tolerate being shoved, tripped, or otherwise assaulted by the wealthy heirs of rival families seeking to continue the Jock Squad's legacy. He had made an impact on the student body, and was starting to remember that to maintain his standing meant he had to stay the alpha, as was the case in all facets of his life, businessman, Composer, and now even in his school life, or he would be devoured quickly. If he were to stay in this farce permanently, he must be prepared to live as the tycoon he'd imprinted himself to be, and that meant scoping out his rivals as quickly as possible.

He identified his enemies by their hostile Music, their body language, and by listening to their speech. There were ten major families in Shibuya alone, and at least six of them were represented at this school. The Sarahara clan he ignored, for once the family's representatives had no ill-will towards him. The Shoru family actually had two heirs, Sakura and her brother Tico, but Tico was still in elementary school, and was therefore not a threat. Sakura was romantically aggressive but posed no physical threat, nor was she business-savvy. Her predatory stalking and harassment of Rhyme put her on the top of his watch-list though.

"Hey, Kiryu!"

That would be the voice of 6ft, ebony-haired, tone-muscled heir to the Zintali fortune, Windel.

Joshua remembered not liking Windel. He remembered being harassed by the burly youth when he was 12 and feverish, and the larger boy decided to have a little fun by locking him in a dumpster in 40 degree weather after spraying him with a hose. He was found by the garbage man and rushed to the hospital minutes before a rather painful entry into the Reaper's Game by way of hypothermia and a splitting headache. Needless to say, those menories were forthcoming as soon as his own name reached his ears, followed by mixed emotions that settled on frustration and a slight annoyance as the other teen stalked up with a rather nasty expression on his face.

Rhyme picked up on that annoyance, and made her move as the tall teen aproached the wirey Composer. She slipped her hand in his pale one, preventing him from clenching his fist or, the more likely danger, snapping his fingers. Joshua looked at her from the corner of his eye, but kept his attention on Windel. He was tight, his body rigid and fingers on his other hand twitching slightly, which meant he heard something wrong in the Music and was waiting for the right moment to deal with it. Subtly of course. She squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back, sighing heavily as if bored.

"Windel. I see you haven't changed a bit. Has your father still not surrendered his throne to you? It really is a shame. You are very capable."

Taken by surprise at his intended victim's lack of fear and caught off-guard by the underhanded compliment, Windel stopped midstride. Rhyme's presence was also taken into account, and the burly youth, priding himself as a gentleman, was forced into a battle of words rather than the preferred beatdown he wanted beforehand. So he got toe to toe with the ash-blonde, and cocked his head, his eyes sparkling in rivalry and faux chivalry.

"My father does not think I'm ready is all. Perhaps I should rectify this, Don't you think, Kiryu? I mean, it is the way of the world right? Maybe I should arrange a staff meeting in Udagawa. That oughtta clear things up, open the way for me, right?"

Joshua snorted, shrugging one handed and closed his eyes uncaringly, "You imply so much, though the meeting isn't what should be arranged if your plan was to succeed, or," his eyes narrowed dangerously "If history were to correctly repeat itself in your favor. However, if you truly were to succeed Warren, you'd have little hope of dragging the firm out of the muck he sank it in thanks to his aliance with Stache Renewals. I warned him such a union would sink the company, but he was too proud to take my advice."

Windel seethed, clenching his fists. The two locked each other in a stare-off, Rhyme could literally see sparks coming from Joshua's eyes, shooting forward to be met with Windel's fire from his own orbs. The smirk that followed the fire's exstinguishing was too nasty for actual words. Joshua had once again demonstrated his resolve and had won.

Windel sneered "You're lucky your girl's here, Joshua Kiryu. I may not be a match for your savvy, but I will beat the shit out of your skinny ass any day of the week. Not today though. I'm a man of honor. Men of honor don't drag the innocent into battles that don't involve them."

"How chivalrous." Joshua said, eyes sparking in challenge "I do apreciate that, it shows you at least have a decent amount of class. It seems the apple can fall far after all. However, you and I both know that our battle will never be resolved physically. I'm not so vain that I can't admit, that in a physical altercation you'd be the clear winner. My physique was never ideal for combat. You'd have a clear advantage, and might even kill me accidentally. That would land you in prison and tarnish your family's good name, not to mention rob you of a true victory. No…"

He narrowed his eyes and stepped forward a bit, hand on burly shoulder, his head next to the thug's ear, his voice dropping to a whispering croon, "If you really want me to suffer, it must be on an equal playing field. I can't match your strength, you can't even touch my cunning. I excel in business, and you are the star player in sports and a decent fighter. So what do we do?"

Windel hung his head "I don't know."

Joshua chuckled, patting the shoulder and pulling Rhyme past the puzzled Jock, heading towards his next class. "Well, we seem to be at an impasse then. There is a correct answer, but I'll let you chew on it for a while. Until then, it really looks awkward socially for us to butt heads for no apparent reason."

As the tycoon and the girl disappeared into the building, the jock left outside clenched his fists, then suddenly looked upwards, a slow grin forming as the answer suddenly occurred to him.

"Socially awkward...Socially...Right. Challenge accepted, Joshua Kiryu."