Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051597934651646/episodes/2912051599059691701
The after-school bell rang out, and the tension in the classroom eased the moment homeroom ended.
Hirugami Seika was packing up her bag at her desk, wagging her invisible tail so vigorously it seemed it might snap off.
The warm, fuzzy feeling of happiness from having lunch with Houtarou during recess was still smoldering deep within her chest.
Still in a great mood, she took a deep breath, intending to ask Houtarou—who was getting ready to leave at the desk next to hers—to walk home together.
“Achi-kun, let’s go home together—”
“Hirugami-san, can I talk to you for a second?”
Just as she was about to speak, her name was suddenly called from the classroom entrance.
When she turned around, a boy she didn’t know was standing there.
He was a student from the class next door.
Her classmates around her were whispering and casting curious glances her way.
Seika’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment, but she sensed the distinct, unpleasant vibe he was giving off and immediately figured out what was going on.
It was just the same old thing, as usual.
It was a call motivated purely by ulterior motives, aimed solely at Seika’s ample bust and flashy appearance.
If she turned him down coldly right here and now, it would create bad blood, and she’d end up with nasty rumors like, “She acts all high and mighty, but she’ll sleep with anyone.”
Seika exhaled softly as if in resignation and put on a forced smile.
“Sure. What’s up?”
Prompted by the boy, she stood up to leave the classroom.
Just then, a hand reached out from the side and gently tugged at the sleeve of Seika’s blazer.
“What’s wrong?”
When she turned around, Houtarou was looking up at her with calm eyes.
His voice was flat as usual, but there was a faint warmth in it that suggested he was worried.
“Ah, it’s nothing! I’ll be right back!”
Seika hurriedly forced a smile and made her voice sound cheerful.
“You don’t look like nothing’s wrong.”
Houtarou pointed it out quietly, yet sharply.
His straightforward words and kindness made Seika’s chest tighten.
She wanted to lean on him. But she couldn’t drag the boy she loved into a quagmire of trouble filled with ulterior motives.
“I’m really fine! Bye!”
Seika half-forcefully shook off his arm and ran out of the classroom, chasing after the boy.
He led her to the back of the old school building, a place that became deserted after school.
The moment he turned around, the boy flashed a leering, vulgar grin and spoke.
“Go out with me.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t do that kind of thing.”
Seika rejected him immediately and decisively.
At that, the smugness vanished from the boy’s face, replaced by an overtly displeased expression.
“Fine, then. Just let me have s*x with you once. I heard you sleep with anyone, right?”
He strode forward, closing the distance, and pushed her up against the wall.
The boy’s gaze clung lecherously to Seika’s ample breasts, which were straining against her uniform blouse.
A wave of disgust and fear sent shivers down Seika’s spine.
“I wouldn’t do something like that!”
“Liar! You’re really just asking for it! With those huge tits, you’re just teasing guys!”
The boy, now lashing out in anger, reached out to grab Seika’s arm forcefully.
With nowhere to run, Seika squeezed her eyes shut just as she was about to scream.
“What are you doing?”
A languid, bitterly cold voice echoed from behind the old school building.
Startled, she opened her eyes to find Houtarou standing there, his school bag slung over his shoulder.
His calm eyes, betraying no emotion, quietly fixed on the boy.
“T-this has nothing to do with you!”
The boy, annoyed at being interrupted, barked out in frustration.
“It does. We’re classmates.”
Houtarou replied matter-of-factly, stepping slowly between Seika and the boy.
His back stood between them, shielding the trembling Seika.
Perhaps deflated by his overwhelming composure, the boy clicked his tongue and turned away.
“Wait. Apologize.”
Houtarou’s quiet voice pierced the boy’s retreating back.
The boy turned around, looking irritated.
“Huh?”
“It’s not right to say such horrible things to a woman like you just did.”
“Achi-kun!”
Seika instinctively called out his name at Houtarou’s unflinchingly direct words.
However, it seemed that had struck a nerve with the boy.
“Shut up!”
The enraged boy swung his fist with all his might.
He should have had plenty of time to dodge.
Yet Houtarou didn’t back down a single step; he simply accepted the punch without resistance.
A dull thud echoed, and Houtarou’s face was knocked sideways.
His cheek swelled red, and a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
“Kyaa! Achi-kun!”
Seika let out a scream as if she’d been struck herself.
Yet Houtarou, his expression unchanged, turned back to face him and swiftly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his thumb.
“Now I can report this to the teacher. You don’t want this to escalate, do you?”
It was a flat, chilling voice that betrayed not a shred of pain.
Using the undeniable fact that he had been assaulted as a weapon, he calmly intimidated his opponent.
At the sheer, unfathomable eeriness of it all, the boy’s face went pale in an instant.
“D-damn it!”
The boy backed away in fear, then fled the scene like a startled rabbit.
All that remained was the deathly quiet behind the old school building, Houtarou with a swollen cheek, and Seika, standing there in a daze.
“I’m so sorry! It’s all my fault!”
Seika couldn’t hold back any longer; she collapsed into Houtarou’s chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
Tears streamed down her face, soaking his uniform.
If she hadn’t tried to be so strong, she wouldn’t have caused him such pain.
“It’s not your fault. You don’t need to apologize. It’s that guy’s fault.”
Houtarou said this quietly, then gently placed his hand on Seika’s head as she sobbed uncontrollably.
It was a clumsy, yet incredibly gentle touch.
“Besides,”
he paused for a moment before murmuring softly.
“We said we’d help each other, didn’t we?”
It was an extension of the words he’d spoken that day she’d burned herself, when he’d laughed it off, saying it evened out the cost of the curry.
To him, lending each other lunches and throwing himself in front of her to protect her from violence—it was all the same kind of “helping each other.”
Seika’s heart was completely shattered by that overly kind logic.
“Achi-kun… uuuuuuugh.”
Unable to form any words, Seika simply buried her face in his chest and sobbed.
The only boy who didn’t look at her with lecherous eyes.
And the one and only hero who protected her to the end, without fear of getting hurt himself.
Her overwhelming love for him had surpassed all limits, and the innocent gal was falling into a depth from which she could never escape.
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