Ch. 13 - Hoshikawa Harutaki’s Weakness

How do you control someone who has no weakness, no leverage against them?

The question sounds tricky, but the answer is brutally simple—

You just create one.

That was exactly what Nogami was thinking.

“Sae, let him touch your chest.”

“O—okay… eh? Izumi, what did you just say?!”

Sae answered reflexively, then froze mid-step like a robot stuck in a glitch. Her head snapped towards her friend, eyes wide.

“T-t-touching… my chest? What do you even mean…?”

“This Hoshikawa guy thinks he’s untouchable because we don’t have anything on him, right? Fine. Then we’ll make a photo into our leverage.”

Pulling out her phone, Nogami unlocked the camera with a practiced flick, urging her friend forward.

“Just a forced-perspective shot is enough. Hurry before he slips away.”

“But… but I…”

Sae’s eyes darted between Harutaki and her serious-faced friend, her tanned cheeks flushing red.

“C-couldn’t Minako do it instead? Or you yourself, Izumi? It’d be even more effective if—”

“Idiot. Didn’t you hear him earlier?” Nogami shot an impatient glance at Minako’s chest.

“That pervert likes Minako’s big boobs. Why would I give him what he wants? And besides—”

She crossed her arms and gave them a firm lift. “Mine aren’t exactly small either. That leaves only you, Sae.”

“Ahh, thank goodness for Sae,” Minako said airily, feigning innocence.

“Don’t make it sound like I’m some kind of blessing, dammit!” Sae snapped. Scrambling for excuses, she blurted out, “B-besides, having big boobs is a nuisance anyway. Swimming, sports—it’s all just a handicap!”

“So please, Sae. Don’t let him get even a whiff of the real thing. I’ll take you to Omotesandō after school. Pierre Hermé’s Ispahan. Eat as much as you want.”

“Eh, I want some too…” Minako muttered, suddenly craving sugar despite her recent diet.

“If I treat you, Sanada-san, do I get to touch yours as well?” Harutaki cut in.

…They were openly plotting his downfall right in front of him. Subtlety much?

Still, he wasn’t too bothered. In fact, this was perfect. He’d been thinking he needed to give Nogami some harmless “dirt” anyway, to dull her appetite for constantly targeting him.

Quietly, he opened the recording app on his phone, tapped the red circle, and left it face-down on the desk.

So what if he got labeled a “scumbag”? If Nogami ever got reckless enough to use her fake dirt, he’d have countermeasures.

Besides… wasn’t “handsome playboy” a pretty fitting reputation?

The only tricky part would be explaining things when he finally confessed to Shihou. Ah well. Easy fix: blame it all on Nogami.

“Hear that, Izumi? He’s trying to bribe us into splitting up,” Minako whined with a pout. “One Ispahan and one Mont Blanc, and I’m your most loyal ally, promise.”

“You’ll just get fat like Tazaki if you keep eating like that.”

Poor Akihisa, who thought he’d become invisible by now, flinched as Nogami’s barb cut into him like a knife.

“Hehe, it’s fine. I eat what I want. And besides, my fat only goes where it’s supposed to.” Minako’s giggle and the bounce of her generous curves nearly popped a vein on Nogami’s forehead.

Nogami had always known Minako could be infuriatingly flirty, but never this bad. Clearly, it was all Hoshikawa’s fault.

“Sae, hurry up. Lunch break’s almost over.”

She slipped her arm out from her friend’s smothering softness and urged Sae again, trying not to imagine squeezing Minako’s chest herself.

The damned big-breasted girl…

Knowing she couldn’t refuse, Sae sighed and shuffled forward timidly until she stood before Harutaki.

“M-my first time, and it’s for this? Please, mister, don’t move, okay?”

She took his arm, pulled his hand, and carefully pressed it against the air beside her chest.

“See? Forced perspective. Don’t make it sound like the real thing.”

In truth, Sae’s figure wasn’t bad at all. She just wore sports bras most of the time, so next to her friends’ impossible curves, she seemed plain.

Even so, standing close enough to lean down, Harutaki could sense the subtle firmness beneath the surface—just right for a healthy, athletic girl.

“Hey… I said don’t move!”

“As the ‘victim,’ shouldn’t I at least struggle a little? For appearances?”

Getting a firsthand look at Sae’s sporty charm, Harutaki couldn’t help but note how oddly distant the trio’s dynamics felt. Especially Minako, who seemed less obedient to Nogami than Sae was, despite appearances.

And now? The shot was already done, yet Sae was still kneading his arm like she was enjoying it. Who was blackmailing whom here?

“Whoa… so soft and wiry at the same time. You work out, don’t you, handsome? Bet you jerk off a lot too?” Sae teased shamelessly.

“Sae! How much longer are you planning to hang on to him?!”

Nogami’s temper snapped at her friend’s dirty joke, and when she saw them still entangled, she stormed over, slapping their hands apart.

“Disgusting. Filthy. Go die, scumbag.”

Biting her lip, Izumi took a deep breath, then shoved her phone screen toward Harutaki, the incriminating shot on display.

“From now on, you’ll do as you’re told, trash.”

“…One photo isn’t much. How about I give you some more leverage, Nogami-san?”

“Pathetic. So desperate you’ve given up already? Don’t worry. I’ll make sure this toy lasts at least a little while.”

She tilted her chin, lips curling in a catlike smirk, her crimson side ponytail swaying proudly. Arrogant and adorable all at once, she exuded the irresistible charm of a high-bred cat.

Harutaki only shrugged, unruffled.

“You’re judging me without knowing who Hoshikawa Harutaki really is.”

“Giving up? Hah. I simply like the softness of cute girls’ chests!”

“Right, Tazaki?” he called suddenly, glancing toward the boy curled up at his desk.

“E-eh!?”

“Three-dimensional girls are the best!”

“Tch. Figures. Of course you’d side with Tazaki. You’re just as gross, just as pathetic—a creepy otaku hiding behind a pretty face.”

Nogami recoiled in disgust, like she’d spotted a filthy bug.

“Dress up all you want, you can’t hide your rotten core.”

“You’re wrong, Nogami-san. I’m simply showing you—” Harutaki’s smile sharpened.

“—what real education looks like.”

Harutaki shook his head, pointed straight at Nogami, and turned to Akihisa:

“Do you want to change? Do you want to know just how amazing a real girl’s chest is?! The softness, the elasticity, the countless shapes they form—don’t you want to feel their size and weight with your own hands?!”

“I… I do! I want it so badly! Please, no—Harutaki-sama, God among men, please teach me your ways!”

Akihisa slid out of his chair and collapsed to the floor in a full dogeza bow, forehead to the ground.

A fellow gloomy otaku like him, transformed over a single break into a sparkling normie, targeted by Nogami and her clique, yet standing tall against them, even managing to walk away with an “event CG” where he actually touched a beautiful girl’s skin…

If that wasn’t divine, what was?

“Then start by changing yourself. No one will ever like a pig—fat, greasy, with a brain rotting with pervy thoughts, wasting away as a worthless creep.”

“Ugh… Harsh! That’s worse than anything Nogami-san ever said…”

Clutching his chest, Akihisa winced as if stabbed repeatedly.

“Or maybe that’s just angina from clogged arteries. Too much fat in your blood vessels.”

“Ghh—!”

“If you really want to change, then make a firm resolve, Tazaki.”

“You’re right, Harutaki-sama.”

“Then shout it. Like you’re swearing to the heavens. Like you’re bidding farewell to your old self. Like a wild boar charging a tree stump. Shout it with your whole soul.”

Harutaki urged him with fiery conviction.

“Shout out your dream, Tazaki.”

“I… I want… I want to touch a girl’s chest.”

“Louder! Did you skip lunch?!”

“I want to squeeze a real girl’s boobs! I want to breathe in the fragrance of a real-life beauty!”

“Use the power of your virginity! Use the curses of your gloomy soul! Louder!”

“I want to become a normie—a normie that cute girls will fall in love with!!!”

If Akihisa could throw away his dignity this thoroughly, Nogami and her friends would have a much harder time using him as their toy.

And besides—

No girl would ever want to approach him after this, right? …Right?!

Casting a glance at the three girls, their expressions cracking as they struggled not to laugh, Harutaki gave a satisfied nod.

“Good. That’s the spirit.”

“…Though sadly, with your specs, there’s no way you’ll ever land a girlfriend as beautiful as mine.”

“Eh—what?”

Akihisa lifted his head, stunned.

“That’s why it’s called a ‘dream,’ Tazaki. It’s not supposed to come true. I only asked for your dream, not a guarantee. At best, I can give you a little push, that’s all.”

“…You’re the hidden Demon Lord at the end of the game, aren’t you, Harutaki?”

“No idea what nonsense you’re spouting. But at least, you’re clearly better off now than before.” Harutaki pointed toward Nogami. “See? Her eyes don’t look at you like you’re some worthless toy anymore. Now she looks at you like you’re nuclear waste.”

Catching his gaze, Nogami instantly dropped her smile, her voice dripping with scorn.

“You don’t seriously think that putting on a comedy act with this pig will make me forgive your rudeness, do you?”

“But you’ve piqued my interest even more now. Ahh, I can’t wait to see your face when I’ve got you groveling at my feet, wagging your tail like a dog, only to be kicked aside. That look of despair and hatred…”

Her twisted grin, sharp and unhinged, made everyone’s skin crawl.

…

After saying goodbye to Sae, and once she, Nogami, and Minako had left, Harutaki glanced at Akihisa slumped over his desk, staring blankly into nothingness as if life itself had lost meaning. Harutaki sighed and gave his broad back a few pats.

“Cheer up. Compared to before, Nogami and her friends seem a lot more interested in messing with me than with you. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“…Y-yeah, I guess…”

Akihisa’s eyes lit up again. Realizing his odds of being bullied had gone down, he perked right up.

“Meanwhile, I’m stuck with the loss here.”

“P-please, Kami-sama, accept this humble offering…”

Hands trembling, Akihisa presented three crisp bills.

This idiot actually thought the comment was a demand for payment.

Harutaki waved it off with a wry smile.

“You think I went through all this trouble for money? I’m not Nogami. And what am I, a shrine offering box? You don’t just drop in five yen. If you want serious wishes granted, you’ll need at least a hundred thousand.”

“If… if Kami-sama has any requests, I will gladly obey!”

Seeing Akihisa’s earnest expression, Harutaki thought for a moment and realized he did have a request.

After all, thanks to his shopping spree in Harajuku yesterday, he was still short of repaying his sister Ayaka. And he still had more essentials to buy.

One outfit wasn’t enough.

One pair of shoes couldn’t last forever.

One set of accessories screamed cheap and boring.

He’d even set his sights on a JanSport shoulder bag to replace his faded old gym backpack.

And of course, in social situations, even in this AA-splitting era, treating others and paying for things was unavoidable.

The problem was, Harutaki wasn’t an adult with a salary. And he had zero interest in wasting his time at some part-time convenience store job.

So what he needed now was a quick infusion of cash.

That’s why he asked Akihisa about the resale value of his room full of otaku goods.

“You—you’re gonna sell your limited editions? Your first-press novels with bonus extras too?!”

Akihisa gawked at him like he’d gone mad, face full of grief and betrayal.

“I’m tight on cash. I’ve gone through those old things enough times already. I’ll leave it to you to handle the resale. Okay?”

“B-but those treasures you showed me before… If you sell them, people will go crazy bidding for them, sure, but… but are you really okay with that?”

Remembering the way Harutaki used to proudly display those items like family heirlooms, Akihisa could hardly believe his change.

Should he… sell his own collection too? Say goodbye to his old self, once and for all…?

He shook his head violently, banishing the thought. No way. Sell his wives? Impossible!

Just because he liked 3D girls now didn’t mean he’d abandon his 2D ones!

“It’s settled then. I’ll send the stuff to your house by courier.”

Seeing Akihisa still dazed, Harutaki raised his voice to drive it home.

“Don’t worry. I’ll handle it. I’ll make sure to sell off Kami-sama’s wives—er, I mean, your precious collection—properly.”

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