Ch. 30 - Presumed Guilty

Trouble is here…

From down the hall, Harutaki spotted her immediately: arms folded, eyes sweeping like a Gestapo officer over every passing student. Nogami Izumi.

His first instinct was to turn and bolt the other way. But with his slightly conspicuous height, he hadn’t even fully turned when her eyes locked onto him.

“Oi, Hoshikawa Harutaki! Stop right there!”

He picked up his pace, pretending not to hear.

“Going deaf, are you?!”

Tap, tap.

Tap, tap.

Indoor shoes squeaked crisply against the plain linoleum floor.

“Don’t run, lil’ bro.”

From behind, a pair of sun-bronzed arms snaked under his armpits and locked around his chest. Firm with muscle, yet still slender with feminine grace.

Oi, Hinata-san—It’s touching me.

Pressed against his back was softness, warm and yielding. Faced with that deadly kind of “persuasion,” Harutaki froze.

“Where are you headed? Home? Shower? Or first—eat. us. up~”

“With that kind of menace, I’d say I’m the one about to get eaten alive.”

Looking at Nogami’s stance, he didn’t need to guess why they’d cornered him.

Still, unless they brought in her family’s influence, there was no way they could pin proof of the rumor-posts on him.

Just to be safe, he’d long since deleted anything that could trace back—save for one backup file hidden on an anonymous cloud drive, made with an anonymous email. If Nogami somehow tracked that down, it would mean her parents had stepped in. And that, in turn, meant the kids’ little “game” was over.

“Why the rush? Guilty conscience?”

Minako smiled, emerald eyes gleaming, but her gaze carried no warmth at all.

Something about her anger chilled him more than Nogami’s fiery wrath. Nogami’s fury was blazing, straightforward, burning hot. Minako’s was the kind that hid a knife behind a smile. Quiet, patient, waiting for the moment to strike. And infinitely scarier.

Were those two really that close now? He couldn’t help but doubt. He’d always thought Minako was his type of person—a little selfish, a little pragmatic. Same breed.

Unlike them, Nogami wasted no time.

She grabbed Harutaki’s collar, yanking him down to her eye level, locking her rose-red gaze with his.

“You bastard! Was it you?! Who gave you the balls to smear me with fake rumors?!”

“You mean that anonymous forum thread?”

Harutaki tilted his head back. Realizing her grip wouldn’t loosen, he stopped resisting and placed his own hand over hers.

Even engulfed in his larger palm, she refused to let go—proof of just how livid she was.

“I read that thread. It’s fake as hell, right? No solid evidence, the photos are blurry… who’d even believe it?”

He spoke with an air of innocent objectivity, sure his performance hadn’t cracked.

But just in case—

“You think playing dumb will—hey! Where are your hands wandering?!”

Feeling the rough graze against her hand, Nogami recoiled as if burned, glaring at him like he was filth.

“They’ve got a mind of their own.” 

I’m so sorry, my left hand.

“…Lying scum. Hand over your phone!”

Her fury was boiling over—but without evidence, she couldn’t corner him yet.

They needed something, anything, to prove he was the prime suspect.

“Got proof I made those posts? You’re presuming guilt, Nogami-san. This country runs on the principle of presumed innocence. No evidence, no right to violate my privacy.”

“Cut the crap, Minako.”

“On it~.”

Lazy drawl, but Minako’s hand was already slipping into his left pants pocket.

Phones were almost always in deeper pant pockets, not coat ones. But—

“What’s wrong, Minako?”

Sae blinked at her friend, who had instantly yanked her hand back like she’d touched fire.

“I… he…”

For once, Minako’s face flushed scarlet. She flung her hand like it was dirty, stammering:

“P-Phone’s not in his left pocket… Sae, hand me one of your wet wipes. Now.”

Too disgusting.

Even through layers of fabric—it was too real.

Even closing her eyes, her mind conjured up the unmistakable outline.

Is this guy even human?

She was sure she’d seen his uniform pants straining, just barely.

“…Not on the right either. Minako, you sure you didn’t just check wrong?”

Confused, Sae reached around from behind to grope the left pocket again.

“Wait—!”

“Minako, what’s the big deal? Just a phone, right?”

One hand still contaminated, the other holding Sae back, Minako could only watch in horror as her friend repeated her mistake—hand plunging into Harutaki’s left pocket.

Yeah. Harutaki had always been a boxers-guy. Briefs were too constricting. And with boxers, well, “adjusting the barrel and holster” was standard practice.

“…”

“Actually, I don’t really use my phone at school.”

A habit carried over from his previous life’s high school days, not yet broken in this freer school.

…Wait, she knew the pocket was empty. So why wasn’t she pulling her hand back?!

Nogami’s face burned crimson, just like Minako’s earlier. But contrary to his expectations, she showed no sign of withdrawing.

“Oi, oi, this isn’t funny anymore!”

The pressure only grew tighter. Shaken by her brazenness, Harutaki quickly yielded:

“My phone—it’s in my backpack’s side pocket!”

“…Huh? Lil’ bro gave in just like that? Izumi, did you pinch his thigh meat or something?”

To test, Sae pinched her own inner thigh hard. Hissing, she shot Harutaki an approving look.

“Damn, lil’ bro. You’ve got one hell of a poker face.”

So blissfully pure… please stay that way.

Minako patted her head like a mother hen, smiling faintly.

Nogami wasn’t in the mood. Snatching the phone, she unlocked it with his face, then started rifling through.

Photos—full of cute girls. Just seeing them sparked a new wave of irritation.

Browser history… e-hentai. Of course. A filthy perv.

iCloud—empty.

Finally, Line—

Pathetic.

Only a handful of friends, barely any chats. She scoffed.

Murai tattled to a teacher? Whatever.

Some Kyoto hick is still texting like an old man? Ugh.

And this—Chiaki?

[Image]

Disgusting… taking pictures like that and sending them to girls just to show off how big he is? Absolutely pathetic! So gross!

“Don’t you dare! You break it, you’re paying me back.”

Nogami had raised the phone to throw it, but Harutaki caught her wrist and snatched it back.

No evidence, so now you’re venting on my phone?

But he’d misread her.

Phone? No, this was a dumpster overflowing with porn-trash.

Realizing she had no way to nail him here, and with students starting to whisper and point as they passed by, Nogami reined herself in. She shot him one last venomous glare, then spun on her heel.

“Sae, Minako. Let’s go. …And you, don’t think you’ve gotten away with this. You’ll regret it.”

“You’ve got it twisted, Nogami. Doesn’t matter if I made that post or not; the one who bullied people first was you. If anyone should be talking about regret, it’s me.”

Harutaki waved them off with a sunny grin. If Minako hadn’t dragged her back, Nogami’s clenched fist would have swung.

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