Chapter 8: Class Stagnation
Walking through the love hotel district, Yuzuha and a man in a suit.
Was that scene real?
If Yuzuha has some circumstances, I want to ask carefully.
Because we’re friends, there must be things Yuzuha doesn’t want to talk about.
While I was worrying about such things, time passed, and I began to think it might be okay to wait until Yuzuha talks to me about it.
A week had passed since the amusement park date, and it was about to be a month since I started dating Hanazono.
I thought words like “anniversary” were urban legends, but our first anniversary was approaching.
With an uplifted feeling, I opened the classroom door.
—Heavy.
Feeling that way, I looked around the classroom.
Unpleasant gazes clung to my body, but they quickly peeled away.
This sensation that reminded me of middle school days—I was painfully familiar with it.
That’s exactly why I understood that I wasn’t the target.
An atmosphere like they were searching for their prey.
When I took my seat, Takeru, who had arrived at school earlier, immediately turned around.
“Yoshiki. Did you know about this?”
“Huh? Know about what?”
I was struck by an ominous premonition from Takeru’s expression.
I quickly glanced at Yuzuha’s seat, but she hadn’t come to school yet.
The gazes of my classmates were somehow flickering toward Yuzuha’s seat.
The fact that Takano and Sudo hadn’t come to school yet today either added to my anxiety.
“Yesterday on Instagram, a throwaway account followed me. Take a look at the posts.”
I looked down at Takeru’s smartphone.
There were several photos of Yuzuha with a middle-aged man in a suit.
[#SugarDaddy #Voyeur #KitaHigh #LoveHotel]
“…What the hell is this!”
I gritted my teeth.
Why was something like this on Instagram?
Takeru explained while scrolling through the screen.
“There’s one photo where Yuzuha is wearing her school uniform, right? They probably identified the school from that and followed a bunch of students with throwaway accounts to notify the students who attend there.”
Looking at it, the throwaway account was following over fifty people. If all of these were students from Kita High…
“Something like this will definitely spread. Who the hell is this person?”
Takeru continued his explanation in a bitter tone.
“I think it’s someone we don’t know. Looking at past posts, they’ve been secretly photographing other people walking in the love hotel district too, so it’s probably some sick fetish. And since they saw Yuzuha in her school uniform once, they’ve probably been following her ever since.”
For someone like me who’s not familiar with SNS, there are multiple reasons why I stay away from it.
One is that there are a certain number of people who do things that don’t seem human.
“Still, sugar daddy activities, huh?”
Takeru, who’s a fan of Yuzuha, sighed.
I let out a deep sigh and spoke up.
“…It’s probably some kind of misunderstanding. If she gets suspended, can whoever runs this account take responsibility?”
“Misunderstanding?”
“Huh?”
When I furrowed my brow, Takeru hurriedly shook his head.
“No, that’s not what I meant. Honestly, just looking at the situation, it’s pretty damning, but if you’re confident about it, Yoshiki, I’d like to know. I don’t want to believe it either—she’s my favorite, you know?”
Confidence.
That’s something I can only get by confirming it with Yuzuha herself.
But how do I confirm it when she might be hurting right now?
“It’s not like they’re linking arms. They’re just walking together.”
“Listen here. The reality is, she’s walking through the love hotel district with middle-aged men. And they’re different guys in each photo.”
Takeru’s counterargument was reasonable.
Still, Yuzuha would never do sugar daddy activities.
I can imagine her talking to middle-aged men without discrimination, but I can’t imagine her receiving money for it.
There’s no concrete evidence.
But I can believe in her. That’s what friendship is.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
“Hey, isn’t Yuzuha in trouble?”
I turned my gaze toward the voice.
The Miyashiro group was excitedly looking at their smartphones.
Minegishi held up his smartphone to Miyashiro and the others, saying with a disgusting smile, “Did she do it with this old man? That’s nasty, but that means we have a chance.”
“I might try asking her. How much do you think it would cost? About five thousand yen?”
“Hey.”
Unable to bear it, I spoke in a low voice.
When Minegishi noticed me, he blinked his eyes and gave a sly laugh.
“Don’t make such a scary face—it’s just a joke, right? Come over here too, Yoshiki. You don’t have Instagram, so you haven’t seen the photos, right?”
Minegishi was inviting me as a friend after all. That came through.
Seeing something in my expression, Miyashiro interjected with words of support.
“Yoshiki was rumored to be her boyfriend because they’re so close, so he must be worried sick. Sorry for getting excited about such a sleazy topic.”
…Miyashiro had walked home with Yuzuha too, hadn’t he? Yet not only did he completely believe the photos, but he wouldn’t even try to defend Yuzuha.
As Hanazono said, was it really just a relationship where he approached her with ulterior motives?
To Miyashiro’s follow-up, Minegishi casually responded.
“Miyashiro, you don’t need to be considerate of Yoshiki—Yoshiki’s fine. He seems to get along well with Takano, Sudo, and Nikaidou too. Let’s have him share Yuzuha with us.”
“…Minegishi, stop talking about Yuzuha that way.”
When I growled in a low voice, I caught Takeru shaking his head worriedly in the corner of my vision.
But I couldn’t look away from Minegishi here.
If I looked away, it would seem like I thought Minegishi had a point.
“Why? Yoshiki, do you actually have possessive feelings toward Yuzuha?”
“It’s not like that.”
“Then it’s fine. To be honest, Yoshiki, you were getting fed up with her too, right? Your responses have been reluctant lately.”
“Fed up?”
When did I…
As I was confused, Takeru whispered to me.
“He’s probably talking about how you avoid it when Yuzuha tries to touch you.”
“That’s not…”
It was true that I sometimes acted that way out of embarrassment.
Recently, there was also the reason that I was dating Hanazono.
I hadn’t thought about how others would perceive that.
No, I hadn’t even considered it.
Minegishi seemed to take my silence as agreement and continued with a laugh.
“Besides, it’s annoying, you know? Always standing in front of the class and summarizing opinions, thinking that being energetic and friendly is good, with such a loud voice. Put yourself in the shoes of someone being organized by a sugar daddy girl.”
The sensation of blood vessels bursting at my temples.
The sensation of blood boiling and my body generating heat.
“She really does seem like she’d let anyone do her—my assessment was spot on.”
My pulsing body was saying it had reached its limit.
What happened to that apology at the pool?
Was he just apologizing because he was worried about Yuzuha’s opinion of him?
Minegishi looked away from me and spoke proudly to his group.
“Well, she is the ‘Sun,’ after all. I was right, wasn’t I? It was worth me giving her that nickname.”
—This guy, not only is he not reflecting, but he’s being so brazen…
Before I knew it, I was standing up.
If I punched him in the face three times or so, would that vulgar mouth shut up?
I closed the distance with Minegishi step by step.
His earlier words echoed in my mind, and my anger increased with each step closer.
Miyashiro noticed the emergency situation, and his smile became strained.
Minegishi still hadn’t noticed.
Of course—with that kind of insensitivity, he could give Yuzuha such a vulgar nickname.
Just as I was about to pounce from the side, it happened.
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