After being teased, Nijika merely blinked blankly.
"Why!?"
How had she jumped straight from being a wife to being a mother?
Then she realized that the two of them in the band seemed to have hearts of steel and did not need her comfort at all.
Her words had been wasted on wooden dolls.
Even as she felt exhausted, she could not help feeling a little relieved. It was nice that everyone was so strong.
"Then without further delay, let's start practicing."
"Ooh~"
Ishikawa Hayato's loud shout instantly livened up the atmosphere.
And so, Ishikawa Hayato settled into a life of acting like a pervert at home in the morning, keeping to himself at school at noon, acting like a pervert at STARRY in the afternoon, then going home to study alone.
A week later.
That evening, the Ishikawa family was having dinner.
Looking at his son, whose eyes and brows were brimming with amusement, Ishikawa Jinpei had a bad feeling.
Normally, his son always smiled, but he only smiled this happily when he was about to call himself a pervert or do something perverted.
He had a feeling that someone was about to have a very bad time.
"Hayato, don't do anything illegal."
After saying that, he noticed Hayato's anticipation seemingly burst out from within him. Wearing a huge smile, Hayato pretended to be troubled.
"Eh, what should I do?"
At the dining table, the other three shuddered and simultaneously put down their bowls and chopsticks.
No creature dared to eat in a dangerous situation, and humans were no exception.
Across from Ishikawa Jinpei, Hibiki stiffened her neck and did not even dare turn her head to the side as she silently mouthed the words.
"Call the police!"
They understood their daughter's words from her lips, but her parents sitting opposite Ishikawa Hayato did not dare speak. They could only convey their response with their eyes.
"They can't handle this guy!"
"Don't shove danger onto public servants!"
In the end, the three looked at one another and made a decision.
They pressed their palms together.
Namu.
Though they were fooling around like this, Ishikawa Jinpei actually had great faith in his son and was proud of him.
Back then, when he and his wife had conflicts because their relationship was poor and they lived apart.
It had been their seven-year-old son who lectured them.
Even though he had been lectured by a child barely a few years old, and his own son at that, he somehow did not feel angry.
After all, what Hayato had said back then had been too shocking...
Performance (2)
The next day, Ishikawa Hayato walked into the classroom.
When he saw his desk covered in scribbles, he smiled with immense delight.
He walked over and inspected their careful handiwork: pervert, trash, nerd, die, someone who had no reason to exist.
The students at this school really needed to improve their swearing.
Ishikawa Hayato sighed and shook his head.
Wouldn't calling him a pervert just make him happier?
Still, it was fortunate that he was the one going through this. If it had been an ordinary student, they would probably have felt scared or miserable.
After all...
He glanced around.
No one offered him an explanation. In the whole classroom, everyone looked like an enemy.
There was even some strange liquid on his desk. Could it have been water brought from the bathroom, or glue or something?
Ishikawa Hayato could not be bothered with it.
He had been observing these past few days and already had a rough idea of who had done it and who would do such things.
He lifted the desk with one hand and walked toward his target.
"Bastard, what are you trying to do?"
Seeing that things were not going according to some people's script, someone stepped forward to cause trouble.
As if trying to crush that resistance, Nakamaki Michi strode over with the wind at his back, looking fierce and aggressive.
His reaction immediately made some of the students in the class uneasy, and they watched nervously.
What an idiot.
Controlling his strength, Ishikawa Hayato could not even be bothered to greet him and kicked him.
Bang.
Nakamaki Michi, who only ever bullied boys who did not dare fight back, had no time to react. The kick struck him in the stomach, and the immense force sent him staggering backward before he crashed heavily into the wall.
Though he looked like he had not suffered much impact, he suddenly doubled over. Stomach acid surged up his esophagus, and saliva spilled from his mouth faster than he could cover it.
"Ishikawa!!"
Seeing his companion hurt and his own standing threatened.
Shigeno Ryuu, who belonged to the same club as Nakamaki Michi, also rushed over. However, he did not attack. He merely stopped a few steps in front of Ishikawa Hayato.
He had the sharp, threatening air of someone saying, If you make a move, I'll kill you.
"Alright, alright, we're classmates. Don't fight. Ishikawa, put the desk back."
Kawakami Satoshi stepped out to mediate.
Ishikawa Hayato glanced at him. This guy belonged to the same club as those two.
Kawakami Satoshi spread his arms as though he were urging the two to shake hands and make peace.
But when he approached Ishikawa Hayato, he suddenly reached out and slapped toward the back of Ishikawa Hayato's head.
Ishikawa Hayato had been watching him the whole time, so naturally he did not miss the movement.
What a petty trick. He had seen someone else get bullied like this before, getting slapped on the back of the head by one person after another.
Later, Ishikawa Hayato had asked him how it felt.
He had said his head felt numb and foggy.
Who would have thought people still played this game in high school?
Ishikawa Hayato's free hand struck back hard.
"Uwaaaah!"
Kawakami Satoshi let out a miserable howl, clutched his hand, and rolled around on the floor.
Ishikawa Hayato glanced at Shigeno Ryuu. Shigeno Ryuu pulled back the foot he had just begun to move and stood there blankly.
He was completely stunned.
Finally, he walked up to the person who had scribbled all over his desk. Or rather, the mastermind.
Kuroda Aya... sat in her seat, trembling slightly.
She had clearly been frightened by what Ishikawa Hayato had just done.
"Ishikawa... what do you want?"
"Can we switch desks?"
Ishikawa Hayato asked gently.
But that gentle tone seemed to give her courage, and she suddenly stood up.
"I have no obligation to switch desks with you!"
"But Kuroda left these things behind, so switching should be fine, right?"
Ishikawa Hayato continued in a pleasant tone.
"You brought this on yourself. Trash like you should just die."
Kuroda Aya seemed to think Ishikawa Hayato would not lay a hand on her. She suddenly erupted, pointing at his nose and cursing him like a shrew, as though she wanted to kill him with words.
Ishikawa Hayato got the result he wanted. Then, under her terrified gaze, he picked her up and threw her to the floor.
She hit the ground hard and stared stupidly for quite a while before looking at Ishikawa Hayato in horror.
"I don't go easy on either men or women."
Ishikawa Hayato patted the desk and smiled as he reminded her.
Then he lifted her desk with his other hand and put his own desk back in place. Even the liquid on top did not spill.
"Kuroda, sit properly on your desk later. Otherwise, don't cry if I hit you."
"I've trained. I know how to make hitting hurt."
After leaving those words behind, Ishikawa Hayato carried the desk back to his seat, arranged it in place, then took out some paper and wiped it down with disgust.
By the time Ishikawa Hayato carried his desk back to his seat, Kita Ikuyo had already arrived.
Looking at the scene, she immediately understood what had happened.
So that was... how it was.
She recalled something Seika-manager had asked her when she returned to STARRY on the morning of the day they took photos and was preparing to leave.
"Kita, you're in the same class as Ishikawa, right? What kind of person is he at school?"
Seika-manager, as expressionless as usual, did not show much on her face, but Kita Ikuyo felt that the atmosphere had grown more serious.
Seika-manager really cared about Ijichi-senpai.
She thought about it. Although school had only been in session for a short time, Ishikawa Hayato's various labels were still quite eye-catching.
"He's a student who studies seriously, I suppose. Ishikawa-kun basically doesn't interact with anyone else. Even when people invite him to lunch, he turns them down."
"Eh?"
Hearing their conversation, Nijika, who had also come over to listen, gasped softly in surprise.
"Hayato-kun is that kind of person?"
She had grown used to Ishikawa Hayato messing around and being cheerfully rowdy, so she could not quite process it at first.
"Mm."
Kita Ikuyo nodded in confirmation, but when she noticed Ryo-senpai was also paying attention, she hesitated.
"Um, actually, there's more... My friend found out some things about Ishikawa-kun's past."
"I can't really say whether they're good or bad, and it feels pretty wrong to talk about it behind his back... But since we're all in the same band, it should be okay to mention it..."
Her conflicted gaze wandered. Then, faced with the slightly serious expressions of the three of them, she took a light breath.
"Everyone knows about school bullying, right?"
Before you continue