Unfortunately, Japanese law treats indecency offenses very leniently.
The reason was that indecency cases had occurred far too frequently in Japan in the past.
Japan's police force simply couldn't handle so many cases according to strict standards, resulting in many cases going completely unaddressed.
Because of this, Japan had adopted an evidence-gathering approach of "assuming guilt in cases of doubt" for indecency offenses.
The person reporting the crime only needed to prove that something "might have happened." Certainty wasn't required.
As for the accused, if they couldn't prove that it was "impossible," they would be convicted.
Japanese law imposed extremely severe punishments for indecency offenses.
Once the punishment was carried out, even the lightest penalty meant a fine so exorbitant that an ordinary family would struggle to breathe, on top of social death!
No matter what school it was, the punishment for molesting a female classmate was still extremely severe.
If the circumstances were relatively minor, then for an underage high school student, with education as the priority, the school might help cover things up somewhat in their records and give them a chance to start over.
But after that, there was still a very high chance that they would receive one of the most severe punishments the school could impose—expulsion!
In serious cases, they might even be sent off to prison.
Bai Lan knew this was a "dropout trick," but something like this could very well cause enormous harm to a woman. He couldn't bring himself to do such a thing just to drop out. It would leave him feeling unsettled.
So he could only rely on an accidental misunderstanding and someone else's false accusation!
If he happened to encounter something like that, it would simply be "a gift from nature."
Now the accident had come, and the framing was in place!
In this situation, once Bai Lan was framed and unable to prove his innocence... Well, he didn't want to prove it in the first place.
Then there was a very high chance that he would be expelled.
However, the other party didn't seem to intend to report him directly at present. Instead, she planned to use this to coerce him into keeping quiet and doing things for her?
But it didn't matter!
All Bai Lan had to do next was show his determination to resist to the death.
Once the other party realized that keeping him quiet was ineffective, she would have to report him to make him shut up, causing the school to expel him...
That way, Bai Lan could be expelled very soon!
Although the reputation of "being expelled for molesting a female classmate" wasn't very pleasant, he had plenty of ways to resolve the problem in the future.
The simplest one would be something like Invincible Luck.
So.
Expulsion was right before his eyes!
Bai Lan was wildly delighted inside. Who would've thought I'd run into something this good?
Bai Lan forcibly suppressed the urge welling up inside him to burst into loud laughter.
He was afraid the other party would change her mind, so he couldn't help asking for confirmation: "Are you sure?"
Kushida nodded, baring her teeth as she said viciously, "That's right! I'm serious!"
After receiving her confirmation, Bai Lan raised his empty right hand and pointed one finger at her.
"It's a deal!"
After saying that, he ignored Kushida, turned around, and strode away.
After walking a few steps, he raised his fist and waved it at the sky, shouting,
"Let me make this clear first: I won't submit!"
That left Kushida with a head full of question marks.
Kushida: "Huh?"
"Wait! Explain yourself!" Kushida hurried after him.
Bai Lan quickened his pace, and in the blink of an eye, he had left Kushida dozens of meters behind.
Bai Lan soon returned to the classroom.
Quite some time later, Kushida finally entered the classroom at an ordinary walking pace.
Clearly, after seeing Bai Lan leave her far behind, she had quickly given up on catching him. She had walked normally for most of the remaining distance.
When she returned to the classroom and appeared before everyone, Kushida had already recovered her gentle and adorable little angel persona.
However, only Bai Lan knew that this little angel, who looked fair and tender on the outside, was actually black inside once cut open.
There was still nearly half an hour before class.
With nothing to do, Bai Lan decided to take a nap.
Bai Lan had only been lying down for a short while when he was awakened by the sound of an announcement.
"Starting at five this afternoon, a club briefing will be held in Gymnasium One. Students interested in clubs, please gather at Gymnasium One. I repeat, today..."
After the announcement ended, Bai Lan rested his head on his arms and prepared to continue sleeping.
At that moment, Bai Lan noticed that Ayanokoji, who was sitting in front of him, suddenly turned around.
"Ordinary Teacher, I'd like to ask you something."
Bai Lan ignored him completely.
"Ordinary Teacher?"
"Ordinary..."
Without raising his head, Bai Lan said, "There isn't anyone here by that name!"
"Then..." Ayanokoji said, "Bai? Bai, Bai..."
Bai Lan was getting annoyed. He lifted his head slightly from his arms, rested his chin on them, and replied, "Do you want to fight?"
Ayanokoji ignored Bai Lan's violent declaration. Seeing that Bai Lan had responded, he simply continued asking, "Bai, should an 'ordinary' high school student be interested in clubs?"
Bai Lan looked completely listless, but he still answered, "Should an ordinary high school student be interested in clubs? Depends on their mood~ Rather than being interested in 'clubs,' they're interested in their 'interests.'"
"Interested in 'interests'? That sounds a little convoluted. I don't understand. Could you enlighten me? Ordinary... Teacher Bai?" Under Bai Lan's threatening gaze, Ayanokoji changed the form of address and spoke with an expression that seemed to be asking for guidance.
Not far away, Hirata happened to notice this scene. A motherly smile appeared on his face as he said softly, "Aren't they getting along pretty well?"
In Hirata's eyes, the two got along harmoniously, looking just like friends joking around with each other.
However, Bai Lan knew very well that there was no affection between them at all!
The Heartless One and the Snake-Player
Under normal circumstances, Bai Lan was unwilling to communicate frequently with his classmates, lest he develop friendships.
But Ayanokoji was somewhat different. Bai Lan felt that the two of them wouldn't become friends.
That was because Bai Lan had discovered that Ayanokoji was extremely indifferent toward emotions.
No matter how Bai Lan provoked him, he acted as though he didn't care, directly ignoring the influence of emotions. He only thought about extracting useful information from Bai Lan's words.
For that reason, he had even set aside all dignity and asked Bai Lan for more of the information he needed after Bai Lan had just toyed with and humiliated him.
Bai Lan felt that someone like Ayanokoji probably wouldn't feel much sadness even if a person he was close to, or even someone who had done him a great favor, died.
At most, he would regret that his life had lost something "very convenient," making his future survival somewhat more difficult.
Bai Lan was a person who valued "fairness."
If he received something from someone else, he would inevitably try every possible way to return the favor. He didn't like owing anyone anything.
That included emotions.
Since he knew Ayanokoji wouldn't develop feelings, Bai Lan wouldn't return feelings to someone without them either.
Without feelings, he wouldn't have to worry about feeling sad when they parted or anything like that.
That way, he could interact with Ayanokoji without worry.
Bai Lan also yearned to communicate with people. It was just that suitable conversation partners were difficult to find.
Ayanokoji was a pretty good conversation tool.
Although Bai Lan felt that Ayanokoji was dangerous,
he could just treat it as "playing with a snake."
In Bai Lan's eyes, Ayanokoji was a venomous snake that looked extremely lazy under the sunlight but was actually very dangerous.
Playing with him gave Bai Lan the thrilling sensation that he wasn't in a school, but in a dangerous wilderness.
It was extremely exciting.
Just as Bai Lan treated Ayanokoji as a conversation tool to alleviate his boredom, Ayanokoji also wanted to obtain useful things from Bai Lan.
Bai Lan was always throwing out information that was very useful to Ayanokoji.
Besides that, he could use Bai Lan, who appeared to be the most abnormal person in the class, to conceal his own abnormality. Around Bai Lan, he felt that he would be made to seem ordinary by comparison.
"Communication disorder" was one major result, for example.
So there were no feelings between them. There was only each taking what they needed and using each other...
Bai Lan answered Ayanokoji's question:
"A club is just a group of students with similar desires gathering together to form an influential force, then asking the school for resources and using public funds to satisfy their desires... Of course, those desires have to be legal first."
"Do 'normal people' all have desires?"
"Yes."
"According to that, should I also join a club to express my desires?"
"Do whatever you want. But not wanting to participate in group activities is itself a desire."
Before you continue