Kitahara Ayano Helps Shimaura Hitomi Commit a Crime

As Shimaura Hitomi stared at Kiyoharu's body, searching for an opening, time suddenly froze.

Ah, here it came again.

Kiyoharu rolled his eyes. Unfortunately, he had been looking at his phone to handle work, so his field of view was limited. He could only see the area around his feet and nothing else nearby.

The narrow view made Kiyoharu slightly anxious. Even though he had grown used to Ayano's unpredictable sneak attacks, it still irritated him.

Fortunately, the screeching creak of the door leading into this quiet rooftop area was clearly audible when it opened.

A pair of slender legs wrapped in white stockings, wearing wedge heels, stepped before Kiyoharu.

More precisely, before Kiyoharu and Shimaura Hitomi.

Ayano had even prepared a tall stool. She neatly sat on it with her legs together and spread her drawing board across her lap.

"What a perfect composition... Kiyoharu-kun's focused expression, and little Hitomi's restless look as she harbors ill intentions."

What had Shimaura Hitomi ever done to her?

If he got the chance, Kiyoharu would definitely ask Ayano that question properly.

It would be one thing if she always assumed the worst of Airi. After all, Airi did not think highly of her either. Based on Kiyoharu's "interview" records, the two fundamentally held a certain contempt for their best friend.

But Kiyoharu firmly believed Shimaura Hitomi was innocent.

Soon, Ayano began drawing, rapidly sketching the scene before her. From time to time, she moved around to observe it from different angles.

When she crouched down to look upward, her face entered Kiyoharu's line of sight. Her flushed cheeks and nearly crazed eyes made his heart skip a beat.

Damn it, his PTSD was acting up.

He knew that expression all too well.

Among the yandere girlfriends he had provoked in his previous life, there had been a girl who studied music. While singing a song she had written for him, she had ridden him while enjoying herself with a very similar expression.

Thankfully, at this stage, Ayano was merely obsessed with creating art. If one day she made that face because of Kiyoharu himself, then things would truly be bad...

Ayano seemed especially satisfied with this rooftop scene. Several minutes passed, yet her pencil still danced across the paper.

Kiyoharu felt like a failing student waiting for the teacher at the podium to call on people one by one after the exam results came out. He did not believe Ayano would activate Time Stop and do absolutely nothing weird. According to the information scanned by the system, activating Time Stop required consuming a catalyst. Someone as fond of causing trouble as Ayano would surely expect a return after paying the price.

At last, Ayano gave a satisfied hum and put away her drawing board.

She sat beside Kiyoharu and reached out to stroke his neck, bringing an itchy, chilly sensation.

Kiyoharu suddenly realized that Ayano's hands and feet were always cold. According to doctors, that was a sign of poor peripheral circulation.

He had thought she was about to undo the buttons on his chest and commit some indecency. Kiyoharu had even mentally prepared his pecs to receive her teasing. Instead, Ayano untied Kiyoharu's necktie and stuffed it into the pocket of Shimaura Hitomi's tracksuit.

Hiss, what kind of move was that?

"Let's give dear little Hitomi a gift. I hope she'll be pleased."

Clearly, Ayano not only believed Shimaura Hitomi had a crush on Kiyoharu, but also regarded her as some pervert who liked Kiyoharu's clothes. Kiyoharu was not happy about that. During the Literature and Arts Club activity that afternoon, he would find a chance to ask Ayano what she thought of Shimaura Hitomi.

The iron door creaked again, and Time Stop ended.

Shimaura Hitomi's thoughts were in disarray. She did not notice that something had appeared in her pocket, nor did she notice that Kiyoharu's tie had vanished without explanation.

Since she showed no confusion, Kiyoharu pretended that nothing had happened.

It was not until they returned to the office that Haneda Miho noticed something was wrong first. "Huh? Chihaya-sensei isn't wearing a tie today?"

"Really? Oh, you're right."

Kiyoharu smiled somewhat sheepishly. "The students probably won't mind, right?"

"Of course not! Our Chihaya-sensei looks handsome no matter what he wears!" Haneda Miho gave Kiyoharu a subtle seductive glance, though it was hardly subtle to an adult.

In fact, every week, no fewer than a dozen female teachers in the school gave him similar looks. Some even dropped verbal hints over LINE or simply passed him little notes.

Chihaya Academy had plenty of married women dissatisfied with their sex lives.

Because of Airi's influence, they did not dare act up openly, but their private harassment had never stopped.

The protagonist's physique was no joke. He was barely any worse than an incubus.

Haneda Miho looked carefree and guileless, but she often took the chance to brush against Kiyoharu's arm when handing him things. She had taken plenty of such little liberties, and she especially loved belittling her husband's incompetence in front of Kiyoharu.

Kiyoharu never took the bait she threw out.

It was absolutely not because of any moral scruples.

Considering the terrible things he had done in his previous life, Kiyoharu did not consider himself much of a good person morally.

He simply valued his life and maintained abstinence.

In this life, he would have to rely on his golden left hand. Self-sufficiency brought prosperity!

The discussion about the tie quickly passed. Chihaya Academy was not strict about teacher attire, and as a star teacher, Kiyoharu could wear whatever he liked without anyone criticizing him. His students' good grades were proof of his worth.

Shimaura Hitomi, however, found it strange. She clearly remembered that Kiyoharu had worn a tie to work. Every morning when Kiyoharu entered the office, Shimaura Hitomi looked him over from head to toe, every detail clearly imprinted in her mind. She had once done this so that after returning home from work, she could imagine Kiyoharu's appearance while doing something enjoyable. Recently, however, it had been to find the right chance to steal a catalyst—otherwise known as casing the joint.

Still puzzled, Shimaura Hitomi returned to her seat. She sensed that her pocket seemed stuffed with something and instinctively reached in to take it out. She had pulled it halfway out before hurriedly shoving it back inside.

Her movement was so large that her elbow struck the desk with a loud bang.

"Are you okay, Teacher Shimaura?" Kiyoharu hurried over to check on her.

"I-I'm fine..."

"Let me see. Did you bruise yourself?"

Kiyoharu calmly examined Shimaura Hitomi's arm, but she instantly became extremely tense, afraid that the tie in her pocket would fall out for Kiyoharu to see.

Shimaura Hitomi had no memory of how the tie had ended up in her clothing pocket, but she really did want it. Especially when she thought that the tie might have been personally fastened for Kiyoharu by the Young Lady, her urge to steal surged even more fiercely.

Could it be that she had done too much of that lately and become so mentally foggy that she had forgotten how she stole it?

No matter what, she could not let herself get exposed!

Kiyoharu, however, knew exactly what had happened.

At that moment, he cursed Miss Kitahara a thousand times in his heart.

That damned Canvas Devil, picking on even a sweet and innocent child like Shimaura Hitomi. Did she have no humanity left at all?

Look how nervous she had made the poor girl. She was probably afraid of being mistaken for some woman who stole her male coworker's tie.

Kiyoharu pretended not to notice Shimaura Hitomi's tension at all and squeezed her arm. It was soft and felt incredibly nice.

"There shouldn't be any serious problem. If it still hurts badly afterward, make sure you go to the school infirmary. If you have a class, I can cover it for you." With that, Kiyoharu quickly moved away from Shimaura Hitomi, lest he trigger some awkward development.

It was like when a parent unfortunately caught their child doing something private. The best response was to quietly close the door, leave, and forget it ever happened.

The child was not at fault, and neither was Shimaura Hitomi.

Kitahara Ayano, you have no heart!

Generally speaking, Chihaya Academy's high school division only scheduled one class in the afternoon—after that, students might have club activities, PE, or remedial lessons. In short, they had to arrange their own time.

Besides strong exam scores, students who entered Chihaya Academy generally needed some kind of special talent... For example, when Kiyoharu attended school here, he joined the soccer club. His footwork was average; he was a complete brute who relied entirely on the protagonist template's powerful physique to crush his opponents.

Yet nobody seemed to care whether you were a technical player or a beastly one. As long as you were a handsome athletic guy with decent teamwork and an outgoing personality, you would stand at the top of the food chain in Japan's young people's social circles.

From Kiyoharu's observations, Chihaya Academy students considered many practical factors when joining clubs, while personal interest accounted for only a small portion. Take the Literature and Arts Club, for example. Very few members truly loved literature and art. The combined artistic enthusiasm of the entire club probably did not equal Ayano's alone.

Ayano truly loved art. Any remotely ordinary person who acquired an ability as absurd as Time Stop would immediately set out to conquer the world. Yet she was still thinking about her damn Ultimate Masterpiece. It was hard not to laugh.

Although her methods of creating the Ultimate Masterpiece were somewhat disgraceful, that spirit was worth encouraging.

With admiration for Ayano's lofty spirit, Kiyoharu strolled over to the club building. He found the Literature and Arts Club's location on the directory on the first floor, then headed upstairs. Halfway up, at the landing between the second and third floors, he stopped to admire the sculptures displayed in a glass case set into the wall.

Kiyoharu was very relaxed, because Ayano had already used Time Stop today. That meant he would be completely safe during the entire Literature and Arts Club activity!

The sculpture was a male bust with long hair, like a hero from some Western fantasy legend. It was tall and imposing, yet carried a slightly gloomy air. It was gentle without being effeminate, entirely unpretentious, the sort of figure that appealed to both men and women alike.

"Kiyoharu-kun came quite early."

Kitahara Ayano's voice sounded from behind him.

"I wasn't busy anyway."

"Indeed. Kiyoharu-kun can calmly enjoy the slow pace of life without rushing. That's something I want to do but cannot." Ayano came to stand beside him, examining the sculpture with him. "Back then, I often read popular manga on the market, but I always felt the male characters were lacking. So I tried creating one myself... It seems my works always unintentionally draw Kiyoharu-kun's attention. Hehe."

"...You made this?"

If the system gave him the ability to turn back time, Kiyoharu would absolutely make his past self head straight to the Literature and Arts Club a few minutes ago.

Why had he been staring at some stupid sculpture when he had nothing better to do?

For heaven's sake, Kiyoharu had not somehow tuned in to Ayano's wavelength. He merely thought the sculpture resembled that famous game character from his previous life, and the absurdly catchy line automatically rang through his mind: "Sephiroth! A man among men! A male among males!"

But.

To be fair, Ayano really did have good taste.

Back when Ayano did not even know Kiyoharu, she had created someone beautiful enough to rival him. That could only be called extraordinary talent.

"Why did Chihaya Academy keep your work? Didn't you go abroad for high school...?"

"It was only a practice piece from middle school. I originally planned to attend high school here too, but something happened to my family, so my parents sent me abroad to lie low."

"So you went abroad to lie low? Oh, Airi said you went because the learning environment overseas was better."

"Airi? What does she know? She knows nothing."

Ayano frowned, a powerful flash of displeasure and disgust crossing her face. However, she did not seem to want to discuss it, so Kiyoharu had no choice but to let it go.

The location for this Literature and Arts Club sketching activity was a trendy oval classroom. In Kiyoharu's memory, whenever groups in the school needed to film a cool promotional video, they loved using this place.

Kiyoharu let Ayano go on ahead while he went to the restroom for a satisfying dump. Something seemed wrong with the bento he had eaten at noon. Damn convenience store! The owner of that store seemed to be some distant relative of the Chihaya Family... Exactly how distant was unclear, but they were related somehow. As an old family conglomerate, the Chihaya Family was also far ahead of the pack when it came to nepotism.

Only after solving his stomachache did Kiyoharu head to the cool oval classroom.

When he pushed open the door, chattering noise washed over him like the afternoon heat. Most of the club members present were girls, and they completely ignored Kitahara Ayano's presence until Kiyoharu appeared, at which point they quieted down somewhat.

"Chihaya-sensei, you're really too sly! We invited you before, but you never came. Yet you agreed so easily when Miss Kitahara invited you!"

"Did I?"

"Without a doubt."

The girl speaking with Kiyoharu... What was her name again?

Kiyoharu did not remember her name, only that her face seemed familiar. During the sports festival, Kiyoharu had played soccer on a recreational team made up of teachers. After washing his face and returning to the locker room, he had seen this girl lingering near the entrance, seemingly wanting to do something to his soccer shoes.

After confirming that his memory was accurate, Kiyoharu gave the girl a polite smile and decided to avoid speaking with her any further if possible.

Every woman in this world was a potential "knife-wielding criminal."

This girl had a record of "attempted crimes," so he had to be even more vigilant.

If Kiyoharu were not Airi's fiancé but merely a handsome man with no backing, something far more serious than his soccer shoes being tampered with might have happened.

Today, he only needed to be a model. So he just had to keep his mouth shut and space out.

However, Kiyoharu quickly discovered that this strategy was difficult to carry out.

Ayano had an extreme lack of control over the students. As she mechanically read out the event procedures, the girls below chatted among themselves and paid her no attention at all.

It was strange. Chihaya Academy clearly placed the utmost emphasis on family background and seniority. As long as someone had even a little standing at home, people were willing to show them some respect. Yet these girls could openly show contempt for Ayano right to her face.

Even stranger, Ayano showed no reaction to this situation at all. She even looked accustomed to it, sitting in a corner near the lectern and fiddling with her drawing board. If not for her more mature air, she could easily have been taken for one of the students...

Kiyoharu gradually became displeased. Of course, he was happy to see Ayano suffer a setback, but perhaps due to his occupational instincts as a teacher, he could not stand seeing the students acting like such a disorganized mess.

For the moment, he could not change everyone's opinion of Ayano. There were clearly complicated twists and turns in the social relationships of high society involved here.

The only thing he could do was restore order to the club activity.

After thinking for a moment, Kiyoharu cleared his throat twice and drew everyone's attention.

"Simple sketching is a little boring. How about we make it a challenge?"