The atmosphere in the clearing behind the bushes was cold and tense. Sakura Airi huddled in the corner, her body still trembling uncontrollably. Tears slid silently down her cheeks, wetting the pink strands scattered across her lap. She stared at the middle-aged man Shimiya Kuki had pinned firmly to the ground, her eyes filled with the fear and revulsion of someone who had just escaped a terrible ordeal.
Ichinose Honami hurried over to Sakura and crouched beside her. She gently took Sakura's cold, trembling hand in her own warm one, trying to offer a little comfort. Then she looked up at the man, who was pinned down in a wretched state. The warm smile she usually wore was gone, replaced by a frosty expression of anger, and fury burned in her clear eyes.
"Hey, mister," Ichinose said, her voice clear and stern, her anger barely contained. "You were doing something very, very awful just now! What you did to a female student in broad daylight is unforgivable! Thank goodness Kuki-kun stopped you in time!"
Though his face was pressed against the ground and he was in a humiliating position, the man still struggled and tried to argue. His voice came out distorted under the pressure, brimming with spite. "Y-You're making things up! Let go of me! What did I do? I didn't do anything! All I know is that this guy"—he struggled to point at Shimiya with his uncontrolled hand—"suddenly charged at me and attacked me! Violence! This is a serious case of violence! You know perfectly well what happens when someone uses violence at this school, don't you? Expulsion! Just wait until you're expelled! Hahahaha!" He let out a harsh, ugly laugh, as if he'd found a lifeline.
"What?!" Ichinose's chest heaved with anger at his shameless distortion of the truth. "You still have the nerve to blame us? We all saw what happened! What were you trying to do to Sakura-kun? Those letters..." She pointed to the letters scattered across the ground, decorated with distorted heart stickers. "You wrote all of these, didn't you? You stalked her, harassed her, and now you're trying to assault her! You're just..."
As Ichinose angrily argued back, Shimiya Kuki's Student Terminal vibrated. He let go of the hand pressing down on the man's head, but kept his restraining arm firmly in place. Then he took the terminal from his pocket and checked it.
Shimiya's gaze rested on the terminal screen for less than a second. Then something surprising happened. Since Shimiya Kuki had released the man's head, the man naturally seized the chance to fight back and pushed himself up. The moment he thought he had an opening and tried to struggle to his feet—
Shimiya Kuki moved with ghostlike speed! He shifted nimbly, seized the wrist of the man's free arm, and twisted it sharply upward, wrenching it behind his back!
"Ahhh!" the man shrieked like a slaughtered pig.
At the same time, Shimiya's knee slammed into the man's lower back like a heavy hammer, forcing him hard against the ground again! This time, Shimiya used only one hand and his knee to pin him down more effectively, leaving him unable to move. His other hand held the terminal that had just received the message.
"You... you bastards! Let go of me!" The sudden turn of events and the pain left the man even more humiliated and furious. He roared, trying to threaten them into giving up the upper hand. "You're saying I tried to assault her? What a joke! Where's the evidence?! What proof do you have?! You've got nothing! Now look at me!" He strained to twist his neck, trying to show them the dirt on his face and clothes and the mess caused by being pinned down. "I'm covered in evidence that he attacked me! Bruises, scrapes! Do you think the school will believe a few young boys and girls like you over me, the 'victim'? Huh? Hahahaha! Just wait until you're punished!"
His laughter brimmed with smugness and twisted pleasure, as if he could already see Shimiya and Ichinose being severely disciplined by the School Administration.
Ichinose trembled with anger at his shameless face, her own face turning livid as she clenched her fists. She had never seen anyone so brazen, so willing to turn the truth upside down! Her anger left her momentarily speechless.
Just as the man laughed triumphantly, Ichinose trembled with rage, and Sakura stared wide-eyed in fear—
Shimiya Kuki, who had been silent all along, slowly raised the terminal in his hand. His movements were steady and deliberate as he turned the screen toward the man pinned to the ground.
A clear video recording was playing silently on the screen. The angle was somewhat concealed, as if it had been filmed from a distance, but its contents were unmistakable:
The video clearly showed the man gradually cornering the panicked Sakura Airi; ignoring her pleas and continuing to close in; reaching out to grab her; and then, just as he was about to pounce, Shimiya Kuki rushing into the frame from the side like a ghost and subduing him in the blink of an eye! The video had no sound, but the oppressive scene, the man's lecherous movements, and Sakura's terrified, desperate expression were enough to reveal the whole truth!
The man's wild laughter stopped abruptly, as if someone had choked him. He stared at the screen with bulging, clouded eyes. The smug look on his face froze, then gave way to overwhelming terror and disbelief.
"H-How can this be?!" he screamed, his voice breaking. "Y-When did you...?!"
When Ichinose saw the video, her anger was instantly replaced by immense relief and joy. She straightened her back, her voice ringing with triumph and sharp condemnation. "Mister! Do you see now? We have solid, indisputable evidence! Your actions and your lies were all caught on camera! You're finished! Just wait for the police and the School Administration to deal with you!"
The man completely crumbled. As if all his bones had been pulled out, he slumped beneath Shimiya's hold, his eyes unfocused as he muttered to himself. He was no longer trying to argue, but had fallen into some kind of obsessive delusion. "Shizuku... Airi-chan... my Airi-chan... why... why won't you accept my love? I love you so much... I wrote so many letters for you... why..." He seemed lost in his own world, oblivious to the threats around him.
Watching the man who had once plunged her into boundless terror now collapse in such an ugly fashion, Sakura Airi clung tightly to Ichinose's hand. Tears still streaked her small face, and her body continued to tremble slightly, but the fear in her clear eyes was slowly fading, replaced by a resolve she had never felt before. She drew a deep breath, as if to expel all the fear and disgust she had kept bottled up for so long. Then, summoning all her strength, she shouted clearly at the broken man on the ground:
"Thank you so much for supporting me! But your behavior has seriously disrupted my life! You've made me feel scared! And miserable!" Her voice trembled with emotion, but every word was crystal clear, carrying the courage of someone who had nothing left to lose. She paused, then shouted the most important words with what seemed like the last of her strength:
"I hate you!!!"
Her cry, filled with fear, anger, and a final sense of release, exploded like thunder across the silent clearing.
"No—!!!" Hearing her final declaration, the man let out a despairing wail, as though his whole world had collapsed.
Shimiya Kuki watched Sakura finally summon the courage to speak her mind, then glanced at the man on the ground, completely broken and no longer a threat. He spoke calmly, his voice not loud, but carrying a cold warning that reached the man clearly. "I'll send the recording to Sakura-kun for safekeeping." He paused, his gaze sharp as a blade. "If you dare to harass her in any way again, even once... she can hand this evidence over to the school at any time, or... go straight to the police. You know perfectly well what the consequences will be."
With that, Shimiya Kuki released his hand and knee without hesitation.
The man lay sprawled on the ground like a lump of mud. Several seconds passed before he finally got to his feet, dazed and stumbling. He didn't even dare look at Sakura again, or at Shimiya and Ichinose. He only let out an incoherent whimper, then scrambled out of the bushes like a stray dog, humiliated and pathetic, disappearing from sight.
Only Sakura Airi, who had just escaped danger; Ichinose Honami, who had let out a breath of relief; the silent Ayanokoji Kiyotaka; and Shimiya Kuki, who had just put away his terminal and once more regained his calm, indifferent expression, remained in the clearing. Sunlight streamed through gaps in the leaves, falling on Sakura's small face, still streaked with tears but touched by a hint of relief. The air seemed to retain the tension of what had just happened, but it also held the calm of a matter finally settled. Sakura Airi's words—"I hate you!"—had been a declaration, severing the chains of fear that had bound her to the past.
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