"Why?"
Gojo Satoru, who had already put his blindfold back on, repeated the question from his chair.
There was no way he could tell her the truth, so he might as well make something up!
"It started in middle school—or no, it probably started back in elementary school.
Because of my good looks, girls often hit on me. That alone wouldn't have been a problem.
But in my second year of middle school, I realized someone was stalking me. Every day, I'd find an identical love letter in my shoe locker, and there'd be one in my desk, too.
Even the gym clothes in my locker would often disappear, and I could feel someone's intense gaze whenever I walked down the street.
I couldn't take it anymore, so I had no choice but to transfer schools. That was when I started wearing the blindfold, too.
After all, being stalked by a pervert scared me more than being taken for some weirdo!"
Listening to Gojo Satoru's far-fetched excuse, Kamuro Masumi didn't argue. Ever since she'd seen his face, she hadn't been able to properly calm down.
She didn't know whether anything like that had happened to Gojo Satoru in middle school, but it could definitely happen to him now!
His looks were impossible to resist even for someone like her, who was somewhat averse to men. She couldn't even imagine what would happen if the girls who were always thinking about romance saw him!
By the time they left the Cat Cafe, it was already 8:00 p.m.
Following behind Gojo Satoru on the way back to the dorms, Kamuro Masumi watched his figure flicker in and out of the streetlights. She still couldn't quite believe what had happened.
Had she fallen for him?
When had it started?
Was it when she watched him shine on the gym court? Or had her heart skipped a beat because of his offer to "stay with her"?
Or was it because she'd seen his real face today?
She couldn't figure it out. By the time she realized what was happening, she couldn't take her eyes off him. It was too hard for her not to watch his back!
But confessing to him wouldn't be right, would it? He'd only just told her today about being stalked by a perverted woman. If she confessed now, she'd surely scare him.
But she couldn't accept it. She really couldn't!
"Hey, Gojo-kun."
She called to him casually.
"Just call me Satoru. You already did today, didn't you? What, are you shy now?"
He stopped and looked back.
Ignoring his teasing, she went on to ask,
"Hypothetically—I mean, just hypothetically.
What would you do if the school expelled me?"
"Are you worried I'll report you? Don't worry, I deleted the video ages ago. As long as you don't do it again, you'll be fine."
He thought she was afraid he'd report her, so he cleared things up right away.
No, that's not it.
Kamuro Masumi trusted that Gojo Satoru wouldn't lie to her, but what worried her now was her situation in Class A.
There was no way she could say it. Satoru-kun was in Class D, and the school didn't let students switch classes unless they had a huge number of points.
He couldn't help her. Nine million points was too little compared to twenty million. Even if he had that much, she wasn't worth making him spend it.
Seeing Kamuro Masumi fall silent, Gojo Satoru didn't know what was wrong. He raised his right hand, held up two fingers, and gently tapped her forehead, comforting her.
"Don't worry about things like that. I'll always keep an eye on you. If you really get expelled, I'll leave with you. Don't worry."
The moment his fingers touched her, the Nano Camera attached to his fingernail transferred onto the spot on her forehead.
The process was extremely quick, and the tiny area it covered was so small that an ordinary person couldn't detect it.
He didn't know exactly what was going on, but it seemed she'd run into trouble. Since she wouldn't tell him, he'd have to keep an eye on her himself to make sure nothing happened.
"Mm, I believe you, Satoru-kun!"
Hearing the unexpected words, Kamuro Masumi felt a little happy.
I'll find a chance to apologize to Sakayanagi. It'd be such a waste if we were forced apart over something this small.
She rose onto her tiptoes and reached out with both hands, pulling Gojo Satoru's face down toward hers.
Caught off guard by the sudden kiss, Gojo Satoru didn't react. He simply savored her clumsy, inexperienced kiss.
About three minutes later, their lips parted. No silvery thread connected them, so it seemed she didn't know how a real kiss was supposed to work.
She backed away a few steps, put her hands behind her back, and said playfully,
"Don't get the wrong idea! This is just your reward for deleting the video!"
As if afraid he might misunderstand, she added,
"I won't steal anything again. If I get caught on camera next time, I'll be in big trouble.
That was my first kiss, so you got a good deal!"
You're special to me!
Seeing Gojo Satoru still standing there, stunned, Kamuro Masumi couldn't hold back her embarrassment and ran off.
Watching her leave, Gojo Satoru muttered blankly,
"Does that count as my first kiss, too? Across both lives."
"Well, whatever. I'd have lost it sooner or later."
In the past, he'd been so busy falling for people that he'd forgotten to consider whether they were right for him!
But things were different now. Anyone he fell for could become the right person for him.
The next morning, he lay facedown on his desk, listening to the boys nearby talking loudly.
"Hey, hey, swimming class is this afternoon. Who do you think has the biggest boobs?"
"Definitely Kushida-chan!"
"Huh? Ike, don't let your personal preferences affect your judgment. Kushida's cute, sure, but there's no way she beats everyone else in that department. I think it's Hasebe. That size doesn't even look like a high schooler's, does it?!"
"Eh?! I think it's Sakura."
"You mean that girl with glasses? Sure, they're big, but don't you think she's kind of frumpy? She confessed to me a few days ago, and I turned her down."
Kanji Ike said proudly.
"Really?"
Hearing that a girl he liked had confessed to his friend, Yamauchi Haruki couldn't believe it.
"Of course! But she looked so frumpy and was so antisocial, so I turned her down. I still prefer someone like Kushida."
Kanji Ike answered without hesitation, as if it were true.
As their conversation drifted farther and farther off topic, Sotomura Hideo impatiently cut in.
"Hey, hey, we're getting off track. Anyway, Sudō, who do you think it is?"
"Huh? Me? I don't know."
Since Gojo Satoru seemed to be asleep, Ken Sudō was acting rather timidly.
As the boys' voices grew louder, the girls around them looked at them with disgust. They didn't care, though, as if they were trying to attract attention on purpose.
Hasebe Haruka, who was at the center of their conversation, looked at them with even greater disgust.
They're all just a bunch of creeps who only care about boobs.
Then she glanced at Gojo Satoru as he stood up and walked over.
Boys are all the same. He only rejected Kushida in public to get her attention, didn't he?
"Hey, hey, I heard Sakura confessed to you?"
Gojo Satoru rested his right hand on Kanji Ike's shoulder and asked with a smile.
"Y-Yeah, of course! I mean, I'm not bad-looking, so it's normal for a frumpy girl to confess to me, right?"
Glancing at Sakura Airi's empty seat, Kanji Ike forced himself to answer.
But the moment he finished speaking, Sakura Airi walked in through the back door.
"Sakura! I heard you confessed to Kanji Ike. Is that true?"
Ignoring the tremble in Kanji Ike's body, he called out loudly to Sakura Airi.
"Huh?!"
Startled when he called to her, Sakura quickly realized what he'd asked and denied it.
"No!! That never happened! I've never even talked to Ike!"
Hearing Sakura Airi deny it, everyone looked at Kanji Ike with contempt.
"You did that on purpose!! You're still holding a grudge over what happened last time, so you're deliberately embarrassing me now!"
Unable to bear the scornful stares, Kanji Ike slapped Gojo Satoru's arm away and pointed at him, shouting angrily.
"Was it that obvious? I did it on purpose. So, what are you going to do about it?"
Unfazed by his anger, Gojo Satoru smiled as he spoke.
"You!"
Seeing Gojo Satoru mock him, Kanji Ike was furious, but there was nothing he could do. Gojo Satoru was much bigger than him. His safety mattered more than his pride, and he couldn't win even if he tried to fight him.
"All I did was expose your lie. You're so angry that you're making me look like the bad guy."
He teased Kanji Ike with a smile, putting extra emphasis on the word "lie."
Kushida Kikyo's pupils contracted when she heard that. She stared at Gojo Satoru, her face full of shock.
Does he know about my past?!
"Everyone, calm down! This is a small matter. There's no need to ruin the class atmosphere over it."
Seeing the situation escalate, Hirata stepped in.
"Humiliating a girl in our class is a small matter? Spreading rumors about her is a small matter?
School bullying keeps happening because bullies treat these things as small matters.
So what do you think counts as a big deal? Does someone have to get hurt—or even end up disabled—before it counts?"
He didn't mention suicide. That would have been taking it too far.
Looking at Hirata, who had nothing to say, Gojo Satoru felt more and more disgusted with him.
He could have stepped in from the start. Why did he always wait until things got bad before doing anything?
"Or were you part of the vote, too?"
Gojo Satoru asked with a smile.
Silence fell. The entire class was quiet, and the only sound was the faint rustle of Koenji Rokusuke combing his hair.
At first, only a small group of students near the incident had noticed. But once Hirata, the most popular boy in the class, got involved, everyone started paying attention.
No one contradicted Gojo Satoru. Even Hirata himself was stunned. Gojo Satoru's words had struck a deep chord in him, dredging up memories he'd wanted to bury.
Even the girls who normally liked Hirata didn't dare speak up.
First, Gojo Satoru was standing up for them. Second, the pressure he was giving off was so intense that they didn't dare say a word.
"Clap, clap!"
"Eyepatch Boy, that was beautifully put. I like it!"
Koenji Rokusuke clapped happily, breaking the silence.
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