An Idol's Worries

"I see..."

Hasebe's expression was rather colorful as she said thoughtfully:

"No wonder... I kept feeling that neither of these two approaches seemed wrong."

"I instinctively ranked them against each other and completely overlooked the fact that they could coexist."

The girl's gaze darted away as she awkwardly brushed the long hair hanging over her chest.

Just minutes ago, she had been quite pleased with her own answer.

Only after hearing Suzuki Tsubame's explanation did she finally see the light.

"You're teachable."

Suzuki Tsubame raised a hand and lightly stroked his nonexistent beard, smiling in satisfaction.

Hasebe had quite a bit of natural insight, and her personality was very good too.

She was neither as arrogant and self-satisfied as Horikita nor plagued by the psychological issues of Kushida, Karuizawa, and the others.

Her only flaw seemed to be that she had little sense of boundaries and liked giving people nicknames.

This is hard to take... Had he been in Class D so long that he rated normal people this highly now?

Looking beside him again, Ike's cheeks were already stuffed full, yet he was still cramming more food into his mouth.

Just a few minutes ago, he had looked indignant and outraged. Now, though, he could eat and drink without a care in the world, as if terrified he might not get enough.

Yeah... I must be sick.

The gathering was nearing its end, and the snacks Ayanokoji had bought were nearly gone.

"By the way, there's something I don't know whether I should say."

Hasebe's tone carried a hint of hesitation, and her expression became troubled as well.

Although she had promised Airy that she would keep it a secret.

But... the two girls alone simply couldn't think of a solution.

For Airy's sake, she still decided to be the bad guy.

Perhaps sensing what Hasebe was about to say.

Sakura lowered her head and cautiously tugged at Hasebe's sleeve, trying to stop her.

But Hasebe was used to being carefree and failed to notice her little gesture at all.

"This concerns Sakura, doesn't it?"

Horikita's expression remained calm.

Sakura and Hasebe were a pair with completely opposite personalities, yet she unexpectedly didn't dislike them.

Even Suzuki Tsubame hadn't expected the two of them to be this close.

Sakura had actually been willing to confess to Hasebe that she was an online idol.

"Huh? Miss Suzune... how did you know?"

Hasebe looked puzzled. Had Airy already told Horikita?

When had their relationship become so good?

Horikita pointed at Sakura beside her, indicating that Hasebe should look at her.

Sakura was tightly clutching her sleeve, her head lowered shyly like a startled little ostrich.

Seeing Sakura look so pitiful and adorable, Hasebe couldn't help wanting to laugh.

"Um... Airy, it should be fine to tell everyone, right?"

"Everyone here is a good friend. It's better to work together and figure out how to deal with him than to be scared all by yourself."

She raised a hand and gently stroked the girl's long hair, carefully soothing her emotions.

Why had Hasebe stepped forward on her own initiative to seek help for Sakura?

First, she truly considered Sakura a kindred spirit and her best friend.

Second, she believed everyone present was trustworthy.

Hasebe had never really been a loner. She could even be called quite cheerful.

The reason she had seemed somewhat withdrawn in the original story was that the boys in her class all looked at her with lecherous eyes, which she deeply hated.

And most of the girls in Class D were extremely fake, which made her uncomfortable as well.

This little group, however, made her feel quite comfortable.

Aside from Horikita and Kushida occasionally bickering, everyone got along rather well.

There was naturally no need to mention Ayanokoji. Even emotion itself seemed exceedingly faint in his eyes.

Although Sudo had a bad temper, he was fundamentally insecure, and he wouldn't look at others with filthy eyes.

Ike was admittedly a little lecherous, but Kushida took all the damage, so Hasebe herself hadn't really been affected.

As for Suzuki Tsubame, it would be impossible to say that he hadn't secretly stolen a few glances.

The main thing was that Suzuki Tsubame was handsome and knew where to draw the line.

Whenever he was about to get caught, he could always think of a little joke to make everyone laugh.

Most importantly... with that handsome face of his, even the lewdest gaze became normal appreciation between a man and a woman, even giving Hasebe an inexplicable sense of pride.

"Sakura, if you're having trouble, you have to say so. Everyone will do their best to help you."

Kushida's tone and expression were full of concern.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll all help you."

The moment Kushida spoke, Ike immediately joined in. In his eyes... whatever Kushida did was right.

As for whether he truly wanted to help, that was impossible to know.

Sakura nodded silently. At first, she had indeed felt a little embarrassed.

But when she thought about how everyone was a good person, she felt that she should try trusting them too.

After receiving Sakura's permission, Hasebe began telling everyone about the strange things Sakura had encountered over the past few days.

It turned out... Sakura was a somewhat well-known gravure idol online.

Over the past few days, whenever she posted new work, an unusual account had always been particularly active. In private messages, the person claimed:

He knew Sakura was a student at Advanced Nurturing. After sending a pile of obscene messages, he had even tried to threaten and intimidate her.

This person was most likely also at Advanced Nurturing, which made her feel extremely uneasy.