At this distance, Masumi Kamuro could hear Star Color's gentle breathing... and catch the faint scent of jasmine coming from him.
Ah... she'd really managed to pin him down... Seishiki Otonashi's body was so light... He seemed like the sort who could be broken with hardly any effort.
One hand pressed against his chest while the other gripped his slender wrists, holding them above his head. Her left leg was wedged between his spread legs.
Bound like a little white mouse waiting to be dissected, he was completely at her mercy...
His body was trembling... She could feel it clearly...
A hint of pain and fear showed on that adorable face...
This was great... She was the one making him look like that.
"If you seriously resist, I'll stop, okay?"
Star Color twisted beneath her, but he was too weak to get up at all.
"Was that all you had?"
Masumi Kamuro watched Star Color's resistance with interest.
"Don't..."
A weak breath escaped Star Color's compressed lungs. Like the exhaust pipe of a car that had seen better days, he could only let out a feeble groan...
Masumi Kamuro had never been this close to a man she didn't know. Staring at Star Color's face, she couldn't help wondering if he was really a man. He was more delicate than a woman, and his stamina was abysmal. How had he gotten into Class A...?
"So that was your best? If that was everything you had, you can't beat me in a fight."
"Which means you can't stop me from doing whatever I want to you right now."
Only then did Star Color realize he'd let something terrible slip.
"Hand over your phone."
"..."
Star Color bit his lip... His flushed face wore an expression that could easily be misunderstood, like a bashful girl's. It almost made it look as though Masumi Kamuro were the one bullying him.
Masumi Kamuro ran her hand over Star Color's waist, searching for his phone.
"Guh..."
She could feel Star Color's waist, even slimmer than a woman's, trembling.
"Don't move."
Her warm breath brushed Star Color's ear, and his body stiffened of its own accord.
Masumi Kamuro sat on Star Color's waist, pinning him down with her weight. Then she found the phone in his pocket and took it out.
"So heavy..."
With the weight on his waist, Star Color's gasps grew even clearer...
"Shut up."
Masumi Kamuro turned on the phone and saw that it was locked with a password.
"Password."
"I-I'm not telling you."
Star Color bit his lip and glared at Masumi Kamuro with his purple eyes. He looked like a cat pretending to resist...
The delicate aura he gave off, as though he could be toyed with at will, stirred Masumi Kamuro's desire to torment him even more.
Masumi Kamuro's face remained cold, while her heart danced wildly on the stage of her chest.
"Pinned beneath someone, do you think you still have the right to refuse?"
"Don't... mm... ah."
Masumi Kamuro placed her hand on his side and kneaded it, occasionally tickling him.
"Guh-guh-guh."
Star Color tried to hold back the strange, embarrassing sounds escaping him, though this was already embarrassing enough.
Star Color couldn't control his pounding heart. Blood burst from his nostrils like a ruptured pipe, red and metallic-tasting...
The sight immediately killed Masumi Kamuro's interest. She tossed a handkerchief out of her shoulder bag and got up to leave.
Star Color watched Masumi Kamuro go, realizing she'd even taken his phone... How mean. That was straight-up robbery...
Star Color first used the handkerchief to stop his nosebleed. What a troublesome woman. He'd never thought she'd really go that far...
He sat up, took a piece of candy out of the plastic bag, and ate it.
Then he went to the edge of the bushes and searched for the Micro Camera he'd flicked out of his sleeve before being dragged in.
"The angle's all right. It should have captured the part where Kamuro pinned me down."
After all, he was a Cheat Gambler. If he wanted to cheat however he pleased—flicking mahjong tiles, bouncing chips, or switching cards—tossing a camera accurately was no big deal.
(The next day)
Masumi Kamuro sat at her desk, watching Star Color. Even after what she'd done yesterday, he was still leisurely reading manga.
He really had nerves of steel. Should she apologize for what she'd done? Masumi Kamuro hesitated.
No, she couldn't. She had to make him delete that video from his phone. Maybe then she could reconsider.
Just then, a girl with little presence approached Star Color. Masumi Kamuro hadn't even learned her name yet.
"He sure has a lot of girls around him."
He seemed to get along well with Tamiya Emi from their class. Sometimes he even mingled with the girls. Then there was that girl from Class 1-D, Kikyou Kushida, who'd invited him out. And now there was another one.
"Tch."
He was just a despicable man who used his cute face to seduce girls left and right. There was nothing impressive about him.
The morning classes passed, but her thoughts were in a jumble. She'd listen to half a lecture before drifting off, remembering what had happened yesterday... Her heart kept stirring whenever she thought about it.
Tch, she felt so restless.
During lunch, she received a message on her phone from her homeroom teacher, asking her to come to the office.
So Seishiki Otonashi had told the teacher after all? Whatever. Maybe she'd be suspended. She didn't care.
When she pushed open the door to the teachers' office, Star Color was the only one there, sitting on the sofa.
"Hey, you're here."
"Why are you here? Where's Teacher Majima?"
"Do teachers not eat lunch? You think he's working overtime in the office?"
Star Color's aura had changed. The [delicate] air around him had been replaced by something much more [assertive].
"Now it's time to educate a problem child."
"So how did you do it? You used the teacher's account to message me?"
"It was simple. I just used points to buy it."
"But I have your phone."
"Did you forget that the school gives us ID cards? Paying with a phone is convenient, sure. Seems like a lot of people don't know that the school phones have NFC technology built in. That means they can read students' ID cards and transfer points."
(NFC technology only gradually became common during the smartphone era around 2014. Although NFC first appeared in 2004, its uses were limited and the technology wasn't promoted widely enough, so it didn't become widespread.?)
Masumi Kamuro couldn't help thinking a little more highly of Seishiki Otonashi. She'd thought he was just a pretty face, but it turned out he had some brains after all.
"Get to the point."
"I'm curious why Kamuro steals things."
"None of your business. Or do you want me to do what I did yesterday?"
"I'm afraid I can't give Kamuro what she wants this time. There are security cameras in the teachers' office. And if you get too close to me, I'll shout that you're harassing me. I'm not joking."
"Boring."
For some reason, Masumi Kamuro felt a pang of disappointment.
"Then stay here and play your little teacher game."
As she reached for the door, she found it had been locked from the outside.
"Now, now. I figured you'd try to leave, Kamuro, so I took a few precautions."
"Why don't you sit down and have a nice chat, Masumi Kamuro?"
Before you continue