Framed Behind the Dormitory

The location sharing pointed to a secluded clearing behind the dormitory building, half-encircled by a small grove of trees.

The area lacked proper night lighting and was far from the main path, a place where school regulations discouraged students from going alone at night.

Hoshida No's gaze turned calm. He activated the recording and video functions on his phone before putting on his jacket and stepping out of the dormitory.

The clearing behind the dormitory was darker than he had imagined. The only streetlamp was quite far away, casting a dim, yellowish light that barely allowed him to make out the silhouettes of a bench and the surrounding shrubs.

The rustling of leaves and branches sounded exceptionally clear in the silence, bordering on eerie.

Hoshida No stood three steps away from the bench, watching Kushida Kikyo. After scanning the surroundings and confirming no one else was present, he walked toward her with small steps.

At the same time, in front of the vending machine by the dormitory building, Horikita Suzune ran into Ayanokoji, who was alone.

"What on earth are you and Hoshida No thinking?" Horikita asked directly.

Ayanokoji remained silent for a moment, then spoke without any expression: "Who told you something? Was it Chazhu Zuo Zhi?"

Horikita paused, recalling what Chazhu had said to her on the rooftop earlier that day: "If you want to rise to Class A, you need to utilize the people around you. Hoshida No is a leader in the true sense, while Ayanokoji is the student with the most serious problems in Class D."

However, Ayanokoji clearly caught that momentary reaction: "I see. You want to rise to Class A? That's why you sought out Chazhu Zuo Zhi."

Ayanokoji added in a flat tone: "I only want to spend each day in peace. As for him, he might be suitable for your needs, nothing more. Excuse me."

Back to the perspective behind the school building.

Kushida was wearing a white dress, her hands gripping the hem tightly, her knuckles turning pale in the dim light.

"Hoshida-kun," she began, head bowed. Her voice was no longer its usual sweet tone, but dry and hoarse. "You came... I knew you would."

Hoshida No did not move closer, nor did he sit down. "You've been investigating me lately, approaching me frequently, and now you've lured me here tonight. What do you want, Kushida?"

"What do I want?" she repeated, her head still bowed, her face obscured. "I want you to disappear! Hoshida No! Or... or to make you no longer special, no longer able to easily steal everyone's attention!"

She stood up, her body leaning forward in agitation. The smile of the past was gone, and the gloom in her eyes was laid bare as she stared fixedly at Hoshida No's eyes: "When I first saw you at school, I was happy. After all, you were once a homeless orphan, but why are you so strong? Ever since you appeared, everything changed!"

"Hirata and the others discuss your plans; everyone is grateful for your test papers. Even someone like Horikita, who looks down on everyone, is secretly studying your learning methods! And me? What am I? I'm still the Kushida everyone likes, but I'm just one of many! I'm no longer the only one they rely on!"

Her accusations were like a bursting dam, the emotions suppressed for days finding an outlet, yet Hoshida No's gaze remained calm.

"So," he said slowly, "you invited me here, what were you planning to do? Were you intending to frame me?"

Kushida's body swayed violently, her face turning even paler under the moonlight.

"So what if I was!" she shouted, her eyes quickly turning red. "This is all your doing! Why is there no stain on your past!..."

As she screamed, she suddenly reached out to grab the collar of her dress and pulled it hard to the side!

The fabric let out a jarring "rip," and the collar was crudely torn open, exposing her collarbone and a patch of fair shoulder.

Her actions were desperate, and tears finally burst forth, mixed with madness and pain.

"Look! Hoshida No!" she cried out. "Isn't this what you wanted? Or rather, what I'll say you wanted! As long as I run out looking like this, screaming your name... who wouldn't believe me? You'll never be able to wash yourself clean!"

Hoshida No watched her near-suicidal performance quietly, without a trace of panic on his face.

He even took a small step forward, closing the distance, his sharp gaze landing on the edge of her torn collar before shifting back to her tear-streaked face.

"Kushida Kikyo," his voice was exceptionally steady, "is the micro-recorder in the right pocket of your skirt still running? Or were you planning to use it to record my threats or your cries for help as supplementary evidence?"

Kushida's crying stopped abruptly, her hand still clutching her clothes frozen in mid-air. Her pupils shrank, and she stared at Hoshida No in disbelief.

Hoshida No did not wait for her answer, analyzing: "Judging by the force and angle of your pull, the tear marks go from inside to outside, from top to bottom. This is a classic sign of self-inflicted tearing."

"If the tearing were caused by external assault, the direction of the marks and the points of stress would be completely different. Even a slightly trained crime scene investigator could tell the difference."

He paused, his gaze like ice. "You chose this place, where there are only the two of us. There is no third party to testify to what happened. And I have at least three ways to prove I never touched you, one of which is in my hand right now."

He slowly raised his right hand, which had been in his jacket pocket, and took out the phone that was recording video. "Although the night light isn't very clear, it's enough to see the general outlines and movements."

Kushida stared blankly at the recording phone, then at Hoshida No's emotionless eyes, and finally looked down at her torn collar and disheveled appearance.

"Waaaaah--!!!"

She could no longer hold herself up; her legs went weak, and she collapsed onto the cold ground, covering her face with her hands and sobbing heart-wrenchingly.

"How... how could you do this? How could you be recording?" She sobbed intermittently through her fingers: "I just... I just wanted to be liked by everyone, to be needed by everyone... I don't want to be abandoned again, I don't want to be alone in the dark... Furball has already left me, it was so cute and yet it was hurt by others in the end..."

Hoshida No watched her curled-up figure on the ground, put his phone back in his pocket, and looked at her thin frame in the moonlight. He draped his own jacket over her, covering the large expanse of white skin.

He spoke, his voice still steady, though it lacked some of its previous coldness: "Kushida, longing to be loved and fearing loneliness is not your fault."

He paused. "But using the method of hurting others, or even self-destruction, to maintain a sense of security will only drive you further away from what you want. I don't know what happened in your middle school, but I know that the you who once treated me to a meal and gave me a handkerchief and clothes was truly dazzling."

Kushida's crying gradually faded into suppressed sobs. She still covered her face and did not respond.

"Tonight's events never happened," Hoshida No continued. "Handle the contents of the recorder yourself. As for my recording, as long as there isn't a next time, it will be sealed away forever."

He turned around, ready to leave. After two steps, he stopped without looking back.

"No one can play the role of someone else forever. If you are tired, perhaps you could try starting by trusting one or two people who are truly worth trusting."

His voice was very soft, almost drowned out by the wind. "Although, that might require more courage than playing the version of yourself that everyone likes."

Having said that, he stepped forward, and his figure soon disappeared at the end of the path leading toward the light.

In the clearing, only Kushida Kikyo remained.

She slowly lowered her hands from her face, tear tracks crisscrossing her cheeks, her makeup long since ruined. She clutched the jacket draped over her shoulders, staring blankly at the departing Hoshida No.