(Karuizawa Kei's point of view)
Back in middle school, I was subjected to truly vicious bullying.
On my way home, people would drag me into alleys, curse at me, and beat me. They'd leave animal carcasses and all kinds of trash in my shoe locker, and put nails in my shoes. That sort of thing happened all the time.
Worse still, someone pretended to be a boy who liked me and approached me. For a while, his arrival made me think I could leave that darkness behind and finally start living for real.
I didn't know that it was the beginning of another hell.
"Idiot, did you really think Masamura liked you? Hahaha, that's hilarious!"
"Exactly! You should've seen the look on her face. Calling him 'senpai' over and over—it was so funny I could've died laughing."
"Come on, stop. At first, we were just messing around. Who knew she'd take it seriously? The way she kept calling me that gave me goosebumps."
A few boys and girls gathered around the girl, who was curled up with her head tucked between her knees and trembling. They mocked and cursed at her, but she didn't fight back. She just sat there, her body shaking.
"Please... let me go..."
"Please..."
No matter how much the girl begged, the group didn't stop. One girl, who seemed to be the ringleader, suddenly gave a wicked laugh, as if she'd thought of a fun idea.
"Look at you. And you thought you could seduce men like everyone else? Disgusting!"
"Let me add a little something to you, so you won't go tormenting anyone else later."
With that, the girl pulled out an art knife and stared with a vicious grin at Karuizawa Kei, curled up on the ground.
"Don't come any closer! Please, let me go..."
"No!!!"
Whoosh~~~
The sleeping girl jolted awake. Thunder roared outside, and though the air conditioner was running, Karuizawa Kei was still drenched in cold sweat.
"It was a dream..."
After taking a deep breath, Karuizawa Kei straightened the bedsheets. Her hand, however, moved unconsciously to her left side, where a shocking scar still stood out.
"It's all over now. I won't make the same mistakes again..."
Murmuring softly, Karuizawa Kei couldn't help letting her thoughts drift back to the first day of school.
After the self-introductions, Karuizawa Kei observed the class and decided which boy was most likely to lead it.
Hirata Yosuke's kind nature and friendly way of speaking made his "potential" immediately clear to her.
So she went to find him alone after class and explained what she had in mind, revealing her past in the hope of gaining his "protection."
"So, Karuizawa, you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend and help you avoid being bullied by the others in class. Is that right?"
That day, Hirata had tentatively put it into words. He'd expected Karuizawa Kei to accept the idea, but she'd turned him down.
"No, I just hope you can act like we're close in class, until I make some friends..."
The more she said, the less confident Karuizawa Kei felt. In her original plan, Hirata's proposal had been what she'd intended to do from the very beginning. But whenever she thought of her past relationships, she sank back into that old pain and couldn't pull herself out. So she chose another approach.
She would keep things ambiguous with Hirata, draw the other girls in, and build a little group of her own.
In the end, Hirata smiled and agreed to her request, saying he'd do everything he could to help her move on from the past and start a new school life.
She'd thought that would be the end of it, but what happened afterward left her feeling confused.
Chiba Yu, a boy she'd thought was utterly unremarkable and had no reason to ever get involved with, had somehow become her "friend."
At first, they'd only interacted because their homeroom teacher was about to hold a class meeting and asked her to wake Chiba Yu, who was sleeping with his head on his desk. He'd made an absolutely terrible first impression on her.
It went without saying that someone like him would usually become a nobody in class. Even if someone mentioned his name, the most likely response would be, "Oh, we have someone like that in our class?"
If he hadn't been acquainted with Hirata, there was no way she would have had anything to do with him.
Then came the experiences at the karaoke place and the library, which completely changed her opinion of him.
He was the first to crack the school's S-System, his ability to manipulate his scores was extraordinary, and Class B tried to recruit him. None of those things seemed like something an ordinary person could do.
Although he repeatedly insisted it had all been a coincidence, and his scores afterward were no longer the same, Karuizawa Kei took it as him being too stubborn to admit the truth.
Unlike the other girls, she didn't see Chiba Yu as just an ordinary student who happened to get good grades.
But none of that was the most important thing. What mattered was that she felt he'd seen right through her!
Yes. During that study session at the library, she noticed that there was something different in Chiba Yu's gaze when he looked at her. It wasn't romantic interest; it felt more like he could see through her.
That feeling sent chills down her spine, yet at the same time, it made her feel relieved.
She couldn't read Chiba Yu or understand why someone like him would be content to live like a "good-for-nothing," idling away every day and letting life pass him by.
What had his past been like?
And what would her future be like...
The girl tossed and turned in bed as her thoughts wandered further and further. Perhaps only the bright moon and the glittering stars could glimpse what else lay ahead...