A shout against injustice

"Bang!"

Inside the girls' restroom on the first floor of the classroom building, a shove forced An Le's body into the wall.

Sirens rang outside the campus, yet seemed unable to reach this private space, allowing an indefinable darkness to breed.

"Ugh..."

The pain in her back drew an involuntary whimper from An Le, and she instinctively clutched her chest.

She was having trouble breathing again, but this time she had no chance to undo her buttons.

Her cowardice turned the anxiety of being bullied into a piercing ringing in her ears, making the otherwise quiet restroom seem noisy.

Buzzz...

But An Le could not attend to her mounting anxiety or the ringing clamoring in her ears. She simply raised her head at once and looked at Piao Shuwen.

For no other reason than that Piao Shuwen was holding the white letter An Le had yet to send.

She glanced at the writing on the envelope and sneered.

"Oh, Xiao Huan. Who's that supposed to be? So intimate?"

"G-give it back."

Seeing Piao Shuwen about to open the letter, An Le struggled, trying to snatch it back.

Piao Shuwen's face immediately darkened. She stepped back and raised the letter.

"Hold her down first. Let me see what this cow wrote to the president!"

An Le had barely started forward when the two girls beside her seized her arms and pinned her back against the wall.

Buzzz...

The ringing in her ears grew sharper and more agitated.

"An Le, you've been naughty. You actually knew to send the president a letter through Yatsuhashi? Tell us, were you eavesdropping on us?"

"Who would've thought? You're so quiet normally, but you're secretly this horny."

An Le tried to resist, but her strength was no match for the two girls before her.

Beneath her disheveled black hair, her misty eyes watched helplessly as Piao Shuwen opened the letter she had written, revealing the folded stationery inside.

"Ugh... l-let go of me. That's mine..."

Piao Shuwen ignored An Le completely, merely unfolding the paper and reading its contents.

After two or three lines, Piao Shuwen looked up incredulously and sneered to her two companions.

"Hey, look at this. She's fantasized herself into hallucinating. Saying the president cared about her when they were little and even stayed at her house with her... I'm dying."

"Huh? Going for the childhood sweethearts storyline? What an imagination, little An Le."

"What's a cow when it's little? A little calf?"

Holding the letter between her fingers, Piao Shuwen walked toward An Le, looking at her as she spoke.

"If the president really knew you, how come we've never seen him talk to you this entire semester? Don't you feel ashamed, fantasizing like this?"

An Le's struggles had been feeble before, simply because she lacked strength. Yet when Piao Shuwen mocked her for lying, she suddenly raised her head and argued forcefully.

"I'm not! I just... just..."

She could actually have reunited with Yan Huan when she first saw him upon enrolling, so why had An Le still not dared approach him?

They were in the same year, on the same floor. Was walking a few steps to see him in person really so difficult?

There was a reason, one An Le herself knew, but dared not admit even to herself.

Piao Shuwen sneered and reached out to pinch An Le's chin.

"Just what? Don't think I don't know what you're thinking, you cow. Aren't you disgusting? Do you think you're worthy? Huh? A sewer rat whose family can't even produce a decent outfit. Looking like a ghost every day, and you have the nerve to like someone? You know, if I were the president, I'd be absolutely disgusted..."

Merely intending to demonstrate how pathetic An Le was, Piao Shuwen roughly used the paper to lift her loose bangs, exposing the face she kept hidden.

After inspecting her, Piao Shuwen first froze briefly, then her expression instantly grew several degrees colder.

She hurriedly let the bangs fall again, then gripped the envelope with both hands instead.

"Like writing letters? I'll show you! I'm telling you, if we ever catch you writing to the president again, you'll pay for it."

Then, with a forceful tug, she tore apart the letter An Le had spent an entire night carefully composing.

Buzzz...

The eyes hidden beneath An Le's bangs slowly contracted. Only now did the piercing ringing in her ears seem to recede a little.

Then that restless voice immediately flooded her mind.

"You useless idiot!!"

It was the little snake, Little Finger's voice.

"Fuck, they're bullying you like this, and you're still so nervous your mind's a mess and you can't even hear me!!"

An illusory snake-shaped tattoo swam restlessly up and down across her skin, demonstrating its fury.

"Kill them all! Kill every last one!! Right now!!"

But An Le simply stared blankly as the scraps fluttered to the floor, as though what had shattered was not that unsent letter, but her heart.

From that shattered heart, the real reason she had not dared approach Yan Huan for the past six months slowly emerged.

She was just...

Afraid.

Afraid of what?

After all, so many years had passed, and Xiao Huan had become so popular. He must have made countless new friends in his world.

While she had remained in the same place all these years.

So insecure, timid, and cowardly.

She was already in college, yet she still dwelled on elementary school, treating him, whom she had been separated from for years, as her sole attachment. Didn't that sound ironic?

She couldn't dress herself up and looked hopelessly unfashionable...

She liked niche reptile pets rather than those cute, fluffy animals, and loved playing games she couldn't let other people know about.

What if someone like her approached the immensely popular him, and he looked confused?

"Um, sorry, who were you again? I don't think I quite remember."

An Le was simply afraid-afraid he had already forgotten her.

Rather than face that highly likely possibility, she would rather leave things as they were and pretend he might still remember her.

As long as she thought, We haven't reunited because I haven't approached him, she could avoid the terror of He forgot me long ago.

That was how An Le deceived herself.

But the human heart was fickle.

She did not know why she had felt so sad upon hearing Spencer confidently declare that Yan Huan and Hitomi Sakuramiya had gotten together.

Although she did not know what Spencer had been mouthing then, An Le, with her considerable experience in risqué matters, immediately assumed they had already had sex.

That sadness drove her to act impulsively, carefully composing a letter she wanted to give Yatsuhashi so he could pass it on to Xiao Huan...

Yet now, Piao Shuwen's words had knocked her back into icy insecurity.

She gazed at the shredded letter scattered across the floor, her vision having blurred without her noticing.

Only when warmth touched her cheeks did she finally realize...

She was crying.

"Hey, she's actually crying!"

"Seriously? A few words and she can't take it?"

Inside her head, Little Finger's voice was on the verge of breaking down.

It felt as though these girls weren't bullying An Le, but bullying it.

"You useless idiot!! Stand up straight!! What are your legs going weak for? Stop fucking crying! Lay into them!!"

Little Finger was absolutely seething. It wished it could become a Gundam pilot right then and use the modifier's power to teach these morons a vicious lesson.

But it could not do that, because only its host's will could make the modifier work.

And the current An Le clearly wasn't a qualified Gundam.

Whoosh...

Just as the atmosphere in the restroom grew fraught, the sound of flushing suddenly came from one of the stalls.

Piao Shuwen paused, not having expected anyone else to be in the restroom.

Turning, she saw the stall door swing open and an expressionless blonde beauty step out.

"..."

This girl...

Oh, the new transfer student in our class?

What was her name...

Spencer?

For some reason, the mere sight of Spencer brought a surge of loathing into Piao Shuwen's heart.

That loathing could even rival her hatred for An Le.

Spencer glanced their way, her gaze lingering on An Le, who was surrounded by several girls and sobbing quietly.

"..."

"What are you looking at?"

Piao Shuwen frowned as she spoke.

Spencer withdrew her gaze and silently turned toward the sinks.

She seemed afraid of Piao Shuwen, or perhaps unwilling to interfere.

Splash...

Water ran from the faucet as Spencer dispensed some hand soap and washed her hands.

Piao Shuwen coldly looked away and returned her attention to An Le, who was crying soundlessly before her.

She was about to say something when the hand dryer roared behind her.

Bzzzz!

Piao Shuwen's brow furrowed deeper, and she decided to wait until Spencer left before continuing.

But behind her, Spencer's voice suddenly drifted over, casual and flat.

"You fucking bitch, were you talking to me just now?"

"..."

Piao Shuwen turned again in disbelief. Behind her, Spencer had approached at some point and now stood before her with an overwhelmingly imposing presence.

She was smiling, revealing her trademark pointed canine, yet a terrifying, dense black aura seemed to rise around her...

"You..."

Startled by Spencer's frightening presence, Piao Shuwen's previously forceful voice instantly softened somewhat, though she still talked tough.

"You'd better mind your own business. This is between us..."

"Ohhh."

Spencer nodded, yet seemed to pay her words no heed at all, merely folding her arms as she spoke.

"I heard everything you just said. Honestly, I think you lot should all piss yourselves a puddle and take a good look at your reflections. She's not worthy of writing letters to that Yan Huan or whatever? Neither are you. Every last one of you is hideous, and you bark like dogs. I'd find you too noisy even chained outside my front door... so shut up, all of you, okay?"

Still silently crying, An Le raised her head blankly, as though she had been caught in the splash damage of some unidentified area attack.

Piao Shuwen was even more thoroughly choked by Spencer's words. She instinctively wanted to argue and retaliate with personal insults of her own.

But at a glance, Spencer stood before her with her head held high, her beautiful blonde hair complementing her stunning, dashing face. She practically sparkled, even in the restroom.

Damn it...

I can't compete on looks!

Then surely her family background...

Piao Shuwen glanced at Spencer's luxury pendant and custom sportswear...

She had never even seen these designs. If not for the brand logos...

"Your mother..."

Utterly defeated, Piao Shuwen was so overcome with rage that she raised her palm and swung it at Spencer's face.

Getting desperate?

Spencer grinned mockingly and caught the incoming slap with a light lift of her left hand.

"Want a fight? Sure. Fighting's my favorite."

Piao Shuwen's eyes widened as she looked at her captured wrist, which was sending waves of intense pain through her.

At that moment, she even felt as though a bear had grabbed her hand.

And the next second, Spencer raised her right hand high before her.

That raised right hand cast a palm-shaped shadow over Piao Shuwen's pale face; she only came up to Spencer's chest.

"W-wait..."

Piao Shuwen already sensed something was wrong and instinctively pleaded for mercy.

Whoosh!

But the next second, Spencer's right hand was already hurtling toward her face with a fierce rush of air.

Bang!

Following an explosive crack, the left side of Piao Shuwen's face visibly distorted. She toppled backward while spinning twice, finally landing facedown on the floor.

"...Sh-Shuwen, are you okay?"

But Piao Shuwen lay motionless, looking as though she were sleeping soundly on the restroom floor.

An Le no longer even dared cry. Looking at Spencer, she felt as though she were seeing some urban legend that could frighten children out of crying at night.

Along with her, the two girls restraining her also went blank.

Really, An Le could even feel that the two girls beside her were weaker in the knees than she was, seemingly unable to stand steadily.

It was their first time seeing a slap send someone spinning twice before hitting the floor.

Spencer, too, glanced at her palm in surprise and flexed her fingers.

Then the smile on her face grew even more excited.

She raised her eyes and swept her gaze to either side of An Le, frightening the two girls into shaking their heads repeatedly.

"Wait, I... I didn't..."

But Spencer wouldn't listen. She kicked one of the girls in the waist, sending her crumpling to the floor, clutching her lower abdomen and howling in pain.

The other girl turned to run, but Spencer grabbed her by the hair, dragged her back, and flung her to the floor.

Compared to the other two, she wasn't actually hurt that badly, but she didn't dare get up again, afraid of taking another beating.

"..."

Only after doing all that did Spencer give a soft huff.

She glanced up at An Le, then shook her head and turned to leave the restroom.

It felt like my strength had increased again. Ever since I threatened that president that day, my Plunder Energy had gone up quite a bit.

Well, I didn't understand exactly how it worked, but it felt pretty good.

"Um..."

Just as Spencer stepped out of the restroom, An Le's small, animal-like voice suddenly sounded behind her.

Spencer paused slightly and turned to look at her.

"What?"

"Th-thank you for helping me."

Spencer blinked and said listlessly,

"I wouldn't really call it that. If that bitch hadn't run her mouth, I probably wouldn't have bothered with you."

"But... when you came out just now, Spencer, you seemed to keep looking at me, so I thought..."

"Ugh, would you quit pestering me?"

An Le's words seemed to have struck a nerve. Spencer folded her arms, turned her head away, and huffed, her long golden hair swinging in a half circle like a golden lion's mane and tail.

Her words made An Le lower her head in embarrassment again, unsure what to say.

Seeing how pitiful she looked, Spencer sighed, but for a moment, she didn't know what to say either.

"..."

"..."

An Le was too nervous and shy. Even though she knew what to say, she was too embarrassed to get the words out.

As for Spencer?

All that could be said was that she was thinking hard.

In the end, An Le cautiously spoke first.

"Um... if they try to cause trouble for you, I'll be your witness, Spencer."

"Heh, don't worry. They wouldn't dare cause trouble for me."

Spencer didn't seem concerned at all, but An Le's words seemed to finally give her something to say.

"Instead of worrying about me, you'd better worry about yourself. You won't always be lucky enough to have me around."

After all, people like you, who had nothing, were the most pitiful.

An Le pressed her lips together, lowered her head, and nodded while pinching the hem of her skirt.

As Spencer turned to head back to class, An Le quietly followed at her side.

A police siren rang out on campus. An Le and Spencer turned to look in that direction, but neither understood what had happened.

But unlike Spencer, who withdrew her gaze in boredom, An Le dimly made out a boy in front of the police car.

The mere sight of his figure made An Le's gaze recoil as though it had been burned.

Xiao Huan...

Then An Le suddenly remembered Spencer bringing up Yan Huan yesterday, and connected that with what she had said in the restroom.

An Le glanced nervously at Spencer and suddenly asked in a quiet voice,

"Um... Spencer, you seem really interested in President Yan... do you like him too?"

Spencer stroked her chin and gave it serious thought, then shook her head and said,

"No, I don't feel anything for him."

She just enjoyed the thrill of snatching him away from other people.

As for An Le...

Spencer thought people like her, who had nothing, were the most pitiful.

"I see..."

Hearing Spencer's answer, An Le breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she worked up her courage and moved a little closer to her.

All day yesterday, hardly anyone in class had seemed to pay Spencer any attention. An Le could somewhat relate to that feeling of isolation.

And although Spencer looked fierce and easy to dislike, she was actually a very kind person...

That made An Le want to become friends with her.

"Um, Spencer, whatever the case... thank you for what happened earlier. I haven't even introduced myself yet. My name is An Le."

"I know. I heard when those guys were insulting you."

Spencer yawned, answering halfheartedly.

Just then, her phone suddenly chimed in her pocket.

She took it out and glanced at it. Then her eyes immediately widened, and she unlocked the screen to read the details.

It seemed to be an email from the student council.

"Notice of Aria Spencer's mandatory participation in a study group"

A long explanation followed, seemingly laying out the reason for the email and what they wanted her to do.

But Spencer scrolled up and down several times and saw only two words in the lengthy email.

"Prison time!"

Spencer sucked in a breath and kept scrolling, so angry that she laughed.

At the very bottom, she saw the closing lines.

"In conclusion, Aria Spencer is expected to visit the student council office before the end of this Friday to register for the study group.

"Arriving late or failing to report to the student council will be recorded and reported to the principal's office. Aria Spencer will bear all resulting consequences, including notification of her parents. Please be advised."

"Totsuki Academy student council president: Yan Huan"

An Le also caught the gist of the email, but before she could say anything, she saw Spencer suddenly tighten her grip on her phone, veins bulging on the back of her hand.

"...Didn't you ask me earlier whether I liked Yan Huan? Now, not only do I feel nothing for him, I'm starting to dislike him a little."

"Huh?"

An Le blinked, instinctively feeling a little happy, but soon hated herself for feeling that way.

She hurriedly waved her hands and explained to Spencer with a smile,

"Xiao Huan is just doing his job. This is all the school's fault. Even as student council president, there's not much he can do, so..."

Spencer was expressionless and just about to blow up, but looking at An Le standing before her with her head lowered, like a little animal with nothing to her name, she suddenly lost her steam.

In the end, she huffed and continued toward the classroom in irritation.

"Simps never die well, you know?"