"Hey! Karuizawa, I have sothing to ask you!"
Manabe Shiho, Yamashita Saki, and Yabu Nanami aggressively cornered Karuizawa Kei.
"What is it?"
Karuizawa Kei pretended to be calm while fiddling with her phone, but her eyes dared not et the gaze of the three in front of her.
"Did you bully Rika before the sumr break?"
"Ha? What do you an? Who is Rika?"
"The girl in our class who wears glasses, has a hair bun—you rember, right?"
"I don't know her... you must have the wrong person."
Karuizawa Kei's eyes flickered; she clearly had an impression of the girl they were ntioning. It was on a weekend before the sumr break when she was buying desserts.
She had accidentally bumped into a girl who was waiting in line. She was about to apologize, but then she saw mbers of Class D nearby. To maintain her image as the leader of the gyarus, she forcefully cut in front of the girl instead.
She had originally intended to buy an extra ice cream to compensate her afterward, but the girl was so scared she ran away.
"We definitely heard it! She said she was bullied by a blonde girl with a ponytail from Class D!"
"She said while buying desserts, she was suddenly cut in line and bumped into by you."
Yabu Nanami pushed further with the accusation.
"I don't know anything about that..."
Karuizawa Kei continued to look down at her phone, appearing sowhat guilty.
"What? You actually don't rember?" Yamashita Saki's eyes widened, filled with anger. "If you did it, we expect you to apologize in person!"
"Tch! Let's just confirm it with Rika, shall we?"
A cold glint flashed in Manabe Shiho's eyes. She rembered the girl's performance during the island exam—she had cried like a weakling just because her underwear was stolen. To confirm her suspicions further, she made up an excuse and raised her phone toward Karuizawa Kei, preparing to take a photo.
"No!"
Karuizawa Kei suddenly beca emotional and slapped the phone out of Manabe's hand.
'This reaction... it's exactly the sa as the girls I've bullied before!'
"What are you doing! What if the phone broke?!"
Karuizawa Kei shrunk her neck and responded with forced composure, "Just... just go ask the school for a new one, isn't that fine..."
Just listen to that—these words were incredibly cowardly!
Manabe Shiho suddenly reached out and grabbed her. "Who gave you permission to decide things for yourself!"
Seeing this, the other two skillfully moved in to surround her.
"What? What are you trying to do?"
Cold sweat broke out on Karuizawa Kei's forehead. This scene brought back mories of being cornered back in middle school.
"If it wasn't you, why won't you let us take a photo?" Manabe Shiho raised her phone again.
"I—I said I don't want to!" Karuizawa Kei instinctively raised both hands to cover her face.
"What's with that?"
"It's too late to act like a weak woman now!"
"I really can't stand this about you!"
"I'll hold her down, you guys take the picture!"
The three of them skillfully laid hands on her. Inside the room, several people from Class A had not yet left. One boy seed like he couldn't stand it and wanted to co over to stop them.
But he was pulled back by a companion who advised him, "Don't stick your nose into other people's business, Machida. Don't forget our class points are in a very dangerous position right now."
"..."
The boy nad Machida, who had a sense of justice, still hesitated. Of course, it was mainly because Karuizawa Kei was pretty. If he played the hero saving the beauty, maybe he'd gain a beautiful girl afterward?
But he was quickly persuaded by his companion's words: "Letting Class D and Class C cause a scene might lead to point deductions for both of their classes!"
Just like that, the people from Class A left as well. Only Karuizawa Kei and the trio of Manabe remained in the room.
"Let go of ! I don't want to!!"
Karuizawa Kei's body began to tremble uncontrollably.
"Hey, hey? Look, her legs are shaking. Could it be she's actually scared?"
"Tch~ looking this pathetic while pretending to be a gyaru."
"This is hilarious, haha!"
The Manabe trio was no longer satisfied with just taking photos; they wanted to intentionally pull at Karuizawa Kei's clothes.
However, right at that mont, a figure pushed the door open and entered. The Manabe trio suddenly froze. It was the visual equivalent of being caught red-handed by the Dean while doing sothing bad!
"Manabe! Yabu! Yamashita!"
"Present!" [X3]
The three of them instinctively stood at attention on the spot.
"Ha-Hachiman-kun!"
Karuizawa Kei's eyes lit up as if she had seen a savior. She imdiately broke through the trio's encirclent and lunged toward Hikigaya.
"Fine, just calm down first."
Hikigaya quickly grabbed her shoulders with his hands, stopping Karuizawa Kei's attempt to hug him.
"Hi-Hikigaya..."
"This doesn't have anything to do with you, does it?" Manabe Shiho's montum weakened instantly.
"Oh? I haven't even settled the score with you for the stolen underwear yet!" Hikigaya glared at them with his dead-fish eyes.
"Th-that wasn't , do you have evidence?" Manabe Shiho stubbornly refused to admit it.
"Hikigaya, we aren't the ones looking for trouble."
"It's Karuizawa who bullied our friend." Yabu Nanami tried to use logic.
"You an Morofuji Rika, right?"
Hikigaya had tutored the academic underperforrs of Class C at a KTV previously after a deal with Ryuen Kakeru.
"Ye-yeah..." The Manabe trio nodded.
"Are you sure she's your friend? From what I saw, you guys were constantly ordering her around. You three are the ones who have been bullying her, aren't you?"
Hikigaya's words pierced through their hypocrisy in one go.
He hadn't forgotten that back at the KTV, these three were always making Morofuji Rika buy water and snacks. He couldn't stand it back then and had strictly scolded the three of them, forbidding them from doing unrelated things during study ti!
"Am-among friends, what's wrong with helping out? Besides, we are standing up for her now!"
"Exactly! Hikigaya, you can't be unreasonable just because you're on good terms with this woman Karuizawa!"
The Manabe trio had a certain understanding of Hikigaya's personality; they knew that while he was strict, he was still soone who listened to reason.
"Since Morofuji-san feels bullied, have her co here herself.
I will have Karuizawa apologize to her personally," Hikigaya said.
"Eh? I really have to apologize...?" Karuizawa Kei was still sowhat resistant. If she did that, the gyaru image she worked so hard to build would lose its "cool" factor!
"What? You aren't willing?" Hikigaya glanced at her.
He thought to himself: This girl just needs to be disciplined! What gyaru? What "cool" factor do you even have?
If he didn't manage her now, she'd be stepping all over his head in the future!!
"O-okay then...
I'll listen to Hachiman-kun."
Karuizawa Kei nodded obediently. Seeing this, the Manabe trio completely lost their reason to denounce Karuizawa.
"This matter ends here.
If you have any further opinions, you can co talk to .
You know, I am a very reasonable person." Hikigaya's tone suddenly shifted.
"Of course, if you don't want to be reasonable, I can also accompany you to the very end!"
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