Chapter 13 – A H***y Fool Never Learns

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The day after I laid everything out for Mahiro, I strolled into school expecting another dull morning. Instead, I got jumped at the entrance by none other than Mobuko A.

“Hey, Nakani—how the hell did you get Mahiro to come to school!?”

“The hell's with you all of a sudden?”

“Because—because Mahiro is actually here!!”

“She's a student. Of course she's at school.”

Her sudden outburst caught me off guard, but what really threw me was how she called me by my surname. What the hell? I thought I was just ‘Skinny B*****d' to her.

“That's not the issue here!! She was totally unapproachable until yesterday, and now this!?”

“And who the hell decided that a mob character like you gets to use fancy words like ‘unapproachable’? You should treasure your mob identity more.”

“Mind your own damn business, you scrawny little smartass!! Shouldn't you be more worried about Mahiro—”

“Hmm. So, as her friend, how does she seem to you?”

“…Huh?”

“‘Huh?’ is not an answer. She's a student, so of course she's here. The real question is whether she's still stuck in a slump or if she's starting to move forward. I haven't seen her yet, so I can't judge. But you're with her all the time, aren't you? You'd have a better idea.”

“…”

I kept my voice flat, neutral, all business. It didn't matter why Mahiro had come to school—it mattered how. If she was just dragging herself here like a lifeless doll, it didn't mean s**t.

“…She's not exactly all sunshine and rainbows, but… her eyes aren't dead, I think.”

“Hmm. Sounds like she's at least aware that she can't stay like this forever. That's good.”

“…You think so?”

“Yeah. She's got a best friend beside her, after all.”

“…”

Might as well set up a yuri flag while I'm at it.

“What, you're not her best friend? You're going out of your way to meddle, getting all worked up just because she showed up to school. That's the textbook definition of a best friend move.”

“………”

Mobuko A fell completely silent. The hell? She wasn't Mahiro's best friend? No way. If she were just a random classmate, she wouldn't be this invested.

…Wait.

Was she actually in love with her?

Well, if that was the case, fine by me.

“Anyway, back to the real topic. How's your investigation going?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. I asked some of the soccer club members, just casually bringing it up, but… it turns out not everyone even knows about what Mahiro was doing. Apparently, she mostly dealt with the regulars, and the seniors were the priority.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. So, while rumors won't spread instantly…”

“That actually makes things more annoying. If it were classmates, I could find ways to shut them up, but seniors? That's a whole different problem.”

“Yeah… Also, there's one thing that's been bothering me.”

“And that is?”

“Well, before Mahiro, Hashizume actually had a girlfriend. They broke up, and that's when Mahiro got close to him.”

Tch.

So this was what it was like to be a high-ranking, wild-type popular guy. Women just came to you. No effort required.

Not that I was jealous or anything. You only needed one partner. It was just that the road to getting that one person could be smooth as silk or a goddamn mountain climb, all depending on your birth stats.

…And being greasy sure as hell wasn't the way to win.

“Wait, so what happened to his ex? Did she end up like Mahiro?”

“I tried looking into that too, but… she's been skipping school. Hasn't shown up in a while.”

“…Huh. That's… suspicious.”

“Right? But I've never heard a single rumor about her going through what Mahiro did.”

“Hmm.”

“I'll dig a little deeper into it.”

Yeah, I highly doubted someone like Hashizume had the brainpower to learn from his mistakes. If Mahiro went through all that, chances were his ex did too—maybe not to the same degree, maybe worse.

But if there weren't any rumors about it, that meant Mahiro's situation wouldn't go public immediately either.

“Alright then. Well, keep at it—Mahiro's best friend. I'm leaving the rest to you, Mobuko A.”

With that, I washed my hands of the matter and left it all to her.

“…It's Temari.”

“Huh?”

“Te-ma-ri. Sakuma Temari. That's my name. Remember it.”

Just when I thought the conversation was over, Mobuko A—no, Temari—stared me down, her sharp eyes daring me to forget.

That was when I noticed, for the first time, the beauty mark just below her left eye. Huh. Weird. For a mob character, she had an unnecessary charm point. Combined with her bob cut that barely hid her ears… yeah, alright. I'd remember her name.

“Got it, Temari.”

“Did you just call me by my first name!?”

“You just told me to, didn't you? If you don't like it, I can go back to calling you Mobuko A.”

“…Ugh, seriously. You really are—whatever. I can't believe I actually blushed.”

She muttered something under her breath, pressing both hands against her cheeks, her fingers digging into the flushed skin.

Yeah, her face was definitely red—but what the hell had I even said to make her blush like that?

Before I could dwell on it, the sharp chime of the five-minute warning bell rang through the school, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“…Well, whatever. No more time to waste chatting with Temari. If you ever need to talk, come find me. Or don't. Your call.”

“Ugh, you're really… fine! If I get any new info, I'll report back to you, Yuuya!”

“…Sure.”

Still flustered, Temari spat the words out like she was trying to get rid of them before bolting toward her classroom. Her skirt fluttered with every hurried step, the fleeting glimpse of her thighs momentarily distracting me before I exhaled and shook my head.

Well, whatever.

I'd enjoy my peaceful days while they lasted—at least until the inevitable shitstorm hit.

Or so I thought.

But that peace didn't last long.

Not long after, a female student attempted suicide.

And the entire school was thrown into chaos.