Chapter 39: Kind.

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Translated and Edited by: luccayn.

Common Honorifics:
-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.
-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.
-chan: A common suffix among people you're close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it's cutesy and childlike.
-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one's older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.

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After leaving the Idol Research Club and heading to the back of the school building to gather my thoughts, I was suddenly ambushed by Yamakawa, who desperately tried to convince me of something. Even though I told him it wasn't going to work, he wouldn't listen. So, I ran back to the classroom with all my might, and when I finally returned…

“What the hell is going on here?”

There were even onlookers in the hallway, and the sound of a girl's shrill voice echoed far down the corridor. Aoyama and Haruna were crying their eyes out, Yusa seemed to be frantically trying to prevent things from escalating into violence, and Tsukino was frozen in place, staring at me.

And, of course, Hareta was nowhere to be seen.

“Sh-Shinji-kun…”

“What?”

Tsukino called my name, but when she couldn't figure out what to say next, she turned around with a shaky smile. Then, out of nowhere, she started crying.

Come on, what you're supposed to do is push the responsibility onto me, make it so that no one's at fault. Just smooth things over for now, get back to being friends, and by the time we start cramming for next year's entrance exams, we can let everything fade away quietly.

Why are you so hopelessly clumsy?

“I… I…”

Really, you're a helpless woman.

“Idiot.”

I stepped forward and stood directly in front of Tsukino. I felt like patting her on the head and telling her she did well, but that's not my style. Besides, I made a weird promise to Aomi-senpai, so that kind of gesture was off the table.

So, I'll just do what I can. This isn't how I planned it, but since things have spiraled this far out of control, I'll at least finish my part. Tsukino said, “Wait for me,” and I'm the only one who can believe in her words. It'd be too cruel not to.

At this point, creating the place for her to wait is the best thing I can do. No more back and forth—let's get it over with.

“Hey, Tsukino.”

I took a deep breath and looked her straight in the eyes.

“You're the one who locked me in the second storage room, weren't you?”

The classmates around us began whispering in confusion, wondering what the hell I was talking about.

I went straight for my trump card, but in a situation that's already out of control, there was no other way to change the atmosphere. I had to draw their attention with something that everyone here already knew about—the incident that happened during homeroom that no one could have forgotten.

Tsukino must have anticipated taking some damage from this. At the very least, she'd have to face her parents and cover the cost of replacing the lock. Let that be her punishment for locking me up.

“Huh…?”

Now, where do I even start? All the scenarios I'd prepared were useless now thanks to this unexpected turn of events, so I'll just have to figure it out as I go along. Still, I'll manage. I've been through worse.

I'm not about to start complaining about a lack of confidence.

“You told me you didn't know anything when I asked about the lock on the door, didn't you?”

“D-Did I say that?”

“But you came to the second storage room. That's strange, isn't it? You wouldn't have known it was open unless you had the key from the teacher. But that's the thing—you did know it was open. Because Tanabe, the PE teacher, told you I was in there.”

I leaned my elbows on the teacher's desk to catch my breath, the exhaustion from running hitting me hard. I really need to do something about my lack of stamina.

“What was even more strange,” I continued, “was how calm you were in that suffocating heat.”

“Ugh…”

“Not only were you calm, but you were doing small talk with me. That's not normal. In a room so sealed off you'd be guaranteed to get heatstroke if you stayed there long, how could you stay so composed?”

I pointed my finger directly at Tsukino.

“The answer's simple. You knew that if things got too dangerous, you could get out. You knew from the start about that door, the one that leaves a small gap when it's locked. I don't know where you got that information, but you came there intending to lock me in from the inside.”

“…What does that mean?”

“It means I was the one locked in, not you.”

I responded to someone's whisper, and murmurs began spreading throughout the room. The students listening from outside the classroom were probably confused, but at least my classmates had started to understand the situation, and the chatter died down.

“So, the question remains: why did she need to lock me up? Although, I bet some of you already know the reason.”

I scanned the room, and four girls quickly averted their eyes when I made eye contact with them. No time to dig deeper, but this only reinforced the credibility of what Aomi-senpai had told me.

“What are you talking about, Shinji?” Yamakawa chimed in, helpfully pushing the conversation along.

“It's simple. The timing of the next class. Something would have happened during that time that would've been inconvenient for Tsukino, and by extension, the ‘harem.'”

“And what would that be?”

“Do you remember what class we had after PE that day?”

“…Oh! It was a free period! Self-study!”

Exactly. Our English teacher, Ryan-sensei, had an urgent matter, so we had an unsupervised self-study period.

“In other words, something happened in the gym. Tsukino locked me up to keep me away for the full hour, giving her and the others enough time to cover up whatever it was.”

If something odd had happened during an unsupervised study session, the boys would've caught on and started gossiping. And if it got to someone like Hamabe, he'd have come up to me and asked, “Hey Shinji, what do you think?” and I'd have played detective, making wild guesses with a clueless look on my face.

“So, what exactly happened? What are you girls hiding from us boys?”

I glanced at Aoyama, but she was looking at me now, not Tsukino. Yusa was doing his best to keep things calm, which I appreciated. If this situation escalated any further, there'd be no bringing it back under control.

“There's only one thing it could be,” I said.

Probably, only three guys—Yamakawa, Higashide, and Hamabe—already had an idea of what I was talking about, based on their past experiences. No need to elaborate on that further.

Of course, I didn't know for certain if this was true. I was just piecing together what Aomi-senpai had told me, making it sound more cohesive.

“The girls' PE class was basketball, right? Uh, Kurita, you're in the basketball club, right?”

“Yeah, that's right.”

Kurita was the one to answer, breaking the silence that had settled over the class.

“I don't know much about basketball, so can you tell me what kinds of fouls are common?”

“Well, there are a lot, but for a basic class like ours, it'd be stuff like traveling, double dribbling… and charging… Oh!”

Kurita didn't finish his sentence, but everyone in the room understood.

Even if it wasn't intentional, even if it was a complete accident, someone must have gotten hurt. Tsukino saw what happened and reacted.

“Are you saying Tsukino was the one who got hurt?”

“No, it wasn't Tsukino. And the person responsible might have even been a third-year. The girls don't know who the culprit is, right?”

Of course, that was a lie. I knew for a fact the culprit was someone in this class. But the atmosphere didn't give anyone a chance to challenge me. There was no point in explaining how I knew what I knew, and their silence only helped my case.

The girls who had averted their eyes earlier said nothing. The solidarity between them was impressive. If they'd been boys, one of them would've broken the silence out of some misplaced sense of justice, and this would never have gone so smoothly.

The boys accepted the girls’ silent response as confirmation.

“But if there's a chance it was a third-year student, what's the problem?” one of them asked.

“Think about it. If a senior was involved, there's no way they'd speak up out of fear of retaliation. School is one of the few places in Japan where a hierarchical system allows for violence to be quietly accepted. Finding out who did it would serve no one's best interests.”

If they couldn't talk about it or it wasn't exposed, it was as good as not having happened. I've been on the receiving end of this kind of violence more than once, so if anyone wanted the truth, I could share more than enough.

“… I see. Honestly, your deduction is impressive.”

“Don't give me too much credit. It's just how things played out.”

Now, if Tsukino had been worried about me noticing anything, the victim would've had some visible sign, like bandages. I glanced at Haruna, who was the only one of the “heroines” who hadn't moved from her desk. Her ankle caught my eye—it looked like her long sock was slightly bulging. Even after the weekend, the injury must still be there.

But I decided not to dig any deeper into who the victim or the suspect was. That wasn't my job.

“Now, everyone,” I said, focusing the conversation back, “the key question here is, ‘Why didn't Tsukino want the truth about the incident in PE to come out?' Everything else is secondary, don't you think?”

I delivered my line dramatically, making sure to keep the attention of the “anonymous” crowd focused on the real issue. Then I turned to Tsukino. She gave a resigned yet somewhat relieved smile, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

“Fufu…”

A lone tear gently trailed down her face.

“But this isn't hard to figure out either. Tsukino was just trying to protect her friends.”

“Her friends?”

“Yeah, her friends. Those four girls have been together since before this so-called ‘harem' nonsense. They were friends first, and Tsukino's always said that herself, hasn't she?”

It's not a dramatic story, but it's the most important reason. Tsukino was fighting for something she cared about more than anything else. And that's reason enough for anyone to fight.

“There doesn't have to be a logical reason for it, right? She knew that if I got involved, her friends would get hurt. So she pushed me away. It's the simplest and most beautiful answer.”

Not a single student looked disappointed. If anything, they seemed shocked that this could be true.

And rightly so. The idea that Tsukino, after being hit with so much malice, could still see those people as her friends was baffling. It didn't make sense, but no one could find a more reasonable explanation.

The truth is, Tsukino Michiru is just an ordinary high school girl under the mask of the school idol. She's a hard worker, a bit selfish, but more human than anyone else.

People made her into something more than she was.

She wasn't some extraordinary girl. She was just someone who worked hard and did her best. You all expected perfection from her pretty face, but never saw the broken person underneath. That's your mistake.

She was the heroine of the harem.

On the outside, she might have been flawless, but inside, she was long since shattered. From the moment she met everyone, Tsukino was already far from normal. Her lies to present herself as perfect had fooled everyone but me. That's why she had fans, and why everyone assumed it was natural.

Because idols are just that—illusions.

…Right, Aomi-senpai?

“My explanation ends here. If anyone wants to deny it, go ahead. Be my guest.”

“Takatsuki… You…”

“Ah, no. Not you.”

“What…?”

“You all can deal with your pathetic ‘rules' on your own.”

I interrupted Aoyama and directed my words specifically to the “heroines,” emphasizing the word rules so only they could hear. They reacted instantly, especially Yusa, who stared at me in disbelief, her mouth hanging open.

But really, it's not that surprising. Once you understand the structure of the harem, the reason for their anger toward Tsukino's progress becomes clear. They had no other answer to justify it.

“Tsukino, I'll be waiting.”

What do you call a situation like this? Unforeseen? Unexpected? Whatever the right expression, none came to mind. It was the kind of “yare yare” moment you see all the time in stories, yet somehow, it felt strange to be living through one.

In any case, I kept my promise—I didn't help anyone. That's what matters.

I only investigated the crime committed by “Suspect Z,” exposed it to everyone, and put Tsukino on trial in front of the class, as if recreating a mock courtroom. And yet, somehow—by pure chance—I ended up fulfilling Yamakawa's wish as well.

Just like with Saori, nothing's changed. I acted fairly. Let's leave it at that.

“Okay…”

Tsukino whispered, and just then, the bell rang, cutting through the tension and signaling the start of the next class.

As I passed by Hareta's desk, which still lacked his school bag, I muttered something under my breath, hoping no one had heard it.

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