"Baka—!"
"What the hell are you doing!?"
Caught in the act, Anjima Masahei froze. A mix of guilt and irritation flared in his chest, and before he could think twice, he swung around and hurled a punch in a blind fit of rage.
Tch. Doesn't matter what happened! Just hit him first, then claim he pulled me and messed up my pace!
Anjima Masahei had already crafted his excuse.
But before his fist could connect, a sharp kick slammed into his gut.
"Guh—?!"
He staggered and fell straight onto his backside, the air whooshing out of his lungs.
Kasumigaoka Touji stood over him, eyes narrowed and face dark as a storm cloud. He hadn't expected the guy to actually try something, but once he did, Touji didn't hesitate to retaliate.
Their sudden scuffle caught the attention of the girl ahead.
Eriri Spencer Sawamura slowed to a stop, panting slightly as she turned back with a confused expression.
"Huh? What's going on back there? Did someone fall...?"
But the moment she laid eyes on the two boys, one on the ground and one standing with an icy expression, her gaze sharpened.
Touji spoke first, his voice cold and sharp like a blade:
"I remember you clearly, Anjima. You were the one who said Eriri Spencer Sawamura looked all soft and fluffy, right? You wanted to see what hugging her would feel like?"
His tone was calm, but the words cut deep.
Eriri's eyes widened in shock.
Her face turned from confusion to horror, then finally to disgust as she stared at the guy on the ground.
Anjima's face turned pale before it twisted into a mask of indignation and panic. He scrambled to his feet, waving his arms defensively.
"Wha—What the hell are you saying?! That's a total lie!"
"You were the one pulling at my collar, almost choking me! I just turned around to teach you a lesson! Stop twisting everything!"
Despite his outburst, there was a flicker of fear in his eyes. The guilt was written all over his face.
No matter how loud he shouted, the truth was painfully obvious.
Eriri clenched her fists tightly, her face ashen.
She couldn't believe someone like that was in her class.
Just thinking about being touched by him made her want to vomit. What if rumors spread? What if others followed suit, thinking it was okay?
She shivered. No way she could let this slide.
"Kasumigaoka-kun..."
"Yeah?"
Behind them, Mayonaka Kokonoka and several other students who had been jogging along came to a stop.
"He grabbed my collar out of nowhere, and I was pissed, so I turned around and he hit me," Anjima quickly said, pointing at Touji, trying to get ahead of the story.
This time, his voice was calmer—like he actually believed his own lie.
A couple of his friends were among the crowd. They exchanged looks and turned to Touji with visible hostility.
"Oi, don't go pointing your grubby hands at people!"
Touji slapped Anjima's hand away, glaring, but before he could speak again, Eriri stepped forward.
Her voice was low but shaking with anger.
"Don't listen to his lies. This creep tried to hug me from behind, and Kasumigaoka-kun stopped him. That's all there is to it."
Silence.
The students all turned to look at Eriri. Her cheeks were flushed, her fists clenched, and her entire body trembling.
It was hard not to believe her.
Student A blinked and looked at Anjima in disbelief.
"Dude… seriously?"
"Oi! What's going on here?!"
A loud, gruff voice boomed across the field.
Takashi-sensei—the burly PE teacher who looked more like a bear than a human—strode over, face thunderous.
"You kids actually started fighting during a run!? You think this is a playground!?"
His eyes narrowed as he scanned the group. When they landed on Anjima, his gaze lingered.
He noticed the dusty shoeprint on the boy's stomach, then turned to Touji, who was standing tall and calm.
"Names. Classes. Now."
"Kasumigaoka Touji, G Class."
Touji answered without hesitation.
He wasn't the one at fault here. In fact, he'd stepped in to protect someone. He had nothing to be ashamed of.
On the contrary, Anjima Masahei looked like he'd just seen a ghost.
"G-Class... Anjima Masahei." His voice was shaky, completely devoid of confidence.
"Why were you fighting?"
Takashi-sensei's cold tone cut through the air like a blade. His stern eyes glinted behind his glasses, and the weight of his presence pressed down on everyone around.
Fighting on the first day of school? Absolutely unacceptable!
He had taught for many years, seen countless students pass through these halls, but this—this was new.
"He said during class that Eriri Spencer Sawamura-san looked soft and cuddly, and he wondered what it would feel like to hug her..."
Kasumigaoka Touji's voice was calm, but her eyes were sharp as they locked onto Anjima Masahei. "Then just now, he ran up behind Sawamura-san like a creep, trying to hug her. I stopped him."
Her words were crisp and clear, falling on the crowd like thunder.
Takashi-sensei's gaze shifted to Eriri, whose face was ghostly pale with fury and humiliation, then returned to Anjima. His gaze sharpened further, cold and accusing.
Anjima shrank under the weight of that glare, his voice defensive and cracking, "T-That's not true! I didn't! She's lying!"
"Teacher, he's slandering me! This is slander!"
But his flailing excuses only made him look worse.
"Tch... how pathetic."
One of the students watching shook his head in disappointment. "Anjima, you really look disgusting like this."
"Wha—!?"
Anjima's face contorted. "What does that have to do with you!?"
Seriously, who even asked you!?
But before he could say anything more—
"Enough."
Takashi-sensei's voice was sharp and final. He glanced at the swelling crowd of students gathering to watch the commotion.
"I'll be reporting this to your homeroom teacher. You two," he pointed to Touji and Eriri, "continue running laps. Anjima, you stay put."
"H-Huh!?"
Panic washed over Anjima Masahei's face.
"Sensei, wait! I—"
"No need for excuses. If you make a mistake, own up to it. If you get hit, stand tall and take it like a man."
He shook his head. "The quality of new students these days... really going downhill."
And with that, Takashi-sensei turned on his heel, leading the sulking Anjima away like a defeated war criminal.
"What the heck just happened?"
Someone who had just arrived tugged a nearby student's sleeve, desperate for an explanation.
The student rattled off the entire story in one breath.
And so—
By that very afternoon, the tale of Anjima Masahei trying to sneak-hug the "adorably fluffy" Eriri Spencer Sawamura and being heroically stopped by the cool and composed Kasumigaoka Touji spread like wildfire.
By the next day, half the school knew.
Eriri and Anjima became overnight sensations. Though for vastly different reasons.
Curious students began flocking to the hallway outside Class 1-G, all desperate for a glimpse of the newly proclaimed "soft and cuddly" goddess.
And thus, Eriri Spencer Sawamura was unofficially crowned the new school idol.
"..."
Back on the sports field—
"Kasumigaoka-san... arigato."
Eriri, with her perfect ojou-sama mask firmly in place, gave a polite, practiced bow.
Kasumigaoka Touji scratched her head casually. "Nah, don't mention it. I just couldn't ignore it."
That single moment sparked a new thread in destiny's weave—
[Eriri Spencer Sawamura's Dream]
—Dream Title: Aspiring Mangaka!!
—Dream Level: ★★★☆
—Dream Summary:
They say it's easy to plunge into the sea, but hard to climb back to shore. Eriri Spencer Sawamura knows this all too well.
An artistic prodigy with amazing drawing talent, but... her writing? Ehh...
Still, she dreams of becoming a full-fledged mangaka! She wants to serialize in Jump, Sunday, or Magazine!
This is the path she's chosen—with trembling fingers and an iron will.
—Dream Reward: 8000 Dream Points
[Accept] or [Reject]
...