"Ugh!!"
Tomoya hissed, clutching his throbbing head as he pulled himself up from the scattered debris of the recycling bin.
Noticing the crowd of students whispering and pointing from the doorway, panic and indignation surged through him.
He scrambled to his feet, pointing an accusing, trembling finger straight at Haruto.
"What gives you the right to get physical with me just like that?!"
Before Haruto could even open his mouth to reply, Megumi stepped forward.
For the first time all morning, a distinct, icy trace of irritation flickered across her usually placid, expressionless face.
"Tomoya Aki-san, please refrain from causing a scene and bothering other people," Megumi said, her voice entirely flat yet chillingly sharp.
"You approached me uninvited, started rambling about making me the main heroine of a game without ever asking my opinion, and then tried to grab my arm against my will. Haruto-kun was merely stepping in to protect my personal space."
Her calm, matter-of-fact dismantling of the situation instantly shifted the atmosphere in the hallway.
The surrounding onlookers cast sideways, critical glances at Tomoya, murmuring amongst themselves.
Tomoya stood entirely dumbfounded, his face burning a bright, mortifying crimson.
To the rest of the student body, it came as zero surprise that their resident campus eccentric had managed to step over the line yet again.
Realizing just how inappropriate his aggressive approach had looked from the outside, Tomoya stammered.
"I-I didn't mean any harm! I just... I got carried away thinking about the sheer passion of the project..."
But Megumi held up a hand, completely cutting him off with zero interest in his excuses.
"Please don't say another word," she stated firmly.
"If you must know, I am telling you right now: I have absolute zero interest in being the heroine of your game."
"W-What? Why?!"
Tomoya looked as though he had been struck by lightning.
He had laid out his grand, sweeping artistic vision before her, explaining every detail of how brilliant she could look.
Surely, any normal high school girl would be dazzled and thrilled by such an opportunity!
Megumi tilted her head, looking at him with quiet pity. "Do you even know who I am?"
"Of course I do! You're... Megumi Kana!"
Tomoya blurted out, trying to sound as confident as possible to salvage his dignity.
The look of sheer, undisguised disdain that crossed Megumi's features said more than a thousand words ever could.
"You can call me ordinary all you want, but you couldn't even bother to learn my actual name," Megumi replied coldly.
"My name is Megumi Kato. Not Kana. Not whatever arbitrary thing you made up."
She paused, casting a subtle glance toward the boy standing beside her. "Even Haruto-kun has never gotten my name wrong, not even once."
With that final, crushing blow, Megumi reached out, her fingers gently wrapping around Haruto's hand.
Without sparing Tomoya another glance, she led him smoothly past the threshold and back into the safety of the classroom.
"???"
Tomoya stood frozen in the center of the corridor, his mind completely blank.
Not... Megumi Kana? How could I have gotten that wrong?!
"Pfft... look at him. He doesn't even know a girl's name and he's out here trying to scout her for a game. Pathetic."
"Classic Tomoya Aki for you."
"Yeah, total creep behavior. Glad someone finally put him in his place."
The sharp, mocking whispers of the surrounding students stung like open wounds.
Tomoya's entire body trembled with humiliation.
For a second, he clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white—but realizing he had no ground left to stand on, he unclenched them, glared bitterly at the crowd, and turned on his heel, sprinting away down the hall.
As the morning farce finally dissolved, Utaha Kasumigaoka pulled her gaze away from the empty doorway, a thoughtful hum escaping her lips as she turned back toward her own classroom.
Is that quiet girl his girlfriend? she wondered silently to herself, a curious spark igniting in her dark eyes.
She couldn't care less about Tomoya Aki's embarrassing public meltdown, but the composed, subtle way the black-haired girl had taken Haruto's hand had thoroughly piqued her interest.
"If that guy ever corners you again, just let me know, Megumi," Haruto said softly as they settled into their desks, giving her hand a brief, reassuring squeeze before letting go.
"Thank you, Haruto-kun,"
Megumi murmured, her dark eyes blinking as she glanced down briefly at where their fingers had just been interlocked, completely unfazed by the casual intimacy.
"I really appreciate you looking out for me."
A faint hint of amusement touched her expression as she added, "Though... I hope you don't lose your temper too much over someone like Tomoya-kun. I'd hate for you to accidentally hurt him too badly."
Haruto offered a quiet, composed chuckle, shaking his head. "Don't worry. I have absolute control over my strength."
He had no intention of causing an unnecessary spectacle or ending up on the wrong side of the law.
Still, if Tomoya proved persistent, quietly arranging for him to lose interest and vanish from their lives altogether—was well within his means.
The quiet afternoon sun slanted across the empty desks of the disused clubroom, doing little to warm the chilly, impatient atmosphere inside.
Utaha Kasumigaoka crossed her arms, her dark eyes narrowing as she glared at the boy standing before her.
She had been cornered earlier in the hallway by Tomoya Aki, who had urgently insisted on a private meeting.
Standing beside him was another familiar face—Eriri Spencer Sawamura, the school's golden-haired twin-tailed celebrity and half-British beauty, whose expression was currently a mix of wariness and lingering discomfort.
"If you have something to say, make it quick," Utaha said, her tone dripping with impatience as she tapped the toe of her shoe against the floorboards.
"I have no intention of wasting my afternoon on nonsense."
Tomoya adjusted his glasses, flashing what he clearly believed was a confident, charismatic smile.
"Kasumigaoka-san, Eriri, I've brought you both here because I want to invite you to join my newly forming circle! We're going to create the ultimate doujin game!"
Eriri's face darkened instantly.
When Tomoya had first approached her asking to talk, a foolish, nostalgic part of her had hoped he was finally coming to reconcile.
They had been inseparable childhood friends before a bitter falling out drove a wedge between them.
Over the years, she had grown increasingly estranged from him; while his familiar, reckless disregard for others' opinions remained unchanged, the rosy, idealized memories of their past had long since turned to dust.
Hearing his grand, self-centered ambitions now only made her regret coming.
*****
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