He had collapsed in the Chemistry Lab and showed no signs of waking up yet.
Moreover... the culprit was still unknown.
Even the school's special investigation yielded nothing.
The only thing known was that before Tamura fell unconscious, he had met Shiina Chizuru, a famous good student at the school.
This news was provided by Teacher Tsukino-sensei.
However, Shiina Chizuru was well-known to all the teachers.
They knew she couldn't do such a thing. This wasn't entirely an affirmation of Shiina Chizuru's character; a larger part was that she didn't have the capability, you know?
Besides, Teacher Tsukino-sensei had repeatedly assured them:
"No, it's not Shiina. Shiina had more important things to do at the time... Hmm? What things? Th-that involves student privacy, please allow me to keep silent."
Furthermore, Shiina Chizuru had always had a good reputation at Hachijojima High School; basically, no one would consider her a culprit.
So who was it, then?
This answer remained unknown, and there was no one to suspect.
However, a figure did emerge in Shizunomiya Natsuki's mind.
Hayato.
Actually, she only needed to consider it from her own perspective.
Oshika Masaru had harassed her multiple times, and Hayato knew this.
And before, when Tamura looked at her with such 'lewd' eyes, Hayato was even present.
Therefore, Hayato had sufficient motive to commit the crime.
Thinking of this.
Shizunomiya Natsuki's heart pounded.
She... was being protected?
But,
Shizunomiya Natsuki bit her lip with her teeth; she didn't need his protection.
She could accept his kindness.
But she couldn't accept such intense kindness from him... Overly intense kindness could evolve into love.
Shizunomiya Natsuki couldn't agree to be with Hayato.
He was a man with a girlfriend.
And she also had Yuta-kun, her childhood friend, by her side...
However, Yuta-kun was not with her today. What happened yesterday had somewhat disappointed Shizunomiya Natsuki with Yamano Yuta. When the latter said he was going to a class reunion with friends, she didn't stop him.
But this slight disappointment wouldn't sour her feelings for Yuta-kun.
After all, friction in life is normal; she wouldn't dislike Yuta-kun or betray Yuta-kun because of it.
However, Hayato's treatment of Tamura and Oshika Masaru indeed gave her a sense of security, as if she were being protected by a Dark Knight.
But...
Shizunomiya Natsuki's heart was incredibly conflicted.
After she walked out of the classroom door in a daze, she shook her head vigorously to clear her mind. Then she denied it in her heart, saying, 'It's not necessarily him. He's not a student at Hachijojima High School, and it's hard to say if he was even at school yesterday.'
Then, Shizunomiya Natsuki stepped out of the classroom and hadn't walked two steps.
She heard that calm voice talking to someone.
"...Is that so?"
Not far from Shizunomiya Natsuki, Hayato stood there, with three female students in front of him.
One female student stood in front of him, while the other two were a bit further away, watching the former muster her courage with suppressed laughter.
"...Asking for directions yesterday...? I think that happened," Hayato said.
He was a bit late to school yesterday and didn't find Shiina Chizuru in the classroom.
So he casually asked a student who happened to be passing by the corridor if they had seen Shiina.
He didn't even notice the person's gender.
So it was... a girl.
"Mm." The girl clenched her small fists, held both hands to her chest, and said word by word, "Because of that, I... fell in love with you at first sight! Please go out with me! I beg you!"
Hayato scratched the back of his head, quite annoyed.
Dream on.
He originally wanted to say that, but when he saw the girl's flushed cheeks, which made her freckles particularly noticeable, Hayato let out a slight breath, finally suppressing that rude remark.
The girl's appearance wasn't cute.
Her waist wasn't slender, and her chest wasn't prominent.
She could only be described as ordinary.
Such a girl was probably confessing to a boy for the first time in her life.
"I'm sorry, but I have a girlfriend," Hayato at least gave a reason.
"...Huh?" The girl was slightly stunned, but not too surprised, as his face was right there. She nodded a little dejectedly.
"Ah, but," Hayato said, "I'm still very happy that you were willing to tell me your feelings. I hope that when you find someone you truly like in the future, you can also honestly express your feelings. Please do."
"...Mm!" The girl's dejected expression disappeared. She nodded very hard, then bowed: "Thank you."
Lying to do good deeds, surely Heaven would forgive him.
Hayato put his hands together in his heart. Honestly, he wasn't happy at all.
Then he noticed the gaze from the side and turned his head slightly:
"...Shinomiya."
"Hayato," Shizunomiya Natsuki responded to him.
"Wow, it's Senior Shinomiya... No wonder, you can't win!"
"Let's go, let's go... Two people who look so good standing together, I feel like my eyes will be blinded if I look for one more second."
"...So it was Senior Shinomiya? No wonder..."
The confession quartet instantly ran off.
"Look at this mess," Hayato wanted to explain. Just Shinomiya was fine.
If he told Yamano Yuta about this.
That brat would then tell Nanao Akane.
If Akane started crying and making a scene like a drama queen, he wasn't afraid of her, but it would be a bit annoying.
"You don't need to explain to me," Shizunomiya Natsuki waved her hand coldly.
Someone confessed to him, why should she explain anything? She had no interest. Mr. Hayashi could be with whoever he wanted...
But at the same time, Shizunomiya Natsuki thought of something else.
According to the confessing junior, Mr. Hayashi was indeed at school yesterday?
That is to say, the probability that he was the "culprit" who caused Tamura and Oshika Masaru's suffering greatly increased!
Shizunomiya Natsuki hesitated.
"Then I'll go..." Hayato hadn't finished speaking.
"Wait, I have something to tell you," Shizunomiya Natsuki resolutely wanted to make things clear with Hayato: "...What do you intend to do by not coming to the library?"
...
Upon seeing Shizunomiya Natsuki, Shiina Chizuru, who was behind Hayato, tilted her head.
So he knew Shinomiya?
And she was questioning him about why he wasn't going to the library, was she concerned about his final grades? Was Shizunomiya Natsuki... very familiar with Hayato?
So that's how it is, that's how it is, that's how it is, so that's how it is.
Shiina Chizuru quickly turned around.
She walked straight back the way she came.
She changed her mind!
Anyway, she hadn't been discovered, so she would sneak away.
Anyway, Mr. Hayashi was chatting with a great beauty like Shizunomiya Natsuki, so he definitely wouldn't notice her presence!
...
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