The Story of A Beautiful Girl I Rescued From An Attacker Who Became My Seatmate. - Chapter 38

As I opened the classroom door, I felt like there was a heightened level of attention directed towards me, more so than usual.

In fact, most of the male students in the classroom were looking at me with questioning eyes. Being the center of attention from numerous people due to a past incident is not good for one’s mental well-being.

I hurriedly made my way to my seat as if trying to escape the situation.

“Hey, Kurata.”

As soon as I sat down, Hoshino immediately approached me. Hoshino also had a stern expression on his face as he came towards me.

“Um, what’s with this atmosphere? It feels extremely uncomfortable.”

“What’s this?”

Hoshino placed his smartphone on my desk. On the screen, there was a photo displayed.

“What… is this?”

“Well, if you look at it, you’ll understand. Hey, is this true?”

The photo depicted me and Kirishima walking side by side. It was the same photo that Taniguchi had shown me yesterday.

Apparently, this had been posted on a social media group. The chat sent right after the photo read, “Kurata and Kirishima from Class 1 are on their way to a love hotel.”

“I have no recollection of this!”

“Then why does such a photo exist?”

I instinctively tried to deny the contents, but then another male student interrupted. I didn’t know his name, but he seemed quite furious.

“Show it to me again.”

I borrowed Hoshino’s smartphone once again. Opening the chat in the group, the sender of the photo and chat was listed as ‘Unknown.’ This meant that the account had been deleted after sending these messages.

Furthermore, the timestamp indicated it was sent around 4 p.m. This was when I was still in the classroom.

“Damn it.”

The remark Taniguchi made yesterday, “You’re too late,” was referring to this.

“Hey, explain everything from the beginning!”

One of the male students in the class grabbed me by the collar. However, I had nothing to say. Because in reality, I hadn’t done anything.

But I couldn’t speak out loud about that fact. Because it would bring back the trauma from my past.

“Hey, you have nothing to say? Huh?”

I was being choked, unable to breathe properly, and all I could do was tremble. Honestly, I wanted to leave this place right away, but that was also impossible.

“Hey.”

“…No.”

“What did you say? Speak louder!”

“I didn’t do it!”

Finally, my emotions exceeded their limits. In despair, I shook off the hand that was grabbing my collar and ended up throwing punches at the surrounding boys.

“Get out of my way!”

“You bastard!”

The boys started attacking one after another, but fortunately, I couldn’t afford to lose either. Perhaps due to it being a prestigious school, there weren’t many physically strong guys attacking me.

Within less than a minute, the situation around me was under control. There were still a few guys left, but they seemed to be observing quietly and didn’t show any signs of attacking.

“…Is this the end?”

Seizing the opportunity, I quickly grabbed my bag from the side of my desk. My bag contained valuable items and combat equipment. Of course, there was a reason why I took my bag. Well, simply put, I didn’t want to stay in this situation any longer. Soon, the homeroom teacher would arrive, and there’s no way I could attend classes with these people.

“Hey, where are you going, Kurata?”

Hoshino called out to me. While Hoshino didn’t participate in the violent acts, it was clear that I didn’t want to engage in conversation with him either. Even now, my innermost thoughts were tainted with fear.

“I’m going home. See you.”

I quickly replied and left the classroom.

***

“Why? Why me and Kurata-kun?”

When I arrived at the classroom, it was in turmoil. And I was approached by a student who I usually didn’t interact with.

Then, to my surprise, I was asked straightforwardly, “Did you sleep with Kurata?” I had no idea what they were talking about. Kurata-kun had actually helped me.

“Haven’t you seen the group? Look, this photo.”

A classmate showed me their smartphone. It displayed a photo of Kurata-kun and me walking side by side.

“It’s true that it’s Kurata-kun and me in the photo, but how does that connect to us sleeping together?”

As I said that, the other students fell silent. I wondered why they believed it based solely on this.

“Well, what about Kurata-kun?”

“Well…”

The other students averted their gazes, looking at each other. That meant something must have happened.

“The truth is, the boys grabbed Kurata-kun by the collar, and it turned into a brawl.”

“A brawl? In the classroom?”

So, that’s why the usually noisy boys were quiet. But I couldn’t see Kurata-kun anywhere.

“Yes. And then Kurata-kun took his belongings and left.”

“But we have classes now. What’s going on?”

I asked the people around me, but everyone just looked confused. What happened, Kouji?