NTR Kousuke

Chapter 176

Chapter 176: Discovery of the Incident

A weekday wedged in the middle of Golden Week.

We'd just had three days off until yesterday, and if we go to school for three days starting today, we get another four-day break—this week's rhythm is all over the place.

The first three days of the May holidays were joint practices with rival schools nearby. Except for the last day, it was a long holiday packed full of basketball.

Yesterday, I heard Nozomi was going to participate in the Hokusho tennis club's practice, so I brought her here... but before I knew it, she was back home. When I messaged her on LINE, she seemed down, like something had happened.

Sho's message on LINE said something happened during the practice, and Nozomi was all depressed because she couldn't keep the promise she'd made to older brother and the racket; apparently there was some other trouble, too.

...Trouble, huh. I really can't imagine what happened.

Anyway, since it's a weekday in the middle of Golden Week, everyone's restless and noisy.

Class 1 is no exception, and the atmosphere is especially buzzy and unsettled.

During break, it was at least twice as rowdy as usual, and as I was eating lunch and chilling with Hiroshi, the incident happened. Tanaka-kun had said he had something to do.

During break, people come and go.

Naturally, people from other classes come and go a lot too, so seeing faces you don't recognize is totally normal, and nothing to think twice about...

Except this guy was someone I couldn't ignore.

It was Kuzu.

Tatsuo Kuzu. The guy who got together with Yukari-san during last year's culture festival.

Yukari-san had wanted to talk after the festival, but when I met her a week later, she was already that guy's girlfriend.

...And on top of that, they got photographed coming out of a love hotel together and both got suspended.

Even though he had Yukari-san as his girlfriend, he was always hitting on Nagase-san.

That guy showed up in front of me for the first time in a while.

It's the first time I've seen him since we became second-years.

Of course, he doesn't have any business with me.

Kuzu: "Nagase-san! Listen! I'm in serious trouble right now!"

With Kuzu's desperate expression, everyone turned to look, wondering what was going on.

Nagase-san forced a slight smile, but her voice had a different, more distant quality than usual as she replied,

Nagase: "...The student council isn't just here to take the students' side when there's trouble, you know? If there are circumstances, or if there's room for leniency, we'll negotiate with the school, but..."

Kuzu moved closer to Nagase-san, but Ninomiya-san blocked him with a glare, and Takahashi-san also stood protectively in front of Nagase-san, her face pale.

Kuzu: "That middle school girl! That flat-chested brat hit me with something like a shoehorn!"

(That's Nozomi!!)

I knew right away. It could only have been someone close to me...!

This isn't someone else's problem! And is he seriously trying to pressure Nagase-san?

I held Kuzu back from behind and said,

"...You're scaring the girls."

Even though I told him that,

Kuzu: "If this keeps up, I'll get kicked out of the tennis club! Depending on how things go, there could be even worse penalties...!"

He was way more desperate than back when he used to lecture me with that smug attitude.

...Talking about trouble like this in front of everyone is just going to make things worse, right? He must be so panicked he can't even think straight. Nozomi probably struck first! If that gets out, it's bad!

Kuzu: "Anyway! I didn't do anything wrong! That middle school girl attacked me! I'm not at fault! Please believe me, Nagase-san!"

Nagase-san kept her expression unchanged, just a faint smile,

Nagase: "Well, if that's true, you should just say so during the interview, right?"

Kuzu: "That won't work! Even just at that stage, there'd be some kind of penalty! I barely scraped by last year, and if this keeps up...! Nagase-san! Please!"

Kuzu was so desperate he looked like he might rush at Nagase-san, even though I was holding him back.

Nagase: "The student council isn't an organization that moves to protect individuals like that. Are you asking for special treatment just because you're friends? There's no way I could do that."

Kuzu froze at the calm, steady tone and expression of Nagase-san, who'd swallowed her usual friendliness and cheer.

Kuzu: "...At the very least, be fair... Like, get eyewitnesses? Or evidence, or testimony before the interview... If I get falsely accused and suspended again, I can't take it..."

Kuzu muttered in a dry voice, his face drained of all color.

But, look, evidence and testimony are for court—shouldn't the interview happen quickly?

Maybe they already did it yesterday? I'm sure they at least heard a bit from the person involved.

The classroom was quiet. Even though about half the class—fifteen or sixteen people—should have been there, it was silent.

The lunchtime bustle sounded really distant...

Osada: "So, if there's evidence or testimony, that's good enough?"

Her voice rang out in the quiet room.

Osada-san stood up and walked over to Kuzu.

...And behind her, Tanaka-kun?

Osada: "You're talking about yesterday, right? The case where Kuzu-kun grabbed a middle school girl who came to participate in club practice."

Zawa!

The vague parts that had been glossed over until now were exposed to the whole class by Osada-san's statement!

Some students already knew, but more—including me—hadn't heard a thing!

With that reveal, Kuzu looked panicked!

For Kuzu, the best case would've been to keep it quiet and get Nagase-san, a student council member, on his side...

But after being refused by Nagase-san and exposed by Osada-san's explanation, the incident was now known by everyone...

So, there was some trouble, and Kuzu grabbed a middle school girl.

Because of this incident yesterday, Kuzu's about to get kicked out of club.

And on top of that, the school might hand out additional penalties.

That's why he wants the student council's help, and that's why he turned to Nagase-san, who he's close with—right?

Osada-san glared coldly at Kuzu and said,

Osada: "I tried tracking down people who were at club yesterday—Tanaka-kun?"

Tanaka: "...Here."

On the video Tanaka-kun played on his laptop...

Girl: "...Yeah, this girl was walking with a downcast look. I heard a scream and ran over, and this guy was grabbing her arm..."

Boy: "I heard a girl scream and ran over, and this guy was reaching for the girl's thigh!"

Girl: "Yeah, he said something about a weapon on her thigh, so I asked and did a body check, but there was nothing. I'm sure of it."

Girl: "Yeah, it was this guy. This guy was telling the middle school girl to show her butt and was talking about a weapon on her thigh—it was scary. Yeah, I can testify."

There was clear video evidence with testimony from people who apparently witnessed yesterday's incident.

Of course, I'm sure they did an interview yesterday too, but probably only with the person involved, or maybe just a quick chat on the spot, so this should count as real evidence, right?

You could tell they gathered it before impressions faded or people forgot.

Kuzu went completely pale and just opened and closed his mouth.

Osada: "Nagase-san, I'll submit this to the student council. There's more, but can you look at them?"

Nagase-san smiled sweetly and said,

Nagase: "Sure, Osada-san, I'll take a look. Actually, can you show me?"

Osada-san and Nagase-san exchanged words with beautiful smiles... but their eyes were fixed on Kuzu, who had gone past pale and was now purple.

...Tanaka-kun, stop looking over here with that smug face...