NTR Kousuke

Chapter 179

Chapter 179: Hinako's Report [side Yukari Tomonaga]

Hinako: "So, I came here to give my report."

Hinako appeared in front of Satsuki and me as we ate lunch in the courtyard.

With her brown, slightly wavy hair swaying, the girl before me smiled brightly.

I think she's really cute—actually, even the boys passing by steal glances at Hinako.

Satsuki: "So? What did you find out? Some evidence for your conspiracy theory?"

Satsuki said mockingly.

Hinako closed her eyes and shook her head,

Hinako: "I found out what I don't know."

Satsuki: "Huh? That's useless!"

Hinako: "That's what you'd say, Satsuki-senpai, right? Yukari-senpai, isn't it still most... ahem, weird around Kousuke-kun-senpai? By the way, did you send Kousuke-kun-senpai a letter?"

A letter? My handwriting isn't that neat... I could never send one...

Satsuki jumped in,

Satsuki: "What? A letter to Kousuke? A love letter? A fake confession?"

Hinako: "Oh, so neither Yukari-senpai nor Satsuki-senpai did it... Interesting."

Hinako smiled in high spirits.

Satsuki was still pressing,

Satsuki: "Hinako? You met Kousuke, right? What's this about a letter? Is Kousuke dating someone? Or planning to?"

Hinako: "No matter who Kousuke-kun-senpai dates, it doesn't concern you, Satsuki-senpai, right? I'm pretty sure he likes me? He even calls me Ootori-san, you know?"

"You two aren't even close, are you?"

I couldn't help but butt in.

Hinako: "But something seems to be happening, so I'll keep an eye on it. More importantly! In Kousuke-kun-senpai's classroom! There was an accident!"

Hinako started to explain: apparently, yesterday on the holiday, Kuzu-kun grabbed a middle school girl who was invited to join the tennis club's practice, and other students had to restrain him after he made sensitive remarks like 'Look at her butt' and 'Her thighs are deadly weapons'...

And then, about that incident, they petitioned Nagase Aya from the student council (Hinako only called her the secretary), but were turned down, and then Yakuza girl... no, Osada-san and Ninja senior? Wait, that's Tanaka-kun, right? They were filming, and the footage was used to accuse him of hitting on girls, getting them drunk, and possibly committing a sex crime, so he was taken to the student council president.

Hinako: "This just happened a moment ago."

Satsuki: "...Yukari, are you okay?"

Satsuki leaned over to look at me... Is this really true?

My chest was pounding weirdly... I felt sick and terribly anxious.

Satsuki: "You look pale, Yukari. Maybe you should go home early today..."

Satsuki was worried about me. But Hinako said,

Hinako: "If it's too much, that's unfortunate, but you should act like it's nothing. Kuzu said in the video audio, 'We broke up,' and about half the class heard it.

Scandals like this spread in seconds. If you don't look shaken, people will just think, 'Oh, they're over,' and it'll leave a better impression."

Satsuki nodded and said,

Satsuki: "That way, the gossip mongers might not press you so much... Still, I had no idea... Something like that... I really didn't know."

Hinako: "Rumors never reach loners like Satsuki-senpai... You're immune to the spread of gossip!"

Satsuki: "Hey, are you dissing me?"

I stepped in to mediate and told Hinako not to tease Satsuki.

Hinako: "...Even so... No matter how distant you'd become, your boyfriend being accused of a sex crime means minimum suspension, maximum arrest... My condolences..."

From the way she moved and spoke, it was obvious she was imitating an old detective drama protagonist.

I could tell, and she was clearly waiting for a comeback...

She kept glancing over here.

Between Hinako's cheerfulness and Satsuki's genuine concern, I felt saved.

Even though we haven't known each other long, Hinako is more reliable at times like this.

I tried asking what would happen to Kuzu-kun now.

"...Hinako, what do you think his punishment will be?"

Hinako: "The incident of grabbing a middle school girl is honestly difficult, right? Grabbing a guest from another school... Whether that counts as harm is hard to say. If anything, the 'Look at her butt!' and 'Her thighs are deadly weapons!' remarks are more obviously bad."

*Kousuke has already heard this analysis too.

I was about to cut her off, but Hinako, encouraged by Satsuki and me listening quietly, started talking even more!

Hinako: "Since it was a guest middle school girl, and from another school, right? They'll have to issue some kind of punishment and apologize to the other school and inform them of the punishment. But... if the punishment is too harsh, then it's like saying, 'Our student did something really bad!' which looks bad for the school.

But if it's too light, people will complain, 'You're downplaying it! You're protecting your student!' so the school's probably in a tough spot."

I see... That might be true...

In other words, it's a case where the penalty is hard to decide.

Hinako: "And then! Thanks to Kuzu's accusations! Underage drinking (multiple times), sexual misconduct (unconfirmed), hitting on girls (serious warning), attempted non-consensual acts (maybe attempted? suspected). Not just suspension, he might get expelled or even arrested. Well, the person himself says it was only attempted, though."

Hinako's explanation made a lot of sense.

Hinako: "Of course, this is just speculation. Maybe he's just all talk and really didn't do anything. But from the video, at minimum, there's multiple cases of underage drinking, hitting on girls, and attempted sex crime. Since he didn't unlock his phone, there's probably some bad evidence there... So at least expulsion or a recommendation to withdraw, don't you think?"

...I know he's not a virgin, though... I see...

So he's getting expelled... With last year's suspension too, maybe things will turn out just like Hinako says.

Hinako said she'd be back, mentioning that the basketball club is doing joint practice during Golden Week and that there's a game on the first day of the May holidays.

Hinako: "Swift as the wind!"

With that, she raised her palm in front of her face, struck a pose, and walked off briskly.

Satsuki: "...She's so cute, but such a chuunibyou, right...? The other day, I saw her sleeping facedown in front of the classroom during break."

I feel like everyone would end up liking Hinako if they got to know her... Satsuki admitting a girl is cute is actually rare.

The class dynamics are complicated, and the flow of things is like fate—I sighed as I remembered last year.

Next to me, Satsuki was thinking hard,

Satsuki: "...Hey, about what we talked about earlier... Kousuke's basketball game on the first day of Golden Week... Want to go watch?"

Satsuki suggested, blushing...

I think it's better if neither of us goes...

But if I let Satsuki go alone, she might get involved with Kousuke and something disastrous could happen.

...In the end, I agreed to go with her.

Honestly, neither Satsuki nor I have any right to face Kousuke-kun.