CHAPTER 82: CHAPTER 3

Haruka sat perfectly straight at her desk in the second row of Class 1-A, her posture impeccable despite the swirling chaos of the morning.

She was engrossed in reviewing her advanced mathematics notes, her focus absolute.

However, she was acutely aware of the palpable wave of shock and disbelief radiating from her classmates.

She knew precisely why they were staring: the numerous, undeniable hickeys that peppered her pale neck and collarbone, and adding the fact that she was absent yesterday, all sorts of theories and stories filled the head of every student.

But she ignored them completely, treating the room’s tension as nothing more than background noise.

She wasn’t particularly close with anyone in class aside from Tachibana Rei, who she considered a polite acquaintance, making their opinions irrelevant.

"U-Um."

But, just then, a brave, perhaps overly curious, female classmate named Satou approached her desk, adopting a façade of concerned friendliness.

"Himejima-san? Good morning," Satou greeted her, a noticeable tremor in her voice.

Haruka paused, marking her place in her textbook with a long, thin finger, and looked up briefly.

"Good morning, Satou-san," she replied, her voice low and cold.

Satou fidgeted. "I just wanted to check if you were okay. You were absent yesterday, and we were worried, especially after the whole Basuta incident."

Haruka went back to reading, dismissing the concern instantly. "Everything is fine. There is no need for your worry, but your concern is appreciated."

Satou, however, pressed on, driven by the collective curiosity of the room.

She lowered her voice conspiratorially, though it was still loud enough to be heard in the unnatural silence of the classroom.

"We just wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt, Himejima-san. Because... there are still... rather obvious bruises on your neck."

At that, almost every single student in the room—boys leaning back in their chairs, girls craning their necks—leaned in, utterly consumed by curiosity about how the notoriously stoic Haruka would respond.

Haruka let out a measured, audible sigh, demonstrating her slight annoyance at the lack of subtlety.

She finally lowered her book, meeting Satou’s eager eyes with an almost painful clarity.

"There is no need for you to beat around the bush, Satou-san," Haruka stated, her voice sharp and uncompromising. "Yes. It is precisely what you think it is."

"A... hickey?" Satou whispered, confirming the gossip.

"Yes," Haruka simply replied.

The sound of multiple, figurative hearts shattering could be heard from the male population of Class 1-A.

Several boys, who had nursed quiet, romantic fantasies about the perfect, untouchable Haruka, felt their knees tremble, clutching their desks to avoid collapsing under the weight of her sudden defilement.

The girls’ eyes, meanwhile, sparkled with intense, focused curiosity.

This was better than any drama on television!

Satou, emboldened by the confirmation, decided to plunge straight to the heart of the matter. "So, Himejima-san, yesterday, the reason you were absent was because—"

Haruka raised her hand, palm facing Satou, stopping the girl mid-sentence with a single, authoritative gesture.

Haruka’s cold, ruby-red eyes fixed on Satou’s face, a stare so intense it felt like a physical chill, and almost made Satou’s heart stop beating entirely.

"Satou-san," Haruka stated, her voice dropping to a near-whisper that somehow resonated through the silence. "I do not recall us being close enough for me to speak about my private matters to you. And I certainly do not recall consenting to having my personal activities be the subject of classroom discussion."

The atmosphere immediately turned ice-cold and profoundly awkward.

Satou froze, her smile stiff, the eager curiosity draining from her face and replaced by humiliation.

She stood rooted to the spot, every muscle in her body going completely still, realizing she had just crossed a dangerous line with the wrong person.

The sudden, awkward silence following Haruka’s cold rebuke was like a physical weight in the classroom, threatening to shatter the fragile social order.

But just as the tension reached its breaking point, the classroom door slid open, and a vibrant rush of energy flowed in as Tachibana Rei walked through, followed by the ever-gloomy Tadano Taro.

Rei’s presence brought a palpable relief to everyone.

Her naturally bubbly and bright personality instantly lightened the heavy atmosphere.

She greeted the class with a warm, genuine smile. "Good morning, everyone! Sorry we’re cutting it a little close today!"

The tension immediately eased as classmates gratefully returned her greeting, thankful for the distraction.

Rei walked toward the front of the room, her gaze sweeping over the students, until she reached Haruka’s desk.

As Rei prepared to greet her acquaintance, her eyes dropped, and she instantly froze, and the casual greeting died on her lips as she noticed the dark, undeniable hickeys marring Haruka’s neck.

However, Rei was quick to recover, her composure snapping back into place as she carefully kept her eyes locked on Haruka’s face, refusing to acknowledge the marks, choosing instead to focus on the immediate, polite concern.

"Haruka-san, are you okay?" Rei asked gently. "You were absent yesterday, and I was worried that you might’ve gotten sick."

Haruka nodded, her expression remaining perfectly neutral. "Everything is okay, Tachibana Rei. There is no need for you to worry."

"Oh, good," Rei sighed in relief. "Did you want to borrow my notes to copy? You missed a lot of complicated material in yesterday’s classes."

Haruka’s eyes showed a flicker of approval at Rei’s thoughtfulness. "That is greatly appreciated, Tachibana Rei."

At that very moment, Tadano Taro—who had been trailing behind Rei and trying to appear inconspicuous—stumbled to a halt, his eyes fixated on the obvious love marks on Haruka’s neck.

The blood drained from his face, and his already fragile emotional state violently fractured.

Why is this happening? The thought was a scream in his head. Did she... was she no longer...?

He had just resolved himself, literally hours ago, to pursue Haruka because he was convinced that, unlike the "slut" Touka, she would absolutely keep herself pure and untouched, the perfect, clean object of his affection.

Now, not even a day later, and he found this overwhelming evidence of intimacy!?

The betrayal felt more profound than Touka’s, precisely because Haruka was supposed to be his safe option.

Driven by a toxic mix of disappointment and misplaced righteousness, he took a step forward, his voice stuttering with confusion and hurt.

"Himejima-san... the bruises on your neck... you should really get those treated," he insisted, trying to deny reality. "I can go to the nurse’s office right now and ask for some ointment. You must have hurt yourself badly."

Haruka tilted her head, her patience with his deliberate ignorance dissolving. "I appreciate the concern Tadano Taro, but there is no need to act confused or ignorant. This is exactly what you think it is."

"But... but why?" Taro’s voice ratcheted up, sounding genuinely distraught. "You are still young! You shouldn’t have been doing those kind of stuff! W-Were you forced? Is that why you were absent yesterday? Did Kageyama—"

Haruka’s eyes narrowed dangerously, the temperature in the room plummeting once more.

She was about to deliver a crushing retort, a cold statement reminding him of her actual status and his insignificance.

But before she could utter a word, Rei intervened.

"Taro!" Rei’s voice was sharp, a rare sound of furious anger directed squarely at him, with her eyes blazing with indignation.

"Apologize immediately," Rei commanded, her voice suddenly containing an unwavering strength that made him flinch. "Whatever Haruka-san chooses to do is absolutely none of our concern! We are merely her classmates, Taro, not her parents or her moral guardians."

But Taro, fueled by his self-righteous delusion and the sting of rejection, didn’t back down.

He insisted, his chest puffed out with misplaced pride. "I’m not wrong, Rei! We are still young! We shouldn’t be doing those kinds of things! It’s indecent!"

He then made the final, unforgivable mistake. He pointed a shaking finger directly at Haruka. "Doing something like that at this age makes her look like a... a slut like Suzune—!?"

Slap!

A loud, resounding slap echoed throughout the room, the sound sharp and shocking.

Taro’s eyes widened in stunned silence, the hot, stinging pain blooming instantly on his cheek.

He instinctively raised his hand to his face, turning his head in disbelief to see the person who had struck him.

It was Rei.

"Rei... why?" he whispered, his voice trembling more than it had earlier that morning.

"Apologize," Rei insisted again, her small frame rigid, her eyes holding his with an iron will. "Now."

Taro now felt something colder than hurt: fear.

He realized that he had pushed too far, so he quickly turned toward Haruka, his body trembling violently.

He bowed his head low, the humiliation complete. "I... I sincerely apologize, Himejima-san. I had no right to say those things."

Haruka’s cold eyes rested on his bowed form for several agonizing moments, and the silence stretched, amplifying the tension.

Finally, she spoke, her voice flat. "It is alright, Tadano Taro. Apology accepted. From now on, you should just mind your own business."

Taro bowed once more, scrambling to regain his balance, and turned to walk toward his seat, intent only on making himself disappear.

"Taro!" Rei called out again, stopping him mid-step.

Taro slowly turned back, confusion etched on his tear-stained face.

Rei’s expression softened slightly, but her voice held firm conviction. "Listen to me. I don’t care about your puritanical views about sex or who Haruka-san chooses to be with. But I will never allow you to insult Suzune in my presence again. She was my savior, Taro. She was the one who helped me and protected me when you ignored me during the crisis."

Taro flinched violently at the accusation of abandonment, lowering his head in shame.

The reality of his indifference and Rei’s cutting clarity was a fresh wound.

He mumbled an unintelligible apology and quickly retreated to his seat, trying desperately to make himself invisible.

Rei sighed, the fury draining away, leaving exhaustion in its wake.

She turned back to Haruka. "I truly apologize for Taro’s behalf. He doesn’t know what he’s saying sometimes."

"There is no need," Haruka replied coolly. "It doesn’t really bother me."

Rei managed a small, relieved smile and headed to her seat.

Almost immediately after she sat down, the door opened for the final time.

Kageyama Seijirou walked in, accompanied by the definitive sound of the morning bell ringing, signaling the immediate start of class.