Practical Classroom: Kaoru Hanayama's Classroom of Merit

"I'm leaving. You should get some rest."

After saying goodbye to Horikita Gaku and leaving the infirmary, Hanayama walked back to his dormitory.

Clang! Bang!

It sounded like someone was kicking and stomping on the iron railing with all their might.

Mixed in with this was a cacophony of vulgar curses that could hardly be heard, which were being swallowed by the night wind.

"Go to hell, Horikita! What's with that prickly attitude of yours?! Ugh—it's absolutely disgusting!"

This was followed by a heavy blow that was enough to twist the guardrail.

"And that big oaf named Huashan! Stop spouting all that smugness and righteousness like he's some kind of yakuza. The guys in the class are all hopeless idiots! Why do I have to pretend to be an angel in this garbage dump?!"

That was the real voice of Kikyo Kushida, the classmate who was always smiling and friendly during the day.

She was there, venting the pressure she had accumulated from playing the role of a perfect popular person through vicious and violent words and actions.

In the world of yakuza, cold words spoken from behind are as meaningless as graffiti in a toilet.

To the strong, the barking of the weak is nothing more than the sound of the wind in their ears. It evokes neither anger nor a sense of blame.

Huashan remained silent, without even stopping, intending only to walk past that place.

However, at that moment...

"……who!?"

Kushida's sharp voice tore through the darkness of the night.

It was just the slightest sound of footsteps. Even so, her self-defense instincts reacted with an almost abnormal intensity.

"Hey you eavesdropping over there, get out here!"

There was no feigned tremor in his voice. It was the characteristic, even murderous, intimidation of a wild beast cornered in a desperate situation.

Huashan had no intention of hiding anything.

He slowly trod across the concrete ground, revealing his massive body in the dim light cast by the streetlights.

"babble……!"

The moment she saw Hanayama's face clearly, Kikyo Kushida's blood literally froze.

(We're doomed.)

In her mind, the word "despair" flashed around like lightning.

Putting aside the fact that the person who was just insulting him has appeared, and whether Kaoru Hanayama will get angry and beat him up.

The more important issue is what will happen if someone reveals another side of yourself to others.

The perfect mask that Kikyo Kushida has painstakingly built up until now will be stripped away.

Just like in junior high, the hell of collapse and isolation will once again begin.

(We have to stop him. We must shut him up, no matter what it takes...!)

As Kushida's teeth chattered from fear, his brain worked at its limit.

Did he bribe him with money? No, he already had millions of points by selling information.

Threaten with force? Don't be ridiculous, there's not even a one in a billion chance of winning.

So what should we do?

Then the only option is to use a woman's greatest weapon, which is also her absolute shield.

(Put this guy's hand...on my chest!)

Fabricating evidence of attempted rape or forced molestation.

They would get his fingerprints and then blackmail him by saying, "If you dare tell anyone my true identity, I will report you to the school for attempted rape."

Once the risk of social death is presented to him, no matter who it is, they should have no choice but to shut up.

Having made his decision, Kushida suppressed his fear with anger and walked straight towards Hanayama.

"...What are you looking at?"

She stretched out her trembling hands and gripped Huashan's right wrist tightly.

(They just forcibly pulled me towards my chest...!)

"...!!"

Kushida leaned his entire weight backward, trying to pull Hanayama's right hand toward himself.

--However.

I can't move.

It can't move even a millimeter.

Huashan did nothing. He didn't even put up any resistance.

Simply stand still and let your arms hang naturally at your sides.

However, Kikyo Kushida's senses told her that it was not a human arm at all.

It's like trying to pull a huge steel pillar that's hundreds of meters deep into the earth with a thin thread—it gives you an absolute sense of powerlessness.

"Mmm...Gurgle...!!"

Veins bulged on Kushida's forehead.

She gritted her teeth, her face flushed, and she even showed a force so great that she wanted to scrape the concrete pavement with the soles of her feet.

"Ah, move...move for me!"

The very existence of Kaoru Hanayama completely shattered her despicable scheme from the very foundation.

No matter how she pulled or tugged, that terrifying right arm remained fixed in mid-air, far from Kushida's chest, without even the slightest sway.

(This can't be real... This isn't even human...! At this rate, we won't even be able to get a single fingerprint...!!)

Kikyo Kushida's operation was a complete failure.

"...What are you doing?"

The flat sound descending from above was the sound of Huashan Mountain.

There was no hostility, not even mockery, just pure questioning.

Something in Kushida's heart had shattered completely.

Shame and fear accompanied my unfathomable sense of powerlessness.

(I'll just have to muddle through... I can only muddle through...!!)

Driven to the brink, her brain came up with the final and worst Plan C.

Kushida suddenly gasped and opened his eyes, then rolled them back.

"Ah, oh dear...? Why... am I out outside in the middle of the night...?"

She spoke in a hollow voice, as if reading from a monotone.

"Ah—...this was a dream. Yes, it must have been a sleepwalking episode...In the dream...I saw a horizontal bar..."

She quickly released her grip on Huashan's arm and staggered a few steps sideways.

Immediately afterwards, he turned towards the iron railing that he had been kicking with all his might.

Boom! !

Without hesitation, he slammed his forehead against the railing with all his might.

"…………Eek".

The ordeal ended with a strange, mournful cry, and Kikyo Kushida collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, falling into a complete coma.

The stillness of the night returned to this secluded path once more.

On the forehead of the unconscious Kikyo Kushida, a rather spectacular red swelling had begun to appear.

“…………”

Huashan silently looked down at the figure of his classmate who had rolled to his feet.

I can't understand it.

A high school girl was throwing a tantrum, someone was trying to pull on her own arm, and then she crashed into a metal railing and passed out.

Even Kaoru Hanayama was somewhat stunned by this completely illogical and abnormal behavior.

(So ​​what exactly happened?)

Kaoru Hanayama let out a long, deep sigh.