There was that heaviness in her stomach again. She didn’t want to go to school, but she had to. Her teacher Ishihara coming to speak with her parents wasn’t the only reason. She was worried more about Ruri. There was no telling what Ruri might do, so Kana wanted to preemptively threaten her with the police and warn her that if she tried anything, she’d report what she’d seen in that building…
But would she actually report it? It would result in a huge scandal, and she couldn’t ignore the possibility that Ruri would somehow get away with it. Her influential father and grandfather could pull some strings to sweep everything under the rug. Besides, Ruri was underage, so even though she’d been doing horrible things to people, she might end up being treated as a victim. What would happen to Kana then? She had no idea. There would surely be an investigation, though. In the worst case, the police might find out about her secret.
Reporting the case would be a last resort, but it was a useful threat to use against Ruri.
Kana arrived at the school gate. There was no sign of Ruri or her buddies that day. Kana anxiously made her way to her classroom… And there she was. As usual, the pretty Ruri was the center of attention. She was talking to her friends, but when Kana entered the classroom, she glanced at her. Their eye contact lasted only for a moment, though, as Ruri quickly looked away, resuming conversation with her friends, all smiles. As if nothing had happened the previous night. It was as if it was just a bad dream Kana had.
Ruri’s unconcerned behavior scared Kana because she couldn’t read Ruri at all. Was Ruri ignoring her because they both had something they could use to blackmail the other, and she didn’t want any trouble? That’d be nice, but Ruri wasn’t the type to accept such an armistice, or Kana wouldn’t have come to hate her so much.
No, she was going to do something. Kana had no doubt about it. The fake peace between them was making her anxious. Fear was the worst when you didn’t know what it was that you had to be afraid of.
Despite Kana’s apprehensions, nothing happened during classes. The only difference from any other day was that Ruri was ignoring her. Not pointedly excluding her to be mean, but simply not paying any particular attention to her. In a way, it was nice, but Kana couldn’t shake off the feeling that something bad was coming.
The homeroom teacher, Ishihara, must have noticed that Ruri was strangely uninterested in Kana, while she watched Ruri closely; he kept looking at Kana throughout his class.
“Okay, everyone. That’s it for today. The weekend’s here, but that doesn’t mean you should stay up late! Class dismissed. See you next week!”
The last class of the day was over, and nobody had bothered Kana. She sat back in her seat and watched Ruri walk out of the classroom, smiling like she was in an excellent mood.
“What’s up with that…?”
“What’s up with what?”
Kana nearly fell off her chair. She wasn’t expecting a reply. Ishihara had walked up to her without her noticing, and he was staring at her blankly.
“Katashi, are you going somewhere now?”
“No…”
“Perfect. Come with me to the consultation room… Ah, no, sorry. I’ve got a teachers’ meeting first. Can you find something to do for an hour and then come see me?”
“But…why?”
“Well, hmm… To talk about your home environment,” he said in a hushed voice, as there were still some other students in the room.
When he’d come to her home after she’d missed school, her father’s woman had told him a load of crap. To think that would have such long-lasting consequences. The woman was fourth on the list for a good reason: she constantly did things that made Kana’s life worse.
An hour later, Kana went to the teacher-student consultation room on the third floor of the schoolhouse. She had to wait thirty minutes before Ishihara finally showed up.
He pulled up a chair opposite Kana, apologizing for keeping her waiting. He began with pointless small talk, asking the world’s most boring questions, like how was school, whether Kana was enjoying it, and so on. Kana gave him only vague replies until he ran out of questions and then there was silence. She wondered why Ishihara was wasting their time. The sun was already low in the sky.
“Excuse me… Is it okay if I go soon…?”
“Ah, it is getting late, isn’t it? Don’t worry. I’ll drive you home in my car.”
Kana was honestly glad to hear that. Otherwise, she’d be walking all the way home since she had to start saving up again for her next trip to Café LycoReco. She had to take the train in the morning, or she’d be late for school, but nobody cared what time she got home, so she could always walk back.
She smiled involuntarily, and Ishihara perked up and smiled back at her.
“Before we go, though… You see, there are some strange rumors about you… I happened to hear them earlier. Katashi, do you have…financial problems?”
“…Sorry?”
“Have you been…trying to make money doing something…strange?”
“Sorry, but…I don’t understand what you’re asking…”
“Katashi, you see, another student came to me earlier saying she was worried about you. She said you’ve been…selling your body.”
“What?!”
Kana slammed her hands on the desk and stood up. Ishihara reflexively stood up too, raising his hands and asking her to please calm down, but how could she, after what he’d said?
“I’m not doing anything like that! Who said that…? Ah…”
The answer was obvious—Ruri. She was trying to get revenge, and this stupid teacher believed that load of crap. That was it. That was the last straw.
“Fuck her!”
Kana had had enough. She would start her plan. She couldn’t let Ruri get away with this.
“Easy, easy, easy! Calm down!”
Ishihara leaned over the desk between them and grabbed Kana’s shoulder. His hand was so big and strong, she couldn’t tear it away.
“Sit down and cool your head. Then we’ll talk. Calmly.”
Still holding on to her, he made her sit back in her chair. Ishihara must have been wary of her trying to run out of the room because he walked around the desk and stopped behind her, like a security guard positioned to stop a shoplifter from escaping.
“Well, tell me the truth, Katashi.”
“That person told you a lie. I don’t do…that sort of thing.”
“You say that, but I didn’t miss that glint of recognition in your eyes when I brought this up.”
“That was because…I’m pretty sure I know who told you that lie.”
“Look, Katashi. I understand that you have a difficult situation at home. It must be tough for you.”
“That has nothing to do with it!”
“You need money, don’t you? Not for fun, I know this. You’re a serious girl. I’ve been watching you, so I know this.”
“I said what that student told you is a lie! I haven’t done anything she said I did!”
“Slow down, Katashi, and listen… The girl who was worried about you showed me this dating site. There was a picture of you. Without any clothes…”
Shit!
Had she really gone that far?
Kana remained seated, but she squeezed her skirt in her balled-up fists so hard that it was getting badly creased. If Ruri had played her trump card, Kana would play hers…!
“If you have problems, Katashi, you should always come to me first. I can help you.”
“Mr. Ishihara…there’s something I need to tell you…!”
“I knew you’d come around, Katashi.”
Kana felt his big hands on her shoulders. He wasn’t holding her down like earlier, just touching her softly, gently…grossly.
“You need to stop doing this. There are lots of strange men out there. Sick perverts… If you need money, come to me, Katashi.”
Her alarm bells were ringing. The hair on her neck stood up even before she consciously realized what she was afraid of.
Ishihara moved closer so that she felt his body pressing against the back of her head. He reached down to touch her chest, enveloping her with the stench of his sweat.
“No, stop…!”
“Don’t be afraid, Katashi. I’ll protect you.”
Ishihara was always sorting people into categories in his head. Was Kana a pitiful girl who needed his protection? Or a toy he could blackmail into doing whatever he wanted?
He was groping her breasts. She grabbed his hands and tried to push them away but couldn’t. He was too strong. She couldn’t even stand up with him looming over her, trapping her with his big body.
Kana’s knees were shaking. She felt weak from fear and was getting drenched from cold sweat.
“Katashi… I knew right away it was you, even with your face partially covered.”
“Wh-what?”
“Want to know how? That mole was a giveaway.”
He shoved his thick arm under her school uniform and found a mole on her skin that nobody should’ve known about and traced a circle around it with his fingers.
Kana was desperately trying to think, but it was no use. She was too overwhelmed. It did suddenly dawn on her that the rumored incident that caused Ishihara to be kicked out from his last school was probably something like what he was doing to her. Did Ruri know about that, about his proclivities, and planned to use him…? No, that was reaching. And anyway, this wasn’t time to analyze what Ruri did or not. She had a more pressing problem at hand.
“Please stop… Help…!”
“I will help you, Katashi. Leave everything to me.”
Kana finally managed to stand up, but before she could escape, Ishihara pushed her with his body onto the desk in front, crushing her. Kana had the wind knocked out of her lungs. Her eyes overflowed with tears when the teacher put his hands under her skirt, and she felt his hands crawling over her body.
“Don’t worry about anything, Katashi. I’ll take care of everything.”