She knew full well we were the culprits. It would be best to just admit it.
“As for my evidence—I took a photo during my stakeout. Behold.”
Nanaougi held up a photo. It showed Kurumi, in full revenge mode, and me, leading her by the hand. The date and time were clearly visible in the corner.
“I had your faces. That led me to your names and other personal data, which helped me track down your lair. Thank you for listening to my little story. I went through a lot to track you two down! But now I’ve found you, Ren Natsume of Class 2-5 and Kurumi Hoshimiya of Class 1-6.”
“……”
“Fess up! Admit that you’re behind these pranks. If you do, I won’t tell the school about any of it, or the fact that you’re making out, or that Kurumi’s dyed her hair.”
Kurumi still had a death grip on my shirt. I glanced back; she looked anxious. She didn’t have any more ideas than I did. It was time to raise the white flag.
We had no means to defend ourselves, and no alternatives. It would be best to give up and admit defeat.
I turned back to Nanaougi and put my hands up, surrendering. “…Fine, you’ve got us. We’re the school’s resistance movement.”
“N-Natsume…!”
“Kurumi, relax. She knows this much already. We have no choice.”
There was no use trying to hide it. She already knew everything.
As for the photo…we could argue we just happened to be in the vicinity. The problem was Kurumi’s hair. Now that she planned to stick around, we couldn’t let the faculty find out about her dye job. Lashing out would only come back to haunt us. We needed to play the game on Nanaougi’s terms.
“…So?” I asked, glaring at Nanaougi.
Therein lay the rub. From what she’d said, she hadn’t yet ratted us out to the faculty. That meant she’d come to the clubroom with a goal in mind, maybe some demands. We had to find out just why she was so fixated on our attacks.
Keeping my face impassive, I met her gaze. “What are you after, Nanaougi? Did you just come here to play detective?”
She blinked at me for a moment, then threw back her head and laughed. “What a turn of phrase! Obviously not.”
“Obviously. So spit it out. What do you want?”
“Heh-heh, then let’s get down to business.” She gave us a long look, eyes gleaming cleverly.
Where was this going? Romantic relations with me…were off the table now. That whole conversation had just been her way of making contact with the culprit. What else? Did she want me to slack off on the next test? We were already in the lower-ranked classes, so that made no sense. That left money or a personal vendetta.
I would prefer to spurn any and all demands. Hopefully, there was at least a compromise solution.
As my brain spun, she said the last thing I expected.
“Let me join you.”
Her casual words hung in the air.
Huh? What did she just say? Did I hear that wrong? There’s no way!
“Nanaougi, are you saying you wish to join our resistance?” I asked.
“Yep! I wanna join your roster and aid in your attacks. Plain and simple.”
Kurumi took a step forward, standing with me. “…Why do you want to join us?”
“Because it sounds like fun.”
“……”
“……”
Kurumi and I looked at each other. I was pretty sure we were thinking the exact same thing.
Piss off.
We had it in for this school. We might look like we were just pulling pranks, but we meant business. We were genuinely trying to bring about change.
How could we let in someone who had no problems with the school itself? I wasn’t about to let a good student join in for fun. A demand like that grated on me more than being asked for money.
“Absolutely not,” Kurumi snapped, taking another step forward. The corners of her eyes twitched with fury.
“Huh? Really? I didn’t see that coming. I’m a highly skilled individual.”
“Your skills don’t matter here.”
“I’m certain I can make myself useful. Are you sure?”
“That’s not the problem. We’re not recruiting based on talent alone.”
Nanaougi seemed genuinely taken aback, but Kurumi was still shaking her head.
I agreed with her completely. We had a cause. Nanaougi’s talent and potential contributions didn’t matter.
I hoped she’d take the hint and back off, but would she? It didn’t seem like Nanaougi got where Kurumi was coming from.
“Hmm. Now what do I do?”
For a moment, she fell silent, her hand to her chin, thinking. She looked at me, then at Kurumi, then back at me. Suddenly, as if an idea had just struck her, she nodded and thumped a fist against her palm.
“Oh, in that case, allow me to demonstrate my sincerity.”
“Um, what do you mean by ‘sincerity’?” Kurumi asked.
Nanaougi straightened up. Was she going to bow? I realized a moment later how foolish that thought was.
She took a half step toward me, too close for comfort. And before I knew it, her pale, thin arms had a firm grip on my head.
“Let’s go, Ren. Please go easy on me.”
“Huh? What? Er, Nanaougi, hold on— Mmph?!”
I was yanked toward her. Her features seemed to lunge toward me. I tried to pull away, but it all happened too fast. And before I could put up a fight, she was in. Something damp and squishy blocked off all my air.
It was a bizarre turn of events. But the facts were clear enough.
She’d kissed me. Out of nowhere, Nana Nanaougi had stolen my lips.
“Mmm?! Gasp! What the—? Mmph?!”
“Gasp! …My bad, our teeth bumped. I’ll do better… Mmph…”
“Wha—? No… That’s not the prob—! Mmm…!”
I tried to pull away, but to no avail. Nanaougi had a firm grip on my head, and she kept me in place. I was locked down, unable to escape as she laid waste to my lips and tongue.
Nanaougi’s kiss was—for lack of a better word—powerful.
I let my lips part for a moment to breathe, and she got her tongue in. She raked it along the inside of my lips, the inside of my cheeks, and the back of my tongue. She hit all the most sensitive pleasure centers quickly and precisely, deftly stimulating them.