Head Over Heels From The Scarf I Lent Her Chapter 17

Things hadn’t changed much since the shopping trip; Tooru was still being ignored by his friends. Though now, the girls in his cla.s.s have been not-so-quietly whispering about him too. Not from afar either, but deliberately and up close—just as one would expect from girls.

The boys had been doing their best to not speak to Tooru, save for when they absolutely could not avoid doing so. Getting beaten up is far worse, but this is still mentally straining. There are too many he once considered friends. Nothing he could do but to bear with it.

According to Akane, Amane is still spreading more half-truths. But since he hadn’t been doing anything particularly wrong, Tooru decided to let it go. All he needs to do is just to put on a brave face.
Fortunately, neither Jun nor Akane have bought into the rumors and whenever the weather wasn’t great, the three of them would eat lunch together.

There was something else he noticed too.
Lately, Jun and Akane have gotten pretty close and it seems like they even hang out together from time to time. She’s rather harsh on Jun, but Tooru had no right to say anything. Jun is as silly as he always had been, but now, he’d sometimes get serious when speaking to Tooru as well.
But Jun often gets serious with Akane. Tooru knows that there’s something between the two of them.

“Maaan, it’s hooot.”

Jun grumbles while flapping the collar of his s.h.i.+rt.

The rainy season had past, leaving behind the heat. Students switched to their summer uniforms too and the girls bare their plump, vibrant skin.
And since there isn’t a swimming pool at their school, the girls tend to show as much skin as possible.

Though disappointing for most boys, Tooru hadn’t any particular interest. It’s not that he doesn’t appreciate girls in swimsuits, but school swimsuits don’t usually reveal much anyway. Not to mention, Tooru has no interest for any of the girls in his cla.s.s.
Akane questioned whether he was impotent, but Tooru a.s.sured her that such is not the case. But to ease the two of them, Tooru brushed it off as just being indifferent.

It’s the end of July and the rays of the sun are scorching. They can’t wait to finish their summer exams and to jump into summer break. Everyone is just as hyped up too.

“Well, of course it’s hot in the summer, Ōyodo.”
“But hot’s still hot! Buy me some ice cream?”
“Hah?! As if! You know the money in my wallet is mine, right?!”

Tooru has taken a liking to watching them act like this. It’s soothing. It’s like a well-rehea.r.s.ed old married couple skit.

Satsuki likely has the same routine every day. What is she thinking of? How is she spending her day?
How will she spend her summer break as someone who’s no longer alone?

Just as Tooru was just about to head to the usual place to have lunch with Satsuki, Amane shows up, standing at the doorway to his cla.s.sroom.
There isn’t anybody who dares to make eye contact with her.

Her standard, casual smile turns to a grin as she and Tooru look at each other. What hides behind that grin of hers? Surely, nothing good, but he doesn’t have much of a choice but to follow her.

As soon as he catches a glimpse of her, Tooru started the voice recorder on his phone and slipped it into his pocket. The recording wouldn’t sound the best, but at least it’ll pick up whatever she’d be saying in his face.

They head to the nook beside the caretaker’s room—the same spot as before. A girl, seemingly a friend of hers, pa.s.ses by, asking if this was a confession. Amane laughs and gives her a No way!  If Amane weren’t around, Satsuki would have the chance to laugh like that. He can’t help but feel disgusted by her.
After seeing her friend off, Amane turns back to him with the smile gone from her face, cold and despicable. That’s the true nature of Miyamoto Amane—a witch, a demon.
Tooru stands firm, both physically and mentally. How shameful it’d be to break down because of her.

“So, how are things? I’ve made sure that everyday would be filled with fun and joy for you.”
“And thanks to you, it has been. I’ve even been able to make trustworthy friends.”
“You mean Satsuki?”
“Nah. But I’m not telling.”

It’s odd how she just referred to Satsuki.
Last time, Amane referred to her as a “piece of s.h.i.+t” but simply as “Satsuki” today. Something doesn’t feel right, but maybe she’s had a change of heart. Maybe she even cherishes Satsuki as her dear younger sister now.

His concerns were soon dispelled.
Amane points to the pocket that’s carrying his phone. He flinches slightly, but she noticed.

“Bullseye.”
“… what do you mean?”

Tooru stares Amane dead in the eye but she just laughingly scoffs.

“You’re recording this, aren’tcha? You came without your phone last time. Anyone could piece it together.”

She reads him like an open book.
Now he knows there’s nothing he can gain with playing the clip to the teachers. No wonder she had been speaking so nicely up until now. She perfectly picked her words carefully as to not incriminate herself.
Tooru tries to swallow the lump in his throat, but this time, Amane laughs out loud. He could but stare at her. And right on cue, a group of boys descend the stairs. Tooru’s eyes open wide.

“You guys…”

Tooru’s former friends. They left the cla.s.sroom as soon as the cla.s.s was dismissed and hadn’t shown up since. He had not expected that Amane had planned everything.
They walk to Amane and stand behind her, looking a little uneasy. If they don’t want to do this, maybe he could convince them otherwise. But surely, that would be out of the realm of possibility. Amane is the type of person that doesn’t need to say much yet have everybody obeying her. There’s nothing that Tooru could say to get through to them, especially not since becoming an outcast.

As if she had seen through his thoughts, Amane laughs even more. Then, she looks over to the boys and ordered them with a nod, motioning towards me.
Tooru instantly finds a fist in his face, cutting up the inside of his mouth which pools with blood.
As he realizes he is being punched, Tooru staggers and gets kicked on the torso, knocking the air out of his lungs.

“Gah! Cough, cough.”

He glares at the one who started the fight but is surprised.
That boy looked nearly as in pain as Tooru. It’s almost as if his punch and kick were directed at himself.

Amane keeps silent as the boy literally kicked Tooru while he is down.

“Augh…”

Another grin spreads across Amane’s face. She got others to do the dirty work for her.

How dirty, how cowardly she is. There are only rumors surrounding Amane because they can’t directly punish her for bullying anyone. Tooru’s body aches and his lungs need air. Fortunately, he hasn’t eaten yet, so he has yet to vomit.
They hear the caretaker moving about in his room, perhaps because he hears the noise out in the hall. As soon as she realizes it, Amane shrieks as if she were a delicate maiden.

“What’s the matter?!”

The caretaker rushes out of his room and sees Tooru and the boys. His face turns red as he steps closer.

“What the h.e.l.l?! Is this your fault?!”
“… yes.”

The boy trembles for a moment before honestly admitting to the situation. Then, the grim-looking caretaker kneels down beside Tooru.

“You alright, son? Can you stand up?”
“Yes…”

Though he tried to soften his landing after being kicked the first time, Tooru is still very hurt. The caretaker looks slightly relieved as he lends Tooru his shoulder to get him up on his feet. Then, he scowls at the boy and raises his voice.

“You a second-year?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be reporting this to the teachers, so you’d best prepare to face consequences. How about you, Miyamoto? Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine… I was just here chatting with Tooru and then the boys suddenly came up to him and kicked him. I couldn’t do anything to stop them…”

Crocodile tears well up in her eyes. Her acting would put most Hollywood stars to shame. But even the caretaker knows her by name. Makes sense with her being the smartest girl in school.
He nods along, deceived by her words, and looks at her with pity.

“That must’ve been frightening. All of you go back to your cla.s.ses. I’ll bring him to the nurse’s room.”
“Thank you.”

Amane hangs her head down and so do the boys.
How could she tell such barefaced lies without so much a flinch? She was the one who ordered them to attack. She’s no victim. But Tooru knew he had to plan his words carefully or else he’ll look like he’s trying to frame her. At this point in time, he has to back down.

“Sir…”

Tooru calls out to the caretaker while limping on one leg but he gets a Shh , hus.h.i.+ng him in return. Then, he speaks in a low whisper.

“… Miyamoto did this to you, didn’t she?”
“How did you…”
“Shh.”

They carry the conversation as they walk to the infirmary.
The caretaker hadn’t been deceived. He was intentionally following her little act as he knows exactly what kind of person Amane is.
But that raises more questions. Why did he take her side? He could have questioned Amane at the time.
He knew what Tooru was thinking and responds in a sorrowful tone.

“All the staff members know what Miyamoto is like. But no one can do anything about it.”
“Why…?”
“‘cause she can study. Academically, she’s number one in the city. h.e.l.l, maybe even the whole country. The princ.i.p.al likes her. He turns a blind eye so that the school looks good.”
“That’s…”

… bulls.h.i.+t, is how he wanted to finish that sentence, but his wounds ache too much.
The princ.i.p.al is famous for being incredibly stern. But there’s no reason to tolerate bullying just because she’s academically successful. And it’s all just to save face? That even sc.u.mmier.

“… hold that thought, son. Just keep your head down and she’ll pick on somebody else soon enough. That is a.s.suming you didn’t get involved with her sister…”
“Unfortunately, that’s the case.”
“Ah. It’s no surprise then…”

It seems like even the caretaker knows of Satsuki’s beauty. Well, she’s pretty by anybody’s standards.
In any case, Tooru received some valuable information. The first of which being how the staff knows of Amane’s dirty deeds yet refuses to do anything because she’s smart. Another of which is that Amane has such an ego because no one has knocked her down a peg yet.
There’s nothing that he can do to punish her yet, but no one is invincible.
With the caretaker’s support, Tooru hobbles all the way to the nurse.

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