"Right, back to the point. I wasn't staring over there just now because of that guy named Hikari."
"I was looking at the girl next to him. Didn't you guys notice? That girl looks really familiar."
Hearing what the tanned gyaru Hinata Sae said, Sanada Minako, who had long straight golden hair with bangs in front and didn't really look like a gyaru at all, but more like a neat, refined top student, finally pulled her gaze away from Hikari with some reluctance and shifted it to the petite figure with long black hair beside him.
After looking carefully for a while, Sanada Minako spoke with a bit of uncertainty, "That person… is that Yoshida Saki?"
Nogami Izumi, who had her hair in a side ponytail, also took a closer look, then nodded, "Yeah, it really does look like Yoshida Saki."
"Wow! If you all think so, then it must be her," the tanned gyaru nodded repeatedly.
"Didn't expect that the one sitting next to such a handsome guy would actually be that clueless Yoshida Saki," Sanada Minako said, her tone sounding a bit innocent.
"No wonder I kept feeling annoyed looking at that girl next to Hikari earlier. At first I thought I was really attracted to that guy and got a bit possessive. Turns out it's Yoshida Saki, that unlucky girl. No wonder I felt irritated just seeing her back," After confirming Yoshida Saki's identity, Nogami Izumi spoke irritably.
Hinata Sae nodded again and again in agreement, "Yeah! That Yoshida Saki really doesn't know what's good for her."
"You saw how she was all alone and tried to bring her into the group, but she totally ignored you. That's seriously too much."
Nogami Izumi nodded, "Yeah, she's not even that pretty, yet she's so good at hooking men. What a vixen!"
Sanada Minako, standing to the side, kept a calm expression and an innocent tone, but still said, "Maybe it's not that she's good at seducing, but that she naturally gives off that kind of slutty vibe. Tricks like acting innocent and pitiful are exactly what those ignorant men like the most."
"What a bitch!", Nogami Izumi cursed angrily.
"That's right, just an ungrateful tramp!", the short-haired, tanned gyaru Hinata Sae echoed.
Sanada Minako, to maintain her image, only blinked her big innocent eyes and didn't join in with the swearing.
But as she looked at the thin, petite Yoshida Saki sitting beside Hikari, the jealousy in her eyes burned even stronger than that of Nogami Izumi and Hinata Sae.
Because Hikari's looks really did hit her exact type.
And hearing the core trio of gyarus in the group badmouthing Yoshida Saki for not knowing what's good for her, the peripheral follower girls on the side all echoed along verbally, but inwardly they were full of complaints.
Because they all knew very clearly.
What do you mean you saw Yoshida Saki alone and wanted to pull her into the group? It was obviously because she looked easy to bully.
And what do you mean she didn't know what's good for her by refusing to join? Did you really want her to join in the first place?
Those who hung around in small groups all understood this well.
This gyaru clique might look like it had quite a few people, but in reality, the true core had always been Nogami Izumi, Sanada Minako, and Hinata Sae, who stood out in both looks and family background.
As for the other followers, in Nogami Izumi's eyes, they probably weren't much different from anyone else.
They were just real-life toys, real-life dolls.
People like them, and Yoshida Saki as well, even if they joined the group, would just be running errands for Nogami Izumi and the others.
But they didn't dare refuse the group's invitation.
Because if they did, they would very likely be remembered by these vindictive gyarus and then be bullied constantly.
Look, after Yoshida Saki refused, wasn't she now clearly being targeted by Nogami Izumi and the others?
And these follower girls in the gyaru group also had some ambitions in their hearts.
That if they kept doing errands, maybe one day they could enter the group's core circle.
And then they'd rise above others in one leap.
So everyone carried these complicated feelings, forming this gyaru clique centered around the temperamental Nogami Izumi.
But in fact, it wasn't quite what these follower girls thought.
Yoshida Saki didn't refuse to join because of what they called disrespect or any other trumped-up charges.
She was just a bit socially anxious.
So when faced with an invitation from people who looked hard to deal with, she simply didn't dare to form any kind of close relationship with them.
But no matter how humble her attitude was, in the eyes of Nogami Izumi and the others, it still came across as extremely arrogant.
As long as Yoshida Saki didn't agree, it could be taken as a slight against their authority.
The reason why refusing to join was equivalent to disrespecting Nogami Izumi and the others' dignity was mainly because there weren't many girls who dared to reject their gyaru clique's invitation.
So at this moment, as they looked at Yoshida Saki, Nogami Izumi and the core members of the gyaru group already saw her as a thorn in their side.
Listening to Hikari's self-introduction, since she had seen him before with Tsukishima Kyoko, she had a vague impression. So, she paid more attention than she did to other students. She nodded every time he said something.
Matsuura Anju didn't notice at all that while Hikari was introducing himself, the gyaru clique at the back had already held a small meeting.
And after Hikari finished introducing himself and sat down, it was Yoshida Saki's turn beside him to introduce herself.
But Yoshida Saki didn't dare stand up right away.
After seeing Matsuura Anju's gaze turn toward her, along with some lingering looks from classmates who had been drawn to Hikari earlier, the socially anxious Yoshida Saki hurriedly took a deep breath and stood up.
"Te… teacher, hello…"
"My name is… my name is Yo… Yoshida… Yoshida Saki…"
"Teacher, you can call me… call me Saki… Saki-chan…"
"Or… or Yoshida is fine too…"
Even though she had already prepared what to say in her head while the previous students were introducing themselves, standing there now under so many eyes, her social anxiety made her extremely nervous.
Her palms were sweating, her toes curled, and her legs started to tremble.
So, overly nervous, she still stuttered badly when she spoke.
Hearing her stammering, quite a few students couldn't help whispering among themselves, and some even started to snicker.
Matsuura Anju slightly raised her hand to stop the signs of commotion, then stepped down from the podium.
Her long legs wrapped in black stockings moved with a graceful, model-like stride as she lightly walked over to Yoshida Saki.
"Yoshida, don't be nervous. Take it slow, just speak slowly…"
Matsuura Anju came to Yoshida Saki's side, intending to gently calm her nerves while also building her image as a gentle teacher.
But when she happened to glance down, she suddenly saw the state of Yoshida Saki's desk, and her carefully shaped brows couldn't help but knit slightly.
Looking at Yoshida Saki, who was still stammering, she couldn't help interrupting her, and didn't continue encouraging her.
Instead, she pointed at Yoshida Saki's desk and asked, "Yoshida, what's going on with your desk?"
"Why is it covered in scribbles, all messy and dirty? Is this where you usually sit?"
Hearing Matsuura Anju's words, the students who had been whispering because of Yoshida Saki's stammer instantly perked up, and all turned their attention this way.
Hikari, who was closest to Yoshida Saki, also lowered his head to look at her desk.
Sure enough, just as Matsuura Anju said, the desk Yoshida Saki was sitting at was covered in all kinds of messy scribbles.
Not only were there many ugly, grotesque, even bloody-looking drawings that made people uncomfortable, there were even a few sentences insulting the teacher written on it.
No wonder Matsuura Anju hadn't even let Yoshida Saki finish her introduction and instead questioned her directly.
It wasn't that Matsuura Anju had a bad temper.
From what could be seen so far, aside from being somewhat overly concerned with appearances, having strong self-esteem, and caring too much about students' opinions, she was already quite a good teacher.
After all, from her angle, she must have seen those insulting words about her on Yoshida Saki's desk.
But she didn't mention them at all, only talking about the messy scribbles, clearly intending to hide that part.
And Hikari hadn't really noticed earlier that Yoshida Saki's desk was like this.
Because before, she had been using her body and several books to block it slightly. Only now that she stood up to introduce herself could those scribbles and words be clearly seen.
"Yoshida, is this your usual seat? Do you know what's going on with all these messy drawings on this desk?", Seeing Yoshida Saki remain silent, Matsuura Anju couldn't hold back and asked again.
"I… I… I don't… don't really know," Yoshida Saki waved her hands repeatedly.
"This is where I usually sit, but when I came in today, I saw my desk like this. I… I don't know what happened either," Facing everyone's gaze and Matsuura Anju's questioning, Yoshida Saki mustered rare courage and explained relatively clearly.
But even so, her words still made it seem like she couldn't defend herself.
After all, she said this was her seat.
Yet she also said she didn't know anything about it.
Even taking a step back, even if she really didn't know, then why, after noticing the desk like this, had she said nothing all this time?
That point made the other students, including Matsuura Anju, start to feel suspicious.
Only Hikari understood that Yoshida Saki hadn't said anything probably because of her social anxiety.
With that kind of personality, she definitely wouldn't dare or want to make a fuss. She probably just planned to wait until after school, when no one was around, to quietly move it and clean it in the bathroom by herself.
But she hadn't expected that today there would be a new teacher, not only asking for introductions but also noticing the desk.
So now, Yoshida Saki really had no way to explain herself.
At that moment, a female voice suddenly started stirring things up from the back row.
"Teacher, don't ask anymore. I think Yoshida Saki did it on purpose, trying to mess with the new teacher."
"Yeah! She's definitely copying those prank tricks online to mock you!"
"That's right, I don't believe someone would stutter like that. How could someone like that even come to school? That stammering just now was probably her deliberately making fun of you!"
"I've heard for a long time that Yoshida Saki is an ungrateful girl. Punish her! Teacher, you have to punish someone like her who has no respect!"
As the first person spoke up, waves of speculation and slander against Yoshida Saki followed one after another, like a tide crashing in endlessly.
It hit Yoshida Saki until her head spun, her body felt heavy and unsteady.
Hearing the surrounding voices all in unison claiming that Yoshida Saki did it on purpose, that she was trying to give the new teacher a hard time, Matsuura Anju, who lived a refined life and had quite a strong sense of pride, couldn't quite keep her composure. Her expression shifted slightly.
Still somewhat unwilling to believe it, she looked at Yoshida Saki, whose body was trembling slightly, but couldn't help asking, "Yoshida… is what they're saying… true?"
Hearing Matsuura Anju's voice, more instigating voices immediately came from the gyaru group at the back.
"Of course it's true! Yoshida Saki does this kind of thing all the time!"
"Huh? All the time? I thought she'd only done it once before, and this makes twice!"
"Hmph! That just means you haven't seen enough. I'm telling you, she's done this at least five or six times!"
"Wow! That intense? That exaggerated?"
"Yeah! Exactly that exaggerated!"
Under the deliberate instigation of the gyaru clique, many people began to follow the trend.
"She usually keeps her head down and doesn't talk. I thought she was pretty honest. Didn't expect she's actually this kind of person."
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