"Of course. Haven't you heard? It's exactly those people who look honest and don't like interacting with others that are the scariest."
"Yeah, I've heard those kinds of people are all potential criminals."
"Matsuura-sensei, don't listen to her excuses. Hurry up and kick this disrespectful girl out of the classroom and give her a major demerit!"
One baseless accusation after another came flying in, like sharp arrows stabbing into Yoshida Saki.
She had never faced something like this before.
"It wasn't… it wasn't me…"
"I didn't draw on this desk…"
"I didn't do it… I really didn't…"
Yoshida Saki kept denying it, but she didn't know how to defend herself.
Facing so many voices, she felt completely unable to argue back.
Listening to those accusations about things she had never done, watching them speak with absolute certainty about things she had never done or even thought about, Yoshida Saki's heart trembled.
Every single slanderous word felt like a heavy hammer smashing down on her head.
It left her seeing stars, dizzy and disoriented.
Although the noise in the classroom kept escalating, at this moment, Matsuura Anju noticed Yoshida Saki's silence and her emotions starting to spiral out of control.
Instead, her thoughts began to shift.
She guessed that there was a strong possibility that the scribbles on the desk were not done by Yoshida Saki.
But things had already escalated to this point.
It wasn't something that could just be brushed off.
So although she had no intention of following the crowd and directly punishing Yoshida Saki, Matsuura Anju still spoke again, asking Yoshida Saki and the whole class, "Who exactly scribbled all over this desk? Whoever did it, step forward on your own!"
Naturally, no one stepped forward in response.
Everyone just kept stirring things up.
"The only one standing right now, other than you, teacher, is Yoshida Saki. So it must be her!"
"Yeah, I don't even know what Matsuura-sensei is doubting. Yoshida Saki is just that kind of person. Hurry up and give her a demerit!"
"Teacher, there's no need to keep looking. The culprit is obviously Yoshida Saki!"
"That's right! We still have class. We didn't pay tuition for you to waste our class time here! Just give Yoshida Saki a demerit and kick her out already. Stop wasting time!"
"Exactly. The evidence and witnesses are all here. Who else could it be besides Yoshida Saki? Teacher, just punish her already!"
"You keep asking if it was someone else and wasting so much time. Matsuura-sensei, are you favoring Yoshida Saki or something?"
"Yeah! Matsuura-sensei, what is Yoshida Saki to you? She's this awful, and you're still protecting her…"
Hearing the endless waves of instigation around her, not just Yoshida Saki, even Matsuura Anju, who was older, felt the pressure weighing heavily on her.
Because they weren't just attacking Yoshida Saki anymore. They were even accusing her of delaying class and neglecting her duties.
Facing these people who were trying to paint Yoshida Saki as an unforgivable criminal, Matsuura Anju felt genuinely confused.
She couldn't understand it. Yoshida Saki looked so thin, so small, so gentle, always keeping her head down, barely able to speak clearly.
Was she really that awful? That hateful?
That almost the entire class was targeting her.
To be honest, facing this kind of overwhelming pressure, even as a teacher, Matsuura Anju was struggling to hold up.
Aside from being a language teacher, she was also someone who cared about her appearance, valued others' opinions, had strong self-esteem, and carried a heavy sense of responsibility as a teacher.
Now, facing so many students' doubts and accusations, even being told she was deliberately protecting Yoshida Saki, Matsuura Anju felt extremely uncomfortable inside.
Even so, she still didn't want to follow the crowd and treat Yoshida Saki, this pitiful girl, as the culprit.
Yes, a pitiful girl.
Looking at Yoshida Saki, who had fallen silent and seemed to have shut herself off, Matsuura Anju had already concluded that Yoshida Saki was definitely not the one who did this.
If she refused to follow the crowd and punish Yoshida Saki, she would certainly face a lot of backlash, and for someone like her, who cared deeply about others' opinions, that would be very painful.
But even so, she couldn't bring herself to punish a pitiful child who was being slandered.
Matsuura Anju was preparing to bear the pressure herself.
She planned to announce that the matter would end here.
No punishment for Yoshida Saki, and no further investigation into who did it.
Although this wouldn't truly clear Yoshida Saki's name or fully protect her, Matsuura Anju felt she had done her best. She couldn't do any more.
At this moment, sitting beside Yoshida Saki and practically at the center of the storm, Hikari had been watching coldly for a while.
Hearing the calls around him demanding harsh punishment for Yoshida Saki growing louder and louder, and noticing that Matsuura Anju was unable to withstand the pressure and was about to settle things quietly, Hikari's ears twitched slightly, and then he suddenly stood up from his seat.
He was already tall, and now that he stood up so abruptly, compared to the other students still sitting, he stood out in the classroom like a crane among chickens, extremely conspicuous.
In an instant, everyone's gaze focused on him.
All eyes locked onto Hikari.
———
"No one is going to admit who scribbled on this desk?"
"Since no one is admitting it, then this matter will end here…"
Matsuura Anju, having carefully prepared her words in her mind, was just about to declare the matter closed.
But at that moment, she suddenly saw Hikari stand up.
Since his action was completely unexpected, Matsuura Anju froze for a moment before looking at him and asking in a very puzzled tone, "Hikari-kun… what are you doing? Could it be… you drew on this desk?"
She had originally planned to deny first and then affirm as her conclusion, but before she could finish, Hikari had already stood up on his own.
So she naturally asked that question.
Hearing Matsuura Anju's question,
quite a few people started stirring things up again.
"That's right! Those messy drawings on the desk must have been done by him!"
"Yeah! He looks decent, but to do something like this, who would've thought."
"As a guy, bullying a girl? That's too much…"
The crowd, who had already been about to calm down after realizing Matsuura Anju intended to settle things quietly, immediately shifted their target again when they saw Hikari stand up, preparing to direct their attacks at him.
But before the noise could build up, Hikari spoke loudly, instantly suppressing the commotion.
"I didn't draw it!"
As his voice suddenly rose, many people instinctively covered their ears.
Even the classroom windows seemed to tremble a few times.
Faced with that roar-like volume, those who had been stirring things up were stunned on the spot, and the noise abruptly stopped.
Seeing this, Matsuura Anju's beautiful eyes lit up slightly as she looked at him with surprise.
Even she, as a teacher, had been unable to control the chaotic yet overwhelming noise earlier, yet when those people were about to stir things up again, Hikari had actually shut them down?
This made Matsuura Anju feel extremely surprised.
But even though she was already very surprised by him, she still said somewhat helplessly, "If you didn't draw it, then why did you stand up?"
Hearing her words, the previously silenced chatter started up again.
"Yeah… if it wasn't you, why stand up?"
"Exactly, suddenly standing up and shouting, that was so weird."
"He looks pretty good, but I feel like there's something wrong with his head…"
Hikari ignored those murmured discussions.
He just glanced at Yoshida Saki beside him, who still looked dazed, not fully recovered from being startled by his sudden shout.
Then he looked toward the back of the classroom.
After that, he turned his head and suddenly said to Matsuura Anju, "Matsuura-sensei, I know who drew those messy things on this desk."
The moment those words came out, the classroom fell silent.
It was so quiet you could almost hear a pin drop. No one dared say another word, and those who had been stirring things up seemed to disappear instantly.
"You know who drew those things on the desk?"
Hearing his words, Matsuura Anju looked at him in shock.
Because of her surprise, she suddenly stepped forward, and her overly full chest bounced a few times like a startled rabbit.
But due to the angle, only Hikari could see it.
And because of what he had just said, no one in the classroom had the mind to pay attention to that sight.
At this moment, almost everyone's attention was on Hikari.
As Matsuura Anju, with her purple wavy hair and delicate, beautiful appearance, leaned in close in her surprise,
Hikari naturally caught the faint fragrance from her body, carefully blended, something like musk and orchid.
"Hikari-kun, do you really know who drew this?"
Matsuura Anju asked again, a bit excited.
At this moment, she really was excited.
Because the drawings on the desk weren't just explicit and messy, unpleasant to look at, there were also several vulgar sentences insulting the teacher.
That alone made this no small matter.
If a student did it, they would definitely receive a demerit.
But compared to the act itself, what concerned Matsuura Anju more was the commotion that had broken out in the classroom earlier.
So now, she looked at Hikari with great anticipation,
afraid of hearing any other answer from him.
"Yeah, I know," Hikari nodded, confirming again.
Seeing that he didn't look like he was lying, Matsuura Anju stared at him with clear surprise.
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