A group of girls had arranged to meet at the shopping center.
" Hey, do you guys remember that guy from the video?"
"Oh yeah, the one who was yelling something like, 'Oh no, I've killed her!' and stuff like that."
"Oh, don't remind me, I'll start laughing again."
" You didn't delete the video, did you?"
"No way, I saved it on a USB drive, because if my parents find me with that they'll kill me."
"Hey, are you going to let me speak or what?"
There were four girls in total, and they were all together at a shopping mall. It was a plan that had come about unexpectedly, but it was the perfect opportunity to talk behind someone's back.
Speaking in a somewhat stilted manner, they recalled the video of that boy crying in the middle of the street. They found his exaggerated reaction amusing.
"Well, they say he hit someone in his class. And a girl, no less!"
"No way!"
" Auntie, yeah. I said in the group chat that I wanted to buy new clothes, but more than anything I want Rin to tell us what the hell is going on in her class."
"She's in the same class?"
"Yeah, let's hope he doesn't hit her too."
"Pfft, yeah, girl. But I'd be scared to have someone like that in my class. That guy must be crazy!"
"And you thought he wasn't already? With what we've seen, it was to be expected that someone like that would go completely crazy."
" Girls, Rin's almost here, shut your mouths for a bit."
"Auntie, I'm not about to shut up right now, Rin, hi!"
One of the girls in the group left alone to get to Rin first, who had just arrived and was waiting to approach everyone to say hello.
" What's the rush, Saya?"
With blonde hair and meticulously made up, that was Masayo Okuzawa, who used the name Rin instead.
She found it strange that they suddenly approached her, but she soon joined the rest of the group, accompanied by the impatient Saya.
" Inari says a boy in your class hit a girl."
"You're a snitch!" exclaimed the victim of the snitch.
"Oh, don't start with that, it disgusts me just thinking about it."
" And why haven't you said anything to the group? These things matter so much to you."
"I preferred to talk about things like this in person, otherwise it's not so funny."
"Isn't it?"
"Isn't this a bit of a serious topic to discuss?" another girl said, looking at Saya.
"I don't care, I just want to know how something like this can happen."
The conversation was cut short by the anticipation everyone had for Rin, and she didn't take long to speak.
"Look how simple it is. The guy goes back to class like nothing happened, then at the end of the day a girl approaches him asking about the video and then, bam!"
She approached one of the other girls and gently placed her fist on her face, as if mimicking the scene she was trying to describe.
" Ow!"
"But I didn't even touch you."
"Rin, you're very mean." "Mean!" "Is hitting women a disease?"
"Stop it now!"
Everyone except Rin started to giggle slightly, which annoyed Rin a little. They soon stopped and let her continue speaking.
" Then he ran out of class without apologizing. Although, I have to say, I don't know what good it would do that disgusting jerk to apologize."
"That's awful." "Yeah, he must have some serious nerve."
"And you know what else?"
"Nope, they haven't said anything in the class group chat. It's a shame nobody recorded it, it would have been brilliant."
"You said it!"
Remembering the look on that guy's face after he hit her was the most disgusting thing of all. She kept screaming that she didn't want to do it, but every time she reached that conclusion, she thought, 'You bullshit, you didn't want to.'
" But seriously, how embarrassing to run away after doing that."
"Yeah, he must be a total loser to do something like that."
"Imagine him going home and telling his mom, 'H-hey, * sniff * I hit a girl!'"
They all laughed together.
" Hahh, you guys are going to kill me with laughter," Rin admitted.
"Well, Inari is going to die soon."
"Ahahaha, ah, ah I can't, I can't."
She was pleased to know that they all thought the same.
' That boy is pathetic. '
And even though it was pathetic, he had done something so drastic, so violent, as hitting a woman. Of the many things Rin didn't understand, one was where that sexist man had gotten the courage to hit a girl.
It made her angry, really, really angry.
"If it weren't for a friend of mine, I would have punched him back myself."
"I would have thought the same if I had been in your place."
"I wouldn't go that far, hitting him is too much, but I would mess with that kid a little bit after that."
Showing off, Rin said exactly what he most wanted to do at that moment, with an exaggerated sense of pride. And there wasn't a shred of doubt in his words.
As much as what that boy did irritated her, it actually made her feel better, against all odds, because it validated her ideals. She reveled in the satisfaction of being right.
The rest of the girls, except Saya, followed her.
"So why don't we do it for real?"
The atmosphere of laughter turned into one enveloped in genuine hatred for a moment, all with the simple question that Saya asked.
Moreover, the atmosphere was only like that because she was forcing it in that same way, something she noticed shortly afterwards due to the somewhat uncomfortable reaction of her friends, so she did not hold back any longer and shifted gears.
" I mean, we could do it when I get back to class if we wanted to do it right then."
Even though she used her usual lively and cheerful tone, the atmosphere hadn't changed much; it was now tense. However, shortly afterward, the first opinion of the four emerged. Rin's.
"That's fine by me. As much as I'd like to, if we beat him up they'd catch us, but we can mess with him a little."
Saya's words seemed to convince her to take action, a slightly twisted smile appearing on her face.
"I don't know, auntie, okay, the whole story is very intense, but it seems like too much to actually do it."
"I stand with Inari."
"But Inari just said she'd love to mess with him!"
" I've gotten a little motivated… Okay, he's a son of a bitch, but I don't know, I don't want to risk getting caught."
"We could just spread rumors and that's it. With the kind of support they have, people would believe anything," the last girl suggested.
Two opposing camps emerged regarding the idea. Deep down, they all wanted to make him pay in one way or another, but not all were willing to take such a risk.
Rin was about to complain about Inari again, but Saya intervened.
" Well, if you don't want to do it, that's fine. Rin and I will tell you everything, and at least we can all have some fun together."
"Okay, I do want to do that."
They resolved the division so quickly, Inari agreeing to Saya's idea almost instantly, smiling along with her as she thought about all the things they could get out of it.
"What if we leave it for later? I want to go look at clothes now!"
That's when the idea of picking on the pathetic kid came to me. However, with exams looming and Rin's club project, it wasn't worth getting into it right now.
* Ring!*
The bell soon let the whole class know that recess had begun, after all the students had endured yet another English lesson.
No matter how much the teacher said, "Don't forget your homework!", few people would listen to her when exams came around, and Rin was no exception.
Even though she took great care of them, something, or rather someone, was making her bite her nails, annoyingly. It was the boy standing in front of her.
Just as she arrived at school, her best friend Nagatomo Takako dropped a bombshell on her: she'd been moved from sitting right in front of her to a corner of the classroom. And why? Because of that same boy who'd moved her.
Hirahata Fuyuka , another of her friends, had shown her , but it seemed completely fake, so she didn't believe it. However, this didn't stop her from forming a negative opinion of him, which intensified when he hit someone.
But that wouldn't be the end of her misdeeds, since now she had stolen her best friend's place, a direct attack on someone she cared about, and something unforgivable.
That's why he was going to get up from his seat and confront him as soon as—
*tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap,* the boy was gone in less time than it takes a rooster to crow.
He felt like a vein was about to burst and he wanted to go after the kid, who would already be running through the corridors the same way he did last time, but it wasn't worth following his tail.
Takako went to her seat shortly after, now that recess had started. And this was crucial, knowing the work they had to do.
"Aren't you angry with the boy?"
It was hard for her to get the words out, mostly because she was angry, but she managed to do so, even while maintaining eye contact with Okuzawa. She was afraid Okuzawa would react aggressively, but of course that wasn't the case. Although she was definitely annoyed.
" Yes, I am."
"W-with me?"
Okuzawa could see Takako shrinking at that moment and losing even more of the few centimeters of height she already had, and tried to show less of her anger.
"I would never be with you, auntie, I mean the boy you gave your place to."
" :2!";_¨`*?"
"Yes, or whatever it's called."
Okuzawa actually knew perfectly well what 'the boy's' name was, but he preferred to omit it because he felt nauseous just hearing it.
"I already told you, I was the one who agreed to change seats, nobody forced me. Besides, we shouldn't talk in class… we already get told off from time to time."
It was normal, being in the front row. But even though they weren't speaking, Okuzawa liked just having Takako nearby. Not only was she far from her friend now, but she also had another, particularly odious man close by.
"You're too good."
Okuzawa stood up, admitting to himself that it wasn't worth blaming anyone but himself. If it was Takako's decision, he would have to accept it.
Knowing her, she would be against his future plans, but there was no way she could find out. Not until Okuzawa was satisfied.
As for Takako, she didn't respond to the compliment, only a faint blush rising to her cheeks. Another thing that bothered Okuzawa was her inability to look as cute as Takako, even with perfect makeup.
" Let's go to the club, otherwise Fuyuka will complain again."
"Y-yes."
For the time being, Okuzawa decided to put that boy aside and focus on other, more important things. The two of them went upstairs together, and on the third floor they walked until they reached their club: the film club.
"I'm here, Fuyu."
" You were making me think you were going to skip out…"
Takako and she entered at the same time, leaving her bag by one of the seats, while Fuyuka sat with a couple of sheets of paper and her pencil case on the table, next to her bento. This wasn't another club assignment; she was studying.
"Well, since you're here, take the opportunity to continue with the video, since Takako has already done her part."
" Yessss, I'm coming, Mom."
Takako sat down where she had left her bag, while Okuzawa went to get one of the laptops that was stored in a cabinet, and which had her name on a label.
" How dare you study right in front of me."
"Well, that's because a certain damsel refused to do a certain thing, while Takako and I did our part."
As much as she wanted to refute it, she was right. When it came to making short films, Fuyuka was the one who planned the story from scratch and wrote the vast majority of the dialogue, receiving help from Okuzawa and Takako with any ideas they came up with.
The latter was primarily responsible for editing all the recorded material, ensuring smooth cuts, adjusting lighting and volume settings depending on the shot and moment, adding background music when needed, and so on. Okuzawa helped her somewhat to lighten her workload, though he had a less-than-ideal grasp of how the editing software worked. Fuyuka didn't assist in this area because she had no idea how to use it.
This is how the three of them divided the work at the club, with two 'specialists' and one assistant for both of them.
"What did you say was left?" Fuyuka asked, without looking up from the exercises she was doing.
" The part where Takako scolds me for not listening to her before the festival."
"…"
Takako lowered her gaze at the mere mention of it, having already taken a notebook, a pencil case, and her bento box from her bag. These, contrary to what one might expect, weren't for homework. It was the pencil case and notebook she used for drawing.
"Well, make sure it looks good. Then show it to me and I'll see how it turned out, because knowing you, I'm sure you'll make the scene a star."
"Auntie, that last time was a mistake, I don't always do things like that!"
This time Fuyuka did bother to look up at Okuzawa and point her pencil at her in reprimand, which annoyed her. She let out a soft chuckle shortly after.
"And don't laugh!"
"You get angry very easily, and it makes me laugh to see someone with so much makeup angry, you know that."
"Are you laughing at me for wearing it?"
"No, no, it just shocks me a little. Well, I'm sure you'll do fine this time."
Okuzawa didn't like it when people laughed at her, like anyone else, but she had trouble understanding that Fuyuka wasn't laughing at her as such, but at her somewhat exaggerated reaction.
" See? If you encourage me like that instead of picking on me, I won't become another star, like you say."
"I'm not picking on you, I just laugh easily, you know that. But that doesn't matter now, get to work, because getting first or second place depends on your effort."
"And why don't you aim for first place directly?"
"I wish I weren't so arrogant…"
The video they were working on wasn't useless homework that someone had assigned them; this task came from them and only them.
It's true that they need to do something to prevent the club from closing, but that requirement is just an obligation that fits with Fuyuka's dream.
They wanted to submit the video to a short film competition that would take place in the city in a week. It wasn't an in-person competition; all they had to do was mail or deliver the video in person, and the results would be announced a week later, along with a screening of the top three entries.
Fuyuka was initially content with just making the top three, but Okuzawa and Takako, the latter surprisingly, convinced her to aim higher.
" Masawa-chan… Aren't you going to eat anything?"
"Later, after class. If I start eating instead of working, someone will kill me."
"I'm not that bad… I never told you that you couldn't eat."
"' I'm not that bad,' says the one laughing at my face."
"Okay, I'm only a little bit, happy now?"
Okuzawa nodded somewhat exaggeratedly.
Fuyuka is the reason her two friends work with her to make this short film a reality; this way they can spend more time together, have fun, and help her with what she is passionate about.
And all this despite the fact that Takako struggled with acting, but after doing it a couple of times, she gradually gained more courage. It's a shame that she didn't have the same support off-camera to be equally brave.
Okuzawa, on the other hand, had a completely normal level in both acting and editing, partly due to her lack of interest in it, so she was the one who had to force herself the most to do those things.
"What are you drawing?"
And this is just one of several attempts to avoid doing that same task.
Takako was drawing at the time instead of studying, something neither of the two girls asked about.
"Focus on your own thing," Fuyuka replied.
"But it's so boring!"
"…I can show it to you, once you're finished."
Takako didn't like being strict with Okuzawa, but she knew she couldn't distract her from what she had to do either.
That's how recess went, with the three girls doing something productive, although one of them got tired from time to time.
Despite this behavior, Okuzawa tried to do her job as best she could to make Fuyuka happy, and it was this very effort that she chose to put in that sooner or later discouraged her from continuing to edit.
At least, and especially for later, it was a place where she felt safe and could take refuge. That's exactly what she planned to do today.
* Ring!*
The doorbell forced her to pause her work, but not before taking advantage of a couple of extra seconds before saving the project and the computer.
"Ah, at least I've shaved a quarter off my time. Thank goodness we chose to make it 10 minutes and not twice as long."
" Well, I would have liked it, since the limit is twenty minutes…"
"That's killing me, girl."
"…At least we could have spent more time together."
Okuzawa put away the computer when Fuyuka and Takako were already ready to leave.
"Come on, Rin, we're going to be late at this rate!"
" They won't say anything to us for a couple of minutes… How dramatic."
With Fuyuka pressuring her, Okuzawa quickly grabbed her bag and left the room with her friends. The only good thing about recess being over for her was that there was less time to go back to the club to finish her part and study.
The three of them went to the stairs to go to class, Fuyuka to third B, but suddenly Okuzawa stopped, something that Takako and Fuyuka noticed.
" Is something wrong?"
"I think I dropped my phone inside the club... Go downstairs without me."
"We can wait for you."
"No, otherwise the lovely Fuyu will be late."
The lovely Fuyu sighed.
"Well, I'll see you at the club after class."
"Touch."
Takako didn't say so, but she would join her during the short break after fifth period.
Okuzawa turned around, and Fuyuka and Takako went downstairs.
People were coming up from the second floor, and very few people were coming down from the third. There were even people coming down from the fourth floor… the fourth floor?
Okuzawa didn't bother to continue heading towards the club when she saw that her friends had gone downstairs, and stayed in a corner of the hallway, where she could watch the stairs without being seen herself.
She obviously pretended she was waiting for someone, and didn't stand around like a weirdo spying on someone.
Wasn't that girl who walked by a little while ago Otsuki?
I didn't know her personally, but being in the same class, it was natural that her name would be known. Especially now, given what happened to that girl back then.
Otsuki Atsumi was the victim of that hateful boy's actions. After serving her suspension for spreading the video—which, according to her classmates, was to cover for her friends—she returned to class and the first thing she did was defend the boy.
Okuzawa was one of the students who wanted to ask Otsuki about the whole dilemma after the talk given by the principal and their tutor, and after she apologized in front of the entire class. How could she not, still feeling insulted by what the boy had done?
"Riku and I have made peace. It was my fault for spreading the video in the first place, so leave him alone."
That was the response she received—insufficient, anticlimactic, and false. She thought that general apology was just a platitude, a way to get rid of the problem, but for him to repeat it again was strange.
Anyone would be furious if some weird kid punched them in the face, especially for no reason. But Otsuki wasn't, and what's more, she seemed angrier at Okuzawa herself for asking than at the kid.
'Something doesn't add up,' he thought.
And now seeing her come down from the 'fourth floor,' where there were only doors leading to the roof, touched a nerve in a bad way.
That's why she waited to see if anyone else came out from up there. There were fewer and fewer people in the hallways, and she began to worry that she might be mistaken, but luckily that wasn't the case.
A boy, or rather, the boy she was waiting to see, appeared just in time, coming down the stairs from the same place as Otsuki.
And the most disturbing thing of all was that he had a slight smile on his face.
She went downstairs quickly, not wanting to be late, but Okuzawa saw her smile anyway. At first glance, it seemed like any other smile. Innocent, genuine, content, but only the last adjective truly fit her.
Something had happened up there, and it was definitely bad. That boy isn't someone to be trusted, and Otsuki being up there also means they've been together.
Everything clicked into place in his mind instantly.
That guy… He manipulated Otsuki? Of course, that makes sense. That's why she was so defensive, lying about making up, blaming herself, and defending him.
It was clear that this was the answer to the mystery. A man like him couldn't let Otsuki get away with it. He had to take advantage of the situation to manipulate her, and thus emerge unscathed.
It disgusted her, it repulsed her to think that a person could think like that. Every fiber of her being wanted to vomit and at the same time hate him until he died.
But a part of it, just a part…
I knew that boy was a wretch.
A twisted smile plastered on her face.