After Rai Hikaru's recent stat increases, his memory and cognition had both sharpened dramatically. One glance was all it took for him to recall the girl's name.
Nanatsu Akane—
a student from the neighboring class.
He knew of her, even if they had never really spoken. With a figure impossible to ignore, she stood out whether he wanted to notice her or not. Even without his memories from his past life, anyone who attended the same academy would have known her: the girl with the athletic build and a chest that challenged gravity itself.
When he combined that recollection with his prior‑life knowledge, the answer became immediately clear—the dangerous crimson hue flaring above her head wasn't random. It was the mark of a pending bullhead incident.
Now, watching her descend the hallway in her baseball club jacket, face tense and unfocused, Rai felt his expression harden.
He turned silently and began tailing her at a careful distance.
Nanatsu Akane strode down the stairs, her pace quick and purposeful, oblivious to the shadow following her. Her mind was elsewhere, her chest tight with dread.
The cause of her anxiety went back to the club she had joined not long ago.
During junior high, she'd been a swimmer, a natural born athlete. But when puberty struck, her body changed faster than her mind could adjust. Her chest grew so conspicuously large that competitive swimming—her passion—became a source of misery. Competitive suits were tight enough to hurt. Boys stared. Girls whispered.
So she quit swimming altogether.
Then, one summer afternoon, she happened to pass by the baseball field—and saw him.
Katase Shoya. Sweaty, focused, swinging with everything he had. The sight of his earnest, stubborn effort rekindled something in her. Before she even realized it, she had started spending time near the field, talking, laughing, growing close.
Eventually, she joined the baseball club as team manager.
And, somehow, friendship had become something deeper. They liked each other.
But the baseball club had one ironclad rule—no dating.
So they suppressed their feelings, afraid of ruining everything. They avoided using each other's names in public, avoided even brushing hands when they passed game towels.
To serve Shoya's dream, she swallowed her own emotions.
The furthest they had ever gone was that one trembling, almost accidental kiss—snatched in private, still tasting of sweat and summer air.
But yesterday... they'd been caught.
Caught by the one man in the school no girl wanted to be alone with.
Coach Higashitake Rizo.
His reputation preceded him. Once a PE teacher, he'd been quietly transferred after repeated "complaints" from both teachers and students—murmurs of inappropriate conduct that were never officially punished.
And now, after catching her and Shoya together, he'd called her to meet him. Alone. In the equipment storage room.
She didn't need to ask why. Deep down, she already knew exactly what was coming.
Her heart beat sickly fast as her hand pushed open the metal door to the dim storage room.
"Oi! Nanatsu‑chan, about time you showed up. You kept me waiting ~"
His voice was oily and coarse.
She looked up.
Coach Higashitake—ugly, thick‑necked, and built like a refrigerator. He lounged in a chair with one leg crossed over the other, eyes gleaming with interest and hunger as they dragged across her body.
Suppressing a shiver, Akane asked curtly, "Coach Higashitake, what did you call me here for?"
Her tone was icy, but it only seemed to please him.
He grinned broadly. "Sexual education."
"What?"
He repeated it with mock seriousness, his leg bouncing lazily. "Sexual. Education. You and Katase Shoya are secretly dating, yes?"
"I—what are you implying?" she shot back, defensive.
"Relax, relax." He stood up slowly, licking his lips. "Kids your age can get reckless. You should learn how to relieve… tension safely. As your coach, it's my responsibility to teach you."
The words struck her like rot. His leering gaze crawled down her chest, lingering greedily even through her oversized baseball jacket.
Her face went red with fury and shame. "You're disgusting. You're a teacher! If you keep talking like that, I'll report you to the faculty!"
She meant every word—but the coach only chuckled, spinning a whistle between his fingers.
"Oh? You really want to do that, Nanatsu‑chan? You're fine with your little boyfriend taking the fall too?"
Her breath caught. "What do you mean?"
Higashitake's grin widened. "You're the manager. He's my player. If the higher‑ups hear you two broke club rules, who do you think gets dropped first? He'd never play another tournament again."
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.
His tone turned almost pitying. "Such a waste... poor Katase. All that effort for nothing. Unless, of course…" He leaned forward, voice dropping to a predatory whisper.
"...you want to make it right, Manager Nanatsu."
Her blood ran cold.
He laughed quietly, drunk on his own power. "You see the situation, right? I won't tell a soul—as long as you cooperate. Come now, I can be gentle—"
Her mind spun.
Her stomach twisted.
One path led to destroying her boyfriend's dream; the other...
She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.
"I… I…" Her voice trembled. Her resolve crumbled beneath the weight of fear and shame.
Watching her blank, pale face and shaking hands, Higashitake reclined again, triumphant.
"These kids," he snorted. "So easy."
His eyes crawled over her again. Just a lift of his finger, and he could claim her.
He licked his lips.
"Good. You understand, then. As long as you—"
He never finished.
A new voice, crisp and calm, cut cleanly through the air.
"—As long as you keep threatening female students and coercing them into 'sexual education,' huh, Coach?"
The shadows at the doorway stirred.
Both of them turned.
A tall boy stood there, framed by the doorway light, one hand raised—
—holding a smartphone that blinked red, recording.
A slow, sharp smile curved his lips. "Hell of a lesson plan you've got there, Coach Higashitake."
"You're… Rai Hikaru, from Class 2‑A?!" Akane gasped.
A moment ago, she'd been ready to give up completely—but the instant she saw him, hope surged painfully in her chest.
Rai didn't respond to her directly, just gave a small nod before turning his gaze on the coach.
"What do you think you're doing, barging in here?" Higashitake barked, trying to recover his authority. His sheer size made most students wilt on sight.
Rai didn't move. He only smiled faintly. "Better question, Coach. What do you think you're doing?"
He pressed play on his phone.
From the device came Higashitake's own voice—his threats, his sleaze, his full face visible in crisp high definition.
The coach's skin went the color of curdled milk. "Y‑you—!"
Rai tilted his head. "You can smash my phone. That won't help. What happens when word gets out that a school coach coerced one of his students for sex? Dismissal would be the best‑case outcome. Prison's also on the table."
Each word landed cold and even.
Akane, still too stunned to move, stared as Higashitake—who'd seemed so invincible minutes ago—visibly trembled with every quiet sentence Rai spoke.
Finally, his voice cracked. "What… what do you want, damn you?"
Rai's smile deepened slightly, eyes glinting in the dark.