Karuizawa Kei curled up in the corner, hugging her head with both hands, her eyes tightly closed. She was waiting for the next wave of pain to arrive.
In this dim and confined space, time seemed to lose its meaning.
(Someone, please save me...)
(No... no one will come. Just like before.)
The last bit of hope in her heart gradually faded away under the repeated violence and abuse. Her body stopped resisting, her consciousness began to blur, and only a sense of numbness called 'resignation' spread.
"Slap!"
Yamashita Saki raised her hand again, ready to give this usually arrogant woman another slap.
However, the hand stopped in mid-air.
There was no crisp sound as expected, but instead, a teeth-aching "crack" sound of bones being forcibly squeezed.
"Eh?"
Yamashita Saki was stunned for a moment, and then, intense pain exploded instantly along her wrist.
"It hurts, it hurts!! My hand! My hand is going to break!!"
The sudden change stunned everyone present.
Against the light, a strong and powerful hand was tightly gripping Yamashita Saki's wrist, motionless like iron tongs.
Natsukawa Sosuke stood there expressionlessly.
He didn't speak, just slightly exerted force with his wrist, and bent it down.
"Ah——!!"
Yamashita Saki screamed and fell to her knees, her entire face distorted with pain.
"You are... Natsukawa from Class D?!"
Manabe Shiho looked at this uninvited guest who suddenly broke in, and the arrogance she had before instantly turned into horror.
"What are you doing! Let go! Are you trying to start a fight?!"
"Start a fight?"
Natsukawa Sosuke released his hand, letting Yamashita collapse on the ground like trash, wailing. He raised his head and coldly swept over the remaining Manabe Shiho and Yabu Nanami.
"This level deserves to be called a fight?"
He took a step forward.
With just one step, the overwhelming sense of oppression made Manabe subconsciously retreat, but her back immediately touched the wall.
"Y-you, don't come over here! If you dare to lay a hand on me, the school will definitely..."
"Bang!"
Natsukawa Sosuke started with zero frames.
His fist did not swing towards Manabe's face, but struck her abdomen with extreme precision, below the diaphragm.
"Cough——!!"
Manabe Shiho's eyes widened instantly, the air in her lungs was squeezed out in an instant, and even the screams were stuck in her throat, leaving only rapid gasps like a dying bellows.
She clutched her stomach in pain, her whole body curled up into a shrimp shape, and slowly fell down.
No bruises, no bleeding.
But the excruciating pain, as if her internal organs were dislocated, was enough to render her incapacitated for the next half hour.
The remaining Yabu was already frightened, her legs trembling, and she didn't even have the strength to run away.
Natsukawa Sosuke looked down at the two people struggling in pain on the ground, his voice calm to the point of being appalling.
"Is this the violence you are so proud of?"
"Too weak."
"Get out before I change my mind."
Yamashita Saki endured the severe pain in her wrist, and together with Yabu, helped the almost fainting Manabe up, and took Rika, who had been sitting paralyzed on the side, and rushed out of the emergency exit in a flurry, not daring to utter a single harsh word.
The sound of footsteps gradually faded away.
The narrow space returned to silence again.
In the corner, Karuizawa Kei stared blankly at this scene.
Everything happened too fast.
One second she was still struggling in the mire of hell, and the next second that demon-like man descended, using a more direct and terrifying power to instantly wipe out everything.
Was she... saved?
Those people were just driven away like that?
In the depths of her originally dead heart, a faint spark suddenly rekindled.
It was the light called "hope."
Karuizawa Kei trembled and raised her head, looking blurrily at the figure with his back to her.
Although his methods are rough, although he is usually low-key and has no presence... but this is different from Hirata-kun's style of being a pushover, this is real, violence that can be directly felt.
(If... if he protects me...)
(As long as I behave a little, as long as I rely on him like I rely on Hirata-kun, he will definitely protect me, right?)
Karuizawa Kei wiped away her tears forcefully, endured the pain, and struggled to stand up while holding onto the wall. She tried to tidy up her messy hair and clothes, trying to regain a trace of her former decency, and squeezed out a flattering and pitiful smile on her face.
"That... Natsukawa-kun."
Her voice had a hint of crying after surviving a disaster, soft and pitiful.
"Thank you... thank you so much."
"I was so scared just now... I'm glad you came. Um, to repay your life-saving grace..."
"You're thanking me too early."
Natsukawa's voice abruptly interrupted her gratitude.
Karuizawa Kei's smile froze on her face.
Immediately afterwards,
a kind of instinctive unease made her heart skip a beat.
"N-Natsukawa-kun?"
Natsukawa turned around.
At this time, his face did not have the coldness he had when facing Class C, nor did it have the gentleness that Karuizawa expected after saving a damsel in distress.
His expression was very indifferent.
So indifferent that it was like looking at an inanimate object.
"Take off your clothes."
"...Eh?"
Karuizawa Kei was stunned, her mind blank for a moment.
"W-what did you say? I don't think I heard you clearly..."
"Take off your top."
Natsukawa Sosuke repeated, his tone still calm, "I don't like saying things a third time."
She heard it clearly this time.
But precisely because she heard it clearly, a huge sense of absurdity and fear instantly surged into her heart.
The hope that had just risen instantly cracked.
"Ha... Natsukawa-kun is so funny."
Karuizawa Kei subconsciously took a step back, her back pressed against the cold wall, hands protecting her chest, forcing a smile, "This kind of joke isn't funny at all. Um... I'm going back, Hirata-kun is still waiting for me..."
"Bang!"
Natsukawa Sosuke's figure instantly closed in.
Without the slightest warning, his finger suddenly struck Karuizawa's Qi Sea acupoint in her abdomen.
"Ugh——!!"
Karuizawa Kei's eyes instantly bulged, the intense pain making her unable to even scream, and her whole body instantly went limp.
Natsukawa Sosuke grabbed her neck and pinned her hard against the wall.
"Cough... cough cough..."
The feeling of suffocation and the stabbing pain in her abdomen made her extremely miserable, and tears flowed uncontrollably.
She looked at the man in front of her in horror.
Not a good person!
This isn't Hirata number two at all!
This is a beast more dangerous and terrifying than those in Class C!
The hope that had just been ignited was instantly extinguished, replaced by an even more unfathomable disappointment and fear.
"See the current situation clearly."
Natsukawa Sosuke brought his face close to hers, his voice low, "I saved you, not to listen to your hypocritical thanks."
"If you want to be a dog, you must have the awareness of being a dog. Weren't you very desperate to lick Class A? Huh?"
"Now, take it off."
"No... don't..."
Karuizawa Kei shook her head desperately, grabbing her collar tightly with both hands.
"I'll give you money... I'll give you as many points as you want... even my body... anything else..."
"Please... don't take off my clothes... please don't..."
That was her last line.
That was the proof of that ugly past that she desperately wanted to hide. If it was exposed, all the false images she had built up in this school would collapse. She would turn back into the bottom of the class, despised by everyone.
"As long as I don't take off my clothes... I'll do whatever you want... please..."
She cried her heart out, reaching the point of utter humility.
However, Natsukawa Sosuke was not moved by her pleas in the slightest.
He looked at Karuizawa's eyes, which were full of fear but also had a last hint of concealment, and a cruel arc appeared on the corner of his mouth.
"Are you afraid that I'll see that scar?"
"Boom——"
Karuizawa Kei's crying stopped abruptly.
The whole world seemed to be muted.
She stiffly raised her head and looked at Natsukawa in disbelief. That look was like seeing some incomprehensible terrifying existence.
"On the left side of your lower abdomen, that very unsightly scar."
Natsukawa Sosuke's finger pressed precisely on that spot through the fabric, gently stroking it.
"Karuizawa, do you think you can hide this from me? That knife wound that was cut open in the school toilet and almost killed you."
At this moment.
Karuizawa Kei felt a tremor from the depths of her soul.
Not just clothes.
She felt like her whole person had been stripped naked.
This was the secret she had tried so hard to protect, something she had never even revealed a word of to Hirata.
But in front of this man, all her pretense, all her secrets, all her dignity, were as transparent as glass.
Nowhere to escape.
Really... nowhere to escape.
The feeling of being completely seen through, made her feel more broken than the violence she had just suffered from Class C.
"Ah..."
She opened her mouth, but couldn't make a complete sound.
So... is this the real hell?
In front of this man, she didn't even have the right to keep the last bit of her privacy.
"Do you need me to help you?"
Natsukawa released his hand from her neck, took half a step back, and stared at her with cold eyes.
Karuizawa Kei leaned against the wall, her body slowly sliding down.
Her eyes became hollow. It was the deathly silence after giving up all resistance.
Since she had already been seen through, what was there to insist on?
Since there were no secrets to speak of in front of this demon, what was the point of this layer of cloth?
She mechanically raised her hand, her fingers trembling as she undid the first button.
Then the second, the third... As the shirt slipped off, the winding scar was also fully visible in the light.
Karuizawa Kei lowered her head, like a broken doll, waiting for the judgment to come.
"Look."
Her voice was very soft, without undulation, without crying, only a heartbreaking calmness remained.
"It's very ugly, isn't it."
"This is the real me."
"Anyway, you already know... Laugh if you want to laugh. You can tell everyone in the school if you want to."
"I... don't care anymore."
Natsukawa Sosuke looked at the completely collapsed girl in front of him.
Arrogance was shattered, hope was extinguished, and even the last fig leaf was ruthlessly torn off by him.
She was now a crumpled piece of white paper, with the already dried paint forcibly crushed by violent means.
He stretched out his hand, not touching the scar, but pinching Karuizawa Kei's chin, forcing her to raise her head.
"Is this all of you?"
"What a... flawed product that makes you want to destroy it, but can't help but want to collect it."
His thumb gently caressed her lips, his eyes deep and dangerous.
"From now on, this scar, and you, belong to me. Don't worry, I'm not interested in spreading your dark history. As long as you are a good dog for me, no one can bully you—no matter who it is."
"Did you hear that? Karuizawa."
Karuizawa Kei stared blankly at him.
In that dark despair, these words full of possessiveness actually became the only thing she could grasp.
Since there was no escape.
Then... submit.
She slowly closed her eyes, tears streaming down the corners of her eyes.
"...Yes."