Free Web NovelChapter 271: Knight In Shining Armor
But of course, no one helped Ayaka. It was not as if Haruto was some hero who could magically know whenever she was in danger.
The connection between them was nothing more than his interest in her, or perhaps because they were "half-siblings," just as he always said.
In that cold room, Ayaka held the fairytale book her father had given her as a birthday present.
After Mira left, she desperately tried to piece it back together, carefully gathering the torn pages and damaged cover.
Deep inside her small heart, there was no hatred toward the people around her. Instead, all of that resentment was directed at herself. She could not understand why she could not become someone people loved.
"Am I really a monster?" she quietly asked herself.
Even though the students in her class no longer bullied her directly, they still kept their distance. Whenever she looked at them, she could feel their eyes lingering on her.
They stared as though there was something wrong with her, something strange and unsettling that made her different from everyone else.
Because of that, Ayaka gradually became convinced that she truly was a monster. In her mind, the only person capable of loving her was Haruto.
***
The next day, Ayaka went to school as usual. Fridays were special because Haruto and his group would often call her to their secret base after classes ended.
She had become their "maid," someone who would do whatever they asked in exchange for being allowed to remain their friend.
Of course, every request had to be approved by Haruto first. His friends were never allowed to touch her. Only Haruto was.
There had been one incident she could never forget.
One day, Kazuha asked her to meet him at the gymnasium after school. When Ayaka arrived, the building was completely empty. The moment she stepped inside, an uneasy feeling settled in her chest. Something felt wrong.
Her instincts proved correct.
Kazuha pulled out an adult magazine and asked her to do the things shown inside it with him.
Ayaka was terrified. Her father had always told her that she could only do something like that with him or the person she loved. Because of that, she immediately refused.
The rejection made Kazuha angry.
His expression twisted, and he began acting violently toward her. Fortunately, Haruto noticed that Ayaka was not in her classroom and went looking for her. When he found them, he did not hesitate for a second.
He grabbed a bat and beat Kazuha so badly that the boy could no longer stand. Kazuha collapsed onto the floor, trembling in pain, while Haruto stared down at him with cold, lifeless eyes.
"If you dare tell any adult about this," Haruto said, his voice frighteningly calm, "I’ll tell your parents what you did with your sister, you sick bastard. Even animals don’t do that with their own family. And don’t ever show your face in front of me again."
Kazuha desperately nodded. Tears streamed down his face as he crawled across the floor, trying to get away as fast as possible.
As far as Ayaka remembered, Kazuha’s sister had gotten into an accident not long ago. Her feet had been crushed beneath a car. At the time, Ayaka had no idea that Kazuha was responsible for it.
But none of that stayed in her mind for long. Her attention was completely fixed on Haruto.
As she looked at him standing there with the bat in his hand, protecting her without hesitation, he seemed like a knight from the fairytales she loved so much.
It was the first time she had seen this side of him so clearly. The side that only appeared whenever she was in danger.
The feeling that filled her chest was overwhelming. It was warm, intoxicating, and strangely exhilarating. Without realizing it, Ayaka began to crave that feeling more and more.
That was when her obsession truly began.
She would even deliberately make herself look like a victim.
One of her favorite targets had been a girl who used to bully her, one of Emi’s friends. Ayaka arrived at school early that morning before most of the students had entered the classroom.
With no one around to see her, she damaged her own desk, scratched its surface, and scribbled cruel words across it. After that, she carefully placed the red marker inside the girl’s under-desk shelf.
Once everything was prepared, Ayaka left the school grounds and waited at a convenience store nearby. She intentionally arrived later, when the girl was already in class.
The plan worked perfectly. By the time she entered the classroom, Haruto was already standing beside her desk. All Ayaka had to do was act sad and innocent.
"Who did this?" Haruto demanded, his voice echoing throughout the classroom. "Didn’t I already tell all of you not to mess with her?"
The entire room fell silent. Haruto was scary. In fact, most students were far more afraid of him than they were of the teachers.
Ayaka lowered her head and sniffled before pointing at the girl. "She called me a monster when I went home yesterday."
The girl’s face immediately turned pale. "W-What? That’s a lie!" she shouted as she jumped to her feet. "I would never do that! She’s lying!"
"Then what’s that on your desk?" someone pointed it out.
Everyone’s attention turned toward her under-desk shelf. The red marker was sitting there in plain sight.
Haruto walked over without a word and picked it up and drew something on the girl’s forehead, it’s written Pig.
"From now on, you will become a pig."
From that moment onward, her social life was effectively over. Her name turned into a pig as everyone agreed to call her that way.
No one wanted to associate with someone who had openly gone against Haruto’s warning. The isolation became so severe that eventually she stopped coming to school altogether.
For most children, Class 5-B had become a nightmare.
Everyone watched their words carefully whenever Ayaka was around. Students moved as if they were walking on thin ice, afraid that one wrong sentence could destroy their lives overnight.
But Ayaka did not care about any of them. Her attention was focused entirely on Haruto and how his body shone every time she protected and helped her. frёeωebɳovel.com
Ayaka was pulled out of her thoughts when someone touched her shoulder. She turned around and immediately found Haruto standing behind her.
A bright smile spread across her face. "Where is everyone? Aren’t we going to the secret base today?"
"No, we’re going to my house. My father wants to meet you."
Ayaka blinked in surprise. "Sure. Let’s go."
