Chapter 15 - The unimpressive Attacker
Should I resist like in a Hollywood movie?
It seems I have no choice. There’s no guarantee it will work out as well as in the movies, but it’s better than getting zapped by a stun gun without putting up a fight.
I immediately take action. I quickly turn around and aim for the stun gun she’s holding. I grab her right hand, the one with the stun gun, and flail it wildly, managing to knock the stun gun away.
She must not have expected me to resist, as she’s caught off guard. I press the attack, pushing her down and reversing our positions. Checkmate.
What an anticlimactic end. If this were a movie, there would be a twist or sudden development from here. But there’s no such dramatic turnaround like in fiction.
I rip off the mask and knit cap hiding her face.
There was some resistance, but being on top means I have the advantage. The mask and knit cap come off, revealing her face…
“Kushibiki…? Why are you?”
Kushibiki, deciding that further resistance was futile, turned her face away and clicked her tongue.
The gentle, smiling Kushibiki I see at school is gone, replaced by her true face, the polar opposite.
“Damn…”
“Hey. Why did you do this? Answer me, Kushibiki.”
“…”
“You don’t feel like answering?”
I exhale and look up at the sky. I’m surprised that the attacker is Kushibiki, but I never thought she was the type to do something so dangerous.
She pointed an air gun at me and even tried to hurt me with a stun gun.
Was she always this violent beneath her mask? Nowadays, violent heroines aren’t popular.
But let’s get back on track. The attacker was Kushibiki.
And she refuses to spit out the reason for her dangerous actions.
If I interrogate Kushibiki, who has no intention of answering, I’ll be the one truly arrested. There’s no point if I get caught.
For now, I ask Kushibiki if she’s hiding any more weapons, but she doesn’t say a word.
I stand up and secure the air gun and stun gun. I pocket the weapons and offer my hand to Kushibiki, but she ignores it and stands up.
“What are you going to do with me?”
“What do you think?”
I meant to ask why she committed such an act, but upon hearing my words, Kushibiki’s face instantly turns red as a boiling kettle, and she retreats, twisting her body.
“Uh, oh… you’re the worst! That’s really unbelievable!?”
“Worst? You’re the one at fault. You tried to harm me. It’s only natural to take appropriate measures when I could have been injured.”
I’m prepared to persist until she explains.
I won’t forgive Kushibiki until she gives a full explanation and apology. I intend to see this through without compromise.
However, Kushibiki, frightened like a small animal, keeps backing away, so I approach to prevent her escape.
“Ah…”
“Don’t run.”
“Stop… please…”
“Be quiet and do as I say. Got it, Kushibiki?”
“Uh…”
Kushibiki seems scared, but I can’t afford to show any weakness now.
“Give up—”
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
Kushibiki kneels down and curls up, crying like a child.
She keeps repeating “sorry,” sobbing and hiccupping uncontrollably.
I didn’t expect to make her cry this much. Feeling guilty, I scratch my head and speak gently, trying to be careful.
“Ah… I went too far. My bad. I didn’t mean to corner you like that, sorry.”
“Uh… uh… oh…”
“What should I do now?”
Do I just wait for her to stop crying?
Any words I offer to the frightened, sobbing Kushibiki might only make things worse.
For now, I hold a pocket tissue in my hand, ready to offer it while I wait.
After a while, Kushibiki calms down but begins to speak in a low, congested voice.
“If you want to, go ahead. But if you get rough, I’ll stab you… I’ll stab you over and over, and cut you up…”
"What the hell are you saying? Here, tissues. Use them."
"Disgusting, disgusting... die, die, die..."
"What's wrong?"
Kushihiki slowly raised her face, looking up at me with bloodshot eyes devoid of light.
Finally making eye contact, I felt relieved. I offered the tissues, but Kushihiki shook her head slightly.
"If you're going to do it, just do it... don't keep humiliating me forever..."
"Huh?"
Does Kushihiki think I'm going to be violent?
I am a gentleman. I don't want to be lumped in with thoughtless beasts who can't control themselves and resort to criminal acts.
"Kushibiki. Aren't you reading too much erotic manga? I'm asking why you did something so dangerous. Are you misunderstanding something?"
"Huh!?"
Light returned to Kushibiki’s eyes. At the same time, blood flowed back to her pale skin, increasing the redness like an apple.
"You should understand from the context. Why are you fantasizing about that?"
"Uh, um..."
“Well then, let’s have you talk.”
I'll keep Kushibiki’s grand misunderstanding to myself. It's about her honor, and above all, if word got out and she found out, it would seriously increase the danger to my life.
"Die... die, die, die die, die, die!!!"
Kushihiki opened her bag and started throwing things at me, including a lunchbox, a water bottle, stationery, and various other items.
Notebooks and stationery didn't cause much damage, but the water bottle, filled with its contents, posed a danger.
Everything hit me, and I ended up crouching down. Actually, something hard hit at my lower part...
As I hesitated, Kushibiki staggered away, and I thought about chasing her but decided against it.
If I chased her, she would surely scream for help.
And if that happened, someone might call the police. I would be caught.
If I ended up in police custody, my life would be over.
I had to avoid that at all costs.
Kushibiki disappeared from sight, leaving me alone in the dim forest.
My body ached from bruises, but for now, I focused on collecting Kushibiki’s scattered belongings.
Sigh. Writing tools are scattered here and there and dirtied.
I picked them up one by one, stuffing them into a plastic bag I happened to have.
Then, I picked up what seemed to be the last personal item, a planner.
“Huh? This is…”
It was an ordinary planner, but unusually thick and awkwardly shaped.
I didn’t plan to look inside out of curiosity, but this one definitely stood out.
Well, never mind. I put the planner into the plastic bag too.
“Huh?”
Something fell out of the planner.
It must have been a bookmark or a piece of paper that had slipped out.
I picked it up, and it was just an ordinary piece of paper, so I was about to tuck it back into a random page when…
“Ha!?”
This was an illustration posted on Azusa Hoshimiya’s social media for her one-year anniversary celebration!
Could it be that Kushibiki was a secret fan of Azusa Hoshimiya, also known as Azuchi?
Wait, wait, wait. If that were true, then it would contradict her getting angry when I showed her Hoshimiya’s stream. As a fan, she should have been pleased.
“Sorry, Kushibiki. I just need to check something.”
I apologized before opening her planner. I was just going to put the illustration back and check a little bit. No other intentions.
As I flipped through the pages, I came across the schedule for May.
There were details about planned streams, games, and other things related to Azusa Hoshimiya.
I was taken aback by the meticulous details of the upcoming streams.
The final clue was in the notes section. It read…
“‘I’ll do a lot of streaming during Golden Week!’ So, does that mean… Azusa Hoshimiya is Kushibiki?”
Various pieces of physical evidence. The fact that I showed Kushibiki Hoshimiya’s stream and she ran away.
The dots connected to form a line. I somehow understood her series of actions.
Thanku for the chapter🔥🔥🔥
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