Faced with Kanroji Nanami and the others' desperate pleas, Katsura Kotonoha fell silent.
Nanami's face went even paler. "K-Katsura-san… say something!"
Koizumi Natsumi, Obuchi Minami, and Mori Kumi were sweating bullets. If Kotonoha didn't forgive them… would they die?
"Heh~"
Katsura suddenly let out a cold laugh. "Do you have any idea what I've been through lately? Because of your rumors, every day I walk into school and get those looks."
"Everyone avoids me—disdains me."
"The boys stare at me with those filthy eyes—do you know how scared I've been?"
"'Forgive you?' Easy for you to say. You hurt me and now you want me to forget everything, to pay for your actions. Don't you think that's shameless?"
Nanami's group clenched their fists, shame and frustration on their faces. She was right. If not for a mortal threat, they never would've admitted fault.
Kotonoha actually wanted to forgive them—she really was gentle, and she didn't like hurting others. She'd endured the cold shoulders in silence, cut off by everyone. So it had all been these girls' lies, their words so vile—calling her a "slut," saying she was a paid-date girl. It denied everything about her and trampled her as a person. And she had done nothing—just been pretty, and well-built.
She could forgive them. But she couldn't let Hayashi Maki's effort go to waste. These girls needed punishment—or they'd never learn, and might do it again.
"What do you want, then?" Nanami choked out through tears, fists tight. "We're already practically on our knees begging—what more? We're bad, shameless—but we don't deserve to die!"
Kotonoha said nothing about forgiveness. She turned toward the rooftop stairs. "I've got things to do. That's all for now, Kanroji. Take care of yourselves."
"Wait! Don't go—we'll die!" Koizumi and the others panicked, lunging to hug her legs, sobbing, "Please… save us! Katsura-san, we know we were wrong!"
Kotonoha sighed. She didn't want to forgive them, but seeing them broken and terrified… it felt good. This was the proper end for people who bullied her.
Hayashi-san, thank you.
After silently thanking him, Kotonoha drew a deep breath and offered them a path. "If you want my forgiveness, then tomorrow apologize publicly in class and personally explain the rumors you made up—that I'm a 'slut,' a paid-date girl. Otherwise, there's nothing to talk about."
With that, she burst with strength, shook their grips from her legs, and walked off the roof.
The three girls slumped just as Nanami had, dazed. Kotonoha had named her price: public self-destruction—confess and apologize before the class—or actual death. Choose.
Nanami's phone buzzed. She looked—her body trembled.
Hayashi Maki: "Do as Kotonoha said. Apologize publicly tomorrow. Admit everything. You know the consequences if you don't."
He'd accepted Nanami's friend request precisely so he could strike at the right time. Not everyone was fit to be a familiar—someone like Kanroji? He wouldn't accept her if she begged. (Now Aoyama Nanami—that'd be a different story.)
Nanami finally broke down, crying as she typed back a plea:
Nanami: "Please, can't we do something else? We won't be able to live at school if we do that! You men like 'that,' right? I'm still a virgin—if I give you my body, will you let it go?"
Going for broke, she gambled with herself.
Hayashi Maki: "No. A girl should value herself. Also… do you think you can compare to Kotonoha in looks—or figure?"
Critical hit. Nanami collapsed again, tears flowing. Even offering herself, she'd been rejected—humiliated and heartsick.
Hayashi Maki: "To err and correct is the greatest good. When you bullied Kotonoha, did you never consider the same being done to you? Apologize publicly. What's more important than your life?"
Nanami shuddered. A naked threat. There was no room left to negotiate. Tomorrow would be social death for the four of them—if they wanted to keep living.
Hayashi Maki couldn't care less about their fates; they weren't red-names, and killing girls over this would only cheapen him in Kotonoha's eyes. Those other souls he'd burned, Kotonoha didn't know—but these were her classmates. With her gentle nature, killing them wouldn't make her happy. Social death—being treated with disgust by everyone—was the better punishment.
As he mused, Hayashi Maki had already told Mahiru and the others and headed for Shinya Academy's gate. He'd said he'd come pick Kotonoha up—he wouldn't break his word.
Kotonoha spotted a handsome figure at the gate and shivered. A strange thrill rippled through her. This man who'd shown her kindness, changed her circumstances, saved her from her plight—she felt boundless gratitude.
"Hey, why are you just standing there? I was waving. Not coming over makes me look silly," Hayashi Maki called, jogging up.
Blushing, she bowed. "S-sorry. I didn't think you'd really come to get me. I thought those girls were just saying things."
He rolled his eyes and, without another word, took her small hand. Under the envious, astonished gazes of onlookers, they walked away from Shinya Academy's gate.
Her hand trembled; she had a mild phobia of men. But feeling the warmth of his palm, and remembering what he'd done for her, the warmth filled her chest and she resisted less—her cheeks reddening.
"Not to nag, but how could you hand your phone—such a private thing—to someone else? Do you know what Kanroji messaged me from it?"
Kotonoha's mouth fell open. "W-what? W-what did she send?"
He gave her a look. "What else? Asking me to 'sleep together'—'do naughty things' tonight. As filthy as possible."
Kotonoha nearly fainted. She regretted it deeply—she should never have trusted Nanami. How foolish to believe she only "needed to make a call."
But… she also felt lucky. If she hadn't been so timid and failed to take back her phone, how would Hayashi Maki have known her situation—and solved it? He was like a storybook prince, descending from the heavens to save her.
As for those struck down by heavenly fire—Kotonoha believed Hayashi Maki had his reasons. She could sense he wasn't ordinary—but she didn't want to ask. The warmth in her hand—she only wished it would linger a little longer.