Sakura's voice wasn't loud, but it carried absolute authority. One question and the entire baseball mob froze, eyes darting like cornered rats.
Finally the buzz-cut who'd called Satoru "average" stepped forward.
"Miyajima-captain, kendo may be White Hill's ace club, but you can't protect a member with zero morals, right?"
"Morals? Whose?" Sakura asked calmly.
Dead silence.
Every eyeball slid to Satoru.
Satoru just kept peacefully slurping the milk Sakura gave him, looking like a kid enjoying recess.
He barely lifted his eyes to glance at Shono, whose face was pure murder.
"Kobayashi-kun?" Sakura tilted her head, genuinely confused. "What exactly did he do to you?"
"Offend?!" Buzz-cut roared. "Ask him about his 'good deeds'!"
Sakura turned. Satoru gave a tiny, innocent smile. "I didn't do anything."
"BULLSHIT!" Buzz-cut lost it. "He seduced our manager Nanao Akane, made her quit the club, two-timed her, and toyed with a girl's feelings!"
"Nanao?" Sakura blinked—she knew the name. That purple-capped ice beauty used to watch every baseball morning practice; lately vanished. Her + Kobayashi-kun… a couple? Her violet eyes flickered. He never mentioned it…
Still perfectly calm: "You say two-timing. Who's the other girl?"
"Her!" Shono jabbed a finger at the half-dead-looking Ayaka. "Didn't think you'd be blind to your own vice-captain's business, Captain!"
"Huh?" Sakura turned to her best friend. "…Ayaka, you and Kobayashi-kun are dating?"
"Nope," Ayaka answered instantly, utterly flat.
Baseball jaws hit the ground.
"Huh?!"
"I met the brat yesterday," Ayaka continued, bored. "Even if we were dating, it wouldn't happen that fast. And he's not my type anyway."
Zero emotion, zero hesitation. Mainly because she was staring at the back of Satoru's head and couldn't see his face.
"Then why'd you say 'some guys get two girlfriends at once'?!" Shono was unraveling.
"I lied," Ayaka said, lips curling into a wicked little arc. "Didn't know pretty girls lie more convincingly, huh? No way, no way—you actually got mad?"
Shono looked ready to combust.
The entire reason they'd mobbed up—"manager deceived"—just evaporated.
The baseball guys exchanged lost-puppy glances: you dragged us here with no intel? We thought this was justice… now we're the clowns.
"Oh, just a pack of loser dogs kicking up dust."
Onlookers were already roasting.
"Kendo guy's insanely hot, baseball side looks mid at best—fair loss."
"Match made in heaven, what are you demons even mad about?"
The once-cocky white caps shrank under the verbal barrage. Damn it, Shono, what the hell.
Shono could still salvage this—Satoru was thinking: just admit Akane's your girlfriend and you've got a comeback.
But Shono's face cycled red → blue → red, lips bleeding from biting them. Not a word.
He couldn't say it out loud. Publicly claiming a girlfriend = instant violation of baseball club rules = permanent ban. He'd fought tooth and nail for his starting spot this year.
Stalemate.
Shono stayed silent. Satoru sighed inwardly: kid's finished.
"KO—BA—YA—SHI—!!"
A beastly roar tore through the air, name shredded like meat.
Not from the baseball side.
Opposite direction.
Voice deep, mature—definitely not a student.
Satoru turned.
A gorilla was charging straight at him.
Higashi.
"Coach Higashi!" Joy exploded on Shono's face—savior!
Higashi ignored everyone, eyes locked on Satoru, storming forward like a raging bull.
Crowd parted on instinct.
Everyone assumed a teacher was coming to break up the fight.
Sakura had no personal beef with Higashi, and he was faculty—nothing to worry about.
He closed the distance insanely fast.
Arisa, who'd witnessed yesterday's Akane incident, started trembling—danger alarms screaming.
Higashi's killing intent was off the charts.
"Kobayashi! Watch out—"
Too late.
Higashi's thick leg whipped up, wind howling.
Crowd gasped.
A teacher attacking a student in public?!
Masafumi spun.
Tsubasa lunged.
Sakura and Ayaka dropped into blocking stance.
Distance zero. No one could intercept.
Full-power kick aimed straight at Satoru's weakest spot—pure evil.
Higashi's face twisted with demonic fury:
"Brat! Don't blame me!! That bitch taught me this move! Blame her for backing me into a corner!!"
BANG!
A rock-solid shin slammed dead center into the crotch.
Every girl went silent.
Every guy felt phantom pain and shed instinctive tears.
Satoru?
Satoru just kept calmly sipping his milk.
…