The commotion died down as Yoru was shoved into the center.
After all, he didn't fit in. He was the creepy otaku accused of stealing panties and stockings.
"ORE WA... JI SAIKYO YAN GA DENSETSU—!!" (I am a legend)
The mixed-race kid suddenly shouted some cringe-laced chant, then turned to face Yoru.
It fired up the group's fighting spirit again.
The locker room turned chaotic once more.
"Hey, hey, Katakami, don't hold your waistband so tightly," Tobe called out, egging him on.
"Yeah, take your hands off already."
"..."
All attention focused on Yoru.
Hayato let out a breath of relief. Finally, no one was looking at him anymore.
Yoru hesitated, still gripping his waistband tightly, and glanced quickly at Tobe.
Looked like he was the one who pushed him into the circle.
Trying to humiliate him?
"Kitakami, don't be scared. No one's going to laugh at you," Tobe said loudly, his voice rising above the crowd.
He wore an innocent-looking smile as he spoke.
But Yoru knew he was just trying to salvage his own pride.
The others began to chime in too.
So Yoru let go of his waistband.
With a calm face, he looked at Tobe and said mockingly, "And no one will laugh at you either, right?"
The moment he spoke, all eyes turned to Yoru.
In the girls' locker room next door, everyone suddenly stopped moving and glanced toward the boys' side in confusion.
It had just been noisy, and now it was dead silent.
Gulp...
One boy looked at the water bottle in his hand and suddenly felt it looked a bit... small.
"Tobe, no one will laugh at you," Yoru said, puffing his chest as he glanced coldly at Tobe's swim trunks.
Tobe looked like he'd swallowed a fly.
To be mocked by Yoru—someone everyone usually stepped on—was too humiliating. But he couldn't refute it.
Because compared to Yoru... the difference was stark.
Without acknowledging the stunned and admiring looks of the other boys, Yoru grabbed his waistband again and walked toward the exit.
The crowd at the door automatically parted, forming a narrow path just wide enough for the huge Yoru to squeeze through.
They watched him walk away stiffly, like a robot.
After he left, the whole confrontation in the locker room came to an end.
Everyone quietly dispersed with awkward expressions.
Even the mixed-race boy lowered his head and fell completely silent.
After leaving the locker room, Yoru shuffled slowly to the edge of the pool.
The massive pool was rectangular, almost the size of a football field.
Yoru thought, maybe if he stayed quiet, no one would notice him?
As he tested the water with his foot, he looked around.
Not far away.
His deskmate Yumiko was wearing a school swimsuit that looked one size too small. It clung tightly to her curves.
Her dazzling blonde hair flowed down her back, her collarbone and flat stomach perfectly smooth and fair, her long, elegant legs snowy white.
On her delicate feet, she wore light blue toenail polish.
She was tall, and her face...
"What are you staring at?"
Yumiko shot a glare at Yoru.
Her sharp eyes were like razor blades.
"I just accidentally looked," Yoru quickly explained, lowering his head.
"Hmph! Don't make that pervy face at me!"
"Weird. Why are the boys taking so long in the locker room? What were they even doing?"
Yumiko rolled her eyes and glanced at the locker room before jumping into the pool.
"Whew—"
Yoru let out a breath and patted his chest.
But he was still worried.
Would this high-handed normie queen Yumiko, who clearly wasn't easy to deal with, try to retaliate later?
A moment later, a bunch of boys poured out of the locker room.
From that point on until the end of the day, Yoru could feel boys glancing at him every so often.
"So disgusting..."
With a shiver, Yoru grabbed his bag and slipped out the back door of the classroom.
On the first floor, he went to change shoes. Just as he opened his locker, he found it stuffed with notes and a leftover bread wrapper someone had jammed in through the cracks.
It was pointless, clearly just someone who didn't like him trying to mess with him.
Yoru crumpled the trash into a ball, changed shoes, and was just about to leave the school building when he saw Eriri rush past him.
He glanced at her—and froze.
Because above Eriri's head, a golden treasure chest had appeared!
"That... Sawamura has a golden chest too?!"
Yoru's eyes widened, his mind racing.
Before the field trip...
The first time he crossed paths with Utaha was in the restroom.
Back then, he saw Utaha and Eriri arguing fiercely under a tree. He couldn't hear what they were fighting about, but it was clear—they didn't get along.
And coincidentally, the three of them had been grouped together for the field trip.
"Bad blood..."
A spark went off in Yoru's mind.
"Sawamura's the culprit?!"
Because of her poor relationship with Utaha, did she steal Utaha's stockings and panties out of spite?
Since she's a girl, even if she was caught by Utaha or Kaguya during the act, she could easily play it off!
And afterward, she threw the evidence onto him—maybe as a cover, or maybe for another reason?
But that wasn't important now.
The important thing was—was the culprit really Eriri?!
This popular, noble, high-born half-English girl who looked down on him?
Yoru's breathing grew heavy, his expression twisting into something grim.
Even though it was hard to believe someone with her upbringing and status would steal Utaha's underwear...
But the more Yoru thought about it—
Did Yoru really know Eriri?
No, not at all.
All he knew was that Eriri didn't get along with Utaha. She was arrogant, looked down on people, and never even gave him a glance.
What kind of person Eriri truly was, he had no clue.
But more convincing than any of that was the golden treasure chest floating above Eriri's head.
That was all the confirmation he needed.
Eriri was the culprit.
Only bitches had treasure chests above their heads.
If it were just because she looked down on him, then every girl in Shuchiin would have a golden chest floating above them.