Miyajima Sakura's voice was not loud, but it carried undeniable authority.
At that simple question, the rowdy Baseball Club members who had been stirring up trouble instantly fell silent, like cicadas in winter. Their eyes darted nervously, but not one of them dared to speak.
Finally, the short-haired boy who had earlier mocked Hayato as "plain and unremarkable" stepped forward.
"Captain Miyajima… even though the Kendo Club is the pride of Shirakawa High, surely you can't turn a blind eye to the moral corruption of your own members, can you?"
"Moral corruption? And who would that be?" Sakura asked evenly.
The crowd hesitated.
And then, one by one, eyes shifted toward Hayato.
Hayato, however, remained unbothered. He calmly sipped the milk Sakura had given him, his gaze lifting only slightly to watch Hiiragi Sohuya, whose expression looked like he was ready to kill.
"Hayato?" Sakura tilted her head, puzzled. "Did he wrong you somehow?"
"Wrong me? More than that!" the short-haired boy barked. "Ask him what despicable things he's done!"
Sakura turned to Hayato with a questioning look.
Hayato only gave a faint smile. "I didn't do anything."
"Bullshit!" the boy roared, puffing up like a tiger king. "You seduced our manager, Nanao Akane! Not only did you make her quit the club, you two-timed her with another girl! Deceiving girls' feelings!"
"…Nanao?" Sakura blinked, momentarily stunned.
She vaguely remembered—during morning practice, there used to be a cold, striking girl wearing a purple baseball cap at the Baseball Club. But recently she hadn't been around… Could she and Hayato have been dating?
Sakura's violet eyes flickered with curiosity. Hayato had never mentioned it to her.
Even so, she kept her voice steady. "If you're claiming he cheated with two girls, then who is the other?"
"It's her!" Hiiragi Sohuya suddenly pointed at Kobayashi Ayaka, who stood there looking rather dispirited. "I never imagined even your own vice-captain was involved, Captain Miyajima!"
"…Eh?" Sakura froze. She turned to her best friend. "Ayaka… you and Hayato… are you two… dating?"
"Nope."
Ayaka's answer came instantly, delivered so naturally it shocked Hiiragi and his companions.
"…Eh!?"
"I only met this kid for the first time yesterday. Even if we were going to date, it wouldn't be that fast." She added, her voice cool and steady, "Besides, he's not my type."
Her tone was flat, almost icy, without the slightest ripple of emotion.
She could speak so calmly because—conveniently—her back was turned to Hayato. She couldn't see his face at all.
"Then why did you say 'some people can have two girlfriends'!" Hiiragi sputtered, finally losing his composure.
"I was just teasing." Ayaka smirked faintly, her lips curving into a sly arc. "Don't you know? The prettier a girl is, the more she lies. What's wrong, Sohuya? Getting nervous?"
"Nervous" didn't even begin to cover it. Hiiragi was fuming, his chest tight with frustration.
This was disastrous.
One of his main excuses for rallying the Baseball Club against Hayato was "Manager Nanao was deceived by a scumbag." But now that reasoning had completely collapsed.
The other Baseball Club members turned to him, baffled and annoyed. You dragged us here for this circus without checking the facts first?
They thought they were marching in the name of justice, but now they looked like clowns.
"Oh, I get it. So it's just a bunch of sore losers causing a ruckus," one student in the crowd scoffed.
"Seriously, you can't deny the Kendo Club's boy has some charm. Those guys from the Baseball Club? At best, they just look passable. He's clearly out of their league."
"Right? He and Vice-Captain Ayaka look like a perfect match—talented man, beautiful woman. Why are these guys foaming at the mouth over it?"
The Baseball Club members wilted further under the mocking jeers. Their earlier arrogance had completely vanished.
Damn it, Hiiragi… what the hell are you pulling us into?
Hayato calmly sipped his milk. He still has one card left, he thought. If he just blurts out the truth—that Nanao is actually my girlfriend—it might turn things back in his favor.
But Hayato watched as Hiiragi's face went from red to green to pale, his lips bitten tight, yet unable to utter a word.
He couldn't say it.
If he admitted publicly that he had a relationship with Nanao Akane, it would be a violation of Baseball Club rules. Violators were suspended.
And Hiiragi's chance to secure a main lineup position this year had been hard-earned. He couldn't risk it.
The standoff dragged on.
Hayato sighed. This kid's finished.
"Hayato—!"
The sudden roar shook the field.
It wasn't the voice of a Baseball Club member. It didn't even sound like a high school student at all.
It was deeper. Older. A man's voice.
Hayato turned his head—
And saw a gorilla-sized man striding towards him.
Tōgō-sensei?
"Supervisor Tōgō!" Hiiragi's face lit up with relief. His savior had arrived!
But Tōgō didn't even spare him a glance. His furious eyes locked straight on Hayato.
His stride quickened, his steps pounding like a charging bull, wind practically tearing in his wake.
The crowd scattered instinctively. Surely, as a teacher, he was here to break up the fight—
Even Miyajima Sakura thought so. Though she hadn't interacted much with Tōgō, she knew he was the Baseball Club's supervisor, a faculty member. She assumed he would step in to mediate.
Which was why no one stopped him.
And just like that, Tōgō closed the distance with ease.
Arisa's eyes widened in horror.
She had witnessed the entire "Nanao incident" yesterday.
Her pupils shrank to needlepoints. An ominous premonition stabbed at her chest.
Tōgō-sensei isn't here to stop anything—!
"Hayato! Watch out—!" she screamed.
But she was too late.
Tōgō's massive leg swung up, carrying a vicious gust, and drove a merciless kick toward Hayato.
The entire sports field froze.
What the hell!? A teacher attacking a student!?
Kase Masafumi spun around.
Ochi Tsubasa tensed to leap forward.
Miyajima Sakura and Ayaka even dropped into stances, ready to intercept.
But it was far too late.
The distance was gone.
Tōgō's kick was a full-force strike, aimed at the most vulnerable part of Hayato's body. A blow filled with sheer malice.
His face twisted with cruelty, he bellowed:
"Brat! Don't blame me! This is the very move that bitch taught me! Blame her for leaving me with no way out!"
BAM!
The impact landed squarely between Hayato's thighs.
Women gasped in horrified silence.
Men shivered, eyes watering as phantom pain shot through them.
But Hayato?
Hayato simply kept drinking his milk.