Chapter Sixty-Two: Featured in the News!

After lunch, it wasn't long before Masao Haruno hurried out once again.

Sora seemed rather subdued; it was clear that what Masao had discussed wasn't as insignificant to her as she had pretended.

Aoki Tsukasa didn't disturb her. Instead, he tidied up the house, fetched his mended school uniform from the tailor's, and finally sprawled lazily on his own bed for some rest.

Come to think of it, ever since he arrived here, he had been busy studying, practicing kendo, and training in boxing—he hadn't truly taken a day off. Now, with the rare opportunity to relax on a day off, Tsukasa had no intention of wasting this precious time. He picked up his phone, only to notice a message he hadn't read—the one he'd ignored earlier while cooking.

Opening it, Tsukasa's expression turned odd.

"Hello, Aoki-kun, this is Kokomi Teruhashi. If it's convenient, could you add me as a friend on Line? There's a video you really must see. My number is...."

How strange. Is she trying to trick me into giving her my contact info? And how did she get my number?

Tsukasa hesitated for a moment, then downloaded the Line app. It made sense; as a modern person in the twenty-first century, having no messaging app at all seemed a bit off. He hadn't bothered before, since there hadn't been many people to contact, but now, as he got to know more people, having such an app would be convenient.

He created an account, filled his ID with spaces, randomly picked a default avatar, and sent a friend request to Kokomi Teruhashi.

"Daffodil?" Tsukasa couldn't help but chuckle. That name translated directly meant narcissus.

The avatar was a cute anime girl, surrounded by sparkling stars.

After noting his name and sending the friend request, Tsukasa was about to open NICONICO, the video site supposedly beloved by the younger generation, to see what was currently trending among high schoolers.

After all, he was a high schooler himself; even if he didn't care for such things, he still needed to know what his peers liked—otherwise, how could he have anything to talk about with Sora?

However, before the site had even loaded, the notification for Kokomi Teruhashi's accepted friend request sounded.

"Aoki-kun?" Kokomi messaged him on Line.

Tsukasa tapped at his phone screen. "Yes, you mentioned there was a video I had to see?"

"Take a look at this—is the person in this video really you?" Kokomi sent a website link.

Tsukasa clicked it, and his face gradually darkened.

The video's title read: "Justice Served! Delinquent Girls Forced to Kneel and Apologize in Mall!"

Upon clicking play, the first thing to appear was a line of text from the video's creator:

"Yesterday while shopping at the mall, I witnessed three delinquent girls bullying a beautiful girl with vicious words. But unexpectedly, the girl's brother was right there. As they say, evil meets its match, and the bullies were swiftly dealt with. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to start recording from the very beginning."

The text faded, replaced by a mobile phone recording.

Right from the start, Tsukasa could hear his own furious voice: "And you think you're worthy of bullying her?"

On screen, his angry expression was downright intimidating—his bald head even showing bulging veins. No sooner had he spoken than he raised his hand and slapped the short-haired girl, the sound sharp and clear even through the recording.

"He hit her!" "That bald guy is scary..." "Oh no, he's looking over here..."

There was a chorus of whispers from the onlookers in the video.

"Shut the hell up, all of you." Tsukasa's bellow was forceful, his brows drawn tight, gaze like a blade slicing through the crowd. Even the person recording clearly trembled, the video shaking before stabilizing again.

Watching himself in the video, Tsukasa covered his face, feeling a twinge of embarrassment he couldn't explain.

He watched as his recorded self had the sales assistant recount what had happened, then made the three delinquent girls kneel and apologize, and finally ordered the bystanders to put away their phones. Tsukasa's gaze remained calm—until he saw the part where the videographer captured him stating his full name. At that, his expression fell, anger simmering beneath the surface.

He didn't need to keep watching; he had lived through that scene. He skimmed through the footage, noting there was no editing or special treatment, then closed the video and opened the comments.

The comments made Tsukasa press his lips tightly together.

"I Love Dorayaki: That was so satisfying to watch—those girls deserved every bit of it. Is that bald guy a yakuza member or something? He doesn't look like a high schooler! Anyone here from Muyou High? What's Aoki Tsukasa's story?"

"Little Orange Cat: I don't know Aoki Tsukasa, but I know the girl who got bullied. We went to the same middle school—she had it pretty rough."

"Slaaaa: I think I've heard that name somewhere. Did this happen in Yachiyo, Chiba?"

"M10101: I remember now—he's a transfer student, first year at Muyou High. I'm a student there myself. He’s a real delinquent, beat up a whole group of classmates when he first arrived—one against ten. I heard just a few days ago he got into it with some upperclassmen too, and again, took on a whole group by himself and won. The guy is seriously scary. I saw him once and didn't dare lift my head."

"Weirdo Xi: None of them look like decent people—what's there to praise? If you ask me, both the girls and the guy in the video are bad news."

"Queen of Hearts: If you ask me, the bullied girl must have issues herself. Look at her silver hair—whether it's dyed or not, why can't she be normal? If you make yourself stand out like that, of course you’re going to get targeted. She's just asking for it."

"PIPo-chan: That comment above is just amazing—it’s people like you who cause school bullying in the first place. Why don't you go say that in front of the bald guy and see what happens? I think he did the right thing. People like you need a good beating to wake you up! I should make a video about people like you."

Tsukasa snapped the comments section shut, so angry his breathing quickened.

He didn't care if people called him fierce or a delinquent—none of that mattered to him. But why drag Sora into this?

Especially since the person who filmed the video hadn't even bothered to blur out faces or hide personal information—his identity was posted online for all to see!

Fuming, Tsukasa registered an account and sent a private message to the video creator.

"I'm Aoki Tsukasa, the guy in your latest video. Why did you post my video without even blurring my face? Did you get my permission? Do you realize this could expose my address?" He hammered out message after message, the last one carrying a subtle threat: "Since you managed to film me, you must know why I did what I did, right?"

The meaning was clear. They were in the same city, and if Tsukasa really wanted to pursue this, the uploader might not be able to run far.

"Delete my video immediately," Tsukasa sent, still seething, though he knew it was probably useless.

The video had only been posted that morning and had already racked up an astonishing 23,000 views. Even if it was deleted now, what difference would it make? His messages were nothing more than a vent for his frustration.

Worse still, Tsukasa searched a few related keywords and, as he feared, found several news articles had already appeared.

The video, even after being blurred and muted, had made it onto Yachiyo's local morning news!

Damn these media outlets.

Tsukasa tossed his phone aside, his expression dark.

He didn't care what people thought of him—even if everyone cursed him out, it was all the same. If anyone dared to insult him to his face, he'd show them what a real delinquent was. He didn't think he had done anything wrong. Even if he were given another chance to handle things, he wouldn't have acted any differently.

But what bothered him was the thought that this incident might affect Sora. Sora already suffered from depression—what if these comments pushed her over the edge?

Especially since Sora... seemed to love spending time online.

With a sigh, Tsukasa rose, hesitated for a long while in front of Sora's bedroom door, then knocked with determined resolve.