Chapter 55
Chapter 55
"Uh, well..."
"I-I said, I'll take the punishment."
Anyway, it wasn't an "improper heterosexual relationship," just an "improper relationship." Come to think of it, in this world where dating is fine regardless of gender, there was no real reason to specify "heterosexual relationship" in the first place. Although something like "improper heterosexual-and-homosexual relationship" would sound kind of weird and clunky.
Of course, even in a world like this, dating more than one person at a time probably wouldn't be accepted. Whether it's this world or the world I used to live in, marriage is monogamous... wait, for two women, is it mono-woman-ous? Anyway, I doubt it's all that different.
Walking around with a girl on each arm like this definitely could look like a public morals violation. Especially after the scene we caused in the classroom.
Still, I hadn't expected the Student Council to step in directly. They're supposed to be the most important students in the school, right? Could they genuinely know nothing about me?
As I thought that, I glanced at the name tag on the Disciplinary Committee member's chest. The name 'Son A-reum' was engraved in yellow. The name tags were made of yellow, white, and copper colors, meant to represent gold, silver, and bronze, I assumed, and the color rotated each year for the incoming first-years.
The students who entered this year had their names in gold, and they would keep that color until graduation. Then the students enrolling the year we graduate would inherit the gold. That's why looking at a name tag makes it easy to tell what year a student is in. Though the teachers still get confused sometimes.
So this meant she was a first-year, newly appointed to the Disciplinary Committee and absolutely bursting with zeal.
Given how she hurriedly covered her chest with her hands when she felt me looking, it seemed she had seriously, very seriously, misunderstood me.
...Well, I did act in a way that invited misunderstanding.
But being openly labeled a pervert did get kind of depressing.
Of the four of us who hang out together, me included, I'm the one who's most careful about physical contact.
Not that anyone would believe me if I said that.
...Hmm. Mulling it over, I started to feel like teasing her a little.
"Having a homosexual orientation doesn't mean you look at everyone through a sexual lens."
I'd already figured out she was a first-year, so there was no need to keep using formal speech.
So I casually tossed out a very, very theoretical statement.
"Huh—"
Even in a world where homosexuality was relatively mainstream, there was still a lingering undercurrent of negative bias. Naturally, what I'd said was a logical trap.
I didn't embed the statement "I am a homosexual" in those words. My plan was, if this ever came up again, to tease her by saying, 'I only said that because you seemed to think I was a homosexual.'
...Well, actually, if you think about it, from her perspective, there really was no other way to see it. I was acting that way, and more than anything, the me inside Ye Sa-ra's body simply had zero sexual interest in men. If I ever did find a 'real' partner someday, it definitely wouldn't be a guy.
Son A-reum's face went pale for a second, then flushed bright red again. Seeing my grinning expression, she apparently realized it was a joke.
Son A-reum jabbed a finger at me and shouted,
"Y-you're the pervert—that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with homosexuals...!"
Well, fair enough.
But I'm not a pervert...
I was about to think that, but then I remembered all the different ways I'd been draped across Ha-neul's lap during class yesterday.
...No, I did that on purpose to look that way. And she gave me permission, too.
But this was no place to deny the charges. Because I needed to receive a punishment from the Student Council beyond a simple disciplinary action.
If I was going to turn this into an incident that forced the school to stop treating me like a nonexistent person, it was better to let them over-interpret things as much as possible.
"I—"
"So, what's the problem?"
I opened my mouth to agree, but suddenly Yu Ha-neul, who had been clinging to my side, blurted out.
"What?"
Son A-reum turned to Yu Ha-neul and shot back. As if she hadn't expected Yu Ha-neul to jump in so abruptly.
"I mean, what's the problem? It's true we were hugging during class. It's also true Sara was walking arm-in-arm with Su-a during the lesson. But what's the problem with that? The teacher ignored it too."
...Uh, that's totally.
A line a Villainess would say.
Or rather, something the lackey number one hanging around the Villainess would say. The cliché villain line that lackey number one spouts on behalf of the haughty Villainess, who commits all sorts of evil deeds without anyone stopping her and never feels the need to speak up herself.
It was a line the female protagonist might overhear, but not one that should ever come out of her own mouth.
When I stared at Yu Ha-neul in shock, she pressed her face right up to my ear and whispered,
"I have a plan. Just play along."
"......"
I thought for a moment, then nodded.
Yu Ha-neul's drive to act was on par with a dump truck that hits you and sends you flying into another world, after all.
"Wha, wha, wha, wha..."
Watching Yu Ha-neul brazenly crush the other girl's logic and then press her face right up next to mine while whispering something, Son A-reum's face turned crimson. I could only guess what was going through her mind.
After all, it's a classic cliché in school stories, dating sims included, that the Disciplinary Committee members or morals committee members are the ones with the dirtiest and most lewd thoughts in their heads. In all-ages media, it usually stops right around there. But in adult dating sims, doujinshi, or commercial magazines...
...Well, this girl was a character who didn't appear in 'If You Wish.' At least, she wasn't one of the three heroines you could pursue. If she did appear in a segment I hadn't seen in the streamer's playthrough, she probably showed up as an extra without even a Standing CG. The creator publicly stated there were no secret heroines or hidden routes in this game.
"Besides, we didn't do anything 'improper' at school."
"...Huh?"
At Ha-neul's sudden bombshell, the atmosphere froze over with a crack.
Not just the Disciplinary Committee member standing before us, but also the students who had subtly stopped walking or pretended to pause conversations with friends to eavesdrop on our fight all completely froze in place. I could hear the sound of cars coming and going outside the school gates, but right around us, it felt eerily silent.
"S-So, at school... you said?"
"How can just hugging count as an improper relationship? We didn't even kiss, and we definitely didn't do, that, that, that kind of act."
As she spoke, Ha-neul seemed to be getting a little embarrassed herself, because she stuttered slightly when mentioning 'that kind of act.'
"Well, I mean, then..."
"Right."
To the Disciplinary Committee member who was stammering uncontrollably at Ha-neul's unexpected bombshell,
"Yeah. Last night, I stayed over at Sara's house. We 'slept' there."
Yeah, we did 'sleep' there.
But when she put that kind of emphasis on the word 'slept,' it felt like the meaning was getting twisted in a really strange direction.
The Disciplinary Committee member's face was now so red I wondered if it could possibly get any redder. If you cracked an egg on her forehead, could you fry it?
"Oh, right, speaking of which, I'm still wearing your underwear. I'll wash them and give them back later."
And without so much as glancing at the Disciplinary Committee member, Ha-neul turned her head toward me and said it.
She was still wearing them?!
No, I mean, I guess she would be!
Ah, wait. So that means...
Yesterday, the only person who went out and bought underwear was Shin So-hee. Ha-neul, obviously, and even Lee Su-a, I guess neither of them had expected to be sleeping over at my mansion.
When I slowly turned my head to look at Lee Su-a, her face blushed slightly, and she held my arm even tighter, speaking quietly.
"I-I will, too... wash them and give them back later...."
As she said that and averted her eyes from mine slightly, Lee Su-a's face looked pitiful yet gave off a strangely suggestive aura.
!!!!!
An invisible exclamation mark appeared above the Disciplinary Committee member's head.
Her mouth was opening and closing, but no words seemed to be coming out. She was probably running a simulation, marshaling her imagination to its absolute limit, trying to figure out what Ha-neul, Lee Su-a, and I had done last night.
In reality, we just ate chicken and slept.
"Oh, right. So-hee said the same thing. She felt bad, so she said she'd wash my shirt and give it back."
!!!!!
Even more exclamation marks appeared above the Disciplinary Committee member's head. I didn't actually see them, but I definitely felt them.
"Th-three... three girls...?"
No, don't phrase it like that. It makes me sound like some kind of harem king.
No, wait. Harem queen?
...Or lez queen? Anyway.
The insane statement Ha-neul had started seemed to have landed even more effectively than she intended. She had raised the aggro level of not just the Disciplinary Committee member but every single passerby to a full 300%. If this were a game-fantasy instead of a dating sim, she'd definitely be a shield warrior.
Ah, no. Ha-neul herself probably couldn't be the tank.
Because the atmosphere suggested all that aggro had just been tossed directly onto me.
"......"
The Disciplinary Committee member was trembling, her fists clenched tight, her shoulders shaking. It looked like her rage had exceeded its threshold and it was taking an immense amount of effort just to hold onto her rationality.
"Uh... so."
I'd nearly lost my mind right alongside the Disciplinary Committee member after hearing Ha-neul's words, but I quickly collected myself.
"So what you're saying is, you can't just let this slide?"
At my words, the Disciplinary Committee member Son A-reum jabbed a finger at me again and spoke. By the way, this girl really loves her finger-jabbing. Are all Disciplinary Committee character archetypes like this?
Actually, I guess they kind of are.
"Of course not! Absolutely not!"
Still, I was glad to hear her say that. Ha-neul's statement had apparently been incredibly effective.
Well, if I were a Disciplinary Committee member and a classmate said something like 'I went to an orgy last night,' I'd probably be horrified and tattle to a teacher too.
Ha-neul never even brought up the S-word for sex.
She just said 'slept.'
...Maybe this girl has a talent for politics?
When I looked over at Ha-neul, she flashed me a quick grin. If there hadn't been people around, she might have even thrown up a V-sign with her fingers.
"I will raise a motion at the Student Council meeting, and your, your...."
"Our?"
"Your, d-de... debauched conduct! I'll make sure it gets properly exposed!"
What exactly was she planning to put in the report? Ye Sa-ra had a sex party with three other female students?
If she actually wrote that, then I'd have something to say about it too, and if we ended up in a fight over it, the school wouldn't be able to keep ignoring me, so I was fine with it.
"Fine."
I reflexively tried to cross my arms on my own, then realized both arms were still being held and gracefully gave up.
"Go ahead and try. I have my own thoughts on the matter."
I lifted one corner of my mouth in a smirk.
It was almost visible—the blood rushing straight to the top of the Disciplinary Committee member's head.
Well, it seemed she was thinking something completely opposite of me.
Wasn't that exactly what made this work?