Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: No Other Beastly Girl
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Oh no. This isn't how it was supposed to go...
Finals are over now.
I'd been putting off my "butter up the homeroom teacher" project because of all the recent chaos, but I was planning to get right on it!
"Yuna... what exactly happened yesterday?"
The teacher came rushing into the classroom in the middle of lunch distribution, dragged me off to the sixth-grade staff room on the third floor of the annex, and those were her first words.
Right in front of me were the teachers, of course, and the big bald kid fidgeting nervously while watching me out of the corner of his eye.
'Oh crap. Did he actually tell them?'
If that's the case, then forget pride—he's way scarier than I thought, spilling his guts like that to the adults.
Telling grown-ups about how he pissed and shat himself and got spectacularly wrecked.
If it were me, I'd rather bite my tongue and die than admit that. Seriously.
"W-Well..."
"Teacher Narae, don't just spring it on her like that—she'll get scared. You have to explain why you called her first."
"Oh, s-sorry! Um, Yuna? This morning, some other kids came to these teachers here and said you picked up the older boy in front of you at the snack shop by the school gate and beat him up bad. Is that true...?"
"?!! I-I did throw him, but I didn't hit him!!"
"Whoa, so the throwing part is true?"
"No way. I thought it was just kids' rumors, but it's real?"
No! Who said that?! And why does it sound like I was the one who picked him up and bullied him?
For a split second, I wondered if I should correct the rumors with the facts... but that would mean spilling everything about chasing him down with a stick and trying to beat him to death, so I clamped my mouth shut.
He might have started it, but the moment I picked up that stick and threatened him, it became my fault.
Even if I didn't actually hit him, adding physical threats? Yeah, the one who threatened is in the wrong.
"W-Well, you see, after the exam yesterday, I was heading home when this b-brother suddenly grabbed me and said he'd buy me something tasty."
"...?"
"Huh? Wha—?"
"No, I know this kid's a problem child, but to a first-grader... wow."
I didn't lie. Hands are part of the body, right? He blocked my way, grabbed my arm (that's body!), and said he'd buy me tteokbokki if I behaved.
It was a dirty, sneaky trick, but what can you do? Gotta save myself first.
Call me trash if you want. Better to twist the truth a bit and play confident trash than confess everything, get disciplined, and worry my pregnant mom.
As I spoke in a slightly scared voice, head bowed like I was watching the teachers' reactions, fiddling with my hands on my lap, they all looked shocked.
Of course, the big bald kid—who got brutally rejected after confessing to me—was gaping like he couldn't believe it... Whatever. Deal with it.
"N-No, that's not it!! I-I only grabbed her hand! She was ignoring me, so I tried to hold her back... Ack!!"
"You rotten punk!! Hey! Is that what you say right now?! Huh?! Hands aren't body parts?! This little shit's beyond saving!"
The second he realized his wording was off and tried to correct it, a nearby teacher smacked him upside the head. Sigh. You don't phrase it like that.
Hey, hey, don't worry. I do have a conscience. Even if I trash your pride, I won't ruin you beyond repair, so just sit tight.
...Probably.
"H-He said he'd buy me tteokbokki... and he's someone from the taekwondo dojang who taught me studying before, so I trusted him and followed. B-But after we ate, he threatened me to be his girlfriend starting today!"
"What? No way. Sigh. Why would you go after a kid five years younger? Unbelievable."
The other teachers sighed and glared at the now tearful big bald kid, while my homeroom teacher looked at me with a complicated expression before cautiously speaking up.
"S-So that's why you threw this brother?"
"Yes. There were lots of other people around, and also, um... well..."
No, teacher? Don't say it like that—it makes me sound like I threw him just for a confession.
But... it was true.
Back then, it wasn't about stealing money or whatever—it was that creepy "From today, you're mine for the day? Heh heh," that made me hurl him on instinct.
But I can't say that.
I need a more... plausible reason. Hmm.
"H-He has a scary face, he's ugly, and his hand grabbing me was all sweaty and stinky."
"??"
"Pfft!"
"N-No, teacher, if you laugh at that... ngh!"
If I said, "I was gonna teach this fake delinquent punk a lesson 'cause he was bragging!" it'd give me a solid justification, but it'd also drop him into a pit he might never climb out of.
With sexual harassment suspicions already, getting outed as a poser delinquent in front of adults?
They probably knew he was faking it, but there's a difference between quietly knowing and hearing it straight-up here.
Alright, time to wrap this up.
From the looks of it, no one's gunning to punish or suspend us.
"But we've made up now... and we promised to be good from now on, so I'm okay! If he does it again 'cause of his ugly face, I'll handle him myself!"
I looked up with a bright smile, and the sixth-grade teachers beamed back, while my homeroom teacher flinched and forced a wry smile.
She's seen my superhuman feats and the dodgeball massacre with her own eyes, so my words probably didn't sound heartwarming to her.
Yeah. Fair.
Seeing a big kid groveling to a little girl in a piss-and-shit-soaked alley, sniffling and wiping snot with one hand while rubbing with the other— that was more grotesque than touching.
"Excuse me."
"I-I didn't say anything! For real! Why would I?!"
"Talking informal?"
"...Ma'am."
No kidding, I know that already, dude.
The moment we walked into the staff room, our class teacher explained everything.
Good thing he's prideful like I figured. Whew.
We'd reconciled, no one was hurt, so after a warning, I finally escaped the staff room after fifth period started.
"If you shove that creepy face at me again, you're done for!"
"Eek!!"
Honestly, that tteokbokki scene yesterday—if it weren't for my iron stomach, I'd have puked right there.
It was that horrifying... Ugh, I might never eat tteokbokki again.
At least if you're gonna hit on girls, take care of yourself first, right?
"If you're confessing, lose some weight, don't buzz your hair like some weed patch—grow it out a bit. Learn to think of others too."
"?? S-So you'll accept then?"
"Me? Why?"
Is he nuts? Why would I date a guy?
Fine, pretend I do.
"Think you could handle me?"
"..."
I'll twist nipples for bad behavior, crack skulls, and I've got a huge appetite... You'd be crushed the second you're next to me.
"I'll hit you the moment you hold my hand. Shove that ugly mug in my face? Hit. Pull any lame confession? Hit."
With every word, his face paled, and he gulped hard.
Hmm. And finally...
"I already have a boyfriend, you know?"
"Huh?"
Those words Jeongu casually dropped that morning while looking after me.
"I'm dating Jeongu, okay? So don't mess with another guy's girl. Oh, and don't touch Jeongu either."
Fake boyfriend or not, mess with my closest friend in class, and you're dead meat!
You'd need to brace for ten times the beating.
You never know, right?
He might go, "How dare he date the girl I liked! Grr, can't stand it!" or some dumb drama.
"Guess I'll head home~ Ugh, seriously. What a hassle. Couldn't even eat... Oh, gotta tell the teacher I'm hungry."
I detoured to the first-grade staff room, scarfed down the three cups of ramen and two hotdogs my homeroom teacher pulled from her drawer, chugged a soda, and passed through the school gate...
"All sorted?"
"Ack! You scared me!"
Jeongu, leaning against the wall by the gate like he'd been waiting.
"Why aren't you at taekwondo yet? It's already 1:30!"
Lunch starts at 12:10... Holy crap, has he been here over an hour?
"Academy said I don't have to come anymore anyway. And taekwondo starts at 4."
"Oh, okay? Still, that's too much! Weren't you bored? Why stand around outside?"
"Spent the last 30 minutes calming Yuri noona down. She freaked when she heard you got called to the staff room."
"Really? Aww, what fuss over nothing. Yuri's such a worrier~ She'd think I was her girlfriend or something."
"You are a kid."
"..."
W-Well... true.
I'm eight, so yeah, a kid.
Tch. Second life or not, getting called a kid by a real innocent eight-year-old feels kinda weird.
I just grinned without retorting, so Jeongu sighed softly and handed me the black bag in his hand.
Huh? What's this?
"Got it from the snack shop. Figured you'd be hungry since you couldn't eat."
"Ooh."
My Jeongu, so thoughtful?
Timing's a bit off, though.
"Heh heh. I just ate ramen and soda in the staff room."
"...One ramen's never enough for you."
"Three raman and two hotdogs!"
"So, not eating?"
No way! As if! Three cups just tide me over! Noodles go down quick, and hunger hits fast!
Thinking he might not give it, I snatched the bag quick.
Heavy—tteokbokki plus extras. I grinned wide.
Whoa! Kid gets big allowance? First-grader buying all this!
Feels bad eating alone...
"Wanna eat together in the classroom? I'll grab sodas from the staff room!"
"Sure, if the teacher says okay."
Thanks to Jeongu's care, tteokbokki didn't seem so bad anymore. Even after that big bald jerk.