Head Over Heels From The Scarf I Lent Her Chapter 21

Summer break was over, making way for a change of both semester and season.

It had been a month since the semester started but the bullying has only been getting worse. Tooru’s desk and belongings were being vandalized. He’s seen it happen in manga or dramas before, but he didn’t think stuff like this actually happened in real life.
His cla.s.smates laughed at him when he had to clean up alone, but seeing that, Jun went and helped him instead. Amane showed up by the door of their cla.s.sroom but they simply ignored her.
The teacher, of course, noticed her, but so did the entire cla.s.s. Everybody gossiped about it afterwards.

The boy who punched and kicked Tooru in the first semester was expelled and forced to switch schools. Tooru didn’t really care about it much except that he thought it was obvious that would happen. The whole school turned on the boy too.
Tooru felt that it was unfortunate but not sorry for the boy. He wished that the boy would find peace at his new school, now that he’s free from Amane’s grasp.

The voice recorder is now physically attached to Jun, figuratively speaking. It’s always on except for during PE. He was aching to finally put it to use, but Amane hasn’t called out Tooru yet.

“It’s been more than a month already. Amane’s probably not interested in you anymore.”

Jun whispered over to Tooru. Perhaps Jun wanted it to be a little more exciting.

“They wouldn’t be still picking on me if that were the case. But it’s an easy life for you though, eh?”
“I can’t wait for to have my way with her.”
“Hold on. Phrasing.”
“Huh?”

Akane showed up while the two of them were whispering to each other. She acted like normal when at school, but according to Jun, she gets affectionate too when the two of them are alone.

“Are you guys working hard or hardly working? They seem to be hara.s.sing you more, Tooru.”
“Are they? That’s probably because Tooru never snaps back, I think.”
“That’s true. Amane gets c.o.c.ky because Tooru doesn’t get mad at her.”
“It’ll be the end of me if I snap back at her. Maybe that’s why…”

The three of them agreed. They had enough evidence of how his cla.s.smates were bullying Tooru, but they just need the finally nail Amane down for good.
They only had one chance at it. They absolutely must not put it to waste.

Then, lunch break.
Amane, with the usual smirk on her face, swung by to their cla.s.s again. Tooru looked over to Jun, discreetly giving him the signal.
He stood up and walked over together to Amane.

This time, they did not go to the hallway by the caretaker’s room. Instead, they went to a dimly lit part at the back of the school. They were a little concerned about how the voice recorder might not work as well since they were out in the open, but they also did not want to speak oddly and repeat words in case she suspects them.

“Oh, looky here. You’ve got a bodyguard this time.”
“Yeah, y’know… I wouldn’t the same thing as last time to happen again.”

That was just a bluff. Tooru only needed Jun here to hide his pen-shaped voice recorder. Jun knew full well that whoever strikes first loses.
Amane chuckled to herself. Judging by how she’s acting, it didn’t seem like she has noticed the voice recorder yet. This was their final chance.

“… won’t you stop picking on me already?’
“Oh, you’re giving up already? I thought Satsuki’s first boy toy would have more of a spine than this. What a shame.”

She spoke as she always did—as if everyone else were dirt. He would love to clap back at her, but he bit his tongue.

“But, never have I bullied anyone that has held back for as long as you did. You’re my favorite toy, though, so why don’t you prove to me that you can fly by jumping off the roof? I’m sure it’d make for great entertainment.”
“You’re kidding. No one would do that.”
“How dare a piece of s.h.i.t like you say no to me?! There’s nothing else you would be good for! Just like her!”

Amane furrowed her brow as she yelled. But Jun simply chuckled.

“Now, now. Calm down, Miyamoto, or else you’ll spoil your pretty face. I mean, Satsuki’s cuter though!”

Of course, Jun said that on purpose to bait out Amane.
It seemed to work instantly. Amane looked like the devil herself as she struck Jun across the face but that face suddenly turned to one of regret.
That was because now Jun, too, had a smirk on his face. He held his cheek in pain as he cried out loud.

“Ow! That hurts so bad! I think you knocked out one of my teeth. Yeah, you totally did. Ahh, I’m bleeding so badly!”
“Wh-What?! I didn’t hit you that hard. Cut it out! You’ll be sorry for making fun of—”

Amane suddenly stopped speaking.
It was too late when she finally noticed the voice recorder in Jun’s pocket. Even though they were out in the open, the voice recorder would have no problem picking up her voice on a calm, windless day like today.
She quickly reached her arm out, but Jun nimbly sidestepped out of the way. Then, he took the recorder out of his pocket and stirred her up even more.

“Ooh, what’s this in my pocket?”
“Argh, you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!”

Was it regret? Hatred? Anger? Amane rushed straight at Jun, but he held the recorder up high and played keep away with her.
A staff member finally came after hearing her shouting. He flinched as soon as he saw Amane, but still walked up to the three of them.

“What happened here?!”

Amane brought out her crocodile tears again as she rushed over to the teacher.

“Help me!”
“What’s wrong, Miyamoto?”
“Th-They were bullying me.”
“Is that right?”

The teacher looked at the boys with doubt. Tooru stayed quiet, but Jun replied.

“Yo, teach, Miyamoto just punched me in the face. Look.”

Jun turned his red, swelling cheek to the teacher. The teacher suddenly looked very serious and glared at Amane.

“Is that right?”
“No, he did that himself…!”
“Oh, let me explain what had happened.”

A voice calls out from the shadows. Amane froze speechless after seeing who it was.
She never noticed Akane who was walking over, still scribbling in her notepad.
Amane knew exactly what she was doing and what was in that notepad of hers, and so she started to sprint at Akane.
However, it was a futile effort as Tooru stepped in to restrain Amane.

“Don’t you get in my way!”
“Get in your way how? I didn’t want you to trip over and hurt yourself was all.”
“You…!”

Finally, Akane made her way to the teacher and handed the notepad to him.

“I wanted to head to the office to hand this off to someone in charge, but this might better timing. I saw everything. Miyamto did in fact punch Jun.”
“No, I didn’t! Really…!”

Amane’s voice cracked as if she were about to cry. Her protesting wouldn’t do much against three of them though. Not to mention, the mountain of evidence against her.
The teacher took the notepad and skimmed from the first page. His eyes widened when he reached the last page with all the details regarding Tooru. Amane, however, could do nothing about it as she was restrained by Tooru.

“… is this true?”
“No…”
“It’s nothing but the truth. You remember how Tooru’s desk had been defaced? That was Miyamoto’s doing as well.”
“But…”

However, the princ.i.p.al played favorites. A single teacher could do nothing about it.
Because of that, Jun held out his voice recorder as well. The teacher was puzzled by what he was looking at before it started speaking.

‘Oh, you’re giving up already? I thought Satsuki’s first boy toy would have more of a spine than this. What a shame.’
“What is this…?”
“Just keep listening. You’ll see.”

Jun fast forwarded the track to get to the where Amane hurled her abuse.

‘But, never have I bullied anyone that has held back for as long as you did. You’re my favorite toy, though, so why don’t you prove to me that you can fly by jumping off the roof? I’m sure it’d make for great entertainment.’
‘You’re kidding. No one would do that.’
‘How dare a piece of s.h.i.t like you say no to me?! There’s nothing else you would be good for! Just like her!’

There was a bit of noise in the clip, but her voice was more than audible. The teacher looked very stern as soon as he realized that it was Amane.
After seeing how the situation unfolded. Amane went limp in Tooru’s arms. Whatever reputation or standing she had began to crumble at this exact moment, naturally. This was eyewitness and proof of all the suspicions the teachers had on Amane.

“But… I…”
“… Miyamoto, come visit me in—no, come visit us in the princ.i.p.al’s office afterwards. I will be reporting this to the vice princ.i.p.al as well.”
“Ah… ah.”

Nothing she says would make a difference anymore. Amane slipped out of Tooru’s hold and slumped to the ground. Her tears were no longer the crocodile tears she had before.

The three of them followed the teacher to the office as witnesses. They were asked all sorts of questions, like when did the bullying start and why did it happen.
They told the truth about the timeframe, but said it was all because of an argument between Tooru and Amane. That way, they could leave Satsuki out of this mess. It’d be rough on her if she had to speak out at her older sister.

To begin with, the faculty had already understood everything, so after hearing what the three of them had to say, everything worked out well.
Amane seemed to have been summoned to the princ.i.p.al’s office and reprimanded for the things that she had done. Seemingly, because Akane wasn’t there to witness it first-hand but heard it from the teachers.
The teachers had also given each student in the grade a handout of a survey, which discovered numerous other incidents of bullying from Amane. Combined with the violence against Jun, she was suspended from school for two months.
Though before she was suspended, Tooru and Amane pa.s.sed by one another. She kept her head down and walked past him. It was very satisfying for Tooru.

And thus was the fall and demise of the empress.
Amane’s rule over the school was no more.

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