Chapter 185: Chapter 183: Bullying? I'll Go Up and Crack Some Skulls!
It seemed that the girl had sensed Haruto's gaze.
She turned her head cautiously, glancing in Haruto's direction. The moment their eyes met, she quickly turned away again. Under the cover of her ash-blond hair, her bright and expressive eyes flickered in and out of view.
Seeing this, Haruto became even more certain of his judgment.
It was most likely Nishimiya Shoko.
Adorable, but with a bit of a withdrawn demeanor.
"Haruto, is something wrong?"
Since Haruto had been standing there for a while without returning, Mitsuha and the others came over to find him. Seeing him deep in thought, Mitsuha curiously asked.
Haruto snapped out of his thoughts and smiled at Mitsuha, shaking his head.
"No, it's nothing. I just saw someone familiar and was reminded of a few things. The rooms are already booked. Here are the room keys, ladies first. Enjoy your hot spring trip to the fullest."
Saying that, Haruto handed over three room keys for the inn.
Suzume casually took one and then, feeling a bit embarrassed, said,
"Even though I was the one who suggested this, Haruto ended up paying. I feel bad about it. How much did you spend? I'll transfer the amount to you."
Haruto shook his head.
"It's just a small amount of money. Besides, this isn't three years ago anymore. To me, money is nothing more than a string of numbers."
Haruto had no intention of showing off when he said this, it was simply the truth. At this point, for the foundation, money was the least of their concerns.
Hearing this, Suzume and Mitsuha thought for a moment before nodding in understanding.
However, Yotsuha and Hina, standing beside them, were completely dumbfounded.
Was this Haruto-senpai always this… eccentric?
What kind of over-the-top CEO talk was that?
Yotsuha became even more convinced, her sister had definitely been sweet-talked and deceived by this guy!
Just then, a commotion arose not far away.
Haruto turned his gaze and saw that at the inn's reception desk, the teacher leading the elementary school group was in the middle of handling their check-in.
Meanwhile, the group of kids behind him had already descended into chaos.
You really couldn't expect elementary school children to be well-disciplined. Well-behaved, considerate kids—like something out of a fairy tale—were a rare sight.
What the world had in abundance were rowdy, uncontrollable brats.
(T/N: Ehh, a knock on the head and a smack on the ass will fix em. Or let em fucking kneel on salt in front of your house while apologizing to what they've done.
Seen that, laughed at it, and did it.)
However, if it were just playful roughhousing, Haruto and the others wouldn't have paid much attention.
But the content of the noise made all of them frown.
Led by a boy, a group of children had surrounded the ash-blond-haired girl, mocking and provoking her. Children's voices, especially before their voices matured, were naturally sharp. When they laughed and shrieked, it could be piercing to the ears.
Right now, Haruto found the sound not just irritating, but deeply repulsive.
Many people might excuse such behavior, saying children are too young to understand right from wrong.
But to Haruto, while youth may come with impulsiveness, it also reveals a person's true nature and upbringing.
Sometimes, it's not ignorance, it's just pure malice.
And the group of kids surrounding Shoko right now gave Haruto the same feeling of disgust.
It was no different from how he felt toward Kamiki Hikaru back then.
Since these kids were brought here by the same teacher for a summer camp, they were likely from the same class.
If they spent every day together, why did some of them feel the need to bully an innocent, adorable girl?
Had she done something wrong?
Haruto recalled that brief moment when he first saw Shoko, the timid way she met his eyes before hurriedly looking away in panic.
He highly doubted that a girl like her could have done anything to justify such isolation and bullying.
"You kids, quiet down."
The male teacher handling the check-in turned back and scolded them, but he completely ignored Shoko's predicament.
The group of rowdy kids fell silent for a moment before resuming their bullying, this time even more aggressively.
The ringleader boy even reached out to grab the device on Shoko's ear.
That must be a hearing aid.
Seeing this, Haruto let out a cold chuckle.
"Haruto, this looks really bad. We should—"
Suzume tugged at Haruto's sleeve, ready to step in and stop the kids.
Mitsuha, on the other hand, was even more direct, she strode straight toward the group. However, before she could take more than two steps, Haruto grabbed her arm, stopping her.
Mitsuha turned around, confused as to why Haruto was stopping her.
But Haruto didn't look at Mitsuha. Instead, he turned to Yotsuha, crouched down slightly, and smiled.
"Yotsuha, can I ask you for a favor?"
Hearing Haruto call her name, Yotsuha snapped out of watching the bullying unfold and instinctively nodded.
Haruto casually pointed behind him.
"Can you go over there and beat up those brats one by one? No need to hold back—breaking a few teeth is totally fine."
At those words, Yotsuha's eyes widened in shock.
She hadn't expected Haruto to say something like that.
Mitsuha's eyes also widened in disbelief.
This…
"But if I injure those kids, I might get arrested, and we'd have to pay a huge fine," Yotsuha frowned.
She had seen it happen before, students who got into fights at school ended up being taken away, and their families had to pay hefty compensation.
Haruto waved his hand dismissively.
"That won't happen. Your brother Haruto has quite a few connections in the Chiba Police Department. As for the money… like I said before, money is just a number to me."
Hearing this, Yotsuha immediately rolled up her sleeves and turned to her older sister, waiting for her approval.
Mitsuha was stunned for a moment before hesitantly nodding.
With that, Yotsuha strode forward with large steps.
She had always been straightforward and unfiltered, similar to Mitsuha but even more blunt.
Even as a child, she would often say outrageous things to her sister.
And when it came to bullying, Yotsuha absolutely couldn't stand it. While Haruto's request was extreme, it was something she could accept.
The group of children surrounding Shouko hadn't noticed the hot-tempered twin-tailed girl quickly approaching.
Shouko had her head lowered, hands covering her head, shoulders hunched as she endured the surrounding malice.
Even with her hearing aids, she could only barely make out the sounds around her.
She couldn't understand why everyone treated her so cruelly.
She only wanted to be friends with them.
Amid the noisy world, a sudden thud rang out.
It was abrupt and jarring.
The surrounding hostility instantly dissipated.
Shouko hesitantly lifted her head, as if testing the waters.
And what she saw was an older girl grabbing one of her male classmates and punching him in the face, sending him stumbling back onto the ground.
Elementary and middle school were the peak of physical development.
Even with a small age gap, there was a noticeable difference in body size and strength.
Yotsuha, not holding back in the slightest, unleashed a brutal beatdown.
She was like a berserker, starting with a skull-crushing blow, following up with a charged punch, and finishing with awe-inspiring dominance! In just moments, several boys were sprawled on the ground, their faces bruised and swollen.
A group of girls nearby trembled in fear. When Yotsuha's gaze swept over them, they instantly fell silent, as if their voices had been stolen.
Shouko widened her eyes in shock.
Meanwhile, the male teacher handling the check-in process finally sensed that something was wrong.
When he turned around, he was completely stunned.
Seeing his students lying all over the ground, faces clearly injured, the teacher's expression darkened immediately.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Why are you hurting my students?!"
The male teacher scolded Yotsuha angrily, striding forward as if to grab her.
Yet, he completely ignored the boys lying on the ground, battered and bruised. It was clear he wasn't angry because his students got hurt.
He was only upset because their injuries meant he would have to take responsibility.
When Yotsuha saw the towering teacher approaching, she immediately backed off and turned to flee.
Yotsuha wasn't the type to take unnecessary risks. The teacher quickened his pace, attempting to catch her. But just then, he suddenly felt a gaze land on him—
Abone-chilling, deathly cold gaze.
It was as if death had wrapped around his throat. The teacher froze on the spot, unable to move a single muscle.
Haruto stared at him coldly, and for a brief moment, his irises shimmered with dazzling colors.
But in the next instant, they faded away, vanishing entirely.
Yotsuha quickly ran back to Haruto, hiding behind him.
In her mind, since Haruto had told her to do it, he should be the one to handle the consequences.
The male teacher was drenched in cold sweat, his shirt clinging to his back. It felt like he had just brushed past death itself.
Only now did he snap out of his trance, still trembling. He turned to look at Haruto, fear flickering in his eyes.
He couldn't understand what had just happened.
Was it a hallucination?
After taking a few deep breaths, the teacher hesitated before finally walking toward them.
"Why did you attack my students? I… I'm going to report this to the police."
His voice wavered slightly.
Yotsuha, still hiding behind Haruto, raised a middle finger at him.
She could see things clearly now—
This teacher was scum.
If he weren't, he wouldn't have turned a blind eye to the bullying of the short-haired girl. Meanwhile, Haruto simply sneered at the man.
"Wow, aren't you being a little too petty? She's just a child."
The teacher froze.
Wait, wasn't that his line?
The teacher knew why Yotsuha had acted.
It was obviously because she couldn't stand the bullying happening in his class.
He had planned to dismiss it by saying,
"They're just kids. It's just harmless roughhousing."
Then, he would use the police as a threat to force them to submit.
But…
Why was this kid even more shameless than him?!
"You! You, you, you—!"
The teacher stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence. Just then, he saw Haruto pull out his phone and dial a number.
The call was placed on speaker.
After two rings, it connected.
The teacher was baffled.
Was this boy calling the yakuza?!
Was he bringing in backup?!
If that were the case, then he really needed to call the police immediately!
And then, Haruto spoke:
"Hello, Inspector Megure?"
Male teacher: !?
From the other end of the line, a deep and hearty voice immediately responded.
"Ah, Haruto, it's me! What made you suddenly think of calling me? Are you in some kind of trouble?"
Haruto chuckled.
"Not at all. I just heard that you've recently been promoted to Chief Superintendent of the Chiba Police Department, so I wanted to call and congratulate you."
Laughter echoed from the speaker.
"Haha! Haruto, you sure are well-informed! To be honest, I owe this promotion to you. Thanks to the evidence you provided in the Kamiki Hikaru murder case, we were able to crack a major case, and that led to my promotion."
Male teacher: WTF?!
Hearing the conversation between the young man before him and the person on the other end of the line, the male teacher's legs began to tremble.
How the hell was he supposed to report this to the police now?!
The freaking Chief Superintendent of the Chiba Police Department was calling this boy brother!
If he reported this, wouldn't he just be handing himself over on a silver platter?!
The more he thought about it, the more terrified he became. His legs gave out, and with a thud, he dropped to his knees.