Chapter 12 Luring the Enemy into the Trap: My Risa-nee can't possibly be the final boss...
The row of lockers near the end of the corridor is in a secluded location with blind spots for surveillance. Although it's not exactly deserted, it's certainly a "good place" for some people.
Just like now, Misaki Morita, along with her two henchmen—Yui Suzuki and a nervous Arashi Kijima—have cornered Risa here.
"Hey, isn't this our 'celebrity' Matsuno? Why are you all alone today? Where's your seaweed-haired protector?" Morita mocked.
Risa's gaze swept over the three of them, finally lingering for a moment on Kijima Arashi's face. This girl was clearly forced into this situation and dragged along against her will.
By now, the audience she had invited should be arriving soon. She glanced around and caught a glimpse of that familiar reflection in a pair of glasses at the corner of the second floor, and a barely perceptible smile curved her lips.
Sure enough, he appeared on time, keeping his promise.
The stage is set, and the actors are all present. The audience is also seated. Now, Misaki Morita and Yui Suzuki, you two absolutely mustn't disappoint me; be sure to give us your best "acting skills."
"You think we can't touch you just because Kirihara is protecting you?" Suzuki Yui stepped forward and shoved him hard.
Risa staggered backward, her back slamming open the unlocked locker door. A pool of thick, scarlet liquid poured down from the top of the locker, instantly submerging her textbooks and leaving glaring stains on her light-colored sleeves.
The air was deathly still for a moment, then it was broken by the suppressed laughter of Morita and the others.
Risa looked at the stain on her cuff, her voice trembling slightly: "...Is it not enough to spread rumors online, do you have to bully people like this?"
"Slander?" Morita took a step forward, getting closer. "You're wrong, that's called 'the truth'! This is an era where traffic is king. Do you think you can just brush it off with a casual remark about holding someone accountable?"
She leaned close to Risa's ear, her voice like a viper's hiss, "Don't bother. Faced with irrefutable evidence, no one will believe your sophistry. Chat logs, disciplinary notices—every piece of 'evidence' is flawless! Even the local media has reprinted it. What do you have to say to clear your name?"
"That's clearly fake... You're slandering me, that's a crime..."
"Fake?" Morita scoffed. "Here, if I say it's real, it's real! Even if I told you outright that I bought the online trolls, I photoshopped the records, and I contacted the media, what could you do? Do you have any evidence? Who would believe you?"
Risa buried her head, her shoulders trembling, her fingers nervously twisting the hem of her clothes, her sobs soft and pitiful: "But... this is wrong... why are you framing me? Why are you doing this to me..."
Despite her weakness, Morita Mirisa's sense of superiority is overwhelming.
"Is it enough that I just don't like the look of you?" Morita's lips curled into a smirk. "I'm going to ruin your reputation at Rikkai University and kick you out of here forever!"
Yui Suzuki chimed in, "If things escalate any further, the school will definitely be under pressure to expel you! Then you'll be completely finished."
Morita crossed his arms and looked at him with his chin: "Trying to fight me? Do you know who my father is? If you know what's good for you, post an ad admitting those things now, then kneel down and apologize to me. Maybe I'll take pity on you and spare your worthless life."
Just as Misaki Morita was about to savor the thrill of victory, she saw that the head that had been buried deep in the ground lift up.
There were no tears, no fear. Even on that icy, calm face, there was not a trace of expression.
"Tsk, waited so long..." Risa raised her eyes, her expression revealing undisguised disappointment, "Is that all?"
Misaki Morita's face froze: "You...!"
"You've used the same methods to bully quite a few people, haven't you? Nakajima from Class C in the first year, Fujii-senpai from the third year... In the end, it was all thanks to your inhumane school board member father pressuring you to settle things."
Risa glanced at Morita as if he were a defective product: "I thought this time there would be something new, but it's still so cheap and old-fashioned. It's really uninspiring. Morita, don't you have anything new to offer?"
Before Morita could react, she gently shook her head again. Her tone held a hint of regret:
"However, it was my mistake to have expectations of you. After all, expecting a blackbird to hatch a phoenix is wishful thinking."
"Matsuno Risa, you...!" Morita Misaki's face turned ashen with anger.
I feel so sorry for you.
Risa took a step forward, her voice low, yet each word piercing to the heart:
"Your life, from birth, is destined to be an inescapable, inferior replica. Your parents are foolish and arrogant, and this incurable ailment inherited through blood is the ceiling you can never overcome in this lifetime."
Enraged, Misaki Morita raised her hand to strike her: "Risa Matsuno, how dare you—"
Before she could finish speaking, her wrist was gripped tightly by an immense force, freezing her in mid-air.
"What are you doing?"
A cold, angry young voice suddenly rang out from behind.
Morita and Suzuki were startled and turned their heads at the same time.
"Tch, Tch, Yuan-kun..."
Misaki Morita struggled but couldn't break free. She then realized with a start that the usually deserted locker corridor was now surrounded by people, and her face instantly turned panicked.
Kirihara Akaya completely ignored her, rushed to Risa in a few steps, and asked anxiously, "Risa-nee, are you alright?"
“…It’s nothing.” Risa’s gaze passed over the seaweed and looked at the corner of the second-floor corridor, her brows furrowing slightly.
It's all just doing unnecessary things.
Kirihara Akaya saw the bright red stain on her cuff and assumed that Risa was injured. His eyes instantly turned bloodshot, and he growled like a leopard whose territory had been invaded: "You! How dare you touch my Risa-nee! I will absolutely crush you!"
Seeing that the boy was about to "turn into a demon," Risa quickly stepped forward, grabbed his arm, and gently advised, "Akaya! Calm down! Good children don't fight, and boys shouldn't hit girls."
Sure enough, Morita was enraged by this "saintly" behavior and blurted out, "Matsuno Risa, what are you pretending for—!"
"Smack!"
A crisp slap interrupted her nagging.
Misaki Morita's face was slapped to one side, leaving a bright red handprint on her left cheek. Everyone was stunned, including Akaya Kirihara, who was about to retaliate.
Risa waved her hand, looking innocent: "It's gentlemanly for boys not to hit girls. But I'm a girl, and girls can hit girls. We call this—internal technical exchange."
Kirihara: "..."
The students watching: "..."
Misaki Morita covered her face, her eyes wide with disbelief, her lips trembling.
"Matsuno Risa! You...you dare hit me?!"
Suzuki Yui was also stunned, clearly not expecting that this girl who had been so timid just moments before would take action so directly.
"Matsuno Risa! You—"
"What about me?" Risa interrupted her calmly, her eyes as cold as ice.
"You poured ketchup into my cupboard, shoved me, and verbally abused me. Are you still going to play the victim now?"
Whispers arose among the onlookers, and some began pointing and whispering about Morita and his friends. Morita, who had been slapped, was flushed with shame and indignation, tears welling in his eyes.
"Matsuno Risa!"
Misaki Morita gritted her teeth: "I'm telling you, this isn't over!"
"Oh?" Risa raised an eyebrow slightly.
"So how do you plan to resolve this? Continue to cause trouble? Or fabricate more rumors and post them online? Or perhaps you should have your powerful father pressure the school to expel me?"
Just as tensions were running high and the atmosphere reached its peak—
"Stop it, all of you!"
A stern rebuke broke through the crowd, resounding with authority.
The students who had been watching quickly made way for him, and the dean of students strode over with a stern face, followed by two patrolling teachers.
His gaze swept over the crimson sauce stains on the floor, the scattered textbooks, the glaring stain on Risa's sleeve, and the handprint on Morita's face, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
"What exactly is going on?"
Suzuki Yui rushed forward, feigning tears: "Master! Matsuno hit her first! Look, Misaki's face is all swollen from her beating!"
"You're talking nonsense!" Kirihara Akaya immediately bristled, his neck stiff as he roared, "You were the ones who bullied Risa-nee first!"
The director raised his hand to suppress the commotion and turned his gaze to Risa, who remained calm: "Matsuno, you speak."
Risa met his gaze, her tone calm and composed: "Morita and the others poured ketchup on my locker, destroyed my textbooks and school uniform, and repeatedly pushed and verbally abused me. I admit I slapped her, but it was in self-defense when she was about to attack me."
She did not shirk responsibility or get agitated; her statements were objective and forceful.
The director hesitated for a moment, then looked around and asked, "Did any other students witness what happened?"
The crowd fell silent. The students exchanged glances, but no one dared to utter a sound.
Just then, a girl wearing glasses timidly raised her hand: "I...I saw it...it was definitely Morita-senpai and the others who started it, and Suzuki-senpai even pushed Matsuno-kun hard..."
“I saw it too!” another boy immediately chimed in. “They were surrounding Matsuno and being aggressive towards her.”
The director sighed and gave them a stern look: "Come to my office, all of you. Morita, go to the infirmary and get your face treated first."
"Please wait a moment, Director."
Risa spoke calmly, "Regarding the campus cyberbullying incident I reported to you a few days ago, I think now is the best time to clarify the truth."
She pointed to her messy locker and her red-stained cuffs, her gaze sweeping over Suzuki Yui and Kijima Arashi.
"Morita, Suzuki, and Kijima, who was coerced, pushed and verbally abused me and damaged my personal belongings here. Many classmates present witnessed this."
As soon as she finished speaking, the girl with glasses and several boys who were watching nodded in agreement.
With witnesses and physical evidence, the bullying is undeniable.
Morita's swollen face paled slightly, but the arrogance in her eyes remained. Even if she conceded to this on-the-spot conflict, it would only amount to a few words of reprimand, unable to shake her fundamental nature.
"The reason they did this is because I refused to succumb to the online defamation against me. Regarding those rumors, they just admitted to forging chat logs and disciplinary notices."
The dean of students stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding crowd, and asked in a serious tone, "Can anyone testify to this?"
The air seemed to freeze. The students who had gathered around looked at each other, and most of them chose to remain silent.
This is not hard to understand. First, they were wary of Morita's father's position as a school board member and wanted to protect themselves. Second, some of the students who were watching the commotion were indeed attracted by the anonymous messages on the forum after the shoving happened, and did not hear the key confession.
Seeing that no one stepped forward, Suzuki Yui felt a sense of relief and regained some confidence. She spoke first, "Director! You see? No one can testify! This is Matsuno-san fabricating facts to slander us after being exposed! That matter has nothing to do with us!"
The situation has taken a subtle turn.
The paleness on Morita's face faded, and a cold smile returned to his lips, carrying a defiant "What can you do to me?"
"Is that so?" Risa raised her eyes, her gaze sweeping over the throng of people to the shadowy area at the corner on the second floor. Her voice was clear, tinged with a hint of mockery.
"The play has reached its climax, how long are you going to keep hiding? My dear 'special guests'—the student council president and the members of the disciplinary committee?"
These words were like pouring a ladle of cold water into a boiling oil pan, causing an uproar throughout the room!
All eyes turned to follow her gaze.
Under the watchful, bewildered gazes of countless people, several figures emerged from the second-floor railing, no longer concealed. Led by student council president Yagyu Hiroshi, several students wearing disciplinary committee armbands slowly stepped out of the shadows and appeared in everyone's sight.
Some of them were holding notebooks, some were holding cell phones, and some were even carrying cameras. To the untrained eye, it would look like a film set.
Yagyu Hiroshi adjusted his glasses, his sharp gaze sweeping across the frozen Morita and Suzuki below. His voice was steady and powerful, echoing through the silent corridor:
"Dean of Students, and fellow students. From the moment Morita and others stopped Matsuno, until the entire conversation just now, the Disciplinary Committee witnessed and recorded the whole process. We can prove that the evidence against Matsuno for online defamation is conclusive."
The real, most substantial "human testimony" has emerged.
The color drained from Misaki Morita's face in that instant, leaving it even paler than when she had been slapped. Looking at the "cadres" on the second floor whom she usually disregarded, she finally realized that she had stepped into a trap from the very beginning.
Suzuki Yui's legs went weak, and she almost collapsed to the ground.
Misaki Morita's face turned deathly pale, her voice shrill and distorted: "It's fake! It's all fake! Director, she's lying! We...we were rehearsing! Yes! It was the drama club's rehearsal!"
The head of student affairs, mindful of Misaki Morita's father's reputation, didn't want things to escalate. However, just as he was about to speak, Risa interrupted him.
"Oh? Rehearsal? Were all of these rehearsals before?"
She took out her phone, opened the video, and Morita and Suzuki's sarcastic and smug voices rang out in the silent air:
Several local media outlets have even shared this! Let's see how she tries to deny it now!
Let's go see what expression our little princess has right now!
[Senior...is this really okay? That disciplinary notice was clearly fake...]
Shut up! If you dare tell anyone... you know the consequences.
[...]
[Speaking of which, Morita, this time submitting articles to the media was really clever; it must have cost a lot of money, right?]
The recording struck like a thunderbolt, leaving Morita and Suzuki terrified.
An incredulous gasp erupted from the crowd. This was no longer simple bullying, but a premeditated and extremely malicious act of defamation and framing.
"Mr. Morita, did you know that according to the law, a defamatory message can be filed if it is forwarded more than 500 times, and the penalty is imprisonment for up to three years?"
Risa's voice was cold and devoid of any emotion. She scrolled to a screenshot of a trending topic on social media, where the post containing the rumor about her had already garnered a terrifying number of reposts.
"Do you need me to count for you? Is there enough time left for you to get a sentence?"
The law? Sentencing? Wasn't that statement just her posturing and a way to intimidate people?
Morita's face was deathly pale, and his body swayed, yet he still struggled desperately: "No... this video is fake! I didn't post those posts either! You have no evidence!"
Risa looked down at her: "Forgery? You mean, I forged evidence just to ruin my reputation?"
"As for the evidence, Morita-san, you made a most basic and ridiculous mistake." She paused deliberately, scanning the room. "The 'chat log between me and Yukimura-san' that you forged is indeed convincing, but have you ever considered that I don't even have Yukimura-san as a Line friend?"
"!!!" This most basic flaw caused the entire room to fall into a deathly silence.
The color drained completely from Morita's face.
Risa continued to press, her voice icy: "Furthermore, you say you didn't post the thread? Very well. By locking down the poster's IP address, we can find their real identity. I think the Disciplinary Committee will give you an answer soon."
After three precise strikes, Misaki Morita's eyes glazed over, and she collapsed completely, as if all her bones had been removed. Any attempt at explanation seemed futile at that moment.
Risa stopped looking at her and turned to the head of student affairs, bowing respectfully: "Head of student affairs, the complete evidence has been sent to the principal and the disciplinary committee's email addresses. I believe the school will make a fair decision on how to handle this matter."
Amidst the shocked gazes of the crowd, she picked up her soiled textbooks, changed her shoes, and finally locked the locker with a "click."
Before turning away, she gave the stunned audience a perfect smile, befitting an idol's professional act:
"Me? I just want to be a quiet, ordinary high school girl. But if anyone wants to add drama to my life, I'm happy to oblige. After all—"
Her smile was perfect, but her eyes suddenly sharpened as she swept across the room: "I'm also very good at cleaning up trash."
"Let's go, Chiya."
Kirihara seemed to snap out of a daze, letting out an "Oh," and followed Risa away in a daze, his mind filled with thoughts like, "Risa-nee... seems even scarier than the vice-captain and captain?!"
The air only began to move again after the two figures disappeared from sight.
In the crowd, someone lowered their voice and uttered what everyone felt a chill in their heart:
"—This transfer student is the final boss, isn't he?! He absolutely is!"
A note from the author:
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