Chapter 22 Why? Why Is There Such a Thing? (Kusumi's POV)

Why? Why Is There Such a Thing? (Kusumi’s POV)

“N-no, that’s not it! Well, let me tell you my story first—”

So we rushed to explain ourselves. But then….

“Sniff…sniff…m-maybe…if I had gone to the drinking party today…would I have been attacked by Senpai?”

“Eh…eh!? No, no! That’s not what I meant—”

The moment I quickly tried to explain myself… Shijou Ruka said with a trembling voice, tears streaming down her face.

And at that moment, the air around us changed completely.

—Glaring!

(Ugh….)

(Wh-what the hell is this?)

The girls in the club all glared at us with hostile glances. They were staring at us with such a frightening look in their eyes that both Narumi and I started to panic.

“Akane, it’s okay… I’m here with you. Kusumi-kun, what the hell is going on here?”

And the older sister, Shijou Ruka, stared at me with a fierce look in her eyes while she gently hugged her frightened sister and cried big tears.

“N-no… So that is, well, yes, it’s just a joke! It’s a common joke when boys talk to each other! It’s all a lie! And in the first place, why do we even have these recordings? Maybe we’re being bugged!?”

“…No, this audio data was sent to me anonymously. Apparently, your voices were leaking out of the club room into the hallway outside, and someone spontaneously made a recording because it sounded like you were announcing a criminal act. Well, I guess this means a report from a well-meaning third party.”

“What? That’s impossible!”

Sakuragi-senpai told me that with a stern look on his face.

“N-no, but! There’s no proof that these are our voices! First of all, an anonymous sender is too suspicious, right?!”

“Yes, that’s right! I don’t remember us talking about such a thing! Oh, maybe it is fake data that was created! See, see! Fake data scams are very common these days, you know! Yes, it’s probably that kind of fake data!!”

“…I see. So you’re denying it until the end, huh? Well, there’s actually another piece of data that was sent to me. I’d really like you guys to take a look at it.”

“What? Another data? W-what is that…?”

“Yes, I received image data from an SNS account I have… These accounts belong to you, right?”

“What…? Eh!?”

“What??”

((Nah… why is this thing here!))

After saying that, Sakuragi-senpai took out the image data from his phone and showed it to us. And it was the SNS account of our private account.

—Image 1

Hisashi@Private account: That idiot vi_rg_in named Sawashiro from XX University is so disgusting. I really want him to die soon.

Naru@Ura: Lol, it’s really so frustrating that I’m turned off because of him, lol. He’s a nuisance. Seriously, kill him, lol.

—Image 2

Hisashi@Private Account: Isn’t it amazing that Shijou-san won first place in a university beauty pageant? But I’m also amazing in a way for being friends with Shijou-san, who won first place in the beauty pageant, lol.

Naru@Private Account: This is serious. Actually, the other day, I pretended to be drunk and rubbed Shijou-san’s br_ea_sts really hard. The beauty pageant winner’s br_ea_sts are really soft, lol, lol.

Hisashi@Private Account: Really? I’m jealous. Next time I’ll pretend to be drunk and rub Shijou-san’s br_ea_st too, lol!

—Image 3

Hisashi@Private Account: This is the first drinking party since that idiot Sawashiro left! I’m going to get Shijou-san drunk at the party and fu_ck her until morning!

Naru@Private Account: I’m going to fu_ck her sister, Akane-chan, hard, lol. I’m going to fu_ck her until her hole is loose, lol.

Screenshots of what we tweeted on the private account were displayed one after another on Senpai’s phone. And many other screenshots were also displayed on Senpai’s phone.

“Eh. Wh-why… Why do you have such a thing…?”

“This was also sent to me anonymously. I guess the anonymous person who was familiar with the Internet must’ve been worried about the disturbing conversations coming from this club room and did some research. So, as I asked earlier, it is your account, right?”

“No, no, it’s not! It’s fake!”

“Yes, that’s right! There’s no way we have such a disgusting private account!”

We decided to do our best to deny it. Even if they ask us to show our phones, we will definitely refuse to show them…!

Right, let’s say we didn’t bring our smartphones today… and delete the data today! Okay, now it’s perfect.

“I see. This locked account isn’t yours, is it?”

“Y-yes! That’s right! It’s not ours!”

“Yes, this is just a malicious prank! Seriously, we would never post such a terrible thing on SNS!”

“I see, I see. Sorry for making you all look like culprits. But if that’s the case… I guess the police will have to take care of it from now on.”

“Yes, that’s right! It’s definitely not our account… What?! No, why are the police involved?”

“Why? Because they’re even writing the name of this university to make it clear that it’s a specific person, and they’re writing things like slander and warning of se_xu_al assault. This is clearly a criminal act.”

““What?””

We were speechless when we heard Sakuragi-senpai’s words. No, no, the police… Why is that such a big deal?

“A criminal act?! N-No, those private accounts aren’t ours. But isn’t this just a light-hearted joke? Most people who post on SNS tend to post light-hearted jokes, right? So this kind of posting is not a crime at all! Ah, haha, Senpai, you don’t understand the atmosphere of SNS at all, do you? It’s so lame to say that you don’t understand the atmosphere, right?”

“Y-yes, Senpai! That kind of post is just a joke that everyone who uses SNS does. Then why are you suddenly calling the police? Isn’t that a bit too serious?”

“Are you kidding? Do you still think this is a problem that can be solved as a joke?”

““Eh? Ah….””

—Whispering!

“Isn’t this a little dangerous? I mean, how can they laugh like it was a joke after seeing those screenshots?”

“It must be because… those private accounts belong to those two.”

“Oh, so that’s why they’re trying so hard to explain themselves… It’s really not funny.”

“Actually, judging from the posts, doesn’t it seem like they sexually harassed the girls at every drinking party…?”

“Oh, I get it. That’s why the women’s university club refused to drink with us….”

Before we knew it, the girls in the club were giving us cold stares.

“Sniff… sniff… Onee-chan… Maybe I… would’ve been attacked by the club president until the morning… uh… sniff… I’m scared… Onee-chan… sniff….”

“It’s okay, Akane. I’ll be with you the whole time, so don’t worry. Shall we go outside and rest for a while? Sakuragi-senpai. Sorry, is it okay if I leave everything to you?”

“Oh, of course. Don’t worry, I’ll make them pay for scaring my juniors so much.”

“Yes, thank you very much. Oh, and….”

“Hmm? Ah, of course, I know.”

“Yes, thank you. Let’s go outside, Akane.”

“Sniff…Yeah…Sniff….”

With that, the Shijou sisters left the club room.

“…I don’t know if you understand, but if this continues, we will have to report the two of you to the police. It is a crime in Japan to post the names and personal information of club members on SNS without permission, to post defamatory comments, or to post anything that suggests se_xu_al assault.”

“No, no, such a thing….”

“But actually, Shijou-san asked me in advance not to make a big deal out of this case. In other words, it’s a police matter. The reason for this is that the younger sister has gone through a lot of emotional shock and is having a hard time. Well, I think you can see that from what she said earlier.”

That’s what Sakuragi-senpai said. It’s true; seeing how Shijou Akane looked in pain earlier, it’s easy to guess….

“Since she doesn’t want to cause her sister any more emotional stress, Shijou-san asked me to settle this as peacefully as possible. In other words, If you all admit that the data from before belongs to you, we won’t contact the police this time. Well, this is a favor from Shijou-san. Of course, Sawashiro, whose name was written on the SNS, seems to agree as well.”

“Eh, huh, really!?”

“But I think you two should be punished properly. So I’m going to take all this data to the university’s student affairs office the next morning. I’m sure the university will punish you accordingly.”

“Eh… What!? T-That’s…!? Senpai, t-that’s too much—”

“Huh? Do you have any complaints? I think this is still a great favor, don’t you? At worst, you could’ve gotten a criminal record, you know? I think it’s much better that you don’t have that, don’t you?”

“Uh… no, that’s… Yes, that’s right… We have no complaints….”

“I see. So… does that mean that you acknowledge that these are your data?”

““… Yes.””

We hung our heads and told Sakuragi-senpai that the data he had just shown us was all real….

With our confessions, the drinking party was abruptly canceled, and the following Monday, Sakuragi-senpai took us to the student affairs office….