Chapter 90: Love Is War [7]

Pierre only escorted Suzuki Kyouno for about ten minutes before a glitchy tear through space appeared before him, revealing simple words.

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Pierre’s eyes widened, and he halted, right before he stepped into the black space that would send him to the next day.

“What’s wrong?” Suzuki Kyouno asked.

The sun had already set, and having lived in this love world for over thirty sign-ins, he was already familiar with the map.

He turned on his heel and ran. Suky screamed, asking him what was wrong, but he paid her no mind. His figure was already out of her view, and she bit her lip.

Pierre found a parked bicycle and stole it. Lock breakage and stealing were traits his delinquent nature enhanced.

’I was with Kyouno, who else would hurt Aiko?’ Pierre wondered.

He watched his stamina reduce the farther he rode, and with that, his speed reduced, but he kept on going.

On the path, he discovered a knife and a taser lying on the ground. Pierre was astonished, and with no second thought, he grabbed them.

He quickly ate a packed bento meal in his inventory and refilled his stamina bar.

He sped up once again and just three minutes later…

“Kyaaa~”

Pierre heard a scream.

He flung the bicycle away and sprinted up the narrow hill path where the voice came from.

In a hidden alley, a hooded individual stood over Yoshida Aiko, who was pinned down and tied with a rope. Duct tape was strapped over her mouth, and the hooded man ripped her skirt and shirt like a ferocious beast.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and they were filled with terror.

Click! Click!

“Stay still, Aiko-chan. I love you. I will all be over soon,” the hooded Daichi said while taking photos of her exposed body.

“If you try to escape, I will have to stab you. P-Please don’t be difficult, Aiko-chan. I didn’t want it to happen this way. But I have no other choice. You’re very cute when you cry, Aiko-chan. I love you. Please understand.”

Click!

Pierre tiptoed to the corner of the alley and peeped.

Instantly, blood rushed to his head, and thick veins popped up on his forehead. He tightened his grip on the knife.

“You bastard!”

“H-Hgh!”

Ching!

Pierre charged at the hooded man and stabbed him in his shoulder.

“Ah!” The maths teacher screamed, but Pierre gave him a resounding blow to the jaw.

Sprawling down beside Aiko, he threw his phone away and raised the hunting knife in his other hand.

“Y-You!” He screamed upon seeing Pierre’s face and stood up with a groan.

Daichi’s hunting knife was larger, with jagged teeth. Pierre subconsciously took a step back.

“Get away! Aiko-chan is mine!”

He hoisted her up and stood behind her. Pierre stared into her brown eyes; her face was filled with despair.

“Daichi! Let her go.” Pierre’s eyes narrowed to a slit.

“No! How dare you speak to me in that manner? This is my only chance to be with Aiko-chan. You are not going to take that away from me!”

Daichi licked her neck and used his other hand, free of his phone, to grab Aiko inappropriately.

The Class Rep’s eyes widened, and possibly out of reflex, she prodded him on the nose with the back of her head.

“Ouch! Dammit!”

Daichi groaned and stepped back to regain his balance, but that was enough.

Yoshida Aiko wrestled out of his grip, while Pierre charged at Daichi.

The maths teacher ignored the pain from his nose and thrust his knife forward, aiming for the upper spine of the girl that was still within his reach.

Kaching!

The knife halted right behind her neck, and a trail of blood rolled down its sharp edge.

Aiko hugged Pierre tightly, and with his right hand, he patted her on the head.

Daichi pulled the knife backward, and Pierre let it go before it did more damage to his hand.

Pierre, not given room to be gentle, pushed Aiko to the side and pounced on Daichi.

Landing a few blows and dodging slashes due to his delinquent reflexes, Pierre pulled out the taser and made his neck.

Once he pressed the button on the taser, Daichi let out a scream and fell back unconscious. The taser carried more volts than Pierre expected. If he went on any longer, Daichi would have actually died. It was as though its output power had been doubled.

’Who dropped this along with the knife?’ He wondered, but his focus quickly shifted to Aiko, who was trying to get up.

“Aiko-chan, let me help,” Pierre said and helped her up. He untied the ropes and removed the duct tape from her mouth.

“Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.

“Yes. I am now. You saved me. Thank you…” she said weakly, falling into his arms. The shock from the entire ordeal made her legs feel like spaghetti.

It was then that Pierre noticed that there was a bruise on her forehead, where she hit the wall when he threw her to the side to attack Daichi.

A short while later…

Roy watched from afar as the police took Murasame Daichi away after he regained himself. Pierre stood beside Aiko, who watched with an inscrutable expression as her assailant was being taken away.

“This isn’t over, Aiko-chan. I will have you one day, even if it is in the afterlife,” he said before being forced into the police vehicle.

Pierre put an arm over her shoulder and said sternly, “I won’t let anyone hurt you. I swear it.”

Aiko, covering herself with a white bedsheet, raised her head to look at Pierre with glistening eyes. She knew he was handsome, but was he always so confident?

“Didn’t you go home with your childhood friend? Wh-Why did you come back?”

The world paused, and three dialogue options appeared before Pierre.

[A: I had a gut feeling something was wrong.]

[B: I had something to tell you.]

[C: I actually came back to give you this. *Give her a rose bouquet* (–30 Love Points).]

’She’s not the type to like needless romantic gestures,’ Pierre thought and chose Option B.

“Wh-What is that?” she asked. Her cheeks were flushed red.

Pierre smiled. “Next time.”

[+35 Affection.]

Aiko pouted and faced ahead, but she didn’t press him for an answer. Such wasn’t in her nature.

The day ended, and Pierre fell into the black space that signified he was asleep.

He let out a sigh of relief.

But then, he remembered that he found Daichi’s phone to delete the picture of Aiko, which he suspected started the rumours that made her commit suicide. To his shock, Daichi had already sent them to an unknown number.

“At least one attempt has been averted. But who kept that knife and taser on the road? 404, was it you?” Pierre thought aloud, but there was no response, as usual.

They only spoke when it was necessary. If it wasn’t for them, he would have failed this level. He wondered what kind of existence they were, but from the glitching, he believed they were more akin to a virus program that affected systems and helped hosts.

Or maybe it was Maximum Inventor himself (or herself).

…

The next day, Roy found himself in the school uniform, already on his way to school.

A natural smile was hidden under his down-facing head and timid gait.

When he arrived at school, the principal announced at the school assembly that Daichi-sensei had been arrested, and then made a comment about abuse from teachers and peers to be reported immediately.

Although the specifics were kept vague to the students, they could infer that something transpired from Yoshida Aiko having a square bandage on the corner of her forehead to Pierre having a cast on his left hand.

Throughout, Roy paid close attention to Suzuki Kyouno. She acted shocked and shaken just like the other students.

“Crazy. I heard that delinquent Pierre saved her.”

“He’s so cool.”

“If it were me, I would’ve done worse.”

These were the kinds of whispers Roy heard on his way to class.

Pierre’s reputation had skyrocketed.

Utahime suddenly appeared beside him. “Have you heard?”

Roy nodded. “I was correct. Daichi-sensei was a problem.”

“I’m relieved Aiko-chan was saved, but what about you, Takahashi-kun?”

“Huh? What about me?”

“I saw you keep that knife and taser for Jean-san. You informed him about Daichi-sensei, didn’t you?”

’What is this? Battle of the stalks?’ Roy was amused. But he put his hand to his lips.

“No one must know about that, Utahime-chan. Okay?”

She sighed. “Alright.”

Nudging him, she asked, “But how did you know something like that was going to happen?”

Roy tapped his head and snorted. “I am smart, remember?”

They arrived at their class and met with Aiko and the others. Sato Himari was livid.

During lunch break, Pierre accepted a side quest from Haruka Yosuke to help him confess to Utahime. Of course, she turned him down.

Meanwhile, Roy kept a close eye on Suzuki Kyouno and spotted her place a note in Aiko’s locker.

After the closing bell rang, Yoshida Aiko found the note.

“Stupid bitch. Stay away from you-know-who if you don’t want everyone to see the real you.”

Attached to the note were the explicit photos that Daichi-sensei took.

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