Chapter 272: [Substitute]
I was crying in front of the worn-out stuffed animal.
Seeing that, Shitenno directed his anger towards the delinquent.
《It's because of what you did!》
《Stop it!》
I stopped Shitenno, who raised his fist toward the delinquent.
Certainly, I couldn't forgive him. But…
《If you intend to speak for my anger, stop it.》
I gritted my teeth and endured.
I spoke to the worn-out stuffed animal.
《I'm sorry. If only I had been more careful.》I felt sorry for the VTuber who made this merchandise.
Someone's voice saying, "Please take care of it," was playing in my mind.
The delinquent looked at me with a bewildered expression.
It seemed like he wanted to say, "I didn't think you'd cry so much."
Shitenno slowly lowered his fist.
Then, as if to replace him, he lectured the delinquent.
《Do you understand how important this stuffed animal was to Iroha? Yet, despite that, it tried to protect you. Even though you broke its treasure. At least remember that》
《…Tch》
The delinquent averted his gaze at Shitenno's words.
I received the stuffed animal from Shitenno, "for now".
I checked the texture of the worn-out one.
In an instant, my tears stopped.
"…Huh?"
"What's wrong, Iroha?"
"Huh!? N-nothing, it's nothing at all!"
Sweat started dripping down.
I averted my eyes from Shitenno.
"Hey, what's wrong!? Something definitely happened, right!? Did something else happen to you!?"
"N-no, that's not it, uh… actually, nothing happened."
"Be clear!"
I resigned myself to Shitenno's relentless questioning.
To retrieve this, I fought until it was worn out… And now, having just lectured the delinquent, I told him.
"Um, wasn't this, like, not my stuffed animal?"
Shitenno's expression stiffened.
I explained fearfully.
"No, so, um… I'm sorry for trying so hard to protect it, but when I checked it, it wasn't VTuber merchandise. It was a completely unrelated stuffed animal"
"Huh… Haaaahhhhhh!?"
Shitenno's scream echoed behind the school building.
He seemed so shocked that he collapsed.
"W-what was I even doing for?"
Every time, from a distance, or covered in dirt, or losing my cool in anger.
And above all, it's all assumption.
Various factors overlapped, and I couldn't notice.
No, there's no excuse.
"Ugh! Mistaking VTuber merchandise is totally unacceptable as a fan!"
"It's not ‘unacceptable'!? Then, what about the real stuffed animal!?"
I confirmed with the delinquent.
But he just frowned suspiciously.
《Huh? I don't know. We only took that one》
《It can't be…》
What's going on? Something's not right.
The lockers were missing a lot of stuffed animals. Where did they go?
Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, the ones left in Locker 1.
And then, a security guard interrupted.
《Sorry to interrupt》
《Ah, security guard. Huh!?》
The female security guard who interrupted winked at me.
In other words, she was one of the Secret Service agents who had been protecting me.
I thought she was missing, but was she disguising herself like that?
Or rather, it's too late to come now!
《Um, what's up!》
《Huh? What's wrong? What's going on?》
I dragged the Secret Service away.
Alone, I vented my anger in a whisper.
《What have you been doing all this time!? I've been through so much!》
《What do you mean? I've been protecting you all along, Iroha-chan》
N-no, no, no!? Then why didn't you help me sooner?
As I was about to reproach her, at that moment.
《I never thought you'd be so desperate against a dummy stuffed animal. I thought it was some strategy, but to actually reform the delinquent, well done, Iroha-chan!》
"…Huh?"
"Ah, that's not enough explanation, is it? Actually, we were told to support you even if you did something unexpected"
"N-no, not that… ‘Dummy'?"
"What are you saying? Iroha-chan knew, right? When the message came, you checked your smartphone screen"
"…"
"Huh!? You checked it, right?"
I took out my smartphone, and reread the message.
It said to ‘replace it with a dummy and take evidence of the crime scene.'
"Ah!?"
I finally remembered.
Indeed, when this message arrived, I thought I was looking at my smartphone.
But I was in the middle of a mobile game.
But notifications bother me while playing, so I just.
"E-even so! Shouldn't you have intervened before that boy got beaten up!?"
"…Well, that's my judgment."
Another security guard joined the conversation.
I don't remember his face, but judging from the woman's behavior, he seemed to be another member of the Secret Service.
"The guy was risking his body for the ‘girl he fell for'. Adults shouldn't interfere unnecessarily"
He replied like that.