...
"Ah! You... What are you doing!"
Saiki and Umaru turned to look. That voice had come from Ebina Nana.
Umaru: "That's Ebina's voice."
Right now, Ebina Nana was nervously staring at a skinny man wearing sunglasses in front of her.
Motoba Kirie, unusually, took the initiative to ask Ebina Nana: "What's wrong?"
Ebina Nana: "He... He just touched my butt, and his phone brushed against my thigh... His phone..."
Ebina Nana didn't dare continue.
((≖╻≖;) So it's a perverted creep.)
"Hey, hey, hey, little girl. You can eat whatever nonsense you want, but don't falsely accuse me. I was just standing close to you, and there was a little accidental contact. That's all. Do you have proof?"
The sunglasses man kept making excuses, while more and more people gathered around and started murmuring.
Some blamed the man, others supported what he said—it's a crowded public place, bumping into someone is normal.
Umaru: "Ah, how can there be people like this!"
[Wait.]
Saiki stopped Umaru, who was about to step forward.
"What's wrong? Saiki-shishou, that guy definitely has issues. And didn't you see—he had his phone out, he..."
[Isn't Motoba-san here too? Just wait...]
Saiki wanted to see whether, in this situation, Motoba Kirie would step up to help Ebina Nana argue and explain, or stay silent.
Umaru understood what Saiki meant and nervously watched Motoba Kirie. But she believed Motoba Kirie wasn't the type to stand by and do nothing when a friend was in trouble.
"Perverted creeps like this are the worst (｀へ´)"
...
"What's wrong? Am I wrong or something!"
The sunglasses man pressed aggressively, stepping forward to close in on Ebina Nana, acting like he was the victim, full of confidence.
Ebina Nana backed away in fear. Motoba Kirie stepped forward resolutely to block her, glaring darkly at the man in front of her.
"Kirie~"
Ebina Nana was terrified. She had never been good at handling situations like this—especially under everyone's stares, with so many people supporting the guy in front of them. She was really scared, but she never expected Motoba Kirie to step in and shield her.
Even though the sunglasses man saw Motoba Kirie's terrifying expression aimed at him, he still felt high-school girls were easy to intimidate. He spoke up with some confidence: "What's wrong? Miss, are you going to falsely accuse me too?"
"Apologize!"
Sunglasses man: "What? Speak up—I can't hear you."
Motoba Kirie clenched her teeth, eyes locked on the man: "Apologize to her!!"
...
Umaru: "See! Saiki-shishou, I told you Kirie wouldn't just stand by. She's a really kind person—she won't watch a friend get hurt!"
[Yeah, more decisive than I expected. My bad. Let's go over to them.]
But as soon as he took a step, Umaru pulled him back.
"Wait, let me watch a bit more. I want to see how far Kirie will go."
❓
(You were the one holding me back earlier. Now it's the opposite?)
Saiki silently complained about the double-standard person in front of him and kept watching the scene. Anyway, with him here, nothing bad would happen no matter what.
...
"Tch, you guys are total psychos. I'm done. I'm leaving!"
The sunglasses man saw how tough the high-school girl in front of him was being and decided to back off and leave first.
Motoba Kirie grabbed Ebina Nana and stepped forward to block the man's path.
"Wait—you're not leaving. You haven't apologized yet!"
Ebina Nana gently tugged Motoba Kirie's hand from behind and whispered: "Kirie, forget it. I'm fine—don't fight with him! He looks really scary..."
"No way. He did that to you, and his phone might have secretly taken photos up your skirt."
Motoba Kirie shook her head and refused Ebina Nana's request. Even though she was scared herself, she couldn't stand watching Ebina Nana get bullied like this and just swallow it silently while letting a despicable person walk away.
The guy in front of her was clearly a repeat offender, and he'd messed with her friend. No matter what, she couldn't let him just leave like that.
"I'm telling you, don't go too far. Are you really this unreasonable? Everyone, look—these two high-school girls are falsely accusing someone and won't even let me leave. This is way too much!"
The sunglasses man shouted loudly, and quite a few people around started blaming Ebina Nana and Motoba Kirie.
"These two girls are really going overboard!"
"If you don't have proof, don't accuse people. And then forcing someone to stay..."
"This whole thing would be better off just ending here..."
(People unconditionally siding with whoever claims the moral high ground as a justice judge! Types like this are everywhere, no matter the time.)
Motoba Kirie saw so many people supporting the man in front of her. Hadn't they all seen what he did earlier? Even if they hadn't, there was no need to trust him unconditionally just because of his words and let it drop.
"It was obviously you who touched my friend first. And your phone might have secretly taken photos up my friend's skirt—is that true or not? Just take out your phone and we'll know."
"Heh!"
The sunglasses man sneered: "You tell me to open it and I just do? This is my personal privacy. What right do you have?"
The bystanders saw this and supported him even more.
"These two girls are way too shameless. They even want to look at someone else's private stuff. That's illegal, you know?"
"So, without proof, don't just say random things!"
...
By now, around 90% of the surrounding people had switched sides and started insulting Motoba Kirie and Ebina Nana.
This made the sunglasses man even smugger.
"Don't joke around. Can't you all see? The person in front is obviously guilty and scared to show it. If he really wasn't afraid, why wouldn't he just pull it out? If we're wrong, we'll apologize."
Umaru stepped forward to support Ebina Nana and Motoba Kirie.
Ebina Nana: "Umaru˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ )‧º·˚"
Ebina Nana and Motoba Kirie moved closer to Umaru, seeming to feel safer that way. Umaru tried to persuade the crowd. Though some people agreed, most were still supporting the sunglasses man.
Saiki suddenly patted the sunglasses man from behind.
"Whoa!"
The sunglasses man jumped in fright, and his phone fell to the ground. Saiki "kindly" picked it up. Suddenly, the phone started playing a bunch of indecent videos out loud—various secretly taken photos and videos of people.
...