Rikuto Suzuki is a second-year high school student with a secret hobby. He secretly listens to audio recordings of a mother punishing her daughter for breaking curfew—the sound of spanking and crying makes his heart race. He thinks he's weird but can't stop.
One day on his way home, Rikuto finds an old button in an alley. When he presses it, his childhood friend Hinata Minazuki suddenly appears and starts spanking their classmate Aoi Kiryu. Smack! Aoi screams, and Rikuto's mind goes blank. The
Bad Girls Get Punished - Shadow of the Disciplinary Committee: The Girl Who Gets Punished and the Pleasure She Can't Laugh About
Wednesday of the third week of April.
The morning air was still a little cold, and as Suzuki Rikuto planted his feet on the asphalt of the school route, he checked the hard sensation in his pocket over and over. A brass button. An old button, coated in verdigris.
(I hope nothing happens today.)
He prayed silently in his heart.
The scene he had witnessed Monday morning in front of the old bookstore in the old quarter, Gekkokudou, still wouldn't leave his head. Shirakawa Mafuyu, the disciplinary committee chair, had visited that shop and spoken the words "the principle of compensation." Mafuyu was investigating the inexplicable corporal punishment incidents occurring within the school. And the reach of that investigation was steadily closing in on the button Rikuto held.
(How much does Mafuyu-san know?)
He passed the bus stop in front of the station, and the main gate of Tokoyo-ga-Oka High School came into view.
In that instant, Rikuto's feet nearly stopped.
In front of the main gate stood a female student with silvery platinum-blonde hair. Her shoulder-length hair was loosely curled inward. Eyes of a pale, icy aqua. A small silver piercing on her left ear. In her right hand, a black notebook—the disciplinary record book.
Shirakawa Mafuyu.
Her back straight, like a stone statue guarding the gate, she was tracking each and every student who came to school with her eyes.
"Good morning. May I have a moment?"
Mafuyu stopped a male student who happened to be passing by. Her voice was clear and dignified, carrying distinctly even through the noisy morning air.
"Recently, three cases of unexplained corporal punishment have occurred within the school. Do you know anything about them?"
"Huh, no, I don't know anything."
"I see. Thank you. Be careful on your way to school."
Mafuyu wrote something down smoothly in her disciplinary record book. The male student, with a look of relief but also a slight trace of fear, hurried through the school gate.
Rikuto felt his heartbeat quicken.
(She's questioning people. Three cases. The punishment that happened in that classroom must be counted among them too.)
Inside his pocket, the fingers gripping the button tightened.
He had to go. But his legs wouldn't move. To pass through that main gate, he had no choice but to walk right past Mafuyu.
(It's fine. I just need to walk normally. I just need to act like I don't know anything.)
Rikuto took a deep breath and started walking.
Don't look down. But he could feel Mafuyu's gaze piercing into him.
One step, then another. The main gate drew closer.
Mafuyu's aqua eyes were carefully observing how Rikuto walked, where his gaze was positioned, how he carried his bag. It was a sharp look, as if appraising prey.
(Stop. Don't look at me.)
Rikuto screamed in his heart as he feigned composure and tried to pass in front of Mafuyu.
"……Suzuki Rikuto-kun, is it."
Mafuyu's voice came from behind him.
His heart leaped violently.
He wanted to turn around. But if he turned around, he felt like he would be admitting something. Rikuto pretended not to hear and quickened his pace.
On the path toward the school building. Mafuyu's gaze was still piercing into his back.
"……The fourth case might be close, too."
Mafuyu's small voice, like a murmur to herself.
It sent something cold running down Rikuto's spine.
After school.
Rikuto didn't head to the station as usual, but walked through the back alleys of the shopping district.
Once you turn off the bustling main street of Tokoyo Ginza, the foot traffic suddenly thins out. A quiet residential area dotted with old apartment buildings and small parks.
(I'll go straight home today.)
That was what he'd thought, yet his feet naturally chose the detour.
Even if he went home, he'd just end up alone thinking about the button. Going to see Runa risked being spotted by Mafuyu again. It felt like there was nowhere he belonged.
It was when he happened to pass by a small park.
"Hey—that bag is cute. Where's it from? Ah—could it be from that cheap store?"
A shrill laugh.
Rikuto stopped in his tracks.
Near the swings in the park, a trio of female students had surrounded what appeared to be a younger student.
The surrounded girl was clutching the skirt of her sailor uniform tightly, hanging her head. The bag she must have been holding was now in the hands of one of the trio.
"What's that face? 'Give it back'? Go on, take it if you can."
The girl who seemed to be the leader, slightly taller than the others, held the bag high and waved it back and forth.
The younger student couldn't even speak, just trembling.
(That's terrible……)
Something tightened deep in Rikuto's chest.
He had to help. He thought that, but his body wouldn't move.
(If I go over there. Those girls will, this time, turn on me.)
He was scared. The trio's gleeful laughter nailed Rikuto's feet to the ground.
"Hey, this one looks like she wants to say something. Shall we hear her out?"
"Ehh, what, what? Go on, say it."
The leader poked the younger student's shoulder.
The girl stumbled and caught herself on the ground with her hands.
"……Please, stop."
A frail voice.
"Hah? I can't heeeear you."
Laughter echoed again.
(Stop. Just stop already.)
Rikuto clenched his fists.
Inside his pocket, the button suddenly began to radiate heat.
(What—)
It was trembling faintly, with a tingling vibration.
(This is bad. Right now, I'm angry.)
Rikuto came to his senses.
Runa had told him before. The button reacts to its owner's emotions. Anger, or a strong wish, triggers the punishment.
(Calm down. No. If I punish those girls—)
But in a corner of his mind, another self whispered.
(Those three are bad girls. Isn't it only natural they get punished?)
The button's heat seeped into his palm as if clinging to it.
"……No."
Rikuto muttered quietly and ran from the spot.
He turned the corner of the park. His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would burst.
He was pathetic. He'd tried to help and couldn't do anything. Worse, there was a part of him that wanted to use the button's power to punish those girls.
(I'm the worst.)
Inside his pocket, the button was still radiating heat.
The next morning, Thursday.
The moment he entered the classroom, the atmosphere was different.
A restless air, as if something had happened.
"Hey, did you hear? Shinonome, this morning, suddenly—"
"Seriously? Again……?"
The boys' conversation reached his ears.
Shinonome. The leader of the bullying group. Rikuto's classmate, who routinely acted tyrannically toward younger students and timid kids.
(What happened to Shinonome?)
Rikuto sat down at his desk.
That was when it happened.
"Ow……no, why, all of a sudden……!"
A agonized scream from the front of the classroom.
Shinonome stood up from her chair, pressing both hands against her rear.
Tears were streaming down her cheeks.
"What is this……it hurts, it huuurts……!"
The classroom erupted into commotion.
"Shinonome-san!? What's wrong?"
"The nurse's office! Someone go call a teacher!"
Several students supported Shinonome and left the classroom.
Rikuto's heart felt like it would leap out of his chest.
(Shinonome……the leader of the trio that was bullying the younger student in that park.)
(Yesterday, in that park, I felt the button grow hot.)
(And this morning, Shinonome's rear suddenly started hurting.)
He had no proof that he'd done it.
But yesterday's anger, the button's heat, and this morning's incident connected in his head in a single line.
(It's my fault. Because I made the button hot.)
At the same time, he felt another emotion welling up from the depths of his heart.
(Zamaa.)
A small, but certain, pleasure.
Shinonome always bullied the weak. She'd shoved that younger student while laughing. How terrified that girl must have been.
(She got what she deserved.)
The moment he thought that, Rikuto felt nausea at the darkness inside himself.
(No. I wanted to help those girls. But at the same time, I thought they deserved to be punished. And this is the result.)
(Somewhere in my heart, I'm glad when someone else is in pain.)
Rikuto slumped over his desk.
The contents of his stomach lurched upward.
Lunch break.
The classroom's atmosphere was still heavy.
Shinonome hadn't returned from the nurse's office.
"Hey, there's been a lot of this lately, hasn't there?"
"Yeah. Last week too, those two who were fighting over cleaning duty suddenly grabbed their rears."
"Could be someone's doing? Like a curse."
"Don't say that, it's creepy."
Listening to the boys' conversation, Rikuto couldn't even bring himself to open his lunch box.
(A curse, huh. Maybe that's exactly what it is.)
That was when the front door of the classroom slid open with a clatter.
The one who entered was Shirakawa Mafuyu.
Her silver hair shone coldly under the fluorescent lights. Her icy aqua eyes slowly surveyed the classroom.
Every conversation in the room stopped dead.
"……Everyone, please listen for a moment."
Mafuyu's voice resonated quietly.
"This morning, a student in this class complained of unexplained pain. And this is the fourth case of the corporal punishment incidents that have been occurring within the school recently."
The classroom's atmosphere froze.
"I believe these incidents are not accidental. Someone is intentionally inflicting pain on others through some method. ……That is my conclusion."
Rikuto's heart pounded like a drum.
(She knows. Mafuyu-san knows.)
"I will protect this school's discipline. Anyone with information, come to the staff room by the end of today. ……That is all."
Having said only that, Mafuyu left the classroom with her back still straight.
In the classroom she left behind, no one spoke for a while.
Rikuto could feel his own face stiffening.
(Anyone with information. That's me.)
(But there's no way I can come forward.)
"Riku-kun!"
Suddenly, a bright voice came from the classroom entrance.
He turned around to see Minazuki Hinata waving with a smile.
Bright, fluffy brown semi-long hair. Small buns made on the sides. Big, round amber eyes.
Rikuto's childhood friend. A girl like the sun, who could brighten the atmosphere of the whole classroom by herself.
Hinata trotted over to Rikuto's desk.
"Hey Riku-kun, did you hear? That Shirakawa-san just now. She was so intense! I guess the disciplinary committee chair really has a different aura."
"Ah, yeah……I guess so."
Rikuto tried to force a smile. But he felt like he wasn't smiling properly.
Hinata stared at Rikuto's face.
"……Riku-kun, you've been kind of off lately, you know?"
His heart nearly stopped.
"You seem down, and you're spacing out. I'm your childhood friend. I can tell."
Hinata's amber eyes peered into Rikuto's with concern.
(I can't hide anything from Hinata. But this secret, at least, must never be found out.)
"I-Is that so……I'm fine. Just a little short on sleep."
"Really? Don't push yourself, okay?"
"Yeah. Thanks."
Hinata still looked like she wanted to say something. But seeing Rikuto's state, she didn't press further.
"Oh, right! These are cookies I made yesterday! You like sweets, don't you, Riku-kun?"
Hinata placed a small bag on Rikuto's desk.
Inside were several star-shaped cookies.
"Some of them got a little burnt, but I guarantee the taste! I've been really into baking lately!"
"Th-Thanks……Hinata, since when did you cook?"
"Hey, that's rude! Even I do things when I put my mind to it! Here, try one!"
Hinata laughed innocently.
That smile was so pure, so straightforward.
Rikuto, feeling as if his chest was being squeezed, put one cookie into his mouth.
"……It's good."
It really was delicious.
"Right!? Yay! I'll make more and bring them again!"
Hinata laughed happily and returned to her own classroom.
Rikuto stared at the bag of cookies on his desk.
(Hinata's smile saved me. But I'm betraying that pure smile.)
(If Hinata found out my secret, what kind of face would she make?)
Guilt sank heavily into
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