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 - The Runaway Button —A Friday of Despair, Having Hurt Someone Precious—
Friday morning smelled of rain.
It hadn't started falling yet. But the sky was covered in thick clouds, wearing a face that looked like it could burst into tears at any moment. Suzuki Rikuto traced the button in his pocket with his fingertip as he stepped along the asphalt of his route to school. The brass rim was warm, as if clinging to his finger.
(I hope nothing happens today.)
He repeated it in his heart like a prayer. But that prayer hadn't been answered even once in the past few days.
The main gate of Tokoyo-ga-Oka High School came into view. Rikuto stopped walking.
A crowd had gathered in front of the school building.
"Again...? This time three at once."
"The nurse's office is already full, apparently. That's the fifth one since morning."
"Their butts suddenly hurt? What even is that? Isn't it scary?"
The girls' hushed voices carried through the damp air. Something tightened deep in Rikuto's chest.
(Fifth one...)
He couldn't step forward. He was afraid to pass through the main gate.
"Good morning. Please don't stop walking. You'll be late."
A dignified voice. He turned around to find Shirakawa Mafuyu, the disciplinary committee chair, standing there. Her silvery platinum blonde hair was loosely curled inward as always. Her ice-pale, light blue eyes pierced straight through Rikuto's face. The silver piercing on her left ear glinted faintly even under the overcast sky. In her right hand, that black disciplinary record book.
"Ah, good morning."
His voice nearly cracked. When Mafuyu heard his reply, she tilted her head just slightly.
"Suzuki-kun. You look pale. Didn't sleep well last night?"
"No, it's nothing like that."
"...I see. That's fine then. Something a bit strange is happening at school today. Be careful."
Having said only that, Mafuyu walked toward the main gate with her back perfectly straight. Rikuto stood frozen in place until her figure disappeared.
(I know. I know. Mafuyu-san knows that I—)
His chest ached heavily.
Before first period, Rikuto happened to pass by the nurse's office.
The sound of a girl sobbing leaked out into the hallway.
"It suddenly hurt so much... I couldn't stand."
"It's alright. If you ice it, it'll feel better soon."
The nurse's gentle voice. But mixed in with it, he heard another voice.
"When that girl started hurting, the one nearby was... Suzuki-kun, wasn't it?"
Rikuto's feet stopped dead.
"Huh, really? Suzuki-kun was nearby again?"
"It was like that last time too. There's a rumor that when Suzuki-kun is around, that kind of thing happens."
(Again, I was nearby.)
The blood drained from his face. His fingertips went cold. Rikuto backed away from the nurse's office door without making a sound.
(It's already a rumor. I'm being suspected.)
The sound of his own heartbeat pounded loudly in the depths of his ears.
Lunch break.
Rikuto couldn't stay in the classroom, so he stepped out into the hallway.
Outside the window, the clouds were thicker than they had been in the morning. A heavy sky that looked like it could start raining at any moment. Rikuto gripped the button in his pocket.
(Is this button entirely to blame? Or is it me?)
He didn't know. Without knowing, his feet carried him toward the stairs.
"Suzuki-kun."
A voice. Rikuto stopped his foot mid-step on the stairs.
Before him stood Shirakawa Mafuyu.
Her silver hair seemed to glow faintly in the dim hallway. Her light blue eyes gazed down at Rikuto, as if hiding her expression.
"What were you doing in the alley at Daishou Slope last night?"
It was a quiet voice. But it pierced straight through Rikuto's chest.
"N-Nothing..."
"Don't lie. I was watching you last night. Before the rain started, you were walking in that alley, touching your pocket."
Mafuyu's gaze dropped toward Rikuto's pocket.
"The times and locations of every incident at school match your movements. That's not coincidence, it's inevitability. Suzuki-kun, you're hiding something."
Rikuto tried to argue back, but the words wouldn't come.
His throat stung. He couldn't breathe properly.
"Come to the back of the old martial arts hall after school. I'll hear what you have to say."
Having said only that, Mafuyu passed by Rikuto's side. Her silver hair swayed as if slicing through the air.
Rikuto stood frozen in place.
(It's over. I can't run anymore.)
Inside his pocket, the button began to radiate heat.
After school.
It still hadn't rained. But the air was heavy with moisture, and just walking around to the back of the school building made his uniform feel damp.
The old martial arts hall stood behind the school building, in a place hidden from view. It was an old structure now used as a storage shed, and there were rumors that someone—or something—could be felt there at night. Even during the day it was dim, with a dank atmosphere hanging in the air.
When Rikuto rounded the back, Mafuyu was already standing there.
Her back straight, the disciplinary record book in her right hand, waiting for Rikuto to arrive.
"You came."
Mafuyu's voice was low and calm.
"Um, what did you want to talk about..."
"You have the button, don't you."
Rikuto's heart jumped.
(She knows. Of course she knows.)
Mafuyu took a step closer to Rikuto.
"My family line descends from the first disciplinary committee chair. We are fated to sense the logic of compensation. Every inexplicable pain that occurs in this town enters my field of vision. ...I'm already certain that you possess that button."
Rikuto bit his lip. He had to say something. But no voice came out.
"Suzuki-kun. What you're holding is a dangerous object tied to this town's old covenant. Why have you kept silent and held onto it?"
"That's..."
The words wouldn't come. There was no way he could say it.
(There's no way I can say it's for my own desires.)
Silence fell heavily between them.
Then, from the shadows, another voice spoke.
"Shirakawa-san. Stop cornering him."
Rikuto looked toward the voice.
Hiiragi Runa slowly stepped out from behind the old martial arts hall.
Her black hair, which reached her waist, was tied up in a single bundle today. Only the tips were dyed a deep purple, and even under the overcast light, only that part seemed strangely vivid. Her narrow, purple eyes stared straight at Mafuyu. The tear mole beneath her left eye. She held an old leather paperback cover against her chest, as if embracing it.
"Hiiragi-san. You're defending him?"
Mafuyu's voice sharpened slightly.
"I'm not defending him. I'm just saying your approach only corners him further."
"Then what about you, Hiiragi-san? You didn't give him the button—so what are you making him do? Your family line are the record-keepers of the covenant. You should know everything about this town's underbelly. And yet, why have you left him alone?"
At Mafuyu's words, Runa's fingers gripped the edge of the paperback cover tightly.
"...I'm simply trying to make him face it by his own will."
"How noble. And as a result, multiple students at school are complaining of pain. The same thing is happening throughout the town. Your so-called 'own will'—isn't it too late once the people around him are already dragged in?"
The two women's gazes sparked against each other.
Rikuto, caught between them, couldn't move.
(Mafuyu-san watches over me. Runa tries to protect me. But both of them are trying to control me.)
(I'm being helped, but I'm not saved at all.)
That fact sank to the bottom of his chest like a cold stone.
"I will be watching you. From now on, too. ...Remember that."
Having said only that, Mafuyu left the back of the old martial arts hall with her back still straight.
Left behind were only Rikuto and Runa.
"...Suzuki-kun, are you okay?"
Runa asked in a slightly worried voice.
"...I'm not okay, maybe."
Rikuto answered honestly.
"Don't tell that person the truth. She also thinks the button is dangerous. But her way of doing things will only corner you in the end."
"...Runa, why do you go this far for me?"
Runa paused for a moment.
"...Because I know you're not a bad person. That's all."
Having said only that, Runa turned her back to Rikuto and began walking.
"Get home safely. ...See you tomorrow."
Runa's figure disappeared into the shadow of the school building.
Rikuto was left alone behind the old martial arts hall.
(Mafuyu-san watches over me. Runa tries to protect me. But neither of them knows my true feelings.)
(That somewhere in my heart, I want to be punished.)
Rikuto crouched down on the spot.
Loneliness and anguish threatened to crush his chest.
That night.
Rikuto had burrowed under the futon in his room.
Rain was beating against the window. The rain that hadn't fallen since morning had turned into a full downpour by night. The sound of the rain filled the room.
Rikuto clutched the button beneath the futon.
The brass object radiated a faint heat in his palm.
(Hinata's smile.)
(Shinonome's crying face.)
(Mafuyu's cold gaze.)
Various faces swirled around and around in his head.
"It's my fault. It's all my fault."
He muttered. His voice dissolved into the sound of the rain.
"But the desire to punish someone—it's definitely there inside me."
In that instant, the button grew red-hot.
His palm burned as if on fire.
Rikuto tried to let go of the button. But he couldn't. His fingers clung to the button's rim as if sucked onto it.
(Stop. Please, stop.)
He screamed in his heart. But the emotions wouldn't stop.
(I'm the worst. The worst kind of human being.)
(But even so, I—)
The button began to vibrate, as if pulsing.
In that instant, all across the town, a dry *paan!* *paan!* rang out in a chain reaction, slicing through the sound of the rain.
Rikuto curled up beneath the futon.
(I did it again.)
(My emotions hurt someone.)
Nausea welled up.
The next morning.
The rain was still falling.
Rikuto stood frozen in front of the television in the living room.
"Last night in Tokoyo-ga-Oka City, a series of inexplicable phenomena occurred one after another. In multiple locations across the city, young women suddenly complained of pain from unknown causes and were transported to hospitals. Similar reports have been occurring frequently in the area, and online it's being discussed as the 'Tokoyo-ga-Oka Strange Phenomenon.'"
The announcer's voice sounded like it was about someone else entirely.
(My emotions have become a disaster for the town. It's on the news.)
(It's my fault.)
Rikuto held back nausea in front of the television.
Friday after school.
The rain had let up to a light drizzle.
Rikuto was staying behind in the classroom to clean. He wasn't actually on cleaning duty. But he didn't want to go home. He wanted to be alone in an empty classroom.
But there was one other person in the classroom.
"Riku-kun! You're helping clean? Yay, that helps so much!"
Minazuki Hinata was holding a broom, smiling happily.
Her bright brown, fluffy semi-long hair. Small buns made on the sides. Her big, round amber eyes sparkled with exactly what she was feeling. Her cheeks were their usual pale pink, and when she smiled, her eyes became crescent moons. On her left wrist was a dull-colored friendship bracelet matching Rikuto's. One they'd made as children.
"Ah, yeah. I'll help."
Seeing Hinata's smile, Rikuto felt his heart lighten just a little.
(Hinata is the same as always. Bright and energetic.)
(I want to protect that smile.)
That's what he thought. And in that very moment—
*Paan!*
A dry sound echoed through the classroom.
"Kyaa!"
Hinata let out a scream.
The broom fell to the floor. A clattering sound.
Hinata pressed both hands to her rear and dropped to her knees.
"It hurts, why, all of a sudden..."
Hinata's voice was trembling.
Her big amber eyes rapidly filled with tears.
"Hinata..."
Rikuto could only call her name.
Hinata looked up at Rikuto with wet eyes.
"Riku-kun, did I do something wrong...?"
Those words pierced straight through
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