After I made my exit, I ran all the way back to the main school building to re-enter the gym through the second floor access. Luckily, I'm just in time to hear Suzuki call Takamoto a horrible person.
Wow. I know that he's not the type of guy who beats around the bush, but that's way too direct. But I'm not complaining. With that strong of a start, this will be over sooner than I expected.
As I was settling in a good spot, I heard the access door open again. I turn and see Sakakibara Daiki stepping through with Takamoto's two friends behind him. Looks like he made the decision to bring them along. Either that, or he's trying to start his own harem.
"You put on quite a show, Sugiyama-kun. I knew you had something in mind, but I didn't think you'd actually piss Takamoto-senpai off to get her to chase you."
"It was the only way I could think of to get her face-to-face with Suzuki."
"I see. So, what's happened so far?"
"Take a look for yourself."
I respond while keeping my eyes glued to the two upperclassmen standing in the middle of the gym. We're pretty far from where they're standing, but thanks to how gymnasiums are usually built, even a faint whisper can be heard from one end to the other.
"What are you talking about, Suzuki-kun? I don't even know any of the names you mentioned. I-in any case, I actually have something I want to tell you—"
"Cut the crap! I know everything. You bullied and assaulted an underclassman, and you even went after Inoue-san. That bruise on her cheek, that was because of you, wasn't it?"
Suzuki, direct as ever, plainly calls out Takamoto for her actions. Now, it's all on her. I wonder if she'll continue to deny everything or come clean about it. Either way, she looks really shaken and close to crying right now. She's slowly taking a few steps back; clearly wanting to escape from the situation. Come on, Suzuki. If you let her get away, she'll just come back with a vengeance.
"How can you even do such a thing? Does it make you feel good to bully someone else? Huh?"
"No… Y-you've got it all wrong, Suzuki-kun. I only did it for you… Everything I did was for you…!"
There it is. The backwards, demented logic of a fan girl. She justifies the horrible things she does by saying it's all for Suzuki's sake. That kind of reasoning might have worked in the 80s. Not so much today.
"For me? Did I even ask for any of this?! How could you think that I'd want you to hurt someone for me? Seriously, just how delusional can you be?!"
"N-no! I just wanted them to stay away from you! I didn't even mean to hurt them. I just wanted to scare them a little, that's all…!"
"So what, am I supposed to let you off the hook because of that? And who are you to turn people away from me in the first place? You have no right to do that!"
"But I should, right?! After all the things I did for you, I deserve at least that much!"
Takamoto yelled out in such a guttural way that it made my skin crawl. Even Suzuki was taken aback for a bit before bouncing back and continuing his tirade.
"What the hell are you even talking about? We've never even talked much or interacted before today!"
Ouch. Honestly, that one's gotta hurt. I can only imagine the sinking feeling that Takamoto has right now. Finding out that the person you dedicated years of your life to didn't even know or notice what you've been doing; kinda makes you just want to curl into a ball and disappear.
"N-no… You can't be serious! This isn't happening… This isn't happening... After everything I did?! All that I did for you?!"
"What the hell are you even talking about? What else have you done besides hurt the girl I like?!"
"You're kidding me, right…? This can't be real… This isn't happening…! So what… You're saying everything I did for you. All of it was for nothing? All because of a couple of bumps and bruises I gave to some girls?"
"... I have no idea what you're talking about. But whatever it is you think you did, it doesn't mean that I'm obligated to do anything for you."
My immersion of the scene is broken by the sound of the access door springing open. I turned to see what happened but only caught the silhouette of two people running out the door. Looks like Takamoto's two lackeys couldn't stomach it any more and decided to run to her and maybe save whatever dignity she has left.
I return my gaze to Takamoto. Her downcast posture is making it difficult to see her expression. But I'm pretty sure she's in shock right now. Her knees, which were already shaky a while ago, have finally given out and sent her crumbling down towards the ground.
She's down and out for the count. But Suzuki doesn't look like he's done just yet. Without batting an eye at the miserable sight before him, he takes a step forward and looks down at Takamoto.
"I don't want you to ever go near Inoue-san ever again. You got that?"
Geez. Talk about being an absolute savage. But I guess that does it for that. So much for a peaceful resolution. Not that it really matters though. This could have gone down in many different ways, but it'll still ultimately end in a rude awakening for Takamoto. That's just the way it had to be. I doubt Takamoto would have given up if any other person called her out on her twisted ways. It had to be Suzuki; the source of her delusions. Some people just have to learn the hard way, and Takamoto is definitely one of those people.