As I wrung the water from my soaking hair and started walking again, Klein suddenly grabbed my wrist.
“Hey, hey! Where do you think you're going?!”
“To report them, obviously. If you do something wrong, you should be punished. Just like I was.”
“That’s not what I meant...”
Klein hesitated.
It seemed that, after I had saved him from the dog, at least some of his hostility toward me had faded.
Though he would never admit it.
“I’m fine.”
Klein immediately snapped back.
“I wasn’t asking about that!”
“Then... I returned those outdoor slippers I borrowed before. They're in your shoe locker.”
“That’s not it either!”
“Then what is it?”
I genuinely had no idea.
I tried to discreetly pull my arm free, but his grip didn't loosen.
“Um, I really need to go tell on someone.”
Klein opened and closed his mouth several times.
Then he abruptly let go of my wrist and scoffed.
“You forget everything you've done, but you're tattling on them? Wow. Petty.”
“That’s not being petty.”
I folded my arms.
“If I did something wrong to those kids, then I’ll apologize. But this is different. If they keep treating people like this, do you think they'll grow into decent adults? What if they don't only do it to me?”
Someone needed to teach them from the beginning that bullying people was wrong.
My response came so smoothly that Klein was left speechless.
At that moment, Medina, who had been quietly watching everything, pulled out a handkerchief and gently wiped my face.
“Lopez, are you okay?”
“Thanks. But it's only water. You don't have to do that.”
I subtly backed away.
“It’s only water...”
“Even so. Anyway, if that's all, I'll get going.”
“L-Lopez, Klein was just...”
As always, Medina was acting as the spokesperson for the male leads.
She's exactly the kind of person who would save someone and never regret sacrificing herself.
Feeling a little sympathetic, I glanced at Klein and Chester.
Then I smiled reassuringly.
“I know. He was worried about a friend, right?”
“Mm-hm...”
“But what they did was still wrong.”
“I agree with Lopez. Make sure they get caught.”
Medina even cheered me on.
As expected.
Just looking at my favorite character was enough to improve my mood.
Klein stared blankly at Lopez's retreating figure.
Water dripped from her clothes and hair as she walked away.
“She talks surprisingly well...”
He muttered under his breath.
Medina let out a long sigh.
“Klein, stop picking on Lopez already!”
The sharp reprimand made him flinch.
Medina continued, clearly upset.
“She lost her memory and still apologized to me! I already told you before—I accepted her apology!”
“...”
“The person who was wronged said it's okay. If I'm okay with it, then nobody else has the right to keep attacking her!”
Only then did Klein quietly nod.
Medina had intentionally spoken harshly.
But seeing Klein's shoulders droop, her resolve quickly softened.
In the end, she gently took his hand.
“I really like you, Klein. That's why I don't want you treating Lopez badly anymore.”
Medina was too kind.
Not just to Klein.
To everyone.
Still, the warmth of her hand seemed to spread through his entire body.
His mood instantly improved.
“Okay! I'll listen to Medina!”
He grinned brightly and nodded.
And yet—
For some reason, Lopez still bothered him.
The muddy ground.
The way she had lowered her head after being drenched.
Even her slumped shoulders.
She's acting pitiful for no reason.
Klein frowned slightly.
“Lisa!”
“Lopez!”
Lisa, my fellow Discipline Room veteran, immediately ran over when she saw me.
Sally happened to look over as well.
When I waved, she huffed dramatically.
“Hmph!”
Yet despite that, she still followed behind Lisa.
“What’s with you? Why are you here?”
Sally asked grumpily.
Lisa tried to stop her with a look, but Sally ignored it.
“I got splashed with water.”
The moment I said that, Sally finally looked at me properly.
Her jaw practically dropped.
Maybe because we'd spent an extra three days locked up together after pulling each other's hair, the two girls seemed to think of me as a close friend now.
“You idiot! Were you playing in the lake?!”
Both Sally and Lisa immediately pulled out handkerchiefs and started drying me off.
Sally looked like an angry hedgehog on the outside, but she was incredibly soft-hearted underneath.
I'd learned that during our time together in confinement.
She and Lisa were inseparable best friends.
They argued every day, yet somehow always stuck together.
“How did this happen? You're going to catch a cold. Why didn't you change clothes first?”
“Someone dumped water on me.”
Sally was frighteningly quick-witted.
The moment she heard that, she understood why I'd come to Class Two.
“The culprit is in Class Two!”
“Uh... wait. Shyle and Mana's slippers are wet.”
The two children sitting nearby visibly flinched.
“I remember their voices perfectly.”
“Hey. Start talking.”
Sally growled at them like a tiny gangster.
Shyle smirked and sneered at me.
“Got any proof? If you accuse people without evidence again, you'll end up in counseling.”
“It's them!”
Their voices were exactly the same!
As I pointed at them, Lisa grabbed my hand and marched deeper into the classroom.
“There is proof! You're the only two with wet slippers!”
“That proves nothing.”
Shyle shrugged shamelessly.
“My slippers are wet because I went to the bathroom.”
He and Mana immediately started snickering.
Sally's face turned red with rage.
I was just about to calm her down when—
“I saw it.”
A voice suddenly spoke.
Klein had somehow followed us.
Leaning casually against the doorway, he continued,
“You two were the ones who dumped the water.”
For the first time, panic flashed across Shyle and Mana's faces.
Then Klein shouted into the hallway.
“Teacher Megan! Over here!”
Both children instantly jumped to their feet.
Seeing them panic, Sally snorted.
“So it was you!”
“What did Lopez ever do to you that made you dump water on her?”
“Did you two develop some weird friendship in the Discipline Room? Why are you defending a Class One kid?”
As Shyle tried to shove Lisa aside, I stepped between them.
His shoulder slammed into mine.
“Hey! Did you just push Lopez?!”
Quiet Lisa actually had a surprisingly fiery temper.
Especially when someone insulted her or her friends.
Just like now.
Before I knew it, her infamous Hair-Grabbing Hands had already reached for Shyle's hair.
“Lisa! I'm fine!”
I quickly wrapped my arms around her.
Fortunately, before anyone lost any hair, Megan rushed into the room.
“Enough!”
The moment Teacher Megan appeared, everyone except me instantly quieted down.
I carefully separated Lisa and Sally before looking at Megan with my most innocent expression.
These two had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Megan was usually cheerful.
Always smiling.
But whenever trouble happened, her face became terrifying.
After all, smiling while scolding children wasn't very effective.
“Lopez. Shyle. Mana. Come with me immediately.”
“T-Teacher! I really didn't do it!”
Mana protested desperately.
Megan cut her off.
“We'll determine that in the counseling room. Bullying classmates is unacceptable. Now come along.”
As I turned around, I saw Lisa and Sally staring at me anxiously.
To reassure them, I raised my arms over my head and made a giant heart shape.
“That idiot. What's she smiling about?”
Despite grumbling, Sally immediately returned the gesture.
She and Lisa both raised heart signs over their heads.
Klein stared at them in disbelief.
What the heck?
When did those three become friends?
Megan interviewed each of us separately.
Me.
Mana.
Shyle.
She listened carefully to everyone's story.
Afterward, she called Mana and Shyle in together.
While they talked, I waited outside on a chair in front of the counseling room.
“It's Big Sister Lopez, the troublemaker!”
Ah.
The persistent green-haired child.
Bill plopped down beside me with a bright smile.
The problem was that Bill could go from smiling to crying in an instant.
Which made me extremely nervous.
Every time I said something, he somehow ended up crying.
And we were currently sitting outside the counseling room.
If I accidentally made him cry here, things could become complicated.
Besides, Bill didn't seem like the type who would actually take my side.
He acted like he liked me.
And disliked me.
At the same time.
Come to think of it, Bill adored Medina in the original novel too.
Which was exactly why he hated Lopez.
Though after everyone grew up, Bill barely appeared in the story anymore.
Then again, aside from the male leads, none of the orphanage children received much mention after the heroine returned to her rightful place.
The novel never explained what happened to Lisa or Sally either.
“Big Sister, are you going to the Discipline Room again?”
“I didn't do anything wrong.”
“And?”
Bill tilted his head.
Then he smiled.
“Really?”
Why did he sound disappointed?
