"—W-Wataru!!"
"Uweh!?"
I lunged from the corner, charging straight for Wataru. He jumped, his shoulders twitching as he took a hasty step back, looking for all the world like he’d been caught in a scandalous act. I didn't even want to imagine the expression I was wearing right now.
"Na-Natsukawa... why are you..."
"What did you make Shirai-san draw!? You used those illustrations I saw the other day as leverage to force her into drawing something indecent, didn't you!?"
"Th-That’s..."
"Let me see those!"
"Ah, hey, wait...!"
The fact that he didn't flatly deny it made my pulse quicken with dread. This only fueled my momentum. The postcards in Wataru's hand likely featured those very drawings. When I tried to snatch them, Wataru held his right hand high to keep them out of my reach.
"Hey! Give them to me!"
"N-No!"
"Don't you 'no' me!"
Wataru shook his head like Airi throwing a tantrum. I clung to him to pry them away, reaching desperately for the bundle of postcards held aloft. Wataru let out a pathetic "H-heeen..." and his strength wavered; I seized the chance to grab his arm, pull it down, and snatch the postcards away. Somewhere deep down, my heart gave a tiny throb of anticipation, wondering if "Natsukawa Aika" might actually be among them.
With my heart pounding, I turned away and clutched the three cards to my chest. After a moment's hesitation, I steeled my resolve, took a breath, and finally brought the illustrations into view.
"Ah—"
The first one. The person drawn there... wasn't me.
It was a petite girl close to Wataru—Ichinose-san. She was a cute girl in a school uniform who had grown fond of him during their summer part-time job and subsequent events in the Second Semester.
In the drawing, she was brandishing a massive Gatling gun.
"...What is... this...?"
I turned back and asked in a trembling voice. Wataru and Shirai-san both looked away guiltily. As I stared at Wataru, stunned and demanding an explanation, he seemingly couldn't take the pressure and shouted back defiantly.
"Wh-What!? It's fine, isn't it!? There's nothing wrong with the petite and seemingly frail Ichinose-san wielding a Gatling gun as big as she is!"
"It's not fine! There's no way Ichinose-san would ever carry something so dangerous!"
"That's exactly why it works! It just... it’s cool, okay!?"
"Cool according to who!? What on earth are you making Shirai-san draw!?"
"Well... it was actually my first time drawing a Gatling gun."
Shirai-san rubbed the back of her head bashfully. She looked oddly satisfied, as if she had just accomplished a great feat. I felt like she was missing the point entirely... It seemed she wasn't even aware Wataru was forcing his eccentric hobbies on her. Or maybe, given that she called him "Pervert-san," it meant she was a willing accomplice.
"C-Can I have them back now?"
"...Pervert."
"Ugh..."
Not only was it not what I expected, it wasn't even me. Feeling a complex mix of emotions that included a shameful hint of disappointment, I moved to return the postcards when the cardstock slipped. There wasn't just one. I pulled the cards back toward myself.
"Eh, um, Natsukawa-san...?"
"...Are the others the same kind of thing?"
"Th-That's..."
When I stared them down, Wataru and Shirai-san both looked away again. Could it be that the Ichinose-san drawing was just a decoy to hide actually indecent illustrations? Was the real perversion yet to come? If a drawing of a naked Ichinose-san appeared... what would I even do?
"..."
I closed my eyes and slid the first card down. If these truly defiled Ichinose-san's dignity, I would take responsibility and have Wataru talk to a teacher, the police, or even his sister to reform him. I’d tell him to reflect properly so he could get out of custody as soon as possible.
I opened my eyes, bracing for the worst.
"This is..."
Drawn there was a familiar face. Thinking that this was something Wataru had specifically desired and requested, my face grew hot. I wanted to fan myself. What was the outfit? With a racing heart, I flipped past the first card.
The second one depicted was me. It was me, Natsukawa Aika, in my school uniform with details like my braided hair meticulously rendered.
And I was wielding brass knuckles on both hands.
"Why!?"
I shouted in spite of myself. You never really know your own public image, but I had to deny this immediately. There was no way. We might have had our share of arguments, but I had certainly never gotten into a fight that escalated to the point of throwing punches.
"Wh-What!? It's fine if the serious Natsukawa is a brawler character, isn't it!?"
"It's not fine! There's no way I'd ever brandish something so thuggish! And stop giving weapons to girls in the first place!"
"I'm just archetyping you as an action game character!"
"Then there are way more appropriate weapons for a girl, aren't there!?"
Like a mage's staff! Or... I didn't know many others! But at the very least, I wasn't a brawler! There was no way I could be Airi's big sister with such a violent personality!
"Well... since drawing this, 'brass knuckles' has been popping up in my search history, and it keeps making me laugh."
"Sh-Shirai-san..."
My shoulders slumped. Shirai-san, who should have been on my side, was clearly part of the "other side." Judging by her bashful smile, she didn't seem to feel like she’d been forced into this at all. Was I the only one who thought this was weird?
"N-Next is..."
"Ah."
The final card. It was likely another girl Wataru knew. I went through the faces in my head. There were probably girls I didn't even know. No, for Shirai-san to draw them, they likely had to be mutual acquaintances. In that case, the third one was...
"...!"
I steeled myself and looked. My guess was spot on. Drawn there was my energetic best friend, Kei Ashida.
She was dressed in a nun's habit, praying.
"Why is only Kei's indecent!?"
"Nuoh!?"
I grabbed Wataru by his blazer. I had expected the last one to be Kei, but the situation and attire were a total surprise. The fact that only Kei was wearing a "special costume" gave it a sense of favoritism that I found completely unacceptable.
"Wh-What!? It's fine if the boyish and sporty Ashida is dressed in something modest and refined, isn't it!?"
"It's not fine! Don't put your classmates in special outfits! Why do you have such a specific obsession with Kei!?"
"Well... Ashida-san wasn't wearing heavy weapons or a complex uniform, so in terms of production costs, this one was actually the easiest..."
"Could you please be quiet for a second!?"
Shirai-san looked totally nonchalant. I didn't really understand what "production costs" were, but that wasn't the point. It was more like... Wataru's fetishes were most apparent here. It was frustrating that Kei was the grand finale, or maybe I didn't like her being treated like a special case, or—I didn't even know!
"And why is Kei the only one not holding a weapon!? Make Kei fight too!"
"A-Ashida is a Healer! She's fighting in her own way! Her weapon is her spirit...! Healers have their own way of battling!"
"I don't care!"
No matter how much he tried to justify it, I couldn't just let this slide. Even if the content was technically "safe," it wasn't normal to commission and keep illustrations of your female classmates. This... this definitely made him a Pervert, right?
"...Th-These are confiscated!"
"Aah... no way! —Wait."
"Y-You can keep mine! But for the other two... get permission from them first!"
"Eh!? Th-That’s... kind of a high hurdle, to put it mildly...!"
"Hmph."
"Natsu...!? Guoooohhh..."
Wataru tried to plead with me using grand gestures. He swung his left hand around too wildly, and he let out a groan as he aggravated his injury. He doubled over, writhing with teary eyes. Even if he hadn't been so clumsy lately, I probably wouldn't have felt like looking after him at this particular moment.
"..."
I looked at the expertly drawn Ichinose-san and Kei. Knowing that Shirai-san had drawn these for Wataru, my eyes inevitably drifted to the details of their skirts and chests. They didn't seem suggestive, but I wondered if he had made specific requests for those parts, too.
Imagining Wataru occasionally pulling these out to gaze at Ichinose-san and Kei... for some reason, the thought really bothered me.