The Fruit of Desire~ Even a Bullied Gardening Club Member like Me Created a Harem~ - Chapter 9

Since accepting Haruka, Ren had been constantly thinking about her in his mind. He felt that meeting her had brought a new beginning to his life.

Ren recalled the internet meme that goes, ‘Are you alright? Do you want to touch my b00bs?’ Indeed, b00bs were truly magnificent.

Moreover, since the incident with Haruka, there had been no more bullying or harassment from Shinichi. Maybe Ren just hadn’t noticed, too caught up in his excitement…

When Ren looked at Misaki, he felt a sense of loneliness, but she had no connection with him, and her smile was directed towards Shinichi.

–

“With Risa-sensei joining, the amount of time I get to spend alone with Haruka-senpai is going to shrink…”

As soon as Ren arrived in the clubroom, a grumble escaped his lips.

Nevertheless, he still began the gardening club activities for the day.

After a while, Haruka and Risa-sensei appeared in the clubroom. Haruka greeted them cheerfully as usual, and Risa-sensei responded with a smile. However, Ren couldn’t help but feel a bit dissatisfied.

The gardening club activities were carried out by Ren, Haruka, and the newly joined Risa-sensei, the three of them together.

Risa-sensei was the most inexperienced and still lacked plant knowledge, but she was helping with all her might.

“This is a rose cutting, right?” Risa-sensei asked eagerly as Ren and Haruka proceeded with the task with practiced hands.

“Yes, like this, you cut the leaves…” Haruka explained, and Risa-sensei took it seriously, focusing intently on the task.

However, Ren couldn’t help but glance at Haruka.

“Haruka-senpai, could you come a little closer?” Ren murmured in a soft voice.

Hearing his voice, Haruka moved closer to Ren and continued working.

“Uh, um, is this right?” Risa-sensei asked, showing her completed work. Ren and Haruka both praised her, saying, “You did a great job!”

Then, as Haruka removed her work gloves and stretched, Ren couldn’t help but admire her adorable gesture.

“Ah, thank you both. I’m the teacher, but I’m still a beginner myself, and I really appreciate how detailed you’ve been in teaching me.” Risa-sensei said shyly.

“Still, the distance between you, Ren-kun, and Haruka-san is quite close, huh?”

“Eh? Ah, no, it’s not like that…” Haruka’s face turned bright red.

“Of course, your free to date, but if you get too close, I’ll have to warn you. Mmph!”

“Y-yes! Of course, that’s not the case.”

Ren broke out into a cold sweat.

An awkward silence hung between the three, but the gardening club’s activities carried on.

“Here it is, the dogwood tree, a symbol of our gardening club’s tradition!” Ren said with confidence, standing next to Haruka.

“Dogwood?” Risa-sensei wondered, her head tilting in curiosity.

“That’s right! It’s said that this dogwood tree has the power to grant wishes!”

“The power to grant wishes? That’s quite interesting.”

“That’s right! And the spirit of the dog wood tree loves mischief, sometimes playing pranks in our club activity notebook!”

“Pranks… that might be a bit troublesome.”

“But the pranks written in the club activity notebook are fun in their own way.” Haruka said with a bright smile.

The three of them gazed at the dog wood tree, each certain that the upcoming gardening club activities would become even more enjoyable.

–

Ren felt that the peaceful days would go on.

That’s exactly why he had let his guard down completely.

At first, Ren only thought, ‘Not again.’

However, this time, the harassment forced Ren into a position more difficult than ever before.

One day, it was decided that there would be a special homeroom session before the end of school.

Recently, Misaki had been troubled by losing her belongings one after another. She had lost her lipstick, hair clip, and even her house keys.

But on that day, one by one, Misaki’s lost items began to appear from the back of Ren’s desk.

The atmosphere in the classroom was heavy, and the gazes of the classmates were filled with disappointment. Ren was confused and tried to plead his innocence.

“I swear, I didn’t do anything like that! Please believe me!”

However, not a single person believed Ren’s words.

Misaki, with tears in her eyes, approached Ren. “Why would you do something like this? Weren’t we friends?” Her words, full of sadness, pierced Ren’s heart.

Ren frantically tried to find the right words.

“Misaki, I really didn’t do anything. Please trust me…” His eyes were filled with the desperation of pleading for the truth.

However, neither Misaki nor the other classmates paid attention to Ren’s words. Their trust in him had already been lost.

As the classmates showed expressions of disappointment, Shinichi raised his voice in anger.

“Why are Misaki’s things coming out of your desk?!” Shinichi, usually calm, shouted in rage, causing the room to fall silent.

Ren trembled with shock and fear, unable to say anything.

“Why are you staying silent?” Shinichi’s voice shook with anger.

Ren hastily tried to speak, but no words came out. He didn’t know how to prove that he had been bullied by Shinichi.

The voices of the classmates criticizing Ren filled the room. Shinichi and the others attacked with harsh words, as Ren, confused by the sudden turn of events, nearly burst into tears.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?!”

“You pervert!”

“You piece of sh1t! You’re the worst!”

The voices grew louder and louder, and the whole class was filled with shouting.

Amidst this, Ren stood frozen, unable to say anything. The pressure from the accusing and disgusted gazes around him was almost too much to bear.

Bang!

As the door to the classroom opened, Haruka walked in with a confident attitude. Her presence caused the classmates to gasp and whisper to each other, “Isn’t that Shirakawa’s daughter? What is she doing here?”

Haruka ignored the whispers from her classmates and walked toward Ren’s seat. She stopped in front of him, gave him a warm smile, and said, “Ren-kun, are you alright? I’m here for you,” before sitting beside him.

Haruka-senpai gently extended her hand towards Ren. He didn’t understand what was happening, but he simply held her hand.

The classmates were left speechless, each of them frozen in place, unable to utter a word.

Ren’s heart swelled with emotion from Haruka-senpai’s kindness, and tears began to well up in his eyes.

“Thank you, Haruka-senpai…”

Ren’s voice was soft, but Haruka-senpai smiled and heard it clearly.

“What is Shirakawa’s daughter doing holding his hand?”

“I can’t believe she’s with someone like him…”

The classmate’s whispers grew louder, but Ren and Haruka continued to hold hands, ignoring the gazes around them. They both made up their minds to stand by each other, no matter what.

The first to regain his composure was Shinichi, who called out to Ren and Haruka, “Wait a second!”

“We found Misaki’s things in your desk!”

Amidst the rising accusations of theft, Ren remained silent, not defending himself at all.

Shinichi exploded in anger and shouted.

“What is it? Do you feel that guilty or something!? If you’re going to make excuses, hurry up!”

“Please wait. If you raise your voice like this and start attacking everyone, no one will be able to speak out from fear!”

Shinichi hesitated for a moment but then loudly retorted, “M-Misaki, my classmate… and my girlfriend, was targeted! It’s not strange for me to get emotional!”

The surrounding people stared at Haruka and Ren with harsh looks, as if they were justified in their actions.

“Then, does Ren have any evidence to prove he didn’t steal?” Shinichi took a breath and asked Ren in a cold voice.

“Such evidence doesn’t exist…”

At that point, Haruka spoke up and asked Shinichi.

“Then, on the other hand, do you have any evidence that Ren stole it?”

Shinichi, in anger, insisted, “The fact that Misaki’s belongings were found in his desk is proof!”

“That can’t be considered proof. It’s just one possibility. Someone could be framing Ren. That’s a possibility too. And of course, there’s also the possibility that you’re the one who’s the culprit.”

Shinichi flinched. There was no more evidence for him and his group to continue pressing the matter.

Haruka then turned to Misaki and asked, “You’re the victim, Misaki-san, right? Do you think Ren-kun is the one who did it?”

“…I don’t… know…”

After hearing Misaki’s response, Ren’s tears filled his eyes and streaked down his face. To be doubted by someone who once cared for him, someone he loved, was like a knife stabbing his heart.

While Ren was crying uncontrollably, Haruka boldly embraced him and exclaimed, “Stop bullying the person I love!”

The classmates were surprised by her words and looked confused. They believed they were the ones in the right, but they also feared making an enemy of the Shirakawa family.

One of the classmates stepped closer to Haruka and spoke to her, “Shirakawa-senpai, I’m sorry. But is it really okay to do this?”

“What do you mean by ‘okay’?” Haruka gave the student a glare.

The student who had approached Haruka stepped back, saying, “Never mind…”

The surrounding classmates couldn’t hide their shock, but Haruka was too focused on something else to notice.

“Ren-kun, I believe in you. I don’t think you did anything wrong.”

Ren was able to gradually calm his emotions thanks to her words.

Haruka glared at Misaki with an unusually sharp look, causing Misaki to flinch in fear from Haruka’s gaze.

Losing interest in Misaki’s behavior, Haruka shifted her gaze toward the teacher.

“Sensei! Why have you been silently watching this all this time?”

The teacher had been quietly minding his own business, but upon hearing Haruka’s voice, sluggishly started moving.

“Ah, that’s enough for today. The search for the culprit… seems impossible now. If any students have something to report, come to me later. Dismissed.”

Haruka was disappointed by the teacher’s clearly uninterested attitude.

Ren murmured, “Thank you, Haruka-senpai,” to Haruka.

Haruka smiled and took Ren’s hand, leading him out of the classroom.

–

With Ren and Haruka gone, the atmosphere in the classroom relaxed, and someone let out a loud sigh.

“What’s with that? Why would Shirakawa’s young lady be with someone like him…” A male voice murmured with resentment, while a female voice added, “It’s laughable that such a creepy guy is someone important to her.”

Misaki lowered her head, casting a dark shadow over her face. Shinichi gently spoke to her, “It’s okay.”

Characters in this chapter:

Hayama Ren – First-year high school student, member of the Gardening Club. Has secretly been bullied by Shinichi since middle school. Became intimately involved with Haruka.

Shibasaki Shinichi – First-year high school student. Has secretly bullied Ren since middle school. Misaki boyfriend. He has been feeling irritated lately.

Asakura Misaki – First-year high school student. Used to be kind to Ren in middle school. But now they are distant. Shinichi’s girlfriend. She seems to have a lot of worries lately.

Shirakawa Haruka – Second-year high school student, president of the gardening club, treasures the dogwood tree. She is also kind to Ren. Became intimately involved with Ren.

Chapter length 4645 characters.

TL Note: Yes, the author didn’t include the illustrations for the characters. expect that semi frequently for the rest of the novel.