C30

Chapter 30: Meiko Kano

After school.

The two of them left the school and walked down the familiar commuting path toward the station. Yet today, Rinko’s demeanor was different from usual. Normally, she would chatter away while staring at her smartphone, but today she hardly opened her mouth, walking with her head slightly bowed.

"......Rinko."

"Hm?"

"You really don't need to worry about it that much."

Rinko lifted her face just a fraction.

"......But."

The rest didn't follow.

After walking in silence for a while, Rinko let out a small breath.

"I didn't think people would say things like that to me."

"Well... it was kind of sudden, after all."

"Yeah."

Answering only with that, Rinko fell silent again.

The words thrown at her during the lunch break still wouldn't leave her head. Above all, the fact that even the phrases she casually used all the time had been brought up bothered her the most.

Words she had used normally up until now without a second thought...

"......I had no idea people thought of me that way."

Rinko muttered quietly.

Meiko glanced at Rinko for a moment.

"......Well, you don't need to stress over it too much, do you?"

"Yeah..."

Rinko gave a small nod, but her expression didn't clear up. The conversation lapsed for a while as she started to open her mouth several times, only to end up facing forward without saying anything.

As they neared the station, foot traffic increased bit by bit. Even so, Rinko's pace remained heavy, and the mere appearance of someone trying to say something transmitted itself to Meiko walking beside her.

"......Meiko."

"Hm?"

Called out, Meiko turned her face toward Rinko.

"About Tachibana-kun... I really didn't think it would turn out like this."

"Yeah."

"I never dreamed he'd end up skipping school this much."

Rinko dropped her gaze slightly.

"Until today, I hadn't really thought about it deeply at all."

Saying just that, she went quiet again.

Meiko said nothing, continuing to walk right beside Rinko.

Before long, they reached the spot where the path toward the station branched off into a residential alleyway. From here on, their ways home parted.

"......Well then."

"Yeah."

Rinko stopped at the mouth of the alley and turned back.

"......Hey, Meiko."

"Hm?"

Called out, Meiko turned her face toward Rinko.

Rinko lowered her gaze as if hesitating slightly.

"I never thought the fake confession you suggested would turn into something like this."

"..."

"At first, I thought it would end as something much lighter."

Rinko let out a small sigh.

"It's like... this is completely different from what I imagined."

Staring at Rinko, Meiko gave a small nod.

"......Right."

"Well, see you Monday then."

"Yeah. See you."

Rinko waved her hand and walked off past the alley leading into the residential area.

Even after her figure disappeared, Meiko lingered in that spot for a while.

Eventually, Meiko started walking toward the station as well.

Arriving at the platform, she boarded the incoming train, fixing her gaze down the platform as the doors slid quietly shut.

◇

Leaving the station and walking through the residential streets, she reached the front of her house, pulled her keys from her bag, and unlocked the front door. Pushing the door open, she stepped inside.

"I'm home."

Without waiting for a reply, she slipped off her shoes and stepped further into the house.

Carrying her bag, she climbed the stairs and walked down the second-floor corridor. Reaching her bedroom door, Meiko pulled a key from her bag and unlocked it.

Stepping inside, she closed the door behind her with her back.

And locked it once more.

—Click.

"......"

Left all alone in her room, Meiko stood for a while with her back against the door. After a short while, she let out a slow breath.

As if to confirm something, Meiko closed her eyes.

The classroom's state from throughout the day floated across her mind's eye.

Those gazes directed at Suzumura.

Up until now, whatever was turned toward Suzumura consisted almost entirely of envy and favor. But today was different.

Eyes filled with a sense of doubt.

Eyes keeping a distance.

Gazed upon by looks clearly unlike anything before, Suzumura stood exposed.

As she replayed that scene, the corners of Meiko's mouth gradually ticked upward. Something she had forcefully suppressed inside seemed to seep up steadily from the depths of her chest.

And, one more thing.

Ever since that day, Suzumura had started avoiding Kujo-kun.

In the past, the moment Kujo-kun was nearby, they would naturally exchange words. Now, every time Kujo-kun approached, Suzumura took the initiative to put distance between them.

Between the two of them, who had been so close, a clear divide now stood firmly in place.

The more she chewed on that fact, the more an uncontrollable sense of fulfillment filled the depths of Meiko's heart.

It feels so good...

That emotion spread slowly inside her body, and Meiko narrowed her eyes lazily, savoring the pleasant sensation.

Before long, as if tracing back everything that had happened so far, Meiko slowly let her consciousness sink into her memories.

...The very beginning was—after school that day.

◇

One day, I told Rinko about how fun a fake confession would be.

Pranks you could only pull off in high school, memories everyone would look back on and laugh about one day—making it sound like that, I talked up how entertaining it was, perhaps slightly exaggerating.

Rinko listened with a delighted expression.

Afterwards, I quietly waited for an opportunity to arrive.

Before long, that opportunity came.

Everyone played cards to compete for rankings, under a simple rule where whoever took 1st place got to decide the penalty game for whoever came in last. The one who took 1st place was Rinko.

And... the person in last place was Suzumura.

"Oh, I know!"

Rinko raised her face as if remembering something.

"How about a fake confession?"

As if waiting for it, I immediately jumped on the idea.

"That sounds great!"

Exchanging glances with Rinko, the two of us enthusiastically built on the idea together. Who should we target, how should the confession be made—as the discussion progressed one after another, the surrounding members eventually found themselves swept along by the momentum, nodding in agreement.

Though Suzumura wore a slightly complicated expression, pushed along by our momentum, she finally gave a small nod.

Meanwhile, Kaho had spoken up once, saying they should drop the fake confession. But when Rinko overpowered her, Kaho said nothing more, falling silent with her head bowed.

And so, Suzumura's penalty game was decided as a fake confession.

◇

I remember Suzumura back then.

The duration of the fake confession had been decided from the start. When it first began, even though she spoke to Tachibana just as instructed, she was awkward all over. Only natural, seeing as it was a penalty game.

Yet, that awkwardness faded away instantly.

Suzumura started taking the initiative to speak to Tachibana, naturally walking over to his side whenever she spotted him in the classroom. The expression she wore while talking to him was clearly different from the beginning.

She was smiling.

And not the forced kind of smile, either. She laughed completely naturally, looking like she was genuinely having fun.

To the point where someone watching from the side would forget all about the fake confession.

Though it was supposed to have started as a penalty game, before anyone knew it, Suzumura looked as though she was genuinely enjoying the time spent right alongside Tachibana.

—Yet, that time ended the moment the fake confession was exposed in the classroom.

Ever since then, Suzumura's demeanor had shifted drastically.

Times when she would normally be chatting with someone were now spent entirely looking downward. Though Kaho stayed by her side, she practically stopped speaking with anyone else. Even when we spoke to her, she didn't return smiles the way she used to.

Even so, at random moments, she would cast her gaze toward Tachibana's seat. As if believing Tachibana would come back again.

Yet, Tachibana didn't come.

Every single time, Suzumura would lower her head slightly, never once lifting the gaze dropped onto her desktop, keeping it anchored there motionlessly.

Back then, she used to smile so naturally.

Now, all she could do was stare at Tachibana's empty seat.

—That is precisely why.

Just remembering that drop in fortune filled the depths of my chest.

Even though she was having that much fun, now she makes a face like that.

The moment that figure crossed my mind, a shiver ran through my body, and I let out a slow breath to savor the sensation.

Unconsciously, I clenched my fingertips slightly.

—Serves you right.

That phrase quietly welled up inside my chest.

Meiko stared at her clenched fingertips, as if surrendering herself to that sensation for a while.

Then, loosening her grip, a different memory drifted up from the depths of her chest.

Thinking of Kujo-kun, what she had forced down inside her heart slowly revived.

Ever since ending up in the same class this year, she had witnessed it over and over.

The way Kujo-kun looked at Suzumura.

The moment Suzumura stepped into the classroom, he noticed instantly. If someone else was talking with Suzumura, he'd cast anxious glances that way. If Suzumura laughed, his eyes would trace that figure.

Before she knew it, Kujo-kun's gaze was always directed toward Suzumura.

Every time, her chest grew restless, and an unbearable irritation slowly bled through.

Why is it always Suzumura?

I want Kujo-kun to look at me, too.

I want him to look at me with eyes like that.

And yet, all Kujo-kun ever looked at was Suzumura...

And despite that, Suzumura didn't even seem to think it was anything special.

That, above all, she could never forgive.

—Back then, it would have been fine if Suzumura had just vanished.

Taken away from Kujo-kun's sight.

To achieve that, she used the fake confession.

Since Suzumura was known as a model, exposing her just a little bit should have been more than enough.

To the point where she couldn't stay at school anymore.

To the point where she no longer entered Kujo-kun's field of vision.

That would be fine.

That was what she had thought.

To accomplish that, she had planned to record the entirety of Tachibana being told it was a fake confession, complete with audio.

Leaking that on social media would do the trick.

So everyone could find out what Suzumura had done.

Her modeling work, her school life—neither would be able to continue.

She thought that was fine.

And yet—

Kujo-kun blurted out that it was a fake confession to Tachibana in the after-school classroom.

And on top of that, making up an excuse about doing it for Suzumura's sake.

The moment he did, pitch-black jealousy surged from the depths of her chest.

—Why.

Why was Kujo-kun willing to go that far just for her sake?

It was frustrating, envious, and her chest felt like it was burning.

If only Suzumura wasn't around.

Just thinking that made her body tremble.

—That girl, above all, is unforgivable.

From the bottom of her heart, she wanted to curse her out.

Even so, she capped those feelings.

If Kujo-kun was going to act for Suzumura's sake, she would stay right by his side.

That one thing, she refused to yield.

And before she knew it, Kujo-kun and she were condemning Tachibana together.

A joint effort between just the two of them.

Kujo-kun and me.

Sharing the same objective, facing the same target.

We were special partners.

Thinking that way made the depths of her chest grow warmly hot.

Kujo-kun must feel the exact same way.

We are already in a special relationship.

Thinking such things, she recalled the video she had recorded.

Their first joint endeavor.

The time when Kujo-kun and she shared the same objective and condemned the same target.

The very first proof of love, belonging exclusively to Kujo-kun and me...

Just recalling that fact made the depths of her chest thrill. A sweet sensation that made her want to experience it over and over spread inside her body.

However... this didn't turn out to be a video solely featuring Suzumura and Tachibana.

With things as they were, the video she'd gone through the trouble of recording couldn't be uploaded to social media.

Doing something like that would cause trouble for Kujo-kun.

—I can't let precious Kujo-kun go through something like that.

Thinking that, she had held back from uploading the video to social media.

Replaying the events of that day, Meiko sat down on her bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Slowly tracing the edge of the sheet with her fingertips, she didn't think about anything in particular, simply surrendering herself to the time resting right there.

Eventually, her fingertips stopped dead, and a single scene surfaced in the back of her head.

The sight she had seen during lunch break today.

Kujo-kun being cornered by the people in the class.

As though driving Tachibana into a corner and doing it in front of everyone that day were all complete mistakes...

It felt as though even the proof of love between her and Kujo-kun was being denied.

Even though they had united their hearts so completely to condemn Tachibana.

The people in the class were arbitrarily denying it.

Thinking about that, an uncontainable anger welled up from the depths of her chest.

The people who had hurt Kujo-kun were unbearably hateful.

But—

At the same time, thinking of Kujo-kun right now brought a different emotion welling up from inside.

Surely, Kujo-kun was hurting.

Berated by those guys like that, with not a single person on his side anymore.

Who on earth would comfort a Kujo-kun like that?

Who on earth would understand Kujo-kun's feelings?

—Only me.

If everyone was going to drift away from Kujo-kun, she would just close the distance by that much more.

Consoling a wounded Kujo-kun, supporting him—she would do it all.

The moment she imagined herself snuggling close to a lonely Kujo-kun, Meiko's shoulders shivered slightly.

As if unable to resist that imagination, Meiko embraced her own shoulders.

—I will stay by your side.

Yet, to make that happen.

...Suzumura is in the way.

If Suzumura vanished, then completely............ Renya-kun would be mine..................

Meiko slowly unwrapped her arms, picked up her smartphone, and surveyed her room.

Pasted all over the walls were photographs of Kujo.

Images of him ever since entering high school plastered across various spots in the room.

Playing soccer.

Talking with friends.

Countless pictures lined the walls, even including ones where she couldn't even remember when she'd taken them.

Among them, photos from even before entering high school were mixed in.

Their numbers were staggering, to the point where finding an empty patch of wall was far more difficult.

Meiko slowly extended her fingertips toward one of them.

Softly tracing Kujo reflected in the photograph.

Her lips slowly twisted upward...

"......Kufufu."

From deep within her throat, uncontainable laughter welled up.

Meiko muttered quietly, right there in place:

"You poor............ Ko-ko-ne-chan."