C50

Chapter 50: The One Who Stays Close

Monday, after school.

For this day's homeroom, a different teacher stood in for Mr. Yamaoka.

Even while the teacher conveyed announcements from the podium, the classroom remained dead silent. You could hear the faint sound of someone shifting slightly or paper rustling, but there was no private chatter.

The teacher finished speaking, glanced across the classroom, and stepped away from the podium.

"Well, that's it for today."

When the door closed, a quiet atmosphere settled over the classroom once more.

After a short while, a single student finally stood up and picked up their bag. Prompted by that, an increasing number of students began getting ready to leave throughout the classroom.

The sounds of chairs scraping and bag zippers closing overlapped as the students gradually filtered out of the room.

Watching this, Kujo stood up.

Taking Meiko with him, he headed over to Sugisawa.

"Sugisawa, got a sec?"

At the call, Sugisawa raised his head.

"Hm?"

"There's something I want to talk about."

Sugisawa looked between Kujo and Meiko, then stood up.

"...Alright."

Once the three gathered, Kujo cast his gaze around their surroundings.

"I figured it'd be better if we all talked about this once."

A little while later, Rinko arrived.

"About Shion and Kaho... Shion isn't feeling well, so Kaho's taking her home today."

"Is that so..." Kujo answered briefly.

"Then let's just talk amongst ourselves."

The four stepped out into the hallway and headed toward their destination.

◇

The place the four headed to was the empty classroom in the special building where they had previously decided on the punishment game.

Confirming that no one was inside, the four stepped right in.

Kujo directed his gaze toward Rinko and Sugisawa.

"You two got your stories straight, right?"

The two exchanged bewildered glances, looking as though they had no idea what he was talking about.

Rinko spoke up first.

"Get our stories straight...? What are you talking about?"

Kujo wore an exasperated expression.

"We made up our stories so that instead of Shion telling Tachibana the fake confession together, we'd say it was planned to be done right in front of the classmates from the beginning, remember?"

Rinko looked at Kujo in confusion.

"...I don't know anything about that...?"

Meiko immediately jumped in.

"Rinko, what are you talking about...? We talked about it during lunch break, didn't we? Don't tell me you forgot?"

Her tone was as if the conversation they had supposedly shared was an undeniable fact.

Rinko answered anxiously, flustered.

"I don't remember talking about anything like that..."

Listening in, Sugisawa spoke up.

"...I haven't heard anything like that either."

Kujo raised his voice in irritation.

"Ha?! Are you kidding me? Did you guys seriously tell the teacher that Shion was planning to tell Tachibana together?"

Sugisawa answered, looking perplexed.

"Well, because... that's the truth, isn't it?"

Kujo raised his voice even further.

"Cut the crap! Are you guys trying to pin everything on me in the end...? You totally chickened out when facing the teacher."

Sugisawa replied with an air of disbelief.

"No, I mean... we never made up any story like that in the first place..."

Meiko glared at Sugisawa as if her field of vision had been tainted just by looking at him.

"Sugisawa... aren't you Kujo-kun's friend? If you're friends, it's only normal to share the blame together, isn't it?"

She continued as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"And yet, pretending to forget and trying to escape all by yourself... you're truly scum. You're friends, right? Shifting all the responsibility onto Kujo-kun while you run away alone... you're just garbage who doesn't even have the right to call yourself a friend."

Sugisawa looked at Meiko as if he were gazing at some incomprehensible creature. He simply couldn't understand what she was saying.

Showing his pent-up frustration, Kujo spat out bitterly:

"Damn it... then our testimonies don't match up at all. Does that mean Shion and Kitayama answered the same way too?"

"I really can't believe this... We all decided to do this together, but the moment trouble hits, you push all the responsibility onto Kujo-kun? If we did it together, it's only normal to bear the responsibility together until the end."

Sugisawa finally seemed to snap back to reality and replied,

"I'm not pushing any responsibility onto anyone... I just told the truth, and telling the truth doesn't magically make the guilt go away either."

Meiko looked at Sugisawa as if a piece of filth had started speaking human words.

"Honestly, you're such a convenient parasite. When you're with Kujo-kun, you happily take all the benefits, and the moment Kujo-kun gets into trouble, you run away saying 'I don't know'? Clinging to Kujo-kun's coattails all this time, and the moment it looks like you'll lose something, you turn into a complete stranger—what an ungrateful lowlife. Only using people when it suits you and running away when things get tough... If that's the only way you can live, you're nothing more than household garbage."

The words were harsh, but because they hit close to home on certain points, Sugisawa couldn't find a single thing to say back.

Sensing that leaving things as they were would be bad, Rinko opened her mouth, hoping she had to say something.

"Everyone, let's calm down for a second... okay? And... let's properly apologize to Tachibana-kun together."

Kujo chimed in, laying the blame on Rinko.

"You're the one who suggested making the fake confession a punishment game in the first place, right Rinko? So your responsibility isn't small either, is it? Do you even understand what you did?"

True, even though Meiko had given her the idea, she was the one who had suggested turning the fake confession into a punishment game. Having that pointed out, Rinko had nothing to say in return and looked down.

"Anyway... I'll contact you later so our stories don't clash next time. Don't betray me this time."

With that, Kujo turned and left the classroom.

Meiko immediately hurried out right after him.

Left behind, Rinko and Sugisawa stood in silence for a while, blankly watching the backs of the two disappearing down the far end of the hallway.

...Eventually, once the two were completely out of sight, Rinko turned to Sugisawa.

"Hey... what should I do? I didn't know anything about making up stories like that..."

Sugisawa let out a heavy sigh before speaking.

"Obviously. Their logic is a total mess. They were talking about a fabricated agreement that never even existed as if it had been there from the start."

"Why would they do something like that..."

"Who knows... but Kano is definitely the one who brought up that story."

(What is Kano's goal anyway? I don't really get it, but this is getting so annoying. Besides, didn't she trash-talk me way too much...)

"What am I supposed to do..." Rinko muttered anxiously.

"Whatever plan they try to rope you into, absolutely don't accept it. Takamiya, just tell the truth plainly without overthinking it."

With that advice, Sugisawa left the classroom together with Rinko.

◇

Kujo and Meiko walked side by side down the corridor.

(Damn it... everyone's just dragging me down. Even the kids in class betrayed me so easily...)

"Everyone's attitude changed so suddenly, didn't it?"

Walking beside him, Meiko spoke up, as if sensing Kujo's irritation.

"They used to flock around you saying 'Kujo-kun, Kujo-kun' all the time, but the moment Tachibana stops coming to school, they flip their scripts so easily."

"Right? I'm so pissed off that they're saying whatever they want about me. Those guys are seriously unbelievable..."

"Yeah. That was awful."

Meiko nodded without a shred of hesitation.

"They were talking as if Kujo-kun was the only one in the wrong. Even though they were right there too."

"That's what pisses me off the most. Lots of them were watching and laughing back then, and now they act like they have nothing to do with it..."

"Seriously, that's so frustrating."

Affirmed once again.

Feeling a slight sense of relief, Kujo vented further:

"Rinko and Sugisawa, too. They were doing it right along with us and even had their stories aligned, but the moment a teacher asked, they just spoke honestly..."

(Even Shion's like that. I tried to make sure she wouldn't get into trouble, but lately she just acts like she's avoiding me. What is her deal...)

"Yeah..."

Meiko nodded softly.

"From Kujo-kun's perspective, it really feels like betrayal."

"...Yeah."

At those words, Kujo fell silent for a moment.

"I didn't intend to sell them out or anything, you know."

"I know," Meiko answered immediately.

"I know Kujo-kun isn't the kind of person who would do something like that."

Kujo said nothing.

He only felt the frustration from moments before fade away just a tiny bit.

"...Well, at least you get it, Meiko."

"Of course."

Meiko smiled.

"We've been together this whole time, so of course I know what kind of person Kujo-kun is."

Hearing those words, Kujo relaxed his expression slightly.

The kids in the class no longer believed in him. Rinko and Sugisawa had denied his words and tried to save only themselves.

Amidst all that, Meiko was different. No matter what he said, without a single shred of doubt, she always affirmed his words. Just that made Kujo feel like she was the only one who truly understood him.

For Kujo, who was irritated at being doubted by everyone around him and having his every word denied, Meiko's presence—accepting him without a single word of negation—felt far more comforting than he had ever expected.

Staring at Kujo's profile, a suspicious smile bloomed across Meiko's lips...