Fallen from the Top Group Due to Cheating and False Accusations. The Only One Who Stood by Me Was My Little Sister’s Best Friend, Who Had Always Adored Me.

Chapter 24: The Little Sister Learns the Truth (Little Sister Sayu’s POV).

Something has been off with Oni-chan lately.

When I say “lately,” I specifically mean the last few days. Ever since that night he went to see Karen-san to celebrate their one-year anniversary, his complexion has turned remarkably pale.

It seems like a fairly severe case, too. While he thinks he’s doing a good job of maintaining his composure whenever he faces someone, he might be able to fool Dad and Mom, but he can’t fool me. Oni-chan has always said about Yuuka, “She has a habit of bottling things up, so try to stay close to her,” but if you ask me, he’s just as bad.

To put it simply, he’s a hopeless pushover—a fool who’s so kind it only ever hurts him.

In our house, we have a father who is an architect often away on short business trips, and a mother who is an overworked nurse returning home after sunrise two or three times a week. On the days they are both away, they leave us three thousand yen each and tell us to order delivery for dinner. However, Oni-chan has never once actually used that money for delivery.

Claiming it’s “not good to eat things with such poor nutritional value multiple times a week,” he stops by the supermarket alone after club activities, cooks for us using vegetables and meat that have been marked down right before closing, and returns the leftover change to our parents. That’s just the kind of person he is.

I don’t have any complaints since his cooking is actually delicious, but as expected, he usually falls onto his bed and sleeps like the dead as soon as he finishes eating. Every time that happens, I try to encourage him to take it easy, asking things like, “If it just makes you more tired, isn’t there no point in avoiding low-nutrition food?” or “Isn’t it okay to just get delivery once in a while?” But Oni-chan always just ignores the concern directed at him. He’ll say things like, “Additives aren’t good for a growing girl like Sayu,” or “Delivery is more fun when the whole family is together, right?” He’s so stubborn about balancing club and cooking that I realized early on that trying to persuade him was pointless and gave up.

To be honest, it’s almost hard to believe we share the same blood; Oni-chan has a much better personality than I do. I truly believe he’ll probably go his entire life without ever laying a finger on anything evil. Honestly, he and Yuuka really are a perfect match in that regard.

Precisely because he has such a gentle nature, I still remember how, back in our second year of middle school, he blamed himself so much after turning down then-first-year Yuuka’s confession that his health actually deteriorated for nearly a month.

Seriously, if he was going to let himself be tortured by that much guilt, he should have just started dating her back then.

In reality, Oni-chan wasn’t officially in a relationship with Karen-san at the time, so I’m sure he struggled quite a bit with how to answer Yuuka. Well, even if they weren’t “lovers” yet, Oni-chan and Karen-san had been immersed in their own private world since the latter half of middle school. From an outsider’s perspective, they were so close they practically looked like a betrothed couple. Everyone around them probably had a hunch that they’d naturally start dating once they got to high school.

So looking back now, no matter which way things turned out, Yuuka might never have stood a chance. But back then, I was still young and didn’t consider how deeply an adolescent girl’s heart is wounded when a confession is rejected; I just gave her a forceful push. I irresponsibly egged her on, saying, “It doesn’t change the fact that he’s single! It’s a chance!” I did something terrible without realizing it would create a rift between them. That’s right—I’m the biggest piece of trash. If only I hadn’t tried to interfere in someone’s romance when I couldn’t even take responsibility for the outcome—.

After that, I don’t know if Oni-chan learned a bit of “shrewdness” or if he just wanted to avert his eyes from reality, but he began to avoid Yuuka excessively until middle school graduation. Then, upon entering high school, he and Karen-san officially became a couple.

Yuuka also seemed quite depressed for a while after being rejected, but surprisingly, she bounced back many times faster than I expected and became frighteningly sophisticated. It was as if she learned how to show off her charm to those around her better—or perhaps she just became a bit more calculating. Unlike before, Yuuka began to visit our house frequently. She would proactively strike up conversations with Oni-chan even when he looked awkward, or suddenly cling to him. I wasn’t so stupid that I failed to notice these changes were born from a sense of revenge toward him.

I see, this girl hasn’t given up yet. But why is she so obsessed with Oni-chan when there are plenty of other guys her own age who would come running? If you call it “devotion,” it sounds nice, but the strength of that fixation was, in a way, abnormal and frightening.

Since I didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes as in the past, I decided not to blindly take her side and simply chose to watch over them. Eventually—whether he was fed up or had given up, I’m not sure—Oni-chan began to open his heart again. Their relationship was finally returning to how it used to be, to the point where I thought the rift had finally been healed. And yet, for the past two days, the negative aura Oni-chan has been radiating is so strange that, honestly, I’ve hesitated even to speak to him.

Did he get dumped by Karen-san?

If that’s the case, I feel a little sorry for him, but since it would be good news for my best friend, part of me wants him to be with Yuuka this time. Of course, I won’t interfere unnecessarily like I did in the past, and I’d only tell her if she still has feelings for him. For now, I’ll wait until he’s a bit more energetic before telling Yuuka—or so I thought.

But this morning, I didn’t miss it. In the brief moment I saw Oni-chan’s face as he left through the front door, I caught a glimpse of a despair deeper than anything I’d ever seen before, and a terror that looked like he was afraid of something.

It seems this isn’t going to be a simple matter.

Come to think of it, Oni-chan came home yesterday at an impossibly early hour for him. Usually, he doesn’t get back until well past 7:00 PM. Could it be that he got injured in his club and can’t participate in practice…?

Anyway, if there’s a moment when it’s just the two of us today, I’ll ask him for the details of what happened. Having made that decision during my commute home, I reached the front of my house and opened the door.

Unlike yesterday, there were no shoes at the entrance yet; it looks like I’m the first one back.

It’s currently 5:00 PM. If I remember correctly, Dad isn’t working overtime today and Mom isn’t on the night shift, so they should be home soon. If Oni-chan isn’t going to his club like yesterday, it wouldn’t be strange for him to return at any moment. I’ll just wait in the living room for a bit.

Just as I stepped out of my loafers and reached for the living room doorknob while still in my uniform, the landline rang behind me. I jumped in surprise and looked back. Our house’s fixed phone sits on top of the shoe rack in the entryway.

Lately, there have been so many pointless solicitation calls that, honestly, I considered ignoring it. But when the ringing didn’t stop even after a minute, a chill ran down my spine, and I felt compelled to pick up the receiver.

“Hello. This is the Rindou residence. Who is calling?”

“Thank you for taking my call. This is Inagaki, Arata-kun’s homeroom teacher for this year. Am I speaking with Arata-kun’s mother?”

Oh, it’s just Oni-chan’s homeroom teacher. Feeling like I’d wasted my surprise, I let out a sigh of relief and thought for a moment. It would be a pain to have them call back later anyway, so I’ll just pretend to be Mom and hear what he has to say.

“Thank you for your hard work. Yes, this is Oni… I mean, Arata’s mother. Is something the matter?”

“Actually, ma’am, Arata-kun himself probably hasn’t mentioned anything yet because he doesn’t want to cause his family unnecessary worry. However, as his teacher, I felt I should let you know before things become irreversible, so I’m calling you today.”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

I couldn’t follow the conversation at all. What is he talking about? Without understanding a thing, I urged him to continue, and the next moment, I couldn’t believe my ears.

“It is very difficult to say this, but… currently, Arata-kun is being subjected to one-sided harassment by a large number of students.”

“Eh…?”

Snap—.

I heard a sound like something precious and irreplaceable breaking inside me, and the bag hanging from my shoulder fell to the floor.