I Got Dumped by My Childhood Friend Fiancée Who I Didn’t Even Like, I Thought I Could Finally Have a Peaceful School Life… But Then I Got Targeted by SS-Class Beautiful Young Ladies

Chapter 26: [The Last Piece] Conditions for the One Who Takes It

—…Fight back?

Honestly, I don’t even get what he’s asking.

The whole premise he’s building on—that I was “exploited”—doesn’t line up with how I see it at all.

There was no tolerance or anything to give. Nothing that happened in that classroom shook my emotions even a little. Of course not. It was just a guy who misjudged value walking away. That’s the whole story.

But… I’m pretty sure that’s not what Dad means.

He’s not talking about talking back or acting tough in the moment. It’s about what came after.

The fact that I took all that humiliation and still kept living my life like nothing happened—that’s what this man can’t wrap his head around. Because to him, that’s not how a Kirishima is supposed to be.

Still… even so, my answer to that dumb question—why didn’t you fight back?—has always been the same one thing.

‘I didn’t need to.’

But I can’t just say that straight out, so I bury the real feeling deep down and cover the surface with words that sound right. Something prepared in my head ahead of time, dressed up so nobody sees through it.

“…It wasn’t exploitation.”

Flat. Calm. But clear.

Like fitting the right piece into an unfinished puzzle, I lay down words that sound good.

“I just let go of a contract that had no value.”

The second those words left my mouth, I could hear my brother’s breathing get rough again—he’d been raging earlier.

But Dad didn’t even blink. He just kept staring at me in silence, so Hyuga didn’t dare cut in.

I met that heavy gaze and kept going.

“Kirishima should always be the one who takes… right? If that’s the case, then the moment you feel like you’ve been taken from, you’ve already lost.”

The way I phrased it completely overturned everything Hyuga had shouted earlier—that whole mindset.

I swear I heard my brother’s teeth grinding, but what hit me harder was the quiet pressure rolling down from the head of the table.

The kind of evaluating force that comes down on anyone who even says the name Kirishima.

Is he serious? Bluffing? Or just sour grapes? That drowning kind of silence where he’s measuring all of it.

Hyuga aside, Dad—and Yuzuka too, probably—picked up on the real meaning I kept thin and hidden behind those words.

So one more push—

“—That’s why I believe I did exactly what a person born into the Kirishima family should do. There was… no need to fight back in the first place.”

I said it quietly, like I genuinely believed every word.

The air in the room, which had already been drifting slow, went completely still.

For a while, nobody made a sound. Pure silence took over.

But then Dad broke it—without a trace of anger in his voice, still cold and hollow.

“…………I see.”

A short, uninterested acknowledgment. Not agreement, not denial. Just… received.

“The logic… might hold up, in a way.”

As he spoke, he slowly lifted the knife with his fingertips.

Then he let it drop in midair. It clattered hard against the plate with a sharp, ringing sound. He stared at it.

“…But that’s internal. Kirishima isn’t a house that runs on internal satisfaction.”

He spat the words out.

Eyes narrowing sharply, he kept going without raising his voice.

“Kirishima’s value only exists through outside evaluation. You understand what that means?”

“…Yes. It’s about how the world sees us…”

“Exactly. Whether you feel stolen from doesn’t matter. The moment it looks like you’ve been stolen from, you’ve already been defeated.”

He stated it clean and pure, no hesitation at all.

Hyuga let out a small breath when he heard it. Mom stayed silent like a doll.

Only Yuzuka reacted—her fingers tightened hard on the napkin in her lap, the only movement she showed.

Dad saw me nod silently, then seemed to lose interest in the conversation entirely. He looked away and stood up from his chair, signaling the end of dinner.

“Even if you felt nothing, the fact remains—Kirishima was disrespected.”

Yeah… I knew he’d say that.

This guy’s standard is always external.

People aren’t people to him; they’re pieces that make numbers. Life isn’t life; it’s a performance put on stage.

—Which is probably why Kirishima started getting looked down on in the first place.

While I kept my face composed and thought that to myself, Dad paused right before leaving the room.

“When things settle, Kaga and Tendo will receive suitable punishment. Anyone who disrespects Kirishima has to pay the price.”

I don’t know why he said it here and now, but he left it hanging like it was the most obvious thing.

He half-turned his body to look at me.

“…Yoichi.”

“Yes.”

“If anything happens that drags the Kirishima name through the mud again… I won’t hold back. Not even for my own son.”

He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t scolding.

Just stating a fact. A bare-minimum warning.

I stood up, met his eyes straight on, and bowed deeply.

“Understood. If Kaga’s son tries anything again… I’ll handle it appropriately. I’m your son too… and a Kirishima.”

The second half of that? Not a single millimeter of it came from my real feelings.

Man, how do I even spit out such disgusting lies so smoothly? I almost laughed at myself inside for how pathetic it was, but I forced my face to stay stiff so none of it showed.

Dad listened to the end without saying more.

He just looked down at me for a second—then turned his gaze away.

No idea what he was thinking, but at least he left the room without looking back. I could tell from the sound of his footsteps scraping my eardrums.

Hyuga followed right after, then Mom stepped over the threshold too.

Yuzuka gave me a look like she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn’t. She just turned and left.

Everyone was gone. The heavy doors closed with a thud, and quiet rushed back in.

Now it was just me left at the dinner table.

All I could see was the huge table, the fancy decorations, the cooling food. And real silence.

“…Suitable punishment, huh.”

I repeated Dad’s words in my head and muttered them under my breath, too quiet for anyone to hear.

Paying the price. The Kirishima name. Outside evaluation. Sure, all of that makes sense for a prestigious family.

But the reason we even have to care about those things now—where does that come from?

Why did Kaga and Tendo suddenly turn against us? How did Kirishima end up getting disrespected?

And right along with that thought, the memory from when I was a kid creeps in unwanted, spreading slow and sticky across my mind.

The company president crying and bowing his head. Then a few days later, the whispered rumor that reached my ears—whole family suicide.

That’s why, more than anything, all I want is peace—

“—!”

No. Stop. Thinking about it now won’t change anything.

That was the right call for him back then.

“Haha…”

A dry laugh slipped out of my mouth all of a sudden—half pity, half disbelief.

—Yeah, that guy really doesn’t understand a thing.

I didn’t say it out loud, but my mind stated it plain and clear.

Sure, he’s capable when it comes to making numbers.

But—he’s never looked at the actual people who make them.

Unlike the previous heads, he hasn’t seen other people’s lives.

That’s why he gets betrayed. That’s why the surrounding evaluation keeps dropping. Name one country that kept its glory through fear and tyranny forever.

And he calls that… the price for disrespecting Kirishima? No. That’s not it.

I sat back down, grabbed the fork that had been tossed carelessly on the table, and gripped it hard.

Then I stabbed the very last piece of meat still left on the plate.

“…Itadakimasu.”

I said just that into the empty air and ate the whole thing in one bite.