Lonely Me And The Lonely Caring Goddess - Chapter 147: Strategy Meeting. Part- 2

Strategy Meeting. Part- 2

Yamazaki’s course of action had been decided.

Which meant the only one left to deal with was Yuzuha…

“I’ll share my thoughts on Yuzuha first. I want her to witness, firsthand, the exchange between us and Yamazaki.”

“You mean you want to do to her what Tachikawa-san had done to you?” Natsumi-senpai asked, interpreting my words that way.

It was a natural assumption for her to make.
I was sure everyone was thinking the same thing.
Even Tachikawa-san’s expression stiffened slightly.

“Natsumi, let’s hear out Kazunari-san till the end,” Sara-san said gently.

She must have sensed that I had other reasons behind my decision.

“Once Yamazaki’s misdeeds are fully exposed, Yuzuha will have no choice but to face the reality of how he truly saw her. That’s why I want her to see it all unfold right before her eyes.”

It wasn’t just because Yamazaki had manipulated Yuzuha behind the scenes.
Thanks to everyone’s support, we had finally managed to corner Yamazaki completely.
That’s why I had reached this decision.

“I can’t put it into words very well, but… it’s not that I want Yuzuha to suffer just for the sake of it. I want her to truly understand the weight of what she’s done. And if that process brings her pain, then it’s only what she deserves. But if, after that, she truly repents… if she finally wakes up—”

Everyone listened silently as I spoke.
Their quiet support gave me the strength to continue.

“I’m sure you can all feel it too… I know what I’m saying might sound soft. But let me be clear: in the end, I have no intention of forgiving Yuzuha. I will never forgive her. However… as someone who has looked after her since we were kids, I want to give her, just once, a chance to realize the truth.”

Just as I said that, I felt someone embrace me softly, warmly, as if enveloping me.
Of course, it was Sara-san.

“Kazunari-san, I understand how you feel. If that is what you wish, then I will help make it happen. Truly… No, it’s because of your heart that I fell in love with you. As for Sasagawa Yuzuha—leave the decision to you.”

(And I will take on the role of the villain, she thought to herself.
For Sasagawa Yuzuha to truly regret her actions, she must experience the pain herself.
If that’s the case, then it is my duty…)

When I looked around, some of them were smiling wryly, some looked exasperated—
but not a single one of them wore an expression of disgust.

“I never had much involvement with her to begin with, so I’ll leave it to you,” Nishikawa-san said.

“I feel the same,” Hanako-san added.

It seemed they were willing to trust me with this.

“I think it’s right for Takanashi-kun, who was most affected, to decide,” Natsumi-senpai said.

“I agree with Natsumi-senpai,” Hayato said. “Though, since I was involved too, even a little, I’ll lend a hand if needed.”

Both Natsumi-senpai and Hayato seemed fully on board.

“I still have the desire for revenge against that woman,” Youko admitted.
“But if exposing Yamazaki’s true nature leads her down a path like mine,
then I’ll consider it sufficient payback.”

“If Youko is satisfied with that, then so am I,” Tachikawa-san said.

In effect, Tachikawa-san accepted that confronting Yamazaki was enough.
Toudou-san agreed with her, supporting my selfish request.

“I’ve seen more of middle school Kazunari than anyone else here. I know how much you suffered. I also know how you felt about Yuzuha. That’s why I can understand your reluctance to completely abandon her. But I also know the strength of your resentment. If you’re willing to give her a chance, I’ll stand by you. But only once. There won’t be a second time,” Yuuji said.

Yuuji knew everything—about my feelings for Yuzuha, about the worst days of my third year of middle school.
He accepted it all, and still chose to support me.

Everyone accepted my selfishness.

I was truly grateful. Overwhelmed, even.

Back in middle school, I thought I had lost everything.
But now, I had found people far more precious than anything I had lost.

Yuzuha—this will be the last thing I can do for you.

If you still refuse to open your eyes after this…

then I will—

“Now, does this outline seem acceptable?”

The general flow had been decided. All that was left was to put it into action.

Minor deviations wouldn’t matter. Yamazaki was already beyond salvation.

If Yuzuha ended up suffering as a result—then that, too, was her own doing.

I wanted her to regret ever meddling in my life again.

“Well then, now that the serious talks are over, shall we head for dinner?”

Nishikawa-san’s declaration was natural—
a dinner gathering had been planned after the meeting.

“I’m starving.”

“I’m looking forward to it!”

“I wonder what kind of restaurant it is?”

It was no surprise that Toudou-san and the others were getting excited.
Nishikawa-san had reserved a famous restaurant for us.

And it was fully reserved… I couldn’t help but worry a little.

“Eri, are you sure about this?”

“Natsumi was quite insistent,” she replied with a smile.

“If Eririn is going, then there’s no way I’m missing it.”

It seemed Sara-san and the others already knew the place well.
They didn’t even seem surprised by the car we were riding in.
Maybe they were already used to this level of extravagance through their friendship.

“Um… I don’t really know proper table manners…” I confessed.

It was better to mention it now before getting embarrassed later.
But come to think of it, was I the only one worried about this?

“Ah, don’t worry,” Nishikawa-san said, her tone light.
“It’s a private reservation. There won’t be anyone else there, and the restaurant won’t fuss over the details… because I won’t let them.”

That was a relief.

Hearing it was a proper, high-end place had made me wonder if I should study etiquette beforehand.

“But if you’re going to be with Sara from now on, it might be good to learn.”

Really?
Well… thinking about it, it made sense.
For anniversaries or celebrations, we might go to such places.
I wanted to be someone who could match her in those moments.

“Then why don’t we use tonight’s dinner as a little lesson in table manners?”

Sara-san’s suggestion sounded both playful and kind.

I nodded firmly—
wanting to be someone worthy of standing beside her.

It seemed that even Sara-san recognized the need for it, and she kindly offered her support.

Honestly, I would prefer to enjoy Sara-san’s cooking without any reservations, but I suppose some learning is necessary too…

“Hehe… Don’t worry. Grasping the basics isn’t difficult. Besides, I want you to enjoy my cooking without feeling pressured.”

“Sara, the way you say that makes it sound like you’re preparing all of Takanashi-san’s meals.”

Once again, Nishikawa-san jumped into the conversation.

Well, it’s understandable — she probably didn’t know about that part either.

“Yes, I prepare his meals.”

“……What?”

The reaction wasn’t limited to just Nishikawa-san — Hanako-san, Tachikawa-san, and Toudou-san all raised their voices in unison.

“Come to think of it, Takanashi-kun lives alone, right?”

Toudou-san muttered quietly.

Wait, even Toudou-san didn’t know?

Hearing that, Nishikawa-san’s expression twitched noticeably.

“Hey, Sara, surely you’re not cooking meals at a man’s house where he lives alone… right?”

“It’s at Kazunari-san’s home.”

“………”

Thus, another piece of our private life was exposed.

Sara-san had this habit of answering questions honestly without hesitation, no matter how sensitive the topic.

“Every day… cooking at a man’s house… just the two of you…”

There was an ominous sense that Nishikawa-san was about to spiral out of control again.

“Unbelievable… a high school girl acting like a live-in wife — isn’t that basically an e—”

“Hanako-san, you cannot say that!!”

Just as Hanako-san was about to blurt something out, Toudou-san urgently cut her off.

Yeah, definitely best not to go there.

“U-um… it’s not like that… we’re still, well… umm… not quite… husband and wife…”

Sara-san began mumbling incoherently, her face flushed deep red as she nervously squirmed.

“S-Sara-san, please calm down.”

“Sigh… After acting like a married couple all this time, it feels a bit late for hesitation now…”

Yuzuki-san’s muttered comment reached even my ears.

It was true. At this point, it was a bit late to act coy. Personally, my belief was simple: as long as the people involved were happy, no one else had any right to interfere.

More importantly… I genuinely wished for Kazunari’s happiness.

“Well, at least it doesn’t seem as serious as I had feared.”

However, Yokokawa, that guy, still looked like he had something he wanted to say. Even now, he kept glancing over at us.

“Tachibana-kun seemed reluctant, though.”

It wasn’t exactly reluctance… but considering what Yuzuha had done, it was complicated.

Even so, when I reflected on how to truly settle things with Yuzuha, simply punishing her to relieve old grudges didn’t seem right.

That would solve nothing.

In that sense, perhaps Kazunari’s intention of “making her understand” wasn’t wrong at all. I was beginning to think that way.

Still, if that was the case…

“I’ll tell Kazunari later, but on the day itself, I’ll be acting independently.”

“Huh? Really?”

(If we want to fulfill Kazunari’s wish… there’s still one more person we need…)