Lonely Me And The Lonely Caring Goddess - Chapter 277: Self-absorbed to a fault.

Self-absorbed to a fault.

Since the situation has already come to this, there’s no helping it.

For now, the only thing that matters is how to navigate this moment…

Or rather, starting a commotion in a place like this is out of the question. A fight would be beyond a joke.

We’re here as members of the student council, after all. If we caused a scene, there’s no telling what people would say about us.

So what’s expected of us right now is to get through this encounter without incident and withdraw as quickly as possible.

With that in mind, let’s calm down for a second and assess the situation.

First, the one I have to watch most carefully is Hanako-san.

More precisely, Hanako-san herself doesn’t seem to have any particular axe to grind (much as it irritates me), so the real problem is probably the other side.

I have no idea why this woman is acting so suggestive toward Hanako-san on their very first meeting…

As for both Sara-san and Hanako-san, if they have no particular grudge against me, they’ll probably let this slide without comment.

In other words, if I play my cards right, we might just get out of this unscathed.

I have zero interest in unnecessary trouble. Besides, there don’t seem to be any of her hangers-on around right now. The best move is to humor her a little, make small talk, and beat a hasty retreat.

“…Hello, senpai.”

“““—!?”””

What the—?

I only greeted her normally, yet for a split second the whole classroom seemed to stir… Was that just my imagination?

Well, never mind that. Right now, this is more important.

“Yes, hello there.” She smiled sweetly. “I thought it might have been a coincidence last time, but it seems you really are different, aren’t you? How fascinating.”

As always, I have no idea what this woman is talking about. But there’s no mocking edge to her tone, no overt malice—just something insinuating, something that leaves a strange aftertaste.

“…Last time?”

Sara-san murmured under her breath, so softly it was almost lost.

…Damn. Now I owe Sara-san yet another apology.

I don’t regret keeping that incident secret in itself, but I did break my promise never to keep secrets from her.

And all of this is this woman’s fault anyway—if anything, I feel like letting a grudge or two slip.

“You must be tired from all the student council work. You came alone today, didn’t you… or rather, of course you didn’t.”

Her gaze slid past me into the classroom, and the moment it did, her voice changed completely. The smile on her face turned brittle, artificial.

It was probably the sight of Sara-san—or rather, Hanako-san—that did it.

The reason remains a mystery, but for her to have such strong feelings about Hanako-san…

“My my my my, if it isn’t Satsukawa-san. Still wearing that same sullen face, I see. If you keep looking so perpetually displeased, you’ll make everyone around you uncomfortable, you know?”

!!!???

I’d assumed she was targeting Hanako-san, but now she’s going after Sara-san!?

The Takapi woman slipped past me into the room and planted herself right in front of Sara-san, close enough to feel threatening. The fake smile had grown even more pronounced, twisting into something almost predatory. She was clearly trying to provoke Sara-san—and the change was even more dramatic than with Hanako-san.

“…Whether I look displeased or not is none of your business, is it?”

“Well, that’s true, I suppose. I have no particular desire to argue with you. I was merely making an objective observation.”

She didn’t flinch at Sara-san’s cold dismissal; if anything, she doubled down.

What on earth is wrong with this woman?

First she snaps at Hanako-san, now Sara-san—she’s like some stray dog looking for a fight.

“Wife, you know this chick?”

“No, not really.”

“Wife? Well, I would say we are acquaintance… Satsukawa-san and I did compete in last year’s Miss Contest—”

“I’m not asking you.”

“!?”

Hanako-san shot her a single icy glance, and the woman shrank exactly like she had this morning. For someone with such an aggressive attitude, she really is surprisingly fragile. At this rate, Hanako-san might actually be the safest one here.

“…Wow, the air just got heavy.”

“…Reina-san’s like that sometimes.”

“…Well, looks-wise, I guess she’s not completely outclassed.”

“…The vice president just spoke to both the little angel and Kusuhara-senpai like it was nothing?”

“…They’re first-years, so they probably don’t know the full backstory.”

“…I’m firmly Team Satsukawa, though.”

“…Same. They’re total opposites in a way.”

“…That glare from Angel-sama… unf~!”

“As combative as ever, I see. That’s fine. More importantly—Satsukawa-san, I hear you’re entering this year’s Miss Contest?”

“Yes. It’s an enormous hassle, but it is part of my duties.”

“Is that so? Well, the reason doesn’t matter. As long as you’re participating, that’s all I need. Finally, we can settle things between us.”

Ah, I see. That explains a little.

So this woman sees Sara-san as her rival.

Sara-san, however, couldn’t care less, which makes it a purely self-proclaimed rivalry.

From where I’m standing, anyone claiming to be Sara-san’s rival is about a trillion light-years—no, infinitely—premature.

“But if you’re not confident, you could always run away again—ah, no, forget I said anything. Either way, my second consecutive victory is all but assured.”

…She definitely started to say something just now, didn’t she?

And deliberately corrected herself? Seriously.

I thought the same thing with Hanako-san—this woman has an utterly rotten personality. That cloying, passive-aggressive way of speaking grates on my nerves every single time.

“Honestly? I’d rather sit this one out again. Being a novelty sideshow panda to draw a crowd at some freak contest is the last thing I want. And pandering to an audience? The very thought makes me feel ill.”

“…Huh?”

“If someone enjoys flirting with men, though, it might be the perfect opportunity. Put on a cute little cat act and smile seductively—you’d probably win easily. You’re beautiful, after all. I’m sure you’ll do great. Good luck♪ I’m rooting for you.”

To Sara-san, who has less than zero interest in the contest, every participant probably looks like that.

But this woman treats last year’s victory as a badge of honor, a cornerstone of her status.

Which means—without even realizing it—everything Sara-san just said came out as pure, concentrated venom (lol).

“…D-don’t be ridiculous—cough. Hmph. Is that your excuse in advance, just in case you lose? Fine by me. You’ll need something to cling to when your pride shatters.”

“Pride…? I’m not sure what you mean, but I don’t feel any particular need to correct your misconceptions. It’s all the same to me either way. By all means, give the contest your very best. If that gets me out of participating, nothing could make me happier.”

Hmm…

Actually, if Sara-san manages to dodge the contest entirely, that would cause me considerable problems… but putting that aside.

Sara-san has clearly had enough; her exasperation is written all over her face. And I, for one, am sick of listening to this woman run her mouth. She’s an eyesore and an earsore.

At this point I was about to step in and forcibly end the conversation—

“Hey, Vice President-san. What do you think?”

“…Huh?”

I never expected the ball to come to me at this exact moment, so an embarrassingly dumb sound slipped out. She’d completely blindsided me.

“As vice president, you’re always working right beside Satsukawa-san, aren’t you? Which means you, of all people, must know exactly what kind of person she truly is.”

…?

That came out of nowhere—what the hell is she trying to say?

That the perfect “goddess” mask Sara-san wears in public isn’t the real her?

“You seem like someone with a firm sense of self, the kind of person who isn’t swayed by preconceptions or mob hysteria. Someone who inflates her own image by manipulating the men around her, playing the ideal goddess they all fawn over and basking in their worship… Compared to a person like that, someone like me is clearly superior, wouldn’t you say? As for who truly deserves to win the Miss Contest, you already—”

“Shut up already.”

“!?”

…Nope. Can’t do it anymore.

Insulting Sara-san right in front of me? That did it—I completely lost my temper.

Sorry, everyone, but I’m done holding back. I’ve reached my absolute limit.

This morning was bad enough. I’m sick of her sleep-talking nonsense.

And saying Sara-san manipulates idiots and gets drunk on being called a goddess?

Even if it comes from someone who doesn’t know the real Sara-san, there are lines that cannot be crossed.

“H-Hanako-san, Takanashi-kun is—!”

“It’s over. I can’t stop him.”

“E-Eh!?”

“Kazunari-san…”

“V-Vice President-san!? Please, there’s no need—”

“Sure, the ‘goddess’ version of Sara-san that everyone worships isn’t the real her. That’s nothing more than an idol the morons around her built in their heads, a fantasy they projected onto her because it suited them.”

“Y-Yes, exactly! As I thought, you understand—wait, Sara-san?”

“But you’re no different, are you?”

“…Eh?”

“Everything you’ve been spouting isn’t fact—it’s just the delusion that’s convenient for you. You constructed an image of Sara-san that fits your wishes and called it truth. The only difference is the content. In the end, you’re doing exactly the same thing as those idiots.”

Those idiots forced their “Goddess-sama” fantasy onto Sara-san because it served them.

This woman simply wants Sara-san to be a vicious bitch because that serves her.

It has to be that way, it absolutely is, it must be—she’s created a version of Sara-san that’s convenient only for herself, out of pure selfish delusion.

And she actually believes—

“K-Kazunari-san, please leave this to me—”

“Sara-san, be quiet for a moment.”

“…Y-Yes.”

I didn’t want to speak so harshly to her, but this alone I cannot allow.

As Sara-san’s boyfriend, her fiancé, the one person who knows the real her—I cannot stand by and let this pass.

I absolutely cannot!

“What the hell do you know about Sara-san!? You people only look at the surface, forcing your own ideals and conveniences onto her—do you have any idea how much trouble that causes her!? You don’t understand the first thing about her, so every last one of you—just shut up!!!”

“…H-Hey, isn’t the vice president kinda scary right now?”

“…Y-Yeah, at this rate…”

“…Shouldn’t we stop him?”

“…B-But if we do, Kusuhara-san might turn on us too…”

“…W-Wait, more importantly—the names!”

“…What about the names?”

“…I noticed it too!! Satsukawa-san and the vice president just used first names with each other, didn’t they!?”

“““…Eh!?”””

“S-Some sort of misunderstanding seems to have occurred!? I don’t understand why you’re angry, but all I wanted was your opinion on which of us is more deserving of—”

Thanks to my sudden outburst, the Takapi woman started panicking and flailing. She really is weak when someone pushes back hard… but more importantly, even now she still doesn’t realize what she actually said?

And the whole Miss Contest thing in the first place—

“Look, who deserves to win the Miss Contest or whatever isn’t for me to decide, right? That’s up to the actual—”

“No, I simply wanted your personal opinion—”

“If you want my personal opinion, it’s Sara-san from the very beginning. I don’t even know who you are, so you’re not even in the running for comparison.”

“…………Eh?”

““Eh!?””

The instant I gave my clear answer, the Takapi woman froze solid.

Her mouth hung open as if she’d seen something unbelievable, staring blankly at me… and somehow the restless murmur in the classroom vanished at the same moment. The entire room felt like it had turned to ice.

I don’t think I said anything that strange, though… What’s going on?

“Now that you mention it, I don’t know either… Who is she?”

“…You’re right. To be perfectly honest, I don’t know either.”

Not just Hanako-san—Sara-san doesn’t know her either!?

Then… what the heck were we even talking about!?

“W-Wait, that has to be a joke in poor taste… Right? It is a joke, isn’t it?”

“…”

(shake shake)

(shake shake)

Before answering, I glanced at Sara-san and Hanako-san to confirm.

Both shook their heads in perfect unison.

Answer: No.

…Great. What now? This twist is so absurd it’s completely killed my anger and momentum.

“U-Um, just to check… you do at least know my name, right?”

(shake shake)

(shake shake)

I looked at them one more time for good measure—both shook their heads again, adorably.

Which means the answer is still no…

So I followed suit.

(shake shake)

The moment I shook my head, the Takapi woman’s (we still don’t know her name) eyes shot open to a terrifying width… Okay, this is actually getting scary.

But it’s not our fault. It’s ridiculous to assume strangers should automatically know who you are. Just how much of an ego does this Takapi have!?

“Pfft… haha, what kind of punchline is this?”

“No way, seriously?”

“Talk about embarrassing.”

“Shhh, she’ll hear you.”

“But not knowing Kusuhara-san is a bit…”

“That just means they never cared in the first place, right?”

I genuinely had no idea, but is she really that famous?

If so, that just means the three of us are hopelessly out of the loop… I’ll ask the rest of the council later.

“…This… this can’t… This can’t be happening… to me…”

She suddenly dropped her gaze and began trembling, muttering to herself.

I can smell more trouble brewing, and I’m already done talking. Dealing with her any further is nothing but a chore. We have no business here—we should just leave.

Time’s wasting too.

“My apologies for the disturbance. We’ll be taking our leave.”

I gave an exaggeratedly polite bow, Sara-san and Hanako-san mirroring me gracefully, and turned to go.

The moment we passed by Takapi—

“Takapi… You’ve humiliated me this much. Don’t think you’ll get away with it.”

She whispered it so low only we could hear.

Looks like I’ve made an enemy now.

But anything is better than Sara-san being targeted. If that’s how it has to be, then fine—

“What did you just say?”

“Huh?”

Just as I was thinking that, Sara-san whirled around with alarming speed.

And unlike a moment ago, her voice now carried raw, unmistakable emotion.

“Answer me. What did you just say?”

She began closing the distance slowly, deliberately.

Takapi backed away in perfect sync, her body tilting as if trying to flee.

“…U-Uwah!?”

“…S-Scary!?”

“…W-What the heck is that? I’ve never seen Satsukawa-san like this…”

“…I’ve seen her angry, but this is completely different…”

“…T-This is bad…”

The entire classroom held its breath, every eye locked on Sara-san.

She stopped speaking for a moment, then took one final step.

Leaning in until their faces were inches apart, she spoke in a voice so soft yet so razor-sharp it froze the blood.

“I’ll crush you… with everything I have.”

“E-Eek!?”

“…Remember that.”

With that quiet, terrifying declaration, Sara-san spun on her heel and returned to us as if nothing had happened.

Her expression was once again unreadable, but the deathly silence in the room and the gallery frozen in mute shock told the whole story.

“…Sara-san.”

“Let’s go. We have no more business here.”

“Wait. I have something to say too.”

“H-Hanako-san!”

Toudou-san tried to stop her, but Hanako-san ignored him completely and walked straight up to the petrified Takapi.

“A dog’s misbehavior is its owner’s responsibility. Pass that along to your little pack of strays.”

“!?”

Her voice was pure glacial steel—every bit as chilling as Sara-san’s.

She delivered the warning and immediately returned to us.

(…Dog’s misbehavior?)

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Shall we?”

“Yes. On to the next classroom.”

“Got it.”

Urged on by their words, I headed for the door.

One last glance back showed only a trembling Takapi with her head bowed, and the upperclassmen watching her with indescribable expressions.

That was all.