My Online Friends Turned Out To Be the Ultra-Beautiful Girls in My Class and They Were Yandere - 43

Chapter 43: The One Who Saved Me

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【Side: Misaki Hanado】

♢

I thought the environment I was born into couldn’t really be called fortunate. Both my father and mother had terrible drinking habits, completely consumed by alcohol. Drinking, gambling, violence. It was all awful.

By the time I became aware of things, my body had already been covered in bruises. I must have cried and cried and cried, only to be hit each time. My mother kept telling me over and over again that I was a cursed child. That I was worthless garbage with no right to live. I knew the reason. It was my eyes. Both my father and mother had murky, dark, dirty-looking eyes. Yet only mine were clear, shining jade. To them, I must have seemed like something alien. Even after that, again and again and again and again, I was struck. Even now, after so much time had passed, some bruises still hadn’t faded.

It happened a little while after I turned five. My father came home after drowning himself in alcohol and losing all his money to gambling. He must have been furious. He even laid his hands on my mother. Then my mother, trying to protect herself, made a certain proposal. That proposal was to sell me off. To sell me into a den of filthy adults as a sex slave and make a fortune. Both my father and mother tried to restrain me.

I ran. I was scared, so I ran. But I was just a child, and they were adults. There was no need to wonder who would win. I was caught in the kitchen. I struggled desperately, but it didn’t budge them at all. My neck was grabbed. I couldn’t breathe. There was a knife nearby, one that had probably been thrown there at some point. I had no choice if I wanted to live.

I stabbed my father and mother to death with that knife.

Not long after that, I was taken into a facility. Every day was unbearably painful. Because it kept replaying in my dreams. It never disappeared. The pain of being hit, the insults thrown at me, all the threats. Most of all, the feeling of stabbing someone. I threw up over and over again. Thankfully, there was one child at the facility I managed to get along with, and thanks to them, things gradually became a little easier. But that kind of environment never lasted forever.

Around the end of my second year of elementary school, I was taken in by my grandparents. They were very kind to me. But that kindness hurt. I had killed their precious child. When I thought about that, my chest would grow restless, wondering if it was really okay for me to be here. It was painful just to exist there. Then I entered elementary school. I thought I was living normally. But my pink hair and jade eyes stood out after all, and I was bullied by the girls out of jealousy. If that was all, it might have still been bearable. But as if to make things worse, certain information spread throughout the entire school.

“W-why…? Huh? Why, how…”

That I had killed my parents. That rumor spread everywhere. I knew it already. I had nowhere left to belong. The bullying escalated. I strongly, desperately wanted to die. It was then….

When both a group of boys and girls were throwing stones at me.

“Stop it!! That’s cruel!!”

There was a boy who protected me. He simply said he would tell a teacher, and both groups scattered immediately.

“Are you okay? Whoa, that’s a lot of blood. Let’s go to the infirmary. Here, take this handkerchief for now. Wipe the blood.”

“…Is that okay?”

“Yeah. It’ll hurt if you leave it like that, right? And besides, something like that doesn’t suit a cute face like yours.”

He gently handed me a green handkerchief, and then accompanied me to the infirmary. Sitting on the sofa there, he looked at me intently, as if asking if I was okay. Without thinking, I asked him.

“You know about my rumor, right? That I killed my parents.”

“Hmm? Yeah, I’ve heard it.”

“Doesn’t that make me creepy? I’m a murderer.”

“Whether it’s creepy or not, if someone is hurt, I’ll help them.”

My heart skipped.

“And I’m not going to think someone’s creepy based on just rumors. I’ll decide after I know everything. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, but… would you tell me?”

Somewhere deep down, I must have felt relieved. I lost myself and told him everything. Why I had killed them. The anger, the pain, the fear I had always felt. Everything. When I finished speaking and came back to my senses, an overwhelming fear struck me, and my heart went cold. He knew everything now. What would he say to me?

“What’s that!? That’s awful! They’re the worst kind of parents! I think it was good that you killed them! Killing isn’t right, maybe, but this couldn’t be helped!”

“…Huh?”

His reaction was completely different from what I expected. He took my hand, tears streaming down his face, and empathized with me so intensely. That alone would have been enough for me. But he went even further.

“I wish I could’ve killed them for you instead. Then you wouldn’t have had to suffer like this… ah, maybe that was going too far. Huh!? A-are you okay!? Does it hurt!?”

“No, it’s not that. Um… I’m just happy. So, so happy.”

How much that saved me, I couldn’t even begin to measure. My tears wouldn’t stop. I was happy. Truly, truly happy. He accepted me, someone everyone had always found creepy. And on top of that, he even said he wished he could have taken my place. My frozen heart began to warm in an overwhelming way.

After that, too, it was the same. First, he made the girls who bullied me stop. And then, this boy… Haa-chan… the one I loved, introduced me to three friends who had also been saved by him. All three understood me and stayed by my side. I was so happy. So happy I thought I might die.

I fell in love with Ha-chan. It was an intense, burning love, like midsummer heat. I wanted more of his kindness. I wanted him to look at me more. I wanted him to love me. Those feelings grew stronger and stronger. I changed myself to become the kind of “cute” I admired. Something like acting cutesy, maybe. From the way I spoke to my gestures, I filled everything with what I thought was cute. I approached him with everything I had.

For the first time, I talked endlessly with friends about love, even had fights over it. It was happiness I didn’t deserve. And because of that… I ended up catching a cold like this.

♢

“Cough, cough.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’ve gotten a lot better compared to before.”

“I’ll ask Sachi-san to let me make some porridge. I can’t trouble Sachi-san. I’ll make it quickly, so wait here.”

After saying that, Haa-chan went downstairs.

It feels like a dream.

That day, I definitely died. And yet, somehow, I was given a second chance. We changed our fate. Even now, about three months later, I still couldn’t believe it. The worthless garbage version of me died back then. That should have been enough. I shouldn’t have had the right to savor this continuation of happiness.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I don’t know if it’ll suit your taste, but here. Go ahead.”

“Haa-chan… could you feed me?”

“My, that’s rare for you, Misaki.”

“Isn’t it okay to be selfish at times like this?”

“Don’t tell Haruna, alright? She’ll definitely pick a fight with you again.”

“Yes, of course. This will be our little secret, just between me and Haa-chan.”

I really am the worst.

“Fuu, fuu… here. Misaki, say ah.”

“Fufu, thank you.”

“How is it?”

“Yes, it’s very delicious. It’s the best porridge I’ve ever had.”

“That might be an exaggeration, but I’m glad. I’ll stay a bit longer, so if there’s anything you want, just tell me.”

“Haa-chan.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“I love you.”

When I said that, he turned away with a blush on his cheeks and replied.

“I know.”

…He’s so cute.

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