Volume 2 Chapter 5 – Forbidden Love 2: Encounter

| Fujitou Mihane

During lunch break, the video had already spread throughout the entire school. Everyone in Class 1-C was whispering in hushed voices.

At this rate, Kyousuke might get called in. After all, in the video, the only one not blurred out was him.

When I went to the cafeteria with Yuma and Kyouko, we peeked into Class 1-A for a bit.

Kuzukawa’s strategy was probably to leave Aika all alone so that she would eventually come crawling to him or something like that.

What a pointless effort.

His target was that psychopath, Aika, after all. She didn’t have the kind of fragile mentality he was counting on. In that sense, I trusted her.

However, if things escalated to physical bullying, I couldn’t just ignore it. Even if she’s rotten—no, even if she’s completely decayed—Aika is still Kyousuke’s childhood friend.

The three of us searched for Kyousuke from the hallway side.

I was also looking for Aika.

“…She’s not here.”

“Isn’t it just difficult for her to be around right now?”

“Maybe she’s in the cafeteria.”

Considering how nonchalant she was yesterday, I figured she’d probably be at the convenience store, but she might be in the cafeteria after all. Or maybe she’s in the bathroom, or behind the school building. No, that’s unlikely.

“Well, worrying won’t help.”

“Especially since she’s not here.”

“Ahh, I just want to comfort Kyousuke-kun!”

“Me too.”

“All three of us.”

◆

| Kuzukawa Kakeru

“Tch.”

“Kussun, they’ll hear you.”

“…You definitely blocked the information, right?”

“There’s no mistake about that.”

I had taken great care to ensure that yesterday’s video wouldn’t reach Naruse Aika.

Today was the day when the clueless Naruse Aika, hearing the whispered rumors around her, would gradually grow anxious, and as others treated her coldly, she would subconsciously start seeing me as her only ally.

Yet, the plan seemed to be going awry, and I clicked my tongue in frustration.

It was already lunchtime, and Naruse Aika hadn’t shown up. She wasn’t responding to messages or social media.

Did I go too far yesterday? I hadn’t thought she cared that much about Todou Kyousuke, but was I wrong?

Even though I had taken my time investigating it. Making a collaboration video with someone completely unrelated wouldn’t evoke any real sense of guilt.

In that regard, Todou Kyousuke, being her childhood friend, was the perfect candidate. With his shabby uniform, unkempt hair, and gloomy demeanor.

According to what I heard from a former classmate, Naruse Aika had already become distant from Todou Kyousuke by their third year in middle school.

Childhood friends are a dime a dozen; it’s absurd to make a big deal out of it.

Even Todou Kyousuke was absent.

Maybe I had overdone it. The final blow must have been effective. Out of all the people I had tangled with, he had more stamina and determination, but maybe I had miscalculated.

Since Aika wasn’t there to see it, I really beat him up.

Even if Aika felt nothing for him, Todou Kyousuke did.

He definitely had feelings for her. Realizing that pissed me off, so I drilled it into him just how much Naruse Aika was infatuated with me.

By showing him some fake images that Shimode had put together.

The pathetic look on his face was priceless. When I threatened to spread the images, he easily complied with my demands, and I punched him. Yesterday was the same thing.

Do I need to revise the plan…? Huh?

“Isn’t that…”

“Oh, it’s the top three girls from Class C. They’re cute.”

“They look like they could sell as idols.”

“For real.”

Indeed. Individually, none of them could compare to Naruse Aika, but when those three girls gathered, they were quite dazzling.

Shimode filled us in on each of them.

“Which one’s your type? I like the one with the headband.”

“That’s Sagawa Kyouko.”

“I’m into the one with the bob cut and glasses.”

“That’s Asagi Yuma.”

“As for me… the one in the middle.”

“As expected of Kussun.”

“What?”

“She’s the third-ranked girl in the school, Fujitou Mihane.”

Indeed. Compared to the two on either side of her, she stood out by a head. The way she walked showed she knew how to present herself.

“Third place, huh… wait a minute? Fujitou?”

“Oh, she’s not related to that Fujitou, right?”

“They were in the same middle school, but it seems like she was a transfer student.”

“If they were the same age, they’d be twins, normally.”

“Well, they don’t look alike at all. If they were siblings, that’d make for some interesting opportunities.”

Having a relative as bait would be a bonus round. The joy of tearing apart the bond between a brother and sister who would try to protect each other… No, no, I shouldn’t get carried away.

“…Alright, let’s put Aika on hold for now. Let’s go.”

“Roger, leader.”

“Sounds good, sounds good.”

“For sure.”

Let’s sprinkle a little bait for now.

◆

We had finished our meal at the far corner of the cafeteria and were scanning the area.

“By the way, I’ve been wondering about something.”

“What is it?”

“How are Kyousuke-san and Naruse-san doing these days?”

“Honestly, from what I’ve seen lately, it still looks like Kyousuke is chasing after her, but after yesterday’s incident… who knows what’s on his mind.”

“I see.”

“So that’s how it is.”

It was already halfway through the lunch break, and Kyousuke wasn’t in the cafeteria. Well, no need to rush. I felt unusually composed today.

“Even though they looked so perfect together…”

“They were like the Prince and Princess of Minato Elementary. Nostalgic, huh?”

“Hey, come on.”

“Ah, sorry. But let me indulge in a little nostalgia, okay?”

“Yuma and I were always like the trees, just watching from the sidelines.”

These two had a hobby of imagining romantic pairings between boys and girls. I understood their mindset since I used to be an introvert, but their pairings were all wrong.

“From the trees, it looked all sparkly to us!”

“There’s probably some nostalgia effect in there, too.”

“Kyousuke-kun was so cool back then… Well, he’s still, um, quite nice now, of course.”

“Right. I shouldn’t say this, but if Mihane hadn’t become my friend back then, I would’ve been like, ‘What am I going to do?! What will happen to me?!’”

“You’ve read too many shoujo manga.”

“What’s wrong with that?!”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?!”

When it came to anything related to princely characters in shoujo manga, these two would suddenly become very assertive. Good grief.

“You’re acting like you’re above it, but Mihane, your bookshelf is way worse. Even Kyousuke-kun would be freaked out.”

“…I shouldn’t be the one to say this, but Mihane-san’s collection is, well, quite serious…”

“What’s wrong with that? Forbidden love is amazing!”

“Eh?”

“Ehh…”

“What?”

“Well, reality is still reality…”

“Yeah, things like that don’t happen in real life… right?”

“……”

They really didn’t get it. True glory lies beyond overcoming obstacles. There’s no value in a mundane boy-meets-girl story. They just didn’t understand. Good grief.

Suddenly, someone called out to us.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Who are you?”

“Oh, don’t you know me? The name’s Kuzukawa.”

There it was. This kind of ordinary, pushy, salesman-like boy-meets-girl situation…

Had no value at all.