Chapter 22: Signs of a Friendship Falling Apart

“My little sister sure has amazing social skills. Is she really my sister?”

She’s already hit it off with three older girls, all of whom are three years her senior. Back when I was in middle school, high schoolers seemed like full-fledged adults to me, so there’s no way I could’ve pulled that off.

“Sumire onee-chan, you’re so bad at this.”

Nope, I could never say that. There’s no way I could. Even if it were a classmate, I couldn’t say that unless they were a really close friend. My sister’s social skills are on another level.

“I didn’t get to buy the game, you know.”

I had a feeling that was the case. Around her mid-elementary school years, her parents had already banned anime, after all.

For boys, not being allowed to buy games can seriously affect friendships, but what about for girls?

“Class Rep seems like the type who’ll get obsessively hooked on stuff when she grows up, huh?”

Kumanokyo leaned in and whispered that to me with a mischievous grin. Stop it; it’s ticklish. Why not just say it normally? Were you trying to be considerate about who might overhear?

Fine, I’ll follow her lead and whisper back.

“Strict parenting like that never ends well.”

Sure, giving kids everything they want isn’t great either, but being too restrictive isn’t good.

Of course, I can’t say that applies to everyone.

“Hey, Sakamoto.”

“Hm?”

“I’d prefer it if it were just the two of us, but… if you want to give the Class Rep a place where she can play freely, I won’t stop you.”

Am I the type to wear my thoughts on my face? Watching the Class Rep get so engrossed in anime and games somewhat lessens my resistance to having her over at our house. Just a little, okay? I wouldn’t want her coming over every week, but once in a while might be fine. Of course, the absolute condition is that she doesn’t try anything like baby roleplay.

Anyway, if they’re coming over, I’d prefer if all three came at the same time. There’s no way it would escalate into a 4P scenario, and it’s safer than being alone with just one of them.

As long as I manage my relationships properly, things should go smoothly.

Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any of those typical yandere battles between them—for now. In fact, they get along pretty well.

“…You know, Kumanokyo’s a pretty good person.”

“What’s with that all of a sudden?”

Oh, she’s blushing. She’s embarrassed, huh? Cute.

She’s honestly adorable like this. As long as she doesn’t wet herself or start chanting sutras, she’s really cute.

“She’s great at mediating and keeping the group in harmony, you know?”

“That’s making me feel itchy!”

Maybe she’s not used to being complimented. Or is it just because it’s coming from me?

Either way, this is probably the most I can compliment her. Anything more might overstimulate her and trigger sutra mode.

As long as I don’t get too close or stay too distant, maintaining a moderate distance should keep things peaceful. I don’t know when I’ll be freed from the curse, but with enough effort, I should be able to minimize the damage.

At least, that’s what I thought at the time—acting all clever.

I completely underestimated the curse, though.

This isn’t right. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

We bathed together, watched anime together, played games together—I was sure they were bonding well.

So why the hell are Kumanokyo and Kaede grappling with each other? And in the middle of the classroom, no less?

“Why? They were getting along so well yesterday…”

We parted ways around noon on Sunday, and they seemed to be on good terms then.

What kind of shift in their emotions happened in just twenty hours?

They haven’t started throwing punches yet, but if I don’t stop this soon, it might escalate into a full-blown fight. But how do I stop them? If one were attacking the other unilaterally, it’d be easier, but what do I do when both of them are equally fired up?

“It’s because of you, Sakamoto-kun.”

A voice called out from behind me, suddenly.

“Class Rep…”

“It’s dangerous to step in carelessly. The other students are scared, so don’t count on their help.”

Thank goodness, she’s in her Class Rep mode. She seems like someone I can reason with now.

“…What do you mean, it’s my fault?”

“Are you serious? Are you stupid?”

I asked what I thought was a reasonable question, only to be insulted in return.

If this were last year’s Class Rep, such remarks would’ve been commonplace, but now that I’m used to her “Mom Mode,” it stings.

And please, stop looking at me with those cold eyes—it feels like my heart is freezing.

“I swear I didn’t do anything bad!”

“Didn’t do anything bad? You walked into the classroom arm-in-arm with Hiiragi-san, didn’t you?”

“Huh? That’s nothing out of the ordinary…”

“Then it just means you’ve been doing bad things all the time.”

What is she even talking about? Walking to school together is hardly newsworthy. It’s so normal now that even the other students don’t react anymore.

“You knew Kumanokyo-san has feelings for you, yet you still…”

“Sure, it wouldn’t feel great, but would it really escalate to the point of pulling each other’s hair? Normally?”

The fight was escalating. Could the teacher hurry up and get here already?

And those classmates peeking in from the hallway—couldn’t one of you go get an adult instead of just watching? You’re like the type to take photos of an accident and post them on social media.

“You know… even I feel like joining in.”

“Joining… in the fight?”

“Of course. I like you too, you know? Enough to obey your rule of not doing baby play in the classroom.”

So she’s not actually back to normal. She’s just been holding herself back.

Now that I look closer, she does seem to be struggling. Thinking back, I do recall her looking tense whenever she called my name.

“While those two are wearing each other down, I’m going to enjoy myself.”

As I watched her warily, wondering what she meant by “enjoy,” she took my hand and interlaced her fingers with mine.

What’s her game here?

“If it were up to me, I’d do something even more daring, but the teacher will be here soon. I don’t want to do anything too flashy and get caught up in their fight.”

I see.

I don’t know what she means by “daring,” but if those two find out, I’ll get dragged into their fight. And if that happens, I’ll end up in trouble with the teacher right alongside them.

“What’s so fun about holding my hand?”

“You’re not enjoying it? Aren’t you happy?”

I won’t deny that holding hands with a girl makes me happy.

But come on, my friends are literally fighting each other right now. How can I possibly enjoy this situation?

“Let go of me. I’ll stop them, even if I have to force it.”

“No. If you get hurt, those girls will be devastated.”

“Ugh…”

She has a point.

Even though they’ve pulled stunts like forcibly leaving hickeys on me, they’ve never resorted to violence born out of malice. Even under the curse, their core personalities are kind.

I don’t know much about the ecosystem of yanderes, but if I were to get hurt, they might spiral into trying to “atone” in some extreme way.

“You should leave this to the teacher. For now…”

“For now?”

“This is my time with you. Don’t think about other girls.”

That’s such a cold way of putting it.

We’ve spent all night watching anime together, haven’t we?

Falling asleep next to someone while watching anime—doesn’t that mean we’re really close?

What’s gotten into you three all of a sudden? Please, just get along.

At this rate…

“Whoa!?”

“Kyaa!?”

A loud bang echoed through the room, followed by the startled screams of classmates. Everyone turned around at once.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“It wasn’t me! It was you!”

It seemed the classroom door had been broken, and two male students nearby were arguing about it.

From the way the door had come off and the sound it made, it seemed like it had been intentionally kicked down. But who would do that? Those two seemed convinced the other was the culprit, but… something feels off.

Why would someone kick the door down? Everyone had been focused on the fight—did no one see what happened?

“Ugh…”

“What’s wrong, Sakamoto-kun?”

“Oh, uh… nothing. Anyway, it’s good that their fight stopped, huh?”

I pointed to Kaede and Kumanokyo, who had frozen mid-grapple, and used that as an excuse to brush off my pained groan.

It made sense now. No one saw the door get kicked down because…

It wasn’t something anyone could’ve seen.

Thank you, unknown senpai, wherever you are.

I feel bad for the two guys now accused of breaking the door, but thanks to you, Kaede and Kumanokyo won’t be scolded by the teacher for their fight. Really, thank you.

But that said, could you stop groping me already? I can’t risk making a sound right now.

And seriously, what’s going on with these three? Why did things escalate so quickly? And stop groping me already—I can’t focus!