Chapter 76: The Four Blank Years

Her easygoing smile, unchanged since long ago, remains—but an ominous aura now seeps out. She used to carry a soft, fluffy aura, but this unpleasant growth is disturbing.

“Then, will you explain? I assume you know what’s going on, but if you try to dodge the issue, who knows what you might do?”

Her actions are as unpredictable as ever. I know she won’t resort to violence, yet perhaps violence might have been the lesser evil.

“Ryu-san was about to throw herself off a building, so I arranged a date to stop her.”

I laid it out straight, but truth is stranger than fiction. It’s downright cunning—using one’s life as collateral.

“If she wants to fly, why not let her fly? Is it really necessary to stop her by having her cheat?”

That might sound like reckless talk, yet it seems valid. Even an ordinary girlfriend—not one with yandere tendencies—would say the same. On the other hand, if it were a boyfriend, he might say, “It’s good you stopped her, but couldn’t you have handled it differently?” Either way, you’d get scolded.

“Umm, the issue is that the very notion of cheating is…”

This is a bold gamble on my part. Since Ryu-san accepted that the proposal was a misunderstanding, perhaps Kaede’s perspective might change, too…

“Just because we’re childhood friends doesn’t mean we’re dating, right? We’re just friends…”

“Sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying at all. I… I just don’t understand words anymore.”

Oh? Is this something I can push further? The fact that she hasn’t launched into one of her long tirades might mean I’ve hit a nerve. That’s right—Kaede probably already senses something’s off with herself. Just because she’s turned yandere doesn’t mean her intelligence drops.

“Kaede, you’re just coming on too strong by yourself; that doesn’t make you a lover, right? It’s not that I dislike you or that I don’t find you attractive as a woman.”

“…………”

Is it working? Normally, I wouldn’t be able to get my opinion out this far. Whenever I try to speak sense, she launches into a barrage—like a fighter in a video game going into a rampage or an interruption. Now seems like the moment to press, but I should calm down. This might be the calm before the storm.

“Hey, Kaede. We haven’t seen each other for about four years, so you want to make up for it, right? You’ve got a lot pent up, don’t you? I get that, but why don’t we take it easy and rebuild our relationship gradually?”

How about that? It’s a chance to launch a rush attack, but I’m deliberately giving her a pass—a risky move. I pray that her answer will be exactly what I want. My aim? Can’t you tell? It’s just stalling for time.

“Rebuild our relationship…?”

“Yeah. Getting back in good terms with an old friend should be the primary goal, right? Normally speaking.”

While hinting that we might eventually become lovers, I slow down the pace of closeness. And with that reprieve, I’ll break the curse. A perfect plan, isn’t it?

…No, isn’t this more like the tactics of a host or a cabaret girl? Not declaring marriage outright, making the other person hopeful, then snapping and saying, “You just misunderstood.”

“Kogoro…”

Did she understand, or is she about to explode? Calm down—I must handle this carefully.

“Since we’re neighbors after all, why don’t we just hang out like we used to? Forget about slathering each other in depilatory cream or taking naked photos—that stuff is just ridiculous.”

“……”

Well, is this bad? Should I have just used the first half? The latter half might have been too aggressive—though generally speaking, it’s not really over the top.

“I totally get what Kogoro was saying. Right now, the priority is to make up for lost time. Speed marriages have high divorce rates, and children tend to be unhappy. I think the divorce rate is about double, isn’t it?”

As expected of a girl her age—she really knows her marriage matters. That really helps me out…

“But doesn’t that mean Momiji’s at an advantage? We spent an entire year getting it on during our four blank years.”

Oh crap… The only one who went distant was Kaede… I completely forgot about that.

“Wait, it’s not like we were getting it on…”

“Momiji said so, you know? That when you cross your legs, you end up getting sneaky glances.”

Come on—when a gorgeous woman with shapely, smooth thighs crosses her legs, anyone would look. They’d try to sneak a peek casually. They might even drop an eraser or something.

“That’s just the way men are…”

“That’s so lame…”

Ryu-san, please be quiet. A girl who’d test her love juices with litmus paper shouldn’t be looking down on a normal guy.

“Is that really just how men are? I heard you were fiddling with your dick while trying to peek at my panties.”

“I was just adjusting my position! I’m a high school boy—of course I get hard!”

It suddenly occurred to me—what do tall guys do? I’m small, so I can just look up, but do tall guys just stick out of their pants? I guess there aren’t many guys that big anyway.

“Saka-chan, are you getting all worked up over a pair of panties? You’re so pervy!”

Shut up! You’d blush even if our arms just brushed a little! Sure, you might be pure and cute, but you’re still pervy. Everyone’s pervy.

“Whatever, Hiiragi. Since you’re a girl too, don’t shout that word so loudly.”

So adorable. Nowadays, hardly any girl gets embarrassed over something like that. But hey—wouldn’t it be even more embarrassing to be soaked in love juices? To have your pH exposed?

“Ryu-chan just doesn’t get it. Boys get excited when they hear these words, you know?”

Isn’t that up to the girl? A pretty girl might get excited, but if some dirty old hag keeps spouting that word, I’d be like, “I’ll kill you.”

“R-really? Does it make you popular? If I… d-did use that word, would I become popular? Would the shoe rack turn into a love-letter dropbox-slash-shoe rack?”

Sorry, but that won’t work. Still, spouting off things like “You’re cool” or “You’re so kind” works better. Besides, you’d hate being popular because of vulgar words, wouldn’t you?

“If it were Ryu-chan, I think she’d be popular just by smiling at the boys.”

“Huh? My smile is… like something from the Ministry of the Environment or so.”

…Sorry, I don’t really get that expression. Does it mean it’s meaningless? I suppose if you rank its importance, it might be lower down.

“Try greeting the boys in your class. Boys are so simple—they’ll just assume, ‘That Isshiki guy definitely likes me.'”

That probably only applies to gloomy types who wouldn’t ever be considered potential lovers anyway…

“Hiiragi. You wouldn’t really be thinking about me, would you…?”

“Yeah! Since we both like the same person, we’re comrades!”

Somehow, a friendship seems to be forming. It’s very touching, though it’s really just an alliance of enemy forces.

“You’re lying, you bastard.”

Huh? Is it falling apart? Will our paths never cross?

“Lying? I’m just saying I want to get along with Ryu-chan.”

“Even if it’s true that you want to be friendly, you’re not saying it because you care about me, are you?”

Hmmm…?

“…I don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Don’t play dumb. You’re trying to pin me on some other worthless guy to keep you away from Saka-chan, aren’t you?”

Ah—now that you mention it, maybe you’re right. I definitely didn’t want to see dark-hearted Kaede like this. I’ve already seen enough I never want to see again, so perhaps it’s too late.

“I feel sorry for wasting time on a hopeless love.”

“After being left alone for four years, what are you saying?”

“That’s an interesting will—I like it.”

Damn, I can smell the tension of an all-out brawl. Damn it—why am I always cornered like this? I just rejected Senpai’s confession, and now look at me…