The Day After I Told My Shut-In Genius Childhood Friend, Who’s Highly Dependent on Me, “I Got Confessed To,” She Showed Me a Hypnosis App - Chapter 42

“—I’m sorry!”

The next morning, before classes started, Mio apologized to the two of them in the student council room.

The two were Momose-san and Kirisaka-senpai.

“Wow, so that’s what happens when someone’s hypnotized. That was… quite an experience.”

Senpai with her usual tone… Well, maybe a little more excited than usual.

“Your mind goes all soft like that, and you can’t resist anything… I guess even Honami-kun couldn’t fight back…”

She murmured absentmindedly, as if digging through past memories. When I called earlier asking to open the student council room this morning, she somehow sounded excited over the phone. Maybe the hypnosis app really did unlock some strange door in her mind.

“…”

Momose-san pursed her lips and looked at Mio.

In such a short time, Mio had caused her a lot of trouble. If I had noticed sooner, maybe I could have handled it better. If we had dealt with Mio’s strange behavior earlier, maybe things would have turned out differently.

With that thought, I also bowed my head.

“I’m sorry too.”

“…Hmm.”

I heard a vague reply, not really agreeing or disagreeing, and looked up. Momose-san tilted her head with a slightly troubled expression.

“…So, what exactly are you apologizing for?”

“Huh?”

“If you’re going to apologize, I want to know the cause and what you learned from it.”

She sounded like she was talking at a company. And she was completely right.

“…This time, it was my fault for not being able to stop Mio from going out of control.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Honamin’s probably too lenient with Shinonome-san.”

Lenient.

Exactly. Just because it’s Mio, she tends to forgive some things more easily. This time, I realized I couldn’t let that happen.

“…Yes.”

“You need to keep a firm hold on the reins. The only one who can do that is you, Honamin.”

“…Yes.”

“Next.”

Momose-san then turned her attention to Mio.

She was straightforward. Before, she might have said things more softly, but now that gentle part seemed hidden, and she spoke clearly.

“Shinonome-san is super smart and really cute, right?”

“…I guess so.”

“Yeah. So… you should be careful about how you act.”

“Yeah… I’m sorry.”

Mio muttered, and Momose-san shook her head.

“…No, sorry. That wasn’t quite right. It’s not about being a genius or anything. In general, you should be careful about how you behave. Shinonome-san is just a normal person, after all.”

“…Normal?”

Momose-san tilted her head at the word that Mio had latched onto.

“…Eh, you mean you’re just a normal human? Or is that wrong? Are you a robot or something?”

Mio shook her head vigorously. Momose-san nodded with satisfaction.

Normal or not, something Mio had always worried about. She shouldn’t have known, yet unconsciously she touched on it.

“The apology about the date is fine, so we’re good there. I won’t do anything to mess up the class atmosphere on purpose. As for putting me under hypnosis, that was a misunderstanding, so an apology is enough.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. That’s fine.”

Momose-san patted Mio’s head and relaxed her lips into a small smile. 

Then she turned her eyes toward me.

“…So, what do we do now?”

“For now, I’ll take Mio home.”

The events up to yesterday came from a misunderstanding when I hugged Momose-san. It triggered an old hypnosis command, “to hug you until we’re satisfied whenever we’re alone,” that resurfaced at the wrong time.

Other hypnotic effects had been used on me, too, but they don’t seem to be acting up again. A few days ago, I’d even heard a myon, myon, myon sound, so I can tell if anything starts up.

However, Mio had erased from her memory the fact that she had become withdrawn. If that hypnosis activates again, it might be okay, but there’s a risk that her memory won’t return properly.

If her memories come back at a bad time, school life would be impossible.

Senpai spoke up as she had been watching quietly.

“We’ve got a rough idea of what happened to Mio-san. I’ll explain it to Nanaka-chan later, too.”

Mio nodded.

Mio had withdrawn because of her father. He had noticed her abilities and, when she was still in middle school, forced her to build systems for his company. Worse, he had her implement illegal ways to manipulate people into clicking on products.

The company got exposed and caused a scandal. But her father blamed Mio for not hiding it properly, making her feel that everything the company faced was her fault. As a result, Mio couldn’t face the outside world.

“For now, you need to rest. Things like this happen when you’re overwhelmed.”

Mio nodded quietly, and Senpai smiled at her.

“By the way, I’m interested in Mio-san. Do you feel okay at home? Or does it get bad when other people are around?”

“I… I think I’m okay.”

“I see. Then I’ll come visit sometime.”

“Huh?”

Her eyes went wide. Momose-san nodded.

“I’ll go too.”

“Huh?”

“This time, I’ll be the one to interrupt you two.”

Looking at her face, she was smiling as if teasing. I knew it was a joke, but it wasn’t really funny.

“Then, it looks like it’s almost time for class.”

Without planning it, we both looked at the clock.

Class was about to start. Mio and I had come all the way here, but we decided to go home first. We could explain things to the teacher later.

“Well then, we’ll be leaving first.”

“Yeah, see you later. Honami-kun, Mio-san.”

“See you.”

I left the student council room first. Mio gave a small bow with her head.

(Seems like things have settled down for now.)

Those past few days had been crazy. Everything got tangled up, and nothing seemed to go smoothly.

Reaching this point might actually be the best outcome so far.

“…Honami. I’m sorry.”

“You’ve already apologized enough.”

Mio was feeling pretty down, but she wasn’t completely negative. She knew what I felt inside, and today she apologized, and I accepted it.

Thinking in a destructive way doesn’t help anyone. Mio might lose control again over something in the future. But if that happens, I need to make sure I hold the reins firmly.

“Let’s take things slow. I’m not going anywhere.”

“…Yeah.”

I’ll keep looking after Mio as we go on.

She’s dependent, withdrawn, and a genius.

And I’m her childhood friend, stuck with someone this complicated.

◇◇◇

Afterword

Thank you very much for reading.

This work ends here.

At first, I planned it as a comedy with a clumsy and disappointing heroine, but it turned out like this. There are many things I could have done better, but this is the conclusion for now. Writing a long story is really hard.

I’ll keep writing new stories little by little.

Next, I plan to write a lighthearted romantic comedy.