Chapter 4

Somehow, I managed to get out of that jam.

I had become a machine, desperately repeating “I love you” for dear life.

The Grim Reaper was standing right behind her. We see each other so often, he even gives me a friendly wave.

Haaah… I know I’m not entirely blameless here, but still. I want to break up with her. Soon.

“By the way, who was that notification from just now?”

The sender was… Sora…

《I was so happy yesterday ♡》

And a photo of me and Sora-chan kissing.

…Two messages.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

If she had actually seen those notifications then, I’d be dead.

If she saw this, she would’ve torn me to pieces, even if my body were made of solid steel.

No, not torn to pieces—minced. The kind that would make a tasty, iron-rich hamburger patty.

Still… when did I exchange LINE IDs with her?

I’m sure I turned her down.

No, that’s impossible. Could Sora-chan have used my phone?

—No way. My phone’s locked. The passcode is 0718. Akane’s birthday.

Incidentally,

“Why isn’t the passcode my birthday?”

…she got mad and made me change it.

So, the lock is completely meaningless to her.

The one person I don’t want looking through it. Dammit.

Both my lock screen and home screen are either a picture of me and Akane together, or a photo of just Akane.

If I change it to any other image, a “meeting” will be called.

…A guy should be able to do what he wants with his own phone, you know?

But if I assume Sora-chan used my phone, it all adds up.

The GPS being turned off, the fact that Akane was contacted… was it all part of her plan…?

No, that can’t be right. It’s not like she’s my girlfriend, for crying out loud.

That said, her having photographic evidence of me cheating is seriously bad news.

That photo is a life-or-death matter.

I absolutely need her to delete it.

I’ll be blunt and tell her, “Yesterday was an accident.”

It might hurt Sora-chan’s feelings, but—this is about survival. I have to make her give up.

《Let’s talk about yesterday.》

I sent the message. It was marked as “Read” in about three seconds.

《Okay. Let’s meet right away ♡》

…Isn’t she kind of misunderstanding things?

Still, is this really a good idea?

No matter how crazy Akane is, I still feel bad about meeting up with the other girl.

Poor Akane.

Maybe I should just come clean and tell Akane everything—

No, bad idea. She’ll kill me. Without a doubt.

There’s only one thing to do now: end things with Sora-chan without Akane finding out.

There are no other options.

Chapter 5

A cafe near the university. Being in Tokyo, it’s super stylish.

The reason it’s near the university is that Sora-chan lives out of the prefecture.

Plus, if we met in my hometown, there’s a risk of being seen by “someone who must not see us.”

As for what I said—

I told her, “I’m going with a friend from school to take some pictures at a cafe.”

She was saying stuff like, “I wanna go to a cafe, too~,” so I promised I’d bring her back some cake as a souvenir.

After that, she saw me off in a great mood. My story checks out with the GPS and everything else. It should be fine.

“So, senpai. What did you want to talk about?”

“…Ah, it’s about yesterday.”

I steel myself and start to speak. I’m definitely going to hurt her feelings. But as a man, it’s something I have to say.

“Is it ‘Please go out with me’? Of course, the answer is yes ♡”

“That’s not it.”

“Don’t tell me, a marriage proposal? Obviously, the answer is yes ♡”

…Whoa, whoa, there’s nothing “obvious” about it.

Hold on. This inability to communicate… it’s similar to something.

It’s just like “that woman” I’ve been locked in a four-year death match with.

…No way, are you a “ya,” too? As in, a yan-dere?

“I need you to forget about yesterday. …Let’s just pretend it never happened.”

“…After we went that far?”

“N-no, well, uh… I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry about that.”

“Is it because you actually like me more?”

“Yeah. No, that’s… huh?”

It’s not that I wasn’t attracted to her at all. But if there’s a chance she’s a “ya,” then that’s a different story.

“I knew it. Senpai, you love me, your destined partner. But because of that woman who was there first, you’re suffering, aren’t you? …Should I take care of her?”

Confirmed! This one’s a ya! Hahaha! You’ve gotta be kidding me!

How does this always happen!? Why do I only attract yanderes!

Somebody help me. Okay, I know I’m partly to blame here, but still!

“Look, I can’t see you anymore, Sora-chan. I absolutely have to avoid my girlfriend getting suspicious.”

Wait. Isn’t this a really, really bad situation?

If I try to side with Akane, Sora will go berserk.

Akane might get attacked. And as a bonus, I’ll die too.

If I try to side with Sora, Akane will probably kill her.

And not as a bonus—I’ll definitely die too.

In other words, I have to keep Sora’s existence a secret from Akane. And I have to keep Sora from ever coming into contact with Akane.

—If I screw this up, one of them will die, and then I’ll die.

…A phone call.

“Hello, Shion~? I decided I wanna go to the cafe after all! I’m on my way from the nearest station now~”

“Wh-!? Ah… is that so.”

“What? Is it a bad time?”

“No, not at all. It’s totally fine, but… I don’t think it’s anyone you know, so it might be a little awkward if you met.”

“Okay, well, I’ll be at the same cafe, so let’s meet up after you guys are done!”

“Yeah, roger…”

A cold sweat won’t stop running down my back.

This is bad. If she sees me here right now, I’m dead.

If she finds me at a cafe one-on-one with another girl, she’s bound to get suspicious.

And my companion is—a girl you can’t reason with.

And the one on her way here is—another girl you can’t reason with.

I need a buffer.

It’s a ten-minute walk from the station. The university is closer than the station.

My only choice is to call one of my buddies who lives in the university dorms!

“Naitou! Don’t ask questions, just get to the cafe! Bring two cameras! It’s an emergency!”

<…’Mornin’, senpai. Ugh. We were drinking yesterday after you and Sora-chan took off, so my head is pounding. I was asleep ’til just now. I’m in my pajamas. Don’t wanna go out.>

It’s 5 PM. You slept too long, I think, but that’s pretty normal for a college student.

“Please, just make it happen! Pajamas are fine! I’ll treat you to BBQ! The most expensive course!”

This guy’s from out of town and is always broke. If I dangle BBQ in front of him, he’ll usually show up.

<…Guess I got no choice. You’re explainin’ this later, senpai.>

“Senpai, is something wrong?”

“…My girlfriend is coming here now.”

“I see. It must be tough having such a troublesome woman. You should just switch to me.”

“Please, don’t say anything unnecessary, okay?”

“No. This is a good opportunity. For your sake, senpai, I’ll express your true feelings for you.”

“Don’t! Seriously! We’ll be killed!”

And by the way, that’s not a metaphor. That woman is fully capable of turning people into mincemeat.

“Fufufu. If you really want me to stay quiet… you have to take me on a date another day ♡”