CH 16

This twist popped into my head the first time I talked to Yukihana.

Yukihana described me as being like a landmine. Although the way she said it was harsh, it’s true that I was strangely convinced when she said that. And one more thing.

From my point of view, Yukihana Ruri was as much or more of a landmine in my class than I was.

When I talked to Yukihana, I realized that she, too, had some kind of darkness in her. I saw a similar expression on Yukihana’s face when I looked sideways at the girls I had helped before. Not as much as Kisaragi, but she too could be a threat to the class and to me.

That said, it would be foolish to have both of them expelled.

There are many ways to do this, whether it’s possible or impossible. However, if the two of them work well together, the class will be safe without my intervention, and I won’t be bothered.

Kisaragi, in particular, has become a leader in the class in just a couple of days. In my opinion, that’s talent for sure. Yukihana also had brains equal to mine.

Then it would be more beneficial for me to control these two properly. Controlling Kisaragi is the same as gaining control of the class.

I changed my plan from Kisaragi’s dropout plan and focused on controlling Kisaragi using Yukihana.

After school that day, I talked to Yukihana and then set up two tricks.

The first was to slip a letter into Kisaragi’s locker. I stayed alone in the classroom after school and wrote about Kisaragi’s situation to the best of my knowledge, as if it were a diary. At first I thought about threatening her with it, but if the teacher saw it, the search for the culprit would begin. That would be a waste of time.

(And Kisaragi is…..)

Seeing Kisaragi, who had clearly changed since elementary school, I became convinced of one thing.

She’s imitating the old me, Tachibana Kanata.

I don’t understand why she’s doing such a foolish thing, but I can use that to my advantage.

In the letter, I wrote Yukihana’s name instead of Kisaragi. When Kisaragi sees the letter, she will assume that Yukihana had gone through the same painful experience as she did.

And just as I had envisioned, the image of Kisaragi stalking Yukihana was complete.

The only thing I miscalculated was that Yukihana’s spirit was more fragile than I had expected. I had expected to wait about a week.

So, I accelerated my plan and quickly prepared a contract the night after I set the trap. I was able to include most of what was necessary, so there would be no problems.

The night after I made the contract, I decided to do the second trick at home.

[I’m home.]

A while after I came home, my step sister came home. She mentioned that the new semester had just started and that the student council was busy. She was so thorough that she would bring home any work she didn’t finish and do it by the next day. My step sister had brought home several documents, including an opinion letter to the student council.

[……]

So I mixed in some of the opinions I had written for the student council. My step sister had read through all the materials she had brought home, and as expected, she had read through my piece that same day.

The contents went something like this.

[There’s a female student who’s causing trouble at the station. She’s following a girl who is not her friend, making a fuss, and the other girl is thoroughly ignoring her. I want the student council to do something about it because if this continues, it could lead to bullying and other problems.]

My step sister has a policy of not bringing the previous day’s work into the next day. I made a bet that she would surely read the opinion piece that day, and I won that bet easily.

Halfway through, I talked about the class and impressed my step sister, so she must’ve burned this opinion into her head.

And after school when I made the contract with Yukihana. I was watching Yukihana being followed by Kisaragi from afar.

Incidentally, I had been secretly following Yukihana and the others yesterday as well. I wanted to analyze their behavior, but I also wanted to know what route they would take and how far they would walk home together. What’s important is the time it takes them to reach the station.

I then calculated the time it would take for Yukihana and the others to get to the station and the time it would take them to get from the school to the station, and called my step sister.

[Hello, Nee san?]

[What, I’m in the middle of student council work right now.]

[There are female students arguing loudly at the station and it’s disturbing everyone around them.]

[……]

I wasn’t sure if I could pull my step sister out of the situation, but she’s a strict disciplinarian. I was sure that she would temporarily leave the student council work to other members and come over.

[……Can’t you do something about it?]

[It’s my classmates who are making a fuss, but it’s because they’re my classmates that I want to avoid them.]

[What do you mean…..ah, so that’s what you mean.]

My step sister was puzzled for a moment, but soon seemed to understand what I meant.

If it turns out that I, who was in the same class as them, told the school about it, my position in the class will get worse. Not because we’re step siblings, but because I’m a student at the school. As someone involved in the student council, she can’t ignore that.

[……Keep your phone connected and watch those students.]

[Thank you, Nee san.]

And as I had planned, I succeeded in leading my step sister to the station.

I’m sure that Kisaragi will reflect deeply on the situation and at the same time change her mind to face Yukihana properly. Yukihana, too, might make an effort to be a little kinder.

So I decided to put the finishing touches on it.

※

I walked through the station’s ticket gate and onto the platform where I waited for the train. Then…..I found her sitting on a couch on the platform.

“You looked troubled, Kisaragi.”

“!? ……Shiina kun?”

Kisaragi’s eyes widened in shock as if it was unexpected that I was here and that I was talking to her. Her eyes were slightly swollen because she had just cried.

“Shiina kun…..could it be, the student council president.”

“She’s my step sister. Speaking of which, I was the one who called her.”

“……Eh?”

KIsaragi was more confused than surprised. I wonder why I did that.

Due to the events just now, the distance between the two of them has narrowed to some extent, but that is still in the middle of the planning. The real perfection of this plan starts from here.

“No, I just felt sorry for you, so I reported it.”

“You felt…..sorry for me?”

Kisaragi has no idea what I told her. Without paying attention to what Kisaragi said, I continued.

“I was just helping the idiot student, Yukihana, but she ended up hating me. I should’ve just left her alone. Yukihana is an obstacle to the class.”

“What are you……talking about?”

“You should’ve been aware of it, too. Yukihana was about to attack you when she was about to reach her limit. It wasn’t just that her shoulders were stiff. It was a motion right before she hit you. That’s why I saved you. From a defective piece of shit like Yukihana.”

To be honest, I didn’t expect Yukihana to do that. I knew that she was carrying darkness inside of her, but I never thought that she would try to resort to violence. If my step sister had not arrived in time, the whole plan would have almost collapsed.

“From now on, let’s do our best to get rid of Yukihana. I’m sure everyone in the class will cooperate if you tell them to.”

“……Stop it.”

“You’ve experienced how evil and harmful Yukihana is to the class. I’m sure she will hate you again someday…..”

“I said stop ! ! !”

Kisaragi shouted in a loud voice to deny my words. Instead of sadness, her expression was full of pure anger.

“Don’t call Yukihana san harmful, evil, or idiot ! She’s not that kind of a girl. She’s the kindest, sweetest, sweetest girl I know !”

“Haa, are you out of your mind?”

“Is that what you really are?”

Kisaragi asked me that, but I didn’t respond to those words.. There was no need to exchange any more words with Kisaragi.

“You are…….”

Kisaragi was about to say something, but her voice was interrupted when a train entered the platform. Kisaragi was also surprised by the sudden roar and stood up to stare at me.

And without saying a word, she started walking towards the train door. But then she suddenly turned around and said to me,

“You’re the worst !”

And without saying a word, Kisaragi got on the train. The last time I saw her face, it was filled with anger and hatred like I had never seen in elementary school or in my classroom.