CH 60

“I told you not to be like that…”

Yō, facing Kasumi with the lights fading from her eyes, backed away slightly and complained to Kasumi.

But unlike last time, Kasumi pulled her face even closer to his.

Yō gasped as Kasumi’s face came within breathing distance of his own.

“It’s not a problem, because this time it’s 100% Yō’s fault.”

“No, it’s a matter of how I take it…”

“That’s no excuse.”

Kasumi put her hand on Yō’s neck and stared into his eyes as she said this.

“What are you doing…?”

“This way I’ll know when Yō is lying.”

“That’s gotta be a lie, right…?”

“Try it and you’ll see. But I won’t forgive you if you lie to me.”

Kasumi pressured him from close range.

Yō does not know the truth of what Kasumi is saying, but he thinks it is probably a lie.

Only a specially trained person would be able to do such a thing, and Kasumi, who had lived a normal life, could not.

However, he also knew that Kasumi was a high-spec person who could do anything, so he couldn’t tell a bad lie just in case it was true.

Perhaps this is what Kasumi was trying to achieve― Yō opened his mouth, thinking about this.

“Even though I let bygones be bygones, it doesn’t mean I don’t care about the future. If you’re in a relationship, or even if you’re not in a relationship, and you do something this heavy, I’m not going to be able to accept you.”

“―!”

When Yō said this while looking into Kasumi’s eyes, Kasumi opened her eyes wide and gasped.

She turned her head and began to tremble.

Yō fell silent as he stared at Kasumi.

(It might be bad of me, but… if we keep this up, we’re just going to do it all over again…)

Yō really didn’t want to push Kasumi away anymore.

But even in middle school, when he thought she was the most important thing in his life, he rejected her.

Mentally, Yō had matured since middle school, but it was obvious that he would never be able to accept Kasumi again.

Even more so, Yō felt that Kasumi’s weight had increased in the two years they’d been apart, and it could even get worse.

So he wanted to do something about it while he still had control.

“…………Yō, you’re in the wrong…”

A few seconds later, Kasumi spoke up and stared into Yō’s face with the sultry tears of a young child.

Yō was surprised by the unexpected expression on Kasumi’s face, but he held his ground and tried not to indulge her.

“That doesn’t mean you should be such a yandere.”

When Yō said this, Kasumi’s face twisted into a crumpled mess and she turned her head.

And then she slowly opened her mouth, her body trembling.

“…But then don’t befriend that girl…”

Kasumi is afraid that Yō’s friendship with Marin might lead to Yō being stolen from her.

This is why she gets angry when she hears that Yō and Marin are getting along.

Conversely, Kasumi appealed to Yō in a roundabout way, saying that if he didn’t get along with Marin, she wouldn’t have to do this to him.

But, of course, Yō couldn’t do that.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”

“―! Why not―!?”

“Kasumi’s the one who put herself in this situation, right?”

When Kasumi heard Yō’s answer, she tried to fight him.

Yō interrupted Kasumi’s words with a gentle voice this time.

“I-I’m…”

“I know that Kasumi didn’t mean it at the time. If I hadn’t happened to be there, none of this would have happened. But here we are, and it’s Kasumi and Kinoshita’s fault. No matter how many excuses Kasumi makes, that fact will never change.”

“But…!”

“Akimi is the one who suffered the most from what Kasumi and Kinoshita did. So it’s only natural that we have to give the highest priority to taking care of her, right?”

“…………”

When Kasumi heard Yō’s words, she turned her head down again.

Kasumi was aware that she had hurt Marin, and it was obvious that Yō would be angry if she said anything derogatory about Marin here.

She didn’t have the words to say anything back, and started to cry as Yō seemed to be throwing her away.

Yō gently stroked Kasumi’s head.

“But that doesn’t mean I despise you, Kasumi. So don’t cry.”

If he had pushed Kasumi away, the situation would not have been so complicated.

Yō decided to do something to avoid that.

But of course, Kasumi, who didn’t know Yō’s feelings, didn’t know that Yō was working for her.

“But you’ll get along with her…”

“That’s right. If Kasumi doesn’t like it, I can’t do anything about it, and if Kasumi still doesn’t like it, that’s her punishment.”

“Punishment…?”

“That’s right. If you hurt someone, it is natural that karma will come after you. After all, Kasumi isn’t being punished for anything, and you should consider what happened with Akimi as your punishment.”

Yō intended for Kasumi to receive some sort of punishment as atonement.

And if being friends with Marin was going to cause Kasumi pain, he wanted her to accept it as a punishment, since he couldn’t just leave Marin alone.

But of course, this would not solve anything about Kasumi becoming a yandere.

So Yō proposed another idea.

“Besides, Kasumi is going to be working with Akimi, right? If she gets along with her, she won’t mind if Akimi and I get along, right?”

If two people who are close to you are close to each other, you’ll feel happy instead of disgusted.

That’s what Yō thought.

That’s why he decided to bring Kasumi along with him to Marin’s video shoot.

It would be easier for Kasumi to be convinced if she could work with him, and if she and Marin could get along in the process, everything would be fine.

He’s been making arrangements for this.

However―

“I can’t…”

Kasumi replied in a negative tone.