Chapter 1 – Burnt Bacon and Egg

“Let’s go already!~ Hurry up!~”

“Don’t get too close to me. It won’t look good to other people.”

One of Aoi’s classmates, Satou Takayuki, was about to enter a hotel with a young woman in a business suit. Seeing this, she was confused on how to react to the situation.

“Is this what you’d call compensated dating? …No, no, even so, it’s still a little…”

Aoi hid her boast-worthy body behind a pole, her eyes focused on the two people in front of her as she looked for an answer that she failed to find. She wanted to think that it was all her misunderstanding and pretend to not have seen them, but her own beliefs made her unable to do so.

Because this action wasn’t ‘right.’ The heroes that Aoi looked up to wouldn’t turn a blind eye to this kind of thing.

“Good grief… Seriously, how did I find myself in this kind of situation?”

Despite showing a cramped smile, Aoi still tried to judge the situation rationally.

She tried to recall what happened up to this point.

“Even though I don’t have time for this…”

So, how did Aoi manage to witness this scene?

To find out about the cause, we have to go back a few hours prior.

* * *

Miyama Aoi was in her first year of high school.

Long, raven-colored hair. Mature-looking, dignified beauty. A tall height, even taller than the average boys. Slender arms and legs, all the curves in her body were in the right places. The mole under her left eyes, along with her bewitching smile would capture the heart of anyone who laid their eyes on her.

On top of that, her appearance wasn’t her only charm.

“Aoi-chan, Aoi-chan, I don’t understand this problem, can you help me?…”

“Which one? Ah, that one. I get you, it’s a hard one for me too. What I did to solve it was to use the same method as the previous problem and go from there…”

In line with her intelligent-look, she was also good at studying. Moreover, she was good at teaching others. Her classmates would always thank her for her easy-to-understand explanation that they received whenever they came to ask her questions about their studies.

“Woah, that’s a first year? She doesn’t look like an amateur at all!”

“She’s so tall… Taller than the rest of us… The basketball and volleyball club will go to war to get her on their side…”

Her excellence wasn’t limited to her studies as she was as accomplished in sports. She was so talented that she managed to catch the eyes of all the sports clubs the moment she entered the school.

Above all, there was a certain incident that boosted her popularity to sky high.

“Miyama-san, help! Satou got into a conflict with the senpais! They’re still staring at each other, but they could start a fistfight at any moment!”

“Got it. You should call the teachers first, I’ll try to calm them down in the meantime.”

In the early school year, one of her classmates, Satou Takayuki, had a standoff with a group of second years. It was Aoi’s resolute attitude that prevented the incident from turning into a massive brawl between the two sides.

“Yes, I’ll try to tell them as quickly as possible! But, Miyama-san, why are you carrying that bucket? Wait, was that water from the toilet?!”

The method she used to resolve the incident was a rather forceful one though.

“…Hm? What is it, Miss Honor Student? You should get away from here, it’s danger—”

Firstly, she dumped the bucket of water on Takayuki to calm him down.

“Please forgive him, senpais!”

“““Y-Yes…”””

Then, without a pause, she bowed her head toward the second years who had been staring daggers at Takayuki. Seeing her actions, the venom in their eyes were instantly gone and they seemed ready to let him off with this.

With this incident resolved, Aoi’s presence became more well-known throughout the school.

As a result, she managed to become the central figure for the freshmen in a span of a single month.

“Miyama-san, Miyama-san! Are you free today? If so, can you go to the art club with me? My senpai asked me to bring you there with me!”

“No can do. Miyama said that she can’t do club activities because she has to help out at home. So, until you’re needed, Miyama, how about we go karaoke?”

“Eh? Karaoke with Miyama? Can the boys join too?~ If so, can I go with you guys?~”

“Aren’t you in the soccer club? Your senpai will chew on your ass if you miss out on the first day of club, you know?”

Since she became a popular girl, naturally, her classmates started to try to hang out with her. They’d inquire about her schedule and send out various invitations to spend more time with her.

“Karaoke, huh? …Hm, that’s a good idea. A good way to get to know each other better…”

“Right?! Then, let’s go~”

“On one condition, though. Rope Satou in too, let’s make it a class event.”

“Eh?”

However, just because she was popular, that didn’t mean Aoi would let everyone lead her by the nose. Aoi was the type of a person who’d state out her intention clearly. She was also good at controlling the conversation so that she didn’t get swept by the other party’s momentum.

“S-Satou is a little… You know… Ahaha…”

“So lame. This guy is obviously scared of Satou.”

“If you’re that scared, just go to your club already, Suzuki!”

Perhaps due to the well-known delinquent’s name being mentioned, the boy’s momentum quietened down considerably. Seeing this, the girls immediately pounced on him. But, Aoi didn’t pay any heed to that scene.

“Satou-kun.”

“…Hm?”

After school, by herself, Aoi approached the isolated delinquent. Said delinquent was Takayuki, the boy who almost got into a fight with a group of second years not long after the school started. There was a rumor that he did it because he was protecting a girl that was being harassed by the second years, but the rumor didn’t stop him from being isolated by the rest of the class. At best, the rumor only made people stop treating him like a delinquent.

“Do you want to go karaoke with us?”

Miyama Aoi was the only person who was able to send out such an invitation to someone like him. The act left the other classmates surrounding her dumbfounded.

Of course, Aoi wasn’t a saint. She could express her likes and dislikes clearly and Takayuki was definitely someone she disliked. However, despite her personal feelings, it was clearly against her sense of justice that someone who wasn’t even a real delinquent was being isolated like this. Hence, she tried to change the boy’s situation.

“I’m flattered by that invitation, but dear Miss Honor Student, sadly I’m born with the skill called ‘reading the air’, you see?”

“Oh my, I’m surprised. I called out to you because I thought you’re unable to do exactly that.”

“I mean, their faces are clearly screaming for me to not come with them, it isn’t hard to figure that out.”

After being called out, Takayuki didn’t even try to look at Aoi’s direction as he continued fiddling with his phone. After he said his piece, he stood up and moved his gaze around.

Seeing that, the students around him who were expressing their displeasure, immediately jolted in surprise. Their shoulders shook at the sight of him. However, Aoi didn’t even flinch. Wearing her beautiful smile, she confronted Takayuki once more.

“In any case, keep your meddling in moderation, please, Miss Honor Student.”

“That’s for me to decide, Satou-kun.”

“I see.”

Without any hesitation, Takayuki sent her a fearless grin, turned his back on her and left the classroom.

Aoi just saw him off until his back left her sight before turning around to her classmates. With a shrug, she said,

“Too bad, I got dumped.”

There was a reason why her classmates put complete faith in her. She wasn’t just a pretty face or a brainless leader that could only say pretty things. She was a real leader with an unshakeable will.

This rooted from her self-confidence.

“Ah, that scared me… Miyama-san, you got guts, seriously!”

“I know right? Unlike that Suzuki guy.”

“Why are you bringing me to this?!”

A month after the school year started, she already showed enough achievements that she could be proud of. Everyone could safely depend on her. Her school life started off well.

“Ah, sorry! Aoi, I want to ask you something, can you come with me for a second?”

That was the case, until this moment came.

* * *

“You need a love advice? From me?”

Aoi slipped out of the classroom with the person who asked for her help and went to the back of the school building.

“Mhm. Please help me, you’re the only one I can count on…”

The other person was Ukai Tomoe. Aoi and her had been friends since middle school.

Although her classmates were inviting her to karaoke, Aoi herself liked Tomoe quite a lot and Tomoe was someone who’d prefer to get things done by herself rather than asking for help. Situations where she’d come out to ask for Aoi’s help like this were rare, so it was only natural that Aoi would prioritize helping her out.

“Hm, fine. Ever since my first love was broken, I hated all kinds of love stories, but for you, I’ll be your love counselor.”

“Huh? Wait, did I ask the wrong person for help?”

To those words, Aoi showed Tomoe a fearless grin, an expression that she’d never show to her classmates. In response, Tomoe’s tense body relaxed a little as she showed a smile.

“Just kidding, but are you sure you want to ask me for love advice, Tomoe? I only ever confessed to someone once and honestly it was a shitty confession.”

“Shitty confession?”

“Yeah. Basically, I just forced my ideal into that person and it was a huge mess. I don’t think you should use it as a reference.”

“T-That’s… But, you received a lot of confessions from boys, at least, right?”

“Yeah, but you know, most of them were just half-hearted confessions that everyone would forget in ten seconds. Honestly, I think you’d better ask someone other than me, or I’ll end up destroying your love life.”

“What, are you calling yourself the romcom destroyer now?”

At Aoi’s joke, Tomoe let out a giggle.

The girl had natural brown hair that was tied into a ponytail. Her wheat-colored skin looked healthy and smooth. She had a slender, yet trained body, courtesy of her being a member of the track team. Normally, there would be a cheerful smile decorating her cute face, but this time, her expression was grim.

“So, what do you want me to do? Yes, I advertise myself as an omnipotent beauty, but there are also things that I can’t do.”

“Hahaha, yes, yes, I can’t even call you a narcissist because you’re just that capable, but has anyone ever told you that your personality is rotten? Anyway, you should be able to help me, it isn’t a big problem or anything… Um… I just want you to introduce me to a certain senpai in the art club…”

Tomoe just brushed off Aoi’s arrogant and prideful words and stated her business.

“Hmm… I guess I can do that much… What’s his name?”

“Um… It was…”

The name that came out of Tomoe’s mouth was the name of a second year student from the art club. But the name sounded feminine for some reason.

“…Tomoe, I’ll help you out to the best of my abilities if things come down to it, but this love consultation isn’t for you, isn’t it?”

“Ahaha… You know…”

“I thought you’re going to confess to your childhood friend.”

Hearing Aoi’s words, Tomoe’s face turned ugly, like a child that was about to cry. But it only persisted for a moment before she wore a cheerful smile. She made her voice a tone higher, trying to hide her true feelings about the matter.

“I’m not! Jeez, I told you that Nao and I are just childhood friends, nothing more!”

“Tomoe, you…”

“B-Besides!”

After stumbling on her words for a moment, Tomoe forced herself to speak in an upbeat and cheerful tone.

“Nao found someone that he likes! Not me, but a senpai from the art club! She seems to be mature, kind and smart too!”

Those words were enough for Aoi to fully grasp the situation.

Tomoe was walking on the path of unrequited love.

“Since I’m his childhood friend, I have to help him out, right? That guy is hopeless at everything other than baseball. He’s especially hopeless about love!”

“…Right.”

To Tomoe, who was forcing herself to act cheerfully, Aoi let out a sigh.

“I agree with you. Your childhood friend is hopeless.”

“Good grief…” Aoi said as she grabbed Tomoe’s hands.

“Eh? Aoi?”

“If you keep acting like this, you’ll be a bother to your clubmates, so come with me.”

She dragged her puzzled friend by the hand and moved out to a different location to find out more about the situation.

* * *

As far as Aoi knew, Tomoe was especially close to her childhood friend, Mihara Naotsugu.

Their relationship went as well as your typical childhood friend relationship that one would find in anime or manga. Their houses were next to each other, they knew each other for so long that one wouldn’t be surprised if they said that they introduced themselves to each other the moment they came out from their mothers’ wombs. They went to the same school from preschool to high school. Oftentimes, people around them would call them ‘married couple’ or ‘siblings’, but whichever it was, it was a general consensus that they were meant for each other.

So, why did Naotsugu fall in love with another girl?

“Eh, no, no, that’s not it, Aoi! Nao and I are like siblings! Family! We’re too close to each other to consider each other as a romantic interest!”

The answer came out of Tomoe’s mouth along with a painful smile.

In her normal state, Tomoe would act as a mood-maker by utilizing her cheerful smile to brighten the atmosphere around her. But in her current state, the same cheerful smile looked painfully awkward. This state of hers was enough to convince her clubmates that she wasn’t in the situation where she could afford to attend her club activities.

“…Sigh. Look here, Tomoe, I really don’t care about which girl that childhood friend of yours ended up with. I don’t mind introducing that senpai to him, not at all. Just stop forcing yourself to smile, okay?”

“A-Ahaha… But, Aoi—”

“Tell me everything. That’s my condition before I start helping you.”

“…You’re so mean, Aoi.”

Both of them had moved from the back of the school building to a restaurant located in front of the station.

Before Tomoe reported that she wanted to take a day off from her club activities, she texted one of her clubmates about it, stating that she didn’t feel that good and wanted to go home early. The reply to that text was, ‘I know it, you’ve been looking off all day,’ and she easily got the permission for it.

It was then when Aoi realized that her best friend was in a worse state than she imagined.

“Don’t worry, at this time of the day, barely anyone from our school comes here. Besides, I can see if someone familiar comes in from here, you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Wow, you’re so thoughtful, Aoi. Amazing. The best. A perfect beauty.”

“I have to go this far to make you talk.”

“I guess so, huh? Hahaha… I’m really no match for you, Aoi…”

Along with a dry laugh, Tomoe let out a big sigh before her face crumpled pitifully.

“You know… Like I said, there’s nothing going on between us. Nao and I are childhood friends. The feelings he has toward me is ‘love toward family members’ instead of ‘love toward the opposite sex’. It’s not strange that Nao fell in love with someone else…”

“I’m asking this just to make sure. Are you sure that isn’t a misunderstanding on your part?”

“No, it isn’t a misunderstanding.”

Shaking her head slowly, Tomoe told Aoi that.

“It was Nao who told me about it first… He told me that he found someone that he loves…”

“…”

There was no room for misunderstanding based on his words.

Aoi’s eyes widened involuntarily. Her lips trembled for a moment before forming a cruel looking smile. Her smile still looked pretty, but it made everyone who saw it felt a chill running down their spines.

“Wait for me here, I’m going to break a motherfucker’s bones real quick.”

“Aoi?! Wait, calm down a little!”

“I’m calm. Calm enough to spare his dominant arm.”

“That isn’t the point! His future as a baseball player will be ruined if you break any of his bones!”

After a desperate persuasion from Tomoe, Aoi managed to suppress her anger. She was currently taking a few deep breaths while sitting down on her chair.

“…Phew. I calmed down. Now that I think about it, breaking his bone is a bad idea. If I want to deal with him, I have to do it in a way that doesn’t leave physical evidence.”

“You haven’t calmed down at all!”

“…Just kidding. I won’t actually do it, so calm down. Still, what he did was horrible. You like him, don’t you, Tomoe?”

“Um, that’s…”

“I may not know much about love talks, but there’s no way that I’ll ignore your situation. You’re my best friend. We’ve spent our middle school lives together. I won’t let your love life end this way.”

Tomoe’s shoulders shook as she heard Aoi’s words.

“Uh, really? Is it that obvious that I like him?”

“Well, whenever you’re talking with him, you always wear that ‘maiden-in-love’ look.”

“No way!”

“The only one who isn’t aware of your feelings toward him back in middle school is that dense idiot. Honestly, if we were to tell our friends from middle school about this, they’d be more than happy enough to finish him off.”

“U-Uuu…”

The girl was shocked to find out that more people knew about her feelings than she expected. But, after letting out a long groan, she seemed to be over it and moved on.

“B-But, Aoi… I’m happy for him.”

Her cheeks were tinted with shades of red as she confessed her feelings to Aoi.

“Nao has always been staying by my side, protecting me like I’m his real sister. If she could fall in love with someone without minding my presence, it would make me feel happy…”

Tomoe looked resolute and unwavering as she said that.

“…Tomoe.”

“Well, I said that, but I know that I’ll mess it up somehow, so please, Aoi, help me! I want to help him with his love!”

Seeing her best friend asking for help while disregarding her pain, Aoi couldn’t bear to reject her.

Even if it meant to send her off to a thorny path, she just couldn’t bring herself to deny Tomoe’s decision to walk on that path.

“Got it, I’ll see what I can do. But keep in mind that even if I managed to introduce that senpai to you, it doesn’t mean that everything will work out fine, okay?”

“Mm! Thank you, Aoi!”

Seeing the blossoming smile on her best friend’s face, Aoi’s heart ached.

“Don’t mind it. I’m only helping you for my own self-satisfaction, okay?”

Aoi was more than familiar with the pain that was hidden beneath her best friend’s pretty smile.

* * *

This happened during the summer vacation back when Aoi was still in the third year of grade school. Miyama Aoi found herself in distress.

It happened on a mountain in her neighborhood. Aoi wandered along the mountain paths that were covered in thick greenery. The cause of this act was she was trying to find a place to hide, so she went to the path no one would ever come to normally. The problem here was she didn’t take into account that the sun would be setting soon.

“…Uu…”

And when the sun had finally set, she was stuck in a pitch dark path where barely any light could go through. She had no choice but to wander around aimlessly until she found an abandoned shrine in the middle of the forest. Having nowhere else to go, she hid her body inside the dilapidated shrine and began to weep.

However, the reason she started crying wasn’t because of her distress.

Was it because of the darkness? The anxiety of not knowing when she could return to her normal life? The fear of the possibility that a mountain beast might come to prey on her? For the young Aoi, all of those were trivial matters, things that were not worth mentioning. As for her, the pain that was eating her heart out overpowered any feelings that the darkness brought her.

The pain of her broken heart.

“Uu… Haru-kun, you dummy…”

Aoi was heartbroken as she had confessed her feelings to the person that she admired, but all she got was a clear rejection.

However, the young Aoi didn’t think about the reason why she was rejected in the first place. Instead, she spent her time sulking about the fact that she got rejected by said person. And so, to make herself feel better and to make said person feel bad, Aoi decided to hide herself in a secluded place. She was too young to think about the consequences of such actions.

“Hic… It was… My first time confessing… Hic… But you…”

Surrounded by the darkness, tears kept pouring from Aoi’s eyes.

Her distress was caused by her rash behavior, but she wouldn’t realize it until much later. The young Aoi foolishly believed that she was so pretty that everyone in the world liked her and rejecting her was the same as rejecting herself as a human being.

“I hate you… I hate you so much, Haru-kun…”

No matter how many tears she shed, no matter how many curses she uttered, the pain in her heart didn’t disappear.

After all, no matter how things actually went, it was her first time experiencing love and being heartbroken at the same time. The pain that she felt was akin to being pierced by thousands of needles. No matter how many times she screamed, the pain didn’t disappear, nor did someone come over to comfort her.

But, it was her just deserts.

In the first place, the reason why she got rejected was because she selfishly imposed her own selfish ideal on the boy she confessed to.

And the reason why no one came over to comfort her was because she was the one who went to a deserted place like this.

“…Someone, please, save me!”

With nothing in sight, in the pitch darkness, Aoi’s heart began to reach its limit.

Aside from the pain of her broken heart, she also had to bear with the anxiety over the fact that there was no other person nearby.

If left alone, the fear and pain that she felt would eventually eat her heart out and leave a traumatic scar on her mind. That was only if they didn’t end up killing her heart off completely.

“Oi~ Is anyone there?~”

Those horrible things would definitely happen if a certain boy’s inaudible voice didn’t reach Aoi’s ears.

“…Hic. Who is it?”

She answered his call with a voice filled with both anxiety and anticipation. The boy’s voice was familiar, but she had a vague idea that this encounter wouldn’t lead to a romantic one.

“Jeez, such a troublesome princess. I’m here to pick you up.”

Then, a boy came over to her side with a flashlight in hand. He had the same height as her, but his appearance was unruly. Unlike adults, it felt like she couldn’t really depend on him for anything.

At that time, the young Aoi didn’t know. It was this boy who’d eventually save her from her pain. It was this boy who’d eventually become her ‘hero.’

This encounter with the young ‘hero’ would turn into the most impactful moment of her life.

* * *

“…Sigh. What do I do now?”

Aoi was on her way back after parting ways with Tomoe at the restaurant.

She was wandering around while looking at the passersby’s faces. Her expression would alternate between hopeful and disappointment as she tried to compare the people’s faces with a particular boy’s face from her memory. This was a bad habit that Aoi always did whenever she was feeling hopeless about something. Driven by her annoyance toward her own weakness, she’d try to look for that person who reached his hand out to her back when she was at her worst.

“Why do I keep doing this whenever things don’t go the way I want it to? I really need to stop— Huh?”

After scolding herself for being so weak-hearted, Aoi turned her gaze forward, only to see a strange sight.

“I-I finally found you! Please, I can’t bear to live without you anymore!”

“Stop! Don’t hug me out in the open like this! Also, stop saying things that could be misunderstood like that!”

In the middle of the street, right in front of the station, in the direction Aoi was facing, a man and a woman could be seen. From the look of it, they seemed to be arguing about something.

Aoi raised her eyebrows, wondering what it was that made them act like this in broad daylight. But then she realized that one of them was one of her acquaintances.

“Ugh…”

It was one of her classmates. To be exact, it was Takayuki, the person she had such a bad impression of to the point that she’d grimaced whenever she ran into him like this. That same person was being embraced by an older woman.

“Please! Hear me out, please! I really can’t take it anymore! I-I can give you more than usual…”

“Idiot, stop! I told you to watch your words!”

The older woman looked to be in her twenties. She was dressed in a suit, implying that she was an OL. Said woman was about to take out a 10,000 yen bill, but Takayuki promptly held her back.

The exchange between them was so quick to the point that a normal person wouldn’t be able to see it. But Aoi wasn’t a normal person. She didn’t miss a single moment in their interaction. With her disposition, she would never overlook such actions happening before her eyes.

“Fine, I get it! I’ll make an exception for you, but next time, make a proper appointment with me!”

“Yes! I promise to do that next time!”

And so, Aoi decided to follow the two people who were about to engage in a dubious act.

* * *

“Now, what to do?”

After recalling the events that happened in the span of a few hours, Aoi finally managed to calm herself down.

She already took a picture of both of them entering the hotel with her phone, so she had already got the evidence she needed to report Takayuki to the school, where they would punish him accordingly.

‘But, is this really enough?’ Pondered Aoi. The situation was quite suspicious and it was hard to misunderstand anything from that exchange. But, there was a possibility that there were some kind circumstances that she wasn’t aware of.

Aoi had learned various ways of enacting justice from a lot of dramas that she watched on TV. That was why she tried to learn about the situation properly before actually taking action. She didn’t want to wrongly accuse someone innocent, after all.

“Huh?”

When she was immersed deeply in her thoughts, the two of them had already left the hotel. However, fifteen minutes barely passed since they entered the hotel.

The time was too short for such a deed to be done, yet the woman’s face was that of satisfaction. She thanked Takayuki multiple times before parting ways without looking burdened in the slightest.

“Huh? What?”

Aoi’s mind was thrown into confusion.

Fifteen minutes was too short of a time for them to do anything. Takayuki could claim that they were just going there to borrow the restroom and everyone would believe him. In addition, their clothes still looked tidy and proper. The most they could do in fifteen minutes would be getting a room, undressing and dressing themselves back up and nothing more. But there was no sign of them even doing that. So, what the hell were they doing inside?

There were a lot of questions in her mind, but the more time she spent asking those questions to herself, the further Takayuki walked away from her.

“…Ah, jeez, whatever!”

The situation made Aoi quickly cut her line of thoughts and started running.

Yes, one should think twice before taking an action, but the situation demanded her to take an immediate action. It was the kind of situation where doing something would be better than doing nothing. Using that logic as a base of her action, Aoi moved her feet.

“Woah, what the hell?!”

Fueled by her fear, uneasiness and doubt, Aoi reached Takayuki’s position in a blink of an eye. Without time to catch a breath, she unleashed the pent up feelings in her chest and slammed it down on the boy in front of her.

“No sex, no life¹This is in English.!”

“I understand what you’re trying to say, but that’s a hell of a grammatical error that you made there, Miss Honor Student.”

However, she got ahead of herself and the words that meant to serve justice against the other person ended up humiliating her instead.

* * *

“Love counseling? It isn’t prostitution?”

“Of course not. I won’t do something shady like that.”

“…So suspicious. Is there another meaning behind ‘love counseling?’ It’s just a ruse, isn’t it? Otherwise, there’s no way you’d be open about it…”

“Why would I even make such a lame excuse to you? What’s in it for me?”

Since it wouldn’t look good if two high school students were to be found quarreling in front of a hotel, they moved to a nearby coffee shop to talk.

“Then again, I’m not an actual counselor. All I do is to listen to their complaints.”

“Still, you coming out of a hotel with an older woman like that is more suspicious than anything.”

Hearing Aoi pointing that out, Takayuki let out a wry smile.

“Guilty until proven innocent, huh? So you’re that kind of person, Miss Honor Student…”

“…”

Aoi’s gaze turned into a glare after seeing the other person’s nonchalant attitude.

The boy she was talking to was a tall boy with black hair. He had a rather long bang that was partly tied with a bright red hairpin. His gaze bore irreverence while his mouth wore fearlessness. There was an air of maturity coming from him due to the way he was dressed, a shirt and a neat pair of pants. In a glance, he looked pretty harmless, but there seemed to be something fishy about him.

To put it mildly, he looked like the kind of guy one needed to be on guard against.

“After seeing that, do you think I’d believe you just like that?”

After all, Takayuki was known to be a delinquent who got into troubles with a group of second-years as soon as the school started. There were a lot of bad rumors going on about him concerning his middle school days. Compared to Aoi, who was an honor student, he was the exact opposite end of the spectrum.

In addition, Aoi disliked the red hairpin that he wore. No, it wasn’t because it didn’t look good on him, but it was because of her personal distaste due to the fact that she remembered her childhood hero wore something similar to it.

That was why Aoi had no intention of letting Takayuki off this time.

“Well, whatever. What can I do, anyway? You got everyone on your side, so no matter what I say, they’ll definitely listen to you instead of me. I’m just a poor little carp on a cutting board, my fate is sealed, boohoo.”

Yet, he didn’t seem perturbed at all even though he was aware of his dire situation.

Even in this kind of situation, his irreverence didn’t change. From the way he was sipping his drink, it showed nothing but his graceful movements.

“Yes. No matter what random things you say, you can’t deceive me. I’ll let you know that I already took a picture of you as evidence and sent it to a trustworthy person, so don’t even think of doing anything to me here. The moment I smell something suspicious from you, I’ll immediately report it to the school.”

“Oh my, you’ve covered all your bases, huh? It can’t be helped, then I guess I’d have to do this…”

He placed his cup on the table before confronting Aoi’s gaze head on.

His eyes were still, akin to that of a dead animal. They gave Aoi a sense of dread, but she persisted and stared right back at them. The boy in front of her was like a super-villain that she had to face. Even if there was a fear inside her heart, she must suppress it to be able to thrive over him.

With her sense of justice backing her up, she confronted the boy in front of her with a resolute gaze.

“…Can you please let this one slide?”

The words that came out of his mouth threw Aoi into a state of bewilderment.

“…What?”

That was a strange thing to say. Aoi couldn’t believe what she was hearing at the moment. She thought that he would try to fight back a little harder at least.

“You didn’t catch that? Okay, I’ll repeat it… Can you please let this one slide, Miss Honor Student?”

“Uh? Satou-kun?”

“I get it, I’m in the wrong here, but you know…”

Aoi couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Can you please not report this to the school? Please, I beg you…”

The Takayuki who was sitting with composure was gone, replaced by a humble-looking Takayuki, who was sitting with a straight pose while bowing his head down.

“S-Satou-kun?”

“Yes?”

“Do you really feel that way?”

“I don’t understand what do you mean by that, but I’m not trying to hurt anyone here. I know that I’m in the wrong, I shouldn’t have acted suspiciously like that.”

“So you do know how to apologize, huh?”

“Of course. Also, I don’t want to be expelled, you know?”

“Hmm… So even someone like you is afraid of being expelled?”

“Of course I am. I’m not the kind of person who’d treat expulsion lightly. If possible I want to avoid it at all costs. That’s why, please let this slide. I’ll get on my knees if I need to, but we’ll need to move to a more appropriate place first.”

“You don’t need to do that… Also, you don’t need to speak politely to me either…”

“Ah, got it…”

Aoi couldn’t hide her confusion after witnessing Takayuki acting all-obedient.

After all, this was Takayuki, the delinquent who got into troubles with a group of second-years at the start of the school year and the one who got a lot of bad rumors going on around him. But, looking at the situation, it felt like Aoi was the bad guy here.

“In any case, I’ll hear you out first. I’ll decide on what to do with you afterwards.”

Since he was more obedient than she expected, she decided to lend him an ear. She didn’t let her guard down though.

“Firstly, who was that person?”

“A regular of mine… You know, for my love counseling service. I can’t really divulge her personal information and the content of the counseling to protect her identity, but I assure you that we aren’t sexually involved with each other.”

“Hm… So, what is this love counseling thing, anyway?”

“It’s a service where I help people to deal with problems concerning their love lives. I’m specialized in dealing with people who have an unrequited love or people with a broken heart.”

“You said you’re not an actual counselor… So, how did you get clients in the first place? I can understand if your clients are someone from the same school as ours, but I can’t wrap my head around you getting adult clients as well…”

“Ah, they contacted me through my social media, that’s how.”

“Can I see it?”

Aoi was able to confirm that Takayuki had an account under the name of ‘Baku’ on his phone. The account had a deformed baku²Baku is a mythical creature from Japanese folklore. It looks like a tapir and is known as a dream-eater. In the past, people would pray to it to help them get rid of their nightmares. Also, just some information for you who don’t know, baku isn’t classified as yokai/evil spirit, it’s a holy beast. as its profile picture and its follower count was over five thousands.

“My account is mainly about anime and manga stuff, occasionally, I’ll post about love counseling if the concerned party doesn’t mind me posting it. Most of the counseling I performed, I did in DMs. Also, it’s rare for me to get face-to-face counseling like I just did. I only got money through face-to-face counseling though.”

“You seem to be telling me the truth… From what I’ve read, your posts are quite popular too. I remember seeing some of them on the hot topics once in a while.”

“Most of the things that went viral were just my impressions on a certain anime or manga. Well, most of them are romance, but they’re irrelevant to the counseling service, honestly.”

“Hmm… I’m not well-known in this matter, but from your exchanges with your clients, you seem polite and the other parties also seem to be very grateful toward your service…”

“Is something wrong?”

“Nothing. As far as I can see, at least.”

It was hard to tell what was on Takayuki’s mind, but at least he answered all Aoi’s questions clearly. She couldn’t feel any sense of guilt that a villain would normally have from him.

“And so, why did you choose a hotel for this particular counseling session?”

“Since it’s a private matter, it feels wrong to talk about it at a restaurant or a coffee shop like this. I wanted us to talk in a place where no one is around, you know?”

“I see your point, but you know that going to that kind of place with an adult woman like that is bad, don’t you?”

“I’m sorry, I know that I’m wrong…”

There were no lies in his words. But still, Aoi felt that he was still hiding something from her.

“But, still… Love counseling, huh? I’ve been looking into it and it seems that you’re doing pretty well with this business of yours, but are you sure that you aren’t offering something like massage or illegal drugs?”

“Putting aside the matter of massage, if you’re really suspecting me of selling drugs, why don’t we just stop this and call the police right now? It’s easier for me to prove my innocence that way.”

“I guess so, huh? I went too far, I’m sorry.”

From their exchange, Aoi concluded that whatever it was that he was hiding, it didn’t seem like a crime or anything.

If, by chance, her conclusion was wrong and Takayuki was actually doing something horrible, that just meant it was impossible for her to deal with him by herself in the first place.

“…Phew, fine, I get it. I’ll let you off for today. But, if I were to see something similar happen again, I’ll report it to the school immediately, okay? Keep it in mind. I’ll be watching you.”

“Yes, thank you, I won’t be repeating the same mistake in the future… Jeez, I thought I’m gonna die for a second there, you know?”

Takayuki let out a sigh of relief and smiled. The familiar irreverence in his face had disappeared, replaced by the face of a normal high school boy.

Or maybe he had been acting like this since the start. After all, Aoi had been in a bad mood even before she ran into Takayuki. There was a possibility that she was venting her anger toward him unconsciously.

“By the way, you got paid from the counseling service, right? You aren’t doing it voluntarily?”

“Uh… Yeah… I charged 3,000 yen for a counseling and if I can’t finish the problem in a day, I’d raise it to 5,000.”

“Huh, that’s a good price. Even if something goes wrong, no one would make a fuss about it.”

“Don’t treat me like a scammer. I do my job properly, okay?”

“You’re still playing in the gray area, do you know that?”

“…Let’s do this, if you need any counseling, I’ll do that for you, free of charge. You can determine whether I’m a scammer or not after seeing the result.”

“Hm..”

The matter was pretty much resolved with that. But Aoi was feeling petty after dealing with this kind of misunderstanding, so she decided to harass him a little for the hell out of it. She glanced at the coffee shop’s menu.

“…Uh, Miyama?”

“What is it?”

“If you don’t mind, I can buy you a drink or something…”

“Hehe, you’re quick on the uptake. I’ll take you up on that.”

Seeing Aoi’s mischievous smile, Takayuki’s shoulders slumped in dejection.

From an outsider’s perspective, their exchange was like that of a petty princess and her poor servant, but there was no way that Aoi would realize this.

* * *

Aoi had a belief that even heroes need a break.

After all, if one were to be on guard 24/7, it’d be inevitable that they’d be too tired to function. That was why one should rest whenever one had time to spare. To Aoi, that was how a hero should be.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHH! YUUUZUUUU! Why is everything so annoying?! It’s hard to see Tomoe acting like that! Yuzu, should I really introduce her to that senpai in the arts club? Tell meee!”

“Don’t ask me.”

“Coomee ooonn!!”

“So troublesome…”

Aoi’s day off was mostly her visiting her bad friend’s room and venting her heart out to the poor girl. In addition to that, Aoi would always stick her face in the girl’s belly.

Of course, the bad friend would never appreciate this act and would always try to shove her away from her side. She’d use light violence if necessary sometimes.

“Why are you so mean to me, Yuzu? Heal my heart, please…”

“Let me tell you a fact, Aoi. From the human’s perspective, it feels good to lay their head down on a cat’s belly, but from the cat’s perspective, said human is nothing but a bother.”

“C’mon! We’re friends, aren’t we? Friends are supposed to share their happiness and sorrow, aren’t they?”

“I see. In other words, it’d be justified if I were to inflict as much pain on you as much as you bothered me.”

“AAHH! My chest! You’re hitting my chest!”

The girl who was pushing Aoi away with a book was Amami Yuzu.

Like Aoi, she was also in her first year of high school, but unlike Aoi, her body was slender and her back was a little hunched. The glasses that she wore gave her a rather subdued atmosphere, this atmosphere was further enhanced by the fact that she was wearing all black. At first glance, she looked like your typical shy bookworm, but she had this gloomy air that projected her unwillingness to interact with other people. Aoi gave her the nickname ‘The Gloomy Bookworm’ due to her rarely showing her emotions.

Although they were the complete opposite personality wise, they had been friends since back when they were freshmen in middle school. Yuzu was rather blunt with her words when she was dealing with Aoi, but she was friendly enough to recognize their relationship as friends. Nowadays, they didn’t talk to each other as much due to them being in different classes, but Yuzu was still someone who had been friends with Aoi the longest.

“So mean… Your belly exists to comfort me, does it not?”

And Yuzu was the only person that Aoi would ever show her pathetic appearance to. Well, aside from her own family, at least.

“You’re annoying, do you know that? Anyway, it’s what Tomoe had decided, so just let her do what she wants to do. She wants to suffer, so let her be.”

“But, I don’t want her to suffer like this…”

“You don’t even understand her feelings and you’re still acting like this. You’re as arrogant as ever, Aoi.”

Yuzu hurled more merciless words at Aoi. Words that were so sharp that it’d definitely hurt the other person if they didn’t know her that well.

However, it was this merciless attitude of hers that made Aoi feel comfortable confiding in her.

“Yes, I’m arrogant. It’s because I’m arrogant that I want to help her ease her pain. It’s just, I don’t know how to!”

“You don’t need to know how to. Tomoe had already decided to do this, so just let her be. It’s her decision, you have no rights whatsoever to meddle in this matter.”

Toward Yuzu, who never took her eyes off the book in her hands while spouting out those sharp words, Aoi smiled while saying, “As expected of my bad friend.”

“In any case, instead of trying to do something about what she had already decided, I should just help her with something else, huh? By the way, Yuzu, you were also in the same class as Tomoe and Naotsugu back in middle school, right? What do you think I should pay attention to in regard to those two’s relationship?”

“Don’t ask me. Just pay attention to the obvious things, it should be enough.”

“I see. How about this? Let’s contact our middle school friends. If they heard about this, they’ll definitely feel the same way as us and we can use our collective brain power to think of a way to help Tomoe. There will be some boys who’ll try to go after Tomoe, but I can just protect her from those guys, at least until she is back to normal again.”

“Do whatever. I don’t care. In any case, you can’t solve this problem of yours by yourself.”

For Aoi, Yuzu was her salvation.

Whenever she felt lost, whenever she lost her confidence in herself, Yuzu’s harsh words would always guide her to the proper way. There was proper advice hidden beneath those hurtful words.

Therefore, Aoi always treated Yuzu’s words as encouragement. Even though there was a possibility that she was just being delusional, Aoi ignored that. Yuzu was her only bad friend, the only person who was able to treat her mercilessly.

Not only that, it was Yuzu who always stayed by her side whenever she did stupid things.

For example, back in middle school, Aoi still didn’t know how far she should go to enact her ‘justice.’ Back then, she tried to sneak out to school at night to retrieve an item that one of her friends left at school. It was Yuzu who scolded and went together with her to retrieve the item.

Aoi trusted Yuzu because of this. No matter how inconvenient the situation was for her, Yuzu would always stay by Aoi’s side.

“…Well, there’s only so much a single person can do. But, what if we ask for help from something that isn’t exactly a human?”

“Hm? That’s an unusual joke coming from your mouth, Yuzu.”

“I’m not joking, there’s this urban legend…”

Her words intrigued Aoi.

Yuzu then closed her book and stared at Aoi’s eyes. The words that came out of her mouth afterwards, sounded like a bad joke, though.

“Have you heard of the tale of ‘The Love-Eating Monster’?”

“Yes, well if you live in this city, you’ll end up knowing one or two things about it. It’s a monster that’ll appear in front of a woman who got heartbroken and eats her love out of her heart, right? But, that story was inspired by a ghost story…”

Love-Eating Monster.

Aoi wasn’t unfamiliar with the words that came out of Yuzu’s mouth. In fact, she knew the person who was the source of the story as she had tried to investigate the matter. But, even after that investigation, she didn’t know what exactly triggered the start of the rumors.

“That rumor died down a while ago, didn’t it? Why are you bringing it up now?”

“…It won’t be a bad idea to rely on a monster when it comes down to it.”

Muttered Yuzu before reopening her book and acted as if she had said what she wanted to say.

“Monster, huh?”

Knowing Yuzu, whenever she said something strange like this, she was hinting that something was about to happen. It was something that happened a few times in the past.

Of course, Aoi was aware that she shouldn’t rely too much on Yuzu’s cryptic advice.

“Too bad, rather than monsters, I believe in heroes more.”

Yuzu tilted her expressionless face at Aoi before asking,

“Hero as in the guy who saved you a long time ago? You haven’t given up on looking for him yet?”

“There’s no reason to give up in the first place.”

Aoi answered Yuzu’s question with a fearless grin.

“You’ve been searching for him for seven years already, no?.”

“Yes. Back then, I asked the adults about him, but none of them knew who he was! I thought they were just mad at me for acting like a brat, but when I asked them about him again after things had calmed down, they still told me that they didn’t know who he was.”

“No other answer then, it’s the ‘girl in a white dress’ phenomenon. A staple of summertime ghost stories.”

“He exists! Stop treating my hero like an illusion!”

Even though she firmly stood her ground, Aoi was still feeling uneasy about everything. After all, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched that she was just experiencing a mild hallucination due to her stress back then. However, that possibility didn’t make her heart waver. She still firmly believed that one day she’d be reunited with her childhood hero.

“I believe in my memory and feelings. He does exist. That’s why until the day I reunite with him again, I promise to live my life proudly!”

“So, helping Tomoe is part of that?”

“No, that’s just for my self-satisfaction.”

Replied Aoi smugly.

“I mean, my friend is suffering, of course I’ll help her!”

“…You and your pretentious bull…”

Aoi said that as if it was a matter of course, meanwhile Yuzu sighed in response.

While the two of them trusted each other with their lives, they wouldn’t depend on each other as much. That was the kind of relationship that two girls have.

* * *

After the weekend, Aoi started her week earnestly.

[Oh, the girl who likes foxes? Sure, I’ll do it for you. You owe me one, okay?~]

“Ugh…”

Like what she said to Tomoe, it wasn’t hard to introduce her to the senpai in the art club.

After all, Aoi knew one of the senpais in the art club personally since they went to the same middle school. All she needed was to text and make some arrangements with them so that Naotsugu could meet with the senpai that he liked.

But, Aoi had a bad feeling about all this. That was why, when she received that text from said senpai, she let out a groan. Though, she decided to proceed with the plan anyway.

Since this part of the plan could be finished quickly, she did it before the homeroom started.

“The next step is to make sure that everything will go well.”

Everything went smoothly so far, but it was just the beginning. There was still a possibility that some kind of problem would appear later.

“Yo~ Everyone~ Good morning!”

“Good morning, Tomoe.”

Just before the homeroom started, Tomoe entered the class while greeting everyone. Aoi returned her greeting while watching her closely.

“Good morning. You’re so energetic this early in the morning, Tomoe-chan.”

“Morning. Isn’t morning practice tough, Tomoe-chan? It’s amazing that you willingly attend it… Track club members are something else…”

“I know right? Even the soccer club doesn’t have morning practice.”

“That’s because you kept skipping on your practice!”

The moment Tomoe entered the classroom, the atmosphere brightened up. Before long, she became the main topic of the conversation.

This was part of Tomoe’s charm. Unlike Aoi, who had the charisma of a leader, Tomoe had the charm of a class mascot, something that made her loved by everyone. Not only was she dependable as the girls could freely rely on her, she was also easy-going and treated everyone the same way regardless of their gender. It was no surprise that she was so popular in her class.

Yet, this popularity of hers could also become a source of trouble for her.

* * *

“Tomoe, if this continues, your childhood friend will be buried in the schoolyard. May I receive your permission to lay down the necessary groundwork first?”

“What?! Did someone send death threats to him?!”

Lunch break.

Aoi decided to take Tomoe to a less populated place for lunch, on a deserted stairway at the end of the hallway. Of course, Tomoe understood that she did this to help her out with her love problem.

“Huh? Did that idiot offend someone by accident?”

However, she didn’t know why that childhood friend of hers received a death threat from someone.

“Well, that part was a joke, but it’s the truth that if this keeps up, his reputation will plummet to the ground quickly.”

“H-How could that be?!”

“Tomoe, stop pretending. I know you’re aware of the cause.”

“…”

Seeing Tomoe’s hunched back, Aoi let out a deep sigh.

“Everyone regarded you and Naotsugu as the perfect couple. If that guy were to go out with someone else, it wouldn’t look good to other people around you two. They’ll probably think that he hurt you somehow. If that were to happen, who knows what they’d do to him.”

“Really?! I-I know how they are thinking about us, but will they really go that far?!”

“They will. At least in our class, there are more people who care about you than you think. I’m planning to spread a rumor about you and him growing apart, they wouldn’t immediately bite it, but it’s fine, the rumor will serve its purpose as a damage control when things come down to it.”

“…”

At Aoi’s words, Tomoe nodded with her eyes downcast.

“Tomoe.”

“Yes?”

“You know what to do, don’t you? To make everyone believe the rumors I’m going to spread, you need to do this. Avoid Naotsugu for a while. Any excuses with work, like you’re busy with your club and such. Also…”

Aoi stopped her words for a moment.

She was hesitating. After all, she knew what kind of pain that her best friend would experience if she were to hear her next words. But, it wasn’t like she had any choice in the matter. If she were to stop now, her best friend would suffer a more painful experience.

While sending her a quiet glance, Aoi mercilessly slammed down her words at Tomoe.

“When he finally gets a girlfriend, you won’t be able to stay by his side anymore. Your role will be taken by his girlfriend. Though, I don’t think I need to tell you this…”

“…A-Ahaha… Yeah…”

The smile on Tomoe’s face looked fragile, but she didn’t shed any tears.

The sight of her twitching cheeks and her trembling shoulders made Aoi’s mind wander, so she asked her a question.

“You love him as a man, don’t you? Then, why are you hurting yourself like this?”

“I’m wondering, if you’re in my position, what will you do?”

“I’ll just abandon him.”

“Ahaha, you’re so scary…”

Hearing Aoi’s harsh words, Tomoe let out a weak laugh.

In fact, Aoi knew that it was impossible for Tomoe to just abandon him. If she could do that, she wouldn’t be struggling like this.

“…But, yeah, I love Nao. I’ve always loved him for a long time.”

Since her best friend was doing this far to help her out, Tomoe decided to not hide anything from her anymore.

“Then, why? If you still love him, you could just push through, I think it’ll work out well. Well, it’ll be hard for you to do it alone, but you can always ask for help. I refuse to believe that you don’t have a chance to go out with him.”

“Well, maybe that’s the case. If you were to help me, I could probably go out with him in the end since you’re that amazing, but Aoi, I already made up my mind.”

It was clear that her own words hurt her, but Tomoe looked resolute.

“I want to help Nao out.”

Aoi sensed an iron will behind that fragile smile. The will that would never crumble even if her action ended up destroying her heart.

That was when she realized that no amount of persuasion would be able to make Tomoe change her mind.

“Surely he doesn’t want you to go through this…”

“Of course he doesn’t. This is just my selfish desire. Hehe, I sound like an idiot just now, huh?”

“Yes. You’re an irredeemable idiot.”

Aoi stared at Tomoe in dismay.

“Well, I’m the same as you. Only an idiot would help out her friend going down a path filled with thorns like this.”

“…Sorry, Aoi.”

“Don’t apologize or else I’ll get angry.”

“Good grief.” Aoi put her hand on her forehead before letting out a sigh.

‘I only want to make my best friend happy, but why does it turn out this way?’

* * *

Despite her inner complaints, Aoi proceeded with the plan and things had been proceeding smoothly.

The timing and Aoi’s social skill made it a success. It was a month after the school year had started and everyone was starting to get used to their new school life. During this time, even though they were busy, they had the lenience to care about their surroundings. If Aoi, someone who was well-liked among them, were to spread a rumor like that, they wouldn’t question the authenticity of it.

After that, if Tomoe were to act as planned, the rumor would gain even more credibility.

And so, the plan was entering its next step.

* * *

“Eh, seriously? I can go to a mixer with senpai?!”

A few days after Aoi started her plan, she stopped by a restaurant on her way home. With her was a good-looking boy with a shaved head, Mihara Naotsugu. The boy was smiling at Aoi innocently.

His body looked well-built and he was quite tall compared to your average boys. He was even taller than Aoi, not to mention Tomoe, whose height was just average at best.

“Yes. I know a senpai in the art club. Well, I called it a mixer, but it’s more like a meeting between the sports club and the cultural club. But, remember that other people will attend the meeting too, so you have to work on it yourself if you want to approach her.”

“That’s enough for me! Thank you, Miyama!”

“Don’t thank me, thank your childhood friend instead. If she didn’t ask me to do this, I wouldn’t even bother.”

“I see! Thank you, Tomo!”

Completely unaware of what was going on, Naotsugu expressed his gratitude to Tomoe.

Aoi almost stepped forward to sack him in the face, but she managed to hold it in.

“Being thankful isn’t enough! You should worship me, respect me and take this gratitude to your grave– no, to your next life!”

“O-Ow! Stop slapping my back like that, it hurts! Even the senpais on the baseball club wouldn’t hit me as hard! You’ll give me rashes on my skin!”

“Before worrying about that, you should worry whether your crush would be creeped out or not if you were to approach her so suddenly! Your body has grown to be this big, but you’re still acting like a child!”

“Speak for yourself! You haven’t changed at all! You always slapped my back whenever you got the chance to!”

Tomoe gently patted Naotsugu’s back, in which he responded to her without holding anything back.

“Hah?! I did it to encourage you! Instead of complaining, you should be grateful to me for it!”

“I’m grateful to you, but I don’t appreciate the violence!”

Tomoe had the same attitude as usual– No, she tried to act the same way as usual. She was trying to reenact the exchange that she did countless times in the past with Naotsugu. The action gave Aoi a sense of deja vu.

If one didn’t know her circumstances, they wouldn’t feel any discomfort after seeing that exchange. In fact, even her childhood friend didn’t notice anything.

But this only made Aoi feel even more worried about her. What kind of pain did she have to endure to pretend that nothing actually happened? How long could she endure that pain before she eventually broke down? Aoi couldn’t help but feel anxious about Tomoe’s unstable state of mind.

“Your body is massive, but you’re still a big ass loser! Are you sure you’re okay? Can you even greet her properly later?”

“O-Of course I can! Back when she asked me to be a model for her painting, we talked quite a bit! Rather, we got along well! She must have a good impression of me!”

“That could change for the worse if you’re too pushy, so be careful, okay?”

“Roger!”

“But, if you’re acting too distant, you’ll just creep her out, so be careful.”

“Roger! …W-Wait, then what should I do?!”

“Keep your eyes off her chest for starters.”

“Damn, that’s a tough one!”

In the end, Tomoe managed to keep her act up until the moment they broke up.

* * *

For Aoi, watching Tomoe’s behavior was like watching an inflated balloon that could burst at any moment. Due to this, she felt really uneasy about her situation. That was why as soon as she got home, she immediately texted Tomoe.

[Are you okay?]

After seeing the text that had been sent, a rush of embarrassment came over her. She felt ashamed of her own stupidity. Of course Tomoe wasn’t okay, her question was completely pointless.

She hurriedly tried to delete the message, but before she was able to do so, a reply from Tomoe came.

[I’m good!]

The reply came with a sticker of a cute-looking rabbit.

Seeing that her best friend could still act like this, Aoi felt relieved. But immediately after that, another reply came from Tomoe.

[I’m good, but you know, if only I didn’t fall in love with Nao, maybe I wouldn’t feel like this. Maybe I could help him more willingly.]

Before five seconds had passed, Tomoe deleted it and in its place, there was a new reply that said, [Sorry].

“What should I do? Should I really leave her alone?”

After looking at that short reply, Aoi muttered.

‘What kind of reply should I give to that one word reply?’ Aoi pondered. But even after the night passed, she still couldn’t find an answer to both questions.

* * *

Miyama Aoi wasn’t good at handling love affairs.

It wasn’t like she hated it, but she wasn’t particularly fond of it either.

To her, love was something that she’d read in novels or watch in dramas. Something that she could use as a topic of conversation with others.

Rather than romance, Aoi preferred stories that were related to heroes. If romance stories were something that she read to help her socialize with people, stories about heroes were something that she enjoyed wholeheartedly. She adored heroes so much that she filled her own bookshelves with shounen manga and American comics.

However, not even those heroes that Aoi adored would be able to help Tomoe with her troubles.

Of course, it wasn’t because they were powerless or anything, but her problem was something that was out of their jurisdiction. After all, what Tomoe needed wasn’t a hero of justice, but an expert of love.

Even if Aoi tried to pretend that she was a beautiful girl with hundreds of years of knowledge about love, she still couldn’t think of anything to say to Tomoe. She could probably give her an advice or two, but they wouldn’t help resolve Tomoe’s problem at its roots.

As far as Aoi was concerned, there was only one person that would be able to help Tomoe with her problem.

Aoi was looking at her social media while idling on her bed when she remembered about a certain account with the name of ‘Baku’. Yes, the account that Takayuki used for his love counseling service.

“…Hehe, I see.”

She went through the account’s page and browsed through the interactions between him and his followers.

He wasn’t Kaitou Ranma³Kaitou Ranma was a period drama about a detective that lives in the Meiji Era. I don’t know much about it, so I don’t exactly know what the reference entails, sorry. or anything, but the way he responded was polite, despite being a delinquent. Not only that, he always tried to help his clients patiently until they managed to come to a conclusion.

“Love counseling, huh?”

And so, Aoi decided to give it a try. Maybe this account that she found while searching in the dark would be her ray of light.

* * *

“Satou? That Satou Takayuki?”

“Yes, that guy with dead eyes.”

Next morning. On the way to school, Aoi planned to stop a student or two to find out more information about Takayuki. Before asking him for his love consultation service, she wanted to find out more about the person himself first.

She was looking for a girl that went to the same middle school as him. It would be more preferable if she were from a different class. Of course, with her identity as the perfect beauty, she had a wide arrange of contacts and she had already befriended the right person.

However, since it would be strange if she were to bring up the topic out of nowhere, Aoi started their conversation with a small talk before approaching the topic.

“Satou, huh? That guy is bad news. The thing about him is he’s the kind of person that attracts all sorts of problems without trying. There were rumors about him having some beef with other delinquents, but since he always got away unscathed, it seems like he’s really tough in fistfights. Back in middle school, he was often spotted together with girls and they all cried in front of him, so I assume that he’s a playboy of some sorts.”

The girl was Aoi’s friend from another class, Takayama. As she was speaking, she fiddled around her silver-rimmed glass to ease her nervousness. For Takayama who didn’t stand out much from the rest of the girls, it was hard not to be nervous around someone like Aoi.

“Rumors, huh? …Takayama-san, have you witnessed those rumors in person?”

“I saw a group of rough-looking adults wearing black suits bowing at him once and I never thought about trying to get myself involved with him ever since.”

“What? That’s quite something, isn’t it?”

“…Ah, right, those guys looked like guards of a selfish young lady or something, you know, the kind that you’d see in dramas.”

“Seriously, what kind of connection does he have? That actually scares me…”

Aoi tried to compare the Takayuki that she knew and the Takayuki that she heard from rumors, but she failed to make any connections between the two. It felt like they were two different people. The Takayuki that she knew was merely an ordinary high school student. Seeing the discrepancies between the rumors and the real person, Aoi tilted her head.

“A-Anyway, Miyama-san! It’s better for you to not involve yourself with that guy! It won’t end well for you!”

“I don’t want to involve myself with him, but he owes me something, so it’s all good. I doubt that he’ll try to hurt me or anything.”

“Eh? He owes you?”

“Yeah. I can ask for a favor from him, that’s why I’m trying to find out what kind of person he actually is. I want to use the favor wisely, after all.”

That was why she decided to investigate him. Though she had no intention to find out about the secret that he tried so desperately to hide. The result of her investigation was quite something, though.

“…Ah, that idiot… What kind of trouble did he get into this time?”

Hearing Aoi’s words, the student in front of her scratched her head before letting out a sigh.

Her face looked stunned as she grumbled, “That guy, seriously…” But it seemed like there was a sense of familiarity toward Takayuki in her tone.

“Miyama-san, let me be honest with you. I hate that guy, I don’t give a damn about that idiot, but you see…”

Takayama hurled abuses and curses at the boy, but there was something else hidden between those words.

“Even though he’s a jerk and an irredeemable asshole, you can count on him. Whatever your problem is, he’ll help you earnestly. So, please don’t be too harsh on him.”

Her words were clumsy, but the feelings inside those words were genuine.

Aoi wasn’t skillful enough to confirm what exactly those feelings were, but she was able to tell that Takayama was telling her the truth.

What Aoi managed to notice though, was the worry hidden between the curses and abuses.

“I’ll keep that in mind, but Takayama-san, what kind of relationship do you two—”

“L-Look at the time! I-I have to go now! See you at school, Miyama-san!”

When Aoi tried to ask her for more details, Takayama cut the conversation short and dashed out toward the school’s direction.

“…It seems like I need to find out more about Satou-kun.”

As she watched Takayama’s moving back, Aoi silently resolved herself.

She didn’t know whether he would become a ray of hope for her, but the boy named Satou Takayuki was too much of a mystery to be left alone.

* * *

To gather more information about Takayuki, Aoi tried her best to avoid coming into contact with her classmates.

She didn’t want her classmates to know that she was asking people around about him. Before long, not only she managed to dig out information about him from her friends, but also from the friends of her friends.

The result was 30% of them had a favorable impression about him, 50% of them admitted to hating his guts, but they had to acknowledge that he had good parts in him and the rest of them either had no interest in him or just didn’t want anything to do with him.

Apparently Satou Takayuki was more famous than Aoi had expected.

“I didn’t expect this…”

By the time Aoi’s investigation concluded, it was already noon. She managed to come to a conclusion.

Takayuki was a delinquent, but there was something in him that made people attracted to him.

“Is he a demon? A snake? Or probably even a monster?”

And so, Aoi decided to ask for Takayuki’s aid.

The fact that he was more experienced in regards to the matter of love was part of the reason for that, but more than that, Aoi wanted to see what kind of surprise he would show her.

Aoi decided to contact him.

She already managed to get his contacts by using ‘monitoring’ as a pretext, so that first hurdle was gone. Though, back when they exchanged contacts, Aoi remembered that the boy had a sour look.

Then, Aoi quickly operated the message app and sent him a text. All while grumbling that he should be more grateful toward her, after all it was rare for a boy to be able to exchange contacts with a pretty girl like her.

* * *

[We have to talk.]

[But, I haven’t done anything yet.]

[No, not about that, the other thing.]

[You’re scaring me. Can you be more clear?]

[What else do you think I’m talking about? It’s about the matter of love consultation.]

[Got it. Is it urgent?]

[Not really, but it’s preferable if it’s resolved quickly.]

[I have an appointment until five today, we’ll talk then.]

[If you don’t mind, you could just tell me the place where you’ll be having an appointment at, so I can get there as soon as possible.]

[Got it. Look for the park fifteen minutes away from school. The one where there’s a fountain in the middle.]

[Ah, okay.]

[Please be there on time– No, it’s okay if you’re late. It’s better if you don’t come at all.]

[Roger.]

* * *

Right after she finished exchanging texts with Takayuki, the school bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch break.

“Phew.”

After letting out a sigh, Aoi wrote a schedule in her note so that she wouldn’t forget about it.

[Satou-kun. Appointment. Park. 4.30]

Of course, she scheduled herself to arrive before the appointment.

She kept telling herself that she was doing this to keep an eye on him, but in truth she was just curious what he was up to.

“I’m going to see what you’re up to, Satou-kun~”

Aoi couldn’t help but let out a smile at the thought. It was an inappropriate expression to make in this kind of situation but she couldn’t care less about it.

After all, Miyama Aoi had not lost her adventurous spirit yet. The thought of discovering a hidden side of someone she knew made her heart pound in excitement.

* * *

Aoi saw a strange sight at the park.

“No! I want to play with Takayuki-kun more!”

“Taka-nii! Let’s play more!”

“I don’t want to go home!”

There was a humanoid lifeform that was being surrounded by children from every side. It seemed to be struggling to breathe due to a little girl hugging its face firmly.

“Mmph! Mmph!”

The humanoid lifeform, Takayuki, let out a groan in protest before he gently peeled the children off his body one by one.

However, despite his efforts, the children kept clinging on to him, creating an endless loop.

“C’mon! You guys are troubling him! Stop it!”

“It’s time to go home!”

“Seriously. Sorry about this, Takayuki-kun. I keep troubling you to take care of these children…”

However, the loop didn’t end up being an endless one as the mother of the kids forcibly pried her children away from Takayuki.

“Huff… Huff… I-It’s fine, the benefit goes both ways anyway… A-Anyway, see you guys later.”

““Bye!””

Takayuki saw the kids off while panting heavily. He then let out a deep sigh.

“…Didn’t I tell you not to come early?”

Then, he turned his glance to Aoi, who was sitting quietly on a bench while witnessing his pathetic state.

The current time was 4.52pm according to the large clock installed in the park.

“You did. But, consider this from my perspective, Satou-kun. You have a ‘criminal record’ already, so it’s my obligation to monitor you, especially when you were acting suspiciously like that.”

“Ugh…”

As her words hit a sore spot, Takayuki let out a groan.

Since Aoi held his weakness, he couldn’t really go against her words.

“But, I gotta admit that you surprised me. I never expected that you’d be so popular among the children… Sorry that I doubted you. I can bow my head if you want me to.”

“No need to. It isn’t like I’m doing this for free.”

“The children seem to be attached to you, though.”

“They’re children, they could be attached to anyone who is kind enough to them.”

Takayuki brushed the dust off his uniform before sitting down next to Aoi without any hesitation.

“So, what do you want to talk about?”

“Is it okay to talk about it in the open like this?”

“This park is a playground for the grade schoolers, no high schoolers or adults would ever come here to hang out. The kids won’t come here to play after 5pm, so there won’t be anyone to disturb us. We can talk for an hour or so here. Well, of course we can move to a better place if you want to.”

“No, here is fine.”

The reason why she asked that question was to test Takayuki. She was already aware that there were no people around them, but she wanted to make sure that he considered her circumstances.

Of course, Takayuki passed her test with flying colors. She decided that it should be okay to talk to him about Tomoe’s situation.

“Well, this is about my friend who lives in the next town over.”

But, she wouldn’t carelessly give out Tomoe’s name here. After all, she decided to consult Takayuki about her problem without telling Tomoe herself. With this, even if the content of their conversation was somehow leaked, no one would connect it to Tomoe.

“I see, so it’s the matter between Ukai and Mihara. Their problem is trickier than you thought, huh?

“!”

But, Takayuki managed to see through her lies.

“…What are you even talking about?”

“Sorry about this, but I figured it out the moment you contacted me. Well, even if I’m not a certified counselor, I should know this much if I want to call myself one.”

Aoi tried to suppress her reaction by acting as calm as possible, but it seemed like there was no point in doing it.

“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything to anyone. Even if I were to do it, everyone knows that it’s a bad idea to get on your bad side, so it’s pointless.”

“…Ugh.”

“C’mon, stop sulking. I can go on with your lies, but I just don’t want to complicate things later in the future, okay? Please, just bear with it.”

Hearing Takayuki said that in an aloof tone made Aoi shut her mouth close. She wasn’t childish enough to keep sulking in this situation, though, so she snapped out of it quickly.

After keeping a mental note on this shortcoming of hers, she proceeded to ask Takayuki a question,

“Speaking of the future, can you give me some sound advice for them, Satou-kun?”

“Before we get to that, let me ask you a question, Miyama. So, what you want to do is to ease Ukai’s broken heart, right? It isn’t for something stupid like wanting to be recognized by everyone for your feat of solving her relationship problem, right?”

“I hate it when my question is answered with another question… But, yes. I’m only doing this for Tomoe. Feat or whatnot, that superficial thing doesn’t matter. I won’t betray my friend’s trust in me for such a trivial matter. I just want to make Tomoe happy, that’s all.”

“Amazing. As expected of our Miss Honor Student.”

“This much is expected. Tomoe is my best friend.”

After hearing Aoi’s answer, Takayuki smirked.

“Your relationship is so beautiful… Ah, this isn’t sarcasm or anything, I’m genuinely praising you. Normally, people only came to me carrying dirty feelings like jealousy or betrayal. I really respect you.”

“…”

But his eyes weren’t smiling.

There was a possibility that he was just messing around with her, but Aoi dismissed it. The initial impression she had of the boy was off by a mile. He always did something beyond her expectations.

“Now that we’ve gone through all that, let’s begin. First thing first, though. There’s no sure-way to solve this problem of yours. The source of the problem is Ukai herself, after all. We can’t really do much until she becomes sick of the situation on her own.”

There was irreverence in his expression as Takayuki said his words.

Naturally, Aoi didn’t take his words well. She tried to suppress her bad mood and ask him another question.

“…Are you telling me to just give up and let her suffer?”

“That’s not what I mean. Here’s the thing, the problem is that this is what Ukai wanted. She was the one who put herself in this kind of situation. But here comes the question. Why did she do that in the first place?”

“Why?…”

“I’m an outsider in this matter, so this is just my speculation, but I think she’s too devoted to Mihara. Her devotion is already on the level of being abnormal. I’m not implying that it isn’t okay to hide her feelings like that, it’s completely fine. Taking a step back and letting her childhood friend chase after his love is also fine. The problem here is that she’s trying to actively help him. She brought this suffering upon herself.”

After hearing Takayuki’s words, Aoi pondered over Tomoe’s past behavior.

Indeed, there was something off about it. Yes, Tomoe was a kind girl who’d always put others before herself, but even for someone like her, this action was abnormal.

“Do you have any idea about this, Miyama? She seems to be thinking that she has to help Mihara no matter the cost. Does she have a life debt to him or something? Or maybe she’s feeling guilty about something? If it’s the latter, then she’ll be treating this suffering as just deserts.”

“…That’s…”

“You seem to know about something, but you don’t know whether it’s okay or not to tell me about it without asking her permission first. Got it, I’ll ask her for permission myself.”

Aoi blinked her eyes and tilted her head at Takayuki, who said everything so casually.

“Don’t you think it’ll be better if I’m the one who asks her for permission?”

“I don’t think it’s right for me to hear it from you. I know you’re involved with the case directly, but it’ll be better for me to hear everything from the person herself.”

“You want to talk with her? …Well, fine, I’ll let her know.”

“Honestly, I prefer face-to-face counseling. Well, if you’re worried that I’ll do something, you can just stay by her side. Well, that should be it for today, we’ll continue this tomorrow.”

“…I thought you said that there’s no sure-way to solve this problem, why do you look so confident?”

Aoi asked while glaring at him.

More than anyone, Aoi understood that she could use her beauty as a means of intimidation. That was why her glare looked both enchanting and intimidating.

“I mean, it’s true, there’s no cure-all for this situation. What we need to do for Ukai is to make her forget about her feelings completely. To do that, she has to go through this suffering to the point that she’ll regret everything. You, as her best friend, can help her with this, but not me since I’m a stranger to her.”

But Takayuki maintained the same attitude of aloofness and irreverence. He met Aoi’s glare with a fearless smile.

“Well, that’s how it normally goes. But there’s this neat thing that I have, a power that’s similar to magic.”

“…Huh?”

Aoi opened her eyes wide after hearing those words.

No one would blame her if she were to lash out at him in anger. Throwing out a joke-like sentence in the middle of a serious talk was anything but rude.

“Well, it doesn’t matter if you believe me or not, everything will end the same way anyway. All you need to understand is that I can solve Ukai’s problem.”

However, it was clear from his tone that he wasn’t joking.

“Wait a minute, are you being serious right now? There’s a magic that you can use to solve her problem?”

To Aoi’s question, Takayuki answered in a dignified manner.

“Yes, I have the power to eat other people’s love.”

He nonchalantly answered her question like that.

“…Could it be?”

Seeing Takayuki’s attitude, Aoi felt irritation and anticipation swirled inside her.

In all her life, there was only one person who could say such an absurd thing with confidence like that. However, that wasn’t enough for Aoi to make a final judgment on the matter.

The fact that he was wearing a similar looking red hairpin with her childhood hero wasn’t enough. The fact that he looked similar to her childhood hero also wasn’t enough.

Unless Aoi could confirm that everything he said was real, she wouldn’t come to any conclusion just yet.

* * *

Ukai Tomoe loved sprinting.

The thrill she felt when she gave it her all to dash under the sound of the signal pistol.

The feelings when she moved her legs and stopped thinking about anything else but to move forward.

The sensation of moving as fast as she could as she aimed for the finish line.

All those feelings were something that Tomoe couldn’t help but fall in love with. During that short amount of time, she could take her mind off her worries and the sense of freedom she felt when running was something that she enjoyed.

But the current Tomoe wasn’t able to feel that way.

“Ukai, you should clean up and take a break today. You don’t look good today. You’ll only hurt yourself if you keep this up for a moment longer.”

“…Yes.”

Tomoe obeyed the harsh words of the captain of the track club.

She understood where they came from. They didn’t chase her off because she became worse at running. Rather, it was because she couldn’t stay focused when she was running.

More than anything else, she felt embarrassed.

She felt like her action was insulting the sports itself.

“…Sigh.”

Tomoe’s steps were heavy. Each step was filled with her anguish and regret.

If there were people around, she’d always try to make it as if she was okay, but whenever there was no one around, she’d always find herself sighing and doing nothing all day long.

“Even so, I still have to do it…”

It felt painful, yet Tomoe reminded herself over and over that this was something that she must do. No matter how much she was hurting, no matter what she had to sacrifice, she told herself that this was her duty.

“That idiot over there, why do you look so down? I can see why the captain sent you home early.”

“…Aoi.”

After hearing someone calling up to her, Tomoe was finally able to register her surroundings.

It was then that she realized that Aoi was waiting for her in front of the school gate and she was currently forcefully grabbing her collar.

“Jeez, you’re so out of it. At least pay attention to your surroundings, you’ll get into an accident if you walk around listlessly like that.”

“Uu… T-There’s no way that’ll happen! I-I’m perfectly fine!”

“Sure you are. You know that I can tell you’re forcing yourself to act cheerful, right? Seriously, if you keep this up, nothing good will happen.”

Aoi released her hands from Tomoe’s collar and firmly grabbed her shoulders before pulling her closer.

“In any case, follow me. There’s someone that can solve your problem.”

“…Huh?”

Those words were like finding an oasis in the middle of a desert. Tomoe, who was nearly at her limit, had no reason to turn her best friend down, so she nodded her head.

* * *

“Hello, I’m Satou Takayuki, a love counselor. Nice to meet you.”

The moment she sat down in front of her notorious classmate, Tomoe regained her vigor out of fear.

Takayuki’s irreverent smile somehow triggered her survival instinct.

“Um, Aoi? You’re making me doubt our three years-long friendship…”

Aoi dragged her to a restaurant that hadn’t even opened yet without giving her a chance to resist. Then she dragged her to the corner of the restaurant only to find Takayuki there, waiting for her with his usual irreverent smile. Considering how many bad rumors were circling around about the boy, Tomoe’s reaction was justified.

“It’s fine, Tomoe, just trust me. I hold one of his weaknesses, so you don’t need to be wary of him.”

“Aoi, while I’m thankful to you, your words just made me scared of you instead of him…”

“…See, Satou-kun? I told you going to a cafe will be better.”

“Cafes are no good, too many people there. This is as good as we get because it isn’t like we can rent a room in a hotel somewhere. I had a lot of trouble trying to get permission from the owner’s wife to borrow this place, you know? Give me a break.”

“Ah, so that’s why you were playing with the children the other day. It was to gain her trust.”

“Yes. Though I could only use this place for specifically high school students’ clients.”

When Tomoe saw them talking normally in front of her, she let her guard down a little.

The boy was here to help her, she understood that much at least.

“First of all, let me apologize, Tomoe. I told him about your situation without asking for your permission. Even if I’m your best friend, I did something inappropriate.”

The counseling began with Aoi bowing her head to Tomoe.

“D-Don’t be! Y-You were only thinking about me, you don’t need to apologize!”

“Still, I shoulda asked for your permission first. Sorry.”

“…Seriously, you don’t need to act like this, it isn’t a big deal.”

Tomoe responded to Aoi’s apology with a wry smile.

Even though she knew that she didn’t do anything wrong, Aoi still apologized. Tomoe began to appreciate the loyalty of her best friend.

“Ah, let me tell you this, Miyama didn’t mean to tell me that she was talking about you. It’s just, I managed to guess it thanks to me knowing roughly about our classmates’ love lives.”

Takayuki gave Aoi, who was still bowing her head, a follow up. Then, he continued,

“Besides, no matter how hard you’re trying to keep your situation a secret, it will leak sooner or later. I know that you guys are spreading rumors to keep everyone from going after Naotsugu’s ass. But you know, what? That won’t stop people from finding out about the truth. Also, Ukai, if you keep this up, you’ll reach the limit eventually and when that happens, even that awfully dense childhood friend of yours will notice that there’s something wrong with you.”

“!”

Takayuki’s words made Tomoe’s shoulders jolted in surprise.

Of course, it wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about that outcome. It was just, she had been busy trying to prevent that outcome from happening,

“I heard that you had to take a leave early from your club today. Sure, you can get by for a few days if you tell people that you aren’t feeling well, but if the situation doesn’t change, eventually, people will connect the dots and find out about your situation with Naotsugu. That will be enough for people to make up absurd rumors about your childhood friend.”

The calm remarks from a third party had enough of an effect to make Tomoe’s face turn pale.

What little energy that she had was starting to fade away at a rapid pace. She began to worry that all of her efforts had been in vain or maybe even counterproductive. Tomoe hung her head down and clutched her chest tightly. ‘If only I could erase these feelings, everything would be easier for me,’ she thought.

“And so, let’s finish it all before it’s too late, Ukai. I’m going to take those feelings away from you.”

“…Um, what?”

She failed to understand his words. Her head that had been hanging down was involuntarily raised up.

Until just now, his words had been filled with things that made her feel despair. The sudden lifeline that he gave her threw Tomoe’s heart into turmoil.

“U-Um, Aoi?”

“Just trust him for now. It isn’t like we have a lot of choice here. Don’t worry, if he were to try something strange, I’ll break his fingers.”

Puzzled, Tomoe turned her gaze toward her best friend. But, Aoi’s reply didn’t clear her confusion at all.

“Buzz off! Hands off my fingers, I won’t do anything to her!”

“Oh my? You should be happy, a beautiful girl is holding your hand willingly.”

“If anything I’m going to cry because you’re gripping it so tightly… Anyway…”

Takayuki tried to pry Tomoe’s hand away from him before turning his gaze back to Tomoe. His pathetic look was gone, replaced by a calm and serious look.

“Ukai. Tell me everything about your circumstances. If you don’t do this, I won’t be able to do anything.”

“Eh? Could it be…”

Tomoe took a glance at Aoi, but before Aoi could open her mouth, Takayuki already cut her off.

“Miyama hasn’t told me anything. This is a sensitive matter for you, isn’t it? She knows better.”

“…I see.”

Tomoe nodded weakly. She felt ashamed for suspecting her best friend even after everything that she had done for her.

“But still, we won’t get anywhere if you were to keep your mouth shut like this.”

Tomoe nodded and looked up. Her gaze met Takayuki’s.

His eyes, normally looked gloomy and stagnant, similar to that of a dead animal’s, perfectly reflected Tomoe’s figure.

“…”

However, Tomoe was still hesitant to tell Takayuki about this.

“Well, I understand your feelings. Speaking your heart out is hard, everyone also feels the same way, but you know what? Your silence won’t fix anything, Ukai. I know that it’s hard for you to trust me, but know that it was Miyama who brought you to me. She’s genuinely concerned about you, so just trust her instead. And so…”

Takayuki stared at Tomoe’s eyes and asked her a question, as if trying to probe her heart.

“Ukai Tomoe, what was it that made you willingly throw yourself into this path ridden with thorns?”

“…That’s…”

Before long, Tomoe’s mouth began to move.

* * *

It happened back when Tomoe was a fourth grader. During a picnic in the middle of autumn.

The reason why Tomoe fell in love was because she actually fell down.

Yes, her love began when she fell off a cliff.

It wasn’t hard to figure out the cause. As a kid, Tomoe was a tomboy who loved to run around. She was the kind of kid who’d let her feet lead her everywhere. During that time, Tomoe was running on a mountain road that looked more like a mountain trail than anything. Her parents warned her to not go too far but to no avail.

Even back then, she was already the fastest kid in her age range. The bumpy mountain road, filled with thick tree roots, rough rocks and rough paths were only fueling her determination to run faster rather than making her wary.

“Eh?…”

When she was running around and came across a thick patch of grass, her world flipped upside down. But Tomoe, clueless as she was, didn’t even notice her situation until the moment her body was about to hit the ground.

“Ouchie… Hehe, that was a failure! But at least the cliff wasn’t as high as I thought.”

“…Ow.”

Tomoe found out that she had messed up when she noticed Naotsugu, who managed to break her fall spectacularly.

Naotsugu himself had been chasing after her out of worry. The moment he saw Tomoe was about to fall into the cliff, he jumped in to save her without hesitating. In the end, he ended up falling right under Tomoe’s body.

“N-Nao! Your leg! Your leg!”

“I’m… Fine! I-I can take this much… T-This barely hurts me, instead i-it’s making me yawn. B-But, can you call my parents here? I-I’m a little tired…”

“…Y-Yes!”

As it turned out, neither of them were seriously injured.

Like Naotsugu mentioned, the cliff wasn’t that high. Naotsugu’s body was strong enough to endure the fall and break Tomoe’s fall on top of that. Aside from that, there was actually a clinic just near their picnic spot, so they could receive treatment almost immediately. The fall wouldn’t hinder their normal lives.

Or at least that would be the case if they lived in a perfect world. Sadly, Naotsugu’s leg had to be sacrificed for their well being.

* * *

“Sorry… I’m sorry, Nao!…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine! I love milk anyway! I’ll drink enough of them to get better in no time!”

Naotsugu’s words somehow came true when school started, though he still had to wear a cast on his left leg. Both his overall health and broken leg was healed a week ahead of schedule with no aftereffects. In fact, as soon as he wore off his cast, he could immediately play baseball again.

However, he was unable to participate in the baseball tournament he wanted to be in. No matter how fit he was, it was impossible to participate in a tournament with a broken leg.

Tomoe’s first love began from this point. The fact that Naotsugu risked his life to save her from a tough situation was enough to make those feelings appear in her heart.

But, she never confessed her feelings to him.

Because starting from this time onward, their relationship had become slightly distorted.

“Tomo is in danger! I have to save her!”

Having almost lost his childhood friend right in front of his eyes, Naotsugu grew to be overprotective of her. As long as Tomoe didn’t reject his presence, he’d always try to find a way to stick by her side.

The accident had distorted the nature of their relationship.

Seeing her childhood friend caring for her made Tomoe happy. Alongside that happiness though, there was a slight pain. Over time, the pain that she felt became stronger and stronger to the point that it became unbearable for her.

And now, that pain was ready to tear Tomoe’s heart apart.

* * *

“In other words, you’re in love with Mihara, but at the same time, you feel guilty for loving him.”

When Tomoe finished telling her story, Takayuki summarized the content in a muttering.

Hearing his muttering, something clicked in Tomoe’s mind.

“I feel guilty? …I guess so, huh?… I feel guilty for loving him…”

A wry smile appeared on her face, but it only showed for a moment as she immediately covered her face with both hands.

“Still, everything was my fault, you know? If I didn’t do such a stupid thing, Nao wouldn’t be injured… He could have participated in that tournament back then… But… But… Instead of feeling bad about it, I fell in love with him instead! I thought that he was cool back then! He sacrificed his life for me and I was all giddy about it! Hahaha! I’m so disgusting, right? I know…”

At first, her words were filled with grunts before she started screaming her words out. Not long after, she started to laugh.

She laughed at her pathetic self.

At her own feelings.

“Right! I made a fool of myself and thanks to that, Nao had been treating me like an annoying little sister that he couldn’t get rid off even if he wanted to! Sure, I could confess my feelings to him and we could probably live happily ever after, but I don’t want that! I don’t care about my feelings for him! Hell, if I could throw these feelings away, I would do it in a heartbeat! All I wanted is to go away from his life, I’ll be content with that! That should be the thing that I wanted but… When Nao said he fell in love with someone, I became a wreck like this… Seriously, I’m such an idiot…”

Seeing her best friend struggling to say anything more as her face was starting to be covered with tears and snot, Aoi opened her mouth, trying to say something. But, no words came out of her mouth.

There was nothing she could say to her. Tomoe was currently in a really fragile state, if Aoi were to be careless with her words, she’d end up hurting her best friend even more. She started to blame herself for her powerlessness. The girl simply couldn’t stand seeing her best friend’s tears any longer.

Aoi knew that Tomoe was by no means in the wrong here. So, she decided to tell her to accept her own feelings.

Let Tomoe be ridden in her guilt and suffer for a bit more, driving her to the limits with cold words. And after all that, try to comfort her somehow with warm, yet strong words. Reward her suffering with the warmest feelings she could provide. The method was clumsy, but this was the only thing that Aoi could come up with to stop her best friend’s tears.

“We’re not done yet, Ukai.”

However, before Aoi could do anything, Takayuki called out to Tomoe, completely ignoring Aoi’s dilemma.

“Eh?”

“Seriously, why do you act like you’re giving up? Didn’t I tell you before that I’m going to take your pain away? I’m going to do it now.”

His words sounded so light that no one would be blamed if they were to take them as a bad joke.

If one were to follow the common sense, there was nothing Takayuki could do here. The cause of Tomoe’s problem was something that was irreversible, even Aoi, her best friend, couldn’t think of a way to solve her problem. Takayuki’s confidence reminded Aoi of a certain young boy who said something similar to her.

“…Stop joking. There’s no way you could do such a convenient thing. Or are you telling me that you’re going to use magic right now?”

Naturally, Tomoe called bull on his words. According to common sense, there was no way that kind of convenience method existed.

“Exactly, I’m going to use my magic right now. It’s a tiny little magic that will make your pain and suffering disappear, but…”

Except that the boy who was sitting in front of her with his lips curved up didn’t look like someone who’d act according to the common sense that Tomoe knew.

The way he smiled made Tomoe feel eerie. It made the boy in front of her seem inhuman.

“My magic isn’t omnipotent. Once I erased those feelings, it’s gone forever. Just like you can’t fix a cracked egg, you can’t get your love back no matter how hard you’re crying to me. That’s why I’m going to ask you, are you okay with this?”

Irreverent and confident.

He had an expression that said he could overturn the world even if he wanted to. Evil was a word that could describe his expression. If Takayuki were to admit that he was actually the devil at that moment, Tomoe would easily believe him.

“…Yes, I’m okay with that.”

And so, Tomoe gave in to the devil’s whispers.

After all, the devil in front of her was able to grant her something that she had always wanted.

For that reason, making a deal with the devil didn’t sound so bad.

“I’ll believe your nonsense as long as I can erase these feelings, Satou…”

“I see. Let me ask you once again just to make sure. You’re okay with this? I won’t accept any take backs after this.”

“Don’t worry, just proceed. I mean, I never wanted to be Nao’s lover. I just want to help him achieve his dreams.”

Tomoe shrugged off Takayuki’s words as she spoke of her true feelings.

Then, she wiped her face that was stained with tears and snot with her uniform and smiled.

“I’m ready.”

Tomoe stood up from her seat and declared those words proudly with the most Tomoe-like smile that Aoi had ever seen. It was the smile of a person who’d brave through any danger.

“Phew… I see… Well, sit down first, we have to follow the procedure if we want to do this.”

“…Okay.”

However, her smile didn’t last long as it was replaced by a cramped smile filled with embarrassment. She regretted acting so courageously like that.

“This won’t hurt, relax.”

“A-Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Miyama, go grab— I mean, support her from behind. Yes, just like that, perfect. Now, Ukai, like I said, this won’t hurt, you can even keep your eyes opened if you want to.”

“Huh? W-Wait, what are you going to do to me?! Why does the procedure look so ordinary? I-I’m not going to die, am I?!”

The ordinary looking procedure made Tomoe feel uneasy more than anything. She expected something more grandiose, but instead she had a feeling like she was facing a dentist right now. It was supposed to be nothing big, but the dread she felt was immense.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, it’ll be done in a jiffy, Tomoe… Right, Satou-kun?”

Aoi turned her glance toward Takayuki.

“Yeah. We’ve gone through the most painful process, so all I need to do is to finish it in one go.”

Takayuki’s expression didn’t change.

With a confident smile on his face, he casually extended his fingertips to Tomoe’s forehead.

“For me, eating out someone’s ‘love’ is as easy as taking candy from a baby.”

The moment his finger touched Tomoe’s forehead, the latter’s consciousness was cut off.

* * *

Aoi witnessed everything up close.

From the moment Takayuki’s fingertips touched Tomoe’s forehead and she lost her consciousness. Then right after that, something that looked like mist emerged from her limp body.

The mist-like substance looked glittery as it swirled around Takayuki’s finger. Eventually, it turned spherical before Takayuki casually threw it into his mouth as if he was eating candy. From his gesture, it seemed like he was used to doing this.

“It’s hard, bitter and salty. It tastes like burnt bacon and eggs. The classic taste of regret and anguish.”

Contrary to his spiteful tone, his expression was cheerful.

Though, when he noticed that Aoi was staring at him, his expression turned awkward. He let out a few coughs before changing his expression to his normal one.

“Ah, Miyama… Like I said, this is something similar to magic. Ukai lost consciousness because her body finally let go of all the tension that she felt previously. She’ll regain her consciousness soon, so don’t worry–”

“Satou-kun.”

“Yes.”

Hearing Aoi’s unexpectedly firm tone, Takayuki stood up straight. He was trying to decide what kind of expression should he show to her in this kind of situation, an important decision since it concerned his life and death. After all, if he were to make a wrong decision here, he’d most likely be finished socially. One thing was certain for him, though. No matter what he said here, the end result would be the same.

After all, there was no one in this world that managed to perceive his power, let alone understanding or remembering it.

“What was that just now?”

“What?”

However, something that exceeded Takayuki’s expectations happened right in front of him.

“That glittering mist…”

“…You can see it?”

“Mhm.”

No, it wasn’t only his expectation that was overturned, his common sense was also overturned by the girl in front of him.

“Am I not supposed to see it?”

Noticing Takayuki’s frozen expression, Aoi let out a smile as she tilted her head.

“…Uh, not really?”

Takayuki decided to run away since there was no way that he could deceive her at this point. But before he could do anything, Aoi already grabbed his hand tightly.

It was then that he noticed Tomoe’s body resting peacefully while leaning on the table.

“Satou-kun.”

“Wait, let’s talk this out. I know how you feel, but as human beings we should try to solve everything by talking it out first! So, please let go of my hand— Huh? Miyama?”

“That red hairpin.”

Takayuki stopped his pleading as he made eye contact with Aoi.

He didn’t notice it because he was afraid of her, but unlike what he had expected, there was no anger in Aoi’s eyes. Instead, there was an indescribable pure and intense emotion there.

“My hero. My cool hero.”

Then, Aoi said something that only a select amount of people would understand.

There was prayer and hope hidden beneath those words.

Takayuki’s eyes widened in response to that. The face he made looked so weird that it wouldn’t be strange if Aoi were to laugh at him for that.

“Ha… Hahaha! What the hell, hero? That’s not something you’d normally say to a monster like me.”

Even though he laughed, there seemed to be sadness hidden beneath his laugh.

* * *

Aoi didn’t know why Takayuki was making a face like that.

However, there was one thing that she knew. No matter how inexplicable the situation was, there was one thing that Aoi was sure of.

“We met again, my hero.”

It was the fact that she was finally reunited with her childhood hero.

* * *

Mihara Naotsugu’s love life was going well.

With the help of his childhood friend, he managed to befriend the senpai he had a crush on. At first, he was afraid of being unable to talk with her since they were in different clubs, but with Tomoe giving him enough courage to do so, he managed to successfully capture his crush’s interest.

“At this point, if I were to confess to her, won’t she accept it?”

“Idiot, what did I tell you?! Don’t be too pushy or else she’ll come to hate you instead!”

However, even when his love life was successful, he never forgot to go home together with his childhood friend. It seemed like it was ingrained within his body to do so without him realizing it.

“G-Got it, I won’t do that! So, should I pull back a little? That way she won’t think I’m being pushy.”

“Idiot, if you do that, she’ll think that you came to hate her! Think about it for a second! She’s a quiet and ladylike person, if you were to pull that move on her, you’ll just hurt her!”

“T-Then, what should I do?!”

“For starters, keep your eyes off her chest!”

“Damn, that’s a tough one!”

This was how they usually interacted with each other.

Tomoe was like a little sister to Naotsugu, someone that he had to protect. She was also a good friend that he could rely on. It was because of Tomoe’s help that his dull self managed to catch an eye of his crush. For that, he was grateful to Tomoe.

“With that said… I guess we can’t walk to school together anymore, huh?”

“Eh?”

That was why, when Tomoe said those words as a joke, it made Naotsugu stop in his tracks.

“Huh? What are you so surprised about? Think about it for a second, I’m a girl, a pretty one to boot. If I were to keep staying by your side, you won’t be able to get a girlfriend.”

“T-That… B-But… I-It’s dangerous for a girl to walk to school by herself!”

“I’ll be fine! I can just go with my friend! Rather, I’m thankful that I won’t be going with you since I’ll be going with the most beautiful girl at school every morning! Eat that, you loser!”

“Tomo, I’m not joking—”

“You know what, Nao?”

To prevent Naotsugu from saying anything else, Tomoe held her finger on his mouth.

“It’s fine. I can get by myself even without you, Nao.”

When she showed him a fragile smile that seemed like it was about to disappear at any moment, Naotsugu understood everything. But sadly for him, everything was too late. That was why he could only respond to her with a wry smile.

He started blaming himself for being the worst kind of asshole to his best friend. He convinced himself that someone like him should just ram his head to a pole and die right then.

“I see. I guess so, huh? We’re already high school students, huh?”

Naotsugu then muttered the words that would change their relationship forever.

With that, he finally realized that relationships were something that could change over time.

* * *

“Phew… Everything’s finally over…”

After saying what she needed to her childhood friend, she immediately parted ways with him.

However, she had no plans afterwards. After all, parting ways from him was something that she did in spur of the moments. She just wanted them to be apart from each other, that was it.

“…At least I managed to say everything properly.”

But for some reason, she was wearing a proud smile on her face.

The pain of her broken heart made her tremble a little, but it wasn’t enough to make her cry, hell it wasn’t even enough to make her stop walking. She knew that over time, even this painful experience would turn into a good memory for her.

“Alright, now what should I do?~”

As she walked along the road, she suddenly felt a small vibration coming from her phone. When she opened it, she found out that one of her classmates invited her to a karaoke session.

“Ahaha, well, I guess that’s what I’m gonna do.”

With a grin on her face, she turned around and started walking again.

From the lonely way home, to the place where her friends were at.

* * *

“…Everything seems to be okay.”

“You’re so overprotective, don’t you realize that?”

“Speak for yourself.”

“Aftercare is part of the service.”

Watching Tomoe from the shadows were Aoi and Takayuki.

Seeing the determined look on Tomoe’s face, the two were sure that she was going to be okay. Nevertheless, it was human nature to be worried over others, so they didn’t stop watching her until she was out of their sight.

“Well, I’ve seen enough, so I’m going now.”

“Wait, Satou-kun.”

“…What is it?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Nope, I’m busy. Save it for later.”

“Can’t you spare some time for me?”

“Nope, the kids will cry if I dawdle any longer.”

“Kids?… Ah, is it the payment for borrowing the restaurant the other day? Well, since it’s that important, it can’t be helped then.”

“No, it’s unrelated. I need to hurry because the limousine will arrive anytime soon, so see you.”

“Limousine?! Wait, what?! Hey, I’m not done yet!”

Takayuki managed to slip out from Aoi’s grasp when she let her guard down a little. His movements were too quick for Aoi to follow and he managed to get far enough to disappear from her sight. However, there was something that Takayuki managed to overlook.

“…Well, I can ask him tomorrow.”

It was the fact that they were classmates. Whether he liked it or not, he’d have to deal with her again tomorrow.