Episode 135: Respective Motives

Right from the start of the new semester, my girlfriend… wait, the idiot girl who thinks she’s my girlfriend, Sasagawa Yuzuha, is noisy as hell.

If I had to rank her, she’s about a Number 5.

Being in the same class means we have a lot of contact, which makes her pointlessly annoying.

「…And that’s the vibe, but Hayato-kun has an acquaintance at that school, right? Ask him for me!」

Hah… what an idiot girl as always.

She’s an eyesore, but I can’t let her go yet, considering the use I’ll have for her and the girls parasitic to her later.

At least her face is decent…

But… to think Takanashi would get involved again.

For now, that guy Yokogawa is probably out of reach.

There’s no way Takanashi hasn’t told him about her.

Thinking she’s safe just because she apologized… her brain must be boiling.

I mean, does she actually believe Takanashi will forgive everything just because she apologized at the end?

Whatever, ignoring the moron. More importantly, Takanashi.

This looks like fun, maybe I’ll let him play a round of overtime from middle school.

That was a masterpiece, after all.

I panicked when I heard rumors about my girl problems, but thanks to this idiot girl moving the right way, I managed to crush him early.

Utilizing the connections between girls makes spreading rumors easy, and it’s a cinch to unite those classroom dimwits under the「Takanashi = Evil」banner.

Is everyone really that scared of being left out? (lol)

But this time, the pattern of using girls is tough… for now, I’ll try moving those two.

If it works, I get to enjoy myself. If it fails, I’ve just spread some rumors, so there’s no risk. A simple game.

Besides, I’m busy aiming for my real target right now.

I’ve no time to spend too much on Number 5, or Takanashi…

「Hey, what should we do?」

「Yamazaki really thinks we’re his errand boys.」

「I mean, to think Yamazaki and Takanashi were connected.」

「Even if we spread rumors, there’s nothing in it for us.」

「Ever since that incident, Yamazaki hasn’t shared any girls with us…」

「I don’t want to be seen as an accomplice, and I don’t want girls from him.」

「Right. In that case, calling Takanashi out and using this as leverage to get him to provide some girls would be way better. He’s got a weirdly high number of connections with girls.」

「I’d prefer Satsukawa-senpai, though.」

「Stay away from her, or you’ll end up like the upperclassmen.」

「What about the rumors?」

「Just let Tagami handle that annoying stuff. He’s in Satsukawa-senpai’s fan club, so he’ll move on his own.」

「Takanashi… Takanashi…」

I’ll exterminate the pest parasitic to the Princess.

But I heard something good. Those guys probably think they’re using me, but I’m the one who’ll use them.

If I get rid of Takanashi, there’s no doubt the Princess will be grateful to me… and then the Princess and I… gufufu.

Huh? I’m pretty sure that area was Takanashi-kun’s shoe locker…

A suspicious-looking guy just put something inside.

Could it be a love letter? A guy to a guy?

I won’t say it’s impossible, but… no, if that’s the case, it’s likely an unpleasant letter.

Or rather, it’s not even confirmed to be Takanashi-kun’s locker yet.

For now, if I just check the name on the door…

「Hello, Todo-san.」

「Ah, hello, Satsukawa-senpai.」

It’s rare for Satsukawa-senpai to speak to me… or rather, it would’ve been unthinkable before.

Well, it’s because Takanashi-kun is involved; otherwise, we wouldn’t be talking like this.

But Satsukawa-senpai being Takanashi-kun’s girlfriend… I still can’t believe it…

「Hello. Is something wrong? You seemed to be thinking deeply about something.」

Yuzuki-senpai’s talking about the love letter(?) just now, right? Not the part where I can’t believe she’s Takanashi-kun’s girlfriend, right?

「Um, just now, there was a guy who put something in a shoe locker… it looked like it was around Takanashi-kun’s.」

Hearing my story up to that point, the two of them opened Takanashi-kun’s shoe locker without hesitation.

Eeeh… is that okay?

Yuzuki-senpai pulled a piece of paper out of the locker.

It really was like a letter…

Yuzuki-senpai opened the letter, which was folded in half.

「I’ll be waiting on the rooftop after school. If you don’t want to be exposed on the spot, come alone, you stalker bastard.」

Exposed?

Stalker bastard?

Takanashi-kun?

「Stalker? I don’t really get it, but now what should we do? As an option, this…」

「I’ll collect the letter for now and handle this matter myself.」

Apparently, Satsukawa-senpai doesn’t intend to let Takanashi-kun know.

More importantly, there’s a phrase that bothers me personally.

「Hmm… hey Todo-san, what was the person who put this letter in like?」

「Let’s see… um, his movements were a bit fidgety, like he might like anime or something…」

「Ah, that’s Sara’s fan cl—」

「No such eyesore exists.」

「Ah, right.」

Takanashi-kun’s name, stalker, exposed…

I have a bad feeling.

But…

「Um, you’re going to meet that person, right?」

Sara-san probably intends to go in Takanashi-kun’s place and do something.

「Yes. How I dispose of them will depend on what they have to say… first, I have to make them confess the truth of the background.」

Satsukawa-senpai muttered something under her breath.

「Sara, I’m going too, just in case.」

「No, I will—」

「No, after what happened before, I’m not letting you go alone. If you don’t take me with you, I’m telling Takanashi-kun.」

Did something happen before?

Overwhelmed by Yuzuki-senpai’s intensity, looking like she wouldn’t back down an inch, Satsukawa-senpai reluctantly nodded.

「Hah… fine. On the condition that you trust me… no, that you trust Kazunari-san, no matter what is said there.」

「Fufun, that’s a silly question… as if I’d ever doubt you two. I mean, saying something like that must mean…」

「If you keep flapping your mouth, I’m not taking you.」

The word「trust」from Satsukawa-senpai only adds to my anxiety and suspicion.

Maybe… thinking that, I really wanted to hear that story.

「Um, can I go too? I think it’s safer if there are more people.」

「? You too, Todo-san? But you…」

「Please… let me go with you.」

To show her I was serious, I didn’t look away from Satsukawa-senpai.

「…Understood. It seems you have a reason. Same condition as Natsumi…」

「I’m okay. I just have to trust Takanashi-kun, right?」

I answered immediately without skipping a beat.

I’ve watched Takanashi-kun’s character myself.

Even if Takanashi-kun really was「Takanashi Kazunari,」I have no intention of swallowing those rumors whole.

「I see. Then let’s meet up after school… we have a promise, okay?」

You understand, right?

A dangerous air emanated from Satsukawa-senpai, as if she were saying that.

And her eyes are scary… was this what Satsukawa-senpai was like before Takanashi-kun was around?