My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 360

My hand grasped Asuhain's arm.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly like this...!"

Asahi-no-in continued to turn her back to me, answering as if forcing out a sound:

"...It didn't happen suddenly."

“Eh…?”

"I've been... in so much pain... unwilling to admit it... yet so angry... my mind and heart are in complete turmoil..."

Asuhain's shoulders were trembling.

It's like a dam on the verge of collapse—

"Why do I have to keep thinking about you like this? I don't want this... I just want it to stop..."

"Did I do something wrong...? If so—"

"You...didn't do anything. But I've always...considered you my formidable rival!"

formidable rival

I remember now. I remember the challenging look in her eyes when we first met in the student council room.

I remember the look in her eyes when she looked at me during exams, a look full of fighting spirit.

Then it dawned on me—she stopped looking at me like that after I entered second grade.

No, it didn't start like this after we moved up to second grade.

It all started when Asahina-in beat me and got first place in the final exam of the third semester of first year—

—I see, I understand now.

I—

"Why...why won't you be upset about losing to me!"

—The first time I lost to Asuhain-kun.

I was excited and restless at that time. Resuming my relationship with Mizuto made me incredibly happy.

My exam ranking was no longer important to me at that point.

So, facing Asuhain, who came in first place—the one who had beaten me for the first time…

I said this frankly and without any reservations:

Congratulations!

"I was serious! I thought you were serious too! That's why I listened to you and kept getting enough sleep... I made the most of every minute to study hard... It was so hard! So hard to beat you!"

The overflowing emotions echoed in the resort at night.

"Is it strange that I take even a small exam so seriously?! Are you guys who are obsessed with dating considered normal?! Then tell me! How do I become normal?! Someone like me who has never been attracted to a boy in my entire life, you tell me what to do!"

Ah—it's too late. I'm so slow to realize this.

Whether it's President Hong or Senior Sister Ya Shuang, everyone has found boyfriends and they talk about these things all the time.

She, however, never managed to join in on these topics.

I never imagined she'd be bothered by something like this... I thought she'd just find our conversation boring and ignore it...

But he never considered her feelings and never asked her directly.

"I'm...I'm sorry...I...don't understand you at all..."

"It doesn't matter anymore."

Her tone was so cold, as if her previous agitation was all fake.

However, when Asahiko turned around, her eyes were filled with tears.

Then she told me.

Put on a mask and sever ties with me.

"Anyway, you wouldn't understand what I'm thinking, would you?"

Taking advantage of my weakened hand, she forcefully shook me off.

Then it gradually disappeared into the night.

This time, I couldn't catch up.

I couldn't even call out to her.

Any single word is beyond my current capabilities.

Lacking self-awareness and still believing we were friends, I was incapable of shouldering this responsibility.

(Illustration 008)

Volume 11 Anyway You Won't Understand Chapter 3 The Third Day of In-Depth Exploration

How can I, Yui Irido, continue to remain ignorant?

The third day of the school trip, morning arrives—

I slowly sat up in bed and saw that one of the four beds was already empty.

...Tomorrow's Yeh-in classmate...

Even her personal belongings were packed neatly, with only the wrinkles on the bed sheets remaining as a trace of her existence.

I remembered what happened last night.

Thinking back to how I could only watch helplessly as Asuhain-san ran away, and then what happened next—

"Tomorrow Ye-in didn't peek."

Under the trees, where the lights were hung exceptionally brightly, Shuidou said this.

"Nan was guarding the pool entrance at the time... When I heard her say that, I was sure. I should have listened to you more carefully... I'm sorry."

"……What's the meaning……?"

I crouched under the tree and asked weakly. Water Fighter answered me:

"Since Nan is guarding the entrance to the pool, the prisoner must wait until we all return to our rooms before he can sneak out of the locker room and into the corridor."

"You mean... that person is hiding? Hiding somewhere, undetected by us...?"

"That's the only possibility. There are plenty of long, narrow lockers in the locker room."

...Indeed there is...

The lockers in the changing room... if we hide in there, we won't be able to find us...

"Remember when I arrived in the hallway later than you? Actually, that's because I checked the lockers in the men's locker room. You probably didn't go that far."

"……No……"

So back then—that figure was hiding in…the women's changing room I passed by…?

"The prisoner waited until we were all gone and Nan stopped keeping watch before sneaking out of the lockers in the women's changing room... That way, the prisoner couldn't possibly get back to the room before us."

"……Um."

"When you returned to your room, Asuhain was already inside, so she couldn't be the culprit. Because if she were the culprit, it would be that she chased after you, who went straight back to your room, and ran back there."

"Um……"

"...Yume, do you know why I'm telling you all this now?"

I slowly shook my head. I no longer had the mood to ponder these questions.

Mizuto said gently:

"She wasn't the prisoner spying on us. But Asuhain did have a wound on her thigh, and someone was indeed injured in that thicket."

"……ah……"

"And today—that is, the very next day—Asuhain changed her attitude. I believe she did hide in that bush for some reason. Not for our date, but at some other time—Asuhain was hiding in that bush and saw something that made her change her attitude... I guess what I just said was triggered by what she saw."

—Anyway, you wouldn't understand what I'm thinking, would you?

Those words, which sounded like they were rejecting me completely and conveyed a sense of despair and resignation, echoed in my mind...

"Don't you want to know anymore? What happened to Asuhain, and what's on her mind—do you really think you can't possibly understand any of this?"

I lowered my head and buried my face between my knees.

"I don't know... I don't know, but I don't want that..."

How naive! But this is my true feeling right now.

I felt Shuidou squat down beside me and then, with extreme gentleness, place his hand on my arched back.

"I can be by your side... but I can't offer empty words of comfort, nor can I speak ill of Asuhain to appease you... That's unfair, because no one else would offer Asuhain that kind of comfort. Besides, you're more unwilling than anyone to indulge yourself like that, aren't you?"

That's absolutely right. Even when Mizuto says things to comfort me like that, I feel a sense of dependence.

Even if I ask him to help me cheer up now and make up with Asuhain-kun, I'm afraid I'll still never understand what Asuhain-kun is thinking.

You wouldn't understand anyway.

I will never be able to deny this statement for the rest of my life.

"You should think about it carefully tonight."

"That's what Mizuto said."

"Then make your own decision. Once you've made up your mind, I'll help you as much as you need."

"……Thank you."

Then one night passed—

We changed out of our pajamas, maintaining a somewhat somber atmosphere, and left the guest room.

When I went to the restaurant to have breakfast, I ran into Shuidou there.

I stood in front of the sink. He put the half-eaten bread back on his plate, looked up at me, and said:

"Have you made up your mind?"

"Um."

I want to try to understand.

I don't want to continue being an ignorant and clueless person.

Even if I become a top student, make friends, join the student council, and get a boyfriend, if I continue like this, I will become the same as I was in junior high school—the same passive, ignorant person who waited for others to lend a helping hand.

I must understand and confront it—otherwise, I will never understand what I don't understand.

"In that case, there's something that needs to be addressed first."

"What is it?"

"Isn't there one more thing? The strange incident that happened during this school trip."

After saying that, Mizuto smiled mischievously.

Irito Yume ◆ The Meaningless Event

Without hearing any decent explanation, I boarded the bus.

On the one hand, it was because of limited time and too many people around, but I always felt that there was another equally important reason, which was simply that Shuidou was deliberately being mean and not explaining it to me.

If you know anything, just tell me, it won't hurt!

That's how I truly experienced the feeling of being stuck in a detective novel, only able to play the role of Watson—while the master Sherlock Holmes himself was sitting on the bus with Dongtou, chatting and laughing.

"Isana, can I borrow your travel guide?"

"Okay, but what about your own?"

"I put it in my luggage and took it to the check-in counter before taking the bus."

"Oh, I see. Here, take it."

"...Yes, it's very clean."

"Hehe, I got a compliment. Even my textbooks and notebooks are brand new!"