Chapter 37: Poor Girl

♦♦♦

“Ever heard of exclusionary art?”

“Kirishima gets so annoying when he’s like this.”

“Say there are homeless people or kids skateboarding in a park.”

During lunch break, I was talking with Maki in the student council room.

Several weeks had passed since the day I couldn’t make it to my meeting with Tachibana-san.

“They’ll redesign benches with artistic flair or place sculptures in the plaza. It looks like they’re enhancing the aesthetic with modern art, right?”

But what happens is, the quirky benches are impossible to sleep on, and a plaza full of sculptures leaves no room for skateboarding, so those people get driven out.

“In the city or district records, it’s only noted as ‘art installation.’ Residents can keep admiring beautiful things without ever realizing they’ve pushed someone out.”

“Can you not hit me with serious modern social issues when I’m just trying to say you’re being cynical?”

“I’m not saying it’s good or bad. It just exists as it is.”

In fact, I understand the desire to avoid ugly things and only see beauty. It’s very human.

“But we should be aware of it.”

“Even with love.”

“Exactly. I find it fake to dress everything up as a beautiful story.”

Lust, jealousy, possessiveness, compromise.

Ignoring those aspects of love, acting like it’s always pure, getting drunk on it, indulging in it, and jumping at the chance to criticize someone else’s immoral romance—I thought that was wrong.

So I took love seriously and approached it with my own sincerity.

“But in the end, I was the same. Chasing superficial beauty, not wanting to be the bad guy.”

I felt relieved when Hayasaka-san and Tachibana-san got along. It meant I wasn’t causing them to hurt each other.

I found the sight of them kissing in maid outfits beautiful. Because it erased the dirty male lust. A sacred kind of porn, cropped to show only the pretty parts.

“And now, things have settled into normalcy, and I’m relieved.”

Tachibana-san didn’t board the night train and disappear alone.

She missed a few days of school but came back, her profile calm.

Tachibana Hikari chose me.

Yanagi-senpai sent me that message.

There was no need to be told. I’d already seen Yanagi-senpai and Tachibana-san walking hand in hand on a third-year school day. She wasn’t throwing up anymore.

By not going to Tachibana-san, the magic of first love had worn off.

People compromise in love. Tachibana-san is no exception.

In the clubroom, I overheard Yanagi-senpai and Tachibana-san’s voices from the old music room next door. Yanagi-senpai had asked to hear her play the piano.

After she finished, a tender atmosphere seeped through the wall.

“Oi, Kirishima, don’t tell me……”

“Yeah. I pressed my ear to the wall. I thought they were punishing me.”

“You’re seriously twisted!”

For nearly an hour, I listened to Tachibana-san and Yanagi-senpai’s conversation.

Hey, Hikari, can I hold your hand again?

……Sure.

Can I touch your shoulder?

…………Okay.

If I’d chosen Tachibana-san, she would’ve stayed a girl who only let me touch her. Thinking that, I kept feeling the air of Yanagi-senpai stroking her hair through the wall.

“Kirishima, how are you still sane?”

“It’s expected.”

When you break up with someone or don’t return their feelings, most people move on to new love. You don’t stay in their heart forever.

“Besides, this is what I wanted. It’s a soft landing.”

Tachibana-san was deeply hurt and frustrated. She must’ve valued fleeting emotions over normal life.

But I thought this was fine.

Living a proper daily life, finding new love—that’s a positive outcome.

Compared to a tragic ending where either Hayasaka-san or Tachibana-san is completely broken, this is far better.

“I’m going to grow up. Live with the same love values as everyone else.”

Saying that, I hand the clubroom key to Maki.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

And so, the Mystery Research Club was disbanded.

♦♦♦

Days passed smoothly.

I had silly talks with Maki and Sakai, getting teased by Hamanami.

My girlfriend, Hayasaka-san, was super wholesome. Just holding hands or cuddling made her beam with satisfaction.

“I’m gonna make you so happy, Kirishima-kun.”

Hayasaka-san said that.

It was after cram school, when we stopped by a batting center. Hayasaka-san was in the box with the fastest pitches, swinging the bat.

“I’m already plenty happy.”

“No, I’ll be an even better girlfriend. I’ll make you think dating me was worth it. I’m gonna work hard.”

“By the way, Hayasaka-san, you seem kinda used to this.”

Her stance is awkward, legs turned inward, but she’s hitting the ball solidly.

“Yeah, I came here a lot when I was stressed.”

“Oh…… okay……”

“I-I’m fine! I wasn’t swinging the bat imagining your face or anything!”

The ski trip felt like a clean, youthful memory too.

Hayasaka-san and I chose snowboarding and slid together. She fell quickly, flailing and whining, “Help me up~”

Tachibana-san was with a group of girls, skiing happily. She wasn’t a lonely girl anymore.

Every time I saw her, I pictured her standing sadly under cherry blossoms, waiting. But that was my wishful thinking, a faded afterimage of first love everyone has.

I didn’t need to be hung up on it anymore.

Dating your second-favorite person is pretty lucky, and Hayasaka-san was the cutest girlfriend ever.

Of course, the storm left its scars.

Once, when we tried to get intimate, it was at Hayasaka-san’s house. I was invited to stay over, and as usual, she slipped into my futon in the middle of the night.

There was no reason for us not to anymore.

I touched and held Hayasaka-san’s soft body. I don’t like describing a woman’s body as “delicious” because it feels crass, but hers was like that.

So soft, so easily wet, her skin clinging to mine, utterly provocative.

In the heat of excitement, right as we were about to—

“I’m sorry, Kirishima-kun, I’m sorry.”

Hayasaka-san clung to me, apologizing. I didn’t know what for.

“Please don’t go anywhere.”

She wrapped her arms around my back, hooked her legs around me, and held on with all her strength.

She was trembling, as if terrified.

That night, I kept rubbing her back and stroking her head.

I figured issues like this would resolve with time.

The changing seasons would turn everything into memories.

At the third-years’ graduation ceremony, I sang in the underclassmen choir, genuinely wishing the graduates well. Maki gave the farewell speech, and the principal handed out diplomas.

After the ceremony, I helped Maki with the student council, cleaning up. We took down banners and carried folding chairs.

Graduates lingered, taking photos around the school, some crying.

While carrying a sign from the school gate to the storage room, I saw Yanagi-senpai hugging Tachibana-san behind the school building.

They were completely a couple.

Tachibana-san’s profile was that of a girl I no longer knew.

“Hikari, wait here a sec. I’ll grab my bag.”

“Got it.”

Yanagi-senpai walked off in the opposite direction from me.

After seeing him off, Tachibana-san turned toward me.

Our eyes met for a moment, but that was all. We were supposed to walk separate paths. We should have. But—

“Kirishima, you’re doing great, helping with cleanup.”

It was the grade-level head teacher.

“You okay now? I was worried when I heard you collapsed at Ueno Station.”

The teacher patted my shoulder and left.

I was scared to turn around. How would Tachibana-san feel, knowing I was heading to our meeting that day? But I definitely didn’t make it, and it was already over.

Tachibana-san was staring at me, dazed.

As she looked, her brow furrowed into a harsh expression, then shifted to confusion as she started biting her thumbnail. She seemed deeply rattled.

That’s when—

“Kirishima-kuuun, let’s go hooome~”

Hayasaka-san, looking for me, came over with a carefree voice.

In an instant, Tachibana-san’s expression turned terrifyingly cold.

Glaring at Hayasaka-san with piercing eyes, she said:

“I’ll never forgive you. Never, for the rest of my life.”

♦♦♦

It was like a thin thread being pulled, on the verge of snapping—a tense, fragile moment.

Tachibana-san’s resentful face.

Hayasaka-san didn’t flinch. Instead, she radiated equally sharp emotions.

“Oh, you figured it out already.”

Her playful tone vanished, her eyes growing hollow.

“You don’t have to tell Kirishima-kun.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s our problem, right?”

“That pisses me off.”

Tachibana-san’s expression grew even colder.

“Tricking people, doing dirty things.”

“You’re the one who did dirty things first, Tachibana-san. Sneaking around, breaking our promise to split, acting like his girlfriend forever. I held back properly!”

Hayasaka-san raised her voice, then quickly calmed down and said:

“Whatever, it’s fine like this. You’re good with Yanagi-kun, right, Tachibana-san?”

“Whose fault do you think this is?”

Tachibana-san, enraged, approached Hayasaka-san with a dark expression. She’s the type to lash out physically, so I stepped between them.

“Why are you protecting that kind of girl!?”

Tachibana-san said, her face full of frustration.

“That’s cruel, Shirou-kun. If you’d just told me about Ueno Station, it wouldn’t have come to this…… Why didn’t you say anything!?”

In truth, Tachibana-san had blocked all my contact info, and by the time I saw her at school, she was already holding hands with Yanagi-senpai. I considered explaining it later.

But that would just rewind our relationships to a tangled mess, forcing me to make another choice that would hurt someone to settle things.

So I let the misunderstanding slide, took advantage of Tachibana-san choosing Yanagi-senpai, and opted for a soft landing. We’d have normal relationships, and everything up to now would be memories of seventeen-year-old passion. But—

“That’s not it.”

Tachibana-san said.

“I became Yanagi-kun’s real girlfriend because of the promise I made with Hayasaka-san. The one not chosen would properly become Yanagi-kun’s girlfriend.”

“You made that kind of promise?”

It’s true Hayasaka-san once loved Yanagi-senpai most, and by year-end, Tachibana-san had him as her second choice. But the reason they made that promise was something else.

Hayasaka-san peeked at my face from behind and said:

“If the rejected girl gets hurt and miserable, you wouldn’t leave her alone, right, Kirishima-kun? If there’s a poor girl, you’d go to her, wouldn’t you?”

Their psychology behind making such a promise is simple.

If they’re not chosen, nothing else matters.

They’re pouring all their emotions into this moment of love.

“Hayasaka-san, you used that. You’re a bad girl. That kind of girl doesn’t deserve Shirou-kun.”

“You’re the one who doesn’t deserve him, Tachibana-san!”

Hayasaka-san shot back.

“A girl who lashes out physically is worse! You’ll ruin Kirishima-kun someday! You were gonna elope with him, right? That’s insane!”

They kept trading words that cut like knives.

Their emotions escalated, their words growing harsher. And then—

“Hayasaka-san, you’re just a second choice, aren’t you?”

Tachibana-san said.

“Shirou-kun and I love each other the most, it’s our first love, our first time, so just disappear already!”

“That’s……”

Hayasaka-san falters.

“Everything you said on the phone was a lie, right? You haven’t even done it yet, have you? That’s not a girlfriend. Poor you, always trying to make it happen.”

“No…… Kirishima-kun treasures me……”

Hayasaka-san’s voice drops, clinging to her own shaky logic.

“Tachibana-san, you were just used…… Give up already…… Yanagi-kun loves you the most anyway. Yanagi-kun’s fine, right? You’ve probably already done it with him…… You were used by him too…… So just give Kirishima-kun to me……”

With a tearful face, Hayasaka-san is crumbling.

She feels the inferiority of being second choice most acutely. Lately, she’s tried to ignore it, but deep down, she knows. That’s the foundation of our relationship.

Hayasaka-san is crushed.

But Tachibana-san is completely furious.

“Fine, if you’re gonna say that, I’ll prove you’re wrong.”

Tachibana-san puts her hand on her blouse’s buttons and says:

“I’ll show you me and Shirou-kun loving each other.”

♦♦♦

An insane situation has unfolded.

In the outdoor gym storage room, on a mat.

Tachibana-san, blouse fully unbuttoned, in just her underwear, writhes shyly beneath me.

A little ways off, Hayasaka-san, also in just her blouse and underwear, sits with her knees spread apart.

“I’ll show you.”

“Fine, show me.”

Trading heated words, we ended up in the storage room. But there’s no way I could just say, “Alright, let’s do it.” When I hesitated, the two suddenly embraced each other.

“When we fight, Shirou-kun freezes up. He’s weak.”

“Right. Kirishima-kun’s a jerk, so we have to make it look like he’s not doing anything bad.”

They undressed each other, down to blouses and underwear, then knelt, kissing while touching each other’s chests and down there.

The humidity in the storage room rises.

For about fifteen minutes, they touched each other, moaning softly. Their pale skin flushed, sweat beaded, and saliva strung between their lips.

Light from a small window made the dust sparkle.

A horribly beautiful, decadent world formed. From there, Tachibana-san pulled me down, Hayasaka-san sat limply, and this scene took shape.

“Hurry up and do it.”

Tachibana-san says. Her plan is simple: show this to break Hayasaka-san’s heart.

“Show me.”

Hayasaka-san, saying that, probably isn’t thinking. She’s just swept up, and watching will only hurt her.

It’s the ultimate stage for a catastrophic hard landing, no excuses possible. If I do it with Tachibana-san here, Hayasaka-san will be hurt like never before. If I reject Tachibana-san and hold Hayasaka-san, Tachibana-san will never come back.

“You don’t have to?”

Tachibana-san says.

“If Shirou-kun doesn’t do it here, I’ll really become someone else’s.”

Before I know it, I’m leaning over Tachibana-san, kissing her. Her excitement spikes.

“Hey, Shirou-kun, tell me the truth. Would you hate it if I got with Yanagi-kun?”

“I’d hate it.”

“I knew it. When Yanagi-kun hugged me, you had such a look in your eyes. I felt thrilled being envied.”

Show me, bare it all, Tachibana-san says.

“When he hugged you earlier—”

“It was so strong. Yanagi-kun knows. I only chose him by elimination. So he’s desperate to make me his, craving me intensely.”

“How far did he touch you?”

“All over.”

“Here too?”

“Ah…… not those places…… not yet…… but if this keeps up, he will.”

I hug Tachibana-san’s body tightly. I love this delicate frame. When I touch her, she sighs, trembles cutely, expressing her joy physically. Wanting her to tremble more, I slip my hand into her underwear, moving my fingers. Her hips lift, her white stomach and thighs alluring.

“N…… ah…… we’re going on a trip together during spring break.”

That would naturally include this kind of act.

“Yanagi-kun asked…… nn…… to know everything I did with you, Shirou-kun……”

Wet sounds echo as her smooth body grows aroused. My fingertip feels hot. When I slide my middle finger in slightly, she lets out a high-pitched cry, clinging to me, arching gracefully.

Apparently, Tachibana-san told Yanagi-senpai everything we did.

“I think he plans to do the same, no, even more. If this goes on, I’ll become Yanagi-kun’s puppy, and he’ll do so much to me.”

I imagine Tachibana-san collared and spanked by Yanagi-senpai. Only I should do that.

“I don’t have to go on that trip, right? I can be Shirou-kun’s puppy, right?”

Instead of answering, I hug her tightly. I’ve always wanted this. I held her too hard, it must’ve hurt, but she begged, “More.”

Hayasaka-san watched us with dazed eyes.

I toyed with Tachibana-san’s responsive body. Her arching back, floating hips, underwear changing color from wetness—I loved it all.

“Shirou-kun……”

Tachibana-san, rolling on the mat, squirming her inner thighs, says in a faint voice:

“Pamper me more……”

Her face says she can’t hold back anymore.

“If you don’t like that Yanagi-kun touched me…… you can punish me.”

Shyly, she hugs her knees, curling up small.

But when I do nothing—

“Shirou-kun, you’re so mean……”

Saying that, she spreads her slender, pale legs. She slides her wet underwear aside, revealing a faint pink.

A usually cool, romantic girl, flushed with desire, shyly but boldly spreading her legs to beg.

I reach for my belt buckle.

In the end, despite saying I wanted them to find new love and be happy, deep down, I wanted them to love me forever, never belonging to anyone else.

I absolutely didn’t want to give Tachibana-san to Yanagi-senpai.

Honestly, I wanted to go wild with her, melt into each other messily. Relive that blissful Kyoto night, make her wet herself in the bathroom and cry, comfort her by stroking her head, sleep together, and go even further.

But I was equally drawn to Hayasaka-san, so I kept dodging the choice, dragging it out messily.

I was just a love-starved idiot. I wanted to bask in their love, never let either go, spoil them rotten, pour love into them, and wallow in that muddy bliss.

I press myself against Tachibana-san. No preparation, just as is. The tip touches, and she gazes at me with wet, expectant eyes.

“N-no…… Kirishima-kun…… you can’t……”

I look and see Hayasaka-san, her face on the verge of tears.

“Please, stop……”

I’m sorry, Hayasaka-san.

I’ve already decided.

I’m going to go wild with Tachibana-san and hurt Hayasaka-san like crazy.

It’s not that I have to. It’s what I want.

I sink into Tachibana-san. It’s tight, pushing back with pressure. But she’s so wet, droplets staining the mat, so I push in, and it goes.

Tachibana-san’s insides are hot.

I truly feel loved. The tight grip conveys her joy.

“It’s…… I can feel Shirou-kun directly……”

Tachibana-san, touching her lower stomach, is in ecstasy.

“Come closer……”

When I lean over, she wraps her hands around my head and back, crossing her legs behind me.

“I can’t move like this.”

“I love you, Shirou-kun, ah…… Shirou-kun.”

I don’t need to move.

Tachibana-san, driven by instinct, presses her hips up from below, moving side to side, moaning. I just stroke her hair.

But I want to mess her up more. Bully her more. So I sit up, hold her thighs, and move myself.

It’s pure pleasure. Each thrust makes wet sounds, and she moans sweetly.

Her body is delicate. I’m spreading her, reaching deep, like I’m piercing her. And each time, she moans sweetly.

Her moans and wet sounds fall into a steady rhythm.

I urge her to look down there.

“N-no!”

Tachibana-san, bright red, covers her face with both hands.

My part is soaked with her fluids, frothing white from the motion.

Trying to hide it, she lifts her hips, guiding me in. That’s when—

“Ah, no!”

It must’ve hit a good spot. Her hips start twitching rapidly.

“No, it’s moving on its own, no, Shirou-kun, don’t look.”

Tachibana-san keeps moving her hips, chanting, Embarrassing, embarrassing. But she can’t stop, and soon she arches sharply, lets out a scream-like moan, presses her hips hard, then goes limp.

She’s lost all reason. So, breathless, she voices the desire she’s always hidden deep down.

“I want to be bullied…… like a dog……”

I’m not exclusionary art.

I don’t push out what exists, pretend not to see it, or craft a pretty artificial story to call beautiful and indulge in ignorantly.

We have desires and wishes, and we don’t ignore or erase them.

So I put Tachibana-san on all fours and take her from behind.

Her arched back is seductive.

“Woof…… woof……”

Tachibana-san starts making small barks in her mouth.

“You want to be a dog?”

When I say that, she says, “Because……”

“I want Shirou-kun to pamper me, own me, make me his pet.”

But I was a bad puppy, she says provocatively.

“The indoor pool—I knew what you were thinking, Shirou-kun.”

During breaststroke practice, Yanagi-senpai held her legs, spreading them. In that tiny swimsuit, she showed him that pose.

“You can…… punish me……”

I thrust into her and spank her.

“Woof!”

Hikari-puppy moans sweetly. I spank her again.

“Woof!”

Droplets fall from Hikari-puppy, wetting the mat again.

As we go on—

“Ah, Shirou-kun, wait, this is…… too much……”

Tachibana-san’s hips start trembling again.

I keep going from behind. Her too much means do it more.

“No, really, any more and I’ll die……”

That’s when—

A voice comes from outside the storage room.

“Hikari~ Where are you~? Hikari~”

Yanagi-senpai is back. He still believes Tachibana-san is his girlfriend.

I can tell Tachibana-san instinctively stifles her voice.

So I treat her as she wants, even rougher.

“Ah…… no…… that’s…… it’s too much…… something big’s coming……”

She tries to quiet herself, but when I grab her arms from behind, arching her back, the pleasure overtakes her, and she starts crying out in high-pitched moans.

Yanagi-senpai’s calls for her suddenly stop. I can tell he’s stunned silent.

Tachibana-san seems completely unaware of what’s happening.

And then—

“Shirou-kun, I love you, Shirou-kun, Shirou-kun!”

She screams my name repeatedly, moaning in a frenzy, her body convulsing multiple times before collapsing onto the mat.

Just me and Tachibana-san’s heavy breathing.

Yanagi-senpai’s voice is no longer audible.

Tachibana-san, in a near-faint state, says:

“……I’ve become Shirou-kun’s girl, and only his.”

So,

“Let’s finish holding each other…… kissing……”

In moments like this, Tachibana-san is the epitome of a pure, innocent girl.

This time, I spread her legs. She’s completely ready, her delicate, whitefish-like body trembling just from my entry.

Her feverish eyes, half-open mouth, and the saliva dripping—mine and hers mingled together.

I wanted to do everything with Tachibana-san. To the end, even the forbidden.

“Stop it already!”

Hayasaka-san, on her knees, clings to me from the side.

She’s been crying for a while. Not just tears—she’s sobbing, nose running, face crumpled like a child’s.

“That’s enough! It’s cruel! Why would you do that? It’s so cruel!”

No more, she says.

“You’re gonna stop soon, right? You’re that kind of guy, aren’t you? The one who’s gentle in the end, like always?”

I kiss Hayasaka-san.

“Uaa…… I knew it……”

Her pink underwear, unhooked bra—I touch her chest with one hand, the other down there.

“I’m gonna be an idiot again…… ehehe, I love you……”

Hayasaka-san melts instantly, overflowing, wetting her inner thighs like she’s lost control.

“Do it with me…… I can definitely make Kirishima-kun feel good.”

She sucks my tongue, drawing it into her mouth, drooling as she latches on.

Let’s do it, let’s do it, Hayasaka-san says.

“No, no way. Just me, only me.”

Now Tachibana-san, with a tearful face, presses her hips against me.

It’s the best.

Violating the most beautiful girl I love while kissing the cute girl I love second-best.

This is my, Kirishima Shirou’s, depravity.

And following that depravity, I choose.

“Huh? Why? Why?”

Hayasaka-san’s voice trembles with confusion. I guide her hands to her own chest and down there, pulling away.

“No, not like this! Kirishima-kun, you’re kidding, right? No, no way, no!”

As I turn back to Tachibana-san, Hayasaka-san starts crying louder than ever.

What a pitiful girl.

She loves clinging, always wanted this, and even now, in her underwear, she’s miserably watching the boy she loves with another girl.

And she’ll never have it herself.

It could only end by hurting someone, and I chose to hurt Hayasaka-san.

Hearing her sobs, I thrust deeply into Tachibana-san.

Understanding what it means, she expresses her joy with her whole body.

“Do anything to me. I’m happy with anything, so do it all, go all the way.”

From there, Tachibana-san is incredible. Craving my saliva, licking the sweat from my neck, climaxing repeatedly in short bursts, babbling, I love you, I’m going crazy, I adore you, more, more.

“Shirou-kun, I can’t, I really can’t.”

Unable to handle the pleasure, she digs her nails into my skin. It feels good.

“Together, I want it together, please.”

Her body jolts, gripping me tightly.

And I release inside her.

♦♦♦

I’m drained.

Tachibana-san holds me, stroking my head, lovingly licking my sweat.

Hayasaka-san stares blankly into the void.

“……There’s no love in it…… If it was me, I’d hold you more tenderly…… You were just used……”

Tachibana-san doesn’t need to respond with words.

Slipping out from under me, she simply shows her inner thighs, where our mingled fluids drip.

Hayasaka-san lunges at her.

They roll on the mat, Hayasaka-san pinning her down.

When I try to intervene, Tachibana-san stops me with, “It’s fine.”

Hayasaka-san slaps her repeatedly.

“Had enough?”

As Hayasaka-san’s hand stops, Tachibana-san says:

“I want to be alone with Shirou-kun already.”

Hayasaka-san’s shoulders slump.

Everything has reached its conclusion, I thought. Nothing more should happen.

But—

“This is wrong.”

Hayasaka-san says.

“Tachibana-san’s a bad girl. She’ll ruin Kirishima-kun.”

“I won’t. I understand Shirou-kun’s feelings. I can give him everything he wants.”

There’s nothing more to talk about with you, Tachibana-san says.

“If you’re done, leave. You get how it turned out, right?”

“I get it. I understand way better than you. That’s why I think this is wrong.”

Hayasaka-san glances at me and says:

“Sorry, Kirishima-kun, I can’t keep our promise.”

I think, Stop, but Hayasaka-san doesn’t.

“Tachibana-san, you love Kirishima-kun?”

“Obviously.”

“You wouldn’t hurt him?”

“Of course not. I want to devote myself to the person I love.”

“Right, that’s your intent, isn’t it? You want to be that kind of person. But what if you did hurt him? Could you forgive yourself?”

“Yeah. But I’d never do that.”

“You already did. Do you remember when Kirishima-kun fell down the stairs at Tokyo Station?”

“Huh? That……”

“You don’t, do you? You erased inconvenient memories. You’re broken, Tachibana-san.”

“It was you who pushed him down the stairs.”

♦♦♦

That day, I stepped between Tachibana-san and Hayasaka-san to stop their argument. I ended up shielding Hayasaka-san, and Tachibana-san, enraged—despite us being each other’s firsts, despite what we’d done—pushed me with both hands down the stairs.

That’s the truth I didn’t tell Hamanami.

The reason Tachibana-san’s mother, Rei-san, covered my hospital bills.

Kunimi-san said it’s better not to tell a broken girl the truth.

The broken girl was Tachibana-san.

♦♦♦

“I wasn’t going to say anything. I promised Kirishima-kun. It’s something you’d want to erase from memory.”

But, Hayasaka-san says:

“This is wrong. Kirishima-kun didn’t choose at all. He’s only leaning toward you because you’re a pitiful, broken girl.”

Now Tachibana-san is the one stunned.

“The reason Kirishima-kun couldn’t make it to your meeting was that injury.”

Hayasaka-san doesn’t want to say this. But, crying, she does.

“Kirishima-kun plans to stay by your side without saying any of this. Because you’re broken, because he’s worried! You’re not thinking about him at all, Tachibana-san. He’s still going to the hospital, you know? It’s all your fault!”

After finishing, Hayasaka-san covers her face and cries quietly.

Tachibana-san’s gaze wanders for a moment—

Then she clutches her head and lets out a long scream.

♦♦♦

I’m fine with being the second girlfriend.

Hayasaka-san, holding up two fingers.

A girl who loves holding hands and clinging, always wanting to be close.

I loved how she munched on snacks, how she fell asleep during late-night movies, everything about her.

I want to see Hayasaka-san’s smile.

But now, she’s deeply hurt, covering her face, crying.

Tachibana-san, cool on the surface but a romantic at heart.

I loved listening to her piano through the wall.

She dreamed of small happinesses and got along with my mom and sister.

On New Year’s Eve, sitting together in the kotatsu, it really felt like she was my bride.

I want to see Tachibana-san’s shy side.

But now, she’s clutching her head, screaming.

I just wanted to face it head-on. Their feelings, personalities, desires. Even things society condemns, I wanted to say they have value.

The not-so-pure Hayasaka-san.

The Tachibana-san who doesn’t care about norms.

I wanted to accept and affirm them as they are.

I could’ve forced society’s values on myself and them. But I didn’t want to dismiss the emotions right in front of me.

Loving someone means everyone has their own unique way of loving, never the same as anyone else’s. It shouldn’t match some generic story lying around.

So I searched for our own form of love.

I thought that would make us happy.

But look at this.

Sure, I’m a lousy guy. But I genuinely wanted to make them both happy.

How did it come to this?

Hayasaka-san’s sobs and Tachibana-san’s screams echo in my ears.

I wanted to apologize to them. Hold them, stroke their heads, and say, It’s okay, it’s all my fault.

But I’d have to do it for both at once, and I only have one pair of arms.

There’s nothing more I can do.

Everything has collapsed.

That’s what I thought.

♦♦♦

In April, I went straight to the bulletin board at school.

It was class assignment day.

No matter how much I looked, I couldn’t find their names.

Hayasaka-san had transferred, and Tachibana-san had dropped out.