The laughter stops and only the breathing of Tachibana Rio, breathing heavily on her shoulders, echoes in the room.
“……Are we done?”
I was too much trouble if she spoke again, so I approached her to silence her with a kick.
“Eh? Eh ……?”
She who ran up to Tachibana Rio looked at me and alternately as if she was confused.
“You’re in my way,…….”
“Kya……!”
I grabbed the person by the shoulder and kicked her in the stomach.
“Gah ……! Goho ……, goho ……!”
It distorted its face in pain, which made me feel a little better.
But it wasn’t enough…….
I swung my legs up again.
“Haa, Hahaha ……, is this what you want?”
I ignored her words and swung out.
Then Tachibana Rio suffered from coughing again.
But it seemed to recover faster than before,
“……With a kick like this, any number of shots will do, right? ……Why don’t you use this?”
“……?”
After saying that, Tachibana Rio slid something in my direction.
It must have been a random throw, but I stopped it with my foot.
” This is …….”
“This one…., quicker, isn’t it?”
The one that Tachibana Rio gave me was a small knife in a sheath about 30 centimeters long overall.
“…….”
I silently picked it up and stared at it.
Why did this girl give me such a thing?
It would only make it easier to …… erase.
“S-Sana! You can’t use that!”
I pulled it out and approached Tachibana Rio, although it was either out in the open or noisy.
I don’t like …… that spare smile.
I placed the blade against Tachibana’s neck.
“What are you doing giving me this …… stuff?”
She smiled with her eyes closed.
“…… I just wanted to help you out since you’re using such a cute little thing like tear spray.”
“Yes, …… don’t hate me if it kills you, okay?”
“Yes. If you can.”
Tachibana Rio has been provoking me all this time.
Fine, then you can regret it after you die.
I tried to put more force into my hand gripping the knife…
“Ugh…!”
I couldn’t.
On the contrary, my hands start to tremble a little.
(Shota-kun! Lend me your strength!!)
I tried desperately to inspire myself by picturing him, because I couldn’t see Tachibana Rio’s eyes.
But his face was not smiling …….
On the contrary, all I recall is Shota-kun stopping me sadly in the library.
“…… what’s wrong? I wonder if you are ready yet.”
While I was struggling with myself for a while, Tachibana Rio asked me a question.
“If you’re going to do it anyway, I want you to do it in a humane way. Isn’t it scary to have to wait even though you can’t see?”
Tachibana Rio was acting badly, though she didn’t seem to feel any fear at all.
Towards her, I said
“……I’ll let you live if you never come near Shota-kun again.”
“….. ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!”
She let out a loud laugh again, sending a chill down my spine.
She looked really happy and said, ‘Ah, it hurts,’ as if she was struggling to catch her breath.
I was stunned until it subsided, and then I yelled at her.
“How many times, what’s wrong with you!”
“Can’t you see ……?”
“?! What!”
She laughed a little, as if she was taking pity on me, and then she said, “Of course.”
“Of course you don’t know. You’re just being ridiculous, putting on airs when you can’t even do it.”
“! You’re dead!”
“Tsk!”
I pulled the knife with all my might.
But ……
“…….right? You can’t, can you?”
I made a single cut on her neck, and her voice shook as she bit back a laugh.
“Shut up!”
I let go of the knife and put my hand on her thin neck.
“Poor thing, you’re shaking ……. You’re shaking so hard.”
“Shut up!”
“I knew something was wrong when …… Akane told me about you.”
“Shut up!
“At that time, Kokonoe-kun would have stopped it, right?”
“Shut up!”
“After that, the reason you left me alone wasn’t just because you were busy, was it?”
“Shut up!”
Tachibana Rio said as she ran down my arm and touched my cheek.
She smiled horribly calmly ……, even though she must still be in pain and she couldn’t even open her eyes.
“You didn’t move so I could take my time getting ready for today. Thank you.”
“I told you to shut up!”
I couldn’t resist hitting her in the cheek with my fist.
but I know.
I know that I can’t get rid of her smile with that much force….
I can’t take away her sight, mount her, or even go for her weapon.
Nevertheless, I was not sure how I could beat this girl.
When I thought about it, I was afraid of this girl.
As if seeing through my heart, she grabbed my hand and continued to laugh.
“ …….”
“……See, you can do anything for Kokonoe-kun, can’t you?”
“Damn it, let go of me,……!”
“……, I can do it, you know?”
“……?!”
Tachibana Rio’s power is overwhelming.
I certainly thought that this girl could do it.
(For Shota-kun,…… this girl can do it and I can’t,……?)
My mind was already blank.
I just couldn’t help but be horrified by this girl in front of me.
“Damn ……!”
“Ugh!?”
I managed to shake off her hand and kick her at the same time, and Tachibana Rio’s hand leaves my hand.
I took the opportunity to distance myself to the window.
After a while, Tachibana Rio stands up with her eyes closed.
(It should be working, but why!)
I already had tears in my eyes.
“….You already got it, didn’t you?”
“…….”
I can’t answer.
“I love Kokonoe much more than you do,……, and I love him. I can do what you can’t do. …… so why don’t you get the hell out of our way?”
“……, N-no!”
When I managed to squeeze that out, Tachibana Rio let out a deep sigh.
“You asked me once earlier, so I thought I’d give it back to you, but…words aren’t enough after all.”
[That’s enough. Come in,] Tachibana said Rio, and a bunch of bad-looking male students came into the classroom…
“Eeh!?? Seriously, Sana-chan?”
“Yikes! You’ve become so cute!”
“I can totally do you with this!”
(…… Why, you guys?!)
My question, which trembled even more, never made it to words.
“Hah ……, hah …….”
I run around the school without a clue, looking for Sakurae.
When I reached the gymnasium, I confirmed that Sakurae was not there, and opened my phone, but there was no contact from Kikuchi and the others.
“Damn ……!”
After realizing that Sakurae was gone, I asked Kikuchi to contact Yamamoto, and from there I got a call that they were able to meet up, but no progress.
(Sakurae! Where did you go ……!)
With impatience building up in my heart, I set my feet towards the school building I wasn’t looking for anymore.
At the entrance of the school building, I run into a strange pair of people.
I tried to get out of there before they noticed me, but it didn’t work.
“Hey, hey, hey! Wait! Kokonoe!”
One of them stood in front of me and stopped me.
“What……. I’m in a hurry.”
At my glare, the other one made a smirk and put his hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t be in such a hurry. I’m sure you’re looking for …… Sakurae-chan, aren’t you?”
“!?”
When I looked closer, I saw that these were the same guys who laughed with Yamamoto’s group …… when I confessed my feelings to Tachibana.
I was so pissed off that I grabbed the guy by the chest.
“Whaa……!”
“You know where Sakurae is, don’t you? Tell me!”
“Get off me!”
The guy who initially let me pass smacked me on the head in a joking manner.
“Our job is to get you there,”
“…… what?”
He shook off my hand and said, as my grip on his chest loosened at the unexpected answer.
“…. trust me or not, do what you want. But you don’t have a clue, do you?”
“Yeah, yeah, just follow along like an adult,…. Oh, and if you call for backup, it’ll be tricky, so let me keep your phone.”
“…….”
I said, thinking for a few moments.
“… I’ll leave my phone on this screen. If you guys take me somewhere different, I’ll call for backup immediately.”
I opened Kikuchi’s contacts and showed him a screen that I could connect to by just pressing the call button.
These guys agreed to the call.
“……, if you don’t want to call until you get there, that’s fine with us.”
“We’ve got a deal! Follow me.”
“…….”
I silently followed them, praying for Sakurae’s safety.
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