The Witch Trial Begins with the OO Buckethead Zombie

Bullying someone you like, bullying someone you like in a really bad way.

"Hoshino... what did you do?" Tachibana Sherry didn't pull her hand back, not because Hoshino Utsunomiya admitted that he had done something wrong and she wanted to stay away from him.

Her instinctive reaction was simply to beat him until he knelt down and begged for mercy, then throw him onto the bed.

Because someone said that she would be allowed to do so if anyone dared to disregard their own life again.

But what I just realized was...

Oh, so you didn't say you wanted to die... wait, didn't you still say you wanted to be killed by the other party?

Eh?

Should I take action, or should I not?

Thinking this way, Tachibana Sherry still asked the follow-up question.

What kind of bullying would make someone like Hoshino feel so guilty?

“I poured a whole bucket of cold water over her head, I cursed the stench emanating from her, and I forced her to take me home to wash away the stench.”

Sherry Tachibana: "Hmm..."

“I’m going to hide her chair and remove her desk so she’ll have to stand to listen to the lesson.”

Sherry Tachibana: "Hiss..."

"I still need to water her, every day, a bucket a day."

Sherry Tachibana: "Hmm..."

"I'm going to write insults and humiliation about her on the blackboard. I'm going to follow her to the toilet and lock her stall door from the inside. I'm going to steal her indoor shoes so she has no shoes to change into!"

Sherry Tachibana: "Mmm..."

"If I interrupt briefly and ask, what's her reaction?"

Like a curious and eager student, Tachibana Sherry raised her hand and asked a question.

“Reaction…” Hoshino Utsunomiya pondered for a moment, then said with some difficulty, “Um… ‘Hmm?’ She nodded and said ‘Hmm,’ then took my hand and led me home to help her take a bath.”

"She sat on the table, she sat in my chair, she wanted me to sit in the same chair as her."

"She ignored my abusive words, pulled me to the toilet, and went into a stall to wait for me until school was over."

"Then, after I stole her shoes, she took off her outdoor shoes and put them in my hands."

Looking back, these were roughly the main points of Yuki's reaction.

Upon closer reflection...

"No, I'll go."

"—This isn't bullying at all!" Hoshino Utsunomiya exclaimed in realization.

"This is not bullying at all!"

"I can't breathe," Shirley Tachibana said through gritted teeth.

Okay, case closed.

Hoshino was right!

The evil one is the witch.

As expected, whether it's a person or not, witches are all rotten to the core!

No matter how you look at it, isn't this just an evil witch taking the opportunity to harass the innocent Hoshino?!

That's outrageous.

They bully my Hoshino just because he has a pretty face.

I want to punch her, to give her a good punch in the face.

...But she's dead.

“Actually, I don’t bully people,” Hoshino Utsunomiya said quietly. “I just asked someone for advice and then learned to do something that went too far.”

"I wish she could hate me, I wish she would kill me."

At that time, Hoshino Utsunomiya sincerely hoped that this would happen.

"It's alright, that was just what I was thinking at the time." Perhaps sensing the emotions emanating from the girl's hand, Utsunomiya Hoshino gently pulled Tachibana Sherry's body and embraced her.

The girl leaned to her side and nestled into his arms, resting her head on his lap.

He held her hand with one hand and gently stroked her head with the other.

Tachibana Sherry turned around and buried her head in the hole.

Breathe.

The kind of breathing that involves humming.

It looks a bit like a pig.

She had always known that Hoshino had a strong tendency toward self-destruction in the past.

When faced with indecision, one contemplates suicide; when faced with indecision, one is ready to die.

Even before encountering the witch, entering the mansion, and beginning the rewind, it seemed to be the same.

What a naughty baby.

Shirley Tachibana wanted to bite him, but after thinking about it, she gave up.

The clothes have no smell when chewed.

Mouth is still tastier.

But he's talking now, so it's not appropriate for him to be talking.

“I don’t think about those things anymore.” Hoshino Utsunomiya patted the girl’s head and continued, “In fact, ever since I realized that those methods were useless, I haven’t thought about them much.”

"At that time, I probably started to vaguely realize that I might like her."

He raised his head once more, shielding his eyes from the sunlight, and a slight smile unconsciously appeared on Hoshino Utsunomiya's lips.

"Let nature take its course," he said.

"If we can fall in love with each other, it might not matter if we are captured by a witch."

"If I could anger the witch and be killed by her own hand, that would seem like a good option."

This is what Hoshino Utsunomiya thought back then, based on his memories of the past.

He seemed to be able to understand his own thoughts at the time a little better, and seemed to be able to feel a little bit of his own emotions back then.

Sure enough, she was blinded by love.

"So, I tried to take the initiative to make friends with her."

"It was very simple: I found her, reached out my hand, and asked, 'Can we be friends?'"

Actually, my memory is surprisingly clear.

Normally, she wouldn't think about it, but if she were to rewind and revisit those memories, Hoshino Utsunomiya would find them surprisingly vivid.

He seemed to remember every single word that Tsukishiro Yuki said.

I just couldn't easily understand this emotion before, so it seems like I've completely forgotten about it.

But clearly, this memory is not so easy to completely forget.

“She agreed very readily, unexpectedly readily.” Hoshino Utsunomiya smiled: “...Actually, you can tell from this that she probably didn’t feel that I was bullying her at all.”

Otherwise, it can only be explained by the witch's peculiar thought process.

"I may have thought of that at the time, or I may not have thought of anything at all."

"It's just that, under the guise of friendship, we exchanged contact information, held hands, squeezed into seats on the tram, wandered around the shopping street, and ate."

It seems to be something that 'friends' would do, and I don't recall anything wrong with it.

"Looking back now, it was just a date."

Dating, dating, relationships that begin with the intention of marriage, dating under the guise of friendship, and intimate contact that might even qualify as romantic relationships.

Why were I fooled by such simple words back then?

Hoshino Utsunomiya was puzzled.

Was it because he lacked experience in love, or because the witch's beauty was too alluring, causing him to unconsciously overlook other things, or perhaps...?

This is the witch's magic.

Oh my god, how could this witch be so wicked? She even used magic just to trick a virgin like me?

However, there's something I'm only just realizing now.

Meruru is over 500 years old, while Tsukishiro Yuki, the witch who plays with Hiroema and is the same age as her, is still in school...

How old should I be then?

Thinking about this question, Hoshino Utsunomiya became even more puzzled.

So, how did such a witch die?

A perfectly healthy person can just die like that.

“Dating, holding hands, going on dates…” Tachibana Sherry muttered, “No wonder Hoshino said she might get married if she hadn’t died.”

Am I...?

...Should we thank her for dying like that?

Tachibana Sherry knew perfectly well what her unspoken words meant.

Hoshino Utsunomiya knew what she wanted to say.

It could even be said that this is probably what most of the girls in this mansion thought.

Thanks to Xuesheng for open source.

Although this is very unethical.

But it's hard not to think that way.