The person who likes me is a yandere.

If this is left unchecked, the pressure in my heart will only increase, and I can't get back into a depressed state of mind. As long as Aki Tomo is around, I can barely maintain a normal level.

Nothing happened for the rest of the day.

Kato Megumi's stern gaze, Tohka's voice as she spoke to someone—these constantly tugged at my sensitive heart. I closed my eyes, covered my ears, and pretended not to know anything. I filtered out all the unpleasant information that entered my mind.

I continued my pointless conversation with Aki Tomoya. Then, I procrastinated and procrastinated again—until lunch break.

"What—Asami-kun, you're here again—??"

After entering the infirmary, the school nurse came out with a disgruntled smile.

No matter how obvious the purpose of skipping class is when a student comes to the infirmary, they will never really show any distress. That's the charm of this teacher.

"I'm feeling a little dizzy. Could I have a meal here?"

"Yes, that's possible."

I sat down at the table in the center of the room and started eating the bread I had bought from the convenience store.

Today's break between classes was truly agonizing.

If I want to rest for a little while, I feel like Tohka will talk to me as if she has forgotten what happened before.

As a result, until the school bell rang, I was the only one suffering.

Afterwards, I felt even less confident that I could get through the lunch break, so I ended up escaping anyway.

"What's wrong? Did something bad happen?"

Having finished her work, the teacher took her lunchbox and walked to the table.

Upon closer inspection, the teacher's bento box was both plentiful and beautiful, clearly handmade.

"What makes a teacher want to become a teacher?"

"Hmm, what's wrong? Why are you suddenly asking this? What's the reason? Maybe it's because I thought I would become a teacher when I was a child."

"why?"

"There's no great reason, I guess. My elementary school school nurse was really pretty. That's about it. I always thought I could be like a teacher, and now I'm a teacher."

"It's a very simple reason."

"Huh? Can't it be simpler?"

"No, I think it's fine."

The reason I could always escape to the infirmary was because this teacher treated every student equally, like a child.

It's a bit like treating dissenting friends who aren't yet romantic partners; everyone is treated equally.

Furthermore, treating the other person as a child also means not treating them as a human being.

Children are certainly human beings, and that's true. But from the perspective of calling ordinary people "human beings," the concept of children is too abstract, too broad, and difficult to define.

A feeling of being above pets, yet below human standards. Therefore, to me, there's no difference between people who hate children and people who hate dogs.

After becoming high school students, adults started trying to treat us like adults, showing annoyance when we failed and getting upset when we were spoken ill of. We hurt each other and got hurt.

Treating someone as a person means exactly what this means.

In this infirmary, the teacher interacts with all sorts of people, yet she still treats everyone like children. Not treating others as human beings sounds like a cruel and heartless phrase, but it actually reveals the kindest part of the teacher's heart.

Suddenly, I felt that I wish I could associate with someone like that. Just a little joy every day, no sadness, no hurt.

In that case, it's certain—

Suddenly, my phone rang. After taking it out of my bag, I found a text message. The sender was a classmate.

"Tohka is running around the classroom (sweat), come back quickly!"

My head feels hot and I feel dizzy. My hands are also sweating, and my body temperature is a bit abnormal.

"Huh? What happened?"

Ignoring the teacher's question, I dashed out of the infirmary. At first, I was just jogging, but when I got near the stairs, I started running at full speed.

Opening the door to the noisy classroom, unlike the hallway, I was instantly enveloped in an awkward atmosphere.

Everyone in the classroom was looking at me. At the center of their attention sat Tang Jing, choking back tears, and standing proudly before her was Tohka.

She glanced at me briefly before turning her gaze back to Tang Jing.

"You think you can just cry it out and it'll all be over?"

"Because..."

"Everyone has dyed their hair back to its original color. Do you really think that just by crying, your stubbornness will be forgiven?"

The words were sharp and could completely shatter the other person's mental defenses. I could almost hear Tang Jing's heart breaking.

I felt someone tap me on the shoulder, and when I turned around, I saw it was Aki Tomoya.

"Tang Jing seems to have ignored the life guidance teacher's words and did not accept the guidance."

Despite repeated reminders, she still refused to dye her hair back, then skipped the volunteer activity as punishment, and finally even...

Back then, I made Tohka so angry, but Karai still didn't go to the teacher. That's why things have turned out the way they are now.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Severance

"I really can't stand it anymore," a girl nearby said, seemingly trying to cover for the other person.

"Tang Jing is apologizing, so there's no need to be so angry, is there?"

"The person who should apologize is not me, but the life guidance teacher."

Tohka is right. Most of what she says is correct. Therefore, if you try to argue with her head-on, you will be defeated by her sense of justice.

She's been like this since the beginning of high school. She always sides with the rules.

Actually, at first, the classmates weren't afraid of Tohka. It's just that as the student council president, she was too annoying.

He's so fixated on school rules, what a troublesome guy.

She was praised for her beautiful appearance at the opening ceremony, but she was quickly ostracized by everyone.

More and more people started looking at her with aggressive eyes.

However, in a one-on-one situation, you can't beat her. If many people offer her their opinions, she'll ignore them. The more assertive a person is, the more compliant they become after arguing with her.

In my first year of high school, I had an argument with a rather eye-catching boy.

To put it bluntly, I think that guy likes Tohka. So he deliberately does things to annoy her and makes all sorts of ridiculous jokes. But his laughter only lasts a short while. It gradually turns into a roar, and eventually, he can barely make a sound.

The suffering involved is clear to everyone.

From that moment on, the classmates started looking at Tohka with eyes that seemed to know nothing about her, like she was a monster. At this point, the only option left was for all the classmates to bully her together. Because she was so terrifying, everyone worked together to deal with her.

Just as this tendency was becoming more and more obvious, at a very opportune moment, I started dating Tohka.

Big news. That rigid and stubborn Tohka has actually become lovers with someone as weird as me.

Then things started to change again. The classmates gave the new couple very "generous" blessings. That was just a move to reclassify Tohka, who had never shown any weakness until now, back into the category of an ordinary high school girl.

"Is the development of Heqianyu going smoothly?"

What stage are you two at in your relationship?

"Give us a kiss and let us see."

The students were finally able to make such jokes, and finally able to treat Tohka as an ordinary classmate.

Instead of seeing it as something terrible.

—So, Tohka, the relationship between you and me is something that was forced upon us simply for the common good of the class.

Several people in the classroom are looking at me.

I was afraid of Tohka, and because of that, my lovely deskmate, classmates, and others took advantage of the fact that I wouldn't let Tohka leave.

They remained silent but kept saying something, which I already knew.

Aren't you her boyfriend? Hurry up and do something.

Do not make jokes.

You two are both so annoying. That's why I hate you, okay? I don't want to get along with you at all.

The atmosphere was so obvious.

Why do I always have to play this kind of role? A burst of hot air escaped my lungs, and I felt as if my entire body had slipped out of my control, as if it no longer belonged to me.

With this confused feeling, I walked up to them and stood between Karai and Tohka.

He was less than a step away from her. That was a distance from which he could harm her. Beating, strangling, or even assassination if he had a knife.

Although Tohka was looking at me, she seemed to be daydreaming, looking somewhere else entirely.

"There's no need for someone like Qianyu, who isn't proactive, to get involved in this matter."

Compared to what he had said to Tang Jing before, his voice was much weaker.

I feel an urge to cry. I feel myself wavering again, even though I had already made up my mind.

I've had enough. I can't tolerate women controlling my heart anymore.

Because of Tohka's existence, I can no longer laugh. I can't sleep peacefully, I keep getting hurt, and I feel sadness.

Tohka, who used to be completely lost in thought, our classmate who blessed us out of fear, and Karai, who was crying her eyes out—they were all incredibly annoying.

Vanish, leave. Go to a distant place that these hands can no longer reach. So far that even memories have faded away.

"We understand why Tohka is angry."

From my confused mind came a kind word.

"That's enough for today. Tang Jing has already reflected on his actions, hasn't he?"

"...I reminded her again because I didn't see that she was reflecting on her actions. She skipped the volunteer activity, didn't hand in her reflection report, and didn't go to the teacher's office. To put it bluntly, she probably doesn't even know the common sense that a high school student should have."

"Maybe. But some things should be said and some shouldn't, shouldn't they?"

The voice was gentle and steady, like a fruit bathed in the warm sunlight.

"Tang Jing, you've already cried, haven't you?"