The person who likes me is a yandere.

Well, all this effort wasn't entirely without value. I successfully obtained a lot of valuable information that I couldn't get at home. Let's try to organize it.

First, before the accident, I was a very good student and I didn't have any particular weakness in any subject.

This is evidenced by the fact that I was able to keep up with the pace without any problems even after missing a week of school. It's less due to a good mind and more due to my habit of diligently preparing and reviewing. Before the accident, I was an excellent student. Yes, except when it came to studying…

—Secondly, before the incident, I was completely isolated in class.

The fact that I was hospitalized for a week after a car accident, and then returned to school only to sit slumped over my desk without anyone speaking to me, proves this. And this is being proven in the present. Nobody believes I have amnesia. Although it's not confirmed and unclear, I'm likely being ostracized by the entire school.

—Third, before the incident, I was a well-known siscon in the whole school.

It's hard for anyone not to know that he's always going to and from school with his already very attractive younger sister.

Fourth, I had many strange behaviors before the incident.

Fifth, I had instigated a violent incident a month before the incident.

The only support for these two points is Luo Tianyi's testimony, but I can't think of any reason why she would risk being pointed at and gossiped about by other classmates to lie to me like this, so I think it's probably true.

The above is the image of Akihira the Lotus Staff that I discerned on my first day of school.

...This guy is hopeless.

In short, isn't he just a self-centered, nerdy, siscon, violent jerk...? What's wrong with this guy? Every time I learn about his past, it only increases my disgust. Doesn't he have any redeeming qualities? I really can't find a single one. On the other hand, he's really something. Is this really me?

Besides, Ayase is really something. Who's the school idol? You've completely got it backwards. Why are you telling me such obvious lies? You're only hurting me more.

"…………How annoying!"

Thinking about this, a nasty assumption popped into my head.

Perhaps Ayase wasn't lying, but rather it was the absurd common sense that the Aragaki siblings had been telling me since the day before yesterday, a story I'd heard countless times. The information that 'I'm the school idol' was probably something I instilled in my innocent younger sister before the incident.

Looking at it this way, it only makes me seem more hopeless before the incident. A self-centered, bookish, siscon, violent jerk, and now, a vain liar, should also be added to that list.

"Hey, Kurobe. How about we go to a family-run restaurant after school today?"

"Oh, okay, okay. Are Rin and Yuuki going too?"

"go"

"We absolutely have to go."

...The top students in the class were deliberately talking loudly in the middle of the classroom, making sure no one could hear them. If I suggested joining that group and living a carefree, fulfilling life during lunch breaks, would Ayase really believe me? Besides, are those guys really that capable? They're just conspicuous; upon closer inspection, they're not that...

"Hey, Cai, look! Qianyu seems to be watching us!"

"Really? That's hilarious. Did they forget the way home?"

"This is bad, our eyes have met. We're going to get a bloody nose."

"Huh? What? That's hilarious!"

Yi Jun burst into loud laughter.

...Ugh, that's just how reality is. I'm not really part of their circle, laughing with them; at best, I'm just someone they laugh at from the outside. Damn it, I've had enough. I'm tired today, I'm going home.

I picked up my backpack and put it on the table. I waited for about two minutes, which should have been enough to pretend I hadn't heard you talking and that I hadn't been teased or driven away. Then I grabbed my backpack and pulled out a chair.

Just then—

"Um, Tangdao-kun."

A bob haircut boldly pierced through the dazzling aura of the First Army.

"Hmm? What's up, class monitor?"

Needless to say, that was pure ignorance... Correction, it was my newly acquainted classmate, Hachiyo. She saluted and immediately left the classroom. What is she doing now?

"Um, I just ran into Ms. Jiuli in the hallway. She said the key to the archives hasn't been returned. Tangdao, you were on duty today and went to return the model, right? Do you know where the key is?"

"Oh no, I forgot."

A curly-haired girl in the army, nicknamed Cai, seemed to suddenly remember something and quickly put both hands into her jacket pockets.

"Huh? No?"

Then, she remained frozen in that pose.

"No way, oh no. It's definitely in my pocket!"

Tang Dao, clearly annoyed, rummaged through his pockets again, seemingly angry at someone. But what was the point of searching a second time if he couldn't find it the first time?

"Ugh! Why isn't he here? How annoying!"

"Could it have been knocked off? For example... in the anus?"

"Ah, was it around that time? It must have been. The Kurobe were playing so intensely back then."

Tang Dao gave the wavy-haired boy who was whispering to her a hard slap on the shoulder. "Hey, hey, hey, what kind of intense stuff are you two doing in your rear end where no one can see?"

"What? Kurobe-kun knows where the key is?"

"Yeah, it's just a possibility. The four of us played volleyball during lunch break. That's probably when it fell."

...I didn't expect you guys to exercise during your lunch break.

"Cai, didn't you do a backspin catch? It must have been around that time."

"Probably, but I really don't have the energy to look for it right now. Can we just pretend we don't know? It shouldn't matter, right?"

"No, no, that won't do. Teacher Jiuli is worried about it. Let's go look for it, I'll help too."

"Ugh, I knew it! This is so boring."

Tang Dao exaggeratedly raised his head, expressing his deep dissatisfaction.

"Don't say that, we can find it quickly if we all look together. Kurobe-kun, Seki-kun, and Suzumura-kun will also help."

"What? Why are you including us? Are you kidding me? I absolutely won't do that!"

"Kurobe, you idiot, shut up right now!"

The guy from Kurobe looked like he wanted to spit on him, but he got a lesson from that guy named Seki.

"If we make the class monitor angry, Mr. Hachiyo will..."

"Oh, right. What bad luck. Okay, fine, I'll go then."

Thank you everyone. Okay, follow me.

The class monitor and the homeroom teacher were sisters, and this group of students indeed dared not cross that line. Although they were exhausted, they still followed Hachiyo out of the classroom.

That's it. The eavesdropping is over.

...The class monitor really works hard. Hachiyo returned to the classroom with her bag, probably because she was caught by the science teacher on her way home. She could have simply told him she knew and left, but instead, she went to look for the keys together—a true role model for a class monitor. Everyone thinks I should have learned from her before this happened.

...But then again, is she alright? I pressed my thumb down on my index finger and sprang out.

"never mind"

The distress lasted only a moment; finally, I grabbed my bag and stood up. Ayase was still waiting for me; I couldn't linger any longer.

I mingled with the other students in the shoe locker and changed into my outdoor shoes.

Students heading to club activities and those heading home converged at the stairwell. The two groups of students exiting the stairwell moved in completely different directions. I belonged to the group heading home, so my steps were quite leisurely.

I was eavesdropping earlier, so I was a little late leaving the classroom. I wonder if Ayase is getting impatient.

Chapter Twenty-One: Say Something!

"Oh? I thought it was someone suspicious touching me, but it turns out it was Qianyu."

In the backyard as the sun was setting, another girl, even lazier than Ichijun, arrived. She was another Kansai native from Class 2-1.

"Ah, Hachiyo-sensei. Hello."

"What are you doing in the backyard so late at night? Trying to commit suicide?"

"No, I was looking for something. Teacher, did you come here for a smoke?"

"Yeah, right. I was on duty. A girl just said she was asked for directions by a suspicious person in uniform at school, so I went on patrol to check after receiving the report. Qianyu, did you see that kind of guy?"

No, I have absolutely no idea.

I'm not a suspicious person, so I have no idea.

"Really? Never mind then... What happened to that guy?"

Mr. Hachiyo scratched his neck, his gaze falling on the tree whose name he didn't know.

"Ahhh, I went too far! I shouldn't have said that! I shouldn't have said things like that! What should I do? Will Tangdao and the others be angry? Ahhh, what should I do?!"

Over there, after giving Ichigo a good scolding, Hachiyo started an endless self-reflection session by herself.

"I have to apologize to them tomorrow. Will Tangdao and the others forgive me? Can I explain it properly? Hey, Asahi-kun, what do you think?"

"Huh? Me? Who knows? It should be okay, right? I just don't know."

"How could this be? Don't tell me you didn't know! Waaah!"

"Huh? You're crying?"

"I don't know what to do!"

Seriously, why does the person who yells cry? Hachiyo buried her head in her legs and started sobbing.

"Ugh, you ugly thing!"

"it hurts!"

The teacher gave Hachiyo a hard punch on the back of the head.

"Hey, teacher, what are you doing!"

"You're crying and whining about something useless again. Do you need the whole world to like you to be satisfied? Even God is only liked by his believers, everyone else is hated, you know that, you ugly freak!"

"It hurts!"

"Teacher, please don't be violent. Also, please don't call Hachiyo an ugly monster!"

She's not ugly at all; on the contrary, she's quite cute.

"Sister, you're so mean! It hurts so much!"

"Oh, are you cheering now, you ugly thing?"