Yuu-5

“You’re the sc.u.m here.”

…It happened before I could blink.

Sharp heat ran through my palm as if it had been pressed with a pair of tongs. The back of my hand throbbed with pain as if my skin was exploding, causing it to swell and twinge in agony.

I realised only belatedly that my hand had been subjected to such a heavy degree of force.

I have trembled in the face of male violence since my first cry as a newborn child, when the doctor spanked me on my bottom. Back then, well, there were reasons for that, one could say, so I placidly took the beating, but this time, I was targeted with awful violence just for walking up to a man. It was an excessively crude way of action. These circ.u.mstances warranted a lawsuit.

I flinched. Tears sprang unbidden to my eyes. As I abandoned myself to a state of misery that I could not lift a finger to stop, I nevertheless steeled myself to look up at Kusaoka-san, only to be greeted by a brisk and easy-going smile. Dumbfounded, I looked back and forth between my stinging palm and the face of the young man who had dealt the damage.

Giving one’s hand to another person is nothing to apologise over. From any perspective imaginable, this person was the lowest of the low.

“…Very well,” I said in a strained voice. I decided to deliver the severest punishment imaginable. “Very well then. I forfeit my Johannes points. Please go home.”

“Wh-Whoa. Seriously?”

“Quickly!”

“Man… If only I knew this would happen from the beginning…”

Kusaoka-san trudged away without showing any form of resistance. Although his back was weighed down with an indefinable sadness, I understood what was happening.

I had resorted to the awfully strict means of stealing away the time we could be together, but it was something I had to do in order to make him reflect upon his actions. He had made an enemy of the weak-willed and timid Chigusa.

When it comes to human relationships, the three F’s are a necessity. He had already flattered and frightened me. All that remained was following. Indeed. All that Kusaoka-san would do from now on was follow me.

After a couple had been separated once, they would meet again out of deep remorse and magnanimous forgiveness in a moving scene that would make all of America cry. Even Kusaoka-san, who lacked communication skills, would taste loneliness and desolation after being flung away so unceremoniously. He would wallow in shame at the gravity of this error of his own doing. How many seconds would it take for him to come running back?

I wondered how I should receive him. Should I smile and gently put a hand on his shoulder? Or perhaps I should simply make him touch his forehead with his toes? I might even make him wait in the snow and rain, à la the Walk to Canossa. This incident would be inscribed in the official textbooks as Chigusa’s Occupation, and it would become widely known across the nation as evidence of the existence of justice.

Somehow, it was all very exciting to me. It might be a cliché to say that time flies when you’re having fun, but that was certainly the case with me. When I started the stopwatch app on my smart phone, one minute pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye, and then three minutes, and then five minutes, and then—hm?

However long I waited, Kusaoka-san did not return. Even when I strained my ears, all I heard was the intermittent sound of roaring helicopters and the lonely cries of night birds in-between. Like a fool, I stood stock still in the dimly-lit hallway, very much alone.

When my gaze flitted towards the window, I was astonished.

The pitch black gates stood tall in the darkness of the night. There, at the side entrance, was a person.

From the height of the silhouette, it was clearly Kusaoka-san. Regardless of whether he knew I was watching, he was waving cheerfully in my direction as he skipped off into the residential area and disappeared into the night. If I called him now on impulse, I would receive the answering machine. Was he toying with me? He was supposed to be here, by my side.

I could hear my teeth grinding inside my mouth. My two feet stamped the ground in frustration. To think he would make such a fool of me. Now that it had come to this, I would firmly and resolutely hold my ground as Super Saiyan Johannes in the genesis of this terrible, hard-fought conflict—

“…My goodness.”

I breathed a sigh. I let go of the window pane and turned around slowly.

“How ridiculous…”

It was the most ridiculous thing I had ever encountered. If this was how he was going to be, then fine. I would play his game. No more do I wish to divide my precious resources with him.

Now that it was inconceivable that I was being followed, I took my time leaving the school building. Outside, the night wind encircled me. There was no one to shield me against the wind. Of course, I had no need for anyone like that since the very beginning.

My palm still throbbed with pain. Whether it was because he had hit me or because of some other reason, thinking about it was a bother, so I refused to look back. I clenched my palm into a fist. So that the pain would go away. So that I could ignore the pang in my heart.

What a despicable person.

What a truly despicable person.

For the first time in her life, Chigusa Yuu insulted a human being.