I peered forward from the back seat and my gaze collided with cool eyes in the rear-view mirror.
Driving the car was detective Terashima-san.
She was one of the detectives who protected me when I was released from that room, and heâs been very good to me, but heâs kind of âŚâŚ a bit unfriendly.
He is not very emotional, or he doesnât seem to be interested in all kinds of things.
Today is Tuesday.
A real return to normality. Itâs the first time Iâve been back to school in 20 days, including the period of my confinement.
A week has passed since Iâve been a patient that was undergoing a full examination at the hospital and interviewed by the police.
The results of the full examination showed no problems.
The only problem was that I had gained some weight. This was a mild shock. The cause is known, if Iâm hungry and eat a lot of food, thatâs what happens.
On the other hand, the police interview was not so easy.
In the end, ăI donât remember anything. I realised it had been 13 daysă. No, it would be more appropriate to say that I had to let it pass.
When I try to speak what I remember, I lose my voice. The same happens when I try to write. Now my hands stop moving. In fact, I remember quite a lot of things, but it was frustrating that I had no way of communicating them.
I was locked up in that room and someone held me a lot.
I was starved, intimidated and along the way, I volunteered. I remember wearing some disgusting underwear to try to please them. Just before I was released, I feel like they did something terrible to me.
But I canât remember anything about the other person, which is the most important thing. Even though I can remember what the room looks like.
To the male detective who tries to get me to talk somehow,Terashima-san interjects, ăShe must be in shock. Itâs not a good idea to force her to talk nowă and defended me.
She was also the one who reassured my worried parents when I resumed going to school.
For the time being, she will also take him to and from school. I didnât expect the police to be so generous in their care for the victim.
So, for the time being, I wonât be able to take a side trip or go out with Jun-kun, but that canât be helped. Iâll just have to put up with it for a while.
What relieved me more than anything was that I would be able to continue my activities as a reader model.
When I contacted the editorial department, Kinuta-san, who was in charge of all of my project, only vaguely knew that I had gone missing and the next shooting date was easily set.
I am very happy that I did not lose my foothold in my dream of becoming an actress.
But what were those thirteen days all about?
Who was the man who locked me up?
I kept getting bothered by the fact that I couldnât remember.
âMisuzu-sama, we have arrived.â
I looked up to see that the car had already arrived at the schoolâs teacherâs parking lot.
For some reason, Terashima-san calls me ăMisuzu-samaă when it is just the two of us.
âUm, âŚâŚ Terashima-san, will you stop calling me ăMisuzu-samaă?ăIt makes me feel kind of mushyâŚâŚ.â
âDonât mind it. Itâs simply that Iâm more comfortable calling you that.â
âHaaâŚâŚ.â
Come to think of it, I think I said something similar to someone somewhere. That, too, I couldnât seem to recall.
ĂĂĂ
My pre-start break is invaded by Fujiwara-san.
Even now, as soon as she puts her bag, decorated with badges, on the desk, she pulls up a chair and clings to my arm.
âWhatâs this?ăIs she a new kind of ape or something with a new kind of ecology, like if she doesnât hold on to something sheâll die? This child.â
However, it happens every day, so I just give up and look at her with a faraway look.
She didnât even notice my ăbothersome appeală, and she started to talk in my ear.
âFuăźmin!ăDid you hear that?ăDid you hear?ăMisuzu is coming to school today!â
ââŚâŚKurosawa-san?â
âYes, I heard Kitoran and Gori talking about it!â
By Kitoran I assume she means Kitora-sensei, the unmotivated aunt in the infirmary. Gori means Gorioka, the homeroom teacherâŚâŚI mean, seriously, what is Goriokaâs real name?
My impression about Kurosawa-san coming to school was that it took longer than I thought. It has been a whole week since she was released.
Iâve been getting reports from Ryoko about her condition, and even if I donât do anything, Fujiwara-san tells me about her interactions on social media, so I know her well.
ââŚ.hmmm.â
âOh, you donât look interestedâŚâŚâ
âActually, Iâm not interestedâŚ..in the first place, the only contact Iâve had with Kurosawa-san is when she stepped on me.â
There is no objection there. She was so protective of her friend that he was willing to sacrifice himself for Masakiâs sake.
âAhahaâŚMasaki-chiâs thing is a bit of a misunderstanding, but Misuzu is really a very nice girl. Also, Fuăźmin. Iâm sorry, but can I ask you to eat lunch by yourself today? Itâs been a while since Iâve had lunch with Misuzuâ
âSureâ
Thereâs nothing not to be saddened by. Rather, it is a reward. It was a welcome miscalculation that the return of Kurosawa-san would free me from Fujiwara-san.
But at the same time, there is one thing that bothers me a little.
Although Fujiwara-san didnât seem to hear it, as soon as we started talking about ăKurosawa-san coming to schoolă, Teruya-san, sitting diagonally in front of me, definitely clicked her tongue.
I honestly think I need to be careful about Teruya-san.
It was probably her who made Tachioka-kun threaten Fujiwara-san, and she also seems to be quite hostile towards Kurosawa-san.
I donât care if it was just a few years ago, but now both Fujiwara-san and Kurosawa-san are important girls to me. If Teruya-san ever makes a move on them, I intend to crush them mercilessly at that time.
While I was thinking about this, suddenly the surroundings became noisy. When I turned my eyes towards the entrance of the classroom, I saw Kurosawa-san there.
She has long glossy black hair and her eyes are slightly pinched. The bridge of her nose has a beautiful line as if drawn with a brush. When I look at her again, sheâs still quite a beauty.
âMisuzu!â
âUwaa, itâs Misuzu! Itâs been a long time!â
Starting with Kasuya-kun, all the cheerful people rushed towards her at once.
It seems that she has been communicating with Fujiwara-san and Kasuya-kun on social media, so everyone knows the general situation.
But she herself doesnât remember anything and claims that itâs been 13 days since she has been found out.
âShouldnât Fujiwara-san go too?â
âNnâŚâŚI should rather refrain from going, except for Kasuya-kun.â
Clinging to my arm, Fujiwara-san replies.
This girl canât be underestimated because she has a habit of being an idiot and sometimes makes good arguments.
After finishing her greetings, Kurosawa-san moves towards her seat. On the way there, she glanced at us.
âYahoâMisuzu!â
âMaiâŚâŚ you wrote in a message that you had a boyfriend, but I never thought it wasâŚâŚâ
âYes, yes, my boyfriend is Fuăźmin!â
âEhhâŚ..â
The word [Ehh] was overly exaggerated.
As it would be. The fact that I was the one she spent time with in the ăRoomă has disappeared from her memory. In other words, her impression of me is from that point in time when she trampled me.
The look in her eyes when she looked at me clearly showed a hint of contempt.
âHey, Mai. He must know about your weakness or something, right?â
âEh?â
âYouâre being threatened, arenât you?ăOtherwise, you wouldnât be dating this guy. Heâs gross, he stinks, and he has a distorted personalityâŚ..â
âYou really like to say rude thingsâŚoi.â
Despite my unintentional miffed reaction, Fujiwara-san laughed happily and said, [Ehehe].
âIâm glad. Iâm glad that Misuzu thinks so. If Misuzu fell in love with Fuăźmin, I wouldnât be able to compete with her.â
âWhat!?â
âNo, no, thatâs a strange idea.â
I was the one who made the comment instead of Kurosawa-san, who was at a loss for words. But for some reason, Kurosawa-san snapped at me.
âYou donât say that! I mean, you!ăWhat did you do to Mai? Youâre not trying to do something nasty, are you!â
âWell, I think itâs more like the oppositeâŚ..â
âYeah, Iâve been trying to get him to go to my house or to a hotel every day, but heâs so hard to get, Ahahaâ
âE-ehhâŚâŚâ
Kurosawa-san let out an even more abrasive [heh] than before.
This is what it means to be unable to say a second word. In the indescribable atmosphere, as if out of concern, the opening chime rings and the homeroom teacher, Gorioka, enters the classroom.
Kurosawa-san walked hurriedly to her seat with her cheeks twitching.
ĂĂĂ
As announced, Fujiwara-san had lunch with Kurosawa-san and the others. Thanks to this, I enjoyed my lunch alone on the rooftop for the first time in a while.
However, the bento is still Fujiwara-sanâs home-made lunch, and today, too, the heart mark drawn with sakura-denbu on top of the rice is painful.
âTime to be alone is necessary, isnât it âŚ..â
I mutter to myself. Sometimes itâs good to spend some alone time.
Rooftops are just right for relaxing at this time of year. Blue sky with hardly any clouds. The early summer sun is soft and warm. After finishing my lunch, I decided to lie down on the ground instead of a bench and enjoy the sun. ButâŚ
âUmmâŚâŚ Kijima-senpai.â
As I was crumbling the heart mark on my sakura-denbu with my chopsticks as if I were avenging my parents, suddenly a shadow of a person falls over me. When I looked up, there was the figure of a girl I didnât recognise.
From the colour of the ribbon on her chest, she seems to be a first-year student, but she is quite a pretty girl.
Her mischievous smile gives the impression of a cat.
Her long, back-length hair was a light chestnut colour and was carefully braided on either side of her head.
To sum up my first impression of her, she is the kind of girl who seems to turn men on.
When I tilted my head, she took one deep breath and opened her mouth as if she had made up her mind.
âUmâŚâŚmy name is Rin Fukuda.â
âHaaâŚâŚâ
âKijima-senpai! Please go out with me!â
âIâm sorry.â
Perhaps I answered too quickly, but she gave me a puzzled look, as if she didnât understand what I was talking about.
âAhâŚâŚ ah, I feel like Iâm going deaf.â
âIs that so?â
âSenpai, One Moreâ
âOh, okayâŚâŚ But I have a girlfriend, so Iâm sorryâ
âEhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?â
I donât know why, but she was really surprised.
âW-wait, donât you at least consider it? Donât you think Iâm cute? S-senpaiâs girlfriend is Fujiwara-senpai, right? Do you prefer gals like her?â
If she asks me if sheâs cute, yes, sheâs cute. Her breasts are big enough to be seen on her clothes.
But when it comes to cuteness, Masaki and Fujiwara-san with no make-up are cuter, and when it comes to beauty, Kurosawa-san and Ryoko are more beautiful.
When it comes to breasts, Masaki is the champion with big breasts, Fujiwara is the champion with small breasts, and Kurosawa is the champion with beautiful breasts.
âI guess itâs like the belt is too short and the rope is too long.â
âWhat kind of evaluation is that!?â
No, even I know that. If it were normal, this girl would be at a level where I would say that she is disproportionate to me and that she is a prize. If a girl of this level confessed to me, the sensible reaction would be to say yes without a second thought.
But now that I have Fujiwara-san at school and Masaki-chan at home, I have no reason to go out with this girl, and my biggest concern at the moment is how to get Kurosawa-san back to me again and bring her into enslaved.
No matter how I think about it, I canât afford to devote myself to this girl.
âAndâŚif I really wanted to make her mine, I could just lock her up.â
Nowadays, playing the love game of going out or not going out is too frustrating for me.
If I want this girl, I will lock her up. Thatâs how much devilish thinking is taking root in me.
Iâm aware that Iâve fallen for Liliâs schemes, but once Iâve reached this point, thereâs no escaping it.
âThatâs why Iâm sorryâ
As I bowed my head, she bit down on her teeth, glared at me, and spoke.