"After that, I lived with Kiyoka-san for about ten years... Honestly, I don't remember that part very well."
To me, that was almost fifteen years ago. Tsugumi spoke as if he were recounting a distant memory.
In reality, if this unbelievable story was true, those few years must have been quite enjoyable for him.
His tone completely changed from when he was talking about his parents, and his words were cheerful.
"Is it really necessary to go into such detail about your ex-girlfriend? What I want to know is the reason you decided to leave me."
As expected, Sakayanagi was furious. Of course she was. She had to listen to a long-winded story about the past romance of the person she had feelings for for nearly ten years.
This must be what they call a "brain-destroying" phenomenon. I remember Ike saying something like that.
"I'm sorry. It just made me nostalgic. This is the first time I've ever talked about it with anyone."
The passion from earlier was gone, and Tsugumi apologized with a nonchalant air.
"...Did you really keep such a painful past to yourself and not confide in anyone?"
...However, Sakayanagi seemed shocked that Tsugumi had kept his gruesome past to himself and hadn't confided in anyone.
When we were planning this operation with Sakayanagi, she often told me about her memories with Tsugumi.
Every single one of them was about how Tsugumi helped her when she was immature. She also said that while Tsugumi praised her as a genius, he almost never showed his weakness to her.
That's why Sakayanagi respected Tsugumi so much. She respected the Tsugumi who offered her a hand when she fell and sometimes taught her how to get back up.
This same Tsugumi had held onto his trauma for ten years without confiding in her.
And now, he was cornered to the point of trying to disappear from her life. Sakayanagi's feeling of powerlessness upon learning this must be ineffable.
"To be honest, I'm more surprised that you guys believe this story."
"When we first met, you were a child who was unbelievably intelligent and clever for his age. ...For years, I've wondered where you acquired the education and knowledge from books that weren't in Tsugumi-kun's house. If it was from a past life, it would make sense."
Indeed, his abnormal fighting skills would also make sense if he learned them in a past life.
And what he said about having a scrawny body when they first met must have been about his past life. ...He was probably malnourished. I felt a surge of anger toward his past-life mother who drove him to that situation, and his father who watched and did nothing.
"There are libraries at school and in the community, you know?"
"There's no way an elementary school library would have specialized books on medicine and biology. Other libraries aren't within walking distance, and your parents said they never took you there."
"How do you know all that...?"
I couldn't help but blurt that out. Knowing so much about me was starting to feel terrifying.
Tsugumi seemed to feel the same way, as his face, covered in blood and sand, was twitching.
"...Well, let's put that aside. Arisu-chan's hypothesis is spot on. In my past life, I enrolled in a national medical university. I got my high school equivalency diploma and then studied on my own."
I don't know much about universities in the outside world, but I can tell it's extremely difficult to get into.
Normally, people attend a high-level high school and still, some fail and have to try again the next year. He passed by studying on his own. It seems he was good at studying even in his past life.
"I graduated without being held back, got my medical license, and became a resident. And I died just as I was about to start my residency."
"...Why?"
Even Sakayanagi was probably hesitant to ask about the direct cause of death. After a moment of hesitation, she asked the question.
"Do you really want to know, Arisu-chan? ...Well, I don't mind telling you."
And Tsugumi contorted his handsome face and spoke.
"────I was stabbed. By my mother, dozens of times."
"What?! No..."
"After I graduated from college, I figured it was time to make amends. I also wanted to tell her about my marriage. When I went home, she seemed surprised but welcomed me... But at night, when I woke up, a knife was stuck in my stomach."
His somewhat reckless and brusque tone was a little different from the Tsugumi I had gotten to know over the past six months of our friendship.
"...Didn't you fight back?"
"I'm not as tough as you, Kiyotaka-kun. ...And she said, 'I wish I'd never given birth to you,' while crying."
Tsugumi sighed. A dry laugh followed, but his large, narrowed eyes were dark and murky.
"Why... but you had..."
Sakayanagi, who was uncharacteristically faltering in her words, probably wanted to ask why he gave up when he already had someone he was going to marry.
"...Yeah. I'm the worst. But the moment she said that, my whole life just stopped mattering."
Tsugumi read her intentions and replied.
"Ultimately, I never truly loved her. I was just dependent on her—a maternal figure who affirmed me unconditionally. ...I was always searching for someone who would see the real me, but I myself wasn't willing to accept others. That's why I'm garbage. Just like my parents."
"That's not true. You're not garbage, Tsugumi-kun. Thanks to you talking to me back then, I'm very happy now."
Sakayanagi immediately denied Tsugumi's statement.
But honestly, after hearing that story, I couldn't think of Tsugumi as a purely good person. But I was okay with that.
I had spent my life until I entered this school without knowing the friendly affection for others—the kind of feeling that people naturally acquire as they mature.
Tsugumi taught me that. It started as nothing more than a casual conversation. In just six months, I had exposed the deepest parts of my heart to him. At first, when I confessed that I was the "masterpiece," I was confused, wondering if I had become weak.
────Now, I don't regret that choice at all.
"Why are you being so self-deprecating? Who do you think will be happy if you push a non-existent fact on us?"
This Tsugumi, who finally told me about himself, has a lot of nerve. Honestly, the way he went about it isn't commendable, but in the end, I heard my best friend's troubles. I can't leave him alone now.
Up until now, he had always been the one to listen to my problems, and I had never been able to return the favor.
Then, when else would I repay this debt of gratitude?
"Were you shocked by your mother's rejection? Or are you truly disgusted with yourself for not being able to fight back? That can't be helped. It's not my place to say this, as I've only recently become a normal person myself, but... I don't think people are as perfect as you think they are, Tsugumi."
"Ayanokoji-kun...?"
Sakayanagi looked at me with a surprised expression. Perhaps my loquaciousness was unusual.
"You're happy when you're praised, and you get angry when you're made fun of. You also get sad when you're rejected. And I'm just happy having a casual conversation with you, Horikita, and Sudo."
What would my father think if he saw me earnestly talking about my joys, angers, sorrows, and pleasures?
...I've already come to a point of no return in these past six months.
"I'd be sad if you were gone. No, I'm lucky that I'd just be sad."
I thought of the faces of the people who were saved by this idiot who was suffering right in front of me.
"What about Sakayanagi? She'd probably shut herself away, thinking she couldn't stop you and that you abandoned her. What about Horikita, Kamuro, Karuizawa? You've reached out to all of them when they were at rock bottom."
"..."
Say something, Tsugumi. I'm a little angry right now.
"Everyone managed to get by because you led them. To abandon them halfway through is the worst, isn't it? You're just like your past-life father, aren't yo-"
"Shut up!!"
" ..."
After a long, long silence, what Tsugumi threw at me was a right punch from his battered body.
I deliberately took the blow and fell, and Tsugumi straddled me, grabbing my shirt.
"What do you... what do you know?! You've only been with me for six months, don't act like you know my struggles!"
The handsome face of Tsugumi, who was leaning over me and the ceiling, was a mess of tears and snot.
"Reached out?! I didn't do anything that grand! I just helped them because I'd feel bad if I abandoned them! ...Even Arisu-chan, I talked to her because I saw my frail past-self in her and felt sorry for her..."
His previous momentum was gone. He now whispered, like a penitent confessing to a priest.
"She just got attached, and it was comfortable! ...So I just went along with it carelessly. With a irresponsible mindset like, 'This child is a genius, so she'll leave me someday.'"
I stared at his eyes, not wiping away the small drops of water that fell on my cheek.
Then, as if he was tired of holding my shirt, Tsugumi stood up again and leaned against the wall.
"Arisu-chan, do you remember that Christmas in our second year of middle school?"
"...Yes. I could never forget it."
When Sakayanagi replied to his question, Tsugumi let out a small, resigned laugh.
"Of course you do. You even said so the other day. 'The first time I saw you cry, Tsugumi-kun,' you said... I'll tell you what happened that day."
With that, Tsugumi began to recount his past once more.
"That day, when I went to pick up the cake I'd reserved, I met a lost girl who looked to be in third grade. ...A girl with a face that looked strangely familiar."
He added those meaningful words and continued.
"That in itself isn't a problem. I found her in about five minutes by listening to her and retracing my steps. Except that the girl's mother, who came rushing over, looked exactly like my past-life mother."
"...No way."
It was easy to deny it. However, I didn't think Tsugumi would tell a story with no meaning.
"Exactly. Her face, her name, even her voice were identical. I kept thinking, 'That can't be, it's impossible'... And while I was thinking that, I asked the name of the girl who was holding hands with the woman who looked like my mother."
Tsugumi clenched his teeth and said in a trembling voice.
"────It was hard to hide my shock. Because that girl's name was the same name my father told me he would have given me if I had been born a girl when I was little."
"...So, that girl is your past-life's reflection?"
When Sakayanagi said that, Tsugumi let out a self-deprecating laugh and slid down to the floor.
"Yeah, that's right. She must have really hated her father, who cheated and abandoned the family. Unlike me, who became garbage because I idolized and followed in his footsteps."
Tsugumi rested his elbows on his hugged knees and spoke while covering his face with his hands and raking his hair.
"They both looked so happy. ...I'm sure if I wasn't me, my mother would have been able to recover somewhere. And when I thought that, I suddenly remembered my father's words: 'You are a plague on our house.'"
"..."
"Don't make that face, Arisu-chan. Isn't this a funny story? ...Because everyone I've ever loved has ended up miserable. Just like my father said."
Both Sakayanagi and I were unable to say anything to the Tsugumi who had fallen silent.
...Honestly, I didn't think the reason was this deep-seated. I thought he was carrying some kind of darkness, but Sakayanagi had already confirmed his family environment. I thought that if I just revealed my true feelings, he would go back to being the Tsugumi who always took care of me.
"Is that why you were going to drop out without telling anyone? And hide the fact that your father works for someone under the influence of Ayanokoji-sensei?"
"...I'm hearing this for the first time. Tsugumi, is that true?"
Sakayanagi asked as if she had confirmed her suspicions.
"Yeah. I'm sure if Kiyotaka-kun's father really tried to take him back, he would first try to eliminate me and Arisu-chan, who would be obstacles. Unlike Sakayanagi-san, who has a clear backer, I'm likely to be threatened with my father's job. ...I'm sorry, but I can't repay my parents' kindness with betrayal."
Tsugumi's words implied that he would become my enemy. He was too good-natured for his own good, choosing to drop out himself to prevent that from happening.
"So that was it... But aren't you overthinking it? You were placed in Class D, which was undoubtedly orchestrated by your father to put you in the same class as Ayanokoji-kun. He must have anticipated a situation like this later on."
...I see. Tsugumi's parents and Sakayanagi's parents were on good terms. That's why Sakayanagi was saying that her father would protect Tsugumi's parents. ...But,
"You never know. Even if the chairman has a plan, it could be neutralized before it can take effect. For example, if he fabricated a scandal, it would be over. My father wouldn't hesitate to do something like that."
"...If that happens, I'm afraid I'll have to become your enemy as well."
It was obvious who I, Tsugumi, and Sakayanagi would choose. ...It was a bit of a shock to hear it said so directly.
While I was thinking that, Sakayanagi suddenly sat down in front of Tsugumi.
"...What's wrong, Arisu-chan? You don't look like yourself."
I couldn't see Sakayanagi's face from behind, but I could guess what kind of expression she was making from Tsugumi's reaction.
"Tsugumi-kun. May I ask you a question?"
"...Sure."
When Tsugumi replied, Sakayanagi moved closer to him.
"Isn't it painful?"
And she asked in a small but clearly audible voice.
"...Yeah."
After a moment of widened eyes, Tsugumi answered. His reply was so small that it was barely audible, a stark contrast to Sakayanagi. However, seeing Tsugumi tremble, the answer to her question was clear.
"I couldn't hear you, Tsugumi-kun. Could you please say it again?"
"Of course it's painful!"
"..."
Completely different from before, Tsugumi's voice was loud enough to echo throughout the room.
"Why won't you give up on me?! I finally... finally found a reason and resolve to leave you...! It's just a matter of a close friend or first love transferring, isn't it?!"
The dam that held back his emotions must have broken. Tsugumi sobbed and shouted.
"I can finally stop making everyone miserable... I don't have the right to be happy! Why are you guys so kind to me?!"
"...That's wrong."
He said it as if we were the only ones being kind to him.
"I've received more kindness from you than I'm giving you right now."
"That's right, Tsugumi-kun. This is just a small fraction of what I've received from you."
He taught me that having low self-esteem is a disadvantage, but I wondered who he was to say that.
"Even so! ...Even so, I can't do it... I'm a weak person who would just take advantage of that kindness!"
Tsugumi was now crying like a child, no longer trying to hide anything.
"But, but... everyone I've ever taken advantage of has ended up miserable! I want you guys... to be happy and… "
"I can't!"
"Then!"
"..."
Sakayanagi interrupted his cry. She cupped Tsugumi's face, which was bowed down, with both hands and met his swollen, red eyes.
"Then... why don't you think about how you can make yourself happy? Why do you say such a lonely thing, that you're not needed in my happiness?"
"That's!"
Tsugumi tried to retort, but Sakayanagi spoke over him.
"If you want to take advantage of my kindness, then do it! ...For me, it's the greatest misfortune to not be able to do anything when you're in so much pain."
"...!"
Tsugumi's face twisted at her words, but then he was hidden from view as Sakayanagi hugged his head. ...This is a clear victory. I'll leave the rest to Sakayanagi.
"Ayanokoji-kun and even Horikita-san and the others who aren't here all love you so much. So much so that they wouldn't allow you to leave them."
I thought that and started to walk away, but I was stopped. ...Is she telling me to stay and watch?
"Of course, I don't lose to them. If you're going to leave, I'll chase you with everything I have, and if you're trying to die, I'll lock you up and never let you go outside again."
...Scary.
"In short... that's right. It's too late. I can no longer enjoy happiness without you."
"..."
And as she met Tsugumi's eyes, who was in her arms, Sakayanagi smiled sweetly.
"────You have to take responsibility for making me this way, you know?"
----------
With those last words from Sakayanagi, silence fell. To those who were there, the few seconds or hours of silence were a testament that Sakayanagi's words had indeed resonated with Saito's heart.
"I'm actually over forty years old, you know?"
"Are we talking about age now? I don't mind. Otherwise, you and my childlike Tsugumi-kun wouldn't be a match. A little younger is just right."
"I'm a dangerous person who gambles even though I'm a minor."
"It would be helpful if you would refrain from it after we get married."
"I probably don't have much of a man's worth either."
"It's an era where people support each other. If you need a shoulder to lean on, I'll lend you one anytime."
"...I'll probably be the only one leaning on you."
"I don't think anyone would complain if you finally found some peace. ────Thank you for all your hard work, Tsugumi-kun."
With those words, Sakayanagi stroked Saito's head, who was in her arms. Saito's body gave a big twitch.
That must have been the moment the string in his heart, which had been taut until then, snapped. In the next moment, Saito wrapped his arms around Sakayanagi's slender back and sobbed loudly like a child in his mother's arms.
"Hic... hic... "
"Oh, you don't have to become this young. There, there... Hehe, this will be good practice for raising a child."
Saito pressed his face into her chest and sobbed. Sakayanagi didn't reject him and continued to stroke his head with her small hands.
It was the same exact embrace that Sakayanagi had loved from Saito since she was a child.
"I... I'll never run away! I... I'll definitely make you happy!"
"That's a rather bold proposal. I prefer something with a little more atmosphere... but I guess it's a passing grade."
"Hic... Let's get married, Arisu-chan...! I'll work hard, and I'll never gamble again!"
"...I was just joking. I'm a little flustered with such a sudden proposal."
Sakayanagi's cheeks turned red at his earnest proposal, even though she had been joking.
Only Ayanokoji, who was listening from outside the room, realized how terrible her words were.
"But I'm happy. Tsugumi-kun────I may be unworthy, but please take care of me."
Saito would later say that the smiling Sakayanagi at that moment was the most beautiful he had ever seen.
----------
"It's over."
"Ayanokoji-kun. I'm sorry, you were outside, weren't you? I didn't notice."
Since Tsugumi's sobs had stopped, I returned to the room I had left.
"Tsugumi... is sleeping soundly."
"Yes. He has a very sweet sleeping face. It's a little different from the ones I've seen before."
The Tsugumi in question was sleeping on Sakayanagi's lap, breathing quietly. The possession that was on him must have been gone, as he had a very peaceful expression.
Sakayanagi watched him with a loving expression, occasionally stroking his head, and she already looked like a mother. ...Sakayanagi, who was usually called scrawny or child-like, would make Tsugumi shut up if he saw her like this.
"Something..."
"No, nothing."
I'd better stop teasing her about this. This is a woman who, despite her calm demeanor, declared she would not hesitate to imprison Tsugumi. She's terrifying.
"Is your finger okay? We should wake Tsugumi up and go to the hospital as soon as possible."
Even though it was necessary, a feeling of regret welled up inside me when I saw her painfully discolored little finger.
"Yes. Let's go."
However, even though she was injured, Sakayanagi's expression was bright. I was probably feeling the same way.
"We have to think about what comes next, don't we?"
While I was thinking that, Sakayanagi suddenly muttered.
"What comes next?"
"Ayanokoji-kun's father."
...I see. That's right.
"I said some things earlier, but please tell me if there's anything I can do to help."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. ...Because this is what Tsugumi-kun tried to protect."
"...I see."
This is too much of a sudden change. However, this isn't bad sometimes.
"Well, let's go. ...Come on, Tsugumi-kun. Wake up."
"...Hm?"
Behind me, Sakayanagi was tapping Tsugumi's cheek. I left the room first and stood in the hallway, with my back to them.
"'What Tsugumi tried to protect,' huh."
He's such a fool to hold onto it by himself and almost break.
"Come if you dare. I'll take you on."
Then, I'll do everything I can to protect that scene.
----------
"I'm sorry, but there's no reason for me to drop out. I've gained something important at this school that I couldn't have gotten in that place."
"You've become quite talkative in the short time I haven't seen you. Is it the influence of this useless school?"
"I'm not your property or a tool to fulfill your ambitions. I'm a person. This school taught me that. And I'm currently enjoying my school life to the fullest. I've made good friends. No matter who my opponent is, I won't hesitate to stop anyone who tries to get in the way of that."
"Oh? Friends, you say? I don't believe that people with different abilities can form a good relationship."
"You should give up that meritocratic way of thinking. At least if you're going to live in the 'mundane world' that you dismissed as useless. Ability and talent have nothing to do with friendship."
"...You'll regret this."
"Try me. I'll fight you with the very things you discarded."
============
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