Yeah, this would work. I held Kyosuke’s gaze unwaveringly as he scrutinized me, searching for any hint of my true thoughts. After what felt like an eternity, he finally spoke. “Very well. You’ve bought yourself some time—for now.” With that, he turned and strode away.
As he rounded the corner, the tension that had coiled tightly within me began to unwind. My legs gave out and I pitched forward only to find myself caught by Ruki, who had swiftly stretched out his arms to support me. For a brief moment, I allowed myself to lean into his solid frame, savoring the unexpected comfort. Realizing what I was doing, I pushed him away and regained my composure.
“I help you, and this is my thanks?” he asked dryly.
“I don’t recall ever asking for you to help me, thank you very much,” I retorted sharply. But then I softened, biting back my harsher words. “Regardless, I suppose you have…helped me. Consider yourself in possession of my favor.”
“Well, look at that. She can be gracious when she wants to, can’t she? A favor, eh? I’ll be holding you to that.”
He certainly doesn’t work for free, does he… But, I had to admit, without his intervention, I would have been hard-pressed to extricate myself from Kyosuke’s jaws. A favor seemed a fair price. However, there was one thing I still needed to understand.
“Why did you help me?” I pressed, my voice laced with genuine curiosity.
“What do you mean why?” he echoed, looking puzzled.
“I’ve proved myself to be irredeemable, haven’t I? So why still bother with me?”
He looked around, then back at me with an expression of disbelief. “You really still think so little of me?”
“I don’t think I do, but perhaps you could explain what you mean by that?”
I had always been playing the role of the antagonist. Poorly, at first, but with this latest episode, I had cemented my reputation by mocking Nonoka and her unwavering dedication to Miyu. Someone as devoted to their sibling as Ruki—who would come to love Nonoka precisely because of her loyalty to Miyu—should have found my behavior unforgivable. I had never once tried to explain myself, never hinted at the truth of that fateful day. So why was he still here? How was it that, unlike many others who had failed to prove their innocence, I stood here without even attempting to defend myself, yet still found belief in his eyes?
Ruki studied my face intently, then turned his back to me. “Come.”
“Where?”
“Shush. I distinctly recall saying you owe me one.”
“What? Oh, I mean, I did, but you’re cashing that in now? No, no, no. I’ll come, but the favor still stands. I just want to know where we’re going.”
Without a word, he strode off, leaving me with no choice but to chase after him. We navigated through the winding halls until we stopped before a seemingly unused Corporate-only party room. He opened the door to reveal pitch darkness inside.
“Why have you brought me here?” I asked, unease creeping into my voice. Alarm bells were ringing in my head—entering a dark room alone with a guy wasn’t the smartest move, but this was Ruki. He wouldn’t do anything to me…would he?
As I stood in the doorway trying to make heads or tails of the situation, Ruki gave me a firm shove from behind. I stumbled into the room. “What are you—”
The lights suddenly flicked on, blinding me. I squinted against the brightness, and as my eyes adjusted, I saw that the party room was fully decorated. A long table near the center was laden with an array of dishes, and at the end of it, most conspicuous of all, was a cake with sixteen candles thoughtfully arranged in a circle.
“Happy birthday, Ms. Mio,” said a familiar, mellifluous voice. The pop of a party cracker split the air, and confetti rained down around me. As the wall of streamers parted, a familiar face emerged. My jaw dropped open.
“Ms. Rikka…”
She was another person I thought I had alienated for good. We hadn’t spoken since Sports Day. While our relationship wasn’t overtly hostile, it certainly had deteriorated enough to rule out birthday celebrations, or so I thought!
“What is this?” My voice came out as a weak, breathy whisper.
“What does it look like? The celebration of a dear friend’s birthday,” she replied, a playful smile on her lips.
“But…why? Even after I…”
I had said horrible things to Nonoka, ridiculed her efforts. The entire class despised me, so what were Rikka and Ruki doing celebrating my birthday?!
“Even after you…tried so hard to play the villain and push all your friends away?” Rikka said, almost as if she were teasing me.
“That’s not—!” I drew a sharp breath and pursed my lips shut. Reacting strongly would only prove Rikka right. But so did cutting myself off so abruptly, didn’t it?
Watching me fumble, Rikka laughed. “We know you’re playing the role of the antagonist. For what end, we can’t say, but don’t worry, your secret’s safe with us. Neither Nonoka nor the rest of the class will find out. You have my word.”
“And mine,” Ruki added.
Speechless. I was utterly speechless. How could they be so convinced that I was playing the antagonist? It was only then, in my shocked and dazed state, that I noticed two more people standing behind Rikka: Asuka and Sayaka. Asuka in particular looked like she had been up to no good.
“Was it you?” I asked, pointedly looking at her.
“I’ll apologize for breaking our promise, and bear the consequences for that, but I won’t apologize for telling the truth. It wasn’t right, what was going on,” Asuka said.
“I see,” I muttered weakly.
I had to hand it to her. She had understood the assignment I’d given her about as well as she could have. By disclosing the truth to only Rikka and Ruki, she allowed me to claw back some semblance of normalcy while sparing the Akizukis the humiliation.
If only sparing the Akizukis the humiliation was the actual assignment!
Why was this happening to me…? Seriously, I struggled for months, painstakingly inching toward even the slightest resemblance to the villainess I needed to be, and now this?! All my efforts go up in smoke, just like that?! Sure, this setback wasn’t insurmountable. With enough time, I could maybe regain the ground I had lost, but the thought I even had to just. Freaking. Hurt. Shizuku was depending on me. It felt like I was finally about to reach her lifeboat as she drifted away, only to watch someone kick it further out of reach.
So why… Why did I feel relieved?!
My life had lost all its prior meaning. Every bit of it I’d signed away the moment I agreed to save Shizuku. I should have been depressed, infuriated to learn that I had failed her yet again, but instead, I felt…relief. Joy, even, to be understood, even though none of that should’ve mattered to me anymore.
“Ms. Mio,” Rikka’s voice snapped me from my thoughts. “I beg you not to judge Asuka too harshly. I must confess, I told her and Sayaka you were playing the villain.”
I glanced at her; her face was pulled into a frown out of concern. Then Asuka and Sayaka; both looked pale, as if genuinely worried about my reaction and what I would do to them.
But as we all know by now, I…wasn’t truly angry. Even if I so desperately wanted myself to be.
I couldn’t blame Asuka. Or at least, I couldn’t find it in myself to. It had been my plan, my initiative to rescue her from the clutches of an arranged marriage in the first place. I had deemed it necessary to preserve the plot, and thus I bore the consequences. She had broken our promise knowing better than most what happened to people who crossed me, and that was…kind of admirable, honestly.
“Be assured, Asuka, I won’t criticize you for your actions,” I soothed. “You went to Rikka out of concern for me, didn’t you?”
At my words, she nodded eagerly, and tears began to well up in her eyes.
Just how terrified had she been? And she still took action, all for me?
How could I blame someone like that? Not to mention I was in no position to find fault with anyone in the first place. If I hadn’t appeared so weak, so in need of other people’s validation in the first place, Asuka wouldn’t have gone to Ruki and Rikka.
What happened, happened. But that all ends here.
“Though I must correct this enduring delusion of yours here and now,” I said.
I am the villainess.
I have committed myself to evil.
If there are still those who would show me kindness, I will reveal to them the folly of their actions.
For my sake, for my sister’s sake.
With a sweep of my hair, I let out a haughty, refined laugh.
Now then, let’s get to villainessin’.