Interlude: Obsession
Lunchtime was almost over.
“Vice President, do you have a moment?”
“Sorry, I’m in a bit of a rush. Can we talk later?”
“Oh, she’s gone. If she keeps running around like that, her bread will…”
Koyuki was running through the school.
On the way, she was spoken to by other students several times, but she brushed them off with made-up errands and kept running.
She was aiming for a quiet place where no one was around.
The library, the student council room, the equipment storage — everywhere she thought might be empty had people inside, so she skipped them all.
She was out of luck.
In times like these, Koyuki would usually go to the secret space hidden behind the hedge on the rooftop.
But it was completely unexpected that the one girl she least wanted to see would show up, even though she hadn’t told anyone about it since her time leap.
She had exhausted all the places she could think of within the school.
So, the only option left was outside.
Koyuki fought against the tide of students returning to their classrooms and left the school building.
Thud.
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“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”
After running about fifty meters, she bumped into someone and fell on her backside.
“Oh, it’s okay. Wait, Koyuki?”
Upon confirming the person’s face, she realized it was Takumi, of all people.
(Why is he holding a watering can? And why is he near the first- and second-year buildings? …No, that’s not important right now. I need to find a place to calm down.)
She was full of questions about why Takumi was there, but her brain immediately signaled danger.
“President, excuse me.”
If she stayed, he would say something unpleasant again.
Lately, Takumi’s words were sharp, and in her current weakened state, they would hurt even more.
Koyuki quickly decided to apologize and stand up, then ran off again.
“Hey, wait! There’s class soon—! Hey, can’t you see—”
She felt like he said something as she left, but whether by luck or misfortune, she didn’t hear it.
She entered a dark forest that no one usually went into.
As she advanced, enduring the sticky, damp air clinging to her, her vision suddenly brightened a bit later.
“Is this… a garden?”
Including the time leap, Koyuki had been at Seira High School for about three years, and she had never known this place existed.
She quickly remembered that this area used to be a botanical garden and accepted that these were its remnants.
“It’s beautiful. It’s well-maintained and looks like it will be full of flowers in the summer. If other students knew about this, it would become a famous spot for confessions. Being confessed to surrounded by beautiful flowers is every girl’s dream. …Still, with it being this well-kept, there must be a caretaker. But I don’t see anyone. Maybe they’re on a break? In that case, I’ll just use this as a temporary refuge.”
She didn’t intend to stay long.
Just until she could sort out her thoughts.
With that excuse in mind, Koyuki sat on the edge of the fountain.
She exhaled and started thinking about Haruki.
Yesterday, unable to suppress her feelings, Koyuki confessed to Haruki and was rejected.
The reason for the rejection was:
“I have someone I’m interested in. My mind is completely occupied with that person right now. It would be rude to date someone else without resolving this. So, I’m sorry.”
He said.
It was an obvious answer.
But she had a faint hope that kind Haruki might accept her.
Yet, knowing he was interested in another girl, she confessed, hoping it would go well.
But there was no way it could work with a confession from a girl he’d only known for a little over a month.
If he was that easily swayed, she wouldn’t have struggled so much the first time.
However, the same could be said for Haruki and Lily.
Even so, Lily occupied much of Haruki’s heart.
Whenever he was lost in thought, his gaze was always directed at Lily.
It was too unfair.
It felt like a rigged game.
How could Lily’s fleeting moments outweigh everything Koyuki had steadily built daily?
“…Is it really impossible to change fate?”
She had been trying not to think about it.
If their relationship was something determined by a god.
Could Koyuki overturn that?
If she couldn’t, what was the point of returning to the past—
“──! Huff, huff.”
As she thought that, Koyuki’s chest tightened again, making it hard to breathe.
(I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to be alone again. I can’t live in a world where no one loves me. So, I’ll do whatever it takes to make Haruki mine.)
It was no longer about whether she could change things or not.
If she didn’t change things, she would surely die this time.
At that moment, the pure feelings of love Koyuki once had disappeared.
What sprouted in their place was something ugly and dark, like sludge.
Only for herself.
No matter the criticism, she would make Haruki someone who loved her.
“Hehe… hehehe…”
Like a dark cloud floating in the sky, Koyuki wore a creepy smile.
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