Solving Matters with Yandere

After the last dispute, Tsukinaga-san seems to be avoiding me. She never showed up at the library, never reply my messages, and never responded to my calls. She even always went missing when I came to her class even though her classmates said that she attended the school that day.

After a whole week, I can't take it anymore. I am still waiting for her even after the bell ring. After a while, I finally see her form after such a long time.

What is she doing upstairs?

Tsukinaga-san is coming down from the second floor, the sophomore floor. Had she been hiding there all along?

Without thinking too much, I called her.

"Tsukinaga-san!"

She looked surprised to see me. Ignoring me, she quickened her pace.

"Tsukinaga-san!"

I called her one more time.

"Are you free today?"

She does not reply. But, she doesn't leave either. She just stood silently with her back faced to me.

"If you like, please meet me in the nearby park after school."

After saying all I wanted to say, I turned around and walked towards class.

After school was done, I headed straight to the nearby park. I waited there anxiously, watching everyone passing by and hoping that it was Tsukinaga-san.

My anxiety grew bigger after one hour of waiting. I'm starting to worry that she won't come. But I believe that she won't do something like that. At the very least, she would let me know if she couldn't come. For now, I just need to believe in her.

When the sky starts dyed red, she shows herself. With full of awkwardness, she comes near me.

"Couldn't believe you are still waiting for me here," she said as she averted her eyes while rubbing her left elbow.

"I can wait for you all day without getting tired."

"...Sweet talk as always."

Tsukinaga-san pursed her lips for some reason.

"Then, what do you want?"

"I want to take you to some places. Do you have time?"

I'm asking because it's getting dark already.

"It's fine. I don't have a curfew anyway."

"O-Okay then."

Her answer made me glad but also confuses me at the same time. What kind of parent lets their daughter wander around until midnight without any restrictions?

Determined to guard her properly, I take Tsukinaga-san to the places that had been on my mind since earlier.

The first place we visit is the game center. I asked Tsukinaga-san to play with me but she refused and only watched from the side. After several games, I tried to win a doll off the claw machine but failed. But then Tsukinaga-san stopped me who keep trying while wasting money like an idiot.

After that, I took her to the bookstore. I talk about various kinds of books from various genres. Usually, when it comes to books, Tsukinaga-san turns into a critical person. Sometimes we also argue because of different ways of thinking. But this time she just quietly listened.

When the clock almost hit ten, we had dinner in the family restaurant. Both of us eat quietly. The flow of time feels very slow. After we finished our food, I talked to Tsukinaga-san.

"What do you think, Tsukinaga-san? Are you having fun?"

She nodded in a stuttering movement.

"So this is what the man you're dating is like. I love playing games but never really good at it. I like to read books but can't come up with ideas to create one. I am an ordinary person without anything special."

Tsukinaga-san is still listening to my ramble without commenting.

"But, even so, I still want to be with you. I want to spend more time with you, I want to know you better."

With a red face full of embarrassment, I expressed everything that was in my heart in one sentence.

"Will you stay with me?"

Our eyes locked. Neither of us uttered a word.

After a long silence, Tsukinaga-san let out a dramatic sigh.

"You make it sound as if we're going to be separated for sure."

For the first time today, I can see Tsukinaga-san's honest smile.

"But are you sure? Are you really fine with me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I may not be as good as it seems. I may look nice on the outside, but I'm... I'm... I'm rotten inside."

Tsukinaga-san hands trembling. It took a lot of courage for her to say all of that.

I don't know how bad she is, but I'm sure she's just exaggerating. There's no way someone like Tsukinaga-san is some kind of bad girl. She must have looked down on herself too much.

"I've learned it at school before, that multiplying a negative by a negative is a positive. So, I think we're fine together."

Tsukinaga-san's eyes widened at my ridiculous analogy. But then she laughed.

"What is that?"

We have a nice talk afterward. When it was almost midnight, I decided to walk Tsukinaga-san home.

"About Takanashi-kun, I think I know the culprit."

"Really? Who?"

"I don't know her name. But the day I came home early, I saw a suspicious girl at your class shoe locker."

When I heard that someone had put nails in Haruki's shoes on purpose, I felt a bit relieved. Not because I'm happy, it's because we finally have some kind of progress about this incident.

"But it's a bit of let down. If we know who is the culprit, we can put an end to this case."

"Don't worry, the culprit will eventually come to the surface."

"Why are you so sure?"

"Usually, people who commit crimes for the first time will have greater feelings of regret. If she couldn't bear it, she would admit her doing as a form of penance."

I don't know if the culprit would give herself up so easily like Tsukinaga-san said. But I can only hope that she does.

"I'll be fine from here, thank you Minamoto-kun."

"Eh? Let me walk you to your front door."

"It's fine. My house is right on the corner. You also have to go home soon, right? It's way too late already."

I still feel bad about leaving her like that. But she's right, if I don't get home soon, my mother could have locked me outside.

"Are you sure you're gonna be fine?"

"I'm fine, Minamoto-kun. You worried too much," she chuckled.

"Well, if you say so."

We waved to each other before parting ways.

"See you at school then, Tsukinaga-san."

"See you too."

I go home right after. The following week, Haruki shows up at school.

The whole class swarmed him as soon as he come to class. He says that his wound is almost healed, so he can finally get back to school.

When the commotion died down, I come to talk to him.

"I'm glad you're okay."

"What? Are you seriously worrying me?"

Haruki laughed mockingly at me. I know it's rare for me to worry about him, but still, there's no way I'm not feeling anxious when one of my close friends is involved in an incident.

"But it's a shame, until the end we don't know who did all this to you."

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

Both I and Haruki looked at each other in confusion.

"Didn't they tell you?"

"Tell what?"

"I see. So they didn't make it public."

Haruki pondered while placing a hand on his chin.

"What are you talking about? Stop making me lost!"

"Oh! Sorry. The other day, Hiroshi-sensei contacted me that the culprit had admitted her guilt. It seems she is one of the girls I rejected. Sigh…. I never thought that rejecting someone would end up like this."

I'm still confused. A lot of questions flew in my head.

"But there's still something that confuses me. They say that when she turned herself in, she was trembling in fear. She said that someone would do something bad to her if she didn't admit it. But she didn't want to say who forced her till the end"

While Haruki was still thinking about the mystery surrounding him, my mind immediately thought about one person.

No no no. I have enough accused her without any concrete evidence. I made a mistake and she gave me another chance. I will not betray the trust that Tsukinaga-san has placed in me.

Rumors about what happened to Haruki have been circulating at the school for some time. Moreover, he is a member of the soccer club, and injuring a football player's foot seemed unforgivable. But due to the culprit that remains 'unknown', the rumors died down on as time went on.