That’s How It Should Be

I had had enough of Matsuura-san’s games, and I wanted to put an end to them once and for all. But I couldn’t do it alone. Sensei and I were both being watched, so we couldn’t do anything that would put us in danger, so I had to turn to someone else who had the ability to gather information easily and without being detected. Overall, trust was the important factor. I couldn’t ask Karou for her help—I didn’t have the right to ask for her help, especially after I hurt her—so I turned to another friend.

The night before the party, I went to the university dorms and enlisted Kondo-san’s help with my plan; her hidden computer talents would be vital to my plan. We devised a plan to get evidence that revealed her past drug dealings. Her father had kept her involvement secret and hidden everything away. We thought that if we could get any files or pieces of evidence related to the cover-up, we could use it to let her have a taste of her own medicine.

I managed to get her an invite to the party by bribing on of their maids. While I distracted the Matsuura family, she would look for the father’s office and search for any files or evidence.

However, I thought the plan had failed when I was cornered by Matsuura-san in the bedroom. But I was unexpectedly saved when her father barged into the room and showed her a voice recording of her threatening Sensei in the hospital. Realising who was behind it, I couldn’t help but smile.

Sensei entered the room.

“Sensei?”

As soon as she saw me, she hugged me. I wanted to hug her back, but my body was still numb from whatever Matsuura-san put in my drink. I was so relieved to see her.

“What is the meaning of this, Katsumi?” Her father asked

“I’ll explain.” Sensei proclaimed

According to Sensei, when she came to visit me in the hospital a few days ago, she recorded her conversation with Matsuura-san on her phone. She forcibly provoked her until she threatened her. With her voice recorded, she had substantial evidence to use against her. When she learned that I had been taken out of the hospital by her, she feared I would be in danger, so she decided to use her trump card and sent the recording to her father.

Now, Matsuura-san was the one backed into a corner.

“Father, it isn’t what it looks like.”

“How could you do this again? You promised me you would change.” He said, his heart broken by his daughter’s betrayal.

“That isn’t my voice.”

“And this isn’t you?”

Sensei showed them a photo of Matsuura-san shopping with me carrying all her bags.

“That doesn’t prove anything.”

Sensei continued to scroll through numerous photos of Matsuura-san’s mistreatment of me.

“How did you get these?”

“I had a friend help me with it.”

I was surprised to see Karou enter the room alongside Kondo-san. I had not seen Karou since she found out about my relationship with Sensei. Why was she here?

“Nishida-san?”

“I approached Nishida-san for her help. Since she wasn’t attending school at the time, she had the time to follow you around and take photos of whatever you were doing.”

“I was more than willing to help if it meant saving Sozen from you.”

Was she worried about me this whole time?

“We now also have the records of your past activities with that delinquent group you used to hang out with.”

Defeated, she dropped to her knees. “How did you—what are you going to do now?”

“With all of this evidence, we could send you to jail for a long time. But unlike you, I have no intention of ruining your future, so I’m going to keep copies of these and store them in case I need them in the future.”

“You’re blackmailing me?”

“You did it first. It’s only right we repay you by doing the same thing.”

“If you look at, speak to, or even think about Sozen, we will release all of this to the public. As a result, you would be the reason for your own and your father’s downfall. You don’t want that, do you?”

“You’re horrible!”

“I too am not afraid to get my hands dirty, especially when it comes to protecting my loved ones.”

I had never seen Sensei’s eyes filled with so much anger; it was like she had been possessed by the devil.

At that point, I realised that the one with the most power in the room was Sensei. She had been one step ahead of Matsuura-san this entire time, and she nor I knew about her plan. She had been secretly planning a way to save me at the same time as I was trying to find a way to get out of this contracted relationship. It was clear that she knew what she was doing and had everything under her control. She looked very cool at that moment.

Karou picked up the phone from the floor and placed it in front of Matsuura-san, unlocking it with her face. She found the photos of Sensei and me and deleted them, removing Sensei and me from our burden.

“Make sure your daughter learns from this lesson this time, Matsuura-sama.”

Kondo-san and Sensei helped me up and carried me out of the room, leaving a depressed father and a defeated daughter behind. I was certain that both of them would not try anything in the future.

After the party, everything began to go back to normal. The rumour had died down, allowing Sensei and I to finally rest. The principal also apologised for his misunderstanding and assured us he would make sure he amended his mistake (he was mainly pressured by Reika to do so). Karou returned to school and was attending class. The day of the party was the last time we saw or heard from Matsuura-san; apparently, she transferred schools soon after.

I was able to roam more freely on campus. While there were some people who still joked about the rumour, I didn’t pay much attention to it. I returned to class as normal, and my university life was somewhat normal again.

The next day, Karou, Reika, and I visited our parents’ graves. There was still a distance between Karou and me, so I intended to fix it. There was a nostalgic air that greeted us when we arrived. We went through the same ritual and updated our parents about our lives.

When Reika went to the toilet, I managed to get a chance to speak to Karou.

“Karou, why did you help Sensei and me?”

“Do I need to answer that question? I did it for you.”

“Why? After I hurt you badly.”

“Sure, you hurt me a lot, but I wasn’t going to let you fall victim to the same torture you had to go through during middle school.”

At that point, I realised that she was still hurt from my betrayal.

“I’m really sorry for not telling you about Sensei and me. We agreed that it was best if we kept it a secret.”

“I don’t blame you for hiding your relationship, but did you have to hide it from me?”

“I know I should have told you. I can’t ask for your forgiveness. Frankly, I don’t deserve it. But…” 

Tears began to run down my face. Karou noticed and was surprised to see me crying.

I struggled through the tears in order to say the words I wanted her to hear. “I don’t want to lose you.”

She looked at me with her wide eyes. Tears began to run down her face as well.

“Sozen…” She grabbed me and hugged me tightly.

We held one another in each other’s hands, our hearts healing one another.

“I could never be mad at you. We’ve been through too much together to hate one another.”

“Thank you, Karou.”

“So, you and Sensei—a couple. To be honest, I kinda knew you two had feelings for each other back in high school, but I never thought to address them. I’m glad you found happiness in one another. But I do wish I confessed to you earlier.”

“Wait. You had feelings for me?”

“Wait. You didn’t know?”

“No.”

“Really? I thought I was making it very obvious.”

“I never realised.”

“How oblivious are you!?”

“Sorry!”

“But, that being said, I still love you, Sozen. I don’t think I’ll be able to get over these feelings for a while, but I eventually will. Did you ever have any feelings for me?”

“Um, I may have when we were younger.”

“I see. I guess we missed our chance.”

“Yeah. But… I do love you, as a friend, of course.”

“Yeah,” she scoffed, “I love you too.”

There was an awkward silence after.

“Thank you for being by my side, Sozen.”

“Likewise.”

I was finally able to reconcile with Karou, but there was still one more thing I had to do.

I called Sensei and asked her to meet me after school. We needed to talk about the future.