Takayanagi and Amada
Takayanagi’s PoV
Since there was no class during the 2nd period, I went to the infirmary with Mitsui-sensei and waited for Amada to wake up.
Amada looked incredibly pale. It was clear she hadn’t had a proper meal or a good night’s sleep.
This must be due to guilt.
Up until the first semester, Amada and Aono were so close. Seeing their relationship fall apart like this was genuinely painful, especially after watching them grow together.
“Ugh, here…?”
After about ten minutes, Amada opened her eyes.
She still looked completely out of it.
“This is the infirmary. You collapsed from anemia during the school assembly. Are you okay now? How do you feel?”
She didn’t seem to register my words, her face growing even paler.
“Where’s Eiji? I have to stop Eiji. He’s going to die. Because of me!”
With a panicked look, she tried to jump out of bed, but her body was weak and unsteady. In a hurry, Mitsui-sensei and I helped her back onto the bed.
“Calm down. Aono is with the principal right now.”
When I said that, her expression crumbled, and she started crying. She was too emotionally fragile to be questioned properly.
“I see. A dream, huh?”
Hearing her speak like a broken doll was heartbreaking.
“Are you okay?”
“…Yes.”
She looked at me with a resigned expression, as if she’d made up her mind.
“Amada, maybe this isn’t the best place to ask, but don’t you think it’s time to tell me the truth?”
The ultimatum we had given earlier hung heavy in the air. Her collapse during the assembly wasn’t a coincidence.
“Yes, Sensei.”
Her voice trembled, her words fractured and fragile.
“I had an affair with Kondo-senpai… Eiji. When Eiji found out, I was scared of losing everything, so I did what Senpai told me to do. I helped… I helped create a story that Eiji had hurt me. But he only touched my wrist. That’s all. And yet… we isolated him. We pushed him to the edge. It’s all my fault.”
The revelation hit me like a punch to the gut. Aono tried to take his own life because of this. The weight of that knowledge was suffocating.
At the same time, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Amada, an honor student, had chosen self-preservation over truth. I had suspected it, but hearing her confess it so directly was still a shock.
“I see… So you lied to me back then, didn’t you?”
“…Yes.”
She nodded slowly, her shoulders trembling.
“Amada, why would you do such a thing? If Aono had died, there would have been no way to undo it. Even now, there’s no going back. Even if you admit everything and apologize, there will still be people who refuse to believe you. Aono’s tarnished reputation won’t be so easily repaired. You may not have realized it at the time, but this is one of the worst things someone can do to another person.”
There was nothing left to defend.
“I’ve done a lot of research on cases like this. False accusations aren’t just morally wrong—they’re criminal. If the school had believed your story, Aono would have been expelled. Do you understand the weight of what you did?”
I’m no lawyer, but I’ve seen enough cases in the news. People have been arrested for defaming others with lies. It wouldn’t be surprising if Amada faced the same consequences.
“I understand.”
“Do you realize you could even be arrested for this? Why would you risk your entire future on something like this…?”
Regret for not being able to protect my students, anger at being betrayed, and frustration at the entire situation bubbled over in my voice. The most I could do now was try to prevent Amada from being dragged away by the police in front of her parents and peers.
“What’s going to happen to me now…?”
Her voice was weak, barely a whisper. The punishment for a student committing such a crime would be severe—suspension or even expulsion.
“I think the punishment will be quite severe.”
That was all I could tell her. Even if she stayed at school, her classmates would blame her. They’d ask why she lied and why she let things escalate to this point. The school was preparing new policies to address verbal abuse and bullying, with severe consequences for those who fueled the situation. Students who spread false rumors or actively hurt Aono would be expelled.
And Aono—the worst victim in all of this—was left with a scar on his heart that might never fully heal.
There was no way to justify or excuse what had happened. Kondo and Amada had twisted so many lives.
“Oh no! Noooooooooooo!”
A wail of pure anguish filled the infirmary.
I signaled Mitsui-sensei to take over from here.
As I walked down the hallway, I heard her faint voice behind me.
“If she hadn’t introduced me to Senpai back then, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Ah, so that’s how it is.
Her words lingered in the air like a puzzle piece snapping into place—a crucial clue pointing to the mastermind behind it all.