Chapter 42: The Worst Plan (1)

The Worst Plan (1)

“I’ve come up with a great plan!”

When Subaru, who had been unusually cheerful lately, said that, Taichi somehow had a bad feeling.

Holding a convenience store bread in one hand, Subaru looked like an excited young boy who couldn’t contain himself, his eyes sparkling with a full-faced smile.

It was currently lunchtime, and Taichi and Akari had been brought by the unusually enthusiastic Subaru to a secluded courtyard.

These moments of the three of them gathering like this had, in a way, become a rare and precious time now.

Subaru was completely absorbed in Yuki, and Akari, listless, didn’t even move from her desk.

As for Taichi, he spent his break time out in the hallway so as not to get in Subaru’s way.

Now, the only times the three of them gathered like this were during the morning commute and this lunch break, and even then, the atmosphere was terrible, with Subaru, who was often irritated, leading the way.

However, Subaru right now seemed to be in an oddly good mood.

Until this morning, he had been wearing a serious expression, deeply thinking about something. But from his earlier words, it seemed he had come up with some way to get closer to Yuki.

Normally, Subaru being in a good mood should have been something to be happy about.

In the past, when Subaru seemed to be having fun, Taichi would naturally feel happy too.

And yet, for some reason, Taichi felt as if Subaru’s smile was a sign of something bad to come.

Afraid that Subaru was about to say something outrageous he couldn’t even imagine, the trembling Taichi was soon forced to realize that his premonition had been correct.

“Akari, go out with Taichi!”

“…Huh?”

Akari let out a genuinely confused voice.

Akari’s current state of mind was probably not so much that she hadn’t considered the idea, but more that she couldn’t immediately grasp the meaning of the words.

Though he couldn’t speak, Taichi felt the same way.

He had no idea why Subaru would say something like this.

As Taichi stood there dumbfounded, Subaru proudly began to explain this so-called great plan to Akari.

“Listen, Akari. Right now, for some reason I don’t understand, Ueno-san likes someone like Taichi. Because of that, she won’t even look at me. That’s where you come in. If you go out with Taichi and make him not single anymore, even Ueno-san would stop messing with him, right?”

Akari, being asked for agreement with a “right?”, looked troubled, and just by looking at her face, Taichi could tell immediately.

It was only natural. While Subaru’s point was somewhat understandable, the method was far too forceful.

Even if she had already given up, being told by the person she liked to go out with another guy would hurt anyone.

Akari had given up on her own feelings for Subaru’s sake, and yet this was how he treated her.

“W-Wait a minute, Subaru!”

Taichi couldn’t stay silent any longer.

Since Akari probably couldn’t say anything, he felt he had to step in and make Subaru take back his words.

“What is it, Taichi? Just so you know, I don’t trust you anymore.”

In stark contrast to the tone he had used with Akari, Subaru returned harsh words.

Hurt by the realization that Subaru now saw him that way, Taichi nevertheless continued speaking for Akari’s sake.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t helpful. But no matter what, this is too unreasonable.”

“Unreasonable? You know, this all happened because you wouldn’t stay away from Ueno-san no matter how many times I told you.”

“Eh!? That’s not…”

“What are you so surprised about? If you had properly cooperated, I wouldn’t be asking Akari to do this. In other words, Akari has to do this because of you. You get that?”

“Wait, wait! I haven’t even spoken to Ueno-san at school lately!”

“That doesn’t matter. What’s important is that we need to get Ueno-san to lose interest in Taichi.”

“Then, it doesn’t have to be Akari specifically.”

“Hah, that’s funny. Do you really think there’s any girl out there who would even pretend to go out with someone like you? Do you seriously think there’s someone like that? You’re getting pretty full of yourself. If there is, go ask her. Go on, who’d even pretend to go out with someone like you?”

Right now, Taichi was experiencing true despair.

Because of him, Subaru’s outrageous demand had even been forced onto Akari.

And to make things worse, in the worst possible way he could imagine…