Chapter 274: Murata Ritsu’s Resistance

Murata Ritsu’s Resistance

Ugaki Ai’s Point of View

It was a usual morning. As always, I headed toward Kitchen Aono so I could go to school with Senpai.

It had begun to get cooler little by little. Winter was almost here. I should start getting my coat ready soon. Last year, seeing the town slowly fill with happiness had only made my heart feel heavy, but that’s over now.

This Christmas, I want to eat a nice meal together with him. I also want to celebrate with my father, but knowing him, he’ll probably do an early celebration on the twenty-third and then schedule work on the day itself. I’m happy that he approves of our relationship, but it’s a little embarrassing, and it’s also embarrassing to have him go that far to be considerate.

I wonder if Kitchen Aono can do hors d’oeuvres or takeout. Or maybe I could reserve a Christmas dinner and prepare just the cake separately, then eat it in my room.

That sounds fun too. Senpai had such a terrible time on his birthday this year that I want to make him enjoy himself so much that he forgets all about it. Maybe we can watch a Christmas movie after dinner.

Thinking about all that made me feel like a child getting excited inside, and it made me embarrassed again.

But I cannot help it. This is my first love, and it’ll be my first Christmas spent with my boyfriend.

And just as I was almost at his house, someone called out, “You are Ichijo Ai, right?”

It was a female student wearing the same school uniform. I didn’t know her personally, but I knew of her. She was one of the girls who acted as a perpetrator in the bullying incident, and she was supposed to be disciplined by the school. Her name had been listed among the students we had investigated through the private detective.

“You are Murata Ritsu-san, right?”

She widened her eyes in surprise that I already knew her name.

In contrast, my sense of caution grew stronger. If anything happened, Kuroi would come help me. I moved the phone from my bag to my uniform pocket. She had a look on her face like she had lost her sanity. It was obvious something was wrong.

“So you know who I am. That makes this easier. You are Aono Eiji’s girlfriend, right? I want to see him. I want to meet him and apologize. If I don’t, I will have to quit school, and I might even get sent to a juvenile facility like Kondo-kun. So please.”

Murata-san reached toward me as if clinging to me.

Her desperation was so intense that it frightened me, and yet my mouth reacted to her words right away.

“No.”

It came out colder than I expected. When she heard it, her face fell into despair.

A flash of fear ran through me at the thought she might attack, but she seemed to have no strength left and collapsed.

“Why…”

“Seeing your condition, you have already gone to meet Senpai’s family. But they rejected you. That means they have a strong resolve, and I want to respect that. And I don’t want to offer any favors to someone who hurt the person I love.”

Her expression stiffened as if I had hit the mark. So that was true.

“But I was also a victim who was tricked by Miyuki and the others.”

“That might be true. But he was a pure victim.”

“That’s…”

“And no matter how much you were deceived, there was no need for you to harm Senpai. You could have warned him or, if needed, consulted the police. There were plenty of things you could have done. But you didn’t. None of you even tried to take the proper path.”

At my words, her body trembled in small spasms.

“No, that’s…”

She tried again and again to defend herself, but the words died in her throat, and she looked completely broken.

“You and the others lynched a defenseless person. Can you truly say you were not intoxicated by your own runaway sense of justice? Did you really do something that cruel only for Amada-san’s sake?”

“Ah…”

She let out that short sound and collapsed in tears, not even caring about her dirtying her face.

I slowly walked away from the spot.