Yandere? Menhera? Bring It On, If You're Confident That I'll love You For Who You Are - Chapter 45

What Has Changed Since That Time

A few minutes later, only Kanade and I remained on the living room sofa.

Asagami’s Mother, with a bitter expression, quickly agreed to my request as a way of repaying the greatest inconvenience she had caused me.

It took some effort to persuade Rio, but as an act of mercy and offering to Kanade, who should atone for her sins, she consented, and I managed to secure a brief 30 minutes.

For me, it was the last gamble.

“How is your stomach wound?”

“it’s hurt a little bit, but it’s bearable. But I never thought you would propose a one-on-one conversation. Should I take this as you wanting to mend our relationship?”

“You’re pretty composed, aren’t you? That’s not the attitude of someone who’s about to pay for their crimes.”

Kanade was much calmer now, unlike when she was embarrassingly flustered after being caught by Hina’s scheme.

The pawns, Akutsu and the man called Kawada with sunglasses, and Asagami’s Father had fallen, and even on the brink of having her feared crimes exposed, there was not a trace of panic in her expression.

Honestly, this composure of hers made me wary.

“There’s no use in making a fuss now. Besides, I’m certain of it. Rio can’t get you. Hina seems completely caught up in your strategy now.”

“You’ve realized that?”

“What are you planning to do now?”

“Just go back to our usual daily lives. We’ll probably have to answer some police inquiries for a while. I can already hear the police yelling, ‘Why didn’t you tell us at the time!?'”

“Yeah, yeah. Honesty is the best policy for humans. Lying never leads to anything good.”

“You’ve got quite the mental fortitude yourself.”

Retaliating for earlier, she said what one in her position now should never say. Her competitive spirit seemed intact.

“Just kidding. Besides, it doesn’t feel like a compliment when you say something about mental fortitude, Minato.”

“I am complimenting you. Though I’m not impressed.”

“Really… Hey, do you remember? Back in middle school, when there was that rumor about me being assaulted?”

“Huh? Yeah, I remember.”

That was probably a few months after I had started dating Kanade.

Despite being an abrupt incident, perhaps due to its impact, it was, in a way, my most significant memory from middle school.

When Kanade and I arrived at school as usual, the looks I received from the other students were as if they were looking at filth. The reason was a single photo displayed on the bulletin board.

The photo showed none other than Kanade, completely naked.

Her eyes were covered with something like cloth, and she was gagged, being raped by a man. It goes without saying who that man was supposed to be.

Of course, I have no memory of such an event. I had never even had sexual intercourse with Kanade.

Kanade, of course, desperately tried to clear the misunderstanding, but her voice was drowned out by the jeers of dozens of students.

Naturally, the students’ jeers were directed at me, the supposed rapist.

“Rapist.”

“Criminal.”

“Die.”

“Don’t touch Asagami-senpai with your filthy hands.”

Countless criticisms assailed me.

With that photo in existence, anything I said would only sound like an excuse. Naturally, I was pressed by the teacher for an explanation.

However, it was a false accusation I had no memory of. The teachers uncovered that the photo was a fake by the end of the day. Apparently, it was an evidence photo from a past high school girl rape case that had been altered using computer software to look like us.

For a moment, I wondered what would become of me, but for the time being, the matter seemed resolved—though reality begs to differ.

It would have been nice if it had ended there, but the tragedy that befell me, once falsely branded, continued.

The girls in the class began to look at me as if I were a deviant, and even the boys, who I thought I was on reasonably good terms with, clearly started to avoid me.

There were people like Yuuya and Hina who understood the situation and continued to interact with me, but… my ordinary middle school life completely transformed from that day on.

“…I’m sorry for bringing up unpleasant memories. Since Minato went through the trouble of creating this time for me, we should talk about things we can only discuss now.”

Kanade stood up as if she had come to some realization.

She walked forward and circled around to my back as I sat on the opposite sofa.

Then, she weakly embraced me from behind.

“Getting involved with me was the biggest mistake for your everyday life. You’ve thought that since that time, haven’t you?”

What I felt then was human warmth. The warmth filled with pure affection and kindness that I had once felt.

Her actions transformed the previously calm atmosphere into something else. Kanade continued to speak.

“Because you were there, Rio’s heart, which had been stable only because of you, started to break.”

“…So, that’s why you tried to kill Rio.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Kanade answered without hesitation. It wasn’t too difficult to realize that the fabricated photo from that time belonged to her sister… to Rio.

And it was in that moment that I touched the emotions of the girl who had maintained her composure until now.

“That girl tried to tear us apart. Not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times—over and over…!!”

“Well, I sympathize with you on that point.”

“…Then why didn’t you stay by my side?”

I couldn’t see her expression, but it was clear that Kanade was furious. Yet, she still behaved calmly, not letting her last feelings explode.

I continued to listen to her words.

“You never change, do you, Minato? Always blunt to everyone, yet always looking out for those around you. And yet, you step into others’ hearts without realizing it and always solve problems with a nonchalant face. Both Rio and Hina fell for you because of that sense of security you provide. I can sympathize with them on that point… But there’s one thing about you that has changed, isn’t there?”

Kanade’s grip around me tightened. I could feel her small hands trembling.

“That thing… that you had before you killed your uncles, that you don’t have now. You don’t understand, do you? So, I’ll tell you.”

With that, Kanade pulled my face towards her with both of her embracing hands.

At the same time, she brought her own face closer.

As a result, we found ourselves looking into each other’s eyes, less than 10 centimeters apart.

“It’s ‘heart’.”