「I’m weak aren’t I?」
Megu said looking down…
The two of us head to the school building…
The other first years from the track and field are taking a distance from us.
「Until quite recently…I thought that I would be made prost.i.tute through Shirasaka-san’s order… I thought that I have to give up my high school days…!」
…Right.
Shirasaka Sousuke left『Kuromori』and was about to set up his own prost.i.tution ring.
Then…he planned to make Megu one of his prost.i.tutes…
When Golden Week was over…Megu was supposed to be taken away from Yamamine house.
「And yet…I met Yoshi-kun, met Minaho-san again…I felt happy that I got my emotions loosened…I’m no good」
…Megu
「I myself know it…I’m relying on Yoshi-kun too much. Yoshi-kun is by my side so I can still head to the cla.s.sroom now. Actually…my heart is throbbing」
Everyone in the cla.s.s knows that Megu is Yukino’s relative.
Shirasaka Sousuke’s blood relative.
「What should I do?…I might become a girl that can’t live without Yoshi-kun…!」
Megu holds my hand tightly.
…I
「It’s fine…I’ll protect you. I’ll beat up those who say anything strange about Megu…!」
But…Megu
「Don’t do that…Yoshi-kun, that’s not the case…!」
Megu’s sorrowed eyes look at me…
「Then that would just make me useless」
…Megu?
「I don’t want to be protected by Yoshi-kun. I didn’t like Yoshi-kun from that…!」
「…What do you mean?」
「I want to be the girl that stands beside Yoshi-kun. When I heard about Yoshi-kun’s story at the mansion…I thought I want to stay by Yoshi-kun’s side. And yet…!」
Megu looks down again.
「Before I noticed, I’ve been depending on Yoshi-kun…relying on Minaho-san…I’ve been relying on my Yamamine parents…everyone in the club…and captain Takeshiba… I shiver from my own weak self right now…what a miserable girl I am…!」
Megu’s hand is trembling.
「I really get fed up with my own self. During the club activities, my head calmed down and I felt startled. Ever since yesterday…I’ve been relying too much on Yoshi-kun…」
Right now, yesterday is in Megu’s head…
Especially, she remembers the s.e.x we had this early morning.
Megu was strange for certain.
She was drowning with her s.e.x with me.
All of this are just to escape the reality that she’s a daughter of Shirasaka Sousuke…!
「…I want to become stronger」
Megu mutters.
…I
What should I say at these times?
…To this girl.
…This treasured『woman』
「…I thought of this but…」
Words spill out of my mouth by themselves.
「Getting strong…isn’t that troublesome for the body? You have to work hard and spend time training…!」
What am I saying?
「But…in case of your mind. To strengthen your mind…」
「…What should I do?」
Megu looks at me.
「…You just need courage」
I beat my chest.
「…As long as you have courage then you should be able to overcome most things…your mind can be stronger with just courage alone」
「…Un」
Megu pats her own chest.
「You’re right…it’s courage」
I’m glad.
Megu’s expression calmed down.
「Also… I’ve been thinking about this since long ago. No matter how painful something is…it’ll end someday」
「…Eh?」
「I also experienced various things but I managed somehow. No matter what hardships, sorrow…there’s definitely a time where it would end. Everything will pa.s.s away. The night will surely come…!」
Megu laughs.
「Yoshi-kun…isn’t that『the morning will surely come』?」
…I
「I hate mornings. Another harsh day would begin again. I’m always waiting for the night time. At night…I can lie down on that sofa in the dark room and I can be alone… At that time, I was always waiting for the『night』everyday…!」
…When I returned from my dorm life in middle school.
My parents divorced before I noticed…
My father disappeared…
My gentle grandma died long ago…
I’ve always been alone in that house.
The darkness at night was my only refugee.
If I sleep… I forget everything…
「I’ve been enduring until night came, every day, until last week…」
Even though it’s just a while ago…
I completely forgot about it…
…I’m also no good.
「I’ve been depending on everyone. Everyone has been together with me so it has become natural before I knew it…I completely depended on everyone. It’s not just Megu. I’m also miserable」
Un…I must not forget the loneliness in that darkness.1
I must not forget my grat.i.tude to Minaho-neesan for scooping me out of there.
Those by my side…everyone in『Kuromori』too…
「Yoshi-kun, you’re not depending at all…because, Yoshi-kun’s been doing his best. You always do your best for all of our sake…!」
Megu grabs my arm.
She leans her body…
「Also…well」
I answer.
「Everyone has expectations on me so I have to do my best. I want to be useful to everyone」
「…Yoshi-kun?」
「I’ve always been an unwanted child」
「…Unwanted?」
「Un…for my parents, I was a『childbirth regret』」
I was born so my parents can’t divorce…
…For the sake of appearances.
「Therefore…after grandma died, I’ve lived carefully so that my parents won’t see me」
…I hold my breath.
「Therefore…I’m glad. Minaho-neesan gives me instructions…I can do something for Megu and Mana. Recently…I understand Katsuko-nee’s feelings」
「…Katsuko-neesan?」
「…Un…Katsuko-nee makes delicious meals for us…I think she’s happy that she affects people like that. I think it’s very blissful to see someone who eats your bread and show a face that it’s『delicious』…」
Relationship with others…gives an effect…
As long as the effect is positive towards the other…
Then there’s nothing happier than that…
「Even I am the same…Megu, Misuzu, Mana…sometimes Nei-san too…when you show a gloomy or afraid face…when I touch you…then make your heart calm even a bit, it makes me happy」
「…What about Katsuko-neesan and Nagisa-neesan?」
「Those two are adults so they will be the one to come when they really needed me…」
That’s why…I’m not that worried.
「When they really feel uneasy, then they will send an SOS signal properly. I understand that they will」
「…Right. Katsuko-neesan and Nagisa-neesan are adults」
Megu looks down again.
「…Yoshi-kun, sorry」
…Megu?
「…I was very childish」
Then…she looks at me.
「I never thought about Yoshi-kun at all…! I’ve been looking at myself all this time…sorry!」
「W-What are you saying?」
I don’t know why Megu’s apologizing at all.
「Even though I promised to be a good wife…!」
I clench Megu’s hand.
「Let’s just take it easy…let’s grow up little by little, every day. I will do so too」
「…Yoshi-kun」
「I don’t know a lot about people other than me…I won’t notice it. No, I don’t understand even myself, when it comes to it, I don’t understand at all…!」
That is the sort of feeling I have.
I was alone every night in that darkness…
There was only myself there…
I don’t understand the situation around myself.
「I want to know about Megu more. Misuzu, Mana, Nei-san…Katsuko-nee, Nagisa too…Margo-san and Minaho-neesan…and even Michi…!」
「…Yoshi-kun?」
「I…I think that I don’t understand everyone at all」
「…That’s not true.」
「No, that is. Because, I discover something new everyday. When I see what its in the mind that I’ve never seen until now…『Oh, I didn’t understand』I reflect myself multiple times…!」
Perhaps…human heart is a polyhedron.
When you look at it from the side it’s square…when you look from above then it’s round.
But…it doesn’t contradict itself.
It certainly exists as one『human heart』
Therefore…you have to look at it from various angles.
「『I know everything about that one』or『I know all』at he moment you think of that, you feel you’re going to fall to a pitfall… Therefore…you must not stop making effort to know」
「…Yoshi-kun」
「Then…when you think that you understand the other…you must get to the core of it…with courage」
I knock my chest.
「Therefore…I won’t stop making efforts to understand Megu…」
…Megu
At first…the kind and trustworthy cla.s.s chairman in front of me.
But…I found the sadness and sorrow concealed deep in her heart…
And yet, Megu who scolds the unstable Mana severely is also her.
On the other hand…the weak Megu who depends on me is also Megu.
Megu doesn’t have a perverted const.i.tution like Yukino.
s.e.x for Megu is to monopolize me, to escape from reality…a defense mechanism of her mind.
Even now…
The various sides of Megu…I see it bit by bit…
I understand Megu bit by bit…
「But…I think Yoshi-kun will hate me if he comes to know me. I’m a girl with a dirty heart」
「…That’s not true」
I immediately denied it
「The more I understand about Megu the more I’ll come to like you」
That’s right…I
「That’s why I will get to the core of Megu a gain and again. With courage. I want to really understand Megu…!
Megu and I look at each other.,
Megu’s eyes reflects my face.
Un…I
I’m having a refreshed face…
There’s no hesitation in my mind…
「Yoshi-kun…I love you」
Megu mutters.
「Thank you…it’s my first time to understand the meaning of『I love you』…!」
…Megu?
「I will also make an effort to know about Yoshi-kun. I’ll make an effort throughout my life. Have courage to get to the core…!」
Megu brings her face to my chest…
「I love you…I really do, Yoshi-kun…!」
◇ ◇ ◇
Entering the school building…there are those who whisper when they see Megu.
As expected…it’s exposed that Megu’s a relative of Shirasaka family.
But still…there are no students at the entrance who came to speak with us.
They just look from the distance.
But still…it’s not pleasant that they cast a rude gaze on other people.
「Yoshi-kun…let’s go」
Megu pulls my hand.
「…I’ll be fine」
「Un」
The two of us walk in the corridor dignified and head to the cla.s.sroom
…But
There’s a crowd of people before our cla.s.sroom.
「…Oh, it’s them」
「Eh, that’s Shirasaka’s daughter」
「No, just a relative」
I see…they heard that there’s a daughter of Shirasaka Sousuke in this cla.s.sroom…
The spectators gathered from the school…
「But still, that’s amazing…it’s multiple rape in Australia isn’t it?」
「He’s a national disgrace」
「Rather than that, I heard that he’s a genojin eater」
「Somehow, it’s said that he did it with a certain idol unit」
「…48 of them?」
「No…it was all members wasn’t it?」
「Indeed a s.e.x monster」
「The girl that was kidnapped and killed, so pitiful」
「Even though she was so small…she can’t meet her mother can she?」
「That’s horrible」
「Or rather, the fire yesterday was amazing isn’t it?…they did that to destroy the evidence, right?!」
「As expected of Shirasaka Group」
「I’d like Sakamori to quit as the owner of the baseball team. His relative is a criminal」
「He’ll resign you know?…That press conference was a huge failure isn’t it?」
「Or rather…isn’t Shirasaka house’s newspaper and tv station in a bad spot?」
「Yeah…that one’s strange too. They’ve been defending Shirasaka Sousuke all the time…」
「It seems that there are some protests in front of the television station」
「Right right, the talents who were protecting Shirasaka Souskje in their program are listed over the internet」
「Isn’t that『violation of privacy』?…are they idiots?」
「Un…Shirasaka family vs the world」
「I saw it on the net too…a talent is protecting him, they’re mostly from the same office」
「Is that also connected to Shirasaka?」
「Idiot, Shirasaka Sousuke himself is the director of an advertising agency…there’s no way it’s not」
「The darkness of the ma.s.s media and advertising agency should be revealed…!」
Minaho-neesan’s『revenge』device is amazing.
She divide the time and expose Shirasaka Sousuke’s evildoings from various aspects…it’s filled with momentum now.
Ever since last night, the faces of the man named Shirasaka Sousuke is revealed one by one
There are some who are interested in the case in Australia…
There are some who are reacting only to the entertainment world scandal.
There are some who are strongly interested in the kidnapping and murder of a girl…
It’s only people who have antipathy and criticism against the name『Shirasaka house』…
…But
As a result, everyone’s interested in news.
The image of『s.e.x criminal, Shirasaka Sousuke』is penetrating at a national level…
「…Sorry, please let us through」
I push aside the spectators and enter the cla.s.sroom with Megu.
「Hmm, she doesn’t look like Shirasaka Sousuke from the TV」
「Isn’t that obvious? She’s just a relative」
「But…don’t you think she’s cute?」
「Or rather, what’s with the man sticking to her?」
「Well…could it be that he’s her boyfriend?」
…Oh, the spectators are noisy
「…G-Good morning」
As soon as we enter the cla.s.sroom…the cla.s.smates gazes gathered to us.
The bell is about to come…
Most of the students are gathered already.
Everyone of them doesn’t greet Megu.
「Hey…Megu」
I try to protect Megu and take her to her seat…
…Then
「Hey hey…Yamamine-san」
One of the delinquent schoolgirl talks to Megu with a scornful look.
「…What?」
Megu…turned to that girl while feeling nervous.
「Could it be that you were also raped by Shirasaka Sousuke?!」
The spectators outside the cla.s.sroom rushes up!
「…There’s no way that’s the case」
Megu answered with a sad face.
「Well look…according to the TV report, Shirasaka Sousuke is a lolicon isn’t he? Then I just thought that Yamamine-san who’s a relative was also attacked?」
「That’s right…Yamamine-san, are you a virgin?!」
The delinquent got c.o.c.ky and the others spoke horribly towards Megu.
…I
「Megu was virgin until she did it with me…!」
I told the delinquents clearly.
The spectators make noise again.
「…W-What the h.e.l.l!?」
「Those two had s.e.x?!」
The delinquents still clings.
「Could it be that you’re just being fooled by Yamamine-san? It’s easy to pretend to be a virgin so it’s easy to fool naive boys!」
「Yoshida, weren’t you a virgin too?」
The two delinquents are laughing.
「Sadly…Megu’s my fifth」
The delinquent’s laughter stops…
Or rather…the whole cla.s.sroom and even the spectators on the hallway turned silent.
「When I took Megu’s virginity, I saw her hymen properly…there’s even blood too. I was really glad…」
When it comes to this…I have no choice but to say it clearly.
「Megu’s my woman! Just because she’s Shirasaka Sousuke’s relative, Megu herself has nothing to do with it! Stop bulls.h.i.ting me you all!」
The anger bursts out from inside me!
So I’m a human that explodes from emotion this much.
「I’ll beat up those who speak badly about Megu!」
…The delinquents
Though they’re scared…they speak to me.
「Hee…so you two f.u.c.ked already」
「R-Right…they’re『engaged』so isn’t that obvious that they will?」
「Right…as expected, she’s got a nympho blood!」
…These b.i.t.c.hes!
At the moment I tried to hit that girl…!
Megu slapped that girl…!
「…Don’t misjudge me!」
…Megu
「I will bear this man’s child…it’s impossible now but in the future. I will marry him and become happy. That’s why we’re『engaged』」
Megu’s words are powerful
「We have s.e.x…I want to serve him. I will do anything that pleases him…he’s my husband!」
The girl that was slapped speaks.
「What『engagement』you’re in high school! Saying that he’s your husband, are you an idiot?!」
Megu won’t lose.
「Even a high school student can decide with their lives already. I will live with him for my lifetime. That’s what I decided. I swore. You don’t know my vow but we’re connected. I’m happy…!」
…Megu!
「…There are people who become professional athletes at their first year in high school. There are a lot of people who chose their own lives. I chose to marry him! My heart is…already Yoshida Megumi!」
Megu declared strongly.
I…
「What you think doesn’t matter. If you want to laugh then do it. But, I will protect MEgu. I will protect my『family』for the rest of my life. That’s what I decided…!」
Inside the cla.s.sroom that fell silent…
One boy stands up…
That is Tanaka.
He’s my cla.s.smate with a big-bro personality.
「Could you tell me one thing?」
Tanaka speaks out in a loud voice so the spectators outside could hear.
「Just how much of a relative is Shirasaka Sousuke’s house…and Yamamine-san’s house?」
…I
「Megu…the relationship of Shirasaka house and Yamamine house…?!」
I asked on purpose.
If it’s Shiraska Sousuke and Megu…then he’s a blood related father and daughter…
If it’s Shirasaka house and Yamamine house…
「The second wife of the founder of the newspaper company from Shirasaka family married Yamamine house…that’s the relationship」
Shirasaka newspaper company is developed after war.
That history isn’t so old.
「The founder’s second wife?…That’s the only relationship? Is there anyone else from Yamamine family who married into Shirasaka?」
Tanaka asks on purpose.
「None…The people in Shiraska house today are all the ex-wives’ children. The second wife from Yamamine house didn’t have children…」
Megu answered.
「Even if we’re called relatives…we’re not that close. They take care of the employment but…people from Shirasaka house never let anyone from Yamamine join their newspaper company…」
Tanaka speaks in a loud voice.
「Whaat!! Then, that’s meaningless! Isn’t Yamamine-san totally unrelated!」
Tanaka’s voice spreads to the cla.s.sroom and the corridor.
「Uhm…I」
One girl in the cla.s.s opened her mouth.
「I’ve been in with Megumi-chan in middle school…I’ve gone to play Megumi-chan’s house a long time ago…」
That girl speaks while looking down.
「Megumi-chan’s house is a sorry…ragged house It can’t be compared to the Shirasaka house that was on screen last night…they seem to be poor」
The『poor』expression dissolves the air in the cla.s.sroom.
「That’s right, Yamamine-san’s poor! That’s why…she wants to marry Yoshida sooner and build a happy family with the two of them…that’s why she’s『engaged』with Yoshida! She’s a poor and a girl who experienced hardships so it can’t be helped」
Tanaka speaks absurd things selfishly.
But…everyone got convinced by that remark…
「I see…Yamamine-san, so that’s the case」
「Speaking of which…Yoshida’s working part-time…」
「Or rather, Yoshida-kun looks very poor too!」
「When you go out with a poor one…it’s normal that you’d want to marry?」
「But, do contraception…poor and getting many children is the worst pattern」
「Yoshida-kun’s doing his best, doesn’t he?」
…Err
Is this okay?
The image of us being『poor』is totally stuck with us but…
「Speaking of which…Yamamine-san is Shirasaka-san’s relative but…she was never called to Shirasaka house to eat a meal…」
「Yes…that’s right」
Megu answered.
…Err
True…she haven’t eaten in Yukino’s house…
We had s.e.x though…
「Or rather…the matter with Shirasaka Sousuke in the TV is completely unrelated to Yamamine-san. Everyone, you can go back now!」
Tanaka…ends the talk.
「Sorry…Yamamine-san」
「Right…there’s no way Yamamine-san’s related to such a bad family right?」
「I will explain to the people in the club too」
「Un…we’re the one who knows what kind of person Yamamine-chan is」
When it comes to this…Megu who’s usually kind to everyone…
The schoolgirls accepted her easily.
The delinquents are still in bad mood, but…
Megu’s accepted by the other girls, they’re not stupid enough to cross that…
I feel a bit relieved.
「That’s right…Yamamine-san is different from Shirasaka-san…!」
Hearing that girl’s word…I got startled.
Even Megu’s relatives attracted this much attention…
…Then.
Shirasaka Sousuke’s true daughter…
What will happen if Yukino comes here?
「Speaking of which…Shirasaka-san’s not here yet?」
「There’s no way she’ll come…her father’s a criminal you know?」
「Right…normally you won’t come」
…That’s when…
「…Hey, she came!」
A voice comes from the corridor…
「Eh, her…?!」
「…Somehow, isn’t she plain?」
The spectators said.
Yukino’s plain?
「…The bell’s about to ring. Go back to your cla.s.srooms」
…Minaho-neesan’s voice?
「Hey…let us through!」
Minaho-neesan appears from the spectators.
Behind her is Yukino…
Yukino is…
1. Well, you’ve got Megu