Why does the Ruined King still fall in love?

"Okay." I sighed. "It's not like that, okay?"

"Komachi knows."

"Then why do you ask?"

"Because Komachi wants to tease Oni-chan! Oh, oh, Komachi just got a high score!"

Komachi's smile was brighter than a Christmas tree.She elbowed me in the ribs while repeating "high score!"High score!" Fed up, I reached out and used the best of my 108 skills - "relentless tickling".

"Oni-chan! Wait-wait!"

Komachi may be the most beloved offspring in the family, but that just means I have to learn to win battles on my own.Chivalry is outdated.The winner is rewarded no matter how dirty he plays.This is the world we live in.

Maybe this is not the world Yukinoshita Yukino wants.

"Okay, okay! Komachi has no points here! No points!"

Satisfied with her response, I walked back quickly.Komachi curled up into a ball, and was still giggling afterwards.

"I won." I said smugly. "This means that Hachiman's score will improve a lot."

"Yes, yes," said Komachi, "To secure the victory, Oni-chan sexually assaulted his sister. I see it now...' An unnamed student from the Chiba area named A , was arrested for a most heinous crime...'”

Oh, oh, I already told you, I'm not a pervert!

"But anyway," Komachi said. "Other than some kind of trauma, Oni-chan seems to be doing better now, doesn't he?"

"Um?"

"It's kind of gross, though. Komachi isn't used to seeing Oni-chan laugh."

......what.Wait...is my smile some kind of ominous sign!?

"I'll buy you some melon plates tomorrow."

"Hurray!" Komachi cheered, raising her hands above her head.Perfect, my olive branch project was a success.When all else fails, bribe your younger siblings with food.You conquer your enemies not with blood or steel, but with words and stomachs.

My sister can't be this cute.

"And...about Yuigahama--"

Komachi raised his hand. "Needless to say."

"Um?"

That's her plan? Trying to let my guard down so she innocently interrupts my question and I answer it without thinking? Haha.Years of being an older brother have made me immune to such attempts.

Besides, it wasn't her fault.

Komachi shook his head. "Komachi doesn't need to know."

"You do not need?"

"Unless Oni-chan wants to tell Komachi, she won't force him."

......

"Thank you."

"Other than that," Komachi said. "Komachi is sure that no matter what Oni-chan does, there's a valid reason for it, no?"

"I'm not so sure."

"Then you will apologize to her the next time you see her again! Oni-chan is such a fool, to be honest, no girl will marry you. In the future, Mom and Dad may send you to a nursing home train."

Although I don't know what it is, she probably thinks of me as a character in a certain movie.

"Hey, if you continue to insult me ​​like this, you won't be able to get your melon plate..."

"Crack! Oni-chan! You're so despicable!"

It's just fifty steps laughing at a hundred steps...

I fiddled with her hair and said to her, "Go to bed."

"Yes, yes..." Komachi nodded feebly and jumped up, "Good night, Oni-chan!"

When Komachi closed the door behind her, I was alone again in the now brightly lit room.

Rumors about Hayama Hayato and Yukinoshita Yukino have not subsided.

There is a proverb that says a lie travels halfway around the world before the truth is proven.I think Lincoln may have said that.Or Einstein.In fact, it could be Miyamoto Musashi...well, it could be someone with his name...maybe some AKB48 idol? Who knows.

The point is, rumors travel fast and are hard to quell.

The fact that the two did not attend school greatly contributed to the spread of the rumors.Yuigahama handled this as expected: shrugging nervously at any probing questions.Miura's performance is also in line with expectations.She's gone crazy.Constant madness.Shockingly, numbly, madly.

Ebina was crying in her little corner, the Hayama X Hachiman ship that sank because of the failure.

Still, most people are interested in the topic.The teacher wasn't very helpful on this either, as the answer to every question about where the two of them went was the same:

"Family Gathering.".

It's the kind of thing that will set the imagination running wild.Small cliques rise and fall as any new grapevine makes waves along the way.Theories range from the completely improbable (Hayama is actually a woman and Yukinoshita is a man!) to the ridiculous (I heard Yukinoshita was adopted and her parents were cat), to plausible (Hayama prefers men).

But the rumors that disturb me the most are the ones I find hardest to deny:

(Maybe Yukinoshita and Hayama are engaged?) Hehe! Maybe they eloped!

Gossiping kids looking forward to the wedding.

Regardless of the arrangement, it still keeps them both on top.

Even when Hayama isn't there, the teacher occasionally praises him—implying that he must have done his homework with the same "let's move forward at our best pace!" attitude.Seriously though, I'm not motivating us - I just feel bad because our test scores and assignments are being taken up by absent students.

At least at home, there are no rumors.Coming home is a temporary respite from the winter weather.

Even though it was lunch time, the classroom was packed with people.It's raining outside.Really sorry.But then again, I'm not going to go out in the cold.I've eaten up the leftovers from Komachi.How great!I swear my sister spoils me so much.But now, I have nothing to do but start eavesdropping on other people's conversations.

Then, I happened to hear...

"Oh, oh. Has anyone heard from Hayama?"

Virgin Ooka proves again why he's a minor character.

"I don't know... Hayama has been very mysterious lately, it's like he's become... something more than a penguin."

I only have one name.One last time, who is Bi Penguin?

"Than Penguin and Hayato-kun..." Ebina collapsed on the table, mourning the loss of her OTP.

Miura stared out the window quietly.She seems to be attracted by the raindrops falling on the glass.

It was during times like this that Hayato's influence became quite evident.He is the glue that holds this group together.Without him, they started falling apart.It's like a herd of wild beasts living only on the presence of the chief male lion.The other members of the team are subordinate to the leader's leadership and presence.Without a leader, they collapse and the semblance of structure and orderly society disappears.

Then they become savages.

"Hmm..." Yuigahama said loudly. "I... I heard from Yukino—"

"Her?" Miura's voice was colder than the weather. "What does she have to say about Hayato-kun?"

"N-nothing! It's just-"

"Then why are we talking about her?"

"I--"

"To be honest." Miura said, glaring at Yuigahama. "You should learn to see the situation clearly."

"Then let me finish!"

The classroom suddenly fell silent.It looked like Miura had been slapped.Yuigahama... Yuigahama looks...

"It's not fair..." Yuigahama's eyes fixed on her knees.Her hands were shaking. "Yumiko...sometimes it's really unfair, you know?"

There is an old truth in the world - everyone has limits.No matter how good a person is, patience has a limit.Slices, slices, slices disappear until only raw emotion remains.

"I just said..." Yubihama said loudly, "Yue Nai told me a few days ago that her family is going to hold a party at her house. Many friends from her family will go. Then, because... ..Because Hayato-kun was Yukino's childhood friend, so I was thinking..."

The deathly silence was unsettling.It must have come as a shock to everyone that Yuigahama would be angry with Miura. "She's fine!" they said. "She would never do that!" They were wrong.Like I was wrong.A good girl is a good girl.Yubihama is Yubihama.They are not the same thing.They are homonyms but have different meanings.They are synonyms, but their definitions are different.A good girl is always like Yuigahama, but Yuigahama is not always like a good girl.

No.

Yuigahama Yui is just a girl.

Now, she...

"Yumiko, it's really unfair." Yuigahama's voice trembled. "You know, it's not just Yumiko who is hurting. I know everyone is confused and upset about what's going on, but even I-!"

Yuigahama raised his head and looked into my eyes.They were shining, as brightly as they had been that day on the brightly lit road under the night sky.

"Even if I..."

Yuigahama stood up. "I'm sorry," she said reluctantly, and ran out the door.A bang echoed in the silent classroom.

"Yui!" Ebina stood up. "Yumiko, come on!"

Miura was stunned.In her eyes, a look of regret was developing. "me."

"You need to apologize!"

"......you are right."

The door slammed shut again as the girls ran out.Still no sound.

"What happened to her?" Yamato asked.

"I don't know," Tobe said, scratching his head. "Wait...Could it be...Could it be that Yui-chan also likes Hayato?"

Then the classroom exploded.

"Bikigu."

"Um?"

Classes come and go.Yuigahama never returned to class.Miura and Ebina returned empty-handed.Despite Ms. Hiratsuka's best efforts, the class doesn't pay attention to her teaching and is too busy talking about the possibility of a love triangle.

Humans are that stupid.A rumor is a rumor, right? Nope.You know why humans hate looking in mirrors? Do you know why they always complain about their reflection? It's because the mirror reflects who they really are and they refuse to admit it.

Humans are sick.Humans are twisted.Humans are exactly what they hate.Ignorance is bliss.It makes them feel like they matter to the world.It makes them feel like they are all suns in their own little solar system.

That's why humans are stupid.That's why they're always stupid.

"Crack!"

A punch hit me hard on the head.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't make me lose my temper!" Mr. Shizuka Hiratsuka snapped before rubbing his temples. "It's the troubles of youth, I swear."

Don't take out your growing old troubles on me!

"So?" Shizuka Hiratsuka leaned on the table in front of me. "What's wrong?"

"You hurt me."

"Don't tell me this." Hiratsuka Shizu-sensei let out a breath. "You three have been weird since Cupid's Arrow."

Why do they call it Cupid's Arrow? It sounds like a disaster - like one of those old western movies where the bearded villain straps a defenseless teenage girl in front of a speeding locomotive.Life is the rails, and the train is a big, black, cold slap in the face of reality.

"I'm telling you, it's all in your head..."

"Do you want me to punch you again?"

"Isn't the most obvious answer no?"

One punch.

"Sometimes you're really a masochist," she said.

really.Maybe I just crave punishment.

Shizuka Hiratsuka-sensei crossed her arms and legs, waiting expectantly.

Damn it.

However, my unmarried teacher did give me some good advice from time to time.

"I made a serious mistake."

"It's human nature. There's nothing wrong with making mistakes. I mean, if you want to talk about horribly wrong, agreeing to a guy moving in with you after the first date is—"

"I think I made a big mistake."

"Did you make a girl's belly bigger?"

"No......?"