My Stepsister is My Ex-Girlfriend - Volume 11 - Chapter 4

The Conclusive Fourth Day

The Culprit

Mizuto Irido

I’ll be frank. At this point in time, I haven’t pinpointed who saw my secret tryst with Yume. After all, I don’t have any clear information about them at all. The only thing I could be certain of was that the culprit had hidden herself in a locker in the girls’ locker room, avoiding detection. In other words, the culprit was a girl. Out of all the second-years, there were about a hundred girls; adding in the female guests at the hotel, there were countless people who could’ve walked in on us.

However, I had a theory that if I obtained just one more piece of the puzzle, this mystery would be blown wide open. If there was something that I noticed, it’d be just that. If just one more condition was met, then out of over a hundred potential suspects, that number would magically be narrowed down to just one.

If my theory was right, then I could say that I was almost a hundred-percent certain who the culprit was. That’s why from here on out, I needed to work to change my theory into truth.

Personally, I didn’t really care whether we figured out the culprit’s identity, but I was sure that it would continue to weigh on Yume’s mind. More importantly, if my theory was right, then the culprit’s memories of this trip would be soured as well.

It wasn’t exactly in character for me, but somebody had to solve this mystery. As long as everything ended without incident, then it’d be okay. I’ll make sure that this once-in-a-lifetime school trip ends on a positive note. But it’s not like I had to do too much legwork at this point. I’d already set the stage. All I had to do was wait, and the information I wanted would come to me. Isn’t that right, Yako Yoshino?

Why Are Your Depictions of Clothes So Frequent This Time?

On the fourth and last day of the school trip, the only thing on our itinerary was sightseeing at Shuri Castle. Going off the picture I saw of the red-tile roof, I thought that it’d be similar to the Heian Shrine, but I was wrong. In reality, nearly everything around the castle were homes that people actually lived in. Shuri Castle was in the middle, at the top of a small hill.

But apparently there were rules for the appearance of the buildings in the area, which most likely explained why all of the homes had white walls and red roofs. They really stood out the most.

What excited us students the most was finding a Lawson. We’d only ever seen their signs in blue, but here, it was red. Even their usual blue lines on the outside of the store were all red. It was so unexpected that, at first, it didn’t even register in my mind that it was a Lawson.

In Kyoto, McDonald’s was famous for its signs being brown instead of red, and as someone who lived there, it was exciting to see other differently designed signs.

After climbing the stone-paved road on the wide hill, a pure-red gate came into view. It was apparently the entrance to Shuri Castle—the Shurei Gate. Upon arriving, each of our classes took turns going through it.

Once we entered, we were allowed to go off with our own individual groups. Our group of six followed the stone walls and eventually found the inner gate in the castle walls.

Unlike the Shurei Gate, this was a plain gate that looked as if someone had opened a hole in the castle walls. On either side of it were completely gray Shisa.

After passing through the gate, we entered an area that had walls as curvy as waves. There was a stone path in the middle of the grass that stretched to a staircase, which led to another small gate, but this one was painted a beautiful red.

After climbing the stairs and passing through the gate, we came face-to-face with a castle wall that was about five meters in height. The path continued straight to the left, and at the end of it was another staircase and gate.

“Th-There are too many stairs...” Isana complained in a weak voice.

I was honestly starting to get a little fatigued in my legs too. “It’s a castle on top of a hill. The more stairs, the more hill to climb, right?”

“Ugh...” Isana grumbled dejectedly.

But I was right there with her. After climbing the stairs and passing through the gate, we entered a somewhat open space. I was wondering why all the tourists were gathered on the left side, but it seemed that there was about a waist-high wall from which you could see the entire landscape.

“Wow, we’re so high! Kawanami, take some pics of us!” Minami-san demanded.

“Yeah, yeah.”

As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Kawanami became the cameraman and took the flip phone. The four girls of our group put their backs to the wall with the Naha scenery as their backdrop. Of course, Minami-san was used to taking pictures and it seemed that Yume was too, but Isana did the typical I-don’t-go-out-much peace sign, while Asuhain wore a stiff expression.

I kept myself out of it because taking pictures wasn’t really my thing, but things hardly go as planned. Ultimately, Kawanami forcibly dragged me into frame, and we all took a group picture.

After that, we went through another gate, arrived at a large, stone-paved open space, and then an even bigger gate—the Hoshin Gate. It was so tall that we had to strain our necks to look up, and its roof, walls, and pillars were all the same shade of red. This was the gate to the castle, but it was pretty much its own building too. If someone had told me that this was the castle, I’d have believed them.

Normally, the area past the gate was supposed to be red and gold. Apparently, the main temple that used to be there had since burned down, and they were in the process of restoring it. Currently, there was scaffolding, largely in the shape of the temple. So we’re finally halfway to the castle, huh? Of course, we still had to go back, so we were more like a fourth of the way done.

“Phew...” Isana sighed in the corner of the plaza by the Hoshin Gate. “Hill, stairs, hill stairs... This is too much for a shut-in...”

“Really? Gettin’ tired out from somethin’ like this? Lazybones,” Kawanami, her fated enemy, teased her, but Isana didn’t even react.

“Humans aren’t required to climb hills. It’s fine...” she said as if she’d reached some form of enlightenment. She squatted in front of the red gate and looked up at it.

Seeing Isana, Yume called out to Minami-san. “Wanna take a break? We won’t get in anyone’s way in this spacious area either.”

“Sure, why not?”

And with that, we took a break and looked around the area. This was perfect for me since she would catch up if we waited long enough. I aimlessly walked around the area, covertly distancing myself from Yume and Isana. As I did, a group of students who’d entered after us caught up, and among them was a certain individual.

“Hey...”

There you are. I turned around upon hearing her voice. Standing there was a girl with flashy hair and an outfit that revealed her belly button—Yako Yoshino. Her shoulders, stomach, and thighs were on full display. It was an outfit that really didn’t fit the historical nature of the place we were visiting. Currently, she was shooting me a look. I couldn’t read whether her expression contained fear or doubt, but either way, I knew it wasn’t friendly.

It was good that I’d moved to the tree that was planted at the edge of this area, because neither Isana or Yume could see us. Like this, I could cut straight to the chase with Yoshino.

“Need something?”

Yoshino furrowed her eyebrows, probably thinking that I was being brazen. “Is that really what you’re gonna ask after that message you gave me?”

“That was me being kind in my own way, more or less.”

“So you’re implying that there was more to your motives, right? What do you want from me? I didn’t take you as the blackmailing type.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to do. You’re the only one who’s thinking that,” I said, shrugging. “Besides, the fact that your cell phone is broken isn’t exactly blackmail material.” Yoshino frowned. I wryly smiled and continued. “By the way, I don’t have any hard evidence of that—it’s all just my own hypothesis. But after seeing your reaction, I’m sure I’m right. The flip phone you had broke after you fell in the water, right?”

“How...do you know that?”

“There are three reasons, but do you really wanna know?”

“As if I’ll be able to accept this situation without any explanation!”

Okay, suit yourself. “First, on the morning of the second day, Yume called you, but you didn’t pick up.”

I’d gone with her to investigate the missing guidebooks, and thinking that it’d be rude to suddenly visit their room, Yume had tried calling ahead, but Yoshino hadn’t picked up. It would make sense if the phone had been broken by then.

“Second, for some reason, after that, your group was unusually close to ours. Even in the American Village, you were weirdly sticking by Yume. That’s because you were hoping that if any kind of emergency information was shared, Yume would share it with you, right?”

After all, that very morning, Yume had offered her help if they were in any trouble, so it would make sense that Yoshino would hang around just in case she did need help.

“Third, the clothes that you were drying in the window on the morning of the second day.”

“My clothes...?”

“They were the exact same clothes you were wearing on the night of the first day.”

Yoshino’s expression slightly became more grim. For something that she didn’t want others to find out about, she was pretty careless. Maybe she shouldn’t have so easily let a guy into her room.

“Of course, the same goes for us, but we were told the entire schedule for the school trip ahead of time, so we all brought four days’ worth of clothes. There was no reason to do laundry. If there was, then it’d have to be because some unexpected accident happened. Something like, say...becoming absolutely drenched.” And how would that happen? There was an event the night before that perfectly explained that. “Yoshino, Asuhain pushed you into the pool, right?”

Yoshino did her best not to show anything in her expression at all. But it was too late. The moment you were so scared of me already proved my theory.

“I heard about that via Yume,” I continued. “At around eight thirty on the first night, Asuhain saw someone ask someone else out by the pool. She didn’t reveal who those two people were, but taking into account the three reasons I listed earlier, I was thinking that one of them was definitely you, and specifically, you were the one asking the other person out.”

“Why...?”

“Hypothesizing from what Asuhain said, there are only about three other people that the other person could be. And out of those three, none of them were people I could imagine asking you out. No offense.”

“Wait... I’m not seeing where you’re going with this.”

I wasn’t sure if Yoshino had calmed down, but she was still trying to keep a straight face. “Asking someone out by the pool? And you’re saying I was pushed in? How the heck are you getting me from that? Just because I washed my clothes doesn’t mean that they were wet. What if a drink had exploded on me or something?”

“Now that I think about it, you’re wearing the same clothes from the first day, aren’t you? They look familiar.”

“Yeah, they’re dry now.”

“They smell like chlorine.”

“Huh?”

Yoshino frantically went to sniff her shoulder strap of her camisole and then froze.

I smirked slightly. “You’re so honest.”

Yoshino’s face went red with embarrassment. I hadn’t expected her to fall for that so easily.

“Argh, fine! What do you want from me?! Are you just bullying me?!”

“Not at all. I couldn’t care less about your love life. You might think differently of me, but there’s something more important that I want to ask.” I then pointed at Yoshino’s left wrist, or more importantly, the watch she had on. “You got out of the pool with Asuhain at eight thirty, right?”

“Huh? What’s the point of that question, even?”

“With that, I’ll know exactly who you asked out.”

“Why don’t you just ask me?”

“You don’t want to say, right? Besides, I bet it’d make them happier too, this way.”

Yoshino’s eyes turned to slits as she glared at me. I wasn’t sure what emotions were going through her head, but for a bit, she stayed silent, accepting the truth that’d been thrown in front of her.

“Fine. You win,” she sighed before staring at me, the fight gone from her face. “In exchange, would you mind hearing me out? After all, everything you said—your hypothesis, or whatever—is spot on.”

“Sure. It’s a small price to pay.”

“You’re treating someone’s love life as a ‘price’?” Then Yoshino looked at her watch. “What did you want again? The time we got out of the pool?”

“Yeah. If possible, I’d like the precise time.”

This was information that we couldn’t get out of Asuhain. She simply couldn’t have known, since she’d lacked any way of telling the time.

“Just a second... I know I saw...” she muttered. “Oh, right. It was around eight fifty.”

“Eight fifty, huh?” That’s exactly ten minutes before I went in there. That confirms it. “Thanks. Everything’s clear now.”

“Uh-huh. Then let me give you a quiz: who did I ask out?”

Then, I said a single name, which made Yoshino’s face loosen. “You really are the worst, you know that?” she said in a voice of submission.

Then I listened to her love story and how it had both started and ended without anyone knowing.

The Identity of the Mysterious Individual

After enjoying looking out from the narrow path that went around the restoration area of the temple, we had to go through various castle walls to get back to the Shurei Gate. There was a large area where various stalls were set up. Most of the students decided to hang out here before we had to go back to Kyoto.

Some students were looking at souvenirs, while others were eating ice cream they’d bought, but there was one person who was sitting underneath a tree with branches as big as a roof, her sketchbook propped open on her lap. As I got closer to her, I sat next to her without any reservations.

“What’re you drawing?” I asked.

Then, in response, she, Isana Higashira, responded while lightly pressing her pen against the page. “I saw many different pieces of scenery which could easily become a picture, so I’m doing some rough sketches and adding random characters.”

“You remember what the scenery looked like?”

“Just bits and pieces. I have pictures to reference later as well.”

Isana had brought an old digital camera with her for her own purposes. She wanted pictures she could use for her own reference, so she’d borrowed one from her dad.

As I watched her sketch out the scenery we saw from the Shuri Castle, I began my questioning. “The school trip’s coming to an end, but how was it for you?”

“It was great! So much better than middle school! I was never aware that going on a school trip could be so fun when you have friends!”

“Wow, you’re making me tear up, but...yeah, I agree with you, more or less.”

I had fun too. There were various problems, but all’s well that ends well. Or rather, it just has to end well.

“You can keep sketching, but there’s something I wanna tell you. Is that okay?”

“Sure.”

“It’s nothing big, but actually, Yume and I found ourselves in a bit of trouble during the school trip, and I have an idea as to how to solve that. To do that, I’d like it if you listened to my thoughts.”

“Huh? Is there anything you could gain from me of all people lending an ear? I’m not particularly gifted in the advice-giving department.”

“All you have to do is listen. It’ll help me organize my thoughts too.” As I looked up at the blue Okinawan sky through the thick tree branches, I began recollecting everything that’d happened. “So, truth be told, Yume and I met up somewhere on the first night at nine.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You remember how the hotel had a pool? We figured that no students would go there, so we made plans to meet there. So, we were talking for a bit, and then suddenly we heard a rustling from behind us. When we turned around, we saw someone—a shadowy figure—fleeing the scene.”

“Whoa.”

“We tried to quickly chase after them, but when we left the locker rooms to get to the hallway, they were nowhere to be seen. Of course, you know that it’ll be a pain if our relationship gets out, right? That’s why we decided it was necessary to figure out who the culprit was before the end of the trip when everyone gets their phones back.”

“That makes sense.”

“But honestly, I had no clue who they could be up until this morning. After all, there was only one thing I knew about the culprit. You know, Minami-san was actually watching over the entrance to the pool while we were in there, and according to her, nobody left the whole time.”

“Oh, really?”

“So the culprit didn’t leave the locker room. Instead, they hid in there. I checked the boys’ locker room, and didn’t find anyone, so by process of elimination, the culprit must’ve been hiding in the girls’ locker room—the one that Yume didn’t check. In other words, the culprit had to have been a girl. After all, I doubt that in the heat of the moment, a guy would flee into the girls’ locker room.”

“Hm. I see.”

“Conversely, that’s all I had to go off of, but also, that wasn’t the only thing that happened at the pool that night. Thinking about that overall, everything came together neatly like a puzzle, and I was able to take the number of suspects down to just one.”

“How so?”

“At eight thirty, a half hour before Yume and I went into the pool, there were three people there. One of them was Asuhain. She was hiding in the bushes after seeing a different pair—not us—head in there. She witnessed Yako Yoshino ask someone out.”

“Interesting.”

“It didn’t work out, and apparently things got heated. Seeing them erupt into an argument, Asuhain jumped out of the bushes and, in the heat of the moment, pushed both of them into the pool.”

“Oh dear.”

“That being said, these two incidents are not unrelated. The person Yoshino asked out was actually the last person to leave, and they were the very same person who saw me and Yume.”

Up until now, Isana had been idly nodding along and sketching, but as soon as she heard this, her hand stopped moving and she glanced at me. “Why...do you think that?”

“I heard from Yoshino not too long ago that after she got rejected, she had Asuhain grab her a change of clothes. She said that by the time they left the pool, it was eight fifty. Do you remember what I said earlier? Minami-san started watching over the pool entrance around then—ten minutes before nine. Of course, she didn’t see Yoshino or Asuhain leave the pool, since they’d already left by then. But she didn’t see anyone go in either.”

“Uh-huh...”

“There’s the slightest of inconsistencies in the times that Minami-san and Yoshino told me, so more than likely, they just missed each other. But either way, the only way the culprit could’ve entered the pool was between the time that Yoshino and Asuhain left and Minami-san arrived—just a few minutes. The timing is as strict as threading a needle. Can that really be written off as a mere coincidence?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Of course, Minami-san didn’t tell anyone that she was watching over the entrance for us, and I’m sure even she didn’t even know what time she’d start watching. Not running into her can definitely only be called a coincidence. But what about Yoshino and Asuhain? If we assume that the culprit was someone who had nothing to do with the two of them, then they’d have no reason to try and avoid them. Even if they were extremely shy, it would’ve been hard for them to know that they were in there without at least peeking inside. Asuhain said that nobody else came into the locker room, and that she and Yoshino didn’t exchange a single look or word. So how would the culprit know that the two of them were still in there?”

“I see...”

“I think that the culprit already knew that the two of them were in there, and it was difficult for her to face them. There’s only one person that fits the bill—the person that Yoshino asked out.”

Isana fell silent.

“The person who rejected Yoshino is also the same person who saw me and Yume. As soon as I figured this out, there was one person who fit the four conditions to be the culprit.”

Then, I put up my index finger. “First, as I said earlier, they had to be a girl.”

Then I put up my middle finger. “Second, they had to be in the same class as Yoshino, but in a different group. After all, Asuhain heard them say something about how they wished they could’ve been in the same group. Yoshino’d only say that if they were classmates.”

Then, I put up my ring finger. “Third, they had to have a swimsuit. The person who rejected Yoshino apparently left the pool first, in contrast to Yoshino, whose clothes had gotten wet and who had to wait for Asuhain to bring back a change of clothes. The only one who could do that would be someone who was wearing a swimsuit in the first place. If I remember right, the locker room had a dryer for swimsuits.”

Then, I put up my pinky. “Fourth, they needed to be someone who didn’t have an alibi at exactly nine.”

Then, I put down my index finger. “Going off just the first requirement, there were over a hundred suspects. But, by adding the second requirement, it narrowed it down to eleven girls in our class, not including Yoshino and her group.”

Then, I put down my middle finger. “Then, when you add in the third requirement, the only people who had swimsuits were those who’d chosen the marine experience course for the afternoon of the second day. The only people who chose that were Yoshino’s group and our group. But Yoshino’s group’s already not an option, meaning that the culprit had to have been one of the four girls in our group.”

Then, I put down my ring finger. “Which brings us to the fourth requirement. Out of the remaining four suspects, Yume obviously couldn’t be a suspect. Same goes for Minami-san since she was watching over the entrance of the pool, and since she was with her friends, she has a verifiable alibi. Asuhain was in the room when Yume got back from the pool, so it couldn’t have been her. The culprit was hiding in the locker room and couldn’t have gotten back to the room before Yume.”

Then, I put my pinky down. “Which leaves just one person.” I looked at my best friend’s side profile. “You were the one peeping on us, weren’t you, Isana?”

Isana Higashira was the culprit who’d been hiding in the bushes and peeping on me and Yume at nine. She silently stared at her sketchbook before groaning, her shoulders trembling slightly. The hustle and bustle from the school trip faded, and all I could see was the midafternoon shadows from the light filtering through the trees. The shadows formed a kind of barrier, separating us from the outside world. But this was normal for the two of us. Whether it was the corner of the library, the roof of the school during the cultural festival, or hanging outside of the sports festival—we’d spent so much time like this. For us, this was just another day.

“I-Incredible!” Isana’s head snapped up and she leaned towards me. She got into my personal space to the point that I thought her nose was gonna smash into me, her eyes sparkling while she excitedly continued. “I was wondering when I would be found out, but I never expected it to happen so cleanly! Wonderful job! It’s my loss! I’ve always thought you were intelligent, but you’ve gone above and beyond my expectations!”

“Is this really how the culprit should act when they’re found out? Well, I guess you’re acting exactly as planned.”

I wasn’t the type to talk a lot, but the reason I played out this solution was because I thought it’d make Isana happier...though this was beyond my wildest beliefs. Isana leaned back, placed her hand on her chest, and took deep breaths.

“Phew, that made my heart race. So this is what it feels like to be a caught culprit. I got a front row seat, even!”

“Personally, I thought you’d say, ‘What an interesting theory. Perhaps you should become an author.’”

“Oh no. I know firsthand you shouldn’t become an author.”

“Urk...” I know that too.

Then Isana shook her legs and leaned forward, looking up at me. “So? What happens next? I’m not much of a mystery reader.”

“It’s time for the culprit to confess her motive. Why did you peep on us?”

“Ah...that? I suppose I’ve no choice but to confess, then.” She began whistling the tune that plays during a certain young detective anime when the culprit is confessing. “I had two reasons.”

“You don’t have to force yourself to explain it like an intellectual when you’re not cut out for it.”

“How rude! I truly have two reasons! First, I simply wanted to watch.”

“Can I ask why?”

“Sure, why not? Yume-san mentioned that she wanted to take a shower before nine, and I guessed that meant she wanted to meet up with you around that time. Then I began thinking about what it’s like between the two of you when you’re alone.”

“I guess I get it... So what’s the other reason?”

“The other reason is that...I kind of wanted to confirm something.”

“What?”

“Similar to confronting something that frightens you... I was wondering if I would be okay if I saw you in a romantic situation with someone else.”

I fell silent, but Isana didn’t seem to be in pain or look awkward otherwise. She continued speaking in a matter-of-fact way. “It’s not that I still pine for you or anything, and I truly wish for Yume-san’s happiness with all my heart. But even so, I still wondered how I would feel when confronted with the two of you together. It’s the same kind of feelings one has when playing a horror game—fear and curiosity mix together, making it impossible not to take action. Besides, I had time on my hands.”

“So that’s why you thought you’d sneak into the pool ahead of us?”

“I did. However, right before I did, I was caught. I was beginning to have second thoughts and was indecisively loitering around the entrance to the pool. It was then that Yoshino-san came upon me. She pulled me into the pool area, simply saying that she wanted to go into the pool.”

“So even then, it wasn’t even a thought in your head that Yoshino would be asking you out.”

“Of course not! I never suspected that my first time being in a romantic situation—or at least being the one asked out—would be with a girl...and especially a gyaru.”

“Yeah, of course not...”

Even I hadn’t predicted it one bit. Maybe it was just how she acted with girls, but Yoshino wasn’t the type to wear her feelings on her sleeve. Her personality was so bright already; she probably hid everything but that and kept her true self hidden deep inside.

“This is just my own pure curiosity, but...what did Yoshino say to you?” I asked.

“She talked about how it was sad that a pool this fashionable was currently occupied by two girls. I simply nodded along until she suddenly said that the two of us should date. That’s pretty much how it went.”

“So she disguised it as a joke?”

“Most likely, if I’d reacted better, Yoshino-san would’ve backed down. But in actuality, I was so surprised that I couldn’t help but give her my unfiltered response, and as such, she dug her heels in...”

Then, I remembered what Yoshino had told me about her motivations behind asking Isana Higashira out.

The Motive of the Gyaru Who Was Kind to Isana Higashira

“It was pretty much...love at first sight,” Yako Yoshino had said remorsefully as we stood in the corner of the spacious plaza in front of the majestic Hoshin Gate. “At first, I really didn’t get it. I noticed that she was always by herself and that I’d never seen her try to even talk to other people. I got curious about what she was like...so I tried talking to her. I was so curious that I didn’t even notice how big her boobs were.”

“Wow, you’re a social person down to your very core,” I said, surprised by her authentic gyaru actions.

“Yeah, I get that a lot.” She dryly chuckled. “For real, though, in the entire year that we were in the same class, I never saw her talk with anyone—in our class, at least. I know that you two are close, but speaking purely in terms of the amount of time spent with her, I’ve spent more time with her since we were in the same class.”

“True enough.”

“So anyway, I was thinking that she’d be screwed if I wasn’t around and that she could only really rely on me. Before I knew it, I was unconsciously feeling that and...that’s how something kinda like a possessiveness came over me.”

I honestly understand what she means. Even when Yume and I had dated in middle school, or when I hung out with Isana in the corner of the library, I couldn’t deny that I’d felt something like a sense of superiority for knowing their beauty when nobody else did. So from that feeling, Yoshino couldn’t let go of Isana?

“Thinking that you own someone’s super creepy, right? That’s why I tried not thinking about it as much as possible, but...maybe around this past winter, I saw...”

“Saw what?”

“Her drawing.”

Suddenly, it all clicked. That was about the time that our trip to Kobe ended, and I’d started to manage Isana.

“I got a glimpse of her drawing on her tablet in the corner of the classroom. It was like electricity shot through my body as soon as I saw it. It wasn’t even just that she was crazy good... I’d seen her work on socials.”

“Oh...”

“It wasn’t trending or anything, but it had enough internet presence that even a normie like me was impressed. I remember thinking that I liked the drawing itself too, and feeling impressed that she was the one who’d drawn that. As soon as I thought that, I began thinking that destiny might have been at play here.”

“I more or less understand...” I said with a sigh.

There’s no greater pleasure in this world than realizing the value of something when others don’t. As someone who’d realized Isana’s talent before anyone else in this world, I knew that better than anyone.

“But yeah, my feelings stemming from that pretty much spelled the end,” Yoshino said with a self-loathing smile. “I lost it. I thought that this was normal behavior, but I fought like hell to hide it from everyone else. Given my rep, I can’t really talk about this with anyone.”

“Is that why you teased the two of us about how close we were?”

“Yeah... When we were still in the same class, I asked her and found out that the two of you weren’t dating. I thought if I acted that way, nobody would think I had feelings for her.”

“So what you whispered in Asuhain’s ear after dinner, was that...”

“Oh god, you saw that? Yeah, I encouraged her. After all, if she bagged you, that’d be one less rival to worry about for Isana-chan’s heart. Ugh, I’m so cringe! No wonder Ran-chan’s so weirded out by me.”

So this answers why Asuhain was so shocked by Yoshino’s confession to Isana. Yoshino had openly been pretty teasing about my relationship with Isana, but then she had also tried to stop Asuhain from getting close to me for the sake of our “relationship”; in reality, she’d just been hiding her feelings, and secretly getting into position to ask Isana out.

Asuhain, who’d been wrestling with her feelings regarding Yume, couldn’t help but compare herself to Yoshino, who was single-heartedly going after the apple of her eye. Asuhain was afraid that she might have been like Yoshino. That’s why she’d tried to put distance between herself and Yume.

“And then, I got rightfully turned down,” Yoshino said lightly. “In the moment, I got kinda fired up and grabbed her, but Asuhain pushed us into the pool, which kinda cooled my head. Made me realize that someone like me doesn’t have the right to do anything with Isana-chan. The hubris of me, right?”

“You don’t have to put yourself down so much, y’know.”

“No, I do. I’m a coward who can’t even tell our teacher that I broke the phone they gave me.” Technically, that’s Asuhain’s fault. Then, Yoshino grunted a bit as she stretched. “I feel so much better now that I’ve come clean! By the way, you turned Isana-chan down, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I say this with both jealousy and bitterness, but you’re definitely gonna regret it.”

“I won’t,” I said without any hesitation. “If I’d said yes back then, I doubt she would’ve been able to draw.”

“Oh... Yeah, that wouldn’t be good.” Yoshino chuckled before turning her back to me. It was as if she were trying to say goodbye to the person she’d been up until now. “Well, keep makin’ her happy, okay? She’s the girl I stan!”

Isana Won’t Get Thrown Off

As I recollected Yoshino walking away, as if a load had been taken off her shoulders, I shot a glance at Isana. She didn’t have the capability to achieve happiness through something as basic as romance anymore. Both I, the one she’d fallen in love with once, and she, the person who’d fallen in love, thought that, so that must’ve been the case. Right now, I had a bigger responsibility to her, bigger than being her boyfriend would’ve ever been. In order to respond to her expectations, I needed to take responsibility as the one who’d removed her from the path of being a normal high school girl.

“So? What’s your conclusion from your experiment?” I asked.

“Hm?” Isana asked, tilting her head.

“You were testing your feelings, right? You saw both me and Yume and were wondering how you’d feel, right? So what’s your conclusion?”

I also had the responsibility of accepting the results of her experiment. No matter what they were, I had no right to say no as the person who’d turned her down.

“Well...” She fell into thought as she looked at the boundless, bright sky. As she did, I couldn’t help but feel nervous in anticipation. But eventually, she mumbled in a voice as soft as a droplet of rain. “I don’t remember...”

“Huh?” I couldn’t help but furrow my brows at her response, especially since she was wearing a serious expression.

“Yume-san was so hot... I completely forgot,” she said, leaving me at a loss for words. “B-But surely I can’t be blamed! Especially not after she seductively said that the continuation would be when you returned home! It’s too hot, especially when she acts all prim and proper all the time! I was so aroused that I couldn’t stay still back then!” So that’s where that rustling in the bushes came from. “Now I’m unable to see Yume in any other light than a dirty one! Even last night, I was frightened that I might get a nosebleed from hearing her bust size!”

“Now that I think about it, I heard that on the morning of the second day, you found your way into Yume’s bed.”

“That was most likely done unconsciously... I was worried my heart was going to give out the moment my eyes opened and Yume-san’s face came into view.” Isana’s hands began to tremble as she looked at me with an intense gaze. “When you return home today...something’s going to happen, isn’t it? After all, four days’ worth of that...well, it’s bound to happen, right?”

“Whatever you’re picturing’s not gonna happen—not right after this exhausting trip.” Besides, our parents are gonna be home.

“In my fantasies, Yume-san is really something... I have high-quality images saved in my brain from seeing her naked in the bath. I apologize, but I’m going to be feasting on this fantasy for a bit.”

“There are no calories in fantasies.”

“Of course there are... The amount of satisfaction varies by the fantasy.” Then she gasped as if struck by inspiration. She quickly flipped the page of her sketchbook from her sketch of Shuri Castle to a blank one and fervently began sketching something new.

“What’s up? Think of something?” I asked, taking off my friend hat and putting on my manager one.

Isana didn’t stop for even a second while answering me. “Mizuto-kun, you told me that I need something like a poster girl, right?”

“Yeah... An original character really makes the difference between artists.”

I was already coming up with plans for Isana to start drawing manga, but I didn’t want her to become a full-blown manga artist. I wanted her to build up her skills by experiencing what it was like to draw manga.

But just throwing her into it and making her figure out how to do paneling would’ve been too difficult, so I wanted to take things step-by-step. First, I wanted her to start by drawing pictures with speech bubbles, but to do that, she needed recurring characters.

“How about we go with her?” Isana asked.

Before I knew it, she’d drawn a rough sketch of a girl and was now showing it to me. It was a cute high school girl with long black hair and a beret; she reminded me of Yume. Her caped school uniform looked like something out of a fantasy series.

“What kind of character is this?” I asked.

“A beautiful genius detective with an incredibly powerful sex drive!”

I had no words. It was a very blatant combination of everything she’d experienced on this trip.

“Though she’s extremely calm and brilliant during a case, when she’s alone with the protagonist, she becomes very loving and horny! Oh, right! How about we make the main protagonist’s fetish revolve around deduction?! She’ll be like, ‘While watching your eyes move, it’s become clear that you’re turned on by my thighs!’ And then she’ll flip her skirt! Isn’t that an amazing idea?!”

Isana’s too much of a lust monster. But that’s better for this kind of thing. Thinking about what it might do for her brand, though... I’m not sure. Currently, Isana’s a more SFW artist focused on the refreshing golden years of teenagers.

“The answer’s a yes, of course, right?! Allow me to draw this!” she insisted. “I’m simply going to draw it anyway!”

“Ugh, fine, fine! There’s no point trying to stop you anyway!”

And thus, this character, who’d been spontaneously born, would go extremely viral at a later date, and would be the reason Isana would receive a certain DM, but that’s a story for another time.

“I’m deeply, deeply sorry!”

While we were waiting to board the plane at the Naha Airport, Isana fessed up to Yume.

Ultimately, Yume’s reaction was to go beet red and hide her face with her hands, unable to say a single word.

Isana tilted her head, shooting me a look of confusion as I stood there, here as an observer. “Does this mean...I’ve been forgiven?”

“I don’t know how you could interpret it that way,” I said.

“I’m so embarrassed... When I think about how someone I know saw me like that, I... Ugh... I wanna die...” Yume groaned.

Oh... I see what’s going on here. It’s true that there’s a pretty big difference between how she acts in public versus when she’s snuggling up to me.

Isana crouched next to Yume, who’d curled up into a ball, and began speaking in a reserved voice. “I-It’s no problem! You were adorable!”

“I really don’t want my friends to see me like that!”

“I think it’s good to have a way you act only around your boyfriend! From now on, no matter how strict or harsh you are with me, I’ll simply remember how you’re probably snuggly like a cat when you’re with your boyfriend.”

“Just kill me now!”

Despite Yume enduring some psychological scars, our school trip came to a close. I was sure that we’d remember this trip many times more from here on out—especially Yume, who’d probably never end up forgetting this trip, even if she wanted to.