My Stepsister is My Ex-Girlfriend - Volume 2 - Chapter 2

The Ex-Couple Change Seats

“Zero point thirty-three percent...”

In what could only be described as a folly of youth, I had a so-called girlfriend during eighth and ninth grade. More specifically, I had a girlfriend from September of the eighth grade until March of the ninth grade—approximately nineteen months. We’d spent the first seven months of our relationship as normal classmates. Seven whole months.

Every student in Japan knows what this means. During those seven months that Yume Ayai and I had dated, we’d changed our seats approximately seven times.

The reason I say “about” is because I’m a little hazy on whether or not we changed seats during the holidays in December and March. Regardless, during all that shuffling, the seating chart had only placed us next to each other one time. For just one whole month out of the entire time that we were in school, there’d been less than a meter separating us in class.

I, being in the position I am in now, can say “big whoop,” but to my past self, that month had apparently been nothing short of an unanticipated stroke of good fortune. Looking back through my old notebooks showed how messy my notes were back then. That had everything to do with the fact that I’d get distracted in class, leaving me little to no time to hurriedly scribble down whatever was on the blackboard before the teacher erased it.

The distraction didn’t come from us whispering to each other. No, we were far too socially awkward to do that. All we had actually done was small things, like catching each other’s gazes or pretending to hand over an eraser that the other dropped so that we could touch fingers, or passing each other notes instead of letters. I’d love to know what was so fun about doing that, and I’d love to ask why we couldn’t have just texted each other instead if all we were gonna do was talk to each other.

Then again, I suppose that the enjoyment came from watching the other person’s expression while they read the notes that we covertly exchanged... But seriously, what was so fun about that?!

All of that nonsense ended after a month. As was customary for our class, when the end of the month came, we’d draw lots and change seats accordingly, effectively separating the two of us. Taking into account the fact that there were five seats by the window in a class of thirty students, the likelihood of sitting next to the same person twice in a row was around zero point thirty-three percent. That was still much higher odds than becoming stepsiblings with your ex, but still. The odds of either happening at all were astronomically low.

There’s no particular meaning to why I have these calculations on hand, so don’t read into it. I was just a normal middle schooler who immediately wanted to put what I learned in school to use.

At any rate, the weekly homeroom we were in back then meant that it was time to say goodbye to sitting next to Ayai. Our teacher had prepared lots for us to draw in order. Just as Ayai stood up to draw a lot after the person diagonally in front of me finished drawing, she said in a voice so low I could barely hear it, “U-Um...”

If memory serves me correctly, that had been the first time I’d heard Ayai speak to me in class, making me understandably surprised.

“Huh?” I was confused. She was basically a stranger to me in the classroom, and yet she called out to me. People who don’t have any problems conversing with others might not understand, but for someone as timid as Ayai (excluding her present self with a terrible personality), this was akin to a death sentence.

“U-Uh, s-sorr—” But before she could finish apologizing, she rushed up to grab a lot, leaving me without a chance to say a single thing to her.

Since I knew a thing or two about the psyche of poor communicators, I had tried to ask her what she wanted to say during class on our way out, but she just shrugged it off and insisted that it was nothing. It didn’t take a genius to tell that it wasn’t nothing though.

The thing about people who aren’t great at communicating is that they’re really stubborn when it comes to expressing themselves. So that’s why I didn’t press the issue and never touched the subject ever again. This event was so insignificant and trivial that even someone with high investigative power like Ukyo Sugishita would have ignored it, but somehow, I could never forget it.

I could tell at a glance that she was nervous—she was so tense that her face was flushing red. She was clenching her hand tightly as if she was trying to squeeze out courage, but for some reason the pinky on her right hand was standing up. Then she looked up at me with expectant eyes like she wanted me to do something. What had she been trying to tell me?

◇

“All right, like I said before we went on break, in today’s weekly homeroom, we’ll be changing seats.”

The teacher’s words were met with a resounding sound of approval and excitement from the students. Good grief. What are you all so excited about? You’re just sitting your butt in a new seat. I’m jealous of how you guys can enjoy things so easily.

I’d normally be thinking things like that, but not this time. Just this time, I was so happy, I couldn’t hide it.

It’d been a month since we’d started school here. Up until now—the day after Golden Week—we’d been stuck sitting in alphabetical order according to our last names, but that was all about to change. The tide was about to shift, and I was about to be free from the nasty girl sitting behind me. What an auspicious day today was!

All of the atrocities of her doing I’d had to endure—having my chair kicked, having my neck stabbed by her mechanical pencil, her stupid “war tactic” of whispering to me whenever I got called on in class—I’d finally be free from all of it! I could hear them now: the bells of freedom were ringing, signaling the end of my days stuck in this ungodly hell. Could we make today a national holiday? We could call it the “Seating Change Anniversary.”

“Don’t you look happy.” A sharp whisper from behind me cut through my thoughts.

Oh wait, no, the sharpness I felt came from the mechanical pencil I was being stabbed with—a crime committed by my little stepsister, my ex, and my classmate, Yume Irido.

But I couldn’t help but laugh, because this was one of the last tests I’d have to endure. Whatever shitty god out there put me through this pain sure did underestimate the hell out of me! Victory was going to be mine this time around! By enduring this trial to its end, I’d prove the strength of humans!

“Hey, say something already!”

I had the pride of the human race on my back, and right now, she was unleashing a flurry of pointy pokes into it...and it was starting to hurt.

I looked up and saw that our first-period teacher wasn’t in the classroom yet, so I took out my phone under my desk and sent her a message over LINE.

(09:02) Me: Hey, sadistic girl, did you miss the day when they taught us not to stab people in the back?

The flurry of stabs stopped. In their place, a response came.

(09:03) Yume: Oh, I’m sorry. That isn’t test material, so I didn’t take any notes.

(09:03) Me: You should take a class in morality.

(09:04) Yume: Not one in biology? Knowing how to deal with swine seems like it might come in handy.

Her message came packaged with a pink, crying pig. My eyes twitched.

(09:05) Me: Oh, my bad. That isn’t test material, so I didn’t take any notes.

(09:05) Yume: Huh?

(09:06) Me: I never studied how to write Japanese in a way that orangutans like you could understand.

“O-Orangu—?!”

I tried to stifle a smirk as I heard a soft scream of shock from behind me.

(09:07) Yume: Don’t get so full of yourself.

(09:07) Me: Oh no, an elementary student’s gotten ahold of a phone. Run!

(09:07) Yume: You think you can act like this just because your grade in modern Japanese was a little better than mine?

(09:08) Me: Your praise is most welcome, Ms. Number One on the Entrance Exam, Yume Irido.

I was immediately met with the loud sound of her foot colliding with my seat. A little while ago, we’d compared our entrance exam scores, and the only subject in which there was a noticeable disparity in points was modern Japanese. I had a full ten points on her, making it my complete victory.

In most cases, students who liked reading had a sense of pride when it came to their modern Japanese grades (source: me). Apparently, the results of the test really cut Yume deep, to the point that me simply bringing it up would put her in a sour mood...which conversely put me in a great mood.

“Sorry, I’m late!”

Before she could send another message, our first-period teacher burst into the room ten minutes past the bell. I guess that meant that I’d won this LINE battle. I can just see that pitiful girl’s face now. Just as I was about to pocket my phone, I felt it buzz again.

(09:11) Yume: Hey

That was the entire message. That was it. Confused, I glanced over my shoulder to look at Yume, but she’d already returned to her “serious student” mode with her textbook and notebook open on her desk. Her phone was nowhere in sight.

Was she trying to say something? Did she stop because the teacher was coming? As people having a last name near the top of the alphabet, we were destined to always be in the first few seats at the start of school, meaning that having our phones out was nearly impossible. That was why we had a rule that neither of us would so much as touch our phones during class. We couldn’t endure the embarrassment of having both our phones confiscated in front of the class.

But seriously, what was she trying to say?

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious, but our teacher was starting to erase the blackboard, so I shifted my focus to that instead.

As soon as the bell rang, the atmosphere of the classroom became lax. It was the sound that signaled that morning classes were over. Approximately thirty students (I’m not gonna bother trying to remember the exact number) stood up and began moving around. In their hands were lunch boxes and wallets. Then, like it was the most natural thing in the world, they began inviting their friends to eat lunch with them.

What? Can’t even eat a meal by yourself?

This was the kind of juvenile thought that’d usually be floating around in my head, but not today. After all, today was the joyous Seating Change Anniversary. I unwrapped my lunch box and silently joined my hands together in thanks for my meal.

I was thankful—very much so, since one of the cons to living with a single dad was the fact that most of your meals came prepackaged from either the school or a convenience store. But ever since Yuni-san had become my stepmother, she’d been strangely proactive about making lunches, ensuring that every morning, there’d be a lunch for me and Yume.

We’d tried to tell her that she didn’t have to go out of her way to make lunch for me, but according to her, it had always been her dream to make lunch for her growing son, and then she’d jokingly tack on “growing daughter too.” She really did seem like she was enjoying herself, so both Yume and I had decided to just leave it at that and not say anything more. In reality though, there was a separate reason we wanted her to stop making our lunches.

“Hey, bud. You sure do love to make a guy wait, huh?” Standing there was a frivolous-looking brunet holding sweet bread and a carton of lemon tea. It was Kogure Kawanami, my self-proclaimed friend. He looked inside my lunch box and grimaced at its contents.

“Eating like a king today again? So, this is what Irido-san’s eatin’ too, huh?”

“Knock it off, creep.”

That’s right, our lunches were exactly the same. Even though there was no real way of avoiding this, it didn’t stop us from instinctually reacting negatively to it. It was simple, really; we didn’t want people to look at us eating the same food and think we were close.

Admittedly, we both knew that this was extremely childish of us, which is why we never told Yuni-san, but...maybe in an effort to ensure that our lunches weren’t compared, Yume often made a conscious effort to have lunch somewhere that wasn’t this classroom.

I had no intention of stepping outside of this classroom for lunch. Why should I have to uproot myself for her sake?

“All right then,” Kawanami said, clapping his hands together. “Let’s get this food party started.”

“Yeah, okay. After all, she always makes my portion one and a half times bigger than Yume’s...”

“She must think that all high school boys eat a lot—even skinny little bookworms like you.”

“I guess I do try to finish everything.”

“’Cuz you’re trying to be considerate to your new mom... Not that I know what that’s like. I’ve only had one in my lifetime,” Kawanami said, picking up a cherry tomato and tossing it into his mouth before grinning disturbingly.

“I bet even Irido-san sees you in a different light after seeing how you eat every last thing in your lunch box. She’s probably like, ‘Wow, he really is a guy!’ If I can help make it happen, then I’m happy to partake in your lunch as many times as you need me to.”

“Wow, thanks. I’d be even happier if she wasn’t right behind me.”

I felt her cold, piercing glare on the back of my neck. It was like Yume was surveying it and noting its most vulnerable point. Am I about to die?

“Yume-chan, let’s have lunch together!” a cheerful voice rang out from behind Yume.

I could see a ponytail bobbing from the corner of my eye. Oh god, it’s Akatsuki Minami! I need to hide!

“Sure. Where are the others?”

“They all have club things to do, apparently. Crazy, right? I don’t even know what club I wanna join yet. What about you, Yume-chan?”

“I...still haven’t decided whether or not to join one.”

“Even after we went ’round and looked at all those clubs, I’m still not really into any of them. Honestly, Golden Week’s already over, so it’s not gonna be easy to sign up now. Hm, what to do...”

Huh? You two checked out clubs? This is the first time I’m hearing about it. What are you doing walking around with that psycho?

“Hey, little stepbro, the look on your face is kinda scary,” Kawanami ribbed.

“Big stepbro,” I quipped back, stuffing a nugget of fried chicken into my mouth. It was delicious. Whenever Yuni-san made it for dinner, Yume and I would always fight over it. In other words, it was a battleground ill-suited for scrubs.

“Anyways, looks like it’s just the two of us today, Yume-chan! What do you wanna do? Wanna go somewhere we can be alone?”

Then, in a low voice that only I could hear, Minami-san said “We’re gonna be alone. You jelly?” while jabbing me.

Like hell I’d be “jelly,” I internally snapped back at her. I took another bite of my chicken. Delicious.

Then again, Yume being alone with Minami-san was certainly dangerous. It was completely within the realm of possibilities that Minami-san might slip Yume something... Not that I really cared what might happen to her, but I wouldn’t want our parents to grieve over her. If I wanted to prevent that, I needed to think...

“What, Minami, no friends today?” Just as an ingenious plan was beginning to form in my head, Kawanami spoke up, beating me to the punch. “Then why not eat with us? This is the last time we can sit like this, y’know? How about we liven it up and make this into some kinda lunch date?”

A...what? All of our eyes turned to Kawanami after his completely unexpected suggestion, but Kawanami only gave me a wink. Gross.

“Huh? You’re just using this opportunity to try and get close to Yume-chan. You’re such a creep!” Minami-san was the first to react and used the killer phrase that was afforded to girls her age. “You’re such a creep,” she repeated.

This one phrase had an unfair ability that was usually enough to knock out most guys and put them in the dirt, but her opponent today was none other than the ultimate weapon, Kogure Kawanami. There he stood, unscathed by the attack that would have felled many.

“Well rest assured, I’ve got no interest in that. After all, I am an expert ROM when it comes to romance.”

“Say what?”

“A Read-Only Member. It means I only observe. That’s what I find most enjoyable.”

“Hm. So you’re pretty much just a Peeping Tom?”

Uh-oh, Minami-san’s tone of voice lowered a bit. She was usually chipper to the point that I doubted her sanity, but I guess even the strangest things can happen. Yume sometimes talks in that tone too.

“I don’t trust people that easily,” she said, narrowing her eyes, “especially not you, Kawanami.”

“Did Kawanami-san do something in the past?”

“Yeah, Yume-chan! So, in middle school, this guy—”

“Wait, wait! There’s no need to talk about me!”

“If you don’t like it, then you can shut right up instead of trying to enter this garden of maidens.”

I guess this was the advantage that Minami-san had over Kawanami. All right, your move, Kawanami. How are you gonna get out of this?

I’d suddenly become a spectator. I watched as Kawanami gritted his teeth. A pained expression spread across his face, like he was a chess player who was in a rough spot, but after a while, he opened his mouth once more.

“Fine, then how about we take this opportunity to all get to know each other better? Let’s eat lunch together and all chat about our time in middle school, huh?”

The three of us all went quiet at the same exact time. What was this guy thinking? There wasn’t a single one of us here that didn’t have something they wanted to forget about from middle school.

“O-Oh, our time in middle school, huh?” Minami said nervously. “I-I’d be fine doing that, but I’m worried about Yume-chan...”

“N-No, I wouldn’t mind, but my little stepbrother, he—”

“Nah, I’m good too... Not that I have anything fun to share.”

See?! You’re like an overly confident person who orders the one weird thing on the menu! Take it back! Look at me and understand what I’m trying to tell you! But Kawanami for some reason was just grinning ear to ear.

“Great! Then we don’t have to talk about middle school. Let’s just have lunch together.”

Both Minami-san and I realized what he’d just done, but Yume clearly didn’t, because she said, “Oh, okay, then let’s do that.”

“Awesome!” Kawanami stood up and pushed some nearby desks together.

Did Kawanami just use the door-in-the-face technique?! It’s a commonly known negotiation tactic where you make an outlandish request to get the other party to accept your initial request since you already seemingly made a concession. With this technique, it’s also easier to make the other party feel bad about rejecting your previous offer, making them more open to accepting your new offer... Or so said a book on psychology that I’d read before.

Kawanami had definitely employed this technique. He’d noticed that both Minami-san and I were weary, so he’d targeted the unsuspecting Yume. Not bad, Kawanami.

Unbeknownst to Yume, Minami-san and Kawanami were each shooting each other looks. For Minami-san, it was one of bitter defeat, but for Kawanami, it was one of proud victory... And that’s how the unlikely group of four that was us came to sit together.

Minami-san sat in front of me, Kawanami sat next to me, and Yume sat diagonally to my right. The fact that the guys were on one side and the girls were on the other seemed natural enough, but our seating was definitely more instinctual and came out of our latent desires to not have to face certain people.

“Sitting in front of you during lunch is like a whole new perspective!” Minami-san said to me.

“Uh, yeah...I guess.”

Gone was the anguished face of a sore loser, and in its place was a bright smile. The reason my response to her sounded so awkward wasn’t because I was uncomfortable around girls, but because there was a certain situation between the two of us that Yume hadn’t picked up on. But I guess even if she hadn’t picked up on it, she still had something to complain about.

Just as I started to feel her cold gaze on me, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. When I pulled it out, I saw that I’d gotten a message from Yume.

(12:38) Yume: Just ’cuz she’s a little nice to you doesn’t mean you can ogle her. Back off, creepy bookworm!

I wanted to reply “it takes one to know one, sister,” but where was the art in that? Instead, I decided to respond with something else.

(12:39) Me: Thank you for the warning. However, unlike a certain someone, I am not a person who falls for someone from just a little kindness. Regardless, I appreciate your concern. Have a pleasant day.

What a perfectly polite response. I might have used up all the politeness inside of me. Thank god for predictive text.

Meanwhile, no sooner than she’d lowered her gaze, glancing down past her desk, Yume’s shoulders began to shake. Oh, yeah, it’s working. She’s so mad. Unlike Minami-san and Kawanami though, we couldn’t bicker in public. We couldn’t even glare at each other! It was too good! I had to hold back laughter!

Just as Yume was about to compose a reply, Kawanami called out to her. “I don’t think we’ve hung out too much, Irido-san, have we?”

Nice assist, Kawanami! A friend in need is a friend indeed.

“Huh? O-Oh, yes, now that you mention it, I suppose that’s true.”

“Because a frivolous guy like you has no place getting close to Yume-chan!” Minami-san chided. “This is a onetime thing, Kawanami!”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m grateful for even this slight amount of time.”

As the conversation tilted more towards Kawanami and Minami-san, I saw Yume’s gaze once again fall beneath her desk. Here it comes.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask, but what do you do when you’re at home, Irido-san?” Kawanami pressed.

“Ah.”

(12:40) Yume: That wasn’t just “a little kindness.” Back in m

She ended up sending a half-written response. What was she gonna say? “Back in my day?” When did you become such a geezer?

“Um, well, what exactly do you mean by that?”

“I just mean, like, what do you do during your free time at home?”

“Seriously?!” Minami-san growled. “You are the scum of the earth! Do you normally ask girls you barely know about their leisure time?!”

“I’m not asking for any weird reasons! I’m just wondering what she does on a normal basis living with a guy—albeit a super herbivore—in the same house. Aren’t you the least bit curious?”

“I guess. I asked Irido-kun about this before.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard the guy’s perspective too, so now I wanna hear the girl’s side. After all, I’m sure there are more things that she’s worried about, right?”

“I suppose that’s true. This guy rarely goes outside in his free time.”

(12:42) Me: Neither do you

“I do my best to keep my guard up everywhere around the house except my room. Surprisingly, I think we’ve been living peacefully, without incident.”

(12:42) Yume: Still more than you

How is she holding a conversation while typing?

Kawanami let out a sound of admiration. “I guess real life is different. In manga and stuff, people are always running into each other in the bathroom.”

“No duh. Real life and manga are completely different, idiot.”

“Who are you calling an idiot, you idiot! Hey, Irido, ignore what she said. I bet there have been some manga-like happenings where you run into each other, right?”

“Nope. We’ve ironed out the bathroom stuff already so nothing awkward happens.”

(12:43) Yume: Except that time you stole my bra

(12:43) Me: I told you, I just picked it off the floor!

(12:43) Yume: Sure you did

This girl just really loved to drag up the past. I thought we were past this. Just as I was about to criticize her for her dark, clingy personality, I got a follow-up message.

(12:44) Yume: After all, you’re a liar

Me? A liar? There she went again with the baseless accusations. When did I ever lie to you? I shifted my gaze diagonally to Yume, who immediately turned her head to look out the window. I guess that meant that she’d been looking at me until just then.

I had never once lied to her, including when we were in middle school. I don’t think there had ever been a situation in which I’d needed to. Even if I forgot a promise, I wouldn’t make up an excuse as to why. I’m not proud, but I’m not the kind of guy who forgets even the smallest problem. For instance— And just as that thought entered my mind, I felt a sudden shock across my body.

“Ah!”

Kawanami and Minami-san looked at me with surprise on their faces due to my sudden outburst.

“What? Is there something wrong?”

“Did you forget a textbook for one of our afternoon classes?”

“N-No, sorry. It’s nothing, just my misunderstanding.”

I tried to dodge their questions while certain information was regurgitated in the back of my head. O-Oh! I know what Ayai was trying to say back then... I looked at Yume who had started talking again as if nothing had happened. Her expression was rigid.

Agh, okay, fine. Dammit, I don’t have a choice. It’s my loss. As of today, I relinquished my claim to being a guy who knows the psyche of poor communicators.

It was now our weekly homeroom, meaning that it was time for us to change seats.

“Okay, Irido—the guy one—come up to draw your lot.”

Apparently, this analog method by which seats are chosen does not change from middle school to high school. Just as we had in middle school, we needed to pick out a number that was handwritten onto a piece of paper one by one.

I stood up and pulled out my chair, walked up to the lectern, and picked a folded piece of paper. I didn’t open it though, because there was a rule that we couldn’t open them until everyone had drawn a lot.

“Other Irido, you’re up. Keep it going.”

“Yes, sir.”

Our teacher had Yume get up without even waiting for me to get back to my seat. We, the two Iridos, passed each other—the one who’d already drawn his seat and the one who had yet to. As we passed each other, I stuck out my hand and lightly brushed against Yume’s pinky with my own.

Yume’s reaction was a face filled with surprise and a sound to match it as she stopped in her tracks and turned to look at me. I just gave her a deadpan glance as I returned to my seat.

“Irido? What’s the matter?”

“N-Nothing. My apologies, I’m fine.”

Yume walked up to the lectern, picked one of the lots scattered across it, and returned to her desk, passing by the next person in line. Just as she passed by my desk, she shot me a quick glance. It didn’t take her telling me directly through LINE or a handwritten note for me to understand that she wanted to know why I did that.

I didn’t have any real reason. I just wanted to stay a person who kept his promises. The truth behind all of this stemmed from something really trivial. Back when we were in middle school, in that one month when our seats had actually been next to each other, there’d been a certain conversation we’d had while exchanging notes.

I can’t remember the exact words that we used, but I’m pretty sure that Ayai started off the chain by writing something like, “I hope we get to sit next to each other next month too.”

I already had calculated the likelihood of that happening, so I responded by saying, “It’d be a miracle.”

I couldn’t just flat-out say that there was pretty much no way that we were ever sitting next to each other again, so I tried to soften the blow. Of course, miracles are called miracles because they don’t really occur, but apparently that was different in Ayai’s world.

“Then let’s use some magic to make a miracle,” she wrote back.

The magic in question was apparently a specific charm that helped you sit next to the person you liked. I wasn’t much of a believer, especially as a middle schooler, and mentally wrote it off as some stupid thing for babies, but Ayai was really into it. For a girl who loved novels in which people were decapitated or cut up into pieces, I was surprised that she liked something so girly.

Regrettably, back then, I thought that this side of Ayai that I was seeing for the first time was cute, so as her boyfriend, it was my duty to play along. The only problem was that there was no charm that worked for couples who wanted to sit next to each other, so we had no choice but to try and come up with one ourselves, using what we’d done up until then as a reference.

What we came up with was touching our pinkies together without anyone noticing while we passed each other drawing lots. We’d already been playing a stupid little game where we’d touch each other’s fingers without anyone seeing while picking up the other’s dropped eraser, so this was like an extension of that.

But...wouldn’t you know it? I’d completely forgotten what we’d discussed when we went to draw lots. Please allow me to make an excuse for that.

We were, of course, avoiding anyone else seeing the notes we wrote to each other since that would immediately out us as a couple. That’s why we would always quickly destroy the evidence like we were some kind of spies. The notes we’d exchanged regarding the charm were, of course, no exception.

Humans are able to change short-term memories into long-term memories through repetition. Had I really been expected to remember the intimate details of idle chats (or at least in my mind that’s what they were) we had in class—an environment where our attention was already spread thin? No way!

In the end, all I really can do is make excuses, but I was clearly the one in the wrong. Now I can fully understand what Ayai had felt back then. I’d shown no signs of participating in the charm that we’d decided on, and then when she’d tried to speak up, she could see from the look on my face that I had completely forgotten.

I could almost guarantee that she was thinking something like, “Oh, I guess I was the only one taking this seriously. Oh wow, I’m so cringe. Doing something so childish like a charm when I’m in middle school? I’m glad he forgot. Let’s just pretend this never happened. This way neither of us gets hurt! Aha ha ha...”

There was no way that she hadn’t been doing her best to convince herself about the reality of the situation while holding back tears. Yume Ayai had been a completely different person from who she was now.

Even if this had happened over a year ago—even if this wasn’t someone I liked in the same way anymore—my pride wouldn’t allow me to leave it like this.

That’s why I now had the perfect opportunity to fulfill my promise from all the way back then. Her eyes were burning holes into my back. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had started stabbing me with her mechanical pencil. But I figured this would be the last day I had to endure those eyes on my back. After all, charms are just for babies.

◇

I’m sure the punch line of this story is already obvious.

“...”

“...”

The two of us stared at each other without any emotion. Our seats were once again in front of and behind one another’s.

“Wow, you Irido siblings... How’d this happen? What a miracle!”

“Ha ha, so these things really do happen...”

Kawanami and Minami-san had come over to our seats, all too eager to show their surprise. While Yume and I had once sat next to each other in the front near the window, our new seating arrangement had us in the back towards the middle.

Yep, the results of the seat change were Yume and I once again sitting in a line, one after another.

“Zero point thirty-three percent...” Yume mumbled, her gaze fixed on my desk.

Oh yeah, I know that number. Good grief. I took out my phone and began quickly typing away.

(14:56) Me: It’s not that low of a probability since the order for the first time we change seats is determined by our seating number.

Yume looked down at her phone, then glared back at me after reading my message.

(14:57) Yume: Ew, you’re seriously calculating the probability? Creep.

Hah. That won’t work on me. Being called a creep by a creep doesn’t hurt at all.

Due to the interference of some kind of stupid higher power out there, I was once again unable to get away from this girl... That being said, my goal had been accomplished.

Though our seats may have been in a line, the order in which we were sitting had changed. She was now in front of me instead of the other way around. This meant a complete situation reversal. With her back turned to me, I was in complete control! Now then, I have a month. How shall I pay you back for all the abuse you’ve made me endure?

I snickered out loud.

“Wh-Why are you laughing like that? What are you planning?!”

“Why don’t you ask yourself that?”

Even if I hadn’t been granted release from our seating arrangement, I had a chance for revenge. Was this thanks to the charm? No way, right? There was no way that charm we came up with would still work now. It wouldn’t make sense.

After all, that charm had been for people who were already in a relationship.