My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

"I'm sorry!"

Xiaoyue shouted unnecessarily, while simultaneously bending over and bowing her head violently.

...What are you sorry for?

Just as my mind was in complete chaos, I heard an embarrassing noise.

"Oops~" "It didn't work!" "Who's that girl? I've never seen her before."

I looked up and saw a bunch of faces looking at us from inside the school building windows.

I understood immediately.

A trap—it's a trap!

Xiaoyue quickly slipped out of my arms and hurried away from the scene.

I saw that she was holding a phone in her right hand.

These listeners were gathered by the woman in order to fabricate a fait accompli!

That woman—she smeared me with the label of a cannon fodder guy who confessed his love!

If I chase after her now, I'll become "a pathological guy who's been dumped by a girl but still clings on desperately." That would rob my high school life of all its light. It would become incredibly difficult to secretly create an environment for those two from the Irito family, and I'd be unable to preemptively eliminate any bad apples who have designs on them!

What should I do? What should I do? Should I just let her do as she pleases?

The synapses in my brain cells snapped open one after another. Countless electrical signals were transmitted between neurons, giving me a moment of divine revelation.

"Hello!"

I called out to Xiaoyue. A piercing gaze came from all over the school building, but at least Xiaoyue turned around.

...If I could, I really wouldn't want to resort to this method.

Even so, I won't be able to escape unscathed. No, perhaps I'll be hurt even more.

But I can't worry about that now...!

I took my phone out of my pocket and showed it to Xiaoyue so she could see it clearly—boldly scoffed:

"...So, wouldn't it be better to delete this?"

I tapped the play button with my finger.

Immediately afterwards—the phone started playing sound.

Good morning, little one! ♥ You have school today too! ♥ If you don't get up, I'm going to play a prank on you!

"Wa ...

Xiaoyue tried to drown out the sound playing on the phone with a scream, her voice sounding like sticky honey being poured over chocolate.

The noise was audible from outside; the school building was filled with a different kind of cacophony than before.

They're probably doubting our relationship.

After I confessed my feelings, the girl rejected me. If it were just that kind of relationship, there's no way I'd have this recording on my phone—the alarm clock she made herself when we first started dating!

"Oh, little one, you're so cute! ♥ Do you really want me to play a prank on you? I can't do anything with you, you're so annoying... *kiss*"

The echoes of dark history reverberated loudly behind the school building.

Xiaoyue's entire face turned red, and even her ears felt like they were burning.

As the strange looks began to shift from me to Xiaoyue, the petite woman strode rudely toward me.

I grinned.

Xiaoyue glared at me fiercely.

She grabbed my wrist, the one holding the phone, and dragged me away from the scene.

"I can't believe it, I can't believe it, I can't believe it...! You still haven't deleted that!"

"An army is trained for a thousand days, but used for just one!"

"Go to hell!"

This monotonous use of insults only made me feel more smug.

The location was in another school building, outside the first-grade classrooms. The commotion from earlier didn't seem to have reached this building; no one was looking at us with curiosity.

"Let me give you a piece of advice: don't think you can easily outsmart me. I'm willing to get beaten up to a pulp to protect that tantalizing relationship between those two."

"...Pairing up is absolutely awful."

"Call me Love ROM Specialist".

"To be honest, I'm the only one who got beaten up and covered in bumps!"

"No way."

I held up my short-sleeved arm in front of Xiaoyue.

My arms were covered in bright red hives.

"……This is……"

"How could I not react like this when I hear your sweet, cloying voice? Actually, I feel like throwing up right now."

"Oh my god, you look terrible!"

"Ugh...!"

"Wow! Stop! Stop! Swallow it back!"

Xiaoyue covered my mouth with her small hand. The cool touch of her palm on my lips intensified my nausea, but I managed to suppress it in my throat. Safely passed.

"Sigh..."

Xiaoyue sighed dejectedly and walked around to my side.

"...I can't take it anymore, you really give up...Come on, grab my shoulders, I'll go with you to the infirmary."

"Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh..."

"Don't start feeling nauseous just from hearing that! It's not about romance!"

"Oh—I see… then it's alright…"

"Really...she's clearly not suited to playing a frail and sickly character..."

"Hey, who do you think did this?"

"Yes, yes, I'm so sorry!"

Xiaoyue, who is about thirty centimeters shorter than me, was indeed quite suitable as a walking stick. I grabbed her slender shoulders, and Xiaoyue stretched out her arm to support my waist. And so we began to walk towards the infirmary.

The hives show no signs of abating.

"...I'm talking about you..."

"What's wrong? Stop talking, you'll smell sour."

"Believe it or not, I'll vomit right on your head... I'm telling you, if you actually manage to bring Irito and Higashito together, what are you going to do afterwards?"

"...What do we do?"

"No matter how exaggerated you are, you can't possibly think you can marry Irito herself. Even if you make Irito single again, it won't bring you any happiness."

Xiaoyue gave a sarcastic snort and glanced at me sideways.

"What? Are you worried about me?"

"That's impossible. It's none of my business where you die... It's just that..."

I carefully considered my words in order to express my feelings accurately and without causing misunderstanding.

"I really don't think you can win over Irito. And even if you pair him up with Higashito, you won't get any benefit yourself... Doesn't that mean what you're doing is completely meaningless?... That's just what I think."

I'm not worried about her.

It wasn't out of sympathy for her.

But... how should I explain this? I should say it leaves a somewhat... unpleasant feeling?

Even if this guy's actions led to a good outcome, I chose that result myself... so perhaps I feel I should take some responsibility...

"...It's okay that you're not good with words, so you don't need to try to explain profound truths."

"Huh? What's wrong with my mouth?"

"You're just good at talking... though I'm the same way."

I fell silent.

...He's all talk and no action. He's noisy and spouts nothing but empty words.

I didn't expect her to be so eloquent sometimes.

"Yeah."

"……Um?"

"Your hives have subsided."

I looked at the arm she was pointing to, and indeed, the red spots that had appeared on her arm had completely disappeared. She also no longer felt like vomiting.

"Oh...we chatted about random things, and before I knew it, I felt much better. That's enough for now."

"You were the one who spoke first."

"Oh well, do whatever makes you happy, you loser in love. Anyway, Irito won't take the bait, and Higashi isn't interested either."

"You're saying who lost to whom!"

I narrowly escaped Xiaoyue's punch to the upper abdomen and managed to get away from her.

Xiaoyue glared at me with a pout. Why the sulky look? I don't find that look cute anymore—

Just then, her petite body suddenly snuggled into my arms.

"...Little one."

That was her nickname for me, her childhood sweetheart.

A head a full thirty centimeters shorter than me, she suddenly leaned close. Xiaoyue stood on tiptoe as high as she could, bringing her lips as close as possible—and whispered to me:

"(If I really lose—would you be willing to make me happy?)"

My heart skipped a beat with a thud.

What exactly did those words mean?

Before the question could even be put into words, a chill ran through my entire body.

"Ugh, ugh ...

"That's settled then."

Leaving behind my nausea and vomiting struggle, Xiaoyue walked away in a few quick steps.

I covered my mouth and looked up, watching that receding figure, and felt an emotion that only I, her former childhood sweetheart, could understand.

That guy is angry.

It seems I unknowingly stepped on her landmine.

...But whatever, it doesn't matter anymore now.

◆

I had no choice but to spend the fifth period in the infirmary, and it wasn't until the sixth period that I finally managed to return to the classroom.

As soon as I entered the classroom, I gave the shortest woman in the class a look that said, "You should know how to behave properly," but of course she ignored me and didn't even glance at me.

Then, after school, Irito stood up with her schoolbag.

Today I'll probably be going to the library again and meeting up with Isana from the east end. I really don't want to accept this situation, but complaining will only make Irito explode at me, and I'm helpless about it.

I can't take it anymore... Today is truly a day when misfortunes never come singly.

I was about to swallow my sigh back—but just moments before, it happened.

As Irito Mizuto stood up and walked past Irito, he whispered something to her.

I didn't hear what he said.