It was supposed to be easy.
Yaku had left the key to the chemicals cabinet in his locker.
Budo had lost his phone in the changing booth.
The bento boxes were left sitting out on the desks.
One call to Ribaru from Budo's phone and she was out of the way. One annoying radio, and Osana's back was turned.
The white powder spilled from Ayano's hand onto the rice balls and the octodogs, looking like harmless salt. One second, then she slid away, feigning studying something out the window, but keeping an eye on the reflection.
Osana walked back to her desk. Then, with a deep breath, she wrapped her bento boxes back up and headed out of the classroom.
That should have been the end of it. Nothing more needed to be done.
Love was supposed to be easy.
"It's a bento, stupid!"
Ayano couldn't take her eyes off the pair for a moment. Not just because that wonderful young man who'd filled her life with color and her heart with music was standing inches away from her.
It was also a pragmatic choice. In her pocket, she clutched the small bottle of emetic so tight it was hurting her hand.
The poison she'd chosen was terribly potent. She couldn't afford to have Osana linger in a hospital. Taro was so attached to that manipulative girl, he'd probably miss school to stay by her side. Ayano didn't think she could last without him anymore.
But on the other hand, that also meant if Taro tried a bit of Osana's bento box... it was too horrible to think about. Ayano would probably jump off the roof then and there if that darling boy stopped breathing. But she didn't have to worry while she had this trick up her sleeve.
In fact, it almost made her wish Taro would take a bite of Osana's food. The thought of him waking up to see her, his guardian angel hovering over him, pulling him from the brink of death so they could be together forever...
But it didn't look like that was happening. Taro and Osana sat side by side, munching their own meals.
Taro was hers. He belonged to her. Only a few minutes and there would be space by his side for her.
Osana's shoulders heaved. A small cough escaped her throat.
"You okay?" Taro turned to look at her.
He was so compassionate. Ayano was going to swoon.
Osana's bento box spilled across the rooftop as Osana's coughing intensified.
"A-are you okay!?" Taro grabbed Osana by the shoulders and twisted her toward him.
Osana shook her head, a frightened look in her eyes as she turned away and slipped off the bench, coughing on her hands and knees.
"Osana!?" Taro knelt beside her.
One more minute and she'd be gone forever. Taro would be alone. That intense look in his eyes would be for Ayano only.
Those eyes...
"Osana!"
"Okay... would you like kitty bandages or puppy bandages?"
"Kitty." No. She didn't care. But it made her father feel better if she pretended she did.
Ayano watched her father smooth the pink bandage across her knee, white kitten faces smiling up at her.
"...Dad?"
"Yes honey?"
"You yelled at those girls a lot. What made you yell?"
Her father looked up and met her eyes. He seemed to be searching for something. Understanding?
"I yelled because they pushed you to the ground deliberately. They were being cruel to you just because they're different. That... that's not okay."
"But I didn't yell."
Her father shook his head slowly.
"So why did you...? They didn't push you."
Her father laughed. That tiny ghost-laugh he did around Ayano a lot. "Right... I care about you a lot Ayano. You... are my everything."
"Like you are to mommy?"
"Not- kind of." Her father pulled Ayano into a hug. "And maybe I wasn't the one who fell. I wasn't the one who got hurt. But someone very precious to me was hurting, and that... that made me hurt too. Maybe even more than it hurt you."
"Does everyone do that or just daddies?"
"Everyone."
"Everyone except me."
"No, don't say that. One day you too. You'll have a friend, or a-"
"Or a senpai?"
She shouldn't have said that word. She felt her dad freeze up. She'd known that would happen.
"...That hurts too?"
"...r-right."
"As much as the girls hurt you?"
Her father slowly pulled out of the hug and held Ayano by the shoulders. "I'd go through that every day for the rest of my life... if I knew you would be okay. That's what love means, Ayano. Please... please understand that."
Please...
Love. Was Supposed. To be Easy.
"Osana!"
Ayano's hands were shaking. Her vision clouded.
Taro was hurting.
Her senpai was hurting.
And it was her fault.
The one thing she'd promised herself she'd never do, and it was only the day after she'd found him.
Ayano's legs moved by herself, taking her to the air conditioner at the corner. She couldn't watch, couldn't face him, couldn't think anymore-
"A-Ayano!?"
Saki and Kokona stared at Ayano, jumping back in surprise.
Ayano took them in for a second, her breathing feral.
Suddenly the way forward was crystal clear.
"Get him away."
"Who?" Saki asked.
"...Taro." Kokona's eyes lit up in recognition. "Saki, get Taro away from Osana!
"Wh-wh..."
"Hurry! I'll explain later!" Kokona pushed Saki out into the open. Saki stared at the kneeling students in alarm.
Kokona gave Ayano a nervous smile over her shoulder.
Ayano felt herself reflexively mirror that expression.
"H-hurry and get the nurse!" Saki was shouting. "I uh, I've got her!"
Ayano watched Taro dash away. A weight slid off her chest.
"Hurry!" Kokona pushed Ayano toward Osana.
"Wh-wha?"
"You can save her, can't you!?" Kokona's eyes shone with hope.
Ayano instinctively stuck her hand in her skirt pocket.
Yes. Yes she could.
And Taro wouldn't have to hurt anymore...
That fear, that terror in Osana's eyes as she struggled to breathe. Now she knew a fraction of the pain Ayano felt when she faced a future without Taro.
But that pain was inflicted on Taro too...
"Ayano!?" Kokona sounded panicked.
Ayano dropped to her knees, ignoring the sting of the concrete as she whipped the bottle from her pocket. Her movements were calm and fluid as she unscrewed the cap and flicked it across the rooftop, then lifted Osana's head so she could tip the liquid into Osana's throat.
The emetic dribbled across Osana's uniform as she continued coughing. Ayano forced her head back and the coughs turned to chokes.
"What is she doing!?" shouted one of the Basu sisters.
"Stay back! It's fine!" Kokona shouted.
Osana's heaving breath stopped. Then she folded over and threw up in Ayano's lap.
Gasps and grossed out cries from all corners. Out of the corner of her eye Ayano saw someone take a photo.
Ayano wrinkled her nose in disgust at the smell. Osana flopped limply on the ground, panting and sobbing.
Pathetic creature. Taro deserved better.
Ayano stood up and slid her skirt off; cries of alarm subsided when everyone realized she wore black tights. Over her shoulder she told Kokona, "I'm going to wash up. Let the nurse know what happened."
Kokona nodded numbly.
Ayano planned to use the bathhouse later but first she stopped in the third floor girls' bathroom to rinse her skirt off. As she dumped it in the sink, she caught a glimpse of her reflection.
Her fingers curled into fists, and she whirled around and slammed her head into the wall.
All her planning, all her resolve, undone in just a few seconds. What had she been thinking!?
Slowly she sank down to the floor. She'd never cried alone in her life, but she felt a distant ache.
Her whole life she'd been waiting to feel something powerful. Something that made it worth getting out of bed. Happiness, terror, even regret.
Taro had been her first moment of happiness, and Osana had been the first time she'd truly known what rage felt like. Blood boiling anger that she could barely restrain.
Now she felt a shard of that same rage, but now she could only hate herself. No one else had foiled her plans today. She'd done that.
But what else could she have done?
Ayano pulled her phone out and stared at her wallpaper. Her most recent photo of Taro, head bent over a book, mouth set in concentration, hair falling down his forehead just so.
He was intensely precious. Precious things needed to be protected. Nothing would ever hurt him. Not even her.
She would die before she saw him worry. That's what she swore from the day they first met.
And the very first thing she'd done?
Ayano wrapped her arms around her knees.
"Yan-chan?"
Ayano whirled around into a crab position; Kokona stood in the bathroom entrance.
"Ah-!" Ayano instinctively slid her phone into a far stall before remembering Kokona already knew what her wallpaper was. "I just... I..."
"Are you okay?" Kokona came closer.
Ayano pushed herself up into a more natural sitting position, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror as she did so and taking a moment to assume an expression that looked traumatized. "It... it only just hit me what happened." She smiled weakly. "I... I guess the adrenaline got me through."
Kokona sat on the floor next to Ayano. "We're really lucky you did..." She put an arm around Ayano's shoulder.
Ayano stared at her knees.
"...still haven't talked to Taro, huh?" Kokona muttered.
Ayano felt her stomach twist up. She couldn't imagine facing him now...
"...you saved his best friend's life though. That counts for something." Kokona laughed nervously.
Ayano mimicked the sound.
A few seconds later Ayano realized this was now an awkward pause and someone should say something.
Or at least she needed to wash up before class.
"...Want to join me at the bathhouse?" Ayano pushed herself up.
"Yeah; I can't imagine the teacher will fault us if we're a little late." Kokona reached her hand up.
Ayano took it and helped Kokona to her feet. "Bath it is then."
"You like it that scalding?" Kokona asked.
"Ever since I was little." Ayano let the shower water drip down her arm. "My dad called me his little dragon."
Kokona laughed.
Ayano waited until she'd started scrubbing to ask the question on her mind. "...you said saving Osana should count for something?"
"Hmm?" Kokona's curls were starting to flatten in the stream of water.
"With Taro...?"
"Oh." Kokona shrugged. "I mean... I don't know. I didn't really have the nerve to talk with him either..."
Ayano stared at the faucet handle until she had the nerve to ask the next question. "Do you know... what to do if you love someone... but their happiness is with s-someone..."
She couldn't finish. The words were stuck in her throat.
"Oh! You're worried about Osana?" Kokona hung her shower head back up. "I mean... not just that she almost died. I mean... she has known Taro for a while hasn't she?"
"Since they were children." Ayano grabbed a towel as she headed for the bath.
Maybe she needed to drown in it.
"You don't need to overthink it." Kokona sunk into the clean bath water.
Easy for her to say.
"I mean..." Kokona stared at the bathhouse ceiling. "At risk of stating the obvious, you can care about more than one person. It doesn't mean you can't also be close to Taro."
"That was obvious?" Ayano slid into the warm water.
Kokona laughed; Ayano managed a slight chuckle too, though she wasn't sure what was funny. "Taro's a good person. Just because he has another female friend doesn't mean you can't just... oh well, I guess it's different for you?"
Ayano hugged her knees to her chest. "You only had a passing crush on him... and you didn't even talk to him much... and it was all over in just one day. But just knowing that... that he had... another option..."
"Oh, Ayano, we're not that different. You can get any boy you like just as easily as I can."
Ayano resisted the urge to gesture to Kokona's chest; she hadn't asked to be born that way. Part of her wanted to explain just how intense she felt when she considered even the slightest possibility that someone might steal her senpai away from her. But it probably wouldn't help.
"Have you tried talking to Osana?" Kokona asked.
"What?" Ayano nearly hit her head on the edge of the bath. "What am I supposed to say?"
"Just... try explaining to her like you explained to me?" Kokona pressed.
"I could ask that because..." ...because she'd just done a huge favor for Kokona.
She'd just saved Osana's life.
As far as anyone knew.
Maybe that was all the leverage she needed.
Maybe she'd accidentally solved this problem already...
"So... the favor you wanted to ask me?" Osana cradled the tea cup Ayano had handed her, but the cup remained full.
Because it was lemon tea and Osana hated lemons.
Ayano hadn't been able to stomach the thought of doing something actually nice for Osana, but it would be rude to leave a house guest with no tea.
"It's... about Taro." Ayano stared at her hands.
This was insane. They were enemies. Would Osana really back down...?
"Y-you and him... have something really special, don't you?" Ayano asked.
"I-I wouldn't say that!" Osana set her cup down and crossed her legs. "I mean, he's lucky I let him hang out with me, after all!"
A shadow fell over Ayano's face. "You shouldn't say things like that about Taro."
"What do you know? Have you ever even talked to him?" Osana rolled her eyes.
Ayano dug her nails into her palms. "Stop it. Stop being rude."
Osana gave a little start. "I um... I didn't mean it..."
She did. She was only stopping because she remembered she owed Ayano her life. Ayano could tell from the tone.
"Taro... is... wonderful," Ayano said. "Everything about him. His face. His eyes. His hands. The thoughtful way he reads. And his voice..." Ayano closed her eyes and sighed happily.
"Y-you like him!?" Osana stood up.
"I do." Ayano stared up at her. "My thoughts are full of him. Of him... and the way you treat him."
"H-hey!" Osana planted her hands on her hips. "If he didn't like it he should say something!"
"He can't! Don't you understand!?" Ayano stood up and folded her arms. "He's a gentle soul with a tender heart; he doesn't know how to stand up for himself." She scowled at Osana. "And I wouldn't be surprised if you were to blame!"
"What?!" Osana took a step back. "You think I would... I would never...!"
"You put him down every time you talk, and you think he'd admit you're destroying him?" Ayano's hands curled as she imagined crushing Osana's throat. "You say you're his best friend, but you can't put your own stubbornness aside-"
"I don't need to stand here and take this!" Osana flipped her pigtails at Ayano and strutted away. "I'm going to school. Don't talk to me again."
Ayano lunged at her and grabbed her arm. Red clouded her eyes. "No..."
"Wh-what are you doing!?" Osana shouted.
Ayano tightened her grip. Her head twitched. This meeting was secret. No one needed to find out. She just wouldn't come to school one day...
...and Taro would wait for her...
...wondering...
...who left this hole in his heart...
Ayano sucked in air and jerked her hand away from Osana. "I... love... him. I... I can't stand to see him hurt. I can't... I can't..."
She saw the judgment in Osana's eyes and turned her back to her. Her heart was racing. She stood with her hands folded under her nose, trying to will it to stop.
She heard the door open and close. When she turned back Osana was gone.
Ayano collapsed on her couch and pulled out her cell phone, staring at her Senpai wallpaper. "Are you... proud of me?"
Surely he would say yes. As she thought about it, her heartbeat slowed.
Time for school.
Ayano forced herself into a dash; forced herself to imitate panic. She was going to be late for class. She'd never been so late, not since she'd met Taro, not since she had a reason to get out of bed.
But once again it was all she could do to make herself care.
Her thighs screamed as she charged up the hill to the gate, then she stopped dead.
People were at the gate.
Adults.
In uniform.
Police.