On Monday of the following week, I got up at around 5:40 in the morning and quickly got dressed before brushing my teeth and preparing a bento for lunch. To make sure Mr. Kim was properly cared for, I hired a pet sitter while I got to school.

My uniform was in a good enough condition, but what really completed the image was a pair of black-framed reading glasses. I didn't usually care much for my appearance, but if I was going to win Senpai's heart I needed to look my best. Sexual selection and all that…

Senpai was a man of his word. I found him waiting outside at around six o'clock and judging by his facial expression, he seemed charmed by my appearance. This was a good sign of my progress.

"Good morning, Senpai!" I greeted. "Sorry to keep you waiting!"

"Don't worry! It's fine!" he politely replied. "It's actually the first time I had to wait for someone else…"

"So… shall we be on our way?"

"Yeah, let's go. By the way, I think you look good with glasses!"

Flustered, I blushed and thanked him for the compliment before heading to school with him at my side. It was the best feeling I ever felt that week.

"So, Senpai," I began to ask, "why do you say that today was the first time you were forced to wait?"

"It's…" he seemed nervous. "It's Osana. I can't seem to win with her…"

"What do you mean? Aren't you two childhood friends?"

"Yeah, but… before I met you, Osana was the one I walked with everyday. We got along great as kids, but now every time I stop by her house, she just yells at me for either being too late or catching her at a bad time… Did I do something to make her upset?"

"You're not part of the problem, Senpai. People just… change. I know you brushed it off last Friday, but I think she's getting a little controlling."

"Controlling? Yan-chan, that doesn't sound like Osana at all…"

"I've seen my fair share of toxic relationships, so I know a thing or two about them…"

I saw that Senpai was getting upset and decided to change the subject.

"So… what do you do in your free time?"

"I just love a good book. Literature can really get the brain flowing…"

"Yeah… it's funny how much you can learn basic skills or even life lessons from a story…"

We kept talking all the way to Akademi (a pretty lousy, on-the-nose name for a school, I know), our friendship growing deeper with each passing minute. We arrived at 7 o'clock on the dot.

By the time we got to the school, I saw Osana waiting impatiently under a tree while complaining to someone who looked almost like an off-brand doppelgänger. I learned from Senpai that this other girl was her best friend Raibaru Fumetsu.

Her presence chilled me to the bone, and my instincts were telling me that getting on her bad side would be a fatal mistake. Thank God I dropped any plans to kill Osana.

"So, can we meet on the rooftop at lunchtime?" I asked, to which Senpai nodded. "For now, why don't you try smoothing things over with Osana-chan? She looks upset."

Of course, I was being insincere about Osana. I didn't want her and Senpai to get along better because that would mean she would have been more likely to take him away from me. Still, my friend didn't have the stomach for what I wanted to do, so for my plans to work, I needed to separate from him.

"Sure!" he responded. "And Yan-chan? I know you're a good friend, but I hope you're wrong about her. I'll see you later!"

I walked out of sight and snuck behind one of the bushes to listen in to what Senpai had to say to my loathed rival, or vice versa. I needed information, and having refused Info-chan, this was the most viable option.

"Ugh, you can be such a pain, Senpai!" Osana spat. "I can't believe you're late again!"

"I'm sorry," Senpai meekly caved. "Yan-chan wanted to walk with me to school today and I couldn't say no…"

"Last week, you overslept, and now you're hanging out with that psycho?! I can't believe you!"

I… expected this reception. I didn't like it, but I figured she'd call me that or something similar. I was right on that account. Too bad Senpai was too much of a doormat to stand up for me, but with time I could fix that.

"Osana, I think you're overreacting. She's actually really nice…"

"That's your reason for betraying your oldest friend?!"

"I'm not betraying you, but maybe we should stop meeting like this if it bothers you so much…"

"N-No! T-That's not what I… just stay away from that girl, okay?! Anyway, I want you to meet me on the school rooftop at lunchtime. Got that?"

"Actually, Yan-chan asked me the same thing not too long ago, so I'll have to pass."

I couldn't help but crack a grin. Ingratiating myself with him was definitely the right call.

"That little…You're so difficult, Senpai. What rotten luck drove you to meet such a lunatic when you could have been with me?"

"What was that?"

"…Nothing. Just be there, all right? And don't bring Yandere-chan for the ride!"

"Yandere-cha-?"

"Good! I'll see you in about six hours."

After the disappointing drivel I heard from Osana-chan, I kept following her around with Raibaru trailing behind her, knowing full well to keep my distance and look inconspicuous if I wanted to avoid a broken arm.

Now that I thought about it, Raibaru didn't seem like a best friend to Osana anymore, but a lapdog whose job was to fetch the bad things and bring them to her owner, as it were.

Thirty minutes into my investigation, I noticed Osana talking on the phone. As typical as this would have felt for any teenager, I nonetheless sensed that something was wrong, that this was an unnatural deviation from her usual agenda.

"Hello?" she asked. "Who is this and how did you get my number?!"

An unknown caller? Strange, but that explains my gut feeling. I couldn't make out their voice on the other end, but they reminded me of Info-chan. It was only a hunch, but it still made too much sense.

That wasn't important right now. All I needed to know was what Osana would do.

"Wait, you don't like Aishi either? Can you really help me save him from her? Okay, so… what do I have to do? Let me get this straight: you want me to incriminate Aishi for trying to screw with Senpai? Start out by… putting poison in the bento I made and passing it off as hers? Doesn't that sound a little… extreme?"

So she wanted me out of the picture. The idiot didn't even think to use code words to try to hide her duplicity. But she was clearly having doubts, so…

"No, you're right. As long as she's in this school, she's a threat to my Senpai. I'd do anything to keep him safe. Anything… If I need anything, I'll let you know."

For a second, she sounded eerily like me, but at least I knew where to stop in my pursuit. Osana was just a lovesick schoolgirl who was way in over her head and trying to rein in something about which she knew frighteningly little.

"Osana," the lapdog asked her mistress, "who were you talking to?"

"Someone who can help us get that Aishi girl away from Senpai," she replied. "And they told me exactly what I need to do to protect him."

I followed them to the Gardening Club's shed, where I noticed them stealing a bottle of rat poison and pouring it into a blue bento box obviously meant for Senpai. Now more suspicious than ever, I took out my phone and recorded the redheads tampering with the food.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Raibaru expressed her apprehension. "What if Senpai or anyone else sees us? I'm pretty sure this is illegal…"

"Illegal or not, it'll be worth it if he's safe from that psycho, and she'll never hurt anyone again," Osana affirmed. "That's a promise from you to me."

"Of course. If it's to help people…"

I stopped recording in complete and utter disgust.

I know it might be hard to take from someone who isn't exactly the picture of mental health herself, but Osana was delusional. How could she knowingly poison her crush and believe that she's doing him a favor?! Raibaru was just as insane for letting her do this.

I needed to stop that poisoned food.

At lunchtime, I sat on one of the benches next to the Basu sisters and waited for my beloved to arrive. For now, I had to pretend nothing was wrong, and when he arrived, my face lit up with ecstasy and my empty heart swelled.

"Okay, I'm here, just like you asked," he said.

"Senpai!" I greeted. "I'm glad you could make it."

"So, why did you call me up here?"

"Oh, no special reason. I just wanted to have lunch with my best friend!"

"Wait, what's this?"

I noticed the poisoned bento at his seat, with a note that read…

"It's a bento, stupid! - With love, Yan-chan"

Just great. They beat me to him.

"Oh, cool! Thanks a lot, Yan-chan!"

"Senpai, wait! I didn't make that! I think it might be a prank…"

"It's just a bento… how bad can it be?"

"Let me take a look at it…"

He complied, and I told him that it smelled like rat poison and that the note wasn't in my handwriting. He took a whiff too and was just as put off by the stench. Now that we were in agreement that it was a bad bento, I put it off to the side and pulled out my own untainted meal.

"Good thing I brought my own…" I said. "You can have some, too! I'd be disappointed if my Senpai starved all day. I made it with care…"

But not as disappointed as Osana would be for my part in circumventing her plans.

"Okay, let's dig in!"

I picked up a bit of sashimi and ate it in one bite before using the same chopsticks to feed some to Senpai. So I gave him an indirect kiss, but that's beside the point. His face lit up as he started to chew.

"Wow! This is delicious! You're a really good cook, Yan-chan!"

"Y-You really think so? I tried learning the basics to take care of myself, but I didn't think it turned out that good…"

My delight was cut short by Mutsumi Rokuda (otherwise known as Musume Ronshaku, for her father's unsavory line of work) and her pack of bullies.

"Ooooh, that bento looks so good!" Ronshaku commented. "Now give it to me."

Senpai looked like he was on edge.

"And why would I do that, Ronshaku?" I practically hissed back in his defense, fixing my glasses.

"Because I said so!"

"My answer is still no. Why waste your effort on such a boring and bland meal like mine?"

"Yan-chan, that's not-" Senpai tried to interject.

"There's a perfectly good bento with your name right on it. You deserve it."

The bullies fell for my bluff and they took Osana's bento before leaving, giggling as they ignored the fact that we still had a perfectly good lunch.

"Uh, Yan-chan? You know you just gave them the…?"

"Yeah, I know."

A few minutes later, all of the bullies had to go to the nurse's office to get the poison out of their systems. God, it felt so good to finally give them what for for torturing people who just wanted to mind their own business.

I could only imagine that Osana and her mysterious benefactor were wallowing in their disappointment, and I deeply relished that thought. I spent the rest of the day with Senpai before arranging over text message to visit his house at 6 o'clock so I could meet his family.

When he agreed, I got into my best casual attire and made my way to the address he provided. I knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds before being greeted by a woman who looked quite unremarkable, as per tradition.

"Hi!" I greeted. "Is this the Yamada house?"

"Oh, you must be Ayano!" the woman said. "My son told me he was expecting company and speaks very highly of you. Please come in!"

I was led into the house as Senpai's mother called for him and Hanako to meet me while she prepared dinner for us. They found me patiently sitting on the couch in their living room.

"Hey, Yan-chan!" Senpai waved to me. "I'm glad you made it!"

"It's good to see you too, Senpai," I replied. "And you must be Hanako."

"My big brother told me all about you, Ayano-san! Are you his girlfriend?"

Hanako's question briefly caught me by surprise and I blushed furiously behind my glasses as my eyes widened, but I quickly regained my composure.

"It's, uh, it's not like that! We're not dating! We're just close friends, is all…"

"He and Osana-chan are close friends. Or were? I heard she made him lunch earlier today, but my brother told me he thought she put rat poison in it for some reason. It's just weird…"

"Yeah, she doesn't like me that much…"

"Why wouldn't someone like you? You're such a kind person, and you're really dependable! Thank you for looking out for my big brother, Ayano-san."

She gave me the biggest and most grateful hug I had ever received from anyone in a long time, and although I was shocked I returned the gesture. I noticed Senpai smiling at us, and that filled me with pride.

"Kids!" Mrs. Yamada called out. "Dinner's ready!"

As I ate, I talked more with the Yamadas, especially Senpai, and learned that they had quite the quirks for such an ordinary family. Of course, they didn't have an apathetic daughter in the family, but their relative mundanities still made them feel all the more unique to me.

For instance, I learned that Hanako, who struck me as such a bubbly and sweet little girl, had quite the fascination with Nemesis-chan, a violent and vengeful anti-hero from manga that seemed to be a holdover from the nineties.

According to Mrs. Yamada, she was apparently one of the more popular girls in her day and a frequent target of the affections of boys. Ironic considering how nowadays it would be the boys who drew so much attention from the opposite sex.

"Oh, just look at the time!" I said as I finished dessert. "I really should be going."

"It is getting kinda late…" Senpai agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow, Yan-chan!"

"Just know that you're welcome anytime, Ayano," Mrs. Yamada told me. "You've been a kind guest and a good friend to my Taro."

"And you're quite the gracious hostess," I commended her in turn before heading out to the door. "Thank you for having me, Mrs. Yamada."

Over the rest of the week, I continued protecting my Senpai from his controlling, borderline-abusive childhood friend and my worst enemy at the time. Even if she was reluctant in her actions, they were still unacceptable and beyond my standards.

On Tuesday, Osana tried to discreetly steal a book Senpai had left in my care, but I noticed and caught her in the act before reporting it to a teacher. Wednesday saw her trying to take incriminating pictures for blackmail, but there wasn't any dirt to be found on me and when I noticed what she was doing, I tricked her into tailing me in front of the other students, earning her dirty looks and unflattering names. Even Raibaru started to steer clear of her.

It was almost pitiful how desperate she was getting in her efforts.

By Thursday, Osana was readying herself for a movie date with Senpai (the nerve), but I was able to organize another visit to the Yamada household so as to interrupt her timetable, and in case she was really persistent, I got into her phone and deactivated her alarm (how stupid of her not to use a passcode) so she would oversleep and miss the chance to try to change his mind.

All the while, I investigated further concerning her dealings with the mysterious caller, recording whenever possible to get all the evidence I needed to expose Osana's wrongdoing, be it to the police or to Senpai himself.

At the end of the week, I stole Osana's phone when she wasn't looking and downloaded all the footage I recorded onto it, replacing some playlist she made in a last-ditch attempt to interest Senpai.

When Senpai played the footage, he was confused at first before his look transitioned into horror and anger as he realized that Osana Najimi was at the center of every single problem he had in the past few days. As such, he never did make it to the cherry tree that day, instead visiting my house for the evening.

When all was said and done, Osana's reputation had suffered greatly as a result of both my machinations and her own misdeeds, leaving her a pariah as word of mouth caused people to realize just how bad a person she was (admittedly, I'm exaggerating a little, but my point still stands).

At my house, Senpai fell asleep with Mr. Kim curled up in his lap when I noticed that he left his phone unattended. I gently guided his hand to the home button to access it in order to make a special phone call. While my work with Osana was done, I still needed some answers.

After I got in, I snuck off to my room to make sure I didn't wake up Senpai as I talked. Thank God he was such a heavy sleeper. I accessed her contact page and dialed in. It took me a few seconds before a desperate voice came through on the other end.

"Senpai! Taro! You have to help me!" she began. "I don't know how, but someone snuck into my house and killed my cat! I called the police, but I don't think they can-!"

"Senpai isn't here right now," I stated matter-of-factly. "You do know he hasn't talked to you all day, right? I wonder why that is…"

"You! Of course you would have something to do with this! You ruined everything!"

"I don't have time for your misplaced blame, Osana. I didn't kill your cat. I didn't do anything to you. You, on the other hand, were willing to poison your childhood friend and stalk me for hours on end if it meant getting rid of the competition. Who ruined what for whom?"

"I'm not the bad guy! You're the real monster!"

She sounded just like the bullies who tried so desperately to project their own insecurities onto others who didn't conform to their standards, others like me.

"Of course I'm a monster. I know I'm not a good person, but you can't call me that just because I'm a little bit different from everyone else. I might be sick and you might be perfectly sane, but that's why you sicken me, Osana. You know your abuse and pathological need for control are wrong, yet you chose to indulge yourself in them, and where did that get you?"

"Control?! Abuse?! Psychopaths tend to stand for those things, and guess what?! You are a psychopath!"

"I've seen enough therapists to know that's not true at all. Why would I need to mistreat or dominate my best friend when he prefers someone who has shown him nothing but sincere kindness? But maybe you need a doctor, too, given how little prodding you needed to cross that line."

"W-What are you saying?"

She was getting scared. This was good. I just needed to prod her to get what I needed out of her.

"I mean that something or someone gave you that idea before you embarked on that path yourself. I know you've been conspiring with someone else throughout the week to get rid of me. Who? Who were you talking to?"

"Go to hell with the rest of your bloodthirsty family."

My family?! Bloodthirsty?! What was my mysterious enemy feeding her to make her hate me so much more than the others? To drive her to the extremes that I wouldn't even dream of treading into?

"I have enough evidence to get you arrested for years. Now my patience is wearing thin. I can only be so merciful for so long…"

"I-I don't know anything, okay? But they hate you as much as I do, and we're doing everything to stop you from killing more people like Senpai…"

"I'm not a killer, Osana-chan… While I do almost pity you, with emphasis on 'almost', you brought this tragedy onto yourself. And tell me this: if you wanted to protect Senpai so badly, why didn't you do anything to actually support him?"

Osana didn't have an answer and started crying for about twenty seconds before she hung up. I wasn't lying when I said I felt bad for her, to be manipulated and exploited like a tool only to be thrown aside when things got tough.

I put Senpai's phone back and was about to nudge him awake when I noticed him squirming and mumbling in his sleep before he woke up with a horrified jolt. He looked over and noticed me before his terror changed into relief.

"Senpai?" I asked with concern. "Are you okay?"

"It was just a nightmare," he replied. "I thought I really lost you…"

"What?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but after everything that's happened… I saw Osana in my dreams, but she looked… wrong. She had me tied up and she… she was beating you to death…"

"Beating me to death? She would never-"

"I used to think so, too… But after everything she's done to us… she scares me. I thought I really lost you…"

I held him in my arms and hugged him to make him feel better.

"It's okay, Senpai. I'm here now. I'll never leave your side as long as I'm still alive. I promise."

I had no idea Senpai was this badly affected by the betrayal, and so I resolved to keep him safe and make sure he was in good spirits. But now I had a new mission, one just as important as protecting my beloved Senpai.

I needed to learn more about the puppet master, the one pulling the strings, so they would pay for their crimes.