When Ayano returned home that day, she was startled by how quiet it was. No pots clanging in the kitchen, no TV turned on in the living room… Weird.
Anyways, she walked into the living room and found a note on the coffee table. It was written in her mother's familiar handwriting.
My Darling Ayano,
Your father and I won a trip to Los Angeles! It was really sudden, quite frankly I had forgotten about joining that lottery. I'm sorry we had to disappear without telling you, the plane was due to leave tonight. We left you some money for you to spend, but I'm afraid you'll have to get a job after a while.
Take good care of yourself!
Love, Mom and Dad.
I've heard that you've found yourself a boy! I'm so happy for you my baby. Any ~tools~ that you may need are in the basement."
Ayano put the letter down. She didn't know if this was an inconvenience or not. She knew what her mother had done, and her experience would have been very useful in her pursuit of Osana Najimi. Still, she didn't need her father's protectiveness at all.
She ventured into the basement. At first glance, it was just like any other basement; dark and damp with random tools scattered around. She knew better though, and popped open an inconspicuous chest to find the aforementioned ~tools~. Knives and hatchets, rope, blindfolds, all the tools that were once in her mother's arsenal were now in her hands.
While Ayano relished the thought of using these on Osana, she wondered if there was another way. This murder business could be the very thing that would separate herself and her beloved Senpai. She would have to try something else first, maybe follow Osana around to see if there was anything she could exploit.
As it was still early in the evening, she fancied a stroll around town to clear her mind and maybe purchase some manga. She dressed up and left her house.
Upon browsing the manga store, she found a series on a girl who sabotaged her love interest's female friends so that they might get closer. She bought the entire volume. While traversing the square, she passed by a lingerie store, and blushed profusely at the thought of Senpai seeing her… like that. She wondered if that day would truly come.
Of course, it would.
She got home and read the manga late into the night. After hours of reading, it was safe to say that she had a good idea or two up her sleeve.
Once at school the next morning, she overheard a conversation between Raibaru and Osana. Osana had apparently brought a bento meal for Senpai in hopes of garnering his affection. Like Ayano would ever let that happen.
She had time until the lunch break to figure out what to do with this information. In their final lecture before lunch, their chemistry teacher demonstrated various chemical compounds, including potassium antimontarterate, a very powerful emetic poison.
Ayano smiled.
The teacher foolishly left all the bottles on the desk as she ventured out to the bathroom before returning to the teachers' lounge, and Raibaru took Osana to the bathroom to calm her nerves. The remaining members of the classroom filed out. It was just Ayano and the bottles now…
Surreptitiously, she grabbed the bottle and sprinkled some of its contents over the bento meal in the blue box which surely belonged to Senpai. She felt a twinge of guilt over poisoning her Senpai, but no lasting damage would be done. She debated sprinkling potassium cyanide over Osana's meal but thought that it would be too suspicious if Osana died in that manner, so she let her meal be. She quickly rewrapped the bento, replaced the chemical and left the room to go to the rooftop, where Senpai and Osana would be having lunch. She grabbed a seat where she could see the action unfold and initiated a simple conversation with one of her friends, Kokona.
Sure enough, Senpai showed up and Osana screamed at him again for keeping her waiting.
I bet he doesn't even want to see your face…" Ayano muttered to herself.
Huh, Ayano did you say something?" Kokona interrupted, staring at her friend's miffed face.
Oh, no, sorry. So tell me more about rolling sushis…"
After a period of prolonged screaming, they finally sat down to eat. At first glance, Senpai looked incredibly pleased with the appearance of the bento, going as far as to praise Osana's skills – like that bitch has any skill, Ayano thought – and heartily digging into the meal. Sure enough, it didn't take a long time for the compounds to kick in, and Senpai rushed to the edge of the rooftop to hurl all the contents of his stomach.
"Oh my God, Ayano! That guy just puked everything up! That bento must have been disgusting huh?" Kokona ventured as their classmates gathered around to watch the spectacle. Everyone was happy to see Osana make a fool of herself. It was even funnier that Osana, her face matching the reddish tinge of her hair, screamed at everyone to leave them alone. No one did, obviously, and the deputy cooking club president went as far as to tell her that she would never be welcome in his club, and that Amai would never let her in either.
What made Ayano even happier was that when Osana went to help Senpai, he shoved her away from him.
Senpai's mother came over to pick her son up soon after that, and Ayano was upset that she wouldn't be able to watch him go home. No matter, she thought, we'll have plenty of that in the future. It was only a small price to pay.
Ayano was determined to see Osana make a fool of herself even more. The next day, she watched Osana beg Senpai to let her read a treasured book of his. The book was apparently a present from his younger sister, so it must have had a lot of sentimental value for him. Poor Senpai was still hesitant due to the events of the day before, but she was his childhood friend after all, so he grudgingly accepted after admonishing her to be careful with his book. Osana and Raibaru shared a high-five after this and planned on sliding a love note into his book.
Like Ayano would ever let that happen.
That day, during lunch break, Osana stupidly placed the book near the fountain as she got up to stretch. How could she be so careless with Senpai's prized belongings? Ayano felt guilty once again as she gently nudged the book and watched it sink into the grimy water of the fountain and hurried away afterwards. She basked in the ensuing scene – Osana throwing a hissy fit about being an idiot, and Senpai running over to see what had happened. When he found out, he actually screamed at her and stormed off, throwing Osana into a new fit.
There were new things to sabotage every day, like uploading lewd pictures on Osana's phone when she was about to show Senpai something on it or editing her conversations to make it sound like she hated Senpai and e-mailing it to him. At the end of the week, Senpai had firmly told Osana that he no longer wanted to be his friend.
Well, this is it, Ayano thought. No one will approach him, ever!
She walked Senpai home without him knowing it and smiled. She was closer to her goal than ever before.
Of course, this was short-lived.
Ayano grit her teeth and balled her fists as she watched a certain girl make googly eyes at Senpai through the window of a familiar bakery right across his home.
Amai Odayaka…
AN: Hey guys, I kinda rushed through Osana as we all know her elimination methods. The next 9 rivals will be in much more detail. Please rate and review as your reviews keep me going! Thanks for reading! :)