"..."
"..."
"Are you going to say something or will it just be awkward silence for the next hour?" Yasuo asked.
'I'm trying to say something! But I'm scared!' she screamed inside her head.
Taking deep breaths, collecting her thoughts, trying her hardest to put on a mask, a facade that she was stronger than she actually was, she was about to say something when Yasuo spoke first.
"By the way, does your boyfriend have no balls?"
"...What?"
"Why did you have to defend him there? I mean, is he even a man? He's hiding behind his girl like a little chicken. Cluck cluck."
The reason he was taunting her was that he was hoping to make her angry which would help with the accumulation of courage that she would need to speak her mind.
Surprisingly, insulting another person came out so naturally. It felt like a knot in his chest had been released. He felt lighter than ever.
'This feels better than I thought.'
For a split second, he pondered what it might feel like if he actually bullied someone. The potential thrill that could come from it.
He quickly tossed that thought aside.
The influence of the original Yasuo was corrupting him.
Shinju retorted, "D-Don't talk about Hitoshi like that. He's… he's strong, okay? He's not a chicken."
"Suuuuure he isn't. Then why are you here with me instead of him?"
She was unable to answer that.
"I knew you were a liar."
He actually wasn't. It was all a misunderstanding that he wasn't given the opportunity to clarify before she and Hitoshi had jumped to conclusions.
"I'm tired of you bullying him."
With a nervous gulp, she closed her eyes and reached out to all the courage that was in her; she pulled them to a single spot and gathered them. She would need it all for what she was about to say next:
"Otsuka, you're a big man, right? You're four years older than us. Aren't you ashamed of picking on people smaller than you? What? A-Are you too scared to pick on someone your own size?"
Despite what she was saying, Yasuo could only picture her as a kitten even though she was probably trying to portray herself as something more akin to a lion.
He found that amusing however, externally, he kept a straight face.
Also, she was wrong. According to his memories, he had picked on people his own size and even those bigger than him. He had even bullied this bodybuilder who could benchpress a fridge like it was nothing.
Of course, he didn't bother to correct her.
He simply shook his head and stated, "Listen, I wasn't bullying that chicken you call a boyfriend. But even if I was, nah. I'm not ashamed of my actions. Who the fuck do you think you are to try and lecture me? My mother?"
The words did not come out as he intended.
'Wow, my mouth really twisted my words there. Well, not entirely. It did say what I wanted to say… just more rudely.'
He had just intended to tell her that he wasn't bullying Hitoshi at that moment and that he wasn't ashamed of his actions because there was nothing to be ashamed of since he wasn't bullying him. The rest flowed out on its own.
"I… I see," she muttered to herself, stunned at Yasuo's response.
She had been taken aback when he had said all of that and had even taken a few steps backwards, creating more space between them.
Shinju thought that she had it all figured out. She thought that her plan was the only way forward.
But now that she was here, hesitation was making each step she needed to take feel like she was walking with a thousand kilograms on her shoulders.
She didn't know whether it was the right thing to proceed with the plan or to retreat.
But if she retreated, the bullying of her boyfriend wouldn't stop.
So — no. She couldn't retreat. She had to go forward with the plan regardless of how disgusted it made her feel
"If that shitty lecture of yours is all you had to say, then I'm going to go. I got better shit to do than entertain you," Yasuo told her as he began to turn.
Before he could take even two steps away from her, the sleeve of his jacket was grabbed and pulled.
"Don't bother Hitoshi anymore. Just… just leave him alone and act like he doesn't exist."
'That's what I was going to do! I was going to do that!'
Looking back at her, he tilted his head and warned her, "Listen, I'm not going to keep repeating myself. I'm not your personal record player. I already said what I said and meant what I said. It's up to you whether or not you believe it."
Shinju heard him but didn't care. Everything he was saying was a lie. She knew it now.
It was some twisted game of his that he was playing.
A game that she wasn't going to fall for.
So when Yasuo tried to leave again, the sleeve that she had grabbed was pulled on once more, this time even harder.
This time, the pulling didn't stop as she began leading him somewhere.
Feeling like he was being defeated by the universe and how it was impossible to get the truth to stay in her mind, Yasuo knew where this was leading.
Although he didn't want to take advantage of her, he thought to himself that maybe this was the only way he would be able to set her mind at ease. Maybe, just maybe — in some twisted way, this would be the only way that Shinju would be convinced that Hitoshi would be safe in the future.
The two of them continued walking under her lead until they stopped at a bus stop.
"What are we doing here?"
"I'm… I'm taking you to my apartment," she responded in a voice as quiet as a mouse.