My deskmate is actually my yandere reader.

"Chiren, why aren't you saying anything?" Kurose Izumi asked again, looking at Shiraishi Chiren, whose cherry lips were pursed until they turned white.

Unfortunately, Shiraishi Chiren remained silent, maintaining this unbearably deathly silence.

"...Fine, if you don't want to talk about it, I won't force you."

After saying that, Kurose Izumi took a deep breath, walked past her, and went into the master bedroom to change clothes, his face showing undisguised loneliness.

Shiraishi Chiren stood there quietly, her figure appearing lonely and helpless.

Her head was lowered, making it impossible to see her expression or what she was thinking.

She only reacted when Kurose Izumi came out and found Shiraishi Chire still standing motionless, and gently hugged her.

"spring……?"

Kurose Izumi closed her eyes, buried her head in Shiraishi Chiren's shoulder, inhaled the scent of her hair, and whispered, "Chiren, let's not go to school today? Let's just stay home."

“…Okay.” Shiraishi Chiren nodded gently, her heart filled with confusion.

She didn't know how long this fake, crumbling daily life could last.

Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after, or even—the next moment!

From the moment the crack appeared, its eventual exposure was inevitable.

This morning's conversation perfectly confirms this.

Shiraishi Chiren gave up the struggle.

At that moment, she finally understood—illusion is always illusion.

'You win, Hirasawa Masato…'

Shiraishi Chiren's eyes suddenly turned gray and lifeless.

It's a dead end.

Kurose Izumi had already realized that she was hiding something.

She couldn't explain or make up reasons to continue deceiving him.

Because doing so would only deepen one's own sins.

From the very beginning, when Hirasawa Shinbu got involved in this scam, it was only a matter of time before he was exposed!

She couldn't possibly have actually killed Hirasawa Masato, or used Tsuda Yoshi to blackmail him.

That might push Hirasawa Shinbu to the brink, resulting in a bad ending!

Kurose Izumi falls into despair, Shiraishi Chiren faces legal punishment, and Hirasawa Mabu harbors regret and hatred...

Therefore, continuing to struggle will be futile.

After that, all she could do was try her best to beg for Kurose Izumi's forgiveness.

'Izumi, please forgive my clumsy love for you, this is the last time…'

Afterwards, Kurose Izumi called the school to ask for a day off for him and Shiraishi Chire.

That day, the atmosphere between the two was gloomy and tense, as if they were both drifting duckweed without a fixed abode.

117. Chirei, you must be Kuchiki Touko.

May 10th, Wednesday, the beginning of everything going wrong.

Kurose Izumi and Shiraishi Chiren, who had taken a day off, came to school together.

Unlike usual, they didn't hold hands on the street.

It's not that we're having a disagreement, it's just that the atmosphere doesn't feel right.

Even though Shiraishi Chiren is hiding something, she's still Kurose Izumi's girlfriend, isn't she?

Good morning, Zhenwu.

As he entered the classroom, Kurose Izumi nodded to Hirasawa Masato.

He then sat down and put his schoolbag in the hook.

Hirasawa Mabu did not return the greeting, but instead glanced back and forth at Kurose Izumi and Shiraishi Chire, a sense of unease rising within him.

He always felt...

These two must have had a fight, right?

But why is the atmosphere still so good even though they've had a fight?

Well, although we weren't as close as usual, there was no arguing or cold war. We just went back to square one—when we first got along.

"spring……"

Hirasawa Shinbu looked hesitantly at Shiraishi Chiren, who was silently reading with her head down, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Can you come out with me for a bit? I have something to tell you."

"Hmm?" Kurose Izumi, who had taken out a book to study, withdrew her hand upon hearing this.

He nodded silently in agreement, then got up and left with Hirazawa Shinbu.

Behind the two, Shiraishi Chiren had a calm expression, her slender fingers fiddling with the pages that were being tossed about by the wind outside the window.

She turned her head casually to look out the window at the blue sky and the schoolyard, and a thought arose in her mind—the wind is picking up.

……

After leaving the classroom, the two went to a secluded spot behind the teaching building.

Seeing that they had gone far enough out of the way, Hirasawa Shinbu, who was leading the way, stopped and turned around to ask, "Izumi, what happened between you and the class monitor?"

"Nothing," Kurose Izumi shook her head gently. "What's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly asking such a question?"

"that is……"

Hirasawa Shinbu opened his mouth, hesitated for a long time, and then gritted his teeth and said, "So you didn't notice anything... amiss?"

Something's not right?

Kurose Izumi paused for a moment, then smiled helplessly and said, "Shinbu, when you say that, don't you think you've been acting strangely lately?"

"I……"

Hirasawa Shinbu choked up, momentarily at a loss for words.

He can't just say directly that Shiraishi Chiren is Kuchiki Touko, can he?

"So? Zhenwu, what do you want to tell me?"

"that is……"

"Stop beating around the bush, just say what you want to say, isn't that enough?"

"..."

Hirasawa Shinbu, who had been interrupted, fell silent once again, unsure whether to give a direct answer or a hint.

Isn't this hint, in fact, an explicit statement?

"Alright, then that's all. Go back now."

Kurose Izumi sighed, turned and walked into the teaching building, no longer wanting to know what Hirasawa Masato was hiding from him.

The truth that Shiraishi Chiren and Hirazawa Shinbu have been hiding from him should be revealed in the next couple of days.

Hirasawa Shinbu watched Kurose Izumi's departing figure, opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Afterwards, the two returned to the classroom one after the other and sat down, just as the bell rang for the start of the first class.

After the morning classes ended and during lunch break, Kurose Izumi and Shiraishi Chire walked through the club's elevated corridor and arrived at the Animation Research Club.

At the birchwood table, Inari Yuki stared at the two people with her round, black grape-like eyes.

After looking at them for a while, she hesitated slightly and asked, "Seniors...did they have a fight?"

"Are you arguing...?"

Kurose Izumi's hand, which was holding chopsticks to pick up food, paused for a moment, then returned to normal.

"No."

He gave a curt reply and then lowered his head to eat his lunch in silence.

"No...?"

Inari Yukimi, seeing that Kurose Izumi didn't want to talk more, wisely kept quiet.

Even if they argued, that's their private matter, and it's not her place to interfere or mediate, right?

When lunch break ended and they were walking back to the classroom together, Kurose Izumi asked, "Chiren, do we look like we're arguing?"

"Probably."

"Then why did we end up like this? Everyone says we had a fight."

"..."

When asked by Kurose Izumi, Shiraishi Chiren pursed her cherry lips and did not respond.

Seeing this, Kurose Izumi didn't press the matter further.

After that, the afternoon classes passed in an awkward and deathly silence.

On this day, it wasn't just Hirasawa Mabu and Inari Yuki who said they were arguing; even their classmates were discussing it privately!

There was nothing they could do; their atmosphere was just too strange, completely unlike their usual intimate self.

They seemed to be preoccupied with their own thoughts, no longer glancing at each other or paying attention to each other's actions.

When the club activity ended and the two went home together, they no longer held hands.

Kurose Izumi walked forward silently with her head down, her steps heavy, as was her mood.

"spring……"

Shiraishi Chiren turned her head to look at him, called out softly, her eyes filled with reluctance and unbearable complexity.

Seeing Kurose Izumi in a low mood makes her unhappy too, and her feelings become complicated and heavy.