I'm Ebina Hikana. Just a fujoshi otaku girl who lives for her rotten delusions in the corner of the classroom.
But I have a secret I can't tell anyone. I've accidentally seen the whole messy, tangled relationship between Hachiman, Yukinoshita, and Yuigahama—the three people who should be the center of the class.
At first it was just observation. Hachiman's eyes full of resignation, Yukinoshita's back that looked so lonely, Yuigahama's smile that she forced to be bright. No one else noticed, bu
After School Black Hole: Ebina Was Watching - The Observer's Miscalculation — The Queen's Wrath and the Price of Blood
The after-school chime echoed through the school building.
The classroom's atmosphere loosened all at once. As everyone began getting ready to go home, I sat there, staring intently at the notebook spread open on my desk.
*《Plan Phase 2: Using Miura Yumiko as a Catalyst for Disruption》*
*《Objective: Bring Yuigahama Yui's True Feelings to the Surface》*
Last week, I leaked information to Miura-san about Yuigahama-san's feelings for Hachiman-kun. How she would use that information — that was supposed to be the next move in my perfect scenario.
But.
My fingertips were trembling, ever so slightly.
(...Why do I have such a bad feeling about this?)
I looked over at Yuigahama-san's seat. She was already gone. Apparently, Miura-san had called her somewhere. Hachiman-kun's seat was empty too.
I closed my notebook and put it away in my bag.
My heart was pounding, far too loud.
(I'm just observing. I'm only watching.)
I told myself that, and left the classroom.
I stepped out into the hallway, and just as I was about to head toward the entrance — Miura-san's voice came from further down the corridor.
"Hey, Hikigaya! I've got something to talk to you about!"
My feet froze to the spot.
I looked toward the voice. It was in front of the entrance. Miura-san stood there with her arms crossed, planted like a guardian statue. And standing before her was, unmistakably, the slouching silhouette of Hachiman-kun.
(It's already... in motion.)
Without thinking, I hid myself in the shadows. Beside the vending machine. From here, I could hear their voices, but they couldn't see me.
My hand trembled as I pulled out my notebook.
"What is it, Miura? It's rare for you to call someone out like this."
Hachiman-kun's voice had its usual apathetic tone. But there was something guarded about it too.
Miura-san stepped forward.
"I'll get straight to the point. What do you actually think of Yui?"
*Thump.*
My heart gave a violent lurch.
(Miura-san... you're way too direct.)
But that's the kind of person she is. When she thinks her best friend is hurting, she doesn't hold back. That's one form of justice for Miura Yumiko, the queen.
There was no one else at the entrance. Not Hayama-kun, not any of the other girls in her group. She'd come here alone, on purpose.
"I don't get what you mean. As a classmate, it's nothing special."
"Liar! What are you doing with Yukinoshita in the Service Club?!"
I saw Hachiman-kun's eyebrow twitch.
"What do you mean, 'what'? I'm just solving clients' problems."
"Don't screw with me! You know Yui likes you, don't you?! And yet you're all cozy with Yukinoshita, hurting Yui — are you even human?!"
Those words rang through the hallway.
I clutched my notebook and froze.
(Miura-san... she said everything...)
This was far more direct than the scenario I had envisioned. Her anger was burning far hotter than I'd anticipated.
And then — Hachiman-kun's expression changed.
"...I see. So Yuigahama, to me..."
"Don't play dumb! You noticed, didn't you?! Then why—"
"I noticed."
Hachiman-kun's voice suddenly dropped low.
It wasn't his usual apathetic, dead-fish-eyed tone, tinged with resignation. It was colder — a voice that seemed to wound himself.
"So what? Someone like me, a loner, being liked by her — that just makes Yuigahama pitiful. You're right. All I can do is hurt people. Even in the Service Club, whenever I get involved, everything gets twisted up."
I caught my breath.
(You're kidding... Hachiman-kun.)
He wasn't trying to protect himself. He was trying to make himself the villain to settle the situation. That was his self-sacrificing habit — a curse he'd imposed on himself ever since the accident a year ago.
*I'm a jinx. When I'm around, someone ends up unhappy.*
*So, hate me.*
That's what he was saying.
"Wha— what is that... Do you even understand what you're saying?!"
Miura-san's voice was shaking. Her anger had passed its peak and was turning into bewilderment.
"I understand. That's why I'm saying it. To Yuigahama—"
That's when it happened.
"Stop it!!!"
A sharp scream tore through the hallway.
I looked up.
It was Yuigahama-san.
She was standing right near the entrance — at the corner of the hallway on the opposite side from me. Her hands were trembling, her eyes brimming with tears.
She'd been listening the whole time. Miura-san's voice blaming Hachiman-kun, Hachiman-kun's words making himself the villain — everything.
"Yumiko, stop...! It's not like that, Hikki isn't the bad guy... it's me... I just... I just went and fell for him on my own..."
Her voice was turning into sobs.
"Yui...!"
"Why... why is this happening...! It's my fault... because I like Hikki, Yumiko got mad... it's all my fault...!"
Yuigahama-san said that, almost screaming — and then she ran.
Out through the entrance.
Toward the school gate.
"Yui, wait!"
Miura-san chased after her. Hachiman-kun started running too.
I couldn't move from where I stood.
(No way—)
I clutched my notebook to my chest and pressed my back against the wall.
(I never calculated a development like this.)
Outside the school gate was a crosswalk. The traffic wasn't usually that heavy, but at this time in the evening, trucks often passed through.
And then—.
*SCREEEECH—!!!*
A sharp sound of brakes.
Then, a dull *thud*.
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!"
Miura-san's scream echoed from outside the gate.
I came to my senses and ran.
I burst out of the entrance and headed for the gate.
At the sight before me — I collapsed on the spot.
In the middle of the crosswalk, Yuigahama-san lay fallen.
Blood was flowing from her head. She wasn't moving a muscle.
Beside her, a white light truck had stopped. The male driver got out, his face deathly pale.
"Yui! Yui!!"
Miura-san rushed to her side, calling her name over and over. But Yuigahama-san's eyes remained closed.
Red blood was spreading across the asphalt.
Hachiman-kun stood frozen for just a moment — then immediately pulled out his phone with trembling hands.
"I'm calling an ambulance. ...Miura, you stay with Yuigahama. Don't leave her."
His voice was strangely calm.
But.
His eyes were exactly the same as they'd been during the accident a year ago. *It's my fault, it's because of me* — those eyes that kept blaming himself.
Still clutching my notebook, I sat there, slumped on the ground.
(It's my fault.)
Those words alone spun round and round in my head.
If I hadn't leaked that information to Miura-san. If I hadn't tried to selfishly use Yuigahama-san's feelings. If I hadn't been so arrogant as to think I could be some kind of god—.
"Yui... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
Tears spilled over.
The notebook I'd been holding slipped from my hand and fell to the ground with a soft thud.
The open page was densely packed with my plan.
*《Use Miura's anger to push Yuigahama forward》*
Those words now looked like blood to me.
The sound of sirens drew closer from the distance.
The paramedics lifted Yuigahama-san onto a stretcher.
Miura-san was sobbing uncontrollably, and Hachiman-kun watched in silence.
Making sure they didn't see me, I picked up my notebook and left the scene.
(I can't just keep watching anymore.)
I swallowed my desperate urge to run away, and ran toward the road leading to the hospital.
****
The hallway of Chiba City General Hospital was filled with the smell of disinfectant.
The white light of the fluorescent lamps was painfully bright.
Leaning against the wall, I hung my head.
Miura-san stood in front of the operating room. Her eyes were bright red from crying too much.
Hachiman-kun was leaning against the wall in a corner of the hallway a little distance away, staring up at the ceiling.
"Yui... Yui..."
Miura-san called Yuigahama-san's name over and over.
Eventually, the door to the operating room opened, and a doctor came out.
"Are you a family member?"
"F-friend! I'm her friend! What about Yui?! Is Yui going to be okay?!"
The doctor paused for just a moment before speaking.
"A femoral fracture and a head laceration. It's a serious injury requiring two months for a full recovery, but her life is not in danger."
At those words, Miura-san slumped weakly to the floor.
Thank goodness — but, two months for a full recovery.
That was my fault.
For the next two months, Yuigahama-san wouldn't be able to come to school. She'd be in pain. All of it, every bit of it, was my fault.
"This is your fault."
Suddenly, Miura-san stood up.
She closed in on Hachiman-kun.
"Because of you, Yui is—! Because you're all lovey-dovey with Yukinoshita! Because you knew how Yui felt and ignored it! You— you—!"
Miura-san grabbed Hachiman-kun by the collar.
Hachiman-kun didn't resist.
"...Yeah. It's my fault."
He just said that.
"Don't screw with me! Why won't you argue back?! Why—"
Miura-san raised her hand.
*Slap.*
Her palm struck Hachiman-kun's cheek.
But Hachiman-kun didn't move. He just stared at Miura-san with those dead, rotten eyes.
"...Because I'm here, someone gets hurt."
His voice was far too quiet.
I was listening to it all.
My heart ached.
(That's wrong, Hachiman-kun. It's not your fault. It's my fault.)
But I couldn't say anything.
That's when — I heard footsteps coming from down the hallway.
I didn't need to turn around to know. It was Yukinoshita Yukino.
She stood frozen, staring through the glass window of the operating room.
"...Yuigahama-san."
Her voice was trembling.
During the accident a year ago too — she had only been able to watch from inside the car as Hachiman-kun was hit. She couldn't do anything. The same thing was happening again now.
"A year ago, I couldn't do anything either. And this time, once again, all I did was watch."
She stared at her own slender hands.
Those hands were trembling faintly.
"...Yukinoshita."
This time, Miura-san turned to face Yukinoshita-san.
She pulled out her phone.
"You're just as guilty! That Service Club thing was just using Yui, wasn't it?! I don't know what you're doing alone with Hachiman, but— do you have any idea how much Yui was suffering?!"
Miura-san shouted that over the phone.
Yukinoshita-san didn't say anything back.
She just hung her head and bit her lip.
"...You're right. It's my fault too. If I hadn't created something like the Service Club. If I hadn't gotten involved with him. Yuigahama-san might not have been hurt."
Yukinoshita-san's voice was different from her usual coldness.
It was more fragile — a voice that sounded like it might break.
She was beginning to question the very existence of the Service Club.
I watched that scene from the corner of the hallway the whole time.
The three of them were falling apart.
Yuigahama-san inside the operating room. Miura-san exploding with anger and grief. Hachiman-kun blaming himself. Yukinoshita-san denying her own reason for being.
(Even though it's all my fault.)
I took my notebook out of my bag.
With trembling hands, I opened the page.
*《Intervention failed. Yui, I'm sorry. But I won't let it end here.》*
The pen shook.
The letters blurred with tears.
(I'm done pulling strings from the shadows.)
I wrote my new resolve into the notebook.
*《Next phase — Revelation of the truth. I will stand before the three of them. I will tell Hachiman and Yukino the truth about the accident a year ago, and confess my sins in front of Yui. Even if I'm never forgiven, living on while bearing this sin will be my punishment.》*
I put the pen down.
Tears dripped onto the notebook, one after another.
(I'm not going to be an observer anymore.)
(I'm going to become someone involved.)
I lifted my head.
Across the hallway, Miura-san was still crying. Hachiman-kun was leaning against the wall, head down. Yukinoshita-san was staring into the operating room through the glass.
Without letting them notice me, I left that place.
****
I spread my observation notebook out on my desk in my room.
The clock had passed 2 in the morning.
Outside the window, there was no moon. Only a dark sky st
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