Silence spread between Keita and Anna on the bench in the corner of the courtyard.
There was enough space between them for two more people to sit—a polite yet distant physical boundary.
Keita ate his lunch quietly, catching glimpses of the girl at the other end out of the corner of his eye as she huddled and took small bites of her rice ball.
A breeze blew past, carrying the faint scent of her shampoo into his nose.
This feeling wasn't bad.
The plan was proceeding smoothly; the target had entered his designated safety zone.
However, just sitting here was too inefficient.
He needed more, and he needed to confirm some things.
Keita set down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and decided to take the initiative to break the silence.
"It seems," he began in a flat tone, "you've successfully gotten the two of them together."
His voice wasn't loud, but in this quiet corner, it sounded exceptionally clear.
Anna paused her chewing.
"Huh?!"
She looked up at Keita with a dazed expression, seemingly unable to immediately grasp the meaning behind his words.
She remained silent for a moment, swallowing the rice in her mouth before answering in a somewhat muffled voice:
"...Yeah, just like you see."
Anna's voice held little discernible emotion as she unconsciously poked the fried chicken in her bento box with her chopsticks.
"Now, the two of them are stuck together all day, practically inseparable."
"In the morning, during lunch break, and definitely after school. Sometimes when I look at them, I feel... like I'm the tactless one, the third wheel forcing myself between them."
Her voice carried a hint of self-mockery, but more than that, an unmistakable sense of loss.
"Even though... even though I knew Sousuke first... Sousuke and I are childhood sweethearts..."
There it is again.
This classic loser talk only makes you look even more pathetic...
Keita silently complained in his heart.
If it were him, he would never be so hung up on repeatedly mentioning such humiliating things.
However, Keita knew this was the last fig leaf Yanami was using to cover up her twelve years of effort.
And what he needed to do was personally tear off that fig leaf.
"There's no first-come-first-served in love."
As his words fell, he could feel the unwillingness emanating from Yanami grow stronger—a rough but indeed absorbable energy.
He continued to pile on, adding,
"Love isn't like lining up to buy something. You win or you lose. The process and the reasons are meaningless to the outcome."
Anna didn't refute him, she just silently lowered her head and went back to dealing with her bento.
But Keita wasn't planning to end it there.
He needed to see a deeper reaction. Not only would it ease the throbbing pain in his head, but it would also bring him an indescribable sense of comfort.
He was starting to like that positive feedback feeling the ability brought...
"And, Yanami-san,"
Keita paused, then threw out more direct words, "stop always bringing up those over ten years. When you need time to prove something, it precisely means you can't prove anything anymore."
Anna's movements completely froze.
Her hand holding the bento trembled slightly. She wanted to argue but didn't know what to say.
Keita could feel it. As her emotions fluctuated violently, that annoying throbbing at his temples disappeared again, replaced by a wave of comfort that made his thoughts drift.
Forcing an education on a beautiful girl... it's awkward but also a bit secretly satisfying...
The corner of the courtyard fell into a long silence once more.
Anna lowered her head, her long bangs covering her eyes, making it impossible to see her expression.
Just as Keita thought she would remain silent like this or couldn't hold back her tears, Anna slowly raised her head.
Her face showed no signs of being crushed, only a hollow numbness.
"That night at the Family Restaurant..."
Anna's voice was very soft, flat and devoid of any inflection.
"...Around past ten, Sousuke's older sister called me."
Keita raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.
"She asked me if I knew where Sousuke was because she couldn't reach him all night."
After saying this, Anna fell silent again.
She lowered her head once more, picked up her chopsticks, and mechanically picked up a small piece of Tamagoyaki, chewing it, whether she tasted it or not.
A flash of surprise crossed Keita's mind.
So that's it.
He originally thought the cruelty of the scene he witnessed in the classroom lay in the huge "information gap."
He thought Yanami still naively believed she had only lost his "heart," unaware that the victor had already entered the stage of physical union with the spoils of war.
But he was completely wrong.
There was no information gap at all.
Hakamada Sousuke's older sister personally called Anna that night, asking about her brother's whereabouts.
A boy doesn't return home all night after officially getting together with the girl he likes, and his phone can't be reached.
What that means, anyone who isn't a fool can figure it out.
In other words, Anna knew from the very beginning.
She knew Sousuke didn't go home after rushing out of the restaurant.
She knew he and Karen were most likely together that night, and might have even had the most intimate relationship.
She knew all of it.
Knowing all this, she accepted Karen's hug in the classroom with a smile.
Knowing all this, she was forced to listen to those two discuss future dates, playing the role of a qualified "witness."
And after he cornered her with his words, she didn't cry or break down. Instead, she calmly dropped this piece of information.
This was no longer resilience, but a kind of numbness bordering on lucidity...
Faced with this situation, Keita couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Extending an invitation to such a loser... the chance of success would undoubtedly be higher...
But why did he feel a bit sorry for that originally tragic unrequited love of hers...
No, failed unrequited love should be discarded as if it never existed, especially a completely failed type like Yanami's.
As for why he felt he was betraying that emotion, maybe it was because...
He wasn't actually rotten to the core, and might soften up at any moment...