The next day. Rin Ito, Ai Hayasaka, and Nao arrived early at the arranged tea room. Ai Hayasaka, kneeling on the tatami, looked down, tightly clutching the fabric of her pleated skirt. Today, like yesterday, Ai Hayasaka was meticulously dressed in a slightly ill-fitting light blue JC uniform. Her ten small fingernails were also painted with light blue nail polish, and the rounded toes wrapped in black knee-high socks were tightly curled due to nervousness.
"It's okay... don't be nervous." Her slender shoulders rose and fell with her rapid breathing. Nao gently stroked her daughter's back, trying to soothe her anxiety, but Rin Ito could tell Nao was equally nervous.
Ai Hayasaka looked at Nao with anxious eyes. In the past, in front of Kaguya, she was the perfect maid who kept everything hidden and was capable of anything, but in front of her mother, she was just a girl.
"What if... what if Miss Kaguya won't forgive me?" Remembering Kaguya covering her face and crying yesterday, Ai Hayasaka was very uneasy. Her fingernails, painted with light blue polish, dug deep into her palms, leaving deep marks.
"Don't worry, Kaguya will forgive you." Rin Ito gently patted her head.
"...Really?"
"I promise."
Ai Hayasaka glanced at Rin Ito, her emotions complex. Although he was a bit of a pervert, he had always fulfilled his promises to her. Given the situation, she could only trust him.
The faint sound of footsteps on the wooden floor of the corridor made her instinctively hold her breath. She only exhaled after the footsteps disappeared. But... what must be faced must be faced eventually.
When the footsteps stopped in front of the tea room door, Ai Hayasaka saw the blurred figures outside the sliding door stop and lowered her head, afraid to face them. But... what must be faced must be faced sooner or later.
The sliding door opened, and two figures sat down opposite Ai Hayasaka and Nao. Kaguya was accompanied by Chika. Kaede was not with them. The tea room had a long table. The four sat across from each other, while Rin Ito sat in the middle of the four.
Ai Hayasaka kept her head down, not daring to look at Kaguya. Nao, though she didn't lower her head, slightly shifted her gaze away from Kaguya's eyes.
"Why are you looking down? Are you afraid to look at me?" Kaguya's cold voice made Ai Hayasaka's shoulders tremble. Her coldness was not the habitual coldness Ai Hayasaka remembered but one infused with anger.
Nao looked at her daughter. Ai Hayasaka was currently in a very awkward state. She wanted to reconcile with Kaguya, yet her guilt over the betrayal made her feel unworthy of Kaguya's forgiveness. Nao understood her daughter; after all, Nao wasn't always by her daughter's and Kaguya's sides due to her work.
But Ai Hayasaka was different. She was by Kaguya's side every day, gathering all sorts of information related to Kaguya and relaying it to Kaguya's older brother, while also gathering intelligence on the Shinomiya family for her mother. She was betraying Kaguya every day, while Kaguya treated her like a sister every day. This lifestyle lasted for almost ten years, from the age of seven until recently.
Three years after three years, after another three years. Ai Hayasaka had been suffering in a state of constant torment, almost collapsing every day from the guilt. Even after leaving Kaguya, it was the same, until she heard that Rin Ito had taken Kaguya out of the Shinomiya family, which provided a slight relief. Occasionally, when Nao slept with her daughter, she could hear her painful whispers in her sleep... Nao even worried that her daughter might not be able to bear it and commit suicide.
If Rin Ito ate her, or even used her as a tool, it would have made her feel better, but he only ate her mother. She had actually prepared herself to be used as a tool, as punishment for betraying Kaguya. Being treated that way would have reduced some of her guilt, making her feel better. Her refusal to tell Kaguya about her request to Rin Ito was a subconscious desire for Kaguya to scold her and punish her to reduce her guilt.
Rin Ito must have known this, which is why he didn't eat her. Instead of eating her and making her feel better, he ate her mother, increasing her sense of guilt. Nao's eyes fell on Rin Ito. Can he really make them reconcile?
"Ai Hayasaka... why? Why did you do this to me? Wasn't betraying me enough, and now... now you have to steal the person I like!?" Kaguya's voice was trembling, filled with disbelief and deep sadness. Her acting was superb; if Rin Ito didn't have memories of his previous life, he would have believed her. She wouldn't have said "like" first if she weren't acting, because the one who says "like" first is the loser, falling into a disadvantageous position in a relationship and forever being controlled by the other person.
Facing Kaguya's accusation, Ai Hayasaka slowly raised her head. Although she paused for a moment upon seeing Chika sitting next to Kaguya, she had no time to worry about why Chika was there. Ai Hayasaka showed no sign of cowardice. She looked directly at Kaguya without the slightest evasion.
"Of course, because I like him too!"
"!!!!!" Chika fought back the urge to scream, excitedly looking back and forth between the two.
Rin Ito nearly burst out laughing. He couldn't see any sign of Ai Hayasaka liking him... Choosing to stop Kaguya's 'romance' through self-sacrifice and self-destruction, rather than directly telling Kaguya about the party on the island, was just Ai Hayasaka's way of trying to escape her state of eternal torment.
"Miss Kaguya is truly an idiot. Do you think a person with such a cold and twisted personality would attract anyone? Not only is your personality flawed, but your figure is also flat-chested, utterly incapable of attracting men. You're selfish every day, only thinking about yourself, and you don't care about anyone else. How could anyone possibly like a woman like that?" Ai Hayasaka mocked mercilessly.
"You're no better, Ai Hayasaka! And aren't you padding yourself? Are you claiming something you padded is your own?"
"It's better than you, Miss Kaguya, not even bothering to pad! When you go on a date with a man, you don't allow him to enjoy the envious glances of others!"
Kaguya's mouth twitched, and her cheeks slightly puffed out. What the hell! She was the one who betrayed me, and now she wants to steal my man!? When Kaguya first walked in and saw Ai Hayasaka looking upset, she was considering just telling her she forgave her. But now... No! I cannot forgive her! She actually said my personality was bad!? And called me flat-chested!? She's padding herself and calling me flat-chested!?
I cannot forgive her!!! Absolutely cannot forgive her!!!!