'Control By Extension.'
Based on Shizuka's Obedience and Affection toward her mother, I still couldn't completely control her. That much was clear the instant the connection formed.
So I didn't try to force anything. Instead, I controlled only what I could and made her trust my words more than she normally would.
In addition, I also dulled her confidence in her own judgment slightly, creating just enough room for doubt to seep in where certainty used to be.
And finally, I laced it all with a thin layer of guilt.
In fact, I barely had to put in any effort at all, because when I said, "You think your mother betrayed your father," she felt those emotions on a certain level instinctively.
Right away, her breathing stopped for a second, and she froze as she realized she had been exposed.
All along, she thought she was careful. That no one knew she had been secretly peeping in on me and her mother having sex. And by extension, she had believed no one could know how she felt about her mother.
But now that the cat was out of the bag, she didn't know what to do, and her denial, as expected, came out weak and unconvincing even to herself.
"N-no… what are you saying?"
She stammered in front of me, and seeing her act like this was quite cute. But I didn't let my emotions show on my face and asked blankly.
"So you don't know anything?"
Shizuka hesitated, then forced herself to respond.
"What… what thing? I don't know what you're talking about. Anyways, the breakfast is ready."
I watched her closely as she continued and tried to leave.
"Then you haven't seen me having sex with your mother?" I said directly without any pretense. "I must have imagined it when I saw you multiple times standing there, peeking in, staring at us with a red face like a curious cat."
The words were blunt and impossible to misinterpret, and the moment she heard them, her body stiffened.
She knew at this point that she had been completely exposed.
Of course, she could have denied everything and lied outright, insisting I was mistaken, and accused me of making things up.
But Shizuka wasn't thick-skinned and shameless like some bitches I knew. And more importantly, there was no point in doing so anymore.
From me appearing in the kitchen to this conversation, everything escalated too suddenly, and the shock alone was enough to rattle her.
Shame rose up first in her heart, followed closely by guilt. But then I tweaked her emotions again to turn them into anger.
Anger directed at me.
And with anger clouding her judgement, Shizuka's guilt turned into indignation, and in a situation where she would have usually been nervous and timid, she suddenly snapped and shouted.
"I saw it! So what?! You did that kind of thing with my mother! You betrayed my father with my mother. And you—"
Once her mouth opened, it was like a dam had burst. Everything she had been holding in for days poured out at once.
Accusations, resentment, moral outrage, half-formed conclusions. She blamed her mother and me as if everything had already been decided in her head.
"Why?! Why did you come to our house?! Why my mother, and not me?!"
Some of what she said went beyond what I expected. But the more she spoke, the happier I became.
She didn't even know one side of the story, let alone the whole "truth" I had fabricated. If she had, she wouldn't have dared to say those words so easily.
'Alas, too naive. And here I thought I might have to rile her up some more.'
Shaking my head inwardly, I finally opened my mouth once she had finished.
"Without knowing the whole truth, and just based on peeping a few times, you reached such a conclusion? Shizuka, I'm really upset. Besides, I really didn't know you thought of me as this kind of person."
That was all. I didn't argue, nor did I refute her accusations and justify myself.
I simply stopped talking and turned around to leave with an extremely bitter expression, as if I was hurt by her for something I didn't do and was extremely disappointed in her because of her words.
At that moment, as her anger died down and her mind cleared, she also realized what she had just done, and her eyes widened in disbelief at herself.
She couldn't believe she just said those hurtful words, and that too to me, who was such a good friend of hers and had helped her in so many situations.
At last, when I raised her guilt and self-doubt a little, she finally couldn't help but ask.
"N-no… tell me." She faltered. "What truth are you talking about?"
I looked at her without answering immediately.
"Even if I told and showed you everything, you'd probably still doubt it. Photos. Videos. Recordings. Even if your father told you the truth himself, would you believe it?"
Hearing about those concrete proofs of something she didn't know and perhaps would shatter her worldview, smashing her judgment, her lips trembled, but she still spoke.
"Please, I want to know the truth."
That was enough, because it was all I needed from her.
So without hesitation, once she was ready, I brought my tablet from my room, turned it on, and showed her everything.
Her father's messages. The images from his so-called business trips. The recordings he had of himself with his lover that he never would have thought someone was secretly recording.
There were also the angry calls he made to Michiko when she confronted him.
All of that, coupled with me changing Shizuka's emotions, made her feel that with each piece of evidence, the image of her father in her heart was stripped away.
Her hands shook as she stared at the screen.
"No… this… this doesn't make sense."
Realizing it was time, I said calmly.
"Do you know that I was once in the same situation as you?"
She looked at me, clearly struggling to process everything at once.
"If you still don't believe me," I continued, "then don't rely on my words."
I took out my phone.
"Why not hear for yourself?"
===============
The next world is My Hero Academia, and the MC will be Momo Yaoyorozu's brother, hehehe.
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