6. My Relationship with Kujo Kumiko

When I got out of the bath, the room was dimly lit, and everyone was asleep.

They must have been tired after everything that had happened today.

The outside world, visible through the curtains, was completely dark.

I poured water from the carafe into a glass and, on a whim, turned on my smartphone. The time was just past 7:30 PM.

The signal still didn't reach, but the time seemed to be roughly synchronized with the scenery.

I searched the four corners of the room, but as expected, there were no outlets, so I couldn't charge it, and it would eventually become unusable.

I turned off my phone and put it in my backpack. I probably wouldn't use it again, I thought.

I drank the water in one gulp and felt tired myself.

"Well, shall I get some sleep?"

I got into an empty bed and was dozing off for a while when someone wriggled under the covers with me.

Or rather, there was only one person who would be so unreserved: Kujo Kumiko.

"Oh, did I wake you?"

"Well, yeah, you'd normally wake up. I'm tired and want to sleep."

"Don't guys' lower bodies get energetic when they're tired?"

"Where do you get that kind of knowledge?"

It was pointless to say that to a bitch, though.

Ugh, she'd probably say she picked it up from some stupid magazine. I didn't even want to hear about how teen magazines had erotic articles.

"Hey, wanna do it?"

As she said that, I felt Kumiko slip off her gown in the bed.

Before she could take off her bra, I reached out and stopped her hand.

"Stop it, not at a time like this."

"Oh, isn't it precisely because it's a time like this?"

Saying that, she took off my gown with her hands while giggling in my ear. Kumiko had already taken off her bra.

The feel of Kumiko's soft skin and the sweet scent of her hair awakened my memories.

I was remembering the first time I had hugged Kumiko.

It was more than three months ago now.

It was around late May, not long after we had entered high school.

Fed up with the boring classes at a school I didn't want to go to, I was completely sullen and had skipped class to sleep in the shadows of a special classroom in the old school building.

I had heard that the old school building, which had been used until last year, was scheduled to be demolished soon because it didn't meet earthquake resistance standards.

Apparently, it was currently being used as a warehouse, but no one ever came during class hours. Since it was a storage room, there was even an old sofa, making it the perfect place to slack off.

Looking up, dust glittered in the sunlight streaming through the window, enveloped in a silence that made it feel like time had stopped.

For just a brief moment, I could forget my troubles and relax alone.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a door opening. I wondered who had come to a place like this at this time and turned my gaze while still lying down.

I hadn't intended to peep or eavesdrop, but I just happened to see.

The man and woman talking were Nanami Shuichi and Kujo Kumiko. Of course, these honor students from Class A wouldn't have come here to slack off like me.

Since they had been in the student council since their first year, they sometimes missed classes due to school events. I figured they had come this far on their way.

"Nanami-kun, please go out with me."

Hearing that, I suppressed a laugh while keeping my body low so I wouldn't be seen.

To witness the confession scene of two classmates, and famous for being a beautiful couple at that...

"Was that what you wanted to talk about? If you mean you want to date me, I'm sorry, but I can't go out with you."

And she got rejected!

I desperately covered my mouth with my hand, somehow biting back the rising laughter.

Kumiko probably hadn't expected to be rejected. She had a stunned expression, as if her soul had left her body.

Certainly, Nanami Shuichi was a strikingly handsome young man, even in this school, but Kumiko was also an exceptionally beautiful girl.

They were honor students in the same student council, and on the previous achievement test results, they had been posted at the top and second place.

Even if it wasn't Kumiko, anyone would think they were the perfect couple. There had even been rumors that they were dating.

Nanami Shuichi, with practiced ease, uttered the commonplace rejection line, "I can't date you because there's someone else I like."

Kumiko kept turning her face away, pretending not to understand, but finally closed her eyelids and began to shed tears.

Why, on that day, at that time, had Nanami Shuichi, who should have been a kind man, left Kumiko crying and walked away?

Why had I, who thought that dealing with others was nothing but trouble, thought of comforting a poor girl?

Even now, when I recalled it, it seemed like a momentary lapse of reason.

But somehow, I was slightly moved by the sight of Kumiko, left alone in the room, continuing to cry silently with tears streaming down her face.

The scene of a beautiful girl's pride and faint love being shattered in an instant was a shocking sight, one you might only see once in a lifetime.

Even I, who was just watching, was shocked. Then how much more painful must it have been for Kumiko herself?

While the stunned expression of the rejected Kumiko made me want to laugh, I also felt sorry for her and a strong urge to do something for her.

Before my eyes, which were secretly watching, the trembling of Kumiko's shoulders, unable to bear her sorrow, intensified.

Beautiful tears flowed endlessly. Finally, the sobs that escaped grew louder and louder, reaching the point of wailing.

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

It was the first time I had seen someone break down crying. Seeing the most beautiful girl in the school, tears streaming from her eyes and even snot running down her face, a miserable sight, pounding the floor with her fist while screaming, shook me to the core.

I didn't have much interest in just a pretty, aloof girl. But Kumiko at that time was different.

I couldn't explain it well, but something was different.

Maybe that's why, even though I had intended to stay hidden, I came out as if drawn by an invisible force.

"Yo."

"Sniffle... what?"

What did "yo" even mean, I thought to myself.

Tears streaming down her face, Kumiko furrowed her brow and glared at me. Her eyes were very large and deep, as if they would suck me in.

"What do you mean, 'what'? Well..."

"Were you... watching from somewhere? Did you see... all of my embarrassing... stuff?"

Kumiko stood up shakily, took a silk handkerchief from her chest, and blew her nose with a *buh*. Her ears were red with intense embarrassment. She was trying to fix her tear-streaked face, but she was flustered and not doing a good job.

The usually composed honor student Kumiko had such a terrible expression.

I felt a sense of guilt, as if I had seen something I shouldn't have, but I also thought that this was better. If she thought I had seen her embarrassing moment, she wouldn't be in a state of grief.

Wasn't it better to be trembling with shame and anger than crying alone?

If I could offer some comfort, I thought, uncharacteristically, that it would be better.

I deliberately provoked her because I didn't want to see Kumiko crying anymore.

"Oh yeah, I saw it all. It was quite an interesting show to see an honor student fail at confessing."

"You were watching from the beginning, weren't you? Kyaaaaaaaah!"

Kumiko screamed and suddenly jumped at me. She grabbed the collar of my uniform and pulled me close, thrusting her face right up to mine.

With her red, bloodshot eyes swollen from crying, she glared fiercely at me.

Overwhelmed by her intensity, I instinctively recoiled.

That's right, this girl had just been dumped by a guy and was in a state of intense shock. You never knew what a woman would do when she became hysterical.

Even though she was a small girl, it would be dangerous if she acted impulsively.

I panicked, wondering if provoking her had been a mistake.

"N-no, wait, even if I was watching, if you want me to keep it a secret, I won't tell anyone..."

"If you're holding my weakness hostage and plan to do something indecent to me in this deserted classroom, you beast!"

What kind of accusation was that?

It would be bad if she said I had tried to attack her.

"No! Don't misunderstand! I was trying to comfort you!"

"Oh, is that so? You were planning to be kind to a poor rejected girl and win her over? That's a common, transparent tactic, isn't it? Tell me, is that it? Were you planning to do something indecent to me, you pervert!"

I was shaken by the head while she held my collar.

Even though she was a poor girl, I was getting increasingly annoyed by her doing whatever she pleased.

"Hey! Why do I have to be the bad guy? I admit it was bad that I was eavesdropping, but it was an accident!"

"An accident? The one who had their worst moment in life witnessed by you is the one who can't stand it! You probably wouldn't understand, but my life, which had been progressing perfectly until now, just ended. That's it, it's over. I don't care anymore, hahahaha!"

She spat out those words as if completely sulking, then released my collar and suddenly hugged me with all her weight.

My waist was held tightly. Was she going to start wrestling or something? I didn't know how to deal with this. What was wrong with this girl? Where was the lady-like demeanor? She was too emotionally unstable and scary.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

"Hahaha, 'wanted to comfort me?' That's hilarious! You were just going to comfort me with some cheap, transparent lines and then try to hold me, weren't you? I'm quite a good woman, and maybe you've been eyeing me for a while. Well, good for you, your chance has come. You don't even have to go through all that trouble, I'll let you hold me right here. After all, no one will come at this time, and we can get it over with quickly."

What was she even saying? I was starting to get really scared.

Her words and actions were clearly abnormal.

Considering what had happened, it was unavoidable that Kumiko had lost her composure.

This was probably a state of confusion.

I see, she was blaming me because she was embarrassed that I had seen her.

If I became the bad guy, maybe she would be satisfied.

I reconsidered, thinking that even if I became the villain, if Kumiko could vent her feelings by scolding me, crying, screaming, and yelling, then maybe it was okay.

It was a small price to pay. I would go along with her story and keep her company until she felt better.

"Alright then, I'll comfort you. Come over here."

"So, I'm going to be ravaged on that old sofa over there. In this old school building, and in a classroom of all places. This is an unbelievable first experience."

And then, we didn't have wild sex on the old sofa with squeaking springs in the shadows... of course not.

Even I didn't want such a bizarre first experience.

I had just wanted to comfort a crying girl. It might have been cheap sympathy, but I had just thought I would stay with her until she stopped crying.

Kumiko, who had wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her face against my shoulder, sobbing, was a reasonably cute girl.

Her black hair was very beautiful and smelled nice. Her delicate, slender body felt properly soft when I held her, and it made me feel a little overwhelmed.

Why would Nanami Shuichi dump such a good woman?

I was a little curious about who the 'someone else I like' that Nanami had mentioned was.

I thought our school had a relatively large number of students, but even considering that, if we were talking about a strikingly beautiful girl on Kumiko's level, there wouldn't be that many in the same grade.

In the first year, the beautiful girls that came to mind were Aoi Reona from Class D, a super-famous girl who was both a model and an idol and still attended our normal prep school.

Or Mayuzumi Kyoka from Class B in the library club, who was called a sheltered princess in secret and was extremely popular with the cultural clubs.

Or maybe it was someone from our own Class A?

Or, since Nanami was such a handsome and gentle man, maybe his partner was older, and he was aiming for the unattainable flower, the student council president, who was renowned as the most talented girl in our school?

If it was a hyper-spec girl around that level, it wouldn't be strange for Kumiko to lose. No matter how cute and well-bred she was, she was small and flat-chested. Maybe she didn't match Nanami's tastes.

While I was thinking about that, I noticed that Kumiko had somehow stopped crying and was starting to unbutton my uniform.

"Wait, what do you think you're doing!"

"Well, we can't do it with our clothes on, can we?"

I sighed. When I said "I'll comfort you," I didn't mean "comfort you sexually."

I would say it again and again, I really had no intention of doing anything.

Besides, it was strange that she was trying to take off my clothes instead of her own. What kind of nymphomaniac was she?

I held Kumiko's hand and rebuttoned my shirt while scolding her.

"Don't become desperate."

"I will become desperate!"

Scolding her was impossible. She pushed me down onto the sofa and straddled me, glaring at me with sharp eyes.

Then, she brought her face close to mine and lightly pressed her lips against mine. Without any hesitation, she really kissed me.

I couldn't resist at all.

And then, she licked my lips with her tongue.

"...What the hell do you think you're doing!"

"Hehe. What do you think I'm doing? We're going to do it now, aren't we? It's decided, right?"

Kumiko pinched and pulled my lip, which was wet with her saliva. It hurt.

Was she trying to stop me from complaining? She played with my lip with her white fingertips and giggled happily.

"Stop playing with my mouth! What's wrong with you? You were just crying!"

"This is my first kiss, you know. It's not bad. How was it for you?"

"What do you mean, 'how was it'?"

"It was so sudden, wasn't it? Then let's do it again."

Kumiko kissed me again.

Maybe she was a little flustered, intending to catch me off guard again. This time, the kiss failed, and our teeth clinked together.

Kumiko was probably a little embarrassed. She covered her mouth, wriggled her body on top of me, and then let out a small "kufu."

Even an honor student like her could fail at kissing if they weren't used to it, I thought with a wry smile. No, this wasn't the time to be smiling.

"Hey, enough already... Kujo-san."

"Oh, even though we're in different classes, you remember my name."

"Well, Nanami and Kujo-san are famous, after all."

"Is that so... You're quite famous too, Shinjo Wataru-kun from Class F."

When I looked surprised, Kumiko peered down at me with an amused expression.

She might have thought she had gotten a little revenge. It was certainly my fault for peeping at Kumiko's embarrassing moment.

However, if I, who had been trying to live inconspicuously in high school, was being marked by someone from the student council, it was a serious problem.

"Why would an honor student from Class A know me...?"

"There's a rumor going around that there's a student who comes to school but skips classes all the time and completely ignores the teachers' lessons. There are some unserious kids in Class F, but there aren't many delinquents with your kind of guts, Shinjo-kun. You couldn't possibly go unnoticed from the beginning of first year."

Forced to attend a high school I didn't want to go to, I had been sullen and doing nothing but half-assed things. Even when skipping, I thought I was calculating my attendance days properly, and I had no intention of being a delinquent, but my behavior made it unavoidable.

It was a failure that I hadn't considered that I would stand out for the wrong reasons.

"So that's how it is. The student council is so kind that they even worry about delinquent students."

"The student council at this school also handles student management. I've been personally interested in Shinjo-kun for a while now, wondering what the son of the fixer is like."

Those words cooled me down as if I had been doused with cold water.

I complained with a sigh.

"Don't talk about my old man."

"Angry? Even you get bothered when people talk about your parents. I know how unpleasant it is to be told things about a difficult family... but serves you right. I was embarrassed too, so we're even when it comes to rudeness, right?"

"I apologize for that."

"If you really feel bad, comfort me more. Make it more intense and let me forget the unpleasant things."

With tear-filled eyes, Kumiko repeatedly pressed her lips against mine. It was a girl's strength, I should have been able to easily push her away, but for some reason, I couldn't resist.

Eventually, Kumiko seemed to get used to kissing and even slipped her tongue into my mouth.

Since she was leaning over me, her long hair fell over my face, and my mouth was filled with the taste of her saliva flowing from her tongue.

Her tongue tangled with mine, reaching deep into my mouth as if urging me to drink. Kumiko's scent and taste seemed to permeate me.

"Hey, that's enough, right?"

"What? Do you want to do it already?"

"No, that's not it! I mean, comforting you, it's been enough, right? I can't possibly do any more than this..."

"Shinjo-kun, what are you saying? This was my first kiss, you know. After coming this far, there's no way we're not going all the way, right?"

No, there was a way.

I hadn't intended to do anything in the first place.

"Wait, this is still wrong, isn't it? Listen, you're not thinking straight right now. Even if you do something like that based on a temporary emotion, you'll only regret it later."

"Is that so? Even a delinquent like Shinjo-kun is lecturing me. Hahahaha, how low am I going to fall? I was a perfect woman until just now."

Kujo started sniffling again. Her eyes welled up, and jewel-like droplets fell onto my face.

Just because she had laughed didn't mean she had gotten over it and become cheerful. She was still emotionally unstable.

"Kujo, calm down."

"I am calm. I'm calm. You know, I've worked really hard since entering high school. I was even a scholarship student during the entrance exams, and that's why they recommended me to join the student council. But Nanami-kun is even more amazing, isn't he? So I tried harder and harder not to lose, but no matter what I did, I couldn't win."

"I see, Kujo, you're competitive, aren't you?"

"That's right. I've always done everything perfectly. And you know, if I couldn't win no matter what I did, I thought I should just go out with Nanami-kun."

"Why would you think that?"

"I don't even know myself. But everyone recommended us as a good match, and I thought if I became Nanami-kun's girlfriend and made him fall for me, wouldn't that be my victory?"

"I can't understand at all, but I kind of get what you're saying."

"Right, you understand. But I got dumped, so it's a complete defeat, isn't it..."

So, she hadn't confessed because of love or hate; for Kumiko, that confession had been a competition.

Against Nanami Shuichi, whom she couldn't beat no matter what she did, she would use herself as a weapon to challenge him. It was a completely incomprehensible set of values, but I could somewhat understand her feelings.

If a man and a woman got together and became completely one, the other person's things would become their own. Maybe that was a kind of battle too.

And in the battle of women, Kumiko had been defeated. That's why she had said her life was over. It was an abnormal obsession with victory, but strangely, there was a part of me that didn't want to deny that way of life.

I didn't dislike someone as competitive as Kumiko.

Being frustrated was proof that you were trying hard. Since I was a lazy person, I thought that anyone who lived seriously deserved respect just for that.

"You can just try harder again and find something you can beat Nanami at. If you want, you can even try confessing again."

"No, it's okay now. I somehow understood that it wouldn't work, and I'm not interested in Nanami-kun anymore either."

Huh? Had she already lost interest in beating Nanami, whom she had been so fixated on until just now?

"Well, maybe that's for the best."

Nanami Shuichi had a certain aloofness that made it difficult for others to approach him. He was too perfect, lacking a bit of humanity, or so it seemed.

There was a hint that he was suppressing his own desires and playing the role of a perfect person.

The story about having someone he liked might have been a lie too.

He was always at the center of the group, kind and friendly to everyone, yet there was a coldness, as if he was keeping a certain distance from people.

If a passionate woman like Kumiko challenged a cold, aloof man like air on a high mountain, wouldn't she just be rejected and hurt every time?

"Yeah, so let's hurry up and have sex."

"That's why! Why does it always come to that?!"

Seeing my flustered reaction, Kumiko looked pleased. Was I being teased by this woman?

Kumiko, with a dazzling smile, suddenly began to recite loudly.

"Waga mi wa narinarite nariawazaru tokoro hitotsu ari."

"Eh...? Ah, the Kojiki."

"Heh, even though you're a delinquent, Shinjo-kun, you're quite knowledgeable."

"Don't make fun of me. I know at least the basics of Japanese mythology."

By the way, what Kumiko had said was a passage from the creation myth in the Kojiki.

I can't translate it in detail because it might violate the eighteen-plus rule, but it's a scene where Izanami says, "There is a place in my body that is formed but not yet joined."

And then, the story goes, "Well then, let's join my protrusion with your indentation."

Thus, by the gods rubbing their concave and convex mucous membranes together, the Great Eight-Island Country, in other words, the Japanese archipelago, was born. By the way, Izanagi and Izanami, who created the land, were brother and sister gods, so this country has truly been a bit crazy from its very beginnings.

"Why won't you do it? Or is this some kind of humiliation play? Are you trying to embarrass me even more?"

"I have no intention of playing or toying with you."

I had no intention of making the Japanese archipelago explode into existence with Kumiko, so I firmly refused.

Thinking about it carefully, Kujo Kumiko was a very troublesome woman.

Certainly, she wasn't just a beautiful honor student; she had a human and cute side, making her an attractive girl.

The gap between her usual dignified appearance and the tear-streaked face she had just shown had made me feel a certain fondness, enough to consider just going along with it and having sex, but I needed to be more calm and clever.

I remembered that she was the princess of the Kujo family, a family with a background in the old aristocracy and immense power in the political and business worlds.

Even in this school full of rich kids, she was one of the people to watch out for.

The Nanami Shuichi from before was the youngest son of the chairman of Nanami Sports, a comprehensive sporting goods manufacturer, and in that sense, he and Kumiko were a good match from prestigious families. I wasn't suitable for her.

Due to my parents' work, I knew well the trouble of getting involved with daughters from such upper-class families. It wouldn't end with just a fleeting, one-time relationship.

It could even develop into a matter between families.

Everything was already troublesome enough; I didn't need any more trouble.

"Then... are you serious?"

"Anyway, I have no intention of doing anything like that with Kujo-san."

Kumiko muttered "I see" and finally released me.

It was from that point on that Kumiko's persistent stalking of me began.

The appearance of a refined honor student was just a facade; I realized she was actually a passionate woman.

Every chance she got, she would push me down and try to force a relationship on me.

Kumiko, who had been calling me "Shinjo-kun," eventually started calling me "Wataru-kun" by my first name.

Before I knew it, I had also started calling her "Kumiko" instead of "Kujo-san."

No, that wasn't right. I had skipped that and given her the nickname "Virgin Bitch."

Even then, she would say something incomprehensible like, "Is that part of the play too?" and happily accept it.

Having our lips meet or being groped had become commonplace.

I didn't know why things had turned out this way. I wanted to ask Kumiko.

But I wasn't dating Kumiko, and we still hadn't crossed the final line.

Even now, we were in the same bed, but neither of us had taken off our underwear. Kumiko would tempt me relentlessly, but in the end, she wanted me to be the one to make the final move.

Knowing that, I would never go all the way.

Kumiko and I had somehow ended up in this half-hearted, purely physical relationship.

"Just go to sleep. You know this isn't the time for that, right?"

"They say that the closer people are to danger, the more their urge to procreate intensifies."

"Idiot, if you're being carefree in a life-threatening situation, you'll die. Think about it, what would you do if you got pregnant in a world like this?"

"That's true. It seems like even though it's a love hotel, they didn't have any condoms. How unkind."

Was she still calling it a love hotel?

This was just an inn. Genoria was a game for all ages, so there were no love hotels.

"Just sleep next to me quietly, okay?"

"Are you going to go out? When you do, why don't you just put it in my stomach?"

I stopped trying to reason with her. Even if Kumiko snuggled up to me or said anything, I decided to ignore her and go to sleep.

Even though she was being noisy about this and that, I knew Kumiko wouldn't go all the way against my will, so I closed my eyes with peace of mind.

Kumiko was truly an erratic woman who did everything out of the ordinary, and I didn't know what she was thinking, but she would never go back on something she had decided.

So, all I had to do was try my best and resist Kumiko's temptations. She would probably just grope my body or kiss me somewhere, so I would just let her do as she pleased.

"Haa, sorry... Wataru-kun, sorry, I..."

I wondered why Kumiko always apologized at the end after doing whatever she wanted. Even when I waited for the words after "sorry," she never said anything. She would just press her small face tightly against my chest.

Before long, I could hear Kumiko's real breathing as she slept, and thinking that even she was tired, I also drifted off to sleep as if invited.

It was a nuisance to be lewdly entangled by a virgin bitch who had no intention of going all the way.

But being able to touch someone and feel their body temperature against my skin was very peaceful and comfortable.

Even I wouldn't have let her if I had really hated it.

So there was no need to apologize.

I put the blanket over Kumiko's shoulder as she slept soundly and then let myself drift into slumber.

In the warm, fulfilling darkness, my consciousness faded away, listening to Kumiko's heartbeat and soft breathing.

Current death toll: 14, survivors: 174.