The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria
Book 2: Chapter 7

May 2 (Saturday), 9:05 AMI’m surprised to find that “Kazuki Hoshino” has been in class. I really expected to find him bound up in Maria Otonashi’s room, so I’m caught completely off guard. “Kazuki Hoshino” has a lot of guts coming to school when everyone in the class has it in for him.

Maybe Maria Otonashi forced him to go so they can gather information? If so, she’s more coldhearted than I thought.

Not that any of that matters. It still won’t change the outcome.

It won’t alter the fact that Kazuki Hoshino’s life will be in ruins.

After all, just being with Maria Otonashi will be enough to make his normal life hell, thanks to my little setup.

Why did I confess my love to Kokone Kirino? To bring that much more chaos into Kazuki Hoshino’s life, of course.

The reason I chose this method out of all the others is simply that it has the strongest potential for revenge. I mean, how could anyone not want to get back at this guy? Who does he think he is, acting all friendly with members of the opposite sex when he already has Maria Otonashi as a lover?

That’s why I decided that putting an end to those relationships with professions of love seemed the most fitting.

I was rewarded with immediate results that created wide-reaching aftereffects. My little confession to Kirino has proven more explosive than I could ever have hoped.

Oomine actually beat him up. The remark that set those wheels in motion wasn’t even actually meant to hurt Kirino. All I said to her was “Hey, hurry up and give me your answer.”

I had only been trying to determine what went down between them after my initial confession of love.

But for some reason, those words had proved so incredibly shocking to Kirino that she broke down in tears, and this in turn had caused Oomine to overreact with physical force.

Why did things turn out that way? I couldn’t figure it out at first, but I soon realized the answer after a little deliberation. “Kazuki Hoshino” and “Yuhei Ishihara” don’t share their memories. Imagine if Kirino had already responded to what she thought was Kazuki Hoshino’s romantic declaration. And then I came along and said what I did. How would Kirino have taken that? There’s no way of knowing for certain, but it’s worth assuming that it hurt her.

I’m not quite sure why Oomine responded as violently as he did. I’ve heard rumors that he harbors special feelings for her, though. It may not be apparent from the way he usually treats her, but perhaps there is a grain of truth to be found there.

I never actually saw what happened next, and I learned about it only after the fact from Haruaki Usui.

Once Oomine laid into Hoshino, most of the other kids in Class 2-3 were aware that the scuffle had started because Kazuki told Kirino he was in love with her. That was fine.

The problem was what happened next, when Maria Otonashi showed up.

Hoshino went straight to his lover’s side without any hesitation, like he wanted her to comfort him. He didn’t spare a moment’s notice for the feelings of Kokone Kirino as she sobbed away, even though he had supposedly claimed to love her.

To make matters worse, Kazuki Hoshino continues to associate with Maria Otonashi as if nothing happened.

Obviously, blowing off someone as popular as Kokone Kirino would enrage his classmates. But Hoshino still has no choice but to depend on Maria Otonashi.

That’s how his precious normal life fell apart around him.

Not because of anything I did, but through the actions of “Kazuki Hoshino” himself.

Nothing in the world could make me happier.

I tell the teacher I’m going to the bathroom, and I step out into the hallway. As soon as I do, I notice Maria Otonashi there watching me. Her brows furrow as she demands, “What are you smiling about?”

Apparently, I can’t keep my joy from reaching my lips. “Maybe because you’re here waiting for me, Otonashi.”

“Hmph, I suppose you’re trying to act like ‘Kazuki Hoshino,’ eh ‘Yuhei Ishihara’?”

She figured out it’s “Yuhei Ishihara” with only what we said just now?

Why am I not surprised? She came running to the front of Class 2-3 as soon as I took control.

She and “Kazuki Hoshino” must have come up with some way of telling when it’s me.

“Come with me,” she orders.

“Where are we going?”

She smiles faintly at my question. “What’re you saying? You announced where you were going just a moment ago, didn’t you?”

“Huh?”

“You’re going to the bathroom.”

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