Chapter 41: The Final Straw!
Utaha had promised Saku that she would try to recruit Eriri, and naturally she intended to keep her word.
So after school, she headed straight to the doujin game club and began trying to persuade her.
Unfortunately, Eriri was impossibly stubborn.
No matter how reasonably Utaha explained things, she refused to budge even an inch. If anything, she kept calling Utaha a traitor.
In Utaha's eyes, Eriri had the talent to keep improving and eventually reach a far greater stage.
That mutual respect was exactly why she'd spent so much effort trying to convince her.
In the end, however, Utaha had underestimated just how deeply Eriri's feelings for Tomoya ran.
Then again, she could understand.
Utaha herself had only managed to change because she'd heard Saku's thoughts and gained an entirely different perspective on her life.
Without that strange opportunity, who knew whether she would've ended up exactly like Eriri?
Eriri hadn't experienced anything similar.
Seen that way, her refusal was perfectly understandable.
Since further persuasion was pointless, Utaha had no intention of forcing her.
Still, she'd promised Saku she'd recruit someone and failed to deliver, so she couldn't help feeling a little guilty.
"Let's go, Kato."
"Okay, Senpai."
Just as Utaha reached the door, she looked back and noticed Megumi was still inside, so she casually called to her.
Megumi had just risen from her seat and followed without hesitation.
Their exchange made both Tomoya and Eriri freeze.
They stared at Megumi in disbelief.
The club's unofficial mascot, the girl who normally faded so completely into the background that people could almost forget she was there, was suddenly leaving together with Utaha?
Neither of them asked aloud, but the confusion written across their faces was obvious.
Megumi had no intention of hiding it anyway.
The reason she'd come to the club today was actually the same as Utaha's.
She was here to quit.
"Sorry, Aki-kun."
Megumi took out a form and formally held it toward him.
"I came to say goodbye too. This is my club withdrawal form."
The instant Tomoya saw it, his pupils contracted sharply.
Utaha leaving was something he could barely force himself to accept.
Megumi leaving was completely different.
Because within this club, Megumi alone was special.
To Tomoya, she had always been the special one.
"No."
His emotions finally broke through whatever restraint remained.
"I don't accept this!"
Tomoya staggered forward and grabbed Megumi by both shoulders.
"Tell me why!"
His expression had become almost hysterical, like a cornered beast.
Even through his thick glasses, Megumi could clearly see the frightening intensity burning in his eyes.
The sudden outburst startled her so badly that she nearly dropped the form.
Eriri and Utaha were equally shocked.
Neither had ever seen Tomoya like this before.
Was this really the person they knew?
"Tomoya, stop!"
Eriri was closest.
The moment she recovered, she rushed forward and tried to pull him away.
Utaha reacted almost simultaneously.
She crossed the distance in several quick steps and, without even stopping to think, slapped him across the face.
Smack!
The chaotic room seemed to freeze.
Everyone went silent.
At the very least, the slap brought Tomoya back to his senses.
"What are you doing?!"
Eriri immediately wrapped an arm protectively around Tomoya and glared furiously at Utaha, looking as though she might attack if given the slightest provocation.
Utaha ignored her.
Instead, she pulled Megumi behind herself.
"I was snapping him out of it."
Her voice was ice-cold.
"He was being rough with a girl. You think that didn't deserve a slap?"
Only then did Utaha glance back at Megumi.
"Are you all right?"
"I... I'm fine."
Her shoulders actually hurt quite a bit.
But Megumi knew saying so would only make the conflict worse.
So she quietly rubbed them while giving an answer she didn't entirely mean.
"Aki-kun, I've already joined another club, so..."
She paused.
"Please understand."
Of everyone in Tomoya's club, Megumi carried the least emotional baggage about leaving.
She'd joined mostly because she was curious.
Now she'd encountered someone and something even more interesting.
Naturally, she was willing to move on.
As for Saku's claim that she and Tomoya would become a couple in the original future?
Megumi had never taken it particularly seriously.
As far as she was concerned, something that hadn't happened didn't exist.
And regardless of anything else, she'd just seen an entirely different side of Tomoya today.
That made walking away feel even easier.
"Leave?"
Tomoya stared at her.
"You're my heroine. I won't allow it!"
"Aki..."
Utaha had just started speaking when Megumi lightly tugged her sleeve.
Utaha looked back, understood what she wanted, and silently stepped aside.
Megumi moved forward.
"Aki-kun, if all you need is a character model, then I think Sawamura-san's ability is already more than enough to reproduce my appearance."
She spoke with her usual calmness.
"So if I remain here, I'll basically just be sitting around doing nothing."
"That's not true."
Tomoya shook his head repeatedly.
"That's not it at all!"
"You're the heroine."
His voice became unusually earnest.
"Your presence here matters more than anyone else's."
Utaha narrowed her eyes.
'What is this supposed to be? A confession?'
Megumi noticed the undertone too.
Yet her heart remained completely still.
Calm as an undisturbed lake.
Maybe according to the future Saku described, she would've been moved by something like this.
But right now?
She felt absolutely nothing.
Megumi quietly studied Tomoya from head to toe.
No matter how carefully she looked, she genuinely couldn't figure out what part of him was supposed to make her fall in love.
"...Sorry."
Her answer remained gentle.
"But that isn't a reason."
To Megumi, his words felt like a castle floating in the air.
There was nothing concrete beneath them.
Tomoya might believe every word wholeheartedly, but that didn't give them any actual weight.
"I agree."
Utaha folded her arms.
"Far too shallow."
Even putting her personal emotions aside, she considered Tomoya's almost-confession hopelessly superficial.
Completely inadequate.
Megumi's rejection struck Tomoya like a hammer to the skull.
He went utterly still.
Seeing that he no longer responded, Utaha simply took Megumi with her and left.
They had barely stepped out of the clubroom when a heart-wrenching cry erupted behind them.
"No..."
Only after they were gone did Tomoya seem to understand what had happened.
His knees buckled.
He collapsed onto the floor and reached toward the empty doorway as though trying to hold onto something already gone.
Countless words seemed to gather inside him.
Yet when they finally reached his lips, only a single word remained.
His plea changed nothing.
Utaha and Megumi soon left Toyogasaki Academy altogether.
Their next destination was Sobu High School.
...
At Sobu High, inside the HoYoMix clubroom, Saku had arrived early to inspect the equipment Hiratsuka-sensei had purchased.
Yukino had come with him.
As the person in charge of finance and effectively HoYoMix's chief administrator, she naturally needed to check the inventory herself and settle the accounts.
While Saku examined the newly delivered equipment, Yukino sat nearby doing the bookkeeping.
「Shizuka-sensei really is ridiculously capable. Aside from apparently being unable to get married, she doesn't seem to have any major flaws.」
「Drinking and hitting people don't count.」
「Besides, if she never gets drunk, when am I supposed to get my chance, right?」
Yukino's pen abruptly stopped.
Her eyes slowly shifted toward Saku, who still wore an utterly calm expression.
If looks could kill, he'd already be dead.
'Jinnai Saku should be grateful Hiratsuka-sensei can't hear his thoughts.'
'Otherwise, he'd already be lying on the floor.'
Although...
Yukino reluctantly had to admit that aside from the last part, his assessment wasn't entirely unreasonable.
…