I pulled out my phone as I walked out of Nobu’s room, sending Mei a message asking where she was. She replied almost immediately, telling me she was in the canteen with Yori and that I should come hang out with them.

  I knew that Yori wasn’t happy with how the game of ‘Democracy’ played out. I was hoping to talk to him one on one, but I knew he was smart enough to avoid making a scene with Mei present.

  I pulled out my keycard and opened my cupboard, and then I pulled out a random pair of shirts and trousers and quickly put them on before heading back to the canteen. I took my time, walking while I thought about everything that happened since the game ended.

  There was Mei’s confession and how I helped her through it.

  Then I talked to Osamu and helped him realise why Yaeko refused to let him in on her pain, while helping him through his insecurity.

  After that, I ate with Choko and Hibiki. I got out of Hibiki’s accusations, but Choko showed me that she’s someone I can’t ignore.

  Lastly, I managed to get through to Nobu and I helped him realise how to manage his own insecurity as well.

  When I reached the canteen, I saw Yori and Mei sitting with Osamu and Yaeko.

  Osamu and Mei warmly waved and made space for me while Yaeko watched me coldly.

  I calmly sat down and made eye contact with Yori. He held it for a few seconds, but he ended up looking away.

  “Akira, where have you been?” Mei cheerfully asked and I smiled back at her. I was glad to see her in a good mood, but I quickly glanced at Yaeko and Osamu before answering.

  “I was starving so I came here to eat as soon as Keiko showed me to my room, then I went back to my room to take a nap.” Osamu and I were the only ones without a bowl, so they already knew Osamu had eaten.

  I chose to hide that I ate with Osamu in case it put Yaeko on edge. If she realised that I encouraged him to talk to her, then her bias against me might make her annoyed with Osamu for taking my advice.

  “How are you always tired enough to take a nap?” Yaeko scoffed as she had some of her soup.

  “Yaeko…” Osamu’s voice trailed off as he broke eye contact with me and looked at her instead. He let out a frustrated sigh as Yori and Mei laughed at the joke, but Osamu knew there was more behind it. I ignored it for now and laughed with them.

  Instead of focusing on Yaeko’s comment, I just watched her, and she wasn’t even smiling. When she realised I was looking at her blank face, she passively looked away.

  “I’m not wrong, am I?” She scoffed as she glanced at Yori and Mei. I shifted my attention to the others, and I noticed Osamu’s eyebrows furrow as Mei’s laugh faded into a quieter smile.

  “He was probably late for karaoke because he overslept and made up that ice cream story to avoid the embarrassment of proving me right.” She confidently made another joke as soon as I looked away. I kept my blank smile, but my fists slowly clenched under the table.

  I was fine with the jokes, but I thought back to when I helped Ren.

  If I really was just taking a nap like Yaeko joked, he’d still be in that toxic group.

  He might even be competing in his own games here.

  He’d still be in pain.

  Thinking about how Yaeko made these jokes, so ignorant of everything that was really going on, it put me on edge. I was going to let it slide again, but then I realised something.

  I realised that I’ve always been scared of making moves in front of the group, but right now, acting in front of the group might be easier. As long as I don’t do anything too extraordinary, she won’t be able to run away from this conversation. Even if she doesn’t listen, I’m confident Osamu will keep trying to get her to acknowledge my words.

  “Yaeko, why do you feel the need to always insult me?” Both Yori and Mei gasped as they were taken aback. They knew how I thought about her, but they’d never imagined I would make such an open accusation like that.

  I quickly pulled out my phone as she replied.

  “Excuse me?” She aggressively snapped back.

  Osamu kept looking between us, before trying to diffuse things.

  “Yaeko, it’s ok.” He’d picked up on the intensity behind my eyes and gently held Yaeko’s arm to try and calm her down.

  “Akira, she’s only joking, it’s not a big deal.” Mei watched as Yori tried to diffuse the situation, but I wasn’t letting that happen.

  “If it’s a joke, why does she look so annoyed? Why isn’t she laughing with you guys?”

  I pointed at her.

  I wanted her to feel like this was a personal attack.

  I needed her to get emotional so I could force her to admit how she feels about me.

  Yaeko hesitated, not knowing what to say. Osamu saw it and sucked in some air, knowing that I was right, and I saw that Yori noticed it too.

  “Akira,” Yori looked me in the eyes.

  “Tensions and emotions are high right now with the kidnapping and the games and everything.”

  He slowed his speech.

  “Let this go, this isn’t the time.”

  After confirming Yaeko’s annoyance, he shifted his argument. Instead of trying to convince me it wasn’t malicious, he tried convincing me to wait.

  “What do you mean there’s a better time? Don’t tell me you agree with him!” Yaeko laughed at the perceived absurdity of her own question.

  I knew that Yori wouldn’t have a reply.

  I knew that would raise the tension and drag him into the crossfire.

  That’s why I intervened before that happened.

  “Don’t change the topic, Yaeko. It doesn’t matter if he agrees or not.” I paused for half a second, looking at Osamu. “This is between you and me. No one else.”

  I could see it.

  She felt cornered.

  I’d experienced this enough times in ‘Democracy’.

  She’ll use emotions as a way out.

  “Akira, please stop.” I quickly looked back at Osamu.

  Why was he focusing on me instead of Yaeko?

  I glanced back at Yaeko as I tried figuring it out, and she’d already started speaking over Osamu.

  “Why wouldn’t it matter whether or not he agrees? I’m not going to sit here and be slandered because you can’t take a joke.” There was no point going back and forth in circles.

  I decided to press forward, changing the topic so that I could keep her isolated. I looked at the others before continuing.

  “I know all three of you noticed how guilty she sounds.” I watched her and waited for the moment just before she swallowed to make my point. That way, she wouldn’t be able to cut me off with another emotionally charged denial or deflection.

  “If she genuinely was saying all of this as a joke, she’d be concerned that I’ve been taking it to heart. She’d apologise immediately.”

  Yaeko’s mouth shut.

  She couldn’t counter an emotional read with an emotional action.

  I had all the momentum, so I kept pressing forward.

  “Yaeko, you intentionally chose a song with high notes to try and embarrass me during our duet at karaoke-” she cut me off.

  “Yeah, because the entire group agreed it was meant to be your punishment.” She regained some of her composure, thinking that she’d shut me down.

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  She couldn’t be more wrong.

  She missed my entire point.

  “Yeah, I understand that. I don’t even care about that.” I paused again and laughed. I needed the others to know what specifically I was accusing her of doing during our song.

  “Why did you stop singing just before the chorus? The part that you knew would be most embarrassing?” She took her time, drinking some water before replying.

  “Again, it was your punishment! What’s the point of you singing an embarrassing song if nobody can hear you because I’m too loud?”

  My new methods of dealing with Yaeko were incredibly effective.

  When I tried to show Nobu could be innocent, I’d adopted a new strategy of guiding Yaeko into bad choices, rather than removing all of them entirely. That way, she’d fall into traps.

  Just like the one I’d set up for her right now.

  “That still isn’t my point.” I intentionally made a show of how she couldn’t understand what I was saying. Using her pride to fluster her had worked well in ‘Democracy’, and there’s no reason for me to switch tactics.

  “I knew you’d say that.” I paused, letting that sink in before biting deeper.

  “In fact, I wanted you to admit that so you’d have no way of lying yourself out of my next point.” I slowly glanced at the others.

  Osamu still couldn’t look at us, but I saw him suck in some air. Meanwhile, Yori and Mei both passively watched as I became more confrontational.

  “If the chorus was meant to be my punishment, why did you suddenly start trying to sing louder than me?”

  My question landed with full force.

  I watched her sink back into her chair as she tried to give an excuse, so I decided to add more weight to it.

  “The only possible reason is that you saw I could actually sing the chorus well. Then, you saw how Mei and everyone else started clapping and cheering.” I intenionally looked Mei in the eyes as I said it so she couldn’t run away from the logic.

  If she couldn’t accept that I was right about Yaeko’s hostility by herself, then I’d force her to.

  “When you saw how impressed everyone was, you got mad at how my “punishment” turned into a spotlight. Because of your hatred of me, you stepped in and sang over me so that everyone would stop cheering for me.”

  This is the first time I’ve explicitly accused her of hating or disliking me.

  I’d waited until I presented my evidence so she couldn’t deny it.

  Instead of fighting back, she just put her head down and started sniffling.

  “Yeah, you’re right Akira, well done! I hate you so much!” Yaeko started crying, but I patiently sat back and coldly looked on as the others watched her with open faces.

  I knew the tears were an act.

  I knew she’d resort to this.

  I just needed to let it play out a little longer.

  “I hate how you’re so lazy but your natural talent still gets you everything you want.” She watched the others’ surprised reactions and quickly continued.

  “I’m not just some jealous child. I’d ignore that, but that’s not it.” She paused as Osamu put his arm around her. However, he couldn’t bring himself to look at her.

  His eyes simply stared at the table.

  Yaeko looked up at me and continued.

  “I hate how smart you think you are.” She paused, taking a deep breath in. “You don’t need to constantly show it off with all of this analysis.” She paused as she took a deep breath in between tears.

  “Between being Nobu’s “hero” in ‘Democracy’, to even now! You even had to show off your superiority by saying you wanted me to admit why I stopped singing.” Osamu visibly twitched when he heard this, but I couldn’t tell why.

  Why twitch now, and not when I was attacking her?

  “It’s so freaking annoying! I hate how you always show off your brain like you earned it, when you’re just lucky you were born with it!”

  I quietly waited until she finished.

  Mei got out of her chair to physically comfort her with Osamu.

  Yori turned to me and I read his distasteful expression. “For what possible reason did you have to do this right here, right now?”

  I quietly pulled out my phone and showed Yori my screen. He gasped, but the others didn’t notice it.

  I slid it over to Mei and Osamu.

  “Akira, don’t.”

  It wasn’t an order.

  Yori pleaded with me not to continue.

  He viewed it as unnecessary.

  I viewed it as the opposite.

  I had to reveal Yaeko’s true colours so she couldn’t get away with this anymore. The first step for her growth is her learning to take accountability.

  “She’ll try victimising herself, making me the villain. She’ll say that I’m too cocky. That I’m lazy and I don’t deserve my grades. She’ll start crying. She has a clear tendency to resort to emotions when she’s trapped by logic. It’s an escape mechanism, we all saw it happen in ‘Democracy’. It’s all an act to manipulate the three of you. Don’t fall for it.”

  Osamu looked at me with shock and disgust.

  He didn’t need to see my phone.

  He already figured I wasn't lying about predicting that, but he couldn’t understand why I’d need to push Yaeko to this point. I couldn’t blame him for that reaction.

  He finally looked at Yaeko, holding her tighter as he saw her tears.

  “Akira, we need to talk. Now.” Yori grabbed my arm as he walked past me.

  Osamu looked me in the eyes as Yori dragged me away.

  I didn’t fight it.

  There was no point.

  I’d already done what I needed to.

  I’d gotten Yaeko to admit her hatred of me in front of key witnesses.

  I’d revealed her manipulative tendencies, whether or not they’re intentional.

  Her ego and pride served as an impenetrable mental fortress.

  If I tried to help her before this, she’d just dismiss me.

  I needed her to lose all control.

  I needed her to reach a rock bottom before I could try to help her.

  This was the most effective way of accomplishing that goal. I’d already accepted Yori’s anger as a necessary consequence before I made my move.

  Yori continued leading me away from the canteen so the others couldn’t hear us.