CONFESSION UNDER THE CHERRY TREE


DAY 5

     Never in her life did Osana think that she'll be all alone, sitting on a bench and wallowing in self pity. She is patiently waiting for Taro to come to her but he hasn't arrived. She hears someone call his name and swiftly looks at the direction. She sees Budo approach and Taro and starts to feel heartache.

"Taro, have you seen Ayano?" Budo asks in an energetic way, like a dog wagging its tail. Taro shake's in head.

"TARO!!!" Osana shouts outloud and he looks at her. This got the attention of a lot of people but they ignore the scene.

"You can check her classroom. I have to go now" Taro says and hurriedly walks away. Osana reaches Budo and watches as Taro escapes from her sight. Gasping, she smacks her face.

"He definitely hates me now" Osana says starting to wonder where it all went wrong.

"He doesn't hate you. He just needs time" Budo says confidently "Knowing Taro, he has a forgiving heart"

"He does but, I can't help but feel..." Osana says then remembers...Ayano. She turns to the side to tell Budo something but he's gone.

Ayano is in class, studying a book when Budo silently walks in and covers her eyes from her back. She hurriedly takes his hands off and looks back.

"Oh. It's just you" she says sounding extremely disappointed. Budo drags a seat out of a desk and sits next to Ayano. He turns her seat around, making it face his direction while she keeps an aggregated look on her face.

"So tell me, why do you need martial arts? Did you learn it only to use it on me when you get angry?" he asks, pestering and pressing her to say something. She rolls her eyes and scoffs in her mind. She starts to wonder , 'What the fuck does this guy want? Can't he just leave me alone?'

"If there's something you want, just get to the point. What do you want?" Ayano asks impatiently. He holds her hands and sighs as though he has been waiting for question and is satisfied with the questions she asked.

"Ayano, I don't understand you at all. One moment, I see you smiling, then, I see you frown. Even when I try to talk to you, you always shut me out. Yesterday, you said I was getting in your way. What did you mean?" Budo asks, giving her a straight gaze. He doesn't take his eyes off her even for a second. Ayano starts to feel itchy and uncomfortable so she smacks his hands off.

"I didn't mean anything. Just forget about it" she says and gets up.

"By the way, Taro told me I might find you here" he says out of the blue. Without a doubt, Ayano reacts to his name by blushing and biting her lips. Noticing this, Budo starts to feel uneasy.

"So you have feelings for him?" he asks with a voice that hides jealousy.

"Mind your business and leave me alone" she says in a grumpy way and walks out of the class. She goes down the stairs and sees Osana. Osana sees her and lets out a long sigh.

"Are you alright? You look depressed" Ayano the doppelganger asks. Yes! She is faking it.

"I am not" Osana says and sits on the stairs with Ayano. Budo is about to pass that direction but spots Ayano and silently walks back, watching her.

"I have messed big time. Taro is very angry with me as in; he won't even talk to me. He keeps avoiding me. I am innocent in everything. He saw photos of pants on my phone and heard a recording of my conversation with Musume. The recording wasn't even how the conversation went. Ayano, what should I do? I plan to confess to him today but with everything going on...." Osana says and bends her head, at the verge of tears. Ayano smiles in a mischievous way and pat's her back.

"It's okay. There's always hope somewhere. You should confess to him. He might just accept" Ayano says in an angelic way. Osana raises her head and smiled. Ayano might have given her some hope this time but it wasn't from her heart. Meanwhile, Budo is as confused as fuck. The more he tries to understand, the more confused he gets.

'He might just accept but he won't. Not with the way things are' Ayano thinks to herself in pride, basking at her own glory.

"Thanks" Osana says and in that moment, Raiburu comes up. She only notice Osana.

"I've been looking everywhere for you Osana. I need to talk to you about..." she says then looks at Ayano strangely. She wonders what she is doing here because she has never seen the both of them together.

"It's alright. She knows" Osana says to Raiburu.

"I'll be back" Raiburu says and walks up the stairs. As she turns, she sees Budo.

"Budo, why are you spying on them?" Raiburu asks and closely observes him then smiles.

"You like Ayano" she teases him. He starts to fidget, not knowing what to say. His feelings for her are dying slowly because Ayano keeps giving him more questions to find answers to.

"See ya" Raiburu says and goes into the class. Budo returns back to his spying spot and peeps. He sees Ayano give him a deep, piercing gaze - she just gave him a warning. She doesn't a reason to spill his blood.

______________________________________

The student council members are in their conference room except Kuroko. The rest are waiting for her while drinking soda.

"Why did Kuroko call us here at this time? We are suppose to be parading the school" Aoi asks effortlessly while yawning.

"Then it's important" Shiromi says, chewing a gum. Suddenly, Shiromi steps in at the speed of light. They all look at her as fast as lightning.

"You should all come NOW!" Kuroko says with a shocked and surprised look.

"What's wrong?" Akane asks. Kuroko takes a deep sigh. They all know that what she is about to say we would throw them off their balance.

"It's Megami. She wants to speak with us" Kuroko says as if forcing it out of her mouth. This information makes them sit up straight.

"M-Megami? How?" Akane asks and stands up immediately. They all get up, looking as hyper as ever.

"I'm not sure myself. I heard it from Genka" Kuroko says as she swims through her thoughts.

'Has Megami actually returned?' Kuroko asks herself in her mind. She stares at the girls who are waiting for a clearer explanation from her.

"Genka said that we are to meet with the principal and Megami in one of the abandoned rooms in the school" Kuroko says and walks out. The girls hurriedly follow her from behind.

                                 ▫️
   Ayano is walking on the school's hallway. She passed by Taro's class and sees him through the window, reading a book. It is a different book because his first book is ruined but, it's beside his bag, laying on the floor. Ayano looks at him and starts to get her head in the clouds, imagining him as her prince charming on a horse but, Taro notices that he is being watched and turns to the window. He sees Ayano and waves at her - she waves back nervously. Taro starts to wonder if he should talk to her about Osana. On the other hand, Ayano realises that she has never had a conversation with him before.

"Ta-" she tries to call his name through the window but sees him get up. She is five feet away from him but is still shaking - call it lovesick.

"Ayano!!!" he calls out to her and walks to the window.

"Y-yes senpai. I mean...Taro" she says, hitting her head.

"It's fine. You can call me senpai" he says kindly and Ayano nods nervously.

"Can I talk to you about something? I haven't really had time to talk to you since that incidents when I bumped to you" Taro says trying to start a conversation. Ayano let's out a nervous, little giggle.

"Please come in" he says and Ayano goes in slowly, as if trying not to make a sound. Finally, she's about to talk to her Senpai for the first time - to her, this like a dream come true. She grabs a chair and sits two feet away from him, her heart pounding with excitement.

"Sorry but, what I want to talk about is a personal emotion of mine" he says, asking for permission.

"You can-" she says but suddenly finds out that she sounds strange "You can tell me...... senpai" she says, counting her words and says the last word romantically, however, Taro doesn't notice this. He locks his hands together and looks at the ground.

"You must already know that Osana is my childhood friend. We've been friends since birth but yesterday, I started to doubt our friendship. I can't help but feel that she says horrible things behind my back. You talk to her right? What do you think?" he says and looks up to her. His eyes look sad and depressed. This very expression makes Ayano feel pity, something she has never felt before. It makes her feel like touching his hands and saying sweet, honest words to him but she's still too nervous to do this. She has an idea - this is the perfect opportunity to worsen his relationship with Osana. She puts her hands together and smiles to herself.

"If Osana is saying terrible things about you behind your back, you should forget about her. It means she doesn't value you as a friend" she says in a counselling manner. Taro holds his head like he's having a splitting headache.

"It's not that easy" he says.

"I heard that she spoilt your favourite book" she says in a pitiful and disappointing voice. He doesn't want to avoid Osana but from his heart, he feels he has to.

"I'm sorry if it's difficult for you" she says with a soft voice. She does mean this but is very happy that he doesn't want to talk to Osana.

"It's not your fault" he says while Ayano keeps his book in his bag.

"He's definitely rejecting her" she says in her mind and smirks.

______________________________________

The council members just climbed up a long row of staircases and are standing at the front of lots of doors.

"So which door is it?" Shiromi asks while peeping through a door. As she leans on the door, someone suddenly opens it and she goes in, almost falling on the floor. Genka is standing by the door gestures for them to go in. They are in a dark room with lots of monitors.

Kocho Shuyona, the headmaster is standing at the front of one of them. The council members look closely from where they are and see that Megami is one of the screens. They hurriedly walk to the front of the screen, speechlessly. There just happened to be twenty screens around them but only one with Megami on it.

"Megami? It's actually you" Aoi says, still thinking it's a dream. Megami smiles like an amused mother.

"Kuroko Kamenaga, Akane Toriyasu, Shiromi Torayoshi and Aoi Ryugoku. It's so nice to see your faces again" she says formally. "And of course Mr Kocho Shuyona, my highly respected headmaster. Oh, and Genka Kunahito" she says Genka's name like she's a long lost friend.

"The council members were really excited. We all miss you. When are you returning?" Genka asks.

"I can't provide a definite answer to that question but in the meantime, I am here to provide answers for my colleagues. Something tells me they have lots of questions" Megami says, stroking her chin and observing their faces.

"YES! We have questions" Aoi says loudly and everyone turns to her like *why did you do that?* Megami nods in impression.

"Aoi is the same girl. I like that. Please excuse us headmaster and Genka. This is private" Megami says respectfully. They quietly walk out and the members are left alone with Megami.

"About Ayano - why did you tell us to watch her. You said you have a reason to suspect her and told us to watch her. That was all. Explain to us" Kuroko says boldly.

"AISHI! Her last name is AISHI. My mother told me that every person who possesses the last name 'Aishi' is cursed" Megami says with a serious tone which tells that she has a problem with the Aishi family. This information shocks them all. They wanted to hear Megami's reason but they didn't think it would be this deep.

"Cursed? In what way?" Shiromi queries, still confused on where the conversation is headed.

"My father's sister, Hana, was very closed to her older sister. She is dead now but, before she died, she told my father that she always felt someone was watching her every move. She used to attend Akademi High and told her classmates the girl she caught watching her. Her name......her name was Ryoba Aishi. Her classmates reported her to the police after the girl died but, the police couldn't find anything incriminating. She was perfectly clean but that doesn't prove anything. I tried to search everything I could on Ryoba but I couldn't find a single thing. She doesn't have any public or social status, isn't on any social media or even Facebook. My father doesn't tell cock and bull stories" Megami says with a determined voice.

"Hana's older sister died and it's an Aishi that killed her huh? But the police couldn't find any dirt on her so what can we do? I mean, we can't surpass the police in investigation. Doesn't that make her innocent?" Akane asks hopelessly.

"Or she's just really good at getting away with murder" Kuroko says suddenly and gets their attention.

"How are we sure Ayano hasn't killed someone a long time ago" Kuroko says deeply and gets everyone worried.

3:40PM
Osana is standing at the front of Taro's locker with Raiburu. In her hand is a love letter.

She is presently hesitating if she should tell Taro how she feels or not.

"Don't hesitate. It is better if he knows how you feel. You can't bottle it up forever" Raiburu says squeezing her hands reassuringly.

"I hope he accepts. He already hates me" Osana says and sighs. She drops the note in his locker reluctantly.

"No matter what he says, we will always be friends and I've got your back. Please remember that" Raiburu says and hugs Osana. They walk away and that's when Ayano comes in ; she had been watching from outside. She unfolds the letter and read:

            Taro, please meet me under
            the cherry tree when you see
            this. I'll be waiting for you.
            - Osana ♥️
                                  
'Eew. Her handwriting is cursive' Ayano says in her mind and sniffs the paper. 'This perfume wouldn't make my senpai like you'. She drops the paper back and walks away as phantom girl glares at her in anger.

4:50PM

   Taro waves his classmates goodbye and walks down the stairs to his locker. As he opens it, the love note falls to the floor. He slowly picks it up as if it's an egg that is about to break. He unfolds it and reads it but when he is done, he shakes his head.

   He doesn't want to go but he feels the need to give her a chance and hear what she has to say. He goes on his journey to the cherry tree. The tree is located inside the school - somewhere at the back. It is on top of a green hill. It is pink petals that seem to always be blooming and falling  from the branches in spring - one of Akademi High's greatest treasure.

When he reaches the hill, he looks around for Osana and sees her shyly reveal herself from the back of the tree. She stands at the front of Taro ; there is an awkward silence between them until she finally breaks it.

"Taro, I know you probably don't want to hear me to say anything right now but can you give me permission just this once?" Osana asks with desperate eyes, pleading from the bottom of her heart.

"If I didn't want to see you, I wouldn't have come" he says, still unsure about everything. Osana nods happily and gets boosted up, taking deep breaths. He starts to feel curious about what she could want to say.

"Now listen! Please listen because it takes a lot of courage to say this especially with everything going on... so just listen! First of all, that recording you heard wasn't how the conversation went. I'm not sure who would want to spoil our friendship because I like you so much and I would never want to hurt you. By 'I like you', I mean, I really really like you. I love you more than anything else in the world! I always have. So please, can we be more than friends? Can we - can we date?" Osana says in a loving and romantic way. She drops the 'you annoy me so much' act and starts to be herself. Taro looks down to the floor and starts to recall the first thing Ayano said when he brought her into the classroom.

"If Osana is saying terrible things behind your back, you should forget her. It means she doesn't value you as a friend" Ayano's voice echoes in his head.

"I'm sorry but my answer is no. Sorry" he says and is about to go vut Osana grabs his hand.

"Is it because I've been mean to you and always shout at you? I can change. I will-" she says babbles but Taro raises his hand to stop her from talking.

"You don't have to change anything. Just stop, please" he says and turns his back on her. He walks down the hill, leaving Osana in tears. She drops to her knees and starts to sob. As Taro walks down the hill, he crosses paths with Raiburu.

"I'm sorry Raiburu. Your friend needs you right now" he says in guilt and rushes down. Raiburu runs up the hill and sees her sobbing.

"You said everything would be fine. You made me do this" Osana cries, not sure if she's blaming Raiburu or not. Meanwhile, Ayano is watching from below. She grins widely and rubs her hands in excitement.

'I won. Don't mess with me Osana. I deserve him more than you do' Ayano says in her mind and brings out her phone, calling Info-chan as she walks towards the school building. She goes to the third floor toilet and Info-chan picks.

📱"Hello Ayano. You've succeeded. I'm proud of you" Info-chan says and giggles. Ayano giggles louder than she did.

📱"Although, hold on a second" Info-chan says catching Ayano off guard.

📱"What is it again?! Don't tell me something is wrong again" Ayano says in frustration.

📱"But something is wrong. Taro and Osana are childhood friends. They know each other's homes. She might try to win his heart outside of school. Ever thought of that? You should just kill her" Info-chan says mysteriously and this makes Ayano dumbfounded. She doesn't like the sound of killing someone that is dear to Taro.

📱"But that would cause my senpai a lot trauma" she says getting annoyed at Info-chan.

📱"So would you risk losing him to her? Can't you let him feel trauma for once? Remember Ayano, Taro is too kindhearted. He might choose to forgive her anytime" Info-chan says trying to lure her into killing. Ayano's face turns red and she crushes her phone, letting it drop to the floor. She is about to walk out of the toilet when she sights the bloody shirt she had seen before.

She had put it back into the ground, but, just a side of the shirt is sticking out. She pulls it back out and stares at it in confusion. Phantom girl appears back out and Ayano can feel the same presence again. Phantom girl casually walks up to her and hits the shirt out of her hand, making Ayano gasp in surprise.

'What the fuck just happened?' Ayano thinks with a frown but shows no sign of fear as she picks it back up. This shocks Phantom girl who hastily makes herself disappear. Ayano examines the shirt, noticing that everywhere is bloody except one part.  Moreover, there is something written on the shirt with black ink.

            TAPE 1, TAPE 2, TAPE 3 IN
            THE SECOND COMPUTER
            ROOM

This makes her very curious. She folds the shirt and puts it in her bag, heading for the computer room. Phantom girl goes back into the toilet and notices that the shirt isn't there. She knows that right now, she must be careful around Ayano.

______________________________________

Ayano arrives at the computer room. She opens the door and slams the lights on. She begins her search for the tapes. She searches inbetween every book on the shelves but sees none.

Finally she remembers something. She goes to seat at the entrance table. The drawers are locked. Truly, she has never seen anyone open the drawers. She removes her hair pin and reshapes it to open the drawer. She starts to opens it and....

Click!

She stares at it as if she's about to open a treasure chest. As she opens it, she sees the tapes. She removes them all and throws them in her bag. She locks the drawer back before exiting the room.

Fact💡
Megami is a well respected young lady. She deeply loves all the council members. If anything were to happen to them, she would make the perpetrator's life a living hell.

Budo and Taro are friends but Budo is always in the martial arts club. He wants to change that.

Name: Musume Ronshaku

This was a long chapter right? Well I hope you enjoyed it. There seems to be lots of questions like who is Phantom girl? What are those tapes about? You will soon find out.
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