Chapter 11: The false accusation that will be cleared (3) Another childhood friend. Taiga however ….

[Mio Pov]

“You are so quick to be deceived, to betray your friends, have no shame in yourselves, and just scream and scream and scream. At the root, you are no different from me. You are all scumbags. Yeah…I’m a scumbag, so there’s no doubt about it.”

Rinto scoffs at everyone who approaches him as if they are looking down on him from the bottom of their hearts.

Rinto’s chest is grabbed vigorously by Sanada-kun, the big boy from earlier.
　

“You…….! Don’t you dare reopen your mouth. You know how much he’s suffered because of you and Saito!”

Rinto does not look intimidated at all when he is grabbed by the chest. On the contrary, he laughs at me in an even funnier manner.

　I have never seen such a maniacal smile from a childhood friend, and I am so bewildered that I can’t say anything.

He was cool and unapproachable at first, but he took good care of me and Taiga and always helped us out when we had problems………………it is the same person, right?

“Ahahaha! Can you believe it? You guys are pretending to be victims? Do you think you did nothing wrong? I don’t believe for a second that you meant those words of regret you once said. In the end, that’s what you and everyone else truly thinks, right? Let me ask you this: after we framed Taiga, what did you all do? Did anyone believe in him? No, right? The only one who believed in him was Mio. And yet you all treated her like a weirdo. You all ignored Taiga and trashed him to pieces. Sure, Rena and I framed Taiga, but after that, we didn’t do anything bad to him. It was all of you who relentlessly cornered him like this!”

Perhaps pressured by Rinto’s tremendous momentum, Sanada’s hand loosens for a moment as he grabs at his chest.

“That’s…..well true, but….”

“We know we are at fault! But…..”

　The other students were also upset by Rinto’s vigor.

Certainly, Rinto has a point. The two of them have set a trap for Taiga, that’s all. It is not just his classmates and students in other classes, in other words, everyone present here, who have driven him to this point mentally.

But… that’s just a diversion tactic.

I take a deep breath. My anger has reached its breaking point, and I feel like I’m about to lose it.

Slowly approaching Rinto, I grab his collar with all my might, replacing Sanada-kun. I push him against the back wall with all my strength.

　What am I going to do if I, as a childhood friend, don’t do anything to correct him at a time like this!

“If you had just conspired with that crying girl over there to frame Taiga, none of this would have happened in the first place, right!!!!! Rinto…! Why did you do this!? We’ve been friends since we were in elementary school… we’ve been best friends, no!?”

“Let go of Rinto…!”

“…! Shut up! Be quiet!! Don’t touch me!!!”

I push Rena Saito, who grabbed my shoulder, with all my might. As a result, she fell on the desk, but it doesn’t matter.

I put even more force into the arm that’s holding Rinto’s collar.

“Say something!!! Rinto!!!”

“……….”

“What are you looking at… with those eyes…!!!”

Rinto’s eyes, in short, were nothingness itself. No emotions could be read from them at all, and he didn’t even attempt to show any remorse or regret for what he had done, nor did he become irritated by my best effort to persuade him as his childhood friend.

Looking at Rinto like that, I feel more sadness than anger. I am devastated by the fact that my unreliable childhood friend has become so stagnant.

“When did you become so distorted? Hey…? Rinto…”

　My voice becomes like a mournful cry, a mixture of anger and sadness towards Rinjin.

　At that moment, for the first time today, Rinto showed emotion toward me. It was different from what I had expected, a clear anger towards me, or rather towards me as a childhood friend.

“….When did I become distorted? Why are you saying such a thing, Mio?! Don’t tell me you still haven’t realized? We’re supposed to be the three best friends, me, Taiga, and Mio, right?”

I was supposed to have not realized something? I’ve always been together with the three of them. Of course, I’ve been watching over Rinto closely too.

But I just can’t understand what Rinto is angry about.

“You still don’t get it… Hey, Mio, what am I to you and Taiga?”

Rinto said that and laughed sadly, as if he had given up on everything and showed a single tear that I had never seen from my childhood friend who I always relied on.

I was disturbed by that sight and couldn’t say anything more, letting go of his hand.

Then, shouts began to be heard from somewhere and some people tried to grab Rinto and Rena Saito, while others tried to stop them, and the classroom was about to turn into a brawl.

“Mio-senpai… I…”

“If you had told everyone earlier, we might not have ended up like this… you are the worst… Momoka-chan…”

Momoka-chan timidly talked to me, but I rejected her very much. Momoka-chan must have some circumstances too.

But right now, I don’t have the luxury of considering that. I just watched Momoka-chan run away.

I’m disqualified as a Senpai. But at the same time, I have the right to blame her.

I can’t get Rinto’s sad face out of my mind.

　No matter what the circumstances, no matter what his feelings, what he did is absolutely unforgivable.

　I can’t just cut off my friend who I’ve known for 10 years and with whom I’ve built a relationship like a family.

Rinto… I don’t understand… How did you become distorted?

　Aoi Yuki, the homeroom teacher, visited Taiga Yagami’s home after school that day. Of course, she was there to tell him that he had been successfully cleared of all charges.

　However, Yuki was astonished when she looked into his eyes. His eyes had lost all sense of light. His eyes seemed to have realized everything, as if he had given up, not the kind of eyes a 16-year-old boy should have.

　Yuki told him what had happened this morning. Then he said in a voice devoid of any emotion

“Is that so”

　He replied in a voice devoid of any emotion. There was no longer a trace of the gentle, self-sacrificing, protective spirit he had once possessed.