※This side story is an IF Nagisa Confinement Ending (Very Mild Version).
When was it, I wonder, that Mika started to occupy my thoughts so strangely?
Was it when I learned that she had lost her memories?
"Heehee~ Nagi-chan, the black tea tastes unusually sweet today☆ It must be my imagination, right?"
"I wonder, Mika-san. I must admit, the tea tastes sweet to me as well today."
My relationship with Mika could be simply defined as a decade-long friendship. No, it could have been. But after Mika lost her memories, those words no longer held any meaning.
For me, it had all become a one-sided relationship.
The time we spent together. The memories we shared.
All of it now remains only as a trace in my memory. Yes, Mika remembers nothing now.
Not the day we first met in kindergarten, when Mika made me cry.
Not the time in elementary school, when Mika, who ran for class president without a second thought, easily beat me and won the position, only to see my crestfallen face and offer the position to me, saying she didn't want me to be sad.
Not the time in middle school, when Mika protected me from the sukeban who tried to kidnap me, and then stormed their hideout and brought them all to their knees.
Not the time right after we entered the academy, when we somehow became members of the Tea Party, and she whined to me that everyone seemed to expect too much from her.
These are all things that only I remember now. Is there any meaning in clinging to that slender thread, in calling myself Mika's oldest friend?
"Mika, are you in here...?!"
"Hm? Hi, Seia-chan! What brings you here? Didn't you say you had a conversation with Sensei today? Ahaha, I get it☆ You stood up the poor Sensei, didn't you!"
Ah, yes. I remember now. When Mika truly began to occupy my thoughts was when she started introducing me, one by one, to people she called friends, people I had no idea where she had met.
I could tolerate the students from Trinity. One way or another, we attend the same academy, so it is only natural for connections to form.
Abydos? Yes, that could happen. The current Mika is so kind-hearted, it must have been difficult for her to ignore their plight. I understand. It is unpleasant, but I understand.
But setting all other schools aside. The moment Mika introduced me to a friend from Gehenna, I felt it in my bones.
Ah, the Mika I knew is now nothing but an illusion of the past.
Mika, who had even let go of her blind hatred for Gehenna, had changed completely from the Mika I knew.
Until then, I had tried to adapt to the changing situation. Even when I felt Mika was growing distant from me, I had resolved to accept it. It was surely a common occurrence in the process of becoming an adult.
But the moment I realized the lack of distance between Mika and those vixen friends of hers was alarmingly small, I finally became aware of my own feelings.
What showed me what kind of existence the completely changed Mika had become to me, moving beyond the position of a decade-long childhood friend, was...
...all thanks to those damn thieves.
"Mika, that is not what is important right now! Get away from Nagisa at once!"
"Hm? Seia-chan, what's wrong all of a sudden? Telling me to get away from Nagi-chan, are you sick somewhere? Th— Ugh...?!"
As Mika stood up to approach Seia-san, only to bend over and stagger, the corners of my lips curl up on their own.
"This is— am I already too late...?!"
"Yes, Seia-san. It is a shame, but you are far too late. It seems your dreams were not on your side this time, were they?"
"Nagisa, my dear, how do you intend to deal with the consequences!"
Consequences? Seia-san, you are saying some strange things today.
"If I had been thinking of the consequences, I would have had my nose cut off while my eyes were wide open."
I, Kirifuji Nagisa, loved Misono Mika with all my heart. And because it took me so long to realize that fact, too many insects had swarmed the flower I desired.
If only I had marked her as mine from the beginning. Then this promiscuous bitch would not have gone around wagging her tail everywhere.
"Ah, Nagi-chan...?"
Perhaps she feels at ease, seeing me come to her side to support her. Mika calls my name with a weak smile. But if I let a bitch who has learned bad habits off with a little bit of affection, those habits will never be corrected.
"Just sleep for a little while, my love. Then everything..."
...will be over.
After confirming that Mika's halo has lost its light, I carefully lay her down on the sofa.
"Nagisa, my dear, you are not too late. I am telling you to stop this madness at once! Who Mika's favorite person is——"
"What meaning does that have, Seia-san?"
"..."
"I know that if I were to confess my feelings right now, Mika-san would accept them. But would those vixens gathered around Mika-san just stand by? And could the kind Mika-san ever turn her back on them?"
Mika was mine from the beginning. And you all are nothing but insects drawn to her.
Mika is not someone you are allowed to covet...
"But... ahh, Nagisa. Still, still this is not right. This should not be happening! You are not so foolish as to not know that this path leads only to ruin!"
"...Love makes a fool of people, and I was no exception. Therefore, Seia-san, you will have to disappear for a while as well."
I am sorry, Seia-san.
I am sorry, Mika.
It seems I was not wise enough to simply pass this path by.
Two months have passed since then.
Trinity seemed to fall into great chaos with the unprecedented situation of two of the three Tea Party student presidents disappearing simultaneously, but a precarious peace is being maintained.
I would have liked to say it is because I had made so many preparations, but unfortunately, that is not the case.
Surprisingly, this peace is being maintained entirely thanks to Mika. I cannot deny that the existence of Sensei and SCHALE has been of some help, but the friendships Mika has built up over time are the pillars supporting the current peace.
Thanks to her wagging her tail like a bitch in heat everywhere she went, Mika has a flock of vixens attached to her, and even at this very moment, those vixens are scouring all of Kivotos to find the missing Mika.
It is absurd, but that is the reason why the current peace can be maintained.
No one has discovered that I am the culprit who kidnapped Mika and Seia-san. Not yet, that is.
It was helpful that I resigned from the Tea Party, acting the part of a broken woman who had lost two precious friends. If I had tried to take on the role of Host while properly looking after Mika and Seia-san, my tail would have been caught much more quickly.
If I hadn't, I would have had to be at the forefront of the search for Mika to avoid suspicion, so resigning was the natural choice.
Looking at it this way, it is only Hanako-san who has been put in an unfortunate position. At this point in time, she was the only talent worthy of taking on the role of Tea Party Host.
Despite hating the political side of Trinity more than anyone, Hanako-san unhesitatingly rose to the position of Host, saying that Mika-san must be found.
If I had simply gotten rid of Hanako-san, perhaps my tail would never have been caught. If you were to ask if I regret not doing so, I would not say yes. I did not want to do anything that would make Mika truly hate me.
For a month, Seia-san never once got angry with me. She only looked at me with pitiful eyes.
I understand her feelings, so I do not find her gaze unpleasant. I am not so foolish as to not know what awaits at the end of this path, to ignore my foreseen end.
Seia-san, who knows this better than anyone, is simply waiting silently for the time to come. Not that there is anyone here who is not.
Mika is...
"Haa, Mika-san. I had such a hard day today too. It seems those vixens are finally starting to suspect me in earnest. Maybe they've even found some decisive evidence. As expected, Hanako-san is too competent."
"Yeah... I see. You've been through a lot, Nagi-chan."
Mika has changed.
At first, she tried to persuade me nicely, but at some point, it was as if she had let everything go. If she had hated me and cursed me, I would have stopped this at once, but Mika did not.
What awaits a sinner at the end...
One day, she called me over, saying she had something she absolutely had to confess to me, but she soon shook her head and closed her mouth again. I am a little curious about what she was going to say, but in truth, such things do not really matter.
"Stroke my head a little more, Mika."
"Ahaha, Nagi-chan, really. That's a bad hobby."
Mika, whose hands and feet are bound, unable to move, smiles weakly.
"You are a sinner."
"Yeah, that's right. I'm the sinner. I'm sorry, Nagi-chan."
"You are a bitch who knows no fidelity."
"I say this every time, but they were the ones who seduced me."
Such a shameless answer makes a fire rise within me. I do not know how many times I have heard it, but Mika is still so detestable.
"Setting aside who seduced who first, you wagged your tail every time those vixens came on to you, didn't you, you bitch!"
"I can't deny that... But what could I do, they were all so lovely."
"...Is it too much to ask for you to love only me now?"
"Ahaha, honestly, I think that's impossible. So to you, I can only remain a sinner forever."
"...That's enough. Stop with the empty words. I know better than anyone that you've done nothing wrong, Mika-san. You were just trying your best with the hope that everyone could be happy."
It is because you are that kind of person that I could not be cruel.
To disappear with you forever.
To think of being together again in death, and beyond.
To break you, to make you mine alone.
I could not bring myself to do any of it. All because I fell in love with you, Mika.
"I love you, Mika. I love you so much that I wanted to burn myself to ashes just to have you all to myself."
"Yeah, I love you too, Nagi-chan."
"Just once, tell me you love only me. It can be an empty word. It can be a lie. Just once..."
"You know I can't do that..."
Even hearing that, I cannot bring myself to be angry. I want to hate Mika for making me this way, but I cannot.
I know better than anyone that Mika is a princess accustomed to being loved, and yet, perhaps it is my fault for falling in love with her anyway.
"Hey, Nagi-chan. The story I was about to tell you before. The truth is, I——"
Is she trying to bring up the story she stopped before? But it seems the world does not want me to hear it.
KRA-KOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM———!!!!
A sudden, deafening roar. It seems my tail was caught a long time ago.
The door, which had cost quite a bit of money, is torn to shreds, and dust fills the air. And from beyond it, a student slowly reveals herself.
"So the culprit was you after all, Kirifuji Nagisa. I should have suspected you from the start... You were so good at acting that it took me too long to notice."
...It seems my not-so-short rebellion ends here.
"I've come to rescue you, Mika. Now, let's go back to where you belong."
"...Ahaha, did you find Seia-chan too?"
"Yes, Yurizono Seia was rescued before you. From the looks of it, that woman took good care of her. She was so composed, as if she knew this would happen."
"Yeah, well. If it's Seia-chan, she probably did know."
Without thinking, I hug Mika tightly and bury my face in her untied hair. Mika's body, which I had washed and bathed myself, smells of the same shampoo, the same body wash as me. It is a scent that calms my heart.
"...Would it be selfish to ask you not to go?"
"Of course it's selfish. You know that too, Nagi-chan, right?"
"What if I cried and threw a tantrum?"
"Even then, what can't be, can't be. And it might be painful for me to watch."
"I was in more pain than that."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. So don't cry. There, there..."
Clink!!
Mika, who has broken her own cuffs and hugged me back, gently pats my back, but the more she does, the more my tears fall.
To think she could have broken her bonds and left this cage at any time. And yet, she went along with this foolishness. It is something that would have been impossible if not for Mika, the fool of all fools.
"...You're really something else, Mika. To think you let yourself be captured on purpose. To think I was worried about you, I feel like an idiot."
"Ahaha! But Nagi-chan is my weak spot, so I couldn't help it."
Mika is truly a fool, second to none under the heavens.
"Kirifuji Nagisa, you will not be able to escape punishment for this kidnapping. For Mika's sake, the sentence will be as light as a slap on the wrist, but."
I knew it would come to this. I was prepared for an even more gruesome end.
"Yeah, that's a relief! Right, Nagi-chan? If you apologize sincerely, everyone will forgive you☆ Hmm, probably someday...?"
Still, seeing Mika's bright face for the first time in a month is so lovely that it seems I did not want such an ending after all.
I still do not like those vixens, but if Mika is happy, then that is enough for me.
...After all, the owner of this bitch will be me.