Time! It's Going to Flow Backwards!

Shiomiya looked at the wet stain, feeling somewhat awkward, then turned and saw Kushida's flushed face.

He understood what had happened.

There was another piece of evidence. Now he could be even more certain of his guilt.

There was clearly no direct evidence, yet every clue pointed to him.

Presume guilt when in doubt? That was for the law.

But what about judging himself? He couldn't just pretend nothing had happened.

"Ah... I'll take these to be washed first." Shiomiya quickly gathered up the bedsheets.

He took them straight to the washing machine in the bathroom.

Kushida watched this happen with both hands covering her face, but her reddened ears still betrayed how she felt.

Afterward, Kushida and Shiomiya agreed to maintain a normal relationship in public, but Shiomiya had no right to refuse any of Kushida's demands.

They left one after the other. As Kushida put on her shoes, Shiomiya noticed the red marks on her neck.

Damn! Another piece of evidence!

Kushida returned to her dorm first, unable to suppress her smile any longer.

"Hahahaha! This is just perfect!

Shiomiya Yo, so you have a day when you fall into my hands too!

Didn't you love threatening people before? Whose turn is it now?

Why are you pretending to be so aloof, huh?!

You're just a stupid pig!

I'll make you kneel down and lick my feet!"

After venting, Kushida calmed down. She hadn't expected Shiomiya not to remember what had happened yesterday; she hadn't even needed to use the photos, though they would still serve as a backup.

She carefully recalled what had happened yesterday, preparing to fill in any gaps.

────

Time returned to yesterday afternoon.

After pulling Kushida beneath him, Shiomiya slowly pressed down. Kushida nervously closed her eyes.

Shiomiya merely pinned Kushida down tightly and held her close, lightly biting her neck.

He kept whispering into her ear, "Kikyo, don't run away again."

He repeated those words over and over before falling into a deep sleep.

Kushida tried to push Shiomiya away, but he held her too tightly for her to move him at all.

Kushida could only give up, but as time passed, Shiomiya still didn't let go—and Kushida encountered a problem.

She needed to use the bathroom!

She struggled again, but Shiomiya's arms gripped Kushida like iron clamps. Kushida had never been particularly athletic, and this struggle completely drained what little strength she had left.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Kushida's forehead. Panting heavily, she looked at the bathroom right in front of her, filled with despair!

"Why the hell are you such a strong dead pig?!

Let me... go! Let go!"

Kushida pounded Shiomiya. No matter how she moved, he refused to let go and wouldn't wake up.

The strange sensation inside her grew stronger and stronger, and Kushida was on the verge of tears from panic.

When her body was nearing its limit, she didn't dare make a single move.

She was afraid of making things worse.

Now, all she could do was pray for Shiomiya to wake up or loosen his grip.

But reality was cruel and rarely went as people wished.

Kushida still didn't get her miracle.

The dam burst!

Like the water of a swimming pool warmed by the summer sun, a warm sensation spread through her.

Kushida looked as though she had been violated, a tear streaking down from the corner of her eye.

There was nothing left in this world worth caring about!

Perhaps sensing something, Shiomiya finally loosened his arms. Kushida immediately broke free from his restraint.

Seeing that Shiomiya was still sound asleep, rage burned in her heart.

This person was the source of all her misfortune!

She absolutely could not let him off!

Before that, Kushida went to the bathroom to take care of some personal business.

After putting her clothes into the washing machine, Kushida took out Shinomiya's clothes and put them on herself.

Sitting on a chair beside Shinomiya's bed, Kushida stared at him, thinking about how to get revenge.

For a while, she had no idea at all.

Then she saw Shinomiya's face again.

Kushida immediately realized something.

Why not just learn from Shinomiya!

He'd bullied her plenty of times before.

She just had to copy his tricks!

What was that called again? "Use his own methods against him." Shinomiya had said that before.

She thought about what Shinomiya used to do.

The first step was to find leverage and threaten them with it.

What secrets did Shinomiya have?

Wait?

If there weren't any, she could fabricate some. What she'd done on the rooftop before had still been too crude.

This time, she needed to make it more detailed, or Shinomiya would see through it.

There was one more thing!

Would Shinomiya fall for this? What if he acted shameless again?

Kushida began recalling Shinomiya's past and character.

In the end, she came to a decision. Shinomiya still had a bit of a moral bottom line, even if there wasn't much of one.

He was probably the sort who could disgust people, but wouldn't seriously hurt them.

Then the crime she pinned on Shinomiya this time had to be more serious!

Kushida paced back and forth in the room. When she turned her head, she saw herself in the mirror beside her, with a red mark on her neck.

Got it!

She'd say he raped her. First, she needed to come up with a plan.

People were highly efficient when doing bad things, and Kushida was no exception.

Before long, Kushida had revised and finalized her plan.

First, she would strip off Shinomiya's clothes and stage a few photos.

They had to show the kind of agonized posture of someone trying to preserve evidence.

She also had to make sure Shinomiya saw all the evidence Kushida left behind when he woke up the next day.

The performance the next day was important too. She couldn't let Shinomiya seize the initiative, nor could she give him too much time to think.

Kushida had seen Shinomiya's intelligence before, so before he could react, she had to stamp the "answer" into his mind.

Kushida got a little stuck on the first step.

She would strip off Shinomiya's shirt first, but then did she need to take off hers too?

Kushida hesitated for a moment, but ultimately steeled herself.

They had hugged and kissed before anyway. This was nothing, and Shinomiya was unconscious.

After that, she moved Shinomiya, limp as a dead pig, onto herself.

Feeling Shinomiya's body heat and weight, Kushida's face still flushed. She felt her heartbeat quicken and her breathing grow ragged.

Kushida could only reassure herself that the photos would turn out better this way.

The clothes scattered around them had already been arranged. Kushida readied her phone.

After taking a deep breath, she suddenly exerted force and positioned Shinomiya. Kushida adjusted her expression, swung her arm, and pressed the shutter.

And thus, a photo supposedly taken in "haste" was born!

She pushed Shinomiya away.

After checking the photos once, Kushida nodded in satisfaction. As expected of her—she got it right in one try.

Next came tomorrow's performance, which Kushida planned to divide into two parts.

First, she would play the wronged angel. Shinomiya would surely find it strange and suspicious. Then she would take on the role of a wicked woman, showing her disgust and hatred toward him, and use the incident to threaten him into doing things for her. That way, Shinomiya would believe in his own guilt even more.

Shinomiya had morals and would feel guilty, which made him easier to control.

Kushida suddenly thought of when Shinomiya had first joined their class in middle school. Back then, Shinomiya had been far more difficult to deal with than he was now.

He gave people the feeling that even if he killed you, he wouldn't care in the slightest.

The current one was better. Otherwise, how would she ever have gotten her chance to turn things around?

Kushida stripped Shiomiya and tucked him under the covers, then began practicing for tomorrow's performance herself.

Shiomiya was sleeping like a dead pig anyway.

She practiced until late into the night, arranged the washed and dried clothes in place, and only lay down beside Shiomiya after confirming she hadn't missed anything.

At last, she made up her mind and took off all her own clothes as well.

As she slipped beneath the covers, she could still feel the traces of her earlier flood.

This was evidence too. Kushida endured it!

Before closing her eyes, Kushida swore to herself.

"This time, I'll definitely turn Shiomiya Yo into Kushida Kikyo's slave!"