273: Iroha’s Probing (2)

During the few days she was on leave, she used notes at home to recreate Chisato's insidious actions from beginning to end in her dreams.

She bought a large number of books on law, trying to match his actions word for word with the prohibitions outlined in legal texts.

She felt that if her hypothesis was correct, then Chisato might use similar methods in reality.

If that were truly the case, then everything she was doing now would make sense. 

When the time came that she really discovered he had behaved similarly, she would be able to punish him with legal means on the spot.

But she didn't know if it was because the law was too boring and difficult for laypeople to understand or if Chisato's actions in her dreams had been carefully planned to perfectly avoid various legal regulations.

All in all, one day and two nights of nonstop hard work yielded zero results.

The basis for the law to classify a person's actions as a crime is whether the person has violated a specific regulation.

But after reviewing various criminal cases, Iroha couldn't find a solution that matched her inner thoughts about Chisato's dark behavior in her dreams.

After all, whether he made Miri fall down the stairs, bribed a doctor to create the illusion that Miri had a miscarriage, or let Miri leave on her own, none of these actions actually caused any real losses to anyone.

Then he pretended to be depressed, creating the illusion of a decadent and careless life, and even scratched his own wrist.

Even if they had evidence and knew that all this was intentional, it would be useless. She had never heard of anyone being sentenced for merely pretending to give up on life.

But Iroha didn't believe in evil. 

She refused to accept that such a bad guy could spend most of his life committing these terrible acts without facing legitimate punishment.

In the end, her hard work paid off, and she finally found a crime that might be able to punish Chisato for his actions in the dream—the crime of marriage fraud.

But after considering it more closely, she fell silent again.

There are three conditions for registering the crime of marriage fraud, one of which Chisato clearly did not meet.

—Using fraudulent methods to defraud large amounts of property.

Did Chisato in her dream defraud her of a significant amount of property after tricking her into marriage?

Iroha wanted to say yes, but the situation was exactly the opposite.

After getting married, his behavior could be described as that of a model husband in the new era.

He voluntarily transferred all his properties under his name to hers and handed over his salary on time every month, leaving only a small amount of cash for emergencies.

Not only that, he also respected his elders, loved his wife deeply, doted on his children, had a harmonious relationship with his neighbors, and managed everything in an orderly fashion.

Until his death, the old, white-haired man still held her hand and used his last strength to say the most beautiful words of love—"We will be together in the next life..."

After thinking about it, Iroha fell into a trance again.

With a deep sense of substitution, her thoughts became confused once more.

Her head ached from not having rested for a long time.

She doesn't understand it at all…

If Iroha's inner thoughts at this moment were known to Utaha from a divine perspective, she would probably empathize with them to a considerable extent.

The day after Hiratsuka 's visit, Iroha finally stopped asking for leave and returned to school.

During lunch break, she went to the service department as usual and raised her doubts about Yukino, whom she had always trusted.

"Yukinoshita-senpai, if a person spends their whole life devising a scam to lure you into a trap, without seeking any benefits—just to be with you and provide you with a lifetime of peace and prosperity—do you think everything about this person deserves to be forgiven?"

After Yukino pondered for a while, she gave a direct and clear answer:

"If it were me, I wouldn't be able to accept any form of deception." 

"Regardless of whether that person's original intention was for my benefit, I wouldn't be able to accept being kept in the dark all the time." 

"Besides, your questions are very confusing. It's clear that he wants to be with me. This is not without benefits." 

"He has his own selfish desires and acts for his own sake, disregarding my thoughts. This alone is enough to be called selfish. There's no way to forgive that."

Iroha nodded slightly, as if inspired.

In the days that followed, including during the monthly exam, she continued to think about these matters.

Such distractions undoubtedly affected her exam results.

But to her, these seemed like minor issues. What was important was that she finally clarified her inner thoughts and her next action strategy before today's meeting.

—That dream may reflect reality on some level, but in any case, before using her own eyes to formally determine the character of Chisato in reality, it is best not to act impulsively and wait until everything is confirmed. It's not too late to make a decision then.

If he really was the kind of guy who would do whatever it took to win the hearts of girls, then she would try her best to tell those girls the truth.

Just like Yukinoshita-senpai said, they have the right to know the truth about their own situations.

This wasn't driven by a sense of justice; she simply didn't want others to experience the same hardships she had faced.

Knowing that he was scheming, she fell in love with a guy who deceived her without her knowledge. 

Even if such a false love seems genuinely happy, its essence is still false.

If the truth were known, no matter how sweet the original life was, it would not neutralize the nausea caused by a cramping stomach.

In any case, that is an outright evil way! 

Absolutely not romantic, never normal, and never a genuine way of love!

The prerequisite for executing the above action strategy is to become as familiar with Chisato as possible.

Only after their relationship became familiar could Iroha slowly perceive his true nature up close and make different decisions, as she thought.

So...

"Before we get down to business, I'll give this to you~ Suzumiya-senpai."

Iroha took it out of her schoolbag and handed it over with both hands. It looked cute and resembled a handmade biscuit, suggesting she had put a lot of effort and care into it.

Chisato narrowed his eyes slightly, now unable to understand what Iroha wanted to do at all.

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