Chapter 422: The Second Mental Courtroom

"How's Shinomiya doing?"

"She's… more or less resting."

Shirogane looked at Kaguya lying on the couch covered with a blanket.

She seemed to be having a nightmare—her brows were tightly furrowed, and the aura she emitted no longer matched her usual chibi-like cuteness.

It was a good thing the art style was returning to normal.

Watching her sleep soundly on the couch, Shirogane made up his mind.

When she woke up, he would definitely ask her about that kiss yesterday.

What he didn't know was that Kaguya was currently in the middle of an internal struggle because of that very incident.

———Inside Kaguya's mind———

It was the same courtroom as before.

On the judge's bench sat young Kaguya. In the prosecutor's and defense seats were Ice Kaguya with long straight black hair and a cold face, and Kaguya with her hair tied back and an exasperated expression.

In the defendant's seat stood Chibi Kaguya.

"Given the defendant's plan to flee overseas and her forceful kiss on the president, I recommend immediate execution," Ice Kaguya said coldly.

Kaguya: "...No objections."

Chibi Kaguya: "Ehhhh!? Why are you agreeing too!?"

"Of course… because kissing him out of nowhere like that is just shameless!!" Kaguya shouted. "Why on earth did I even do that!?"

Chibi Kaguya smiled brightly: "What's the problem? The president showed his feelings with all those balloons. I just went along with it~"

Kaguya blushed: "Well… I guess that's true."

Ice Kaguya: "In any case, let's all calm down."

Kaguya: "Y-yeah, you're right."

Ice Kaguya: "Let's calm down and find a time machine, then go back a day and eliminate that brain-fried version of ourselves."

"You're the one who needs to calm down!!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The judge (young Kaguya) knocked on the table and said, "Let's move to the first topic. What exactly is our relationship with the president?"

"Obviously lovers," Chibi Kaguya blurted out. "We've already kissed!"

Kaguya: "She's not wrong."

Ice Kaguya: "Don't be stupid. If a kiss makes you lovers, then aren't all the women at those brothels lovers too?"

Kaguya: "I'd love to yell at you for comparing yourself to that, but… fair point."

"In the end, we're contractualists," Ice Kaguya said calmly. "Unless we clearly define it with words, that relationship doesn't count."

"…That's true."

First topic settled: their relationship with Shirogane was more than friends, but not yet lovers.

"Now let's move to the second topic," said young Kaguya, knocking on the table. "About going overseas."

Chibi Kaguya: "Of course we're going. The president pleaded so sincerely~"

She looked cheerful as ever, maybe because this personality was too simple to be scheming.

Hearing that, Kaguya smiled and nodded.

"You're right. Though the time is tight, as long as we prepare the materials and pass the language tests, we can enter the same year as the president."

"Exactly~"

Chibi Kaguya grinned.

"The president begged us so much, we have to go abroad."

"Mhm."

"You two aren't oversimplifying this?" Ice Kaguya coldly eyed the others. "He said that in the heat of the moment. Do you really think our family will just let us do whatever we want?"

"..."

Her words brought a brief silence.

"How do you plan to explain this to Father?"

Chibi Kaguya: "If we plead sincerely, he might—"

"Are you stupid? You don't seriously think that man has even a shred of humanity left, do you?" Ice Kaguya said flatly. "We should be grateful we're allowed to live away from him. Waking the sleeping lion is not a wise move. Studying abroad needs a longer-term plan. We should gather more bargaining chips in the meantime…"

She paused, eyes narrowing, and muttered to herself:

"No… we already have the chip."

Chibi Kaguya: "Huh?"

Kaguya: "You don't mean…"

"Takamine Rinji."

Ice Kaguya spoke slowly, a cruel smile playing at her lips.

"With him around, the main family wouldn't dare make a sound. That guy's even more ruthless than Father. To the main family, seeing him is like seeing the Grim Reaper. If he negotiates on our behalf…"

Kaguya hesitated. "...You want Rinji-kun to handle that?"

"Absolutely not!"

Chibi Kaguya shouted.

"Rinji-kun finally became such a gentle guy in the student council. You want to make him do that again?!"

"Why not? He said he'd provide us 'after-sales service' if we got together with the president," Ice Kaguya retorted. "And isn't that how the Shinomiya family works—using others?"

"You're too cruel!"

"Exactly… besides, is Rinji-kun really the kind of person who'd let himself be used?" Kaguya looked down. "Also… if we use him, Hayasaka will definitely be angry."

"We're all the same person, so let's drop the act."

Ice Kaguya tucked her hair behind her ear, still smiling faintly.

"Cruel, ruthless, and willing to do anything to achieve his goals—that's the real Rinji," she said. "That unapologetic, unfiltered self of his… that's the version of him we truly admire. We understand him best."

"..."

Just as Ice Kaguya said, Kaguya knew Rinji very well.

From their first meeting four years ago, to the attack on the Shinomiya main family, to their time in the student council—despite all the clashes and bickering, she knew him inside out.

Though he'd done plenty of foolish things, to her, that only showed how pure he was.

Someone without a social mask is easy to understand when surrounded by those who always wear one.

"The only difference between me and you is… you think his ruthlessness is terrifying and want him to stay like he is now."

Ice Kaguya smiled at the two others.

"But I'm not like that. I absolutely adore the Rinji who once crushed the Shinomiya family."

"..."