The Miserable Fallen State of Defeated-Dog Yanaimi

The lunch bell rang — like an order temporarily freeing a prisoner from the execution platform.

Students gathered in small groups, taking out their bento boxes or heading toward the cafeteria.

Himiya Karen left the classroom with Hakumada Sosuke, clinging affectionately to his arm as they laughed together.

Imaizumi Keita ignored them completely.

Carrying his own lunch, he walked toward a shadowed, empty corner of the first-floor courtyard.

There, a lone bench sat — a new “refuge” he had discovered.

Here, he could cut himself off from most social noise, enjoying quiet solitude.

More importantly, distance from people eased the persistent pain in his temples.

He needed a plan.

A plan that would let him safely, and on his own terms, approach Yanaimi Anna.

She was the only person he currently knew who could effectively ease — perhaps even solve — his physical condition.

But he didn’t intend to take the initiative.

That went against his principles.

He needed a trigger — something that would make her come to him.

He had just sat down on the bench and hadn’t even opened his lunch when he felt the subtle sensation of being watched.

Imaizumi slowly turned around.

Not far away, Yanaimi Anna stood there holding a bento wrapped in cloth, hesitating.

She clearly hadn’t expected him to turn around so suddenly — her whole body froze, her expression full of flustered embarrassment.

The opportunity had come.

It had arrived even faster than he expected.

Imaizumi looked at her without any visible emotion, as if she were just an ordinary classmate.

“Yanaimi-san,” he said calmly. “Do you need something?”

His voice wasn’t sharp or mocking — yet the simple neutrality of it brought a blush to Anna’s face.

“I… I…”
She opened her mouth, her voice dry and stuttering.
“I didn’t eat with Sosuke… and the others, so… I was just looking for a place…”

She tried to cover things up with a clumsy excuse.

Imaizumi didn’t respond.
He simply watched her quietly, waiting for her to continue.

Her voice grew softer… until she couldn’t speak anymore.

Imaizumi sighed and took a step toward her, closing the distance slightly.

“I’m asking why you’re following me when you have plenty of friends.”

Yanaimi looked at him — and when he mentioned her friends, the eyes she had been struggling to hide behind suddenly welled with tears.

“I…”

Her voice cracked, barely audible.
“I don’t know… I don’t know where I’m supposed to go…”

Tears slid down her cheeks, dripping onto the bento box she held tightly against her chest.

“In the classroom… everyone keeps looking at me…
Other places too…
Even when I’m with my old friends, they don’t say it out loud, but that sympathetic look… it hurts so much…”

“I don’t have anywhere left to go… Whether it’s the classroom or the hallway… it feels like everyone is laughing at me…”

Drawn toward Imaizumi by a growing sense of emotional dependence, she poured out her heart in broken words.

And the pain in Imaizumi’s temples eased ever so slightly.

“Only you, Imaizumi…”

Her voice trembled, but carried a desperate resignation.

“You’re the only one who knows all the awful, humiliating things about me…”

“In front of you, I… I can’t get any more pathetic than I already have…”

Then she suddenly remembered his earlier words.

Right — this man believes in cold “investment and return.”

Panicking, she added,
“I—I won’t bother you! I just… just want to stay near you! If people see us, maybe… maybe they’ll think… think that we…”

She couldn’t finish.

“Think we’re friends”
— even she couldn’t say such a thing aloud.

Yanaimi took a deep breath, as if making a life-or-death decision, and reached into her pocket as though searching for something.

“I… I remember what you said about ‘investment’… I-I can pay you! If you let me eat here, I’ll pay!”

“Pay?”

Imaizumi raised an eyebrow.

Looking at this girl who was trying to use his offhand theory to negotiate with him, he spoke with genuine curiosity.

“Yanaimi-san, after paying at the restaurant, do you even have money left?”

She froze.

“I remember,” he continued, “two days ago at the family restaurant — Sosuke ran off for Himiya Karen.
And the things you ordered afterward, plus the bill for your whole table — you paid, didn’t you?”

Yanaimi Anna didn’t answer.

She just nodded stiffly.

“So I was right.”

Imaizumi nodded and analyzed the situation with sympathetic objectivity.

“He probably didn’t even ask, did he? He just assumed you’d handle everything. After all — you’re the understanding, ‘best friend.’”

“I…”
Anna whispered, staring at the ground,
“I… didn’t have the heart… to ask him for the money…”

“So you paid the entire bill yourself?”

“I… I didn’t… have enough money…”

Her voice grew so faint she sounded like she might vanish.

“I… I gave them my phone… and some things in my wallet… as collateral…”

After saying that, it was as if all strength drained from her body.

She could barely stand.

I see.

Imaizumi quietly fit the final piece into the puzzle of this defeated girl’s miserable situation.

Abandoned by her childhood friend.

Forced to pay for their date.

Even pawning her personal belongings, leaving herself broke.

Then coming to school the next day to force a smile, accept her love rival’s “gratitude,” and endure the stares of her classmates.

She was completely separated from her old life — a perfectly shaped “target.”

The comfort he felt from her dependence pushed his awakening forward, making him even more eager — and willing — to help her.

Looking at this pitiful, harmless girl, he decided to offer his own “investment.”

“…Sigh.”

Imaizumi exhaled softly — a blend of helplessness and quiet satisfaction at how neatly things had aligned.

He had to play the role of someone reluctantly accepting.

“You really are in a pathetic state, Yanaimi-san.”

Seeing her about to break, he pretended to soften.

“Well. Just for today, I’ll make an exception.”

He pointed to the other end of the bench.

“Sit. But only for today.”

Yanaimi stood frozen for several seconds before her brain caught up.

Then she hurriedly wiped her tears and sat down at the far end of the bench — keeping a polite, cautious distance.

Step one of his plan:
Success.