True Or False? ~ Love Game? No, I Will Not Participate In The Competition

The news of the arrest of the eldest son of the Tachibana family, a branch of the famous Yakumo family, spread quickly.

When word of his son’s disgraceful behavior spread, his father stepped down as president of Tachibana Corporation, and his mother, Mitsuko, stayed away from the gossipy social scene.

The Yakumo family indeed could not protect the Tachibana family, or rather, they had no intention of protecting the Tachibana family, so they threw the Tachibana family out of the branch family... On the contrary, by doing so, they kept the Tachibana family away from the framework of the famous family so that they would not have to appear in public any more and would be free from unnecessary socializing.

And so began Takayuki’s trial.

As expected, Manyo did not sit at the prosecutor’s table because she was a family member of the parties involved, but the prosecutor’s office was still in serious mode and took a confrontational stance with the defense for her sake, as she was well-liked in the workplace.

The defense argued that Takayuki was in a diminished state of mind, while the prosecutors went back to his one-sided outburst to his former fiancée, his kidnapping and confinement of his current fiancée, and his attempt to kill his former fiancée after taking the current fiancée words to heart. He claimed he was fully responsible.

“...Guilty, huh...”

“My, isn’t that natural? This is a trial that the prosecutor’s office worked on in full force and in earnest, so what if we don’t win?”

The result was a victory for the prosecution.

Takayuki’s sentence was guilty... Since he was sentenced to jail with no probation, the news was all over him, poking and prodding him from every angle.

What was his upbringing like from birth until now, what was his surrounding environment like, what were his friendships at school, about the episode where he had a fiancée that his parents made engagement but someone else came along and he got engaged to that person, and so on.

Although most of the people involved were introduced under pseudonyms, the background of the criminal named Takayuki Tachibana was exposed to the viewers.

Although he thought it was cruel, Chiharu had no intention of feeling sorry for him.

Rather, he just thought of it as a waste of time.

“... Why does the victim have a face like that? Sooner or later, the press will tire of it.”

“ I know that.... Still, I’ll take it as a good thing that we’re not in the spotlight like the other cases.”

“The media seem to know what to expect when they poke around the scandal of a bureaucratic family. Well, it’s quiet.”

“Scandal... It’s not that interesting.”

Saya was a victim of one-sided hostility, and if you only looked there, you might end up feeling sorry for her.

However, the existence of Saya herself was enough of a source of scandal if you looked into it.

She was the one to whom the murderer, Takayuki Tachibana, broke off his engagement, and the child who was later adopted by the Kudou family, a genius girl with rare abilities who was once in an academy overseas.

It was hard to believe that the media would leave a story that would come out so interestingly if they poked about Saya.

In fact, when she entered the university, the weekly magazines that wrote about her amusingly sold like hotcakes.

“It’s enough scandal. After all, the youngest student to enter university is the adopted child of the Kudou family and is engaged to the head of the Kiryuu family, who has now officially rebuilt his family. Even for free, there are a lot of families that wanted the freelance Kiryuu head of the family, you know? The media, though, it is a great story in social circles. The head of Kiryuu was a pedophile.”

“... Even mother, can you please stop picking on Kiryuu with that story? Even just for the sake of being teased by Takuma and Yurie, it’s Saya who has to endure it.”

Takuma teased Sakuya about being a pedophile right out of the gate.

Yurie, as expected, gave a lukewarm look and even responded with a cold tone of voice, ‘I see’.

Sakuya was standing next to Saya with a nonchalant look on his face, so she was probably the one who was the most uncomfortable.

The age difference was out of control, but as one would expect at 26 and 17... Since they were at a criminal age difference of 16 and 7 when they fell in love, she would at least feel bad that Sakuya was being teased because of her.

(Not so much because he was a pedophile, but because of Saya... I guess that’s what it means.)

The one he loved was Saya. Because she was who she was.

Therefore, he could put on a face that said, ‘I don’t care what kind of slander I receive, and if the girl I love accepts my feelings despite my confusion, then I should have nothing to fear’.

However, that was not the case with Saya.

She must be bewildered by her feelings for the first time in her life.

She was lost, worried, and troubled about whether this was really the right thing to do and what to do.

Even this attitude was probably only endearing to Sakuya.

(...I think I know what it’s like to want to say, Rear explosion.)

That was what they called these feelings.

She couldn’t help but think it was ridiculous and she couldn’t do it.

“I’d better get going.”

“Is it that time already?... Well then, have a good day. Just go for it.”

“...What.”

“You’re here to rescue your beloved sister from the clutches of a pedophile, if that’s what it takes.”

“...Hah. Why do I have to be part of the story?”

His mother laughed and slapped her son on the shoulder as he slumped down.

Today, Saya would graduate from university.

She was the youngest student ever to enter the school and had always been one of the top students to graduate first in her class, and she was only 17 years and a few months old. In general, she hadn’t even graduated from high school yet.

Therefore, the graduation ceremony was held on high alert, with all the press shut out, which made him feel a bit tense, but the person in question went into the ceremony with a sense of freedom and a little of sadness at the same time.

Wearing a navy blue suit instead of a kimono or hakama, she was no longer the skinny little girl she was when her last name was Hiiragi.

Under the guidance of a nutritionist, she continued to eat nutritious meals in a well-balanced manner, and at the same time, learned every exercise she could think of that would be useful, from self-defense to Shorinji Kempo, to keep her body flexible.

Thanks to her efforts, she now had a firm and toned body with a feminine figure, and she had become a beautiful woman who attracted the attention of those around her.

In a couple of years, she would definitely be a beauty, and many of the students were stretching their noses in delight, even though it was her graduation day.

But they would soon be confronted with reality.

“Saya, I’m here to pick you up.”

“Congratulations on your graduation, Saya.”

On one hand, a blond-haired, blue-eyed beauty.

On the other hand, a very handsome man with dark hair.

The two of them stood on either side of her, intimidating the people around them.

This meant that the reckless young men who had planned to take a shot at her in the end had no choice but to give up, and the foolish women who had been so attracted to the men that they had turned their jealous eyes on Saya had no choice but to give her a cold stare and slink away.

In the car, Saya heard the results of Takayuki’s trial.

Three and a half years had passed since then... In the period leading up to the conclusion of the trial, she had been somewhat restless.

However, when she was told of the guilty verdict, she seemed to realize what the consequences would be, and responded, somewhat sadly, ‘I see’.

“Takayuki-san, as a criminal... Even after atoning for his crimes, he still carries that brand.”

Wherever he went, he was pointed back at, and even his family was constantly blaming her.

What he did was what he did, and even if he was legally recognized as rehabilitated, he would probably have to live with the burden for a while.

Then she suddenly remembered about the other party, who was not named.

After his arrest, the people around Saya had never once mentioned ‘her’ name.

That was why she wondered what that girl was doing now that this had happened. Saya put the question directly to Chiharu.

“Uh, yeah... Her, huh... She’s... Well, whatever. Hey, Sakuya.”

“Why do you pretend to not know, you... Yes, it’s not like Saya is unrelated either. I’ll tell you what.”

Saya was honestly surprised at the fact that was told to her.

A girl named Natsumi Amaha, who was born with memories of her previous life, skillfully won over the people around her, kicked out those who got in her way, and was adopted into the Hiiragi family, the last branch of the famous Shijo family.

While being doted on by Takayuki Tachibana, who had obtained the status of her fiancé, she had tried many times to get close to her true love, Sakuya Kiryuu, but had failed in every attempt.

Eventually, her health deteriorated, and as her mind gradually became distorted, she began to resent Saya, even going so far as to ambush and verbally abuse her like a stalker.

She was locked up by Takayuki, who brought her back to life, and then the incident happened.

And the episode up to that point was already known to Saya.

That was when she was surprised.

“......Not guilty?... I mean, that’s...She still is.”

“Yes, I’m sorry to say it, but it’s out in the open.”

“That said....”

Objectively speaking, she was a victim of being held captive by her fiancé.

However, Natsumi was undoubtedly the cause of Takayuki’s outburst, and even if she couldn’t be held legally responsible for it, it would be normal to keep her away from the real victims by imprisoning her somewhere or sending her to study abroad for fear of publicity.

But in reality, that was not the case.

This time, Natsumi was sent back to Hiiragi’s house through a reliable hospital, and although she didn’t go on to university, she was slowly sheltered in Hiiragi’s house as a domestic helper, and gradually returned to her normal life.

Now, she was just barely able to get a job at a medium-sized company through the help of the Hiiragi family, and as usual, she was sitting comfortably in an office chair while making good use of the men around her.

To set the record straight, office work was not a relaxing job.

Because Natsumi had connections, she had no choice but to leave the people around her alone.

That Natsumi, as expected, had not approached Saya until now, thanks to Kudou’s able lawyer, Masaki, who had ordered her not to approach Saya and her surroundings.

However, from now on, Saya would also be involved in society, and they didn’t know where and how she would be involved.

The restraining order was also for the time that Saya was attending the university, and it would expire today, so it was increasingly unclear what would happen in the future.

“Ah, look, speak of the rumors.”

“......That girl, she still hadn’t given up on Sakuya, had she?”

“That’s right. What do we do?”

The parking lot of a convenience store where they stopped before returning home from college.

Sakuya walked into the store, saying that he was going to get some coffee, and saw a woman who looked familiar getting tangled up with him.

Apparently, Natsumi had found out about the college graduation ceremony, and had spotted a place where they might stop by, pretending to read a magazine as she staked out the place.

Chiharu wondered why she couldn’t use her quick thinking in other directions.

Saya’s brow wrinkled as she watched the scene of Sakuya being chased around.

Her kind brother noticed this, chuckled, and gave her a shove on the back, telling her to go.

(Yes... We can’t keep running away.)

Sakuya would somehow lose her and return to the car.

But the whole time they were there, they were going to be followed by Natsumi, and it was hard to bear and watch her being clingy and touchy all the time.

Since that day when she realized she loved him and that he was special to her long ago, since that day when she reflexively stepped forward to not only be protected but to protect him, Saya had changed a little.

If she ran away, someone would cover for her, if she endured, someone would comfort her by saying she did her best, but she didn’t want that to be enough, she wanted to declare herself ‘his lover’ properly and proudly.

When Saya entered the store, the waitress, who said ‘Welcome’, momentarily flushed at her developing beauty, but paled when she saw the direction in which she was headed as she strode.

It was annoying, there was no need to be shy. A blonde-haired, blue-eyed man tried to head for the cash register with such push and shove, and a cute-looking woman tried to hold him back by wrapping her arms around him.

Taking the basket from the man’s hand, she held it out to the wondering clerk, produced a loyalty card that could be used at all the chain’s stores, paid for it, and turned around.

“Sakuya, let’s go home?”

“Yeah. Sorry, Saya. Shall we go?”

“Wait! It’s you again!? I told you to stop bothering him!! What are you doing!?”

“Enough is enough, Natsumi Hiiragi-san. If you rant any longer, I’ll have the police called for obstruction of business.”

Or maybe it would be posted on Twitter first.

When Sakuya finally pulled away from Natsumi, who had fallen silent, and returned to her side, Saya smiled innocently at him.

“Yes, yes. This man is my fiancée, so please don’t touch him, okay?”

‘I’ll really sue you the second time’, she added, her whisper at a level only Natsumi and the neighboring Sakuya could hear.

T/N: Woo, and now it's the end of the series of True or False! It was a short ride, but I finished the series and will be finding something new to translate soon! Thank you for reading and I hope you have enjoyed this series.