During the lunch break, Hikigaya tracked down Sakuraba and Saeki.
They were sitting by the flowerbeds in the courtyard. Their bento boxes were open, but neither had eaten much. Sakuraba sat with her head hung low, poking at her rice with her chopsticks, while Saeki was saying sothing beside her, trying to cheer her up.
Hikigaya walked over and sat down across from them.
"Are you free after school? Co to that clubroom on the third floor—the one at the very end without a naplate. I have sothing I want to talk to you about."
Sakuraba looked up; her eyes lit up for a mont when she saw him, but they quickly dimd again.
Saeki blinked, asking in confusion, "A clubroom?"
"It's been requisitioned by Hiratsuka-sensei. She's ford a club and used that classroom as the activity location. Nikaido Hiro from Class J and I are mbers."
"Nikaido Hiro?" Sakuraba's face went pale instantly. "She... she's there too?"
"Yeah, she'll be coming as well."
Unrest flickered in Sakuraba's pink eyes.
"Hikigaya-kun... why do you need her for this?"
"Because I need her help with sothing. I'll explain the specifics after school. Regardless, please make sure to co."
Sakuraba's hand tightened around her chopsticks. She didn't voice any objection.
Saeki shot her a glance, then looked back at Hikigaya.
"Okay. I'll go with her."
Hikigaya felt a wave of relief. He nodded and turned to leave.
Once Hikigaya was out of earshot, Saeki turned to Sakuraba.
"Sakuraba."
"...Yes?"
"That Nikaido Hiro..." Saeki chose her words carefully. "Do you know her?"
Sakuraba's eyelashes trembled. She looked down and remained silent.
After a long pause, Sakuraba gave a small, slow nod.
"...Middle school classmates."
"Then... do you two not get along?"
Sakuraba shook her head, then nodded, then finally shook her head again. She didn't know how to describe it herself.
Saeki didn't press her further. She simply patted Sakuraba's shoulder gently.
"It's okay. I'll go with you after school. No matter what happens, I'm on your side."
Sakuraba looked up, her large pink eyes flashing with a pitiful sense of gratitude.
"...Thank you."
Saeki gave a gentle smile.
"Of course. Aren't we friends?"
Sakuraba froze for a second, then lowered her head, tears shimring in the corners of her eyes.
'Friends.'
It had been a very long ti since she had heard soone say that word to her.
-
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After school, Hikigaya was the first to arrive at the clubroom.
The window was open, and the evening breeze blew in, causing the curtains to sway slightly. He stood by the window, watching the students leaving in small groups below.
The door was pushed open.
Saeki walked in, followed by Sakuraba.
Hikigaya glanced at them but didn't speak, simply gesturing for them to find a seat.
With her head down, Sakuraba walked over to a chair by the window and sat. She looked around, taking in the modest room and the stacks of desks and chairs at the back; her eyes held a bit of curiosity, but were mostly filled with unease.
Saeki sat next to Sakuraba and patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"It'll be fine."
Sakuraba nodded, forcing out a smile.
A mont later, the door opened again.
Nikaido Hiro walked in.
When she saw Sakuraba, her footsteps faltered for a fraction of a second.
Sakuraba looked up and saw her; her entire body stiffened.
The air seed to solidify.
Sakuraba opened her mouth as if to say sothing, but it felt like sothing was stuck in her throat.
Nikaido averted her gaze and walked expressionlessly to the other side of the long table to sit.
Sakuraba's fingers clenched into a ball. Her chest began to feel tight again, and her breathing beca slightly ragged.
Saeki gently placed her hand over the back of Sakuraba's, giving it a reassuring pat, then looked up at Nikaido and gave a calm nod.
"Hello. I'm Saeki Miria."
Nikaido nodded back.
"Nikaido Hiro."
Hikigaya sat down in the middle of the long table.
"Alright, let's get down to business."
He glanced at how the four of them were positioned. Sakuraba was by the window, Nikaido was on the side near the door, Saeki was next to Sakuraba, and he sat opposite them in the middle.
"Tomorrow at noon, I plan to confess to Nikaido-san."
Saeki blinked. "...Eh?"
Sakuraba also looked up, her eyes filled with total confusion.
"Con... confess?" Saeki thought she had misheard. "Hikigaya-kun, what are you talking about?"
"I'm going to confess to Nikaido-san in front of everyone tomorrow at noon. Then, she will reject . That way, the whole school will be talking about my confession, and naturally, no one will care about the rumors surrounding Sakuraba anymore."
It took Saeki a few seconds to digest the aning of those words.
"You an... using a bigger rumor to suppress the original one?"
"Pretty much."
"I don't quite understand... what does this actually solve?"
"It's a diversion. Right now, the whole school is talking about Sakuraba. My confession will be stupid enough and ridiculous enough to make people laugh for a while. By the ti they've had their fill of laughing, Sakuraba's situation will have blown over."
"But... if you do that, you'll..."
"I didn't have anything worth discussing anyway. Being laughed at for a few days in exchange for Sakuraba getting so peace—it's not a bad trade."
Saeki looked at him, her eyes filled with hesitation.
"But... even if people stop talking for a bit, what about later? Once this passes, they'll just rember the stuff about Sakuraba again."
"We'll deal with that when the ti cos. First, we need to get through this imdiate hurdle."
Saeki opened her mouth to say sothing, then swallowed it back down.
Sakuraba, who had been keeping her head down, suddenly spoke.
"Hikigaya-kun..." Her voice was very soft. "You don't have to do this..."
She kept her head lowered, suppressing the sound of her crying, biting her lip with her fingers twisted together.
"It's all because of ... If it weren't for , Hikigaya-kun wouldn't have to do this, and Saeki-san wouldn't have been dragged into it... It's all my fault..."
Looking at her self-deprecating state, Hikigaya sighed internally.
He was just about to speak when Nikaido, sitting opposite them, spoke first.
Nikaido raised those blood-red eyes and looked straight at Sakuraba.
"It is your fault."
Her voice was terrifyingly calm.
Sakuraba's shoulders jerked as if she'd been struck by the words.
Saeki frowned, wanting to say sothing, but Nikaido didn't give her the chance.
"But it's not just you."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over Hikigaya and Saeki before returning to Sakuraba.
"You think you're the only one responsible? If things had been clarified early on, the rumors wouldn't have reached this point. Not one of the three of you spoke up, and none of you acted. You just watched as things got worse day by day."
Hikigaya looked at Nikaido's expressionless face, thinking that this girl really knew how to be harsh.
Sakuraba sat there stunned, tears still on her face, but she seed paralyzed.
"This hollow self-reproach helps no one solve the problem; it only makes you feel a little better."
The room beca so quiet that the sound of the wind outside was audible.
Nikaido did not look away, continuing to stare at Sakuraba.
"Regarding tomorrow's event, you two are to co as well. Stand nearby and watch. Watch how he gets mocked by others, and watch how the rumors were fabricated about you. Then, figure it out for yourselves: will you continue with useless apologies and guilt, or will you actually do sothing useful to salvage the situation?"
Having said her piece, she leaned back in her chair.
Sakuraba stared blankly into her blood-red eyes.
After a long ti, she finally lowered her head.
"I understand..."
Saeki gently squeezed her hand and looked at Hikigaya.
"Hikigaya-kun, we'll be there tomorrow. We won't get in the way."
Hikigaya nodded.
"We need to get the word out first. Otherwise, if no one shows up to watch, the performance is wasted."
"What should we do?"
"Just post on the school forum. On the anonymous board, make a clickbait title. It won't take more than one class period for the whole school to know. Adolescents love gossip and drama."
Nikaido glanced at him.
"You certainly seem to know your way around this."
Saeki hesitated.
"But... I don't really understand that stuff. I don't go online much."
Hikigaya knew about her past and hadn't intended for her to handle it anyway.
"It's fine, you don't need to worry about it."
Sakuraba, who had been silent for a while, suddenly spoke in a small voice.
"I don't really understand either..." She looked up, peeking timidly at Hikigaya. "I've never registered... for that forum."
"Never registered, huh."
Nikaido's voice was very soft, almost as if she were talking to herself.
Hikigaya's gaze lingered on her face for a split second.
Nikaido didn't say anything else; she just lowered her eyes and let the topic drop.
Hikigaya also looked away, keeping his tone as steady as possible.
"Right. Then I'll handle the forum side of things."
Saeki nodded. "Okay. Sorry for the trouble."
She looked at the sky outside, then at Sakuraba beside her.
"Then... should we head back?"
Hikigaya gave a "Yeah."
Saeki stood up and gently pulled Sakuraba's hand.
Sakuraba stood up with her. As she reached the door, she glanced back.
Her pink eyes first looked at Hikigaya, then shifted to Nikaido, who had her back turned to her.
Nikaido didn't look back; she just stared out the window.
Sakuraba opened her mouth, but in the end, she said nothing and followed Saeki out.
The door closed.
Only Hikigaya and Nikaido remained in the room.
The wind blew in, making the curtains sway gently.
After a few seconds, Nikaido spoke.
"Hikigaya."
"Yeah?"
"After tomorrow, you might regret this."
Hikigaya thought for a mont.
"Probably."
Nikaido said nothing more. She stood up, pushed the door open, and walked out.
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