"Nikaido-san, why do you think Kurobe-san left Hachiman behind alone?" Tachibana Sherry leaned in close to Nikaido Hiro. "Is there so kind of secret? Does Hachiman-kun actually know her sister? Is it..."
"I don't know." Nikaido Hiro didn't look at her, fiddling with the phone in her hand.
"But aren't you curious at all? A Great Detective's intuition tells —"
"Your intuition didn't exactly work in the classroom."
"...That was just one mistake. Great Detectives are only human, and humans make mistakes."
Nikaido Hiro didn't respond. She stood at the first-floor stairwell, put her phone back in her pocket, and looked up toward the floors above.
Tachibana Sherry waited for a mont, and seeing that Hiro had no intention of leaving, she scratched her head.
"Aren't you going?"
"You go first. I have sothing to say to Sakuraba."
"Is it sothing I can't hear?" Tachibana Sherry's eyes lit up again. "Is it a secret about Kurobe-san?"
"Go ho first."
Tachibana Sherry opened her mouth, wanting to say more, but after catching a glimpse of Nikaido Hiro's profile, she swallowed her words.
"...Fine then, the Great Detective shall take her leave."
Tachibana Sherry pulled her neck in slightly, and her footsteps soon faded into the distance.
Nikaido Hiro was the only one left at the stairwell.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Then, she heard footsteps.
Sakuraba Ema stood at the turn of the stairs. Seeing Hiro, she paused for a second before flashing her trademark smile.
"Hiro? You haven't left yet."
"I was waiting for you." Nikaido Hiro struggled to suppress her anger.
"Waiting for ?" Sakuraba Ema tilted her head, her eyes curving into crescents. "Is sothing the matter?"
"At noon, why did you lie to get to go to the courtyard?"
Sakuraba Ema's smile stiffened for an instant, but she recovered quickly.
"Hiro, you must have realized it at the ti, right? So why did you stay there to eat lunch anyway?"
"...And just now, in the Class J classroom, why did you say those things?"
Nikaido Hiro tried to change the subject.
"What things?" Sakuraba Ema tilted her head, looking sowhat puzzled.
"Telling Hachiman that he can't look at other girls or have a change of heart."
"Oh, that." Sakuraba Ema laughed. "Because Hiro is Hachiman-kun's girlfriend. When a girlfriend is present and the boyfriend is looking at other girls, of course I have to give him a reminder."
"You know that's fake." Nikaido Hiro's voice dropped low. "You know he's acting, and you also know—"
Sakuraba Ema finished her sentence for her, her smile remaining gentle.
"I know, Hiro. I know Hachiman-kun only pretended to confess to you to help , and I know Hiro only pretended to accept the confession to help Hachiman-kun."
She walked down the last few steps and stood in front of Hiro, very close.
"But, Hiro." Her voice was very light, like she was sharing a secret. "When you act for a long ti, sotis it becos hard to tell the difference between what's fake and what's real."
Nikaido Hiro looked away, not daring to et her eyes.
"What do you an by that?"
"Nothing special." Sakuraba Ema blinked. "I just feel that the way Hiro looks at Hachiman-kun lately seems a bit different."
"I don't—"
"You do. When Hachiman-kun was talking about breaking up in the future back at the Service Club, Hiro-chan accidentally ripped the paper you were holding."
Nikaido Hiro's fingers tightened abruptly. She had thought no one saw that.
"Ema saw it." Sakuraba Ema's voice was soft and tender, like she was comforting a child who had done sothing wrong. "Hiro's hands were shaking. Even if it was only a little bit, Ema saw it.
Hiro is afraid, right? Afraid that the day will truly co, afraid that Hachiman-kun will actually say 'let's break up,' afraid that everything will go back to the way it was."
"Enough." Nikaido Hiro's voice was trembling.
"It's not enough." Sakuraba Ema smiled gently, but there was no warmth in her eyes—only a cold, icy calm.
"Hiro, you actually enjoy it, don't you? Enjoying this fake relationship, this feeling of being needed, this...
Feeling of being loved."
Nikaido Hiro's body froze.
"Even though you know it's fake, even though you know it's just acting, your heart still gets a little happy in secret, right?" Sakuraba Ema tilted her head. "Even knowing it's fake, you can't help but think... how wonderful it would be if this was real."
Nikaido Hiro's breath hitched for a mont.
She rembered the way Hachiman had stood in front of her to protect her.
"So, Ema is helping you." Sakuraba Ema's voice pulled her back to reality.
"Helping ?"
"Mhm." Sakuraba Ema nodded, her eyes curving like crescent moons. "In the classroom just now, Ema said those things to make Hachiman-kun realize that Hiro is his 'girlfriend.' Even if it's fake, if it's said enough, maybe it will beco the truth?"
Her voice was light and gentle, but every word felt like a needle pricking Hiro's ears.
"Just like how Hiro pretended to accept the confession and pretended to like Hachiman-kun, Hachiman-kun is also pretending—pretending to like Hiro, pretending to be Hiro's boyfriend. But..."
She leaned in close to Nikaido Hiro's ear.
"Pretend things sotis beco real. Because humans are very strange creatures; if they keep saying it, they start to believe it. If they keep acting, they start to take it seriously."
Nikaido Hiro looked into those eyes.
Those pink, gentle, smiling eyes.
"I don't need your help," Nikaido Hiro said, her voice cold. "And I don't want anything to do with you. We aren't friends. We never were."
Sakuraba Ema's smile faltered for a split second.
Soon, she was smiling again.
"I know. Hiro has hated since middle school.
But, Hiro, even so, I still want to be friends with Hiro.
Hiro likes Hachiman-kun, right? Even though Hiro won't say it, and Hiro pretends not to care, Ema can tell. That's why Ema has to help her friend..."
"I don't need it," Hiro interrupted. "I don't need your help, your 'good intentions,' or this twisted 'concern'."
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to look Sakuraba Ema in the eye.
"Sakuraba Ema." Nikaido Hiro said, her voice clear. "The fact that I hate you will never change."
With that, she turned and left.
Her pace was fast, almost a run. She heard Sakuraba Ema's voice from behind her.
"It's okay, Hiro. As a friend, I'll keep helping you..."
Hiro's pace faltered for a mont, but she didn't stop.
As she walked out of the school gates, her phone vibrated. She took it out to look; it was a ssage from Sakuraba Ema.
[Hiro, see you tomorrow! Also, rember to bring a bento for Hachiman-kun tomorrow. He's always eating convenience store bread lately, which isn't good for his health.]
A cute emoticon was added at the end.
Hiro closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
This was wrong. She couldn't let herself be led by Sakuraba's logic.
But...
Hachiman really had been eating convenience store bread lately.
She had seen it. During lunch break, he would hold those simply packaged sandwiches and eat them with an expressionless face.
Eating nothing but that stuff all the ti was indeed bad for one's health.
That was a fact—a fact that had nothing to do with Sakuraba Ema.
So...
As a mber of the Service Club, as his "girlfriend" (even if it was fake), as... a classmate.
She had a responsibility to correct this mistake.
Yes, that was it.
Nikaido Hiro opened her eyes and stood up straight.
She put away her phone and continued walking ho.
Her steps were a little lighter than they had been a mont ago.
Because she had found a reason.
A correct reason.
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