Shirogane Miyuki in COTE

But then someone in my class found it. Even without names, they recognized the events and realized it was about them.

And then… I got caught saying awful things about pretty much everyone. Of course they hated me after that."

Kushida gave a small smile. "I think I got bullied after that. Everyone read the blog and saw how I really felt. A guy who said he liked me bumped into my shoulder, because I'd written that his confession made me sick and that I wished he'd drop dead. A girl I'd comforted after her breakup kicked my desk, because I'd written about why she got dumped and even made fun of her."

"..."

Yeah, that's rough.

Everyone has thoughts they don't want to say out loud. But Kushida wrote everything down. It's no wonder the class fell apart.

"So…"

Horikita asked, "How did you get out of that mess?"

There were no signs that Kushida had been seriously beaten or hurt.

That meant no one used violence against her.

"Hehe… how did I deal with it? I just told them the truth. Everything I wrote in that blog was real. People found out how their so-called friends actually saw them. Like, some guy who had a girlfriend got exposed for cheating, someone pretending to be pure was actually dating multiple people, another one was doing sugar dating with a teacher… and way more.

Those two who first got mad lit the spark, and then everyone else just blew up like fireworks."

"People started fighting each other, tearing into each other. Even the teacher got dragged into it. In the end, the whole class stopped coming to school. I was called in by the school and suspended. Most of the others couldn't face going back either and transferred out."

"..."

"..."

That story left everyone speechless.

This was what you'd call a real dark past. It would already be shocking if one class stopped trusting a teacher.

But here, because of Kushida alone, an entire class—including the teacher—fell apart.

It was almost hard to believe.

But based on what she said, it's hard to blame her completely. She just wrote everyone's secrets on a blog. Then someone found it, and it all spiraled from there. People started exposing each other, and the class basically exploded.

Horikita didn't know what to say. Even though they went to the same school, just in different classes, Kushida's class really was… something else.

"So then?"

But Shirogane didn't react much to her story. He just asked calmly, like none of it fazed him.

"..."

Kushida.

"Don't you have any empathy at all?"

Then Shirogane said,

"You haven't changed at all. What you're doing now in high school is no different from what you did in middle school."

"You just couldn't stay in your old class, so you came to a new place and started over. That's all."

"You try to get along with others, dig up their secrets, and feel proud about how you can get secrets from different people by being friendly with them. But in the end, you can't handle all those emotions, so you find a place to let it all out. That's when I recorded you kicking the railing and yelling at Horikita."

"So yeah, I'm really disappointed I recommended you to join the student council, Kushida."

Shirogane looked at Kushida again, eyes full of disappointment.

"You haven't grown at all since middle school."

"..."

Kushida.

Damn.

Kushida felt like she was losing it again.

Huh?

Just then, Horikita Suzune finally understood what was going on.

"Kushida, you yelled at me while kicking the railing?"

Horikita had been focused on Kushida's past, but her eyebrows suddenly tightened when she heard that out-of-nowhere comment.

She looked at Kushida in disbelief. "So, you kicked the railing and cursed me? That's how you let off steam? Like how you used to vent about that blogger back in middle school?"

"So the dirt Shirogane caught on you last night… was you kicking the railing and yelling at me?"

"Honestly, whether it's your past or how you're acting now, it's all shocking. And if people find out you were cursing a classmate while losing it like that, any friendship you've built over the past two months would probably fall apart instantly."

Horikita said, then shot a sharp glare at Kushida.

After all, no one would feel good knowing someone had been secretly cursing them while throwing a tantrum.

"..."

Kushida.

Faced with Horikita Suzune's sharp gaze, Kushida looked over at Shirogane.

"So you really didn't play the recording for her?"

"No, I spared you some dignity."

Shirogane replied.

"But you just said it out loud anyway!"

Kushida complained.

"Anyway, back to the point."

Shirogane continued.

"So these past two months, you've been going after Horikita. And the reason you wanted to get close to her is simple, right?"

"You two went to the same middle school."

Shirogane said.

"You even figured that out?"

Kushida was a little surprised.

That part hadn't been mentioned just now.

"Because Horikita usually keeps to herself. But for people like you, who want to get along with everyone, even the ones who seem hard to talk to aren't off-limits."

Shirogane explained.

"I'm hard to talk to?"

Horikita jumped in.

"Yeah."

Shirogane said.

"And when people visit your dorm, you don't even offer them a glass of water."

Horikita.

Horikita stood up to get some water, but after preparing it, she realized she hadn't brought any paper cups. So she had to go back and get them.

Clearly, she had never expected anyone to visit her dorm room.

Meanwhile, Shirogane kept talking to Kushida.

"So I figured you two probably went to the same middle school."

"And Kushida, you're trying to get close to Horikita because she's from the same place as you, and maybe you're worried she knows your dark past and might tell others."

Shirogane said.

"So if you become friends, you can ask her to keep quiet. Or better yet, get a hold of her secrets so you can use them to shut her up."

"..."

Kushida.

But this time, Kushida didn't argue back.

That said it all.

This was why she had been targeting Horikita Suzune.

Now, everyone's eyes turned to Horikita.

There were no classes today, and Horikita was wearing casual clothes—green long-sleeved pajamas that gave off a fresh, relaxed vibe.

Of course, now wasn't the time to focus on what she was wearing.

"Kushida, huh…"

Horikita crossed her arms, left hand holding her right.

"Before Kushida said all this today, I honestly didn't know anything about her."

"I only knew that during the second half of my third year of middle school, something bad happened. My school was really big, with more than ten classes per grade. In one of the classes, every student and the teacher skipped school for an entire month."

"But the school covered it up, and no one else could find out what really happened."

Horikita said.

"So basically—"

But Kushida had already caught on to something important.

If she hadn't gone after Horikita, if she hadn't fixated on her, then—

Maybe she wouldn't have gotten so worked up. And if she hadn't gotten so emotional, maybe she wouldn't have kicked the railing. And if she hadn't done that, maybe Shirogane wouldn't have recorded her.

So that means—

Horikita Suzune didn't actually know anything about her? Then if they had just gotten along from the start—or even just kept their distance—that would've been perfectly fine.

Damn it.

[Today is Kushida Kikyo's defeat.]

The narrator, who had been quietly watching the drama for over thirty minutes, gave today's verdict.

And Kushida didn't just lose here. Before Shirogane arrived, he had gone to see Shiina and borrowed her phone.

So—

Even though Shirogane's phone was just sitting on the table, Shiina's phone had been on a call the whole time.

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