Yukinoshita-san is definitely secretly in love with me.

Of course, Yukinoshita couldn't hear the groundhog-like screeching in Miura's heart. She figured Miura-san probably still hated her quite a bit.

When Hayama had asked Miura to deliver the water just moments ago, the look on her face was thunderous. Jealousy, clearly, was eating her alive.

Good thing Yukinoshita had acted fast and efficiently, suppressing that rising anger before it could erupt.

Honestly, men. Your name might as well be the source of all evil.

Yukinoshita had heard all the rumors about Miura being in love with Hayama so many times over the past few weeks, she could recite them in her sleep. A beautiful, fiery queen and a dazzling golden boy 

Wait, why did that sound more like a mother-and-son duo?

Scratch that. Let's rephrase.

A charming princess and a heartthrob prince childhood acquaintances since middle school. Practically childhood friends. Both blond. Practically made for each other. They even looked like a couple, standing side by side.

And yet, Yukinoshita, the cold-blooded golden retriever hunter, had driven a wedge between them. Seeing them together now, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for Miura, the cold-hearted point-scoring machine she'd once dismissed.

At the very least, she should stop thinking of her as just that.

Miura, on her end, realized something important:

Even though she'd decided to befriend Yukinoshita and help her find her way, she didn't actually know the first thing about the girl.

She knew Yukinoshita was beautiful, came from a wealthy family, and possessed an almost magnetic charm that made it nearly impossible to fail at confessing love to anyone.

Back then, Miura had once briefly lost herself, entranced by Yukinoshita's allure. But ever since her change of heart, Yukinoshita had seemed to glow with a quiet brilliance, radiating light that drew people in, whether she meant to or not.

She looked cold, like someone who kept everyone at arm's length, but in truth, all it took was a single sincere act of kindness, and she'd repay it tenfold, almost as if terrified of being in anyone's debt.

Just how much cruelty had she endured, Miura wondered, for her to cherish even the smallest kindness this deeply?

These days, not only was the school's opinion of her shifting rapidly, but even in their class, students were starting to sneak glances at her Miura included.

Who am I?

Where am I?

Who the hell is Hayama?

No. Stop. I'm supposed to befriend her...

Flushing red, Miura quickly pulled her hand back, grumbling inwardly in frustration:

Why? Yukinoshita's clearly the one with a crush on me, so why does she look so calm touching my hand, while I look like some guilty little sneak caught in the act?!

Why?!

She cleared her throat awkwardly and turned her head away.

"Will you join the next class event or school competition?" she asked stiffly. "If I'm the one organizing it again, I mean."

Yukinoshita took the water bottle from her hand and twisted it open, lifting her head to take a sip.

"If it's Miura-san organizing it again," she replied.

As she drank, her slender, fair neck arched into a graceful curve.

Miura stared, thinking: Even drinking water, she looks gorgeous.

And then: Yukinoshita always seemed like a lone wolf in school, rejecting even Hayama's water without hesitation but she took mine without a second thought.

She didn't even protest when I forced her into a group with me.

Hmph. Yukinoshita-san, you're making your crush way too obvious!

Miura Yumiko wanted to understand Yukinoshita better.

With that thought in mind, that night, fresh out of the shower and tucked into bed, she decisively messaged her half-childhood-friend, Hayama.

[You there?]

Hayama responded quickly as expected, his texts carried that same calm, gentle warmth as always.

[I'm here. What's up, Yumiko?]

[Can you tell me more about Yukinoshita's past?]

Miura vaguely remembered that Hayama and Yukinoshita had attended the same elementary school.

It took him a while to reply.

[…Why are you asking all of a sudden?]

Miura typed without hesitation or shame:

[Because I want to be friends with her.]

[Haha, I see.]

[If you can really be her friend and look out for her a little, that would give me a lot of peace of mind.]

Ugh, what's with that tone? Like he's entrusting me with something precious.

Yukinoshita never even liked you, Hayama-kun!

[Let me think… where should I start...]

Hayama's father worked in the legal department of Yukinoshita's family's construction firm. The two of them also attended the same elementary school, so yes, they'd known each other from a young age.

In Japan, doctors and lawyers are highly respected, well-compensated professions, and the Hayama family was a well-off medical household. Still, compared to the Yukinoshita family, they didn't quite measure up.

Children's worlds are supposedly pure, but they absorb adult prejudices far earlier than we like to admit.

Even as a child, Yukinoshita was striking delicate and doll-like, like a Disney princess come to life. The boys adored her. The girls, however, were consumed by jealousy. And once the girls turned against her, the boys, fearing social isolation, kept their admiration carefully hidden.

That jealousy snowballed into full-blown ostracization. Her indoor shoes would disappear without warning. Strange substances would show up in her water bottle.

These childish acts of malice couldn't be solved just by telling a teacher or parent. At best, there would be a temporary lull. At worst, the victim would be blamed for being "too sensitive" or "too much trouble."

One day, it all reached a breaking point.

A group of girls waited until Yukinoshita went to the bathroom after school, then locked her in and left the building laughing turning the lights off as a final touch.

She spent the entire night trapped in that dark school bathroom.

Her sister, noticing she hadn't come home and panicking after her own cram class ended late that night, rushed back to the school. She found Yukinoshita pounding on the stall door with a hoarse voice, sobbing for help.

No one knows exactly what Yukinoshita thought about in that pitch-black stall with no way out.

But Hayama would never forget the look on her face.

That proud, aloof girl who always stood tall in the face of cruelty collapsed, weeping, clinging to her sister like she was the last lifeline in the world.

She'd cried so hard she couldn't breathe.

And she had asked, "Do you not want me anymore either, Onee-chan?"

Not long after, Yukinoshita transferred to a school overseas. She didn't return until she graduated middle school. Hayama saw her again when she enrolled at Sōbu High.

He said quietly, "I've always felt like I owe Yukinoshita an apology…"

If only he'd had the courage back then even if it meant being isolated too would things have been different?

Was that why, a few months ago, when she confessed to him in a trap he knew was fake, he still couldn't stop himself from jumping right in?

Miura stared at the screen for a long moment. Then she typed her reply.

Furious.

To this boy she had maybe once liked.

[Hayama-kun, you're the worst!]