Oreki's Plan Is Obviously the Most Energy-Efficient! (Part 2)

But that was not something he could say to Takari.

"Because you're too beautiful," Oreki said. Then he pulled her along and kept walking.

He had already noticed quite a few students casting curious looks their way. That was only natural; people had already been looking over when Takari was at the school gate.

So when someone like Oreki pulled her into the school, it naturally made her even easier to stare at.

Oreki pulled her straight ahead and said without looking back, "When a girl is too beautiful, people envy her, but more than that, she ends up being criticized."

"And you understand that feeling better than anyone, don't you?" Oreki said. "My friend said you were wearing light makeup, but that makeup wasn't to make yourself look better. It was to make yourself look a little worse.

That was something that made no sense.

Unless your bare face was so outstanding that it brought trouble down on you. That would be why you chose to use makeup to make yourself look more ordinary.

But even so, all of that was still useless."

"..." Takari, who had been pulled along, suddenly stopped.

She lowered her head gently. "So you knew after all."

She said, "I'm the school's classical literature teacher."

"And..."

"Inside..."

"I'm in so much pain."

Her hands clasped together. She looked utterly tormented.

Oreki merely watched her without saying a word.

But he understood very clearly.

He had already reached what was inside her.

Because in his previous interactions with Takari, she had never once talked about herself.

But now.

She had begun to talk about herself. It was a sign that her heart had opened.

"Ring, ring—"

The school bell for class rang. The students who had been staring curiously at Takari had no choice but