The Fourth Period Is Modern Chinese (Continued)

Most of the messages were idle chatter. The flowers in the Hikigaya family yard had bloomed, the moon was beautiful tonight too, Totsuka was really cute... Was he a boyfriend in the throes of love? But I was a guy...

Even though we no longer attended the same school, we had maintained a certain degree of contact.

That was where the problem lay.

"Women were originally the sun"—Hiratsuka Raichō had once written that.

If it were me, I would write it this way.

Whether now or in the past, Hachiman Hikigaya was the sun.

He would probably deny it immediately, and he might even find it disgusting enough to block me, but in my eyes, he truly was a sun-like presence.

A blazing star hanging alone in the sky, capable of radiating light through its own power.

Harsh and lonely, yet giving off a warmth that put people at ease.

If you could remain by his side, anyone would find themselves wondering whether they could become like that too.

Ever since high school, I had gradually fallen under that misconception.

Because Hachiman Hikigaya had been far too kind to Totsuka Saika.

I had always believed I was Hachiman's special close friend—I had carelessly assumed that I was special too.

At the university I had worked so hard to get into, and later at the company I entered after joining society, I had tried to treat people sincerely in my own way.

I had once resolved a dispute in the Tennis Club I joined through self-sacrifice. I had also seen through a candidate's true intentions and solved problems arising during a school election. Even during an important event entangled in a political incident, I had managed to bring it to a smooth conclusion despite outsiders making a complete mess of things.