"You were scared just now, weren't you?"
"Oh!? No, wait, wait, wait. Let me sort this out." Kariu Rena still seemed unable to process it, her mind a complete mess that needed to be carefully untangled.
Lin Yan continued speaking to Hishiro Chizuru.
"Smile again."
"Take it back."
"Smile again."
"Your smile is way too awful!!" Only then did Kariu Rena seem to realize what was going on.
Then she could not help bursting into loud laughter. What kind of girl in this world was that clumsy? So it had all been a misunderstanding from the beginning. Every single misunderstanding had started with one awkward smile. Kariu Rena could not help loudly complaining as she said,
"How is that a smile?! Have you ever looked in a mirror!? If you silently smiled at someone like that, what did you think they'd think!? I always thought you looked down on me!"
"I always smiled at you because I wanted to be friends with you."
Misunderstanding
Hishiro Chizuru answered very sincerely. In fact, that really was what she had thought, but it had backfired completely.
"Ahahahaha!" Kariu Rena laughed even more freely, nearly unable to straighten her back. Tears streamed from her eyes as she laughed.
The tense atmosphere instantly eased.
All the misunderstandings had been completely cleared up.
"Hah, that was ridiculously stupid. So I was the one who misunderstood." Kariu Rena smiled at the foolish girl before her. At the same time, she was deeply grateful to Lin Yan for stepping forward to help them. She had not expected this boy to be so thoughtful, so soft-hearted, and so gentle when it mattered most.
This had to be the gentlest treatment in the world.
"One of my strengths is that I'm very intelligent." Hishiro Chizuru suddenly changed the subject. Kariu