"???"
"What's with that completely baffled expression?!"
"Kariu said she'd break off our friendship if I went easy on her. I wanted to keep being friends with her, so I absolutely couldn't do that. She gets angry when she loses, and she's still angry when she wins."
"That really makes it hard to know what to do." Tamari Honoka smiled, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.
"But it's just strange!"
"You got the Silver Tie Clip you'd always dreamed of. Aren't you happy?" Hishiro Chizuru truly couldn't understand Kariu Rena's sensitive and unpredictable girlish heart.
Silver Tie Clip
Wasn't the Silver Tie Clip what Kariu Rena wanted? After all, Hishiro Chizuru had always thought that what Kariu Rena wanted—what she had been longing for—was the Silver Tie Clip. When Hishiro Chizuru had stood on the awards platform, Kariu Rena had glared at her with obvious hostility, and she had remained hostile afterward as well. Hishiro Chizuru had thought about it for a long time and concluded that Kariu Rena had always been the owner of the Silver Tie Clip, but Hishiro Chizuru had taken it from her. That was why she had shown such hostility toward her.
Kariu Rena stammered, "How could I... not be happy...?"
Kariu Rena wanted to defeat Hishiro Chizuru, and that competitive spirit had driven her to work hard for the Silver Tie Clip, the symbol of honor.
But the more she wanted it, the more she wanted a fair competition.
After all, Hishiro Chizuru had once wanted to give the Silver Tie Clip directly to her. Kariu Rena's pride would never allow her to accept such charity.
She still felt somewhat unhappy about it.
Kariu Rena knew perfectly well that the gap between herself and Hishiro Chizuru was enormous. Hishiro Chizuru's previous victory had been