"Reika!" With the speed she had once unleashed while running across the soccer field, Nao rushed forward and blocked Reika's path. Her hands involuntarily clenched tightly around Reika's shoulders. "Wait, Reika would never forget me! We've been friends since we were little—friends all this time!"
"Let go. You're being too rough. It hurts."
"Ah!" Seeing Reika frown, Nao hurriedly let go. "Sorry, I used too much force. Waaah—"
The moment she released her, Nao was knocked to the ground by Reika suddenly pulling her hand away.
"Friends since childhood? That was only when we were children, wasn't it? Why would I have any reason to be friends with someone as rude as you?"
Aoki Reika, who always treated everyone with courtesy and had only ever given Ash-sensei stern lectures out of exasperation despite their opposing natures, was speaking such vicious words to a friend for the first time. The girl sprawled on the ground did not even notice that her hand had been scraped. She simply stared blankly, mouth agape, up at the clear and elegant face looking down on her, its darkened expression visibly filled with contempt and disdain.
"You're so annoying, Miss Midorikawa."
Miss Midorikawa... Why did that form of address sound so awful?!
"Ah, it's Ash-sensei!"
Miyuki's sudden voice made the other girls turn as well. When they saw the man returning from the direction the Joker monster had vanished, their irritation was instantly replaced by cheerful smiles, as though flipping a page. That sudden change in attitude struck Nao's heart like a heavy hammer.
Did they really... hate me that much?
"Big Brother, are you okay? Thank goodness you weren't hurt!"
"Yeah! That rotten Joker monster actually ambushed us this time. We definitely can't let it get away next time!"
"Come to think of it, shouldn't