So she held a grudge against Yaya, whom she thought was the "culprit."
She deliberately pretended not to see Yaya.
She pretended not to notice Yaya hesitating to speak.
She pretended not to notice Yaya looking at her.
She ignored Yaya.
The short-haired girl had seen her signaling and putting her in a difficult position.
She had also sensed the awkward atmosphere between them.
She felt uneasy.
Uncomfortable.
But...
She had been the one to start it...
For Yaya to make the first move...
She couldn't bring herself to swallow her pride.
Besides...
She still felt uneasy about it.
Yaya was like that uncle...
They could both see hallucinations.
She...
felt awful.
She...
didn't like the uncle.
She was afraid of him.
After having that nightmare...
The ponytailed girl's fear of the uncle had grown stronger.
Then did she... fear Yaya?
She didn't know.
She just felt like she couldn't interact with Yaya as naturally as before.
She was afraid...
Would Yaya become like that uncle?
The ponytailed girl was torn.
All she could do was avoid the issue for now.
Even when they later talked about how she had gotten what she wanted...
She felt happy.
But whenever she faced Yaya...
She still felt a little awkward.
It was as if a stone weighed down her heart.
She hadn't expected...
Yaya to speak up.
And...
Her very first sentence addressed the thing she was most worried about...
"...I'm not like that uncle."
The ponytailed girl stared at the child, somewhat dazed.
The child took a deep breath.
She dug her fingers into the back of her hand.
"Uncle is very sick."
"I'm not."
"I..."
"Actually, I haven't seen... hallucinations... in a long time."
The child struggled to get those two words out.