Hino Yuki, a hypocritical girl, a gentle girl?

Night.

Karaoke.

Dokuho Kouya sat on the sofa, quietly watching his classmates take turns singing with the microphone.

Tetsuya Hamaguchi, who often chatted with him, walked over. "Kouya, aren't you going to sing?"

"I'll pass." Dokuho Kouya shook his head.

The entire class had come to the karaoke bar, but not everyone was in the mood to sing.

In Dokuho Kouya's view, these people were likely just here because they didn't want to be labeled as antisocial.

Fortunately, most of the people in the class were socially adept; even if they didn't really want to sing, they could easily get by just by chatting with their friends.

Those who wanted to sing could belt out their songs, while those who just wanted to tag along could sit on the sofa and gossip.

It seemed that no one was dissatisfied with the arrangement.

"Yuki, what's wrong?"

Just then, the concerned voices of girls rang out from not far away.

Yume Kobashi and others from the class gathered around the girl with twin tails, looking at her with worried expressions.

"I'm sorry, my migraine is acting up."

Yuki Himeno touched her temples, putting on a pained expression.

Watching the girl in the distance looking so distressed, Tetsuya Hamaguchi said sympathetically, "How pitiful."

"Yuki Himeno suffers from migraines; they flare up halfway through every gathering, so she can never stay until the end."

Realizing that Dokuho Kouya rarely attended class gatherings, Tetsuya Hamaguchi spoke up to explain.

"That is indeed quite pitiful."

Dokuho Kouya nodded slightly, though he didn't fully believe what Tetsuya had said.

Over the past month, he had observed everyone in the class and discovered some interesting phenomena.

Even in a class with the best atmosphere, there were actually people who preferred solitude over group gatherings.

Yuki Himeno was one of them.

Unlike Dokuho Kouya, who was a fake loner, Yuki Himeno was a true loner.

It was just that the people in Class B were too enthusiastic, and Yuki Himeno didn't want to let everyone down, so she forced herself to attend the gatherings.

But in the end, she couldn't handle such a lively atmosphere, so she used her migraines as an excuse to leave early.

The rest of the class didn't realize it was a lie, and every time Yuki Himeno claimed her migraine was acting up, they would come over to take care of her with genuine concern.

"Yuki, let me walk you back to the dormitory."

A girl in the class felt it wasn't safe for Yuki Himeno to go back alone and wanted to accompany her.

"Um... there's no need to trouble you all." Yuki Himeno hesitated for a moment before shaking her head quickly. "I can go back by myself."

"But..." The classmates were still a bit uneasy.

Seeing this, Dokuho Kouya stood up from the sofa and walked over to where Yuki Himeno and the others were.

"I happen to be heading back to the dormitory to take care of some things, so I'll walk Yuki back."

Dokuho Kouya said to the girls.

He actually had nothing to do tonight; he had just made up an excuse to return to the dorm.

Upon hearing the boy's words, the girls whispered to each other, "If it's Kouya, there shouldn't be any problems."

"Kouya doesn't look like the type of person who would do anything to a girl."

It was late at night.

A boy and a girl walking together.

It was inevitable that people would worry about the girl's safety.

But Dokuho Kouya usually behaved well in class and had left a deep impression on everyone.

If it was Kouya, there was no need to worry about Yuki getting hurt.

Yuki Himeno was still hesitant, looking over with uncertainty. "Kouya, do you really have things to take care of back at the dorm?"

"Yeah." Dokuho Kouya replied, nodding slowly.

Receiving this answer, Yuki Himeno frowned slightly, seemingly dissatisfied with the response, but she still said, "Then I'll trouble you, Kouya."

After the boy and girl left, the students in the karaoke room reacted in different ways.

Yume Kobashi and the others looked worried and sympathetic, feeling that Yuki Himeno was truly pitiful for having such a condition as migraines.

Mako Amikura, on the other hand, rested her chin in her hands, her pretty face showing a look of regret. "Kouya just left like that."

"I wanted to sing a duet with him, too."

There were quite a few people in the class who wanted to sing karaoke.

It would still be a while before it was Mako Amikura's turn to sing.

She had originally planned to hand the microphone to Dokuho Kouya when her turn came, inviting him to perform a duet.

To her surprise, Dokuho Kouya had simply left just like that.

"It couldn't be helped, really," her close friend Sayo Ando consoled her. "Yuki's situation is genuinely worrying, and with Dokuho there to look after her, everyone can finally set their minds at ease."

In their eyes, the excuse Dokuho Kouya gave about having things to do back at the dormitory was just that—an excuse.

The real reason was simply that he didn't want Yuki Himeno to feel guilty.

Yuki was so adamant about not wanting anyone to walk her home that she was clearly worried about preventing others from enjoying the party because of her.

That was why Dokuho had deliberately claimed he had business back at the dorm, so that Yuki wouldn't feel so bad.

Although Sayo Ando and the others hadn't seen through Yuki Himeno's facade, they could still sense her reservations.

After all, they were the type of people who were particularly attentive to the feelings of others.

"That may be true," Mako Amikura said, still sounding a bit regretful. "But Sayo, don't you want to sing a duet with Dokuho?"

Hearing her friend's words, the short-haired girl froze for a moment, then a look of embarrassment appeared on her face. "Well... I'm a terrible singer. If Dokuho were to get on stage with me, it would probably be quite embarrassing for him."

"There's such a thing?" Mako Amikura arched her pretty brows, feeling surprised.

On the way back to the dormitory.

"Dokuho, I'm really causing you so much trouble." Yuki Himeno touched her forehead, her voice sounding somewhat weak.

Her current persona was that of a frail girl suffering from a migraine, and even with only Dokuho Kouya by her side, she had to keep up the act so as not to give herself away.

Seeing this, the boy chuckled and said, "Yuki, it's just the two of us here. You don't have to keep acting anymore."

"Eh?" The purple-haired girl with twin tails stiffened, then looked over with a puzzled expression, saying weakly, "Dokuho, I don't know what you mean."

No wonder everyone says women are born actors.

Even when their lies are completely exposed, they will still choose to keep on acting.

"You don't actually have a migraine, do you?"

Dokuho Kouya spoke slowly, his tone calm. "You didn't want to reject your friends' invitations, but you also didn't want to ruin everyone's mood, so you specifically came up with a migraine as an excuse to leave the party."

"You really are a kind-hearted girl."

Dokuho Kouya offered this final assessment.

"Me... kind-hearted?" Hearing the boy's words, Yuki Himeno's delicate brows arched, and her pupils began to tremble violently.

A hypocritical girl like her could actually receive such an evaluation?!