A Girl Catches a Glimpse of Herself in the Mirror / Horikita Suzune Comes to a Realization

Chapter 66: A Girl Catches a Glimpse of Herself in the Mirror

Ever since she got that diary, our young lady Kaguya Shinomiya hadn't missed a single day of writing in it, nor had she missed out on a single Reading Point.

Naturally, on the thirty-first-day anniversary of the diary's arrival, she had successfully accumulated 31 Reading Points.

The "Messages" feature that Kushida Kikyo and Sakayanagi Arisu had unlocked began echoing in her ears, in a voice that was similar, yet somehow different.

"Total Reading Points accumulated: 31. 'Messages' feature unlocked."

"Unsent message detected... Unable to send. You currently do not have permission to send messages. Please wait patiently for your story to begin."

"Messages."

The feature Kaguya Shinomiya wanted most of all—the one that would let her communicate directly with the Recorder behind the diary.

It had unlocked.

She had tried writing down the questions she wanted to ask directly in the diary. Its pages were virtually endless. Although they couldn't be damaged, she was still allowed to write on the blank pages.

And since other people's perceptions of her were rationalized whenever she used the diary, Kaguya Shinomiya actually quite liked using it to pass the time during meaningless stretches of the day.

But none of the words she'd written over the past month had received a response. They hadn't even been mentioned. She had assumed that being allowed to write in the diary was just a small loophole.

Who could have guessed that the blank pages had actually been set aside for uploading messages... like a chat window?

When she heard the word "Messages," a flame of hope kindled in Kaguya Shinomiya's heart.

But in the very next moment, someone blew it out.

The diary wouldn't let her send a message.

"What do you mean, my story hasn't started? Why can't I send a message? Then who can?"

Kaguya Shinomiya clutched the diary and demanded an answer.

The diary quietly turned to the next page and gave her one.

"Little Princess" could send a message.

"Two-Faced Person" could send a message.

"Kaguya Shinomiya" couldn't send a message.

It was as if a door had been deliberately left open, only for a sign to be hung on it in big letters: "Kaguya Shinomiya Is Not Allowed to Enter."

...She'd been discriminated against.

As the eldest daughter of the Shinomiya Family, she, Kaguya Shinomiya, had been discriminated against!

She was furious. Absolutely furious.

But there was nowhere to vent her anger.

She couldn't tear up the diary or throw it away, and she couldn't tell anyone about it.

All she could do was lie on the bed with her maid and keep flipping through the diary.

To read everyone else's "messages."

Then, beneath the black question mark that stood out so starkly among the red annotations, she gently tapped a "like."

She really did want to send a question mark to the guy behind the diary.

Advanced Nurturing High School.

Dormitory.

Though night had grown late, Horikita Suzune still hadn't gone to bed.

It wasn't just because she hadn't yet opened today's diary, which had been updated some time ago. She was also thinking about what Asakusa Toru had said at noon.

"Self-awareness, and friends..."

Standing in front of the mirror, Horikita Suzune stared blankly at the beautiful girl looking back at her.

That was her, and yet... somehow, it wasn't.

Horikita Suzune had never imagined that there would come a day when she felt so unfamiliar to herself.

Nor had she ever imagined that she would begin to question how much meaning there had been in all the effort she'd put in up until now.

The girl caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and fell into deep thought.

Her long, beautiful black hair—her brother had once told her he liked long hair. It looked lovely, but it wasn't what she liked.

In the past, she'd preferred a neater, shorter style.

Her reddish-purple eyes were as if they were softly glowing, their delicate irises embedded like glass beads.

Horikita Suzune was fairly confident in her looks.

Even though she kept everyone at arm's length, she'd still received quite a few love letters in middle school.

Her figure was shapely, and her body was healthy and strong.

All of it was the result of keeping a regular schedule and following the plans she'd made over the years.

"I'm good at... pushing myself too hard." She softly repeated what Asakusa Toru had said.

Study, study, study.

Thinking about it carefully, she really was good at pushing herself too hard.

This had been her schedule during summer vacation.

Midnight–6:00 a.m.: Sleep.

6:00–7:00 a.m.: Breakfast.

7:00 a.m.–noon: Study.

Noon–1:00 p.m.: Lunch.

1:00–6:00 p.m.: Study.

6:00–7:00 p.m.: Dinner.

7:00 p.m.–midnight: Study.

She'd packed her schedule so tightly there wasn't a moment to breathe, and she wouldn't allow herself any long breaks.

She really had followed that schedule well.

As long as she thought about catching up to her brother, she could push herself too hard again and again...

But...

"My efficiency is too low."

Her brother's time wasn't spent studying alone. At this school, he'd even become the Student Council president.

Even with Horikita Manabu as her goal, the only thing she could catch up to him in was "studying."

But that wasn't enough.

She couldn't earn her brother's recognition like this.

"Friends... huh." Suddenly, Horikita Suzune let out a long breath, relaxing the tension in her face.

She still couldn't piece together a complete sense of self. She still couldn't see the girl in the mirror clearly.

Even so, the idea of simply going out and making friends still made her hesitate.

Indecisive, unable to move forward.

Friends, friends, friends...

For some reason, the "Dumbass Horikita Suzune" she'd thought she heard Kushida Kikyo say that morning echoed in her ears for a moment.

Speaking of friends, the person at this school who most wanted to be friends with her was Kushida Kikyo.

Other than Kushida Kikyo...

There was that friendless guy.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

He really seemed to want a friend. He wanted one so badly that he'd even taken the initiative to hang around with Yamauchi and the others.

If it were him, what would "Horikita Suzune" look like in his eyes?

...She had a feeling he couldn't piece much together in his eyes. When it came to social skills, she wasn't sure which of them was worse.

Though she had no friends at all, Horikita Suzune somehow still felt her social skills were better than Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's.

"Tick, tock..."

The clock's hands swayed onward, moment by moment. Before she knew it, she'd been standing in front of the mirror for a long time.

"...Come to think of it, I haven't read today's diary yet." Horikita Suzune raised a hand to her cheek and murmured softly.

Self-awareness and friends were important, but so was the diary.

She turned and sat down. The diary quietly appeared on the desk in front of her once more.

The girl raised her delicate hand and turned the page of her own accord.

Chapter 67: Horikita Suzune Comes to a Realization

[Here I am, writing in the diary again—

Why does this feel a bit like begging for food?

...Forced by circumstance to make a living, I have no choice but to put on a show.

Ah, sorry, this streamer has no talents to show off. I can only share a little trick to make a stunning impression on everyone, without anyone noticing, at the start of the school year.

For instance... find a cute girl at random, take her hand, and say, "I've become a magical girl too! Let's work hard together from now on!"

P.S. Someone at this school has already tried this trick.

That's right! It was our Little Princess!

Well, it was almost a month ago, but maybe this tip is just a tiny bit late.

No matter! I'm sure everyone will be able to use this trick someday!

While I'm at it, let me ask for everyone: ALICE-chan, did you really become a magical girl?

Hey, hey, hey, why did you take Xiao Mei's hand? Why did you seek out Xiao Mei when you'd never met her before and had never been in touch with her?

If it wasn't because you'd become a magical girl too, then what was it?

Could it be... that your Love-struck Brain kicked in?!

Love at first sight, holding hands right there, then a confession!

I can almost smell the citrusy romance.

Come to think of it, there really are quite a few people at Advanced Nurturing High School with homosexual tendencies.

Like a certain would-be Student Council president who declared that she'd turn this school into one where "might makes right," and the Mascot who's in Class B... oh, thanks to the Little Princess's efforts, she's already in Class A. Then there's the Phantom Thief, who doesn't look it, but might have something going on too...

And then there's our Little Princess...

Heh heh heh, Advanced Nurturing really is full of talented people.

Let's put the Little Princess's business aside. There's one more thing in today's diary—

Messages!

I'm sure you've all seen it by now, and know what's going on, right?

I'm going to have to criticize someone.

There's this incredibly well-connected lady. How impressive. Truly impressive!

She actually managed to send me a message from the other side of the diary!

What did she send a message for?

To curse me out!

That cuts me to the core. Cuts me to the core!]