Sakura Was Clearly Very Cute

"Sudo brought this trouble on himself, so don't drag us into it!"

Different voices gradually began to emerge in the class.

"Yeah, all he ever does is cause us trouble."

No matter when it was, Sudo had always left them with a negative impression. Now that this incident had come to light, barely anyone was willing to stand on his side.

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!"

Sudo's temper flared out of control. Whether it was Ryuen or these classmates, they all made him furious.

"No way. You're exactly that kind of person, Sudo. It wouldn't be surprising if you beat someone up."

"Fuck!"

Sudo cursed and glared viciously at the student who had just spoken, looking ready to drag them outside for a one-on-one fight.

"Sudo, please calm down. Don't cause any more trouble for us."

Horikita spoke calmly, trying to stop Sudo from going berserk.

"You bastards are all taking outsiders' sides!"

"You have no right to say that. After all, you haven't cleared yourself of suspicion yet."

Horikita rebutted him without any personal feelings mixed in.

"Are you saying I'd do something like that?"

"Yes. As far as I'm concerned, you're highly suspicious."

"Stop saying that! Hikigaya's one of the suspects too, so why are you only blaming me?"

Dissatisfied, Sudo shifted the blame toward Hikigaya, who was in the same position as him.

"How could that be? Hikigaya was obviously framed."

"I think so too. There's no reason for him to do something like that."

"I trust Hikigaya unconditionally."

Sudo: ???

Several girls who supported Hikigaya trusted him without question. There really was a difference between people.

Still, Hikigaya did not want them to speak up for him at a time like this.

Wasn't that just drawing aggro? He could already vaguely feel Sudo's jealous gaze.

When class began, Chabashira entered the classroom and announced the incidents involving Hikigaya and Sudo, confirming the credibility of what Ryuen had said.

The class split into two factions. One group said that after school, they would do their best to ask students from other classes whether there had been any witnesses present at the time.

The other group merely wanted to watch the show. They had no particular feelings about Hikigaya or Sudo, so naturally they would not waste their time on them.

What did it have to do with them whether those two were expelled or not?

As the plan was continuously refined, after school, Horikita and the others actively went out with their respective groups to gather information.

Sudo, one of the main people involved, was even more flustered, torn between going to Basketball Club practice and joining them in searching for witnesses.

Hikigaya, meanwhile, calmly packed up his things.

He did not make a move until the bespectacled girl with the hunched back had packed up and left the classroom.

Sakura sighed as she walked alone through the campus.

Crowds passed by her, everyone in pairs or groups. Only she was alone every single day.

Loneliness and helplessness were the emotions she felt most often.

She was afraid of crowded places because they made her seem so out of place.

No one wanted to be her friend, and she did not dare ask anyone to be friends with her.

She was so timid. When Chabashira had asked the class whether anyone had witnessed the incident, she had desperately wanted to raise her hand and prove Sudo's innocence.

But if she did that, everyone would surely pay attention to her. She did not want that.

Sakura walked for a long time. Alone, she had no idea where to go after school.

Back to the Dormitory? No, she did not want to stay in the Dormitory every day.

So, she cautiously made her way to the area behind the Dormitory.

She had observed it before. Hardly anyone came here.

Even so, she deliberately looked around once more. After making sure no one was nearby, she took a camera out of her bag.

Her fingers gently brushed over the camera's surface, and at last, her lips curled into a smile. She no longer looked as lifeless as she did in class.

She was not truly without friends. The camera before her was her only friend.

After setting her schoolbag aside and taking off her old-fashioned glasses, Sakura's expression changed.

Her inferiority complex vanished without a trace, replaced by a captivating smile.

One hand held out the camera while the other made a common, old-fashioned V-sign beside her cheek. A confident and graceful air emerged from her.

"Okay, okay, three, two, one, cheese!"

Just as Sakura was about to press the shutter, a voice suddenly came from beside her and startled her badly.

She hurriedly lowered the camera and turned around, only to discover that the person was a Class D student.

She had little impression of most students in the class. The only names she knew belonged to a few popular students.

For example, Hirata and Kushida. Their social skills were enough to make them figures everyone in Class D knew.

And this boy who had appeared before her was one of the few whose name Sakura knew.

She remembered that shortly after school began, some girls had started a poll.

The question was: Yosuke Hirata or Hachiman Hikigaya—which one made your heart flutter more?

Afraid of becoming an outsider, she had gone along with the majority and voted.

The person she had voted for was the boy standing before her now.

Hikigaya held a phone in his hand. The flash that had gone off just moments ago showed that he had really taken a picture.

Sakura hurriedly hid her camera behind her back and lowered her head, unwilling to let Hikigaya see her blushing face.

"Yeah, you're really cute."

Looking at the hurried, flustered Sakura in the photo on his phone, Hikigaya could not help smiling.

He turned the phone around so Sakura could see the picture too.

"W-why are you here?"

Sakura did not dare look at it and asked with her head lowered.

Hikigaya put away his phone. "I was just heading back to the Dormitory. I saw you walking this way alone, got a little curious, and followed you."

"I didn't disturb you, did I?"

Sakura shook her head. "N-no."

"Sakura, do you usually like taking pictures?"

"Mm."

"What kind?"

"I usually take pictures of scenery and hallways..."

"I see. You don't usually like taking selfies?"

At that, Sakura's body trembled. Biting her lip, she slowly said,

"N-no... Someone like me wouldn't look good in selfies..."

"How could that be? Sakura is clearly very cute!"

Suddenly, a smiling face appeared in the view of Sakura, who had been looking down.

Startled, she hurriedly stepped back, but her feet accidentally tangled together, and she fell backward.

"Ow..."

Sakura looked aggrievedly at her hand. There was a scrape on it, and tears were already welling in her eyes.

"Sorry, sorry. I scared you."

A large hand reached out to her. When she looked up, sunlight shone down upon him, making it hard for Sakura to see his face clearly.

Still, he seemed to be smiling. There was no other emotion in it, only a pure and kind smile.