The gloom on her face vanished, and her smile shone so brightly it seemed capable of driving away every cloud:
"That's great! Thank you, Lin Mu!"
She nodded enthusiastically, her voice full of excitement:
"Then from now on... I'll keep eating with you!"
Lin Mu gave a quiet "Mm," picked up his chopsticks again, and started eating.
He didn't notice—or rather, he noticed but didn't care about—the fleeting expression in Kushida's eyes.
Deep inside, her possessiveness toward Lin Mu was quietly spiraling out of control.
He agreed...
He was willing to keep eating with me...
Could this count as... treating me specially?
These thoughts circled through her mind, making her heart beat a little faster despite herself.
But at the same time, another emotion began to take root.
Her gaze, seemingly casual, swept across another corner of the cafeteria.
There, Suzune Horikita was eating lunch quietly by herself.
The girl's profile was cold and aloof, completely at odds with the lively atmosphere around her.
Looking at Horikita, Kushida felt a powerful surge of disgust.
Why...
Why did that person have to be here, too?
Her fingers unconsciously tightened around her chopsticks.
I've already tried so hard to distance myself from everything in my past, tried so hard to pretend to be the kind of person everyone likes.
Why is Suzune Horikita still like a thorn in my side, constantly reminding me of the darkness no one else knows about...
The way she looks at me...
That superior attitude of hers...
(She really does act so superior!)
The way she seems to know everything, yet says nothing...
Damn it...
These thoughts churned madly through Kushida's mind, but her face still wore a sweet, gentle smile.
She turned back to Lin Mu and cheerfully started telling him about the interesting things that