Sakura lowered her head, not daring to meet either of their eyes. Her voice was thick with apology.
"I... I'm not very good at talking, and I'm really shy... When Hirata and Kushida asked the class if anyone had witnessed what happened, I didn't speak up..."
Her voice grew quieter and quieter, almost drowned out by her own breathing.
"I'm not good at dealing with people, and I'm scared of being noticed... I'm sorry, Kushida, Lin Mu."
After saying that, she pressed her lips together tightly, like a little animal that had made one last attempt to struggle and was now waiting for fate to pass judgment.
Kikyo Kushida froze.
She had imagined countless ways to persuade Sakura, starting with gentle encouragement and patient coaxing.
She had even prepared herself to slowly build up Sakura's affection over time, patiently wearing her down.
(This isn't how it's supposed to work at all. You're supposed to make me raise your affection to a certain level before showing me your special CG, not just give it to me right away. I won't accept this.)
After all, with Sakura's shy personality, getting her to speak at all was difficult enough, let alone getting her to hand over the evidence and testify.
But she had never expected this timid girl before her to come clean so readily.
There was no bargaining, no stalling, no "Let me think about it."
She simply told them everything, plainly and honestly.
Things were going far more smoothly than expected.
Yet as Kushida watched Sakura look on the verge of tears, she felt not the slightest doubt, only deep affection for her.
She looked at Sakura's fingers clutching the hem of her clothes, at her faintly trembling eyelashes, at the tips of her ears reddened with nervousness.
So pitiful.
And