For some time after that, Ju Ji kept testing Sakura's limits. He played the bad cop, while Kikyo played the good cop, offering her emotional support afterward to keep the pressure from causing new psychological problems.
As it turned out, Ju Ji's theory was right. Sakura's timid nature had improved quite a bit. She had also become the only person who knew about the unusually intimate relationship between Ju Ji and Kikyo.
"Sakura, go buy me a cup of coffee."
"No. You're not busy anyway. Why don't you go buy it yourself? It might help improve your awful personality."
"Aren't you afraid I'll tell everyone you work as a model?"
"Then I'll tell Kikyo."
That was how things stood now: Sakura no longer feared Ju Ji's threats. In other words, the matter didn't seem so important to her anymore. Since Ju Ji had kept using it to threaten her, she had gradually grown accustomed to it. People were remarkably adaptable.
She had also found Ju Ji's weak spot and learned to fight back. She no longer stammered when talking with him and Kikyo, and her personality had grown closer to the character she portrayed, Shizuku. In a way, she had made great progress. The only downside was that Ju Ji had lost a useful pawn.
"Give me a break. How are your studies going?"
There was only a week left until the midterm exams. By then, Sudo and Ike had finished their studying, so they no longer needed to attend the study group. That meant only Ju Ji and Sakura were left in the library.
"I'm fine. I've pretty much memorized everything on that test, and I've caught up on the material I missed. It's all thanks to your careful guidance, Shinomiya."
From the very beginning, Sakura had never sensed any malice from Ju Ji. Yet the things he did were even more despicable than what people who openly bore her ill will would do. That was why she had hated him at first.
But for some reason, she couldn't resist his orders. She would often suddenly lose consciousness, then find herself in an unfamiliar place. It had terrified her, but these incidents had become less and less frequent.
She couldn't figure out why, but Sakura knew it had to be connected to Shinomiya. She just had no proof. Compared with what she had gained, those matters had become insignificant.
She used to be afraid of interacting with people, afraid to look them in the eye when she spoke, afraid to stay in a crowd. Why had she become like that? When had it started? She could no longer remember. But one thing was certain: people couldn't live alone.
So she had found a way to get by: wearing a false mask and hiding her true self. Only then could she live as herself, and endure in that dark, lonely world.
Still, she had hoped someone would break through the dark prison and lead her into the light. Did everyone live behind a false mask? She wanted to know the answer.
But no one like that ever appeared. Life remained dull and boring, and she remained lonely. Nothing ever changed. Then, one day, her ordinary routine was shattered. But instead of leading her toward the light, it plunged her into an even deeper darkness. For a time, she even wondered if she had ended up in hell.
Now she knew that it had only been the darkness before dawn. Shinomiya Ju Ji was someone she couldn't understand. He had a terrible personality and loved threatening her with the very things she desperately wanted to hide. Yet he was the only one who truly saw her. Even after seeing what she looked like without her glasses, he had treated her exactly the same as before. It made her feel accepted.
Well, she thought she was pretty cute. The number of her online followers was proof enough. Yet even after seeing that, he'd remained completely unmoved. Sakura had even wondered if he was impotent.
When she finally asked Kikyo about it, she got an unexpected answer. "He's all lust and no guts." Sakura vaguely remembered the look of disgust on Kikyo's face when she said it. After that, she began to feel that Shinomiya Ju Ji wasn't quite so unpleasant after all.
Karaoke, cafés, amusement parks, cinemas—she and Ju Ji had visited all the places she had imagined going with friends. She had even started thinking that it wouldn't be so bad if life like this went on forever. She was the one being threatened, after all. It was strange.
And now she heard words that should have made her overjoyed.
"Is that so? Then this study group is officially over. It's hard to believe you've improved so quickly. I guess I don't need to worry anymore. You don't have to worry about me threatening you from now on. I've achieved my goal, and I won't use that matter to threaten you again. Congratulations, Sakura. You're free."
"Huh...? What? Did I do something wrong?"
She didn't have to be threatened anymore. She should have been happy to hear that. But now it felt as if a crack had opened in her heart. Something seemed to slip away before her eyes.
"Hm? Why do you ask...? So, Sakura, you really hated being threatened that much. You're even crying with joy now that you know it's over. I really did something awful, didn't I? I'm sorry, Sakura."
No, you don't have to apologize, Shinomiya. What you did was a kind of salvation for me.
Watching Ju Ji apologize, Sakura felt a heaviness in her chest. This wasn't how things were supposed to be. But she knew she had to say something now, or she might never have the courage again.
"Can I still be friends with you and Kikyo?"
"What? So you did think of me as a friend, Sakura. You really are a kind person. Of course. You're always welcome. But don't come to my room whenever you feel like it. It's not a good look for a girl to go in and out of a boy's dorm room. If someone sees you, it'll be hard to explain."
"Huh? You're only saying that now? That's not something a guy who threatened me and dragged me to his dorm on the very first day should say. Still, I'm looking forward to getting along with you, Ju Ji!"
Maybe it was just Ju Ji's imagination, but something about Sakura seemed to have changed. It was as if whatever had been holding her back had disappeared. What Ju Ji didn't know was that, at the same time, Sakura Airi's favorability in the Friend System was rising at a rocket's pace. It shot from 40 to 80—"close friends?"—almost instantly, leaving her just 20 points behind Kikyo's maxed-out score.
In a way, it was terrifying. Ju Ji seemed to have awakened something unbelievable...
Before you continue