Knots in the Heart and Acceptance

"..."

Horikita Suzune clutched her arm, looking troubled as she stared at something, hesitation written all over her face.

You En had just gotten back from a zero-cost shopping trip to the supermarket. He finished chewing the dry, hard baguette in his hand, took a drink of water, and washed down the crumbs that felt like sawdust in his mouth.

He walked over to Horikita Suzune. "What are you thinking about?"

Horikita Suzune jumped like a little girl. Well, she was a little girl.

Seeing that it was You En,

Horikita Suzune gave him an annoyed punch, then quickly composed herself. For some reason, she always seemed to relax around him.

"I don't want to tell other people about my personal business."

You En looked deeply wounded. "Am I an outsider to you?"

What else would he be?

Horikita Suzune answered with a look.

You En glanced over and saw the man sitting with his eyes closed in the middle of the club members. He recognized him as Horikita Suzune's older brother, Horikita Manabu, and roughly guessed what she was thinking. Then he said,

"Suzune, why not talk about it? Don't let my appearance fool you. I'm actually pretty good at giving friends advice."

Friends?

The word felt strange to Horikita Suzune. Perhaps she had once hoped for one.

What use were "friends" at school while she was trying to catch up to her brother? She had only herself.

And even giving it her all wasn't enough.

You En looked at Horikita Suzune, knowing she was getting caught in a vicious circle, but this wasn't the time to force his way in.

To put it in game terms, the pretty girl's affection level wasn't high enough to unlock her personal story.

He asked,

"Are you going to apply? For the Student Council?"

At You En's words, Horikita Suzune looked up at Horikita Manabu, sitting there with his eyes closed as he rested. She couldn't help feeling uneasy.

For years, she had done everything she could, cutting herself off from nearly everyone just to improve herself. Yet that hadn't brought her any closer to him. If anything, the distance between them had grown.

Before, she could at least vaguely make out his back. Now, even her brother sitting right there seemed indistinct.

She simply couldn't understand him, as though they belonged to different worlds.

"Looks like no one here meets the standards for joining the Student Council,"

Horikita Manabu said coldly as he rose to leave. He spoke to all of them, and yet it felt as though he was addressing one person in particular.

"Freshmen, I didn't expect you to meet those standards already. This school is different from the outside world. It isn't a place for you to simply enjoy yourselves."

With that, he left without another word. Tachibana smiled at the new students, then followed him.

"Didn't you try?"

You En asked. "The Student Council interview, I mean. You seem like you really wanted to meet him—the president."

Horikita Suzune shook her head, then suddenly looked at You En.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I don't feel that way about the Student Council President. The relationship between him and me... Anyway, it's not what you think."

"What I think? What do I think?"

You En asked knowingly, curious to see her reaction.

Horikita Suzune was confused even as she said it. She didn't know why she'd said that. So what if other people misunderstood? She shouldn't care.

What was going on with her these past two days?

Suddenly, her mouth felt dry, and irritation welled up inside her. She closed her eyes and spoke in a cold voice edged with anger.

"Leave me alone. You're getting annoying."

"Oh. Then I'll head back."

You En turned and walked away.

Horikita Suzune held out for a few seconds before opening her eyes and watching his retreating back. A hint of guilt stirred in her, but something inside her was working against her. She wanted to speak, but couldn't get the words out.

You En found the spot where his classmates had gathered. It wasn't hard. He only had to look for Kushida Kikyo. There was something about her that caught the eye, and the boys' gazes naturally followed her.

Hirata Yosuke, the good-natured boy surrounded by the girls in their class, spotted You En and immediately broke away from the crowd to approach him.

"You En, how did it go? Someone in class said you'd been nominated as a full member of the Kyudo Club. That's amazing!"

You En shook his head and replied casually, "There's nothing amazing about it. I was only nominated."

Hirata Yosuke smiled. "You're really modest. I heard from a senior in the Soccer Club that full members are different from regular members.

"Apparently, after we graduate and go out into the world to 'put things into practice,' we'll be able to get a lot of help from our clubs.

"And the Kyudo Club is a major club, one of the advanced clubs, so it can offer even more support. Our Soccer Club has plenty of members, but it still hasn't been rated as an advanced club. It's only intermediate."

You En carefully committed Hirata Yosuke's words to memory and turned them over in his mind.

The story hadn't mentioned club rankings. What exactly did being a full member entail? What were these evaluations and rewards?

He still didn't have enough information.

You En asked, "Did the senior in the Soccer Club say anything else?"

Hirata Yosuke lowered his head and thought for a moment, then looked up and spoke uncertainly.

"It seemed like the senior wanted to warn me about something, but he hesitated and didn't say anything in the end. It wasn't so much that he didn't want to tell me as that he couldn't."

As expected of the true stabilizing force of Class D. His powers of observation weren't bad, and he was well-liked enough to gather information like this.

You En was now certain that this school was absolutely nothing like the one in the original story.

And it might not be as simple as getting hurt or suffering. People might even... die.

But that was only a guess. How could a school in an ordinary world be so extreme?

He had an even more outrageous theory, but it was too absurd. He could only keep it to himself.

"Are you planning to become a full member?"

"Yeah." Hirata Yosuke nodded, then smiled a little sheepishly.

"The senior said I don't meet the requirements yet. If I can improve a bit more, he'll nominate me."

You En understood.

Hirata loved soccer and was interested in becoming a full member of the Soccer Club. He wanted to ask You En, who had already succeeded, how it had happened, but felt too awkward to ask in case it was personal.

"I don't have any special trick. I sort of stumbled into it. Maybe it's a matter of talent, or maybe it's about your inner core."

"How do you improve your talent?"

Hirata Yosuke smiled somewhat bitterly, then murmured,

"Your inner core?"

He seemed to have found his answer.

"Thanks." Hirata Yosuke seemed to remember something and took out his Student Terminal.

"You haven't joined our class group yet."

"Okay."

You En took out his terminal and joined the class group. It felt a little like reliving his student days in his previous life.

"By the way, can you add Horikita?"

Hirata Yosuke asked. "It seems like no one in class has her contact information. Other than you, only Ayanokoji seems able to talk to her, but when I asked him, he said he wasn't close with Horikita Suzune and didn't have her contact information."

You En thought it over, then nodded.

"I'll try."

Although Horikita Suzune had snapped at him earlier, You En understood her fairly well by now. That was exactly why he wasn't angry and could even sympathize with her a little.

She had grown up in a rather strict family environment and had almost no friends throughout her school life. She was an innocent, strong-willed girl.

The brother she had once been able to rely on now ignored her. In such an unfamiliar place, she'd met someone who seemed like he might be dependable. Feeling conflicted about that was a sign that she was starting to consider her own needs.

Of course, she was really taking her anger out on him because she couldn't vent it at her brother. In the end, she couldn't bear it anymore and could only lash out at someone else.

Taking your anger out on others wasn't a good trait. It was a sign of immaturity. But it did have one benefit: it could shield you from the pressure you were under and prevent it from hurting you, even if it hurt someone else instead.

As someone who had been reincarnated into another world and survived on his own since childhood, You En had been through enough to have a strong enough heart. He wouldn't call it putting up with anything.

Of course, the more important reason was that he might have feelings for Horikita Suzune.

Rather than controlling every part of someone, You En preferred people with minds of their own.

Of course, it was because people like that were more interesting to him.

The sky over the campus gradually darkened, and the streetlights came on in turn.

In the dormitory,

Horikita Suzune lay on her back on the bed in her school uniform. She hadn't even washed up. She covered her eyes with her arm to block out the glare of the lights.

"..."

After she returned, she thought for a long time. She wanted to apologize to You En, but didn't want to admit she was wrong. Torn between the two, she finally thought of giving up on this friendship. Just like before, she could be alone.

It had only been two days, after all...

Horikita Suzune tried to convince herself. But just then,

"Beep, beep, beep..."

Her phone's notification sounded.

You En Tiandai: "Hey, Suzune. Want to join a group?"

Horikita Suzune immediately called him. He picked up soon after.

"Hello?"

Hearing the voice on the other end, Horikita Suzune froze for a moment before realizing she had no idea why she'd called.

"Hello there! Moshi moshi, are you there?"

Hearing his goofy voice, she took a deep breath. She wanted to tell him to stop bothering her, but swallowed the words.

The call remained connected, but neither of them spoke.

One minute, two minutes, five minutes...

At last, the girl spoke in an extremely quiet voice.

"I'm sorry."

Ten seconds passed.

The voice on the other end came through, calm and steady like the sea, unlike the boy she usually knew.

He said only four words.

"I'm glad to hear that."

The two of them, separated by several floors, started laughing at the same time.

The smiles stayed on their faces.

Horikita Suzune hadn't laughed this happily in a long time. She opened her heart a little.

"The Student Council President is my brother."

"I know."

At those three words, Horikita Suzune realized that he was willing to accept her as she was because he'd guessed a lot of what was going on. But what if he hadn't? Would he still have reached out to her like he had today?

"Am I being a little selfish?"

"I can't say I like selfishness, but I do like people who can grow... I imagine your brother feels the same way."

"Is that so?"

Horikita Suzune asked, a little uneasy.

"Can I grow enough to reach that point?"

After a brief silence, You En said just one thing.

"...When you stop asking yourself that question, you'll have grown."

The girl thought about it for a long time, then sincerely said,

"Thank you."

They had only known each other for a few days.

He had no reason to be so accepting of her, and no reason to guide her like this.

Her thanks were simply an expression of what she felt.