Having agreed on a plan, Chihaya Rei and Ichinose Honami set off at once.
With Ichinose Honami leading the way, they passed through a small grove and arrived behind the school's No. 1 gymnasium.
There were no security cameras here, and no other students would go out of their way to come by.
A cool breeze swept over them, refreshing their spirits.
On top of that, it was nearly six in the evening. The setting sun cast its last rays across the western sky, making the scene feel beautiful.
It really was a fine place for a confession.
After thinking this over, Chihaya Rei committed the spot to memory.
The Administration Building they had just left wasn't far from the gymnasium, so Chihaya Rei and Ichinose Honami had arrived early.
But almost at the same time,
Shiranami Chihiro emerged from another direction and appeared before them.
Their eyes met.
The air fell silent for a few seconds.
She had finally found a place to confess, and the person she planned to confess to was right there...
Yet there was another boy beside Ichinose Honami.
Shiranami Chihiro's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the two of them.
"Honami-chan... you two?"
"So the person who gave me that letter really was you, Chihiro..."
Ichinose Honami's voice was gentle, but full of remorse. "But I'm sorry, Chihiro."
"I can't say yes. I don't have those kinds of feelings for you. Not at all."
It had taken Ichinose Honami a lot of mental preparation to steel herself and finally force those words out.
Chihaya Rei silently glanced at Ichinose Honami.
Was Honami being a little too hasty?
Shouldn't she have waited for the other girl to say a few things before rejecting her?
"..."
Shiranami Chihiro's arm trembled violently, and her heart ached even more.
Had Honami-chan really not even left her the chance to confess in person?
Honami-chan had rejected her so mercilessly, without hesitation.
How could this be?
Her lips quivered as she opened her mouth. "Honami, I..."
I'm not giving up that easily.
The words had been right on the tip of her tongue, but suddenly she couldn't bring herself to say them.
Instead, she asked another question:
"Uh... Honami, what's going on between you and him?"
Shiranami Chihiro held back her tears, her sorrowful gaze turning to Chihaya Rei.
Even if she was going to die, she wanted to know why.
She recognized Chihaya Rei, but had never noticed when he had made a move on Ichinose Honami.
Ichinose Honami took a deep breath. If she wanted Chihiro-chan to give up for good, then she had no choice but to use Chihaya-kun.
"Chihaya-kun is the person I like. He's my boyfriend now."
To make it more convincing, Ichinose Honami promptly reached out with both hands and gently wrapped them around Chihaya Rei's arm, pressing it against herself.
Her face flushed with embarrassment.
Chihaya Rei played along, remaining perfectly still as a wooden statue enjoying the perks.
He had always been a Honami Fan.
"..."
Shiranami Chihiro's eyes widened, and her lips trembled slightly.
Honami had never been this intimate with her.
"Honami, you must be lying to me, right? You've never said anything about this before..."
Shiranami Chihiro looked at her pleadingly, desperately hoping Ichinose Honami would deny it at once.
But—
"I'm not lying to you!"
Feeling guilty, Ichinose Honami's voice came out louder than she intended.
"That's because Honami and I aren't in the same class, and our classes are rivals. Honami's also the leader of Class B, so it wouldn't be appropriate for her to get too close to me."
"So we decided to keep our relationship a secret for now."
Seeing that Shiranami Chihiro was still stubbornly refusing to accept the truth, Chihaya Rei backed her up with a perfectly reasonable explanation.
"Shiranami, please accept reality. Besides, I won't let you make a move on Honami."
Chihaya Rei's tone left no room for argument.
At the same time, he took Ichinose Honami's slender, soft fingers in his hand.
He slowly raised their hands, then laced their fingers together right before Shiranami Chihiro's eyes.
"Do you believe us now?"
Chihaya Rei's calm voice was accompanied by Ichinose Honami's shy, blushing face.
"If that's not enough, should we do something else to prove it?"
"Don't!"
Shiranami Chihiro blurted it out almost involuntarily.
She didn't want to see them being even more intimate!
After witnessing all that, Shiranami Chihiro finally believed them.
Her nose stung, and tears spilled uncontrollably, one after another.
But I was here first...
For a few seconds, the light faded from Shiranami Chihiro's eyes. She murmured,
"I understand. I hope you'll be happy together..."
Her voice choked as she said it, and Shiranami Chihiro immediately turned and ran.
Watching her flee, Chihaya Rei's eyes lit up slightly.
There it was: running away without a word.
It felt so familiar, and brought back so many memories.
"Wait, Chihiro!"
Seeing this, Ichinose Honami instinctively started after her, wanting to catch up and comfort her.
But Chihaya Rei stretched out an arm and stopped her.
"Leave it to me. I'm partly responsible, after all, so I should be the one to comfort Shiranami."
"Besides, I'm pretty experienced at comforting people."
Chihaya Rei spoke confidently.
"If nothing unexpected happens, I'll have Shiranami Chihiro back to normal by tomorrow."
"Huh?"
A hint of confusion crossed Ichinose Honami's face.
Shouldn't she, as a girl, be the one to comfort her?
Still, trusting Chihaya Rei, Ichinose Honami nodded.
The main reason was that Chihaya Rei had already run after her as soon as he finished speaking, leaving her no time to say anything.
Shiranami Chihiro's short legs hadn't carried her very far.
Chihaya Rei caught up with her in the quiet grove.
Chasing down deserters and interrogating them had once been part of his daily routine.
At that moment, Shiranami Chihiro was like a little lamb that had encountered a big bad wolf. She backed away step by step until her petite back pressed against a tree, leaving her nowhere else to go.
Chihaya Rei approached her at an unhurried pace.
He stopped only when he was half a meter away from Shiranami Chihiro.
Tears welled in Shiranami Chihiro's eyes. She glared at Chihaya Rei, looking deeply unwilling to accept what had happened.
"...What do you want?"
"I'm here to help you through this, Shiranami."
Chihaya Rei spoke calmly, even taking a moment to admire the girl's deliciously expressive face, fit to be turned into a reaction image.
"I don't need your help."
Shiranami Chihiro sniffed hard, managing to keep her tears from falling.
Even if someone was going to comfort her, she wanted it to be Ichinose Honami!
With Chihaya Rei, Honami's boyfriend, it would only feel like the victor was pitying and mocking the loser.
Before you continue