For Yukino Yukinoshita, who longed for friendship yet did not understand what friendship was, Sogo Doma's actions were no different from betraying friendship! In the second young lady's heart, friends were an incomparably wonderful concept, something she yearned for deeply. The word was usually accompanied by a whole series of positive terms—helping each other, encouraging each other, standing together through thick and thin, and so on.
She simply could not accept Utaha Kasumigaoka's argument. Even if they were not enemies, friends would not...
"Yukinoshita, do you know how many so-called friends from school go their separate ways after graduation and hardly ever keep in touch again?" To keep Kasumigaoka and the others from being led down the wrong path, Sogo had no choice but to ask in return.
Yukino Yukinoshita: "..."
After remaining silent for a moment, she finally said quietly, "A lot. So many... It would be more accurate to say that very few people remain friends after graduation..."
That was the truth. In a country where small social circles were so prevalent, graduation meant leaving one's original circle behind. Most people were busy building new ones, making their old relationships difficult to maintain...
Unless the graduates happened to enter the same school or work at the same company, friendships from one's school days generally lasted only until graduation. This was also one of the reasons the second young lady used to convince herself!
"Then let me put it this way. I haven't known Hijikata for an incredibly long time, but it's been four or five years. During that time, we've had experiences that were practically like graduating or transferring schools, yet even now, I still consider him a friend. And I think that guy feels the same way."
"..." Yukino Yukinoshita was taken aback. After a while, she