At lunchtime, in the Service Club activity room at Private Toyogasaki, Utaha Kasumigaoka and the others sat around a table.
"Scumbag..." Yukino Yukinoshita said.
"HENTAI..." Utaha Kasumigaoka added.
"Sogo!" the two said in unison at last. The corner of Sogo Doma's eye twitched. "Why did you have to end it with my name? Since when did Sogo become synonymous with a retort?" The more Sakura Yamauchi grew up, the more she understood the need for reverence. She was no longer the little girl she had been in the hospital. Naturally, she knew what kind of miracle it was for someone like her, whom doctors had declared beyond saving, to suddenly recover. If others found out, Sogo Doma—the one who had saved her—might end up in trouble... That was why Sakura Yamauchi admitted that they had been fellow patients. However, seeking him out because they had been fellow patients, even going so far as to transfer schools, sounded far too unreliable. Sakura Yamauchi had no choice but to add a little artistic embellishment. In her telling: she had once been seriously ill and needed a major operation for there to be any hope of recovery. Though the doctors and her parents told her that once the operation was over, she would be able to run and jump again, neither of them knew that she had overheard their conversation. The doctor had said that her operation had less than a thirty percent chance of success... At the time, she had not understood what thirty percent meant, but her parents' expressions had still made her realize something. If the operation failed, she would become a star... That was why she had been afraid of surgery, until she met Sogo Doma. He had been so gentle. Not only had he accompanied her on adventures