When You're Misunderstood, No Matter How You Explain Yourself, It's Hard to Make Things Clear...

Even though Ai Hayasaka had always felt that she was overestimating the Doma Family, after hearing Sogo Doma's words, she felt that she had still underestimated them... After all, Sogo Doma had practically made it clear that when it came to his arranged meeting with the young lady, the Doma Family held the dominant position, not the Shinomiya Family.

As the little maid's thoughts ran wild, Sogo Doma raised a finger again. "However, given that you're one of Kaguya's few friends, the Doma Family stepped in to protect you. As long as Gan'an Shinomiya isn't an idiot, he won't expose your identity. As for those three fellows from the Shinomiya Family, so long as Gan'an Shinomiya doesn't fall, they're just a bunch of little brothers..." Of course, if Gan'an Shinomiya did fall, they would not even qualify as little brothers!

Unfortunately, after all that, Ai Hayasaka only focused on one point and murmured, "Friends... Can someone as despicable as me really become friends with the young lady?"

"Despicable?" Sogo Doma frowned. "You think you're despicable?"

"Am I not? I had an ulterior motive, hid my identity, and deliberately approached her..."

"Well..." Sogo Doma cut her off again. "I don't know what counts as despicable, but didn't you just say that you never hurt Kaguya? As for having a motive, hiding your identity, and so on—could you have resisted them back then? If not, can something you did under coercion really be called despicable?"

"..." Ai Hayasaka fell silent again for a long while before she could not help saying, "But..."

"Hey, let me make this clear first..." Sogo Doma was already losing patience. "I'm not a good person, and I'm not going to offer comfort or advice..." Ai Hayasaka: "..." Ah... well, that was certainly true!

"I'm not exactly a