"Does Natsukawa feel like she hasn't helped Mashiro at all...?"
"Hm?" Before Utaha Kasumigaoka could finish, Sogo Doma interrupted again. "Wasn't your competition about who could score better?"
"It was about who scored better, but Yukinoshita also had to help Ako and the others study. So Natsukawa accepted the request to help Mashiro review as well. Now, Ako and the others say they did pretty well and should definitely pass, but Mashiro..."
"Mashiro is confident too!" Sogo Doma emphasized.
"Phew..." Hearing that, Utaha Kasumigaoka instinctively rubbed her forehead. "Stop. If this goes on, I'm going to start misunderstanding the word 'confidence'..."
"But Mashiro really does look confident..."
"I mean you, Sogo-kun..." Utaha Kasumigaoka cut in. "I don't know whether Mashiro is confident or not, but I can certainly see how much confidence you have in her."
"..." Th-This wouldn't expose him, would it? Sogo Doma broke out in a cold sweat. "I only thought so because Mashiro..."
"Stop again!" Utaha Kasumigaoka interrupted once more. "Sogo-kun, do you really not know what Mashiro is like?"
Sogo Doma: "..."
C-Crap. He had been so focused on covering up the loophole he'd left behind that he'd overlooked Mashiro's image in everyone else's eyes. Fortunately, only Utaha had noticed the slightest inconsistency so far. Even so, he had to take this as a warning. He absolutely couldn't show too much faith in Mashiro in front of others again.
"Although Mashiro really lacked common sense when she first arrived, it's been so long now. Her manga has even been published, so I think..."
But before he could finish, Utaha Kasumigaoka said, "I see. So that's what you think, Sogo-kun? No wonder you believe in Mashiro so much."
"Uh..." After a brief pause, Sogo Doma said, "There shouldn't be anything wrong with that, right?"
"Perhaps..."
"Perhaps?"