So, to prevent that, getting close to Suzune Horikita was a good move.
1. Become friends, and then she could be kept from talking carelessly. (Normal response)
2. Become friends, and even if the other party exposed her dark past, it could be dismissed as a fight between friends. (Ordinary response)
3. If they became friends, her guard could be lowered, and then... she could be driven away. (Cold-blooded approach)
These were all cold, calculating strategies.
And Kushida was currently stuck at Strategy 1, hoping to get along with Horikita while making slow progress.
After all, if things had truly gone smoothly, she would not have been so proactive about helping spread rumors last time to improve Horikita's impression of her.
And looking at things now, even though she had helped last time, Horikita still had not opened her heart to Kushida.
How pitiful, Kushida.
Hachiman also felt that Horikita was not easy to approach.
Rather, if he had not run into her meeting with Horikita's brother, and if Horikita's brother had not steered his little sister toward him, he and Horikita might never even have spoken.
So Kushida's attempts now showed just how difficult it was for an ordinary person to get close to Suzune Horikita.
"By the way, you don't remember her?" Hachiman said.
"What am I supposed to remember?" Horikita asked in confusion.
Nothing.
Horikita had probably been the type in middle school who heard nothing outside the window and focused entirely on her studies.
So forget Kushida's dark past—she probably did not even know that Kushida had attended the same middle school as her.
So.
Kushida, give yourself a break too.
You didn't need to stake out Suzune Horikita every day.
You were disgusted by it, and Horikita found you annoying too.
Still.
Hachiman was a