[Simulation Ended] [Simulation Ending: Backstabbed by the Girl Next Door] [Simulation Review: You became so absorbed in using emotional ties to bind the boy to you that his promise to another girl began to waver. In the end, you were expelled by someone you thought was your ally.] [Simulation Rating: D] [Reward: 5 Talent Points]
Ichinose Honami abruptly sat up in bed. As she stared at the cold text floating before her eyes, an unprecedented bewilderment washed over her.
Why was Kiyoha involved in this, too?! Kiyoha had certainly shown how capable she was before, but... was Ayanokoji Kiyoha not merely Wu Qiao's companion? Was she also someone with whom he shared an important promise?
Ichinose Honami lay back down and stared blankly at the ceiling, unable to stop her mind from replaying the suffocating simulation she had just experienced.
In that simulation, she had taken her classmates' advice and hadn't gone out of her way to raise Wu Qiao's affection for her. Instead, she had maintained a friendly relationship with him, one in which they fought side by side.
All she had to do was chat with him more often, hand him a drink while he was reading, or give him an encouraging look when he was tired. That was enough to make him smile at her without a hint of wariness.
The two of them had weathered a few bumps along the way and made it to their second year. Everything had been going smoothly until the White Room sent its assassins—the troublesome juniors led by Nanase Tsubasa—who began closing in on them step by step.
In the simulation, Ichinose Honami had stuck to her moral principles. She had strictly forbidden Wu Qiao from using extreme force to put down his opponents, and she wouldn't let him resort to any of those underhanded "outside-the-rules tactics."
Naively, she had thought that as long as they worked together, they and their respective friends could find a solution that satisfied everyone.
But her restrictions had become the last straw.
Because of them, Wu Qiao couldn't resolve the trouble by the most effective means, and the safe haven he had built for Ayanokoji Kiyoha began to crumble. For the first time, the girl who always stayed behind the scenes and wanted nothing more than a peaceful life felt threatened.
Ayanokoji Kiyoha quickly sensed that Ichinose Honami's presence was tipping the scales in Wu Qiao's heart.
She could ignore anything else. But she would never allow Wu Qiao to compromise the promise they had made to each other for Ichinose Honami, nor would she allow him to stop clearing every obstacle from her path without reservation.
So, during a crucial Special Exam, Ayanokoji Kiyoha—the girl who usually seemed utterly unremarkable—quietly rigged the results from behind the scenes.
When the expulsion notice arrived, Ichinose Honami looked at Wu Qiao in utter disbelief. His eyes were filled with shock and pain, too.
She had never imagined that the "girl next door" he had protected would, in order to reclaim the peaceful life that belonged to her, strike down her love rival without a moment's hesitation.
"So... I can get expelled like this, too?"
Ichinose Honami covered her face, overwhelmed by a powerful sense of absurdity and helplessness. She had been so absorbed in using her feelings to maintain her relationship with Wu Qiao that she had completely overlooked the girl who had always stood behind him.
In the previous simulations, Kiyoha only snapped after Wu Qiao was expelled. Ichinose had thought she had awakened and grown stronger. But that wasn't it?
She had thought she was the heroine of a dating sim, only to realize that, in Ayanokoji Kiyoha's eyes, she was nothing more than an obstacle disturbing their peaceful life—one that had to be eliminated.
"Wu-kun... Kiyoha-chan..." Ichinose Honami murmured to herself. This simulation had taught her an incredibly cruel lesson.
Being kind to Wu Qiao alone wasn't nearly enough to clear the game perfectly. She also had to face Ayanokoji Kiyoha's existence, understand the special bond between them, and even... learn how to coexist with that unfathomable girl.
Otherwise, the next time someone ambushed her and got her expelled, it would still be her.
The morning alarm rang, and Ichinose Honami dragged herself out of bed with some difficulty. The simulation where she had been "backstabbed by the girl next door" had been so shocking that she was still shaken by it.
After washing up, she got ready to join Wu Qiao and Ayanokoji Kiyoha for their morning training. She remembered the school doctor saying that Wu Qiao's injury would heal after a few days of rest. By now, he should have recovered, but she wasn't sure if he would be able to make it to training today.
When she thought of Ayanokoji Kiyoha—the girl who had barely interacted with Wu Qiao in the earlier simulation, and whose relationship with him hadn't even seemed remotely romantic—yet had secretly harbored such intense, possessive feelings for him, Ichinose Honami honestly had no idea what expression she should make.
The girl who always wore a blank expression, as if she couldn't care less about anything, had actually struck down her "love rival" without hesitation over a promise Wu Qiao had made her.
"Honestly... What kind of person has that idiot Wu-kun gotten himself involved with?"
Ichinose Honami grumbled to herself as she pushed open her bedroom door. But when she went to close it, she stopped short.
A neatly tied plastic bag hung quietly by the door. She blinked, then bent down and picked it up, puzzled. Inside was a beautifully packaged little cake, with a sticky note attached.
Ichinose Honami's heart skipped a beat. She quickly picked up the note to read it.
Neat, bold handwriting met her eyes:
[I'm not sure if I'm right, but it seems like you aren't in a very good mood every Tuesday. Don't push yourself too hard. —Wu Qiao]
Shock and disbelief immediately showed on Ichinose Honami's face as she read the words.
She instinctively covered her mouth, her fingertips trembling slightly. Each simulation took place on Monday night, and every ending hit her like a blow to the heart. As a result, she really did wake up on Tuesdays feeling inexplicably down and exhausted.
She had never told anyone about it—not even Kanzaki or Chihiro had noticed.
And yet Wu Qiao... had noticed!
And not only had he noticed, he had remembered the pattern and tried to comfort her in his own awkward way.
Holding the note, Ichinose Honami felt as if it still retained a trace of his warmth. Her eyes grew slightly hot.
After enduring so many simulations filled with schemes, betrayal, and regret, this sudden, genuine concern in the real world was like a ray of sunshine, instantly dispelling the gloom that had been weighing on her heart.
"Thank you..." she murmured, a radiant smile rising uncontrollably to her lips. "You just got hurt yourself, and you're still worrying about other people."
She carefully folded the note and tucked it into her pocket, close to her heart. Then she took the thoughtful little cake to the fridge in her bedroom and walked out with a spring in her step.
Today's morning training might be the beginning of something new. She was going to see the boy who could read her mood, and the unfathomable "girl next door."
Next time, she absolutely wouldn't make the same mistake again.