Epilogue

Ken Sudo's arm slowly lowered. He was still breathing heavily, his chest heaving violently. The rage that had just made him want to smash everything to pieces had been mostly doused by those few words.

He opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but not a single word came out.

Because he knew it was true.

His dream of becoming a professional player was currently the only reason he had come to this school. His starting position on the basketball team, the coach's support, and selection for the national tournament—all of it depended on the premise that "he was still enrolled at the school."

If he received severe punishment for violence, or was even expelled, then he would lose everything.

He slowly released Miyama Saku's collar, which he had still been gripping.

"Tch." Ken Sudo began packing up his books with rough movements, flipping through them with a loud rustle.

"I even took leave from my club to come to this study session. What a complete waste of time."

"Sudo, the study session isn't over yet. If you leave now..." Kikyo Kushida had not even finished gathering the books that had been scattered around before she tried to stop Ken Sudo.

"What's it got to do with me?" Ken Sudo did not even look back. "I'm going to fail no matter what. Rather than sit here and listen to people call me useless, I'd rather go back to the club and keep practicing basketball."

Kanji Ike and the other Class D students who had come to the study session also began to grow restless.

Kanji Ike threw his pen onto the desk, leaned back against his chair, and rested both hands behind his head.

"Ah, I can't do this anymore. I can't focus on any of it."

He glanced toward the direction Ken Sudo had disappeared in at the entrance, then swept his gaze around the library and curled his lip.

"Since that guy already left, we're just wasting our effort here too. Study sessions and all that are completely useless."

Haruki Yamauchi immediately chimed in, "Exactly, exactly. Sudo's right. Instead of sitting here wasting time, we should go back and play games."

The two of them echoed each other. Without making much noise, they silently closed their books and followed Ken Sudo toward the library entrance.

After the Class D students left, the library fell quiet.

"Miyama, are you okay?" Her gaze lingered briefly on the red mark on his neck. "Sorry for dragging you into this."

Miyama Saku waved a hand and said, "I'm fine." Then his gaze passed over Himeno Yuki and landed on Suzune Horikita, who sat among the seats. There was a trace of mockery in his tone.

"You really know how to keep your cool, don't you? Sitting there like none of this has anything to do with you."

"No, wasn't this whole thing caused by you in the first place?"

"Other people stood up for you, and you don't even have anything to say about it."

"Stood up for me?"

"I never asked anyone to stand up for me. Sudo got angry at me; I could handle it."

"But I didn't see you do anything at all. Who knows whether you're just making excuses for your own incompetence?"

"He wouldn't have hit anyone." Suzune Horikita looked at Himeno Yuki, her gaze calm. "Your intervention escalated things. At most, he would have shouted a few times and left on his own. Now everyone knows about the entire incident."

Miyama Saku raised an eyebrow. "So you're saying we should be blamed for meddling?"

"I didn't say that. I'm merely stating the facts. You did make things worse."

Looking at her like this, Miyama Saku suddenly found the whole thing absurd.

He had not wanted to get involved in this mess in the first place. His backpack was already packed, and he had been one step away from leaving the library, going to the supermarket to pick out some ingredients for dinner, then heading back to cook himself a hearty meal.

"That's the point to you?" There was finally some anger in his voice. "Your behavior has already affected other people. You think you can handle it? Fine, maybe you really can. But what I saw was you sitting in your seat from beginning to end, doing absolutely nothing."

"Forget it." Miyama Saku pulled up his backpack strap and turned around. "No good deed goes unpunished."

He took two steps toward the door, then remembered something and called back over his shoulder, "Let's go, Himeno."

Hearing Miyama Saku call her, she looked at his retreating back, then hurried back to her original seat and crammed the pencil case, notebook, and half-finished bottle of water from the desk into her bag.

Halfway through pulling the zipper, a reference book slipped from the side pocket. She bent down to pick it up, stuffed it back in clumsily, zipped the bag shut, and jogged after Miyama Saku.

"Why are you walking so fast?"

"The supermarket's about to close."

"What's the rush? There's still an hour." Walking beside him, Himeno Yuki turned her head to glance at him.

"Sorry about what happened earlier. I was too impulsive and didn't consider the consequences."

"You've already apologized. Next time, think about whether you actually have the ability before you act."

"Got it. I'll reflect on it."

"If he had actually punched you, I would've felt guilty."

"I didn't expect you to feel guilty. You usually act so high and mighty around me. Don't worry, if he really hit me, I would've fought back."

"There are cameras in the library. If things really turned physical, we would've been in the right."

Himeno Yuki opened her mouth to say something else, but he raised a hand and stopped her.

"Let's leave it at that. It's over, and you don't need to blame yourself. Consider it repayment for helping me study one-on-one, though it felt like you weren't much help."

Himeno Yuki's expression was complicated. She knew she had her own reasons for taking the initiative to tutor him alone, and after being told that, she was too embarrassed to argue back.

Her lips moved, but in the end she did not bring up what had happened again. She merely readjusted her backpack and quickened her pace to keep up with him.

"What are you making for dinner?"

"I don't know. Depends on what's left at the supermarket."

"I want curry."

?

Miyama Saku stopped and turned to look at her.

"Curry," she repeated.

"What? I'm eating my own food. What does that have to do with you?"

"I want to mooch a meal. Is that not okay?"

"No. I don't have money."

Himeno Yuki said nothing more and simply followed behind him.

Miyama Saku entered the supermarket, and she entered too. Miyama Saku picked up a shopping basket, and she reached out to hold the edge of it. Miyama Saku chose potatoes, and she picked up onions beside him and handed them over.

She did not say a word the entire time, but her presence was too strong to ignore.

"What are you doing?" Miyama Saku finally could not take it anymore.

"Buying ingredients for curry." Himeno Yuki looked utterly innocent.

"Fine."

Miyama Saku said through gritted teeth. Then he glanced at her twice, took the onions, and put them in the basket without chasing her away again.

The two of them left the supermarket one after the other.

Miyama Saku looked at Himeno Yuki, who was still following behind him.

"Why are you following me?"

"Who's following you?" Himeno Yuki said righteously. "I'm going back to the dorm, and you're going back to the dorm. We're just going the same way."

"Fine."

When they reached the fourth floor, Himeno Yuki was still following him. At the door to Room 404, Miyama Saku took out his keycard and was about to open the door when he turned back to look at her.

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

"I'm not trying to do anything."

"Do you live on the fourth floor?"

"I live on the sixth."

"Then why aren't you going back up?"

Himeno Yuki did not move. She stood in the hallway with her back against the wall, hugged her backpack closer to her chest, and began whistling.

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