In the letters that followed, she shared less and less of her daily life, and wrote more and more about how much she missed him.
Later still, even the words about missing him grew fewer.
They turned into something like pleas.
Through those shattered words, and the occasional patches of ink that clearly had not blurred on their own, they could almost see a helpless girl pleading humbly. She was no longer even asking to remain friends, only that the person she sent her letters to would let her know when he abandoned her.
Letter after letter left their noses stinging, and Kanzaki Kumo was almost in tears.
Of course, part of the reason for his tears was that the girls were pinching him.
Aside from Kanao, who sat quietly in his lap, even Kanae had joined in, though she could not bring herself to use much force.
As for Makomo and Shinobu Kocho, they were close to drawing blood from Kanzaki Kumo's waist.
What was somewhat surprising, however, was that the letters from the past few days-the ones sent daily-had returned to something like the first letter's content.
They mostly shared her daily life, with some ordinary greetings and a line or two at the end about how much she missed him.
Yet despite the light, cheerful words, they all felt a tightness in their chests after reading them.
"Phew..."
Kanzaki Kumo let out a long breath.
"So, how should I reply...?"
"You already have more than one girl around you, don't you? Do we really need to teach you what to do?" Makomo rolled her eyes and turned her face away.
"Easy. Just tell her you don't want to be friends with her anymore, that you don't want anything to do with her. Perfect. Better a short, sharp