Nonoa had deliberately lost during the werewolf game early on to excuse herself and search for the missing birthday girl. Ayano had filled Nonoa in on Yuki’s situation, inspiring her to orchestrate a scheme that would bring Masachika to visit the Suou household to see his bedridden sister. The plan was to shatter him with grief, then sweep in to comfort him, thereby worming her way into his heart.
“You totally listened to me when I wanted to talk, so now, I’ll listen to you. Like, I’m pretty sure I know a lot about you, like with Yuki and Yuushou, that nobody else does, so I think I could give you the least-biased opinion here.”
“Thanks… But I’m fine right now.”
“…You’ll survive?”
“Yeah, I can handle it. Thanks.”
“A’ight.”
It was a conversation that she’d had with Masachika in the Kujou’s living room. At the time, he didn’t express his concerns because there were others around, but Nonoa was certain if they had been alone, Masachika would have undoubtedly confided in her.
Tsk. I was this close to getting Kuze to open up to me.
She had long been kept at a distance, unable to approach his guarded heart, but it had felt like she was almost there, close enough to touch his raw, unfiltered emotions.
However, Alisa had beaten Nonoa to him, causing her plan to instantly fall apart.
“…”
Even from afar, the murky turmoil within Masachika was palpable, and she was supposed to get her hands on his vulnerability tonight. After that, she could have done whatever she wanted with her hold on him.
She could’ve whispered tender lies and gently stolen his heart. Or she could’ve shattered it, mocked him coldly, and then feasted on the resultant despair. Simply imagining it made the lifeless heart in her chest stir with a strange excitement.
Ah, this is exhilarating… I legit can’t believe someone other than Saya could ever make me feel this way.
And that was exactly why she was filled with disgust: the realization that the perfect opportunity had been snatched right before her eyes.
Ugh… She’s ruining everything… This is so annoying. Wait. Am I, like, jealous?
It wasn’t just the usual discomfort a person might feel toward someone unpleasant. It was a sticky, stinging kind of unease. Her lips twisted involuntarily and she felt the urge to kick the ground in frustration. Yet it wasn’t all bad. In fact, this was an emotion she wouldn’t have known if she hadn’t crossed paths with Masachika.
Still sucks, though.
It was better than being bored, but it wasn’t an emotion she wanted to experience. At any rate…Alisa was in the way.
There’s nothing I can do about it, though. I don’t want to hurt my friends.
That was an outright lie. When it came to hurting her friends, Nonoa felt nothing. She only cared because her parents had told her to cherish her friends—and since she couldn’t break their rules, she merely did the bare minimum to make sure she didn’t damage those relationships. However…
Yup, nothing I can do… Then again, all’s fair in love and war.
Her mother had once said that love was a battle, and that anything would be forgiven if done in the name of love. Therefore, Nonoa decided to define the feelings she held for Masachika as love. Which also meant that whatever happened, happened.
“Friendship is a fragile concept when compared to love…or something like that. Ha-ha.”
After she muttered those vaguely familiar words, Nonoa turned on her heel and used the key she’d borrowed from Maria to go back into the apartment. Once inside the Kujou residence, she opened the living room door, where she then met Maria’s gaze and noticed a smartphone in her hand.
“Ah, Nonoa. I’m sorry. I know you went looking for them, but Alya just called and said she was going to Yuki’s house…”
Nonoa immediately processed the information and decided to speak honestly about what she had witnessed.
“Ohhh. Yeah, I saw Alisa and Kuze run off together. So that’s where they were going…”
“Really? She didn’t go into detail…but apparently, they suddenly had to go see her for some reason.”
Maria tilted her head in confusion, so Nonoa promptly clarified:
“Like, they seemed like they were panicking. Or desperate, maybe? So I guess something must have happened?”
Touya slowly opened his mouth to speak after listening to their exchange.
“Yeah… Well, it must have been a pretty big deal for Little Kujou to suddenly ditch her own party.”
“Exactly… Hold up. I thought Yuki had some sort of urgent business she had to take care of?”
Chisaki glanced around in search of an explanation, but no one could give a satisfactory answer. Nonoa, the only one who knew what was going on, kept them in the dark, not wanting to betray Ayano’s trust.
“Eh, there’s no telling what happened, but I’m sure she has a good reason and will fill us in next time we see her!” Takeshi chimed in, with an overly cheerful voice, trying to clear the heavy atmosphere that had begun to settle over the room.
“Yeah, good point. Masachika’s with her, too, so everything’s going to be okay,” Hikaru added promptly, as if to back him up.
“Now that I think about it…I feel like something similar happened at the summer festival, too. You know, during the fireworks show,” Touya said with a grin.
“Hmm? Oh yeah! Kuze suddenly grabbed Alya’s hand, and they took off together!”
“Wait! Seriously?! He did?! That lucky little…!”
Takeshi jumped in right after Chisaki’s comment, quickly lifting the mood as they laughed over memories from the festival. Despite how absurd it was that the birthday girl herself had disappeared in the middle of her own party, not a single soul criticized her for it, perhaps because Alisa had always been such a genuinely good person.
Everyone really trusts her… It’d probably be pretty hard to break their trust in her.
Nonoa was apathetically analyzing the scene behind her usual listless expression…when Sayaka suddenly spoke up with a somewhat puzzled tone.
“Nonoa?”
“Hmm? What’s up, Saya?”
“…”
“What?? Come on, you’re making me blush.”
Nonoa smiled blandly back at her friend’s intense stare until Sayaka eventually averted her gaze.
“Never mind… Want anything to drink?”
“Oh! Yeah, can you get me some soda?”
“Really? Again? How many glasses have you had already? You’re going to get fat.”
“I basically can’t get fat. I’ll be fine. See? You feel that?”
Nonoa then nestled sweetly against Sayaka’s arm, her demeanor radiating pure innocence—a far cry from someone harboring dark intentions.