“You feel bad for Yuki? It must be annoying for her? Don’t put words in her mouth. Like, how she feels is totally none of your business, anyway.”
“I-it is my business! I’ve been a loyal supporter of hers ever since middle school!”
“A supporter? Uh-huh… And Yuki’s annoyed, you claim?”
“…She’s a nice person, so she isn’t going to complain. That’s why I have to—”
“So she didn’t say anything, and this is just how you feel, right?”
“N-no! Everyone’s agrees with me! Everyone feels bad for Yuki Suou because of her!”
The stranger’s voice grew louder, gradually drawing curious stares from other students, but Nonoa, utterly indifferent, calmly lifted her soba with her chopsticks and replied:
“Uh-huh. And, like, you’re speaking on their behalf, huh? You’re taking the hit and playing the bad guy so none of them have to. Is that what you’re saying?”
“…I wouldn’t put it that way exactly, but yes, that’s what I’m doing. So—”
“Who’s this ‘everyone’ that’s complaining? Be specific.”
“…What?”
“Tell me who’s specifically complaining about Alisa here. You, like, said everyone feels bad for Yuki, right? Unless you were lying.”
“I’m not! Everyone’s talking…like Yamaguchi, Zaitsu…,” the girl faltered, only to be immediately met with Nonoa’s piercing sideways glare.
“You just gave me their names.”
“What?”
“Like, I totally thought you were playing the bad guy so none of them had to, right? But if that were true, you wouldn’t have said their names.”
“…”
The female student fell silent, her mouth opening and closing like a fish.
“Like, obviously,” Nonoa began, then clearly stating, “This is a hundred percent just you not liking her, right? You’re only thinking about yourself, but you’re using other people as excuses to complain. Must be annoying for these ‘friends’ to have you drag their name in the mud like that.”
The utterly merciless words rendered the girl completely speechless…and she grabbed her half-eaten meal and stormed off in a huff.
“Yeah, you run into people like that when you start standing out more. Anyway, you okay?” Nonoa muttered indifferently, barely glancing at the female student as she rushed away.
“Y-yeah, thanks… I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to say, so…”
“Nah, it’s cool. Just something you gotta get used to,” Nonoa remarked nonchalantly, leaving Alisa at a loss for words and wondering if she would ever get used to this. Nonoa, however, indifferently continued:
“Like, you totally shouldn’t engage with people like that. Doesn’t matter if it’s a misunderstanding. Just ignore them. They’re honestly not the kind of person you can reason with.”
“I-I’ll be more careful from now on… Are you okay, though? She’s going to resent you for something you did for me…”
Alisa recalled how the female student had glared at Nonoa as she stormed off, but Nonoa continued to calmly eat her soba and replied:
“Don’t care. I’m used to it. Besides, I did that all on my own, so don’t let it bother you.”
“…”
But even then, Alisa couldn’t shake her unease, knowing the entire confrontation had started simply because she had taken the bait the girl had dangled before her.
It looks like I have to work on how I handle people insulting me, too…
She began to reflect on her actions while eating her udon when Nonoa casually remarked:
“Anyway, you seemed to have run into a little trouble, huh?”
“Hmm? Oh, yeah. I received so many anonymous gifts…”
“Not that. I’m talking about what happened after your birthday party the other day.”
Alisa briefly froze, then apologetically lowered her eyebrows. After returning from the Suou house the day before yesterday, she had told everyone at the party that she had gone to visit Yuki, who had the flu and was feeling lonely, to see how she was doing and thank her for the birthday gift.
Though a painfully vague explanation that omitted countless details, no one pressed her for answers, perhaps due to their trust in her. Nevertheless, it was that very trust that only added to Alisa’s guilt.
“I… I’m sorry about leaving my party all of a sudden like that…”
“Oh, no. It’s cool.”
Nonoa then quickly scanned their surroundings to make sure they weren’t being watched anymore and whispered:
“Like, Kuze left the Suou family, right? So the fact that he went back to see Yuki must mean that a lot happened, right?”
“Eh…?”
Noticing Alisa caught off guard with her eyes wide with surprise, Nonoa raised an eyebrow and continued:
“Wait. Kuze didn’t tell you? Like, I know about him and Yuki.”
“What?! Y-you do?!” Alisa blurted out before quickly clamping her mouth shut and glancing around. But once she made sure no one was watching, her shoulders sank in visible relief.
“Yep. Saya knows, too.” Nonoa nodded as if it weren’t a big deal.
“O-oh…”
Something murky stirred in Alisa’s chest. It was the fact that Nonoa and Sayaka had known Masachika’s secret before she did, and it created a faint but undeniable sense of distrust and disappointment with Masachika for not having told her.
Nonoa, however, could almost smell her despair as she deliberately chose her words with careful ambiguity.
“Ohhh, he didn’t tell you… Don’t get mad at him, though. Saya and I just happened to find out by chance.”
“…Oh.”
“I’m sure he’ll end up explaining everything to you soon? Not like he wanted to hide things from you, right?”
“…”
Though her schoolmate’s solace didn’t dispel the uncomfortable weight in her chest, Nonoa seemed to know what she was talking about, so Alisa decided she would wait for Masachika to explain things to her himself.
“…Yeah, you’re right.”
…Without even realizing that this was exactly what Nonoa had wanted.
“Anyway, what’s, like, bothering you?”
Alisa furrowed her brows, torn over whether she should say anything at all. Speaking honestly about what was bothering her would inevitably mean exposing details about Masachika’s situation, but was it really her place to reveal something so personal without his consent? The answer was obvious. Of course, it wasn’t. There was no need to even question it.
But…
But that murky feeling in her chest corroded her rational judgment. The reason Alisa wasn’t upset about Masachika keeping this secret from her until now was because she had believed he wasn’t hiding it only from her, but from everyone else as well. Believing that she was the first person he had revealed his secret to had honestly felt rather special as well.
Yeah, I thought I was the first person he told.
The fact that Nonoa and Sayaka had known before her changed everything.
…Plus, Nonoa’s my friend, and she just stood up for me, too… She seems to know a lot about Masachika as well, so maybe I could talk to her for a little bit?
Driven by frustration toward her partner, Alisa made a decision she normally wouldn’t even consider: she chose to tell Nonoa everything.
“This stays between us, okay?”
“Of course.”
“Masachika’s trying to get accepted back into the Suou family…but he was given one condition: become the student council president.”
“Oh my.”
Nonoa blinked a few times and tilted her head curiously.
“…So you two are gonna swap places?”
“No—well… That’s actually what’s bothering me right now.”
Though she started to reflexively deny it, Alisa quickly caught herself and decided to come clean.
“I’ve been thinking that maybe I should let him run for president, given the circumstances…”
“Hmm…,” Nonoa muttered, gazing off into space while Alisa stared vacantly at her half-eaten udon.
“President Kuze, huh? Can’t really imagine it…but he’s a smooth talker, so I guess he’d make a good president?”
“…”
But right as Alisa was lowering her head even more, Nonoa dropped her gaze and asked:
“By the way, like, why do you even want to be the student council president? If you wanna be a member of the First Light Committee, then being the vice president is just as good, you know?”
“Yeah…,” Alisa muttered faintly, then her voice trailed off into silence…while Nonoa studied her intently.
“I mean, it’s totally up to you what you want to do. Like, I’m gonna help with the new student council next year whether you’re the president or the vice president.”
Her words took the shape of encouragement while breeding doubt, ultimately causing Alisa to set down her chopsticks and fall deep into thought…while Nonoa continued to study her with emotionless, robotic eyes.