Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai:Volume 07

The Fall of Yozora Mikadzuki

It was now late Sunday, some hours after we all found out about Sena and I being engaged.

We'd finished filming a little bit ago, so I said my goodbyes to everyone, and left the chapel.

As I was walking towards the school gates amidst the sunset, I saw a sister sitting on a bench going "that hits the spot!" like some old man after taking a gulp of her pop.

Apparently she saw me too, because she went, "Yo, Onii-chan," and casually called out to me.

"I've got a bone to pick with you..."

I sighed and knit my brows as I walked over to sister Kate, causing her to go, "Hmm~?" and made a confused look on her face.

"I had a lot of trouble today thanks to you."

"Huh?"

Kate tilted her head as I explained what had happened earlier.

"Ahh, sorry 'bout that."

Kate gave me a light apology along with a wry smile, and added,

"But ya' know, Onii-chan, it's not like I'm the only one who knows about you and Sena being engaged."

".........Eh?"

I could feel my face going stiff as Kate continued on.

"It's 'cause Pegasus blabs about everything. Most of the sisters and the teachers here all know about it, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were some students who get along well with their teachers who know about it too."

Are you kidding me...?

"That old man needs to keep his mouth shut!"

"Haha, I bet it's 'cause he was so happy about it. I doubt he thought there was any need to hide it either."

Kate said along with another wry smile.

"But, I see, so Pegasus was just jumping to conclusions, huh..."

"Eh? What'd you say?"

I asked Kate, who'd started mumbling something in a strangely shy-sounding voice.

"It's nothing~"

Kate made a big happy smile for some reason.

"By the way, Onii-chan, are you guys really filming a movie?"

"Hm? Yeah."

"Sounds fun~ I really like movies too, ya' know. I rent a bunch of 'em to watch when I've got the time."

"Oh?"

"What kind of movie are you guys makin'?"

"Maria didn't tell you?"

I asked Kate, prompting a wry smile to form on her face as she replied,

"She came home one day all happy and told me 'I'm making a movie with Onii-chan,' but... that was all I got out of her."

"Ahh."

I made a wry smile too.

It's true that Maria probably wouldn't really get what the movie's about even if we explained it to her.

Heck, it's pretty doubtful that she even knows what the overall plot is.

"Where to start... Well, the movie we're making is——"

.........

I told Kate all about the movie in pretty fine detail.

Kate seemed to be enjoying herself as she listened, and when I finished, she said,

"I see. Sounds just like The Sun On Top of the Hill."

"The Sun On Top of the Hill?"

I asked Kate, since I'd never heard of it before, to which Kate happily responded,

"Yeah, it's a pretty famous Japanese movie among movie lovers. I like it a lot myself too. I'd love to see your guys' when it's done."

"You don't say. I'll have to go rent it on the way home and check it out then."

"Yeah, you totally should. Let me know what you thought about it after you watch it!"

Kate showed me an incredibly cute smile befitting a girl her age.

☺

On my way home from school I rented The Sun On Top of the Hill from a video rental store I stopped at, and later that night I put it in our DVD player at home to watch it.

I thought watching a famous movie that's similar to ours might come in handy as we finish making it.

According to the summary written on the case, it's a story of friendship where the protagonist is isolated in his class, but then one day he reunites with his old best friend who transfers into his class, and they face many trials and tribulations together.

I see what Kate meant now. This summary is identical to our movie's.

But, it's not like this summary is all that unique. In fact, you could probably say it's more cliché than anything.

It'll be interesting to see how some real movie pros handled the same overall story.

The script Yozora wrote was actually pretty damn good though.

I wonder if maybe our movie's more interesting than the pros'... I began watching the movie with those thoughts in the back of my mind.

——...About an hour and 30 minutes later.

The movie was over.

The movie was, just as Kate said, an incredibly fascinating work of art.

Apparently it was released a whole 10 years ago, but it didn't feel old at all.

The cast didn't have any flashy idols in it, but was instead made up of a group of young actors with some impressive acting skills.

The movie itself wasn't flashy either, but it had meticulous well-done camerawork, and music that always got you pumped up for each of the big scenes.

Of course, the most important part of the movie, the story, was good as well.

The story mostly takes place in the school they go to, and the "various trials and tribulations" feel like things all of us might have experienced, and some are even things that I myself have experienced in the past. They all feel very realistic, and I can understand how the characters feel to an almost painful extent.

However, it's that deep bond of friendship between them that allows them to overcome all those difficulties that's truly moving.

Overall the story is sort of dark, but there are comedy scenes as well, and in the end it's not just the protagonist and his best friend, but the all the people around them too—— including some of the people who tormented them before—— who come together and create an astounding and beautiful happy end to the story.

The movie was practically identical to ours aside from the names of some things, like the characters and the school, and surprisingly, everything from the order of events, to their resolutions, to the flow between them, and even the movie's lines were exactly the same as ours.

"........."

.........Yep.

.........I know... It's OK, I know...

It's not that The Sun On Top of the Hill is just like our movie.

It's our movie that's just like The Sun On Top of the Hill.

.........No... It's not "just like" it...

Basically, the point is,

that Yozora's script,

"IS A DAMN GIANT RIP- OFFFFFFFFFFFF!!"

☺

It was now after school the next day.

By the time I got to the clubroom, everyone aside from Kobato was already there.

Our scriptwriter and director Ms. Mikadzuki had her script on the table, and was mumbling, "...Hrm... How should we do this scene..." while tapping the script with a red ballpoint pen and making a difficult look on her face.

I cautiously started talking to Yozora as she was in the midst of doing all that.

"...Hey, Ms. young writer in distress."

"What is it, Kodaka? I'm busy right now."

Yozora ran a hand through her hair and looked over at me with a grumpy look on her face, to which I responded by taking the DVD for The Sun On Top of the Hill out of my bag.

The case wasn't a colorful one you'd get if you bought it, but rather a simple clear plastic one from the rental store, so I doubt she could easily see what it was.

"......?"

Yozora made a confused look on her face, so I told her,

"This is the DVD for The Sun On Top of the H——"

Clang!! Bam!!

Yozora got up out of her chair and started to make her escape from the clubroom before I could even finish my sentence!

"Wha- Yozora!?" "Senpai!?" "Anego?" "Wah!?"

I yelled to my fellow club members, who were shocked by Yozora's sudden action,

"Don't let her get away!"

"As you wish." "Yayy!" "I don't really get it, but OK!"

Yukimura, Maria, and Sena all moved to block Yozora's path as soon as I gave the order, and then lunged at her.

Yozora was easily caught by the group of three.

"Ugh! You bunch of little...! ......Kh..."

Yozora gave up soon after, and hung her head in shame.

☺

It was now about two hours after Yozora's little incident.

We made Yozora sit seiza-style on the floor.

A placard that read "I plagiarized someone else's work" was hanging down from her neck.

The placard was actually Maria's beloved(?) one that Kate always makes her wear while sitting in the same seiza-style when she does something bad.

...Anyway, back to right after we captured Yozora.

Once it was clear Yozora wasn't getting away, I explained that it was highly likely Yozora plagiarized the script for our movie from The Sun On Top of the Hill.

Yozora denied any wrongdoing (she said it was only a coincidence they were similar, and that she simply had to go to the bathroom really bad at the same time I showed her the DVD), so we quickly formed a "Yozora Mikadzuki Plagiarism Inspection Team," and compared Yozora's script with copy of the movie I brought.

The verdict: everyone declared her to be guilty.

Even the ever-stubborn Yozora admitted she "used a part of it as a reference."

The remains of my hopes that she didn't actually plagiarize were dashed when I heard that.

"So, why did you try to pull this bullshit? Well?"

Rika interrogated Yozora, who was still sitting seiza-style with her head hanging dejectedly, while loudly chewing some gum and acting like a punk trying to pick a fight.

Incidentally, Rika was dressed in the boy's uniform she was using for the movie, and had her hair all slicked back.

She also had a fake sword with her, although I have no idea where she got it from.

"...I'm sorry."

Smack!!

Rika hit the ground in front of Yozora with her sword as hard as she could after Yozora apologized in a feeble voice.

"Eep..."

Yozora let out a faint yelp.

"The hell do you mean you're sorry!? You deaf? I'm askin' why the hell you did what you did!!"

"......I thought none of you would ever find out if I copied a little Japanese movie, since you're all a bunch of idiots who've probably never seen any movies aside from some anime or big Hollywood ones."

Yozora said, her lips pursed as though she were pouting.

Smack!!

"Who're you callin' an idiot!? You think it's OK to steal as long as you don't get caught!?"

"Uu..."

"Listen up, ya' goddamn bitch!! Stealin's the one thing an author should never do! That's like pissin' all over the work other authors worked their fuckin' asses off to make! You got that!?"

"...I'm very sorry."

Yozora apologized again, in a near-mumble this time.

Smack!!

"You sure you got it, you fuckin' dumbass!?"

"...Uu... I'm really very sorry..."

"I can't hear you! You at least know how to speak, right!? Then do it for fuck's sake!"

SMACKKKK!!

"I'm sorry!! I'm so sorry I plagiarized!!"

"...Keh, you goddamn worms who only know how to steal other people's works are such a pain in my ass. If you're gonna apologize for it later, then don't do it in the first place you sack of shit! You have any idea how much of a pain in the ass you are? Well!?"

Rika continued to insult Yozora, who was now teary-eyed, with a cold look in her eyes as though she were looking at a pile of trash.

"Haaa... I thought it was weird, too. There's no way you could ever write a script that good."

Sena added, with a let-down look on her face, followed by,

"...Anego... you big idiot..."

"Aghua...!?"

Yukimura stared at Yozora with a sad look in her eyes, causing Yozora to make a pained expression on her face.

I've had it done to me too, so I know that having Yukimura look at you like that hurts way more than any insult.

"Uu... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Yozora continued to mumble out apologies to us.

Rika then went, "Phew..." and let out a sigh.

She then quickly went back to making a serious face, spit out her gum on a piece of paper, and said,

"So, what should we do now?"

I was a little bewildered by the sudden change from insult mode to her now serious tone of voice.

"Eh, what do you mean?"

"I'm talking about the movie, and whether or not we should continue filming using Yozora's plagiarized script or not. Technically speaking, I don't think there's any real problem with it, even if it is a bald-faced rip-off, since we're not trying to make any money off of it. We're not entering it in a contest or putting it online either. The final product would just be an inferior copy of The Sun On Top of the Hill, but we could still keep filming it, if everyone's OK with that."

"Don't be ridiculous!"

Sena completely rejected the choice Rika had just explained.

"I, the Sena Kashiwazaki, am not going to make some rip-off movie! We're done with Yozora's script! Let's go with a new one instead!"

In response to Sena's enthusiasm, Rika calmly replied,

"Rika would like to do that too, but making a whole new script now would be..."

"You don't have to worry about that."

"Eh?"

We all looked confused, so Sena puffed out her chest in pride, and declared,

"I secretly prepared a script of my own, just in case that idiot Yozora couldn't write one! I only kept quiet about it up until now to let that idiot Yozora save face!"

"Wow... You're awesome, Sena!"

"Nicely done, Sena-senpai...!"

"I would expect no less from you, Sena-anego."

"Ahaha, Sena's pretty cool~"

Sena made a supremely triumphant look on her face after hearing all the praise we had for her.

"Heheh, that's right! You better be thankful, foolish commoners!"

Sena then looked down at Yozora sitting seiza-style on the floor,

"Heh, heh, heh~" and laughed happily.

"Gh..."

Yozora looked irritated as she frowned and looked away from Sena.

"Heh. Hey hey, Yozoraaa~ What's it feel like~? Come on, tell me, widdle Yozowa~ What's it feel like to have everyone find out you ripped off another movie, and then have your role as scriptwriter stolen away from you by me~? What's our pathetic widdle Yozowa feel like right now~!?"

Wow... Sena's merciless...

"...Ughhh... Aghughah..."

Yozora's face was completely red, she had tears in the corners of her eyes, her veins were popping out on her forehead, and her fists were trembling on top of her knees.

Usually Yozora would have flipped out by now, but she was holding herself back, since she was clearly in the wrong this time.

Sena then stooped over Yozora, and said,

"Everybody, look at her~ It's our failure, widdle Yozowa~♪"

Sena then took it a step further, and started lightly smacking Yozora on the cheek.

"!? ~~~~~~!! Ghaugh, Gughhh, Kgogyofgh, Fhoegharghugrraghgouhguoaghooagheghhfrrr!!!!!"

Yozora's bloodshot eyes were opened wider than I thought possible as she let out a sound that no girl... no, a sound so terrible that no human should ever make.

"...Yozora."

Sena said, changing to a serious face all of a sudden.

"You better make up for this mess with your acting in the movie."

"........."

Yozora simply sat there without saying a word.

Sena then got up, and said,

"Heheh, anyway, just do the best you can, OK? In my movie, that is!"

"Kh..."

Yozora groaned in frustration, but I could see there was a light of will in her eyes.

"All right, I'm going home for today! I've gotta fix up the script and all! I'll blow you all away tomorrow!"

Sena said in her usual ridiculously condescending attitude, and then left the room.

And so, that's how the script for the Neighbors Club's movie changed all of a sudden.

We're down to the last two weeks before the school festival.

......Are we really gonna be OK...?

King Lear

It was now Friday morning. It's been five days since the middle school festival ended, and Kobato's been filming with us ever since.

Normally we'd all have a short homeroom period right now, but all students of the Saint Chronica high school division were instead lined up on the track in our gym uniforms.

Today is the long-awaited first day of the Saint Chronica Academy high school division's festival—— the day of the athletics festival.

The teams were broken up into five colors: red, white, blue, yellow, and green, and our team, the green team, was made up of classes 1-5, 2-5, and 3-5, with everyone on our team wearing a green headband.

"——We shall begin our athletics festival on this wonderful autumn day without a cloud in the sky. Students, now is the time to show the fruits of all the hard work you've done for this day——"

A beautiful voice rang out across the entire track from a microphone on the stage in front of us.

The person speaking into the microphone right now was the student council president, who was giving her little greeting speech.

However, despite what she'd just said, there were, in fact, several clouds in the sky, the wind was pretty strong, it wasn't very warm, and on top of all that, most students were busy preparing for the cultural festival side of things, not the athletics festival, which is more of a formality than anything. The only people who did any practice for it were the ones who already practice daily anyway, so I doubt that anyone even had any fruits to show, but I guess you're not supposed to point that out.

The speech was pretty much just a template of the same stuff you always hear at these kinds of things, but strangely enough, it had a certain charm to it that made you want to listen.

Come to think of it, I didn't even know our student council president was a girl until now.

I'm a transfer student, so I obviously didn't go to the entrance ceremony, and this school doesn't have ceremonies for the end of each semester either. I've also never had a reason to get involved with the student council, so this was really my first time seeing her.

She had pure black hair, and part of it was tied into braids and bundled up on the back of her head.

She was certainly pretty, and had an air of refinement to her as well, but she didn't have even a hint of the harsh impression Yozora does, nor was she so flashy as to be unapproachable like Sena. She also had, as I mentioned before, a nice clean voice, as well as a nice and friendly atmosphere about her.

To sum it all up—— She had the kind of appearance that anybody, young or old, man or woman, would like the instant they saw her, and honestly, I was pretty jealous of her for that.

I don't really like to get all negative like this, but I couldn't help but think how much easier my life would be if I had that kind of friendly appearance too.

Anyway, the stage she was standing on also had teachers, the event organizers, and the first-aid team on it as well, and among those people was the baby wolf-like girl I'd met a few days ago, the student council treasurer, Aoi Yusa.

Yusa was standing ramrod straight, and the way she was so obviously nervous with her face all stiff was actually kinda funny.

☺

After the StuCo president gave her speech, the chairman came to give his (usually the chairman's speech is a really long and boring one, but he wrapped his up surprisingly quickly), after which the opening ceremony speech was given, and once we'd finished our warm-up stretches, the athletics festival began at long last.

That said, the only events I was participating in were the class vs. class tug-of-war competition and the relay race, so I wouldn't be doing anything soon.

There was a general listless mood in the air among the students as everyone got ready for the first event, the 200 meter sprint, as well, except for the cheering squads, who somehow managed to muster up the energy to get all fired up and beat on their drums and stuff.

It was just like Yozora said before, looks like nobody really gets too excited for the athletics festival here.

Anyway, as I was walking around our class' little area trying to stay quiet, I spotted Yozora standing off on the edge of the track in the shade.

"Yo."

"...Ahghh?"

I was met with a zombie-like groan of a reply after calling out to Yozora, who seemed even more melancholic than usual.

"...Oh, Kodaka......... Hahh... Maybe I should just go home now..."

"Already? Seriously?"

I made a wry smile at Yozora, who was already planning on leaving despite the fact that the festival had just started, and then said,

"I'm kinda surprised you actually even showed up at all."

"Hmph... I only came on a whim."

Yozora said as though she were pouting with her lips pursed.

"...Now that I'm here though, I wish I would've skipped. Having to see that irritating woman first thing in the morning was awful."

"Irritating woman?"

I asked in return, causing Yozora to start twitching with what appeared to be annoyance.

"...The woman who gave the speech at the opening ceremony."

"Umm... Do you mean the student council president? What'd she do to you?"

"Just hearing about her pisses me off."

"Eh? Do you not get along with her?"

Yozora doesn't even seem to do anything where she'd run into her.

"...I've never talked to her, but I hate her to death."

"Huh?"

Yozora's expression filled with even more hatred after she gave me her nonsense answer.

"...Hinata Hidaka, a senior. She's incredibly popular, and has been the student council president for two years now. She's incredibly athletic, and often serves as a stand-in for several of the sports clubs at their matches and such. She's also very kind, and people say that she hardly ever turns down requests for her help, despite how busy she is. Of course, she's loved by both her juniors and fellow classmates as well."

"She sounds like a friggin' great person! Hell, you could probably call her a saint."

Yozora nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that's exactly right. Hinata Hidaka... She is what it means to be a true normal... Back when I was a freshman, I thought that both her and Meat were the two peerless normals of this school, and thus viewed them as my enemies. However, unlike Meat, that woman is incredibly popular with girls as well. And, seeing as how I now know that Meat is unmatched in how pathetic she is, it is Hinata Hidaka alone who stands at the top of the world of normals—— she truly is befitting of being called King Lear."

"King Lear...? Wait, isn't that the title of some book?"

I asked, to which Yozora gave a small nod, and then casually explained,

"It's one of Shakespeare's four great tragedies. It's a story about an old king who is betrayed by the ones he loved, and then lives out his final years as a vagrant, ultimately meeting a pathetic end after experiencing many tragedies. Aside from Lear, most of the other characters in the story die too."

"That's a terrible nickname to give somebody!"

That might even be worse than Sena's "Meat."

"...I came up with it in the hopes that her life would end like his. ...Anyway, it's awful just being in the same school as her. Every time I see her, I'll wait till she goes by me, and then glare at her from behind, or quietly click my tongue at her, or something like that."

"H-holy crap are you petty..."

Oh man... this is just... pathetic.

I kinda wanted to start crying at how my once-manly childhood friend (who was actually a girl) had changed so much.

Actually, now that I think about it, she's only been getting worse recently...

She's always had plenty of pathetic habits, like talking to her air friend, but I get the feeling that she isn't even trying to hide them anymore now.

Back when I'd just transferred in, she at least looked perfect. I mean, she was like an intelligent, hard-to-approach cool beauty to me, but now... It's strange... When did she turn into such a hopeless case...

"...Arghh, just talking about her is pissing me off and making my stomach hurt and making me wanna throw up. I'm gonna go rest in the nurse's office."

Yozora's complexion actually did seem a little worse as she walked off.

"Just how much do you hate normals anyway..."

Anyway, I decided to leave as well, taken aback by Yozora's attitude, and headed over to our class' tent.

But then, all of a sudden, at the edge of my vision—— I saw something white flapping on the roof of the school building.

It was a lab coat—— a girl in a lab coat, to be precise.

"...What the heck is she doing way up there?"

☺

Generally speaking, students aren't allowed into the building during the athletics festival, but I got in quite easily on account of having spotted sister Kate walking around nearby.

"Please try to refrain from stealing girls' underwear and uniforms, getting dressed in them, putting them on your head, and then splooging all over them, Onii-chan," was the moronic warning she gave me, which I pretended I didn't even hear, and quickly walked through the halls up to the roof.

The instant I opened the door to the roof, a strong wind blew right at me, causing me to scrunch up my face reflexively.

It was much windier and colder up here on the roof.

I went outside though, and closed the door behind me.

The door made a loud "BANG" as it closed due to the strong wind.

"Owah!?"

The girl in the lab coat leaning against the railing as she looked down at the track—— that is, Rika Shiguma let out a yelp and quickly turned around to face me.

"Huh...? Senpai? Why are you up here?"

"Uh, ya' know... that's my line here."

I said in response to Rika's question.

"Well~ I just wanted to stand out in the wind a bit," said Rika.

I then saw what Rika was wearing, and made a frown.

"...What the heck are you wearing?"

I couldn't tell from down on the track, but Rika was wearing a gym uniform beneath her lab coat, except she was wearing a pair of black bloomers instead of the black spats that are part of the school's regulation gym uniform.

She didn't have her glasses on, but her hair was in a ponytail, just like it was when I first met her.

Come to think of it, I think this is the first time I've seen Rika in her lab coat in a while.

Rika made an embarrassed smile, her cheeks tinged a light shade of red.

"Rika decided to put on a gym uniform too, since it's the athletics festival and all. Does it suit me?"

Honestly she looked incredibly good in it, and I wished she'd take off the lab coat, but instead of telling her that, I said,

"I'm pretty sure they'd give you a spare gym uniform if you went to the nurse's office. Heck, why don't you just join the festival while you're at it? There's stuff you can sign up for the day of too."

However Rika shook her head, and replied,

"It's OK, I've still got work to do. I wouldn't join even if I didn't though."

We just barely managed to finish filming our movie last night.

We left all the editing up to Rika and went home, but...

"...Did you not go home yesterday? Hell, did you even sleep?"

I noticed that Rika had dark bags under her eyes.

"Ah, you found out, huh? I suppose I should've put on a pair of fake glasses or something."

Rika awkwardly made a wry smile.

"...You know, um..."

Sorry for making you do all the work, is what I was about to say, but I decided to think of something else after remembering what Rika told me before.

In the end, I told her,

"......——Thanks for doing so much stuff for us, Rika."

A surprised expression found its way to Rika's face for an instant.

A moment later, her face went red as a beet.

"Geez~! You little~! Didn't I tell you to stop throwing those fastballs at me out of nowhere~!?"

"Not sure how else you want me to say it..."

I said, surprised by Rika's reaction.

Rika then said, as though trying to change the subject as soon as possible,

"Ah, look, the next race is starting!"

She then pulled out a pair of binoculars from one of her lab coat's pockets, and looked down at the track again.

As she did, I heard the faint "Bam!" of a starting gun.

Looks like the 200 meter sprint just got started.

"Ah, Sena-senpai's already out there."

Rika said while looking through her binoculars.

I looked down at the track too after hearing that, and sure enough, Sena was down there running.

Sena's hair was easy to spot as it swayed in the wind, even from all the way out here, and it even looked like it was giving off little golden particles.

"Woah~ Those things really can bounce, can't they~...... Tch."

Rika sounded a little jealous as she described what was going on down on the track.

"Where the heck are you looking..."

It wasn't long before Sena reached the goal line, way ahead of the other runners.

She then ran both hands through her hair, as though trying to show off her perfect win to everybody, and took the first place flag from one of the boys helping to run the festival as though it were hers to begin with.

Every single little move she made had a certain flashiness to it.

"Haa~ Sena-senpai really is amazing, isn't she~"

Rika pulled the binoculars away from her eyes, turned away from the track, and leaned back against the rail.

"Yeah, sure is," I said as I continued to look down at the track.

But then, all of a sudden,

"By the way, Kodaka-senpai, how do you feel about Sena-senpai?"

Rika threw that fastball at me out of nowhere like it was nothing.

"W-what do you mean... she's just a fellow club member."

"Even though you're engaged?"

"...That's all in the past now."

"Oh yeah...?"

Rika made a face that looked like she was thinking about something.

"...Doesn't seem like it is for Sena-senpai though."

"Eh? What'd you say?"

I asked Rika, who'd mumbled something under her breath, and then, all of a sudden, Rika looked at me with a scornful, hostile, horribly cold look in her eyes.

She then looked up at the sky, and then whispered in an emotionless voice, as though talking to herself,

"——Always gets lonely, but is scared of having others show they honestly care."

"——Pretends not to notice. Pretends not to hear."

"——Runs away. Brushes it off. Avoids the issue. Refuses."

"——Even turns to self-deception, spinning lies such as 'There's no way anybody likes me.' "

"...Ahh, you mean Kobato? Yeah, you're right, she does act like that sometimes, doesn't she... She's always been shy. Looks like she still is too, based on what we saw a few days ago."

I said to Rika with a bitter smile on my face, knowing full-well that wasn't what she meant.

I couldn't tell if she was listening to me or not, but she soon lowered her gaze from the sky down to the concrete ground we were standing on. She then made a vague expression on her face that looked like she was both crying and laughing, and said, not as though criticizing me, but rather, as though soothing me, in a gentle, affectionate tone of voice,

"——Don't give me that 'What'd you say?' crap, iii~diot..."

Rika's lips then twisted into a smile as she stared at me with dark, empty eyes as cold as space.

She'd thrown away her mask of being "That weird junior that's always energetic and always saying ridiculous stuff." The Rika before me now was one I've never seen before.

Rika then continued while acting as though she were giggling.

"...If that's what you want, Kodaka-senpai, then Rika will continue acting like she has been. It's not like I don't enjoy BL, mecha, and sexy stuff. And acting hyper, and having you always act so blunt with me is fun in its own way, too. But you know, Kodaka-senpai——"

"Don't you think it's about time we move on? I mean——"

"Stop it!"

I unintentionally let out a wild yell.

I absolutely cannot let her finish that sentence.

If she did, I'd, we'd... have no choice but to move on.

And moving on... means changing.

That is an incredibly scary thing.

It's truly terrifying, like moving from a bright, warm room into a world of darkness that leaves you completely blind.

It's not just me either.

I'm sure it's the same for Yozora, Sena, Yukimura, and Rika too.

Those words are ones that could bring about an irreversible change that would shake the Neighbors Club itself.

That change would truly be irreversible—— it can't even be compared to trivial problems like a memory from 10 years ago, or a pre-arranged marriage.

"...Hahh." Rika let out a fleeting sigh as she went completely silent.

I let out a tiny sigh myself, and said, "...I'm gonna go now," as I walked off.

I'd gotten away from Rika—— and just as I put my hand on the knob to the roof's door,

"I mean, aren't we all——"

Rika whispered something behind me.

In a voice that sounded like it was shaking—— like it was crying.

My entire body shook with terror.

However, that very instant,

Luckily—— whether or not it was truly lucky, I don't know, but——a wind far stronger than before roared across the rooftop, and erased Rika's words.

And I, like the coward I am, sighed a breath of relief.

I turned only my head around to face Rika.

"——Eh? What'd you say?"

That's what I told her, playing dumb once again.

However, what I'd said was not a question, it was my answer.

And the girl, who was wiser than anyone else in the Neighbors Club, who could tell what people were thinking——whether she wanted to or not——simply made a sad smile, and said nothing in response.

I opened the door, and left the roof behind me.

All the while telling myself I'd made the right choice.

...But I knew what those words lost in the wind really were.

...I'd known what they were for a long, long time now.

The End.