"Horikita-senpai, why did you ask me out so late at night? What do you want to tell me?"
Amane said, taking off a sparkling hair clip from her head, while playfully looking at Horikita Manabu.
"Miyako-san, could you please speak in a more normal tone?"
Horikita Manabu calmly saw through Amane's disguise.
After all, he remembered Amane vividly from the start of the school year.
He didn't believe that Amane could change so much in such a short time.
"Oh, was I found out? I thought boys would like girls to speak in that tone."
Amane wrapped the hair clip around the soda can, which still had about a third of the drink left.
Then she looked up at the streetlamp.
She walked over to the trash can under the streetlamp and placed the can on top of it.
Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses, seemingly having thought of something.
A barely perceptible smile flashed across his face.
"Perhaps there are such boys, but unfortunately, I am not the type who gets weak in the knees when he sees a cute girl."
Horikita Manabu glanced in the direction of the soda can.
"I don't dislike devoted men, though. All right, let's not waste time and get straight to the point. Horikita-senpai didn't ask me out just to waste words and freeze, did he?"
Amane's gaze lost its girlish innocence.
Her indifferent expression made Horikita Manabu sigh.
"You look a bit like Suzune now. No, perhaps you are even more lonely than she is."
Horikita Manabu's nonsensical words sounded a bit strange.
But Amane quickly understood what Horikita Manabu meant.
"Horikita-senpai, what do you mean? Do you think Suzune is lonely?"
Seeing that Amane had successfully caught the baton.
Horikita Manabu's face finally showed a relieved smile.
"Going to and from class alone, cooking alone, shopping alone, studying alone, growing up alone—is that not loneliness?"
Horikita Manabu's tone was slightly stern.
However, the smile on his face indicated that he didn't truly think that way.
Amane slightly turned her body, blocking most of Horikita Manabu's figure.
"Perhaps, but I have also seen her smile. I know, Suzune doesn't truly like loneliness."
Amane squeezed her eyes shut.
Horikita Manabu shook his head helplessly.
She wasn't willing to suffer even a little loss.
Since she had just caught his baton, it was only fair for her to pass it back now.
"That's because of your presence. I've also heard about recent events; I heard your relationship has deteriorated sharply. Horikita Suzune, without Miyako Amane, will probably become pathetic again."
Horikita Manabu's voice carried a hint of sarcasm.
Horikita, eavesdropping around the corner, almost rushed out to confront Horikita Manabu face-to-face.
To tell him that she was no longer the Horikita Suzune of yesteryear.
That even loneliness, she could easily endure.
But as soon as she saw Amane next to her.
The courage in her chest immediately vanished.
To say in front of Amane that she didn't need her?
If she really said that.
She probably wouldn't have another chance to communicate with her until graduation, would she?
Why.
Did she actually feel fear, feel timid?
Shouldn't she be the unyielding Horikita Suzune?
"To her, I'm just someone who can be discarded at any time."
No!
Horikita clenched her fists.
No.
The only friend she made since coming here.
How could she be someone who could be discarded at any time?
"It seems you also clearly understand your value to her. Then you should be mentally prepared for being discarded. That girl will coldly abandon anyone."
Horikita Manabu's voice rose a few degrees.
Cold... So in big brother's eyes.
Was she such a cold-blooded person?
No.
Something must be wrong!
"I am indeed mentally prepared, but I just didn't expect this day to come so quickly. Suzune probably doesn't know what it feels like to have a heartache, right? But isn't it a bit alarmist to say she'll abandon anyone?"
Amane began to heavily overact.
Horikita Manabu's mouth couldn't help but twitch a few times.
"Alarmist? She will unhesitatingly discard anything she deems a burden. She is a lone wolf who only grows by herself. If you are of no benefit to her, you will be abandoned. This time, it's because you damaged her reputation, which is why it turned out this way. This is clear proof."
Horikita Manabu sternly pointed out Horikita Suzune's problem.
That harsh?
Are you two really siblings?
Horikita Suzune heard Horikita Manabu speak of her in such a way.
She finally couldn't help but collapse to the ground.
No.
She didn't abandon Amane.
She also knew what heartache felt like.
Perhaps... she truly was someone who walked alone in the past.
But she absolutely wouldn't now... Horikita Suzune suddenly froze.
She believed she had grown.
She believed she understood the importance of friends.
And then abandoned Amane.
Although it was for her own good.
But could Amane truly accept it? From her perspective, Horikita Suzune's actions...
Suddenly.
She realized that, from Amane's perspective, she had heartlessly cut her off, as if to distance herself and shake off negative influences.
Why did it turn out this way?
Her original intention was... she believed she understood that a person's growth was solitary, yet there was no one left willing to accompany her.
The only person had also been pushed away by her.
How ridiculous.
Horikita Suzune.
What foolish thing have you done? And you still want to surpass your brother?
Stop dreaming.
"She will one day meet true friends."
"Is Miyako-san talking about herself?"
"No, it won't be me."
Amane took a few steps back and leaned against the wall.
Horikita immediately stiffened, not daring to move.
Because Amane was only thirty centimeters away from her, the two of them separated by a small corner.
"Who can say what the future holds? With her personality, she is destined to have no connection with social products like friends."
Horikita Manabu's voice was filled with disappointment.
As if he didn't believe Horikita Suzune could make friends.
"Then let's wait and see, Horikita-senpai."
Amane smiled.
Horikita Suzune heard such a concluding remark, afraid that Amane intended to return to the dormitory, which would make them run into each other.
She didn't know how to explain eavesdropping.
She quickly hugged the corner of the wall and ran towards the dormitory building.
Perhaps due to being too hasty.
Horikita Suzune overlooked a problem.
That is, both of them stood still, with no further action.
"I'm exhausted."
Amane walked to the trash can, took off her hairpin, and then casually threw the drink into the trash can.
"That's wasteful behavior."
"Horikita-senpai, you're also wasting my time now, using me as a teaching tool for Horikita Suzune? Horikita Manabu... you've got some nerve."
Amane's gaze turned cold.