…She overslept.
Turning her head toward the window faintly lit by sunlight, Kikyō Kushida let out a silent sigh.
Last night she had accidentally fallen right into his trap and ended up half-reluctantly going along with it.
Not that she was unwilling.
But somehow… it felt like she had been treated as the kind of woman who would accept anything as long as there was "love."
Seriously.
"…I'll just take a day off."
Glancing at the clock beside the bed, Kushida picked up the personal terminal that had been tossed aside the night before.
It was still May.
Class D's class points were still stuck at zero, and the midterm results hadn't been reflected yet.
Technically, she could skip class outright without any real consequences.
But after thinking for a moment, she decided to at least send a leave request.
Besides, she didn't really feel like facing those people in class today while her body was still warm and heavy.
A day off.
However…
"That guy sure trusts me a lot."
Looking at the empty room—aside from herself—Kushida clicked her tongue.
After tidying up the aftermath a little, he had simply left for class without even trying to wake her up.
Leaving her alone in his room.
…Well, whatever.
It wasn't like she planned to do anything anyway.
At first, realizing she hadn't been woken up made her feel strangely left behind.
But when she thought about the possibility that he just didn't want to disturb her sleep…
She felt a tiny bit happy.
"…Come to think of it, what exactly is our relationship now?"
For some reason, that question suddenly surfaced in Kushida's mind—a question she had never seriously considered before.
It started with mutual threats.
Then gradually became closer.
Until lips met.
Skin touched.
It definitely wasn't a romantic relationship.
After all, he had clearly expressed his disdain for dating.
And she certainly wouldn't shamelessly push herself to become his girlfriend.
But they weren't simply friends either.
Friends didn't do this much.
They had already done everything.
She absolutely refused to force the label of "friends" onto something like that.
If you judged by their actions, they were more like "friends with benefits."
Mutually venting.
Mutually demanding.
Aside from that kind of thing…
It was still that kind of thing.
But…
Kushida didn't want to admit that.
Because that kind of relationship contained no emotions.
If that was all it was, then she would have no right to get angry at him.
No right to sulk.
No right to crouch resentfully outside his dorm room where anyone passing by could see.
So—
She refused.
Asakusa had said he would become her emotional trash can.
If their relationship turned into that kind of purely physical arrangement…
Wouldn't that actually be a step backward?
"…."
She couldn't figure it out.
No matter what term she tried, it felt wrong.
But if she absolutely had to choose one…
Hmm.
Aside from calling her "Kikyo,"
the only title she could accept…
Was probably "Mom."
So what were they?
A mother-son relationship?
…Haha.
What nonsense was she thinking?
Better read the stupid diary.
Although the diary had updated yesterday while she was squatting outside someone's dorm, she hadn't been in the mood to read it at all.
Based on past experience, when nothing interesting happened at school, the diary rarely wrote anything interesting anyway.
Still, she had to read it.
After all, there were those… reading points.
According to the information she shared with Suzune Horikita, if you skipped a day, the reading points wouldn't accumulate.
And the functions unlocked by accumulated points would also be delayed.
Just like the comment feature before.
Horikita had unlocked it one day later than she did.
…Although, even if it didn't unlock, it probably wouldn't matter much.
Still, maybe when it reached 62 points, something new might happen.
So she might as well read it.
Since she didn't read yesterday, that meant she and Horikita were now starting from the same point again.
…Annoying.
Just as Kushida opened her terminal to send a leave request, the screen lit up and a long string of unread messages popped up.
Unsurprisingly—
They were from Horikita.
"…."
Kushida was speechless.
…Did that woman really have nothing better to do all day?
At the very least she could go find a man or something.
Why cling to her constantly?
If she had known earlier, she wouldn't have bothered dealing with her at all.
Mirror this, mirror that—
In the end she was still just an idiot.
Analyzing the diary?
Even without me, you should be able to do that.
Where did the academic ability that lets you score perfect marks on exams go?
Ignoring Horikita's messages, Kushida sent a brief leave notification to Saé Chabashira.
Then she locked the screen and tossed the terminal aside.
The diary silently appeared in her hands.
To be honest, Kushida no longer cared that much about who the person behind the diary was.
Whether she found them or not didn't matter anymore.
Even if that person exposed more secrets.
Even if they continued making things up.
It probably didn't matter.
After all—
A certain man who was obsessed with her body would always handle things somehow.
Lifting her slender white neck with quiet pride, the girl gently opened the diary.
And then—
She saw the words about the diary writer leaving the school.
…Was that real?
Class 1-D
The teacher on the podium droned on in a monotonous voice, delivering a lecture that sounded almost hypnotic.
But the students below were clearly distracted.
"Hey, hey—won't we get points again in a few days? There are so many things I want to buy!"
"Speaking of which, I looked at Ichinose's contract again. If our class points don't exceed 300, it looks like we don't have to repay anything at all, right? Ichinose really is an angel."
"…Even if we had to repay it, I honestly wouldn't want to. I still don't get why Hirata insisted on saving those guys."
"Shh, don't say that. Hirata will be upset."
"By the way, why didn't Kushida come today? I sent her a message but she didn't reply."
"Didn't something like this happen before? Maybe it's that time of the month again. Should we go visit her during lunch break?"
"No way. Visiting means bringing gifts, right? I don't have extra money for that. And if we start doing that every month, how much would it cost? Let's not start that habit."
The chatter of classmates filled the room like a chaotic symphony.
Even the girl who normally paid attention in class couldn't help drifting off.
Suzune Horikita had long stopped focusing on the blackboard.
"…."
Did Kushida really have her period this time?
Was there actually a legitimate reason for her leaving messages on read?
It sounded convincing enough.
But somehow…
Horikita still felt something was off.
…Was she too easy to fool?
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