Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818093075629868223/episodes/16818792438267837862
(From Kurusu’s perspective)
…I realized my limits were more fragile than I thought.
Well, honestly, I guess it’s no surprise.
After all, I’d been thinking about him… constantly, endlessly, all this time.
I finally found him, we became friends, and I was determined to make him like me.
(Just the thought of him not seeing me… you know?)
Just as I was thinking that, my phone notification suddenly chimed.
After Ando san dropped me off in front of the room I rented near school, I finally reached the entrance.
I naturally pulled my phone out of my bag to check.
There it was—
Irie: “Kirishima, can you come to the cultural festival?”
Irie: “I won’t force you… but… would you come?”
―――A message from him, who probably still cared about me.
(…This is)
How am I supposed to respond to this?
If someone’s words could sway me enough to take that step, I would’ve decided instantly when I cried in front of Ando-san.
But the fact that I couldn’t say it out loud… meant exactly that.
(…What am I doing?)
The ugly, pathetic inferiority and disgust welling up inside me.
It wasn’t directed at anyone else—it was directed at myself.
Understanding that made it all the more sickening.
Without replying, I held onto those feelings as I reached for the key to open the auto-lock door—
“Aren’t you going to reply?”
—Just as I was about to turn the key, a voice suddenly called out from behind me.
Reflexively. Like fleeing from a beast, I spun around with force.
There stood a familiar figure—my senior—her lustrous silver hair flowing behind her.
“…Why are you here?”
“Oh, just heading home from school? With the cultural festival coming up, there’s all sorts of preparations to make… Well, perhaps the fatigue stems from playing again after so long? Hehe, she looked utterly exhausted too, Yuzuki-san.”
What on earth is she talking about?
No, more importantly, why is Shiori-san in a place like this… Did she hear my address from Irie?
“Rest assured about the address. I am the president’s daughter, after all. I can find it out without asking Irie san.”
“…………”
“Oh, come on… It’s just a cute senior’s joke. I only asked your parents for it, so don’t glare at me like that. Being glared at by my cute junior makes my already fragile heart feel like it needs rebuilding.”
Shiori-san cutely pretended to cry.
Normally, I’d have dismissed the joke with a “Cut it out, that’s enough.”
But now it’s different… I know why Shiori-san is here.
So, I hurriedly took the key out of my bag and―――
“Don’t run, Kirishima Kurusu.”
―――Just as I was about to insert it into the keyhole, a cold voice struck my back.
It wasn’t her usual gentle, ladylike, warm voice. It truly sounded angry.
It’s been about a year since I met Shiori-san, but I’ve never heard her voice like this before.
That’s precisely why my hand, which was about to insert the key, froze.
“I am on the privileged side, so I won’t seriously try to stop you from going down the path you’ve chosen. I won’t say things like ‘one less rival’… Like Yuzuki-san, I have no intention of standing beside that person by kicking others down.”
“……………”
“But, as I’ve said many times… I am in a privileged position. I have neither the right to comfort you, nor any obligation or reason to be angry.”
Just then.
Shiori slowly approached me.
“I will not allow you to disregard the choice he made for you. He is reaching out his hand to you, not for anyone else.”
Standing before me, Shiori gently took my hand.
“…You’ll regret it, Kurusu-san. If you run away now, you’ll remain a bystander forever.”
“Bu-but… I told Irie—”
“You confessed your fears, didn’t you? You showed your weakness? Even knowing that, he’s still reaching out.”
I don’t know what that message meant.
Just because I went to the cultural festival doesn’t mean I know what lies ahead.
But it’s true. As Shiori-san said, this is a choice Irie gave me.
If he’d lost interest because of those words… he wouldn’t have sent the message in the first place.
“…I’m not saying you have to grab his hand.”
Shiori’s hand slowly rested on my head.
Strangely enough, it felt the same warmth as the mature woman I’d been with just moments ago.
“We have long lives ahead… Irie-san, myself, and Yuzuki-san are, after all, just characters from Part One. If we move on to Part Two, not appearing there won’t affect our long lives.”
“Th-that’s…”
“But we can bring characters from Part One into Part Two.”
She pressed my head down and pulled me close to her chest.
…There was no coldness. It was so warm it made tears come to my eyes.
“The choice is yours, Kurusu-san. So please, at least try to choose… Don’t get swept away by momentary emotions. Endure and stand up to life. I will respect whatever choice you make.”
After saying that, she pulled me away.
As if she had said everything she needed to, she turned her back on me.
(…Selfish woman)
I wiped the tears from my eyes.
(…She’s right, Shiori san… isn’t she?)
I can give up on myself anytime.
If I give up, I’ll see it through to the very end with my own eyes… I’ll decide for myself.
That’s right, just like Shiori-san said.
Even if this is the end, it would be wrong to abandon the choice Prince entrusted to me.
I can’t run away. He’s the one who saved me, even someone like me.
“Ah, but I’ll say this much—”
As if remembering something.
Shiori-san turned back, her usual gentle smile on her face,
“I want to participate in both Part Two and Part Three… Because Kurusu-san is an important and dear junior to me.”
Hearing those words, truly.
I’d thought it before, but now I feel it deeply.
“…I really can’t compete with you, Shiori-san.”
“Hehe, that’s just Shiori-san for you♪”
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