"Well then, since Erina will be the one going on the offensive for her own sake! ...Takuto-kun, let's get back to the main topic."
The main topic, huh?
Erina-san set her cup, which had contained her shake, down on the table with a small clatter.
"What do you plan to do about Sakoshu, Takuto-kun?"
Erina-san asked with a suddenly serious expression.
...That’s right.
We had originally planned to meet so I could listen to Erina-san's worries, but she was telling me that the 'main topic' was now this.
I felt grateful for that.
However, the response I gave was—
"To be honest... I don't really know."
It was a pathetic answer.
I had been thinking about nothing but this since last night.
Because of that—or perhaps thanks to that—the sense of pitch that Sako had finally returned to me hadn't been put to any use yet.
"I see..."
"Yeah..."
""Sigh...""
We sighed simultaneously and looked up at the ceiling.
'What do you plan to do?' Erina-san had asked.
I was asking myself the same thing.
But the truth was, I didn't understand a single one of the options for that 'what to do.'
Sako hadn't told me she wanted me to do anything.
She hadn't asked to 'go out' with me.
She hadn't even explicitly stated, 'I love you.'
Of course, I had no intention of using that as an excuse to avoid giving an answer.
It was just that I simply didn't understand.
"I wonder what Sako wants me to do..."
"...I wonder?"
Erina-san said this as if she were withholding the answer, encouraging me to think for myself.
I once again ruminated on the conversation I had with Sako yesterday.
...If I had to say, there were two things I thought Sako might be seeking from me.
"Sako told me, 'I want to be by Takuto's side forever.'"
"I see..."
And there was one more thing. The last thing she wanted to say.
"Sako might have been saying, 'Reach out for your longing.'"
"Longing...?"
Erina-san tilted her head.
I nodded and continued.
"After the... kiss, Sako said, 'If you're going to reach out for your longing, you have to be this serious about it.'"
"Oh, I see..."
Erina-san let out a long breath.
"You know, this is just Erina's personal opinion, but..."
Taking a moment, she whispered firmly,
"It's 'Love,' Takuto-kun."
"Love...?"
I softly chewed on that word, trying to understand it.
If anyone else had used the word 'Love,' I might have just dismissed it as a higher-tier version of 'Romance.'
But I knew that the 'Love' Erina-san spoke of had a distinctly different meaning.
Which meant...
"What Sakoshu is seeking from Takuto-kun... that is,"
Erina-san smiled gently, yet somehow looked lonely.
"I think she is seeking Takuto-kun's happiness."
"My... happiness?"
Erina-san nodded.
"Whether Sakoshu's own feelings are fulfilled, who Takuto-kun likes, or what he thinks of her... she's thrown all of that aside and is seeking Takuto-kun's happiness."
"Sako is...?"
"That's right."
Erina-san gazed out the window.
"Hey, Takuto-kun, do you know the reason why Sakoshu kissed you?"
"The reason she kissed me?"
I crossed my arms.
I furrowed my brow and thought about it.
"To push me forward...?"
'If you're going to reach out for your longing, you have to be this serious about it.'
Wasn't she trying to teach me that?
However, Erina-san's grading was a bit harsh.
"Mmm, that's only half right. That's 50 points, Takuto-kun."
Half...?
"Hey, Takuto-kun. Sakoshu had two wishes, right?"
The wishes Sako gave me.
One was 'for me to reach out.'
And the other was—
"To be by my side forever...?"
Erina-san nodded softly.
"Because of Sakoshu's kiss, you're going to try and reach out for your longing again, right? In fact, you've become able to write songs again. So, where will you go once you've been pushed forward?"
"Where...?"
"You might end up going somewhere that isn't where Sakoshu is, right? But the other wish—the wish to 'always be by Takuto-kun's side'—was also incredibly important to Sakoshu."
Erina-san continued, her eyes glistening slightly.
"She doesn't want to be a weight on you, and she doesn't want to get in your way. But she wants to be by your side. That way of hers..."
She whispered in a voice that sounded like she was about to cry, saying how straightforward and clumsy it was.
"I think it was about placing herself within your most important memories, wasn't it?"
I gasped.
'With this, Takuto won't be able to forget about me for the rest of his life, right?'
I had a flashback to Sako's smile as tears streamed down her face.
"Takuto-kun's first kiss was with Sakoshu, and Sakoshu's first kiss was with Takuto-kun. Sakoshu entrusted all of her wishes to that connection alone... she accepted that, convinced herself, and pushed Takuto-kun forward..."
I was speechless.
So, the resolve Sako put into that kiss was...
"To send me off..."
Erina-san, with moist eyes, stared intently at me.
"Hey, Takuto-kun. I know I don't need to say this to you, but..."
Erina-san continued.
"The decisions you make might hurt Sakoshu, and they might cause her suffering."
Referring to Sako, who should also be her romantic rival, she spoke clearly.
"But if you make my best friend sad, I won't forgive you."
I gave a firm nod in response to her gaze.
"...Yeah, I know."
"Yeah... then it's okay! If you're troubled by anything while you're thinking, or if you have any worries, tell Erina!"
Erina-san told me with a sudden, gentle smile.
"Thank you, Erina-san."
"No, Erina is the one who should be saying thank you..."
Just as I let out a small laugh, wondering why Erina-san was the one saying thank you—
"Oh, Konuma-kun... and Erina-chan?"
A former genius beauty singer-songwriter, who was a novice at McDonald's, came up the stairs carrying a tray.
"As expected, your timing is genius-level bad..."
"Eh!?"