“Wait, isn't that Ice-chan?”
Just hearing that voice...
Yuri’s legs froze, as if she were unable to move. Her body began to tremble as if she had suddenly become cold.
Looking toward the source of the voice, I saw a girl with a straight black bob wearing a pink dress shirt and another girl with a permed brown ponytail. They were approaching us, oblivious and careless of the look on Yuri’s face.
“See, I knew it! It really is Ice-chan!”
“It’s true! Eh, Ice-chan, you’re at Musashino International now?! I heard someone left after taking the exams, but I didn't know it was Ice-chan!”
As I turned toward them, Yuri naturally hid behind my back without even thinking about it.
“L-Long time... no see... Maejima-san, and Ota-san...”
From behind me, Yuri managed to squeeze out those words with her eyes downcast and her speech faltering.
...No, maybe that was how she originally used to speak.
『I understand what you’re saying, Konuma. Because I was a loner back in middle school, too.』
Whether it was after entering high school or during the spring break before that, Yuri had simply put in a lot of effort to become a normie and enjoy her youth. In middle school, she must have been like that.
“Ahahaha, your voice is as quiet as ever!”
“But somehow, your look has become quite refined? A high school debut?”
It wasn't necessarily that Maejima-san and Ota-san intended to hurt Yuri.
It’s just that these people don’t know.
They don’t know how much pressure every single word and action from someone on ‘that side’ puts on someone on ‘this side.’
They don’t know that what might be a joke between people on ‘that side’ remains a wound that cannot be laughed off for those on ‘this side.’
“...S-Sorry, Yuri seems to be feeling a bit unwell, so maybe next time.”
I somehow managed to say that.
For Yuri, it would have been much better if someone like Hazama were here instead of me. But I’m the one closest to her right now, sorry. ...I’m really sorry.
Apologizing in my heart, I pulled Yuri’s arm, trying to leave.
But her feet remained still.
When our eyes met, Yuri shook her head slightly with an apologetic look.
“Sorry, this is a long shot, but Ice-chan, you aren't... like, friends with that Kenji-kun or that doll-like girl who was the MC, are you?”
“I really want to talk to that cool-beauty blonde girl...”
Taking her stillness as a sign that she was willing to talk, the two girls spoke to her almost pleadingly. Yuri managed to form a troubled smile.
Just then—
“Yurisuke is feeling unwell. It’s okay.”
Sako pushed through the crowd and stepped forward.
I didn't know which one was Maejima and which was Ota, but the two of them became excited at Sako’s appearance.
“Wow! Your dance was so incredibly cool!”
“Seeing you up close, you’re so tall and your legs are beautiful...”
“Ah, yeah... thanks...”
Sako showed a bewildered expression at being showered with praise by strangers.
“What happened, what happened~?” “Hasu, don't just move suddenly.”
Perhaps the crowd had calmed down; Erina-san and Hazama joined in, and Maejima and Ota’s excitement finally reached its peak.
“Waaa! Your MCing and dancing were so cute!” “Kenji-kun, please shake my hand!!”
Erina-san and Hazama were responding with things like “Ehehe~” and “Eh? Oh, sure, that’s fine!”
“Um, Yurisuke, these people are...”
When Sako asked Yuri, who still had a stiff smile on her face, the girl with the ponytail cut in.
“We’re, um, Yurisuke-chan’s friends from middle school!”
The ponytail girl answered.
“Oh, I see. Nice to meet you...”
Sako nodded coolly, though she remained overwhelmed by their energy.
“Hee~ I see! What kind of friends are you with Yuri?”
Erina-san asked cheerfully.
“Umm, Yurisuke-chan and I were in the same class. Wait, was it in first year? Or second year? Um, Yurisuke-chan?”
“...It was both first and second year.”
Yuri answered the question.
“Konuma-kun? Yuri?”
“Uuu... what are you guys doing? Let’s go quickly...”
In the meantime, Ichikawa and Taira-chan, who had gone ahead, came back. Taira-chan was hiding behind Ichikawa like a small animal.
“Uwa, two more super cute girls...! What is this? I want to attend this high school...!”
The ponytail girl remained excited.
“Ah, that’s right! I actually know a secret of Yurisuke-chan’s that probably none of you know!”
The girl with the straight bob clapped her hands as if she had just thought of something.
I had a bad feeling about this.
“Eh~, what is it, what is it~?”
When Erina-san asked, the straight bob girl seemed happy to be spoken to by Erina and started talking even more excitedly.
“I think it was back in second year, but even during the breaks after class, she would be scribbling away in her notebook like crazy. What do you think she was writing?”
“Hey, wait, that's...”
It seemed she could no longer hear my voice trying to interrupt her.
Yuri’s hair stood on end, and the color drained from her face again.
At that moment, Ichikawa, who had likely guessed the situation, gently held Yuri from behind.
“She was writing poems! I didn't read the content, but it gave me goosebumps!”
Damn, I knew it...
Ignoring our disappointment and despair, the straight bob girl continued.
“It’s okay to talk about it now, right? It’s Ice-chan’s dark history! I bet she doesn't write them anymore though...”
“Hey.”
A quiet, low voice rang out.
I blinked, and in an instant, the straight bob girl had turned pale.
Sako was there, grabbing her by the collar and glaring at her.
“Sakosh...!?”
“Take it back.”
“Y-Yes...?”
The straight bob girl’s cheeks twitched as she was glared at by the blonde girl she had been praising as cool just moments ago.
“Take back what you said about laughing at Yurisuke’s lyrics. Right now.”
Her voice was quiet, but it was filled with a clear anger, unlike her usual expressionless self.
“...!”
“I’d overlook it if you just had something to say about the finished product. But,”
She narrowed her already sharp eyes, focusing her gaze.
“Don't you dare mock the act of creating itself when you’ve never made a damn thing in your life.”
“Hasu-senpai...!”
I heard Taira-chan gasp.
“Correct yourself and apologize. Right now.”
After saying that, Sako looked down slightly.
“Otherwise... things will become irreversible.”
Perhaps Sako’s anger reached her.
“I’m... sorry...”
With those words squeezed out of her tight throat, Sako let go of her collar.
“Don't ever use those rotten words to hurt our precious Yurisuke again.”
“Sako Hasu...!”
While still held from behind by Ichikawa, Yuri’s large eyes trembled.
“...Hey, hey, Yuri, is it true that you write lyrics?”
Erina-san gently asked Yuri.
Wait, why are you asking that now of all times...?
“...Yeah, that’s right.”
Yuri answered, looking like it was difficult to say, but she managed it.
Erina-san then gave a huge smile.
“Whoa, Yuri really can do anything! You’re cute, you’ve got a great style, you’re good at bass, you can write lyrics, your personality is the best, and once again, you’re super cute! Right?”
She made a point of looking impressed.
“Erina...!”
Behind her, Hazama was also laughing as if he found it refreshing.
Receiving that smile, Yuri took a light, deep breath.
“...Amane, thank you.”
“...Yeah.”
With that, she gently unwound Ichikawa’s arms and took one, then another step toward Maejima-san and Ota-san.
“Maejima-san, Ota-san, you know.”
Though her eyes were still slightly downcast, she began to speak slowly.
The two of them stared in shock and amazement at the face of the classmate who was supposed to have been a loner.
“I always admired you two. I wanted to be like you. I wanted to have a youth like yours—being cute, sparkling, and being at the center of the classroom.”
As she spoke, she seemed to gradually regain her composure.
Little by little, she was returning to the usual Yuri I knew.
“I didn't have a single friend in middle school, but now, I have this many. I’m spending a youth and have the best friends that even you would be jealous of.”
As Yuri said that and lifted her head slightly, behind her stood Erina-san with a fearless smile and her hands on her hips, Hazama glaring at the two with a furrowed brow, Sako with her arms crossed and a sharp gaze, Taira-chan looking a bit frightened but trying her best to look resolute, and Ichikawa smiling gently with an expression of complete trust in her band’s lyricist.
“...I truly think it’s because you two were there.”
Yuri continued to talk to the two, who couldn't even manage a nod.
“Because I wanted to be like you, I finally made it this far.”
And then, she finally looked up clearly.
Facing the two people she once admired, she gave a bright smile.
“So, thank you!”
Yuri’s smile, which was like the epitome of a normie, looked so natural on her that I couldn't help but be captivated.
Just like when I first met her.