Erina-san ran down the stairs immediately to the left after leaving the library.
“Erina-san!”
“No!”
I ran after her.
Damn it, my athletic nerves are incredibly bad.
Then, at the landing two floors down, Erina-san tripped and fell.
“Erina-san...!”
I caught up and stopped.
She seemed to have scraped her knee, as she held it while keeping her head down.
“The worst...!”
Still crouched, she muttered those words like a grudge.
“The worst, the worst, the worst...!”
“Erina-san...?”
What is the worst?
Was it scraping her knee?
Was it Hazama confessing to Sako?
...Or was it Sako, for rejecting Hazama?
“Erina... is the worst...!”
“Eh...?”
With her head still down, Erina-san began to speak in a muffled voice.
“It’s your fault for suddenly appearing like that, Takuto-kun.”
“Hmm?”
“Childhood friends are so unfair...”
...Wait, is the 'worst' one me?
“You know, Erina... about Takuto-kun...”
“Yeah...?”
Is this the continuation from earlier...?
Unconsciously, my mind filled in the word following 'I l—'.
“...I’ve been deceiving you the whole time.”
“Huh...?”
An idiotic sound escaped me at the unexpected words.
Deceiving me? In what way?
...And for what purpose?
“Erina decided that no matter what, she would choose ‘Love’ over ‘Romance’.”
Come to think of it, Azuma said that this morning. 'Erina said before that if it’s between Romance and Love, she’d choose Love no matter what.'
“Erina-san, could it be...”
At that moment, I suddenly remembered what Erina-san had said back at Mac.
'But if you can’t wish for the happiness of the person you like, that might be Romance, but it’s not Love, right? Definitely.'
'That’s why Erina decided to support Kenji.'
“Was it all... to get Hazama and Sako together...?”
When I said that, Erina-san gave a small nod with her head still lowered.
“Are you serious...?”
“That’s why, showing off how close I was with Takuto-kun... wasn’t for Kenji, it was for Sakosh.”
'The things Erina thinks about are so unfair.'
“I thought that if Sakosh thought Erina and Takuto-kun were dating or had a good thing going, she might just start dating Kenji since they were already on good terms.”
'If it’s not Konuma-kun, it has no meaning.'
“So, as long as Takuto-kun was close to someone other than Sakosh, it didn’t actually have to be Erina. It could have been Amane-chan, or Yuri.”
'Well, whatever. If that’s how it is...'
“Takuto-kun, you won’t say you don’t understand what Erina is saying, right?”
Saying that, Erina-san looked up and stared into my eyes.
I don’t understand. I have no sense of it. I’m still doubting it.
But.
'It’s about realizing that instead of just belittling yourself, you might be ‘something’ to ‘someone’...'
Azuma had said that.
“Sako... feels that way about me...?”
“...Takuto-kun is really Takuto-kun through and through, huh...”
Erina-san huffed and looked away.
“...Th-Then, what were you trying to say to me earlier?”
“Eh—? Erina said that much, and you still don’t get it?”
“Well...”
As I hesitated, Erina-san let out a sigh and said,
“It’s obvious I was trying to confess to Takuto-kun.”
“But why...?”
“Because Sakosh is a good friend. I thought if she knew Erina liked Takuto-kun, she would give up.”
So that’s why she did that in front of Sako...
“This morning, I told Kenji about this plan. I said, ‘Erina is going to confess today, so once Sakosh has given up her feelings, you should confess to her, Kenji.’ Then Kenji asked, ‘Erina, do you really like Konuma?’ so...”
“Could it be...”
When I asked, Erina-san nodded.
“I answered, ‘Yes, I like him.’”
“Erina-san...”
Erina-san really is an idiot.
Faking her most important feelings just so the person she likes can be with the person they like.
“Then Kenji said, ‘Then you should tell Konuma you like him at the best possible time for you, Erina’...”
So, Hazama thought Erina-san seriously intended to confess to me.
But because Erina-san was trying to do a public confession for his sake, he wanted her to confess at a better time, which is why he interrupted her earlier to do his own confession...
“What the hell is that...”
The thought leaked out of my mouth as a voice.
Everyone, every single one of them, faking it and sacrificing themselves for someone else’s sake...
“Why would you do that...? Is it not okay to just say what you want to say, what you want to convey? Is that what it means to be with someone?”
My head felt like it was spinning and twisting.
“Actually... everyone is just scared.”
“Scared...?”
Erina-san reached out and lightly pinched the fabric of my pants as I stood beside her.
“If I say what I want to say and end up being hated, then it’s really over.”
“That’s...”
It sounds just like 'us'.
“But, Takuto-kun.”
Erina-san interrupted my complicated thoughts.
“Hmm?”
“Erina is the worst...”
“Huh?”
Erina-san’s eyes grew watery as she crouched down again.
“Earlier, when Kenji got rejected... I felt relieved...”
I caught my breath at those words.
“Hey, did Erina choose ‘Romance’ over ‘Love’...?”
“Erina-san...”
“Does it mean Erina isn’t able to wish for Kenji’s happiness...?”
Her watery voice grew more damp, turning into sobs.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry...”
I was at a loss for words in front of Erina-san, who just kept crying while clutching my pants.
But, that won't do.
Feelings have to be put into words.
“Romance is fine, isn't it?”
“...Eh?”
“Who decided that ‘Love’ is more precious than ‘Romance’?”
“Hah...?”
Erina-san looked up at me, waiting for my next words.
I started talking without a plan.
Think of something.
God, Buddha, amane-sama, and while we're at it, Azuma-sama...!
As I prayed, it 'came' to me.
“Erina-san, you’re a returnee from England, right?”
“Yeah, I am...?”
“Then it doesn’t matter, because,”
Behold the power of a Yuri Poem.
“Because?”
“They’re both 'Love'!”
When I said that, Erina-san blinked and stared at me blankly for a short while.
After a moment, she burst out into a snort.
“Takuto-kun, that is way too lame!”
She then began to laugh hysterically.
“Wait, eh, huh?”
Apparently, the Yuri Poem had no effect. Well, it wasn't a Yuri Poem anyway.
It was a Takt Poem. Its representative work is 'Daily Life is Good'.
“'Love', he says, 'Love'. Ahahaha!”
Erina-san continued to laugh loudly.
Someone just kill me already...
After laughing for a while, Erina-san looked up at me once more.
“Phew—it was such a serious mood, but Takuto-kun made me laugh.”
“I wasn't trying to make you laugh...”
“Hehehe.”
After letting out a relaxed giggle, she said,
“Thank you, Takuto-kun.”
As she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, I hoped those were tears of laughter.