Chapter 100: The Love Between You, Me, and Him (2)

As long as Kanzaki Sou and Kondo Haruka’s favorability drops and Miura Koharu can peacefully get through the Sports Day, Kanzaki Sou won’t enter Kondo Haruka’s personal route anymore.

The key choice for entering Kondo Haruka’s personal route is during the Sports Day.

So, if she prioritized her goal above all else, Miura Koharu really only needed to fan the flames of their argument right now.

Just intensify the conflict, and her objective would be easily achieved.

But Miura Koharu didn’t want it to be just that.

A strong desire to “do something” began to grow violently in her heart right after hearing the conversation between Kanzaki Sou and Kondo Haruka.

She paused, then grasped the sliding door handle without hesitation and let herself slide in the direction it opened.

Everything inside the Infirmary was clearly imprinted in her eyes.

Even though she focused all her attention, straining to listen, the footsteps in the corridor grew farther and farther away, eventually disappearing completely.

Kondo Haruka sat dazed on the bed, not knowing how to face the reality of Kanzaki Sou’s departure.

Those steady, irrevocably retreating footsteps echoed in Kondo Haruka’s mind, each step resonating directly.

She stared at the white vertical curtain, as if her gaze could pierce the annoying barrier, reaching outside to chase after Kanzaki Sou’s figure.

She wasn’t a psychic, nor did she have any special abilities.

Other than her athletic skills being more developed than others, there was nothing exceptional about her.

Realizing that Kanzaki Sou had truly walked away, the girl with reddish-brown curls felt as if the air inside the Infirmary had solidified completely.

Her hands clutched the white bedsheet so tightly that her knuckles turned pale.

Her shoulders trembled uncontrollably, and tears, disobeying her will, rolled down her cheeks in heavy drops, splashing onto the back of her hands again and again, leaving hot, damp marks.

She was a complete mess, crying.

“Liar……”

She choked, her voice hoarse and broken.

“How…how did it end up like this……?”

She had lied.

She wanted to win.

She wanted him to look at her.

She wanted to protect that irreplaceable place by his side.

Then why, in the end, did she act against her own will and block the girl from Class (5)?

She really couldn’t explain it.

Kondo Haruka herself didn’t even know why she had done such a thing.

To say she didn’t care about winning or losing—impossible.

She wanted to cross the finish line before Miura Koharu more than anyone—if she was in the race, she didn’t mind winning a few more times.

As long as there was a competition, she wanted to win.

She wanted to make sure Koharu lost to her every time, that she herself would win every time, and to let Sou-kun witness it.

But why?

Why did she go and stop Miura Koharu and the others?

She should have just rushed to the finish line and been praised by Sou-kun like always.

Why did it end up like this?

After all, the other side wasn’t even hurt, while she herself was actually injured.

She knew that if her own initiative in the incident was exposed, Sou-kun would definitely be displeased.

Doing such a thing with so much risk, she was making a thankless effort.

***

Now, it was as if he really was standing on Miura Koharu’s side.

As that thought flashed through her mind, Kondo Haruka trembled all over.

She was afraid that guess might be true.

But there was no way to ask Kanzaki Sou for confirmation now.

Kanzaki Sou was no longer in the Infirmary.

The itch and ache in her heart mingled, her feet unable to move on their own—Kondo Haruka was filled with unspeakable pain.

Being looked at with that disappointed gaze by Kanzaki Sou was, in her memory, the harshest situation she’d ever experienced.

“It’s all because of that person..”

“Sou-kun wouldn’t have been so harsh to me! Sou-kun wouldn’t have abandoned me!!”

Rage mixed with the fear of being abandoned made Kondo Haruka grab the pillow beside her and slam it hard onto the floor.

“–Why did you have to interfere… Why did you have to take what’s mine…”

The pillow hit the floor with a dull thud.

At the very moment the sound landed, a soft sliding noise came from the direction of the Infirmary’s exit behind the curtain.

The door to the Infirmary was being opened.

Kondo Haruka looked over sharply, a trace of hope flashing in her eyes.

–Is it Sou-kun? Did he regret it? Did he come back to comfort me?

The subconscious thoughts in her mind revealed the person she most wanted to see.

“Sou…–!”

The words on her lips, about to be spoken, also expressed her wish.

But the figure standing at the door was not the one she’d imagined.

Like a bucket of cold water poured over her head, a slender figure stepped out from behind the curtain, backlit, and stood quietly in front of Kondo Haruka’s window.

A neatly trimmed princess cut, long straight hair draped over her shoulders, round-framed glasses on her face; her expression calm, just like Kanzaki Sou’s usual demeanor.

To Kondo Haruka, who desperately wanted to see Kanzaki Sou, the person standing there was the one she least wanted to see.

It was Miura Koharu.

-!!!

In that instant, Kondo Haruka felt all the blood rush to her head.

Shame, anger, humiliation, dissatisfaction…

All the negative emotions piled up together, the impulsive tension peaking at that moment.

It didn’t matter who saw her like this, as long as it wasn’t this person.

“You………”

Kondo Haruka clenched her teeth, forcing out her angry words.

She wanted to vent all her frustration, all her suffocating feelings, onto Miura Koharu.

“–Why are you here? To laugh at me?!”

The sound seemed to shake the entire Infirmary.

Yet, facing Kondo Haruka’s murderous glare, Miura Koharu didn’t back down.

She ignored Kondo Haruka’s hostile stare, instead turning her head toward the entrance, as if checking whether the door was properly closed.

After a few seconds, she turned back, meeting Kondo Haruka’s gaze, which overflowed with hostility.

If I said I came to laugh at you, would you feel better because of my answer?

Miura Koharu’s voice was soft, but exceptionally clear.

She neither comforted nor apologized right away.

To Kondo Haruka, those words sounded harsh.

Miura Koharu’s action of counter-questioning made Kondo Haruka even more convinced she was here to deliberately provoke and annoy her.

“Please leave, Miura-san!!”

She immediately expressed her hostility toward Miura Koharu.

Her whole heart wanted this girl gone from her sight, whether by shouting or whatever means.

The indescribable agitation made Kondo Haruka restless.

After staring at Kondo Haruka for a while, without responding to the teeth-gritting words of hate, Miura Koharu walked slowly to the bedside and picked up the pillow that the girl with reddish-brown curls had thrown on the floor.

She gently patted the dust off and placed it on a chair out of Kondo Haruka’s reach…just to keep her from throwing it again.

Kondo Haruka watched Miura Koharu’s actions, and as she turned her gaze back to the bed, she immediately spoke:

“I don’t want to see you! You win, okay?! Are you happy now?! Sou-kun criticized me for your sake! Are you satisfied?!”

The anger, almost tangible, pressed in like a wall with her words.

But Miura Koharu didn’t even blink.

She just looked quietly at Kondo Haruka, saying nothing for a moment.

There was neither a victor’s pride nor a victim’s timidity in her eyes.

It was a clarity Kondo Haruka had never seen in Miura Koharu’s gaze before.

“-Kondo-san.”

Miura Koharu spoke.

Her tone, similar to Kanzaki Sou’s, was a little less gentle, more tolerant, and far more serious.

“I came to see you, because on the track, my friend and I collided with you, causing you to fail to finish the race and not take first place.”

At those words, an unexplainable tension tightened in Kondo Haruka’s chest.

“I knew Kanzaki-san would stay with you, so there was no need to worry, but I also felt it wasn’t right to leave Kanzaki-san alone with you.”

Her heart thumped more strongly.

“Kondo-san, I’m sorry, but I’ve been here for a few minutes already… I didn’t mean to overhear your conversation with Kanzaki-san—I want to apologize again.”

“Guh–!!”

Kondo Haruka’s anger exploded.

“Miura Koharu, you got the advantage and still act all innocent!! You just use pitiful words to win Sou-kun’s sympathy—if he wasn’t so kind, he wouldn’t care about you at all, you know?! ?!”

“—You’re wrong, Kondo-san.”

A voice so calm it bordered on cold interrupted Kondo Haruka’s accusations.

“Kanzaki-san isn’t as good a person as you think.”

…..Wha–! ”

“Is your foot okay? I can leave right now, and even if you usually run faster, I doubt I’d lose to you in your current state.”

Seeing Kondo Haruka make a move to get off the bed, Miura Koharu stepped back, still calm.

“You can’t catch me, and you’d just fall again. I might not help you up and just walk away, but when Kanzaki-san comes back and sees you off the bed, no matter how many excuses you make, he won’t listen.”

“You’re lying!! Even if I fell trying to chase you, if Sou-kun came back, he’d definitely pick me up and put me back on the bed! You—”

“Are you serious about that?”

This time, the tone was genuinely cold.

There was even a hint of invisible anger.

The sudden chill in Miura Koharu’s voice made Kondo Haruka freeze.

“–Kondo-san, why were you crying just now?”

The question sounded inexplicable to Kondo Haruka, leaving her unsure how to respond, so she instinctively snapped back.

“Hah?! What’s it to you?!”

“Kondo-san, you cried because Kanzaki-san criticized you, didn’t you?”

“I said it’s none of your—”

“You’re afraid Kanzaki Sou would end up hating you, aren’t you?”

It was like someone had grabbed Kondo Haruka by the throat; the girl with reddish-brown curls, who’d been arguing forcefully, suddenly fell silent.

“Friends and family fighting is normal. If friends fight, they can just stop being friends; even if family argues, the bond usually isn’t broken.”

“In the end, everyone has many friends, but only a few family.”

“Relationships that remain unbroken even after arguments are bonds that have become inseparable—the privileges shared by those closest.”

“–But you know, your connection with Kanzaki-san hasn’t reached that level.”

“Miura Koharu!! You!—”

“…But you also don’t want to sever ties with Kanzaki-san. That’s something you absolutely can’t accept.”

“That’s why when Kanzaki-san uncharacteristically criticized you, you reacted so strongly. That’s why, when Kanzaki-san left the Infirmary, you cried uncontrollably.”

“–Did I say anything wrong?”

Ignoring Kondo Haruka’s agitated flailing, Miura Koharu simply finished saying everything she wanted.

Then she stared at Kondo Haruka on the bed, waiting for a response.

“…So I said, what does any of this have to do with you—! Get out!!”

Miura Koharu clenched her fist.

Got her.

Unlike before, when she was completely defensive, this time Kondo Haruka couldn’t refute her; forced to give a reaction, she could only go along with Miura Koharu’s words.

Because it was the truth, the reality.

The reason Kondo Haruka cried, the reason she felt uneasy about Kanzaki Sou leaving the Infirmary just to get a teacher, was because of fear—fear that the conflict and discord wouldn’t be resolved and that Kanzaki Sou would avoid talking about it in the future, planting a real rift between them.

It was this fact that scared Kondo Haruka, making her unable to argue back and, when demanded for a reaction, subconsciously agree.

Even a few words revealing that attitude were enough for Miura Koharu.

She could keep going.

“If you know that Kanzaki-san might really take issue with you if things continue like this, then how can you say that if you chased after me and fell, Kanzaki-san would still help you up?”

“You don’t even believe Kanzaki-san would indulge you to that extent, so why lie to yourself?”

“Or is it just to act strong in front of me? Do you like to show off how perfect Kanzaki-san is and how close you are, just to outsiders?”

-!!

“You definitely think you understand Kanzaki-san better than I do, since you’re childhood friends.”

“But honestly, do you really think that blocking me and my friend from competing left a good impression on Kanzaki-san?”

“—It’s not…it’s not! What are you trying to say, Miura Koharu? What did you even come here for?!”

“–Kondo Haruka!!!”

Kondo Haruka’s body went rigid.

Miura Koharu, panting, shouted with all her strength, making it hard for her to breathe.

“I came…to check on you, Kondo-san.

But at the door, I overheard your conversation with Kanzaki-san, and I felt there were things I had to tell you.

About the truth of Kanzaki-san, things I think you haven’t realized.

Yes, you’re childhood friends, you understand each other—but there are things only outsiders can see, not those involved.

Let me ask you, Kondo-san.”

“—Why do you think Kanzaki-san was angry just now?”

“I know you’re angry too, and you don’t want to talk to me at all, but I hope you’ll at least think about the answer to my question.”

Taking advantage of the confusion her shout brought to Kondo Haruka, Miura Koharu poured out her thoughts, trying to guide the other girl into thinking.

The carefully prepared plan worked.

Kondo Haruka actually fell silent.

She was also confused by Miura Koharu’s question.

Up until just now, she’d only wondered why she did something that would make Kanzaki Sou unhappy.

But Miura Koharu’s question also made her curious.

Kanzaki Sou said many things before leaving, but at that time, Kondo Haruka’s mind was too chaotic to understand the meanings.

The girl sank into deep thought, and Miura Koharu gave her time.

Several seconds passed, and Kondo Haruka didn’t speak again.

Miura Koharu helped open the conversation once more.

“–Do you think Kanzaki-san was angry because you disrupted my and my friend’s race and negatively affected others?”

“Because he’s kind, because he’s gentle, so you think that’s why he was angry?”

Miura Koharu’s voice made Kondo Haruka tremble.

“It’s not, Kondo-san.”

“I told you, Kanzaki-san isn’t as good as you think.”