After Kanzaki Sou spoke those words, the three people inside and outside the door fell into silence.
The infirmary, already quiet to begin with, was now suffocatingly still.
Outside the door, Xiao Chun Miura almost made a sound.
But it wasn’t from her throat.
She had just moved closer to the entrance to hear more clearly, and now she was very close to the slightly open sliding door.
She had also been moving when Kanzaki Sou spoke, so after hearing what he said, Xiao Chun Miura almost lost control of her own steps.
The way Kondo Haruka fell was indeed strange.
The collision itself was hard to call a pure accident, because she herself was farther from Kondo Haruka than Yui Hori, and Kondo Haruka had moved quite a distance before contact, making their collision solid.
That’s why, when thinking about it before, she had thoughts like “it’s hard to say what exactly caused Kondo Haruka to fall”.
But she didn’t think Kanzaki Sou would point that out.
On her way here, Xiao Chun Miura had imagined many possible reactions Kanzaki Sou might have.
Comfort, helplessness, concern…
Those were the reactions a Childhood Friend would show when the other was hurt.
But Xiao Chun Miura never expected Kanzaki Sou to expose the truth so bluntly, almost without any mercy for the other.
Kondo Haruka clearly didn’t expect it either.
Read?”
A soft yet clear sound filled with confusion came from inside the infirmary, showing that Kondo Haruka was also quite flustered.
“Sou, Sou-kun?”
“Eh? What are you talking about?”
“What do you mean I was the one who bumped into you— I’m the one who got hit!!”
Her voice grew more urgent, faster, and higher.
Xiao Chun Miura could even imagine the expression on her Childhood Friend’s face, framed by her reddish short curly hair.
“You can’t mean—”
“Haruka, I said it wrong.”
Kanzaki Sou’s voice wasn’t as loud as Kondo Haruka’s, but it forcefully suppressed the Childhood Friend’s words.
“I’ll revise my statement.”
“You didn’t bump into her on purpose. You deliberately let yourself be bumped into.”
“Sou-kun!!”
Standing at the doorway, listening to their conversation, Xiao Chun Miura felt her scalp go numb.
The atmosphere was awful.
Kanzaki Sou must have known things would turn out like this—saying such things would definitely make the other person angry.
Even though she was the one knocked to the ground, now it sounded like she had done it on purpose.
Honestly, if she were Kondo Haruka in the infirmary right now and heard Kanzaki Sou say that, even if she wasn’t angry, she’d have to force herself to be.
Because if she didn’t get angry, it would mean admitting that Kanzaki Sou was right.
If what Kanzaki Sou said was wrong, then these words would be completely slanderous.
No one could be accused wrongly without feeling aggrieved—especially if the accuser was someone they cared deeply about.
Given Kondo Haruka’s personality, being wronged would only make her explode even more.
Of course, Kanzaki Sou knew this, and Kondo Haruka also knew that Kanzaki Sou understood her that well.
So it was inevitable that she would get angry.
Xiao Chun Miura silently pressed her aching forehead.
Kanzaki Sou did it on purpose.
Did he say those words just to make Kondo Haruka angry?
“…It was the person holding Xiao Chun Miura who ran too fast. I didn’t react in time…”
Then, perhaps feeling she had overreacted, Kondo Haruka spoke softly after a few seconds of silence.
“—Haruka.”
Kanzaki Sou cut off her attempt to defend herself.
Then he sighed lightly before continuing with an even sharper second half.
“You were at the Starting Line in front. How did you know it was the person holding Miura who hit you?”
His voice wasn’t loud, and his tone was gentle.
But it made both Xiao Chun Miura and Kondo Haruka, inside and outside the room, forget to breathe.
“I saw it very clearly.”
Kanzaki Sou’s tone remained calm, yet carried an undeniable certainty.
“The student from Class (5), her path was straight, without any problem.”
“You, while grabbing the uniform, glanced to the side and back…Then, just before the start, you shifted a step onto that track, turning your body’s direction.”
The room fell into a deathly silence.
Xiao Chun Miura leaned against the wall, feeling her palms sweating.
She could no longer hear even the faintest words from inside the infirmary; Kondo Haruka’s silence was like being struck by this sudden revelation.
Her mind was in chaos.
With Kanzaki Sou’s words, the two alone in the room could only lay everything bare.
But she still couldn’t understand why Kanzaki Sou would go this far.
In the end, it was Kondo Haruka who got hurt—there was no need for Kanzaki Sou to pursue her responsibility.
Even if he knew Kondo Haruka had intentionally let herself be hit, couldn’t he just comfort her gently, as usual, as a caring Childhood Friend?
Even if it was as Kanzaki Sou said, revealing it like this would only embarrass her Childhood Friend, making her angry and humiliated, with no other outcome.
***
What was Kanzaki Sou’s real purpose?
“—Why did you do it?”
As Xiao Chun Miura anxiously pondered, Kanzaki Sou’s voice came again from behind the door.
His words echoed her own thoughts…but his target was different.
Questioning his Childhood Friend, Kanzaki Sou’s tone carried a hint of regret.
His mood didn’t sound good either.
“Weren’t you always someone who ran straight for the Finish Line without distraction? Someone who only cared about winning first place in any race?”
“So why this time, at the Starting Line, weren’t your eyes fixed on the Finish Line?”
…If it was because of something other than the race, then I think—”
“No, it’s not!”
Kondo Haruka finally couldn’t take it anymore.
Maybe afraid to hear what Kanzaki Sou would say next, her voice became shrill.
At the doorway, Xiao Chun Miura was equally tense.
He had already brought up things beyond the race—if Kanzaki Sou continued with topics like Xiao Chun Miura, then what followed might be the very words Kondo Haruka least wanted to hear.
She didn’t dare move, focusing all her attention on what would happen next.
“I wasn’t trying to win! I don’t care about that stupid race at all!”
“I did it for you! Sou-kun!”
Accompanied by a sudden movement—probably Kondo Haruka sitting up in agitation—the girl’s voice was tinged with tears.
“I just…didn’t want to lose to someone from Class (5)!”
“The girl from Class (5) who was holding Xiao Chun Miura’s hand, she wanted to show off in front of you, to beat me directly, to draw your attention to them—do you get it?!”
“That Xiao Chun Miura… She’s been trying to seduce you! She’s always finding ways to pull you away from me!”
“How could I stand it? How could I let them shine brighter than me in front of you?!”
“So I wanted to block them…I just wanted to stop them, that’s all!!”
“It was just an instinctive reaction, I didn’t mean to crash so hard… It hurt me, too—”
“I didn’t want to do this…
I really didn’t want to do this…
I just wanted you to look only at me!!”
The more Kondo Haruka spoke, the more aggrieved she became, until she was nearly sobbing.
Her wailing was enough to chill the heart and make one’s temple throb.
Outside the door, Xiao Chun Miura’s heartbeat quickened.
Such intense conflict.
If it had been her, she would barely be able to breathe.
As someone who was shy and introverted, Xiao Chun Miura always avoided these kinds of situations.
Her overly strong empathy made her feel emotionally overwhelmed just being in such a place…
It was as if she herself were directly involved.
This kind of direct conversation between Kondo Haruka and Kanzaki Sou was something she would never choose.
They tore open all the veils, giving each other no room.
It felt like a force determined to settle everything right here and now, almost driving Xiao Chun Miura, who was eavesdropping at the door, to flee.
But she couldn’t.
She forced herself to stay, even as the air around her grew heavier.
If she didn’t keep listening, if she didn’t grasp the attitudes the two were showing at this moment, she wouldn’t know how to act next.
Though she felt guilty towards the two who were currently arguing, Xiao Chun Miura had to admit that this turn of events was beneficial to her.
She had no idea how to turn the situation around or break the stalemate.
Driven by impulse, she ended up outside the infirmary door…
And happened to catch the scene of their argument.
Besides shock and confusion, Xiao Chun Miura also felt a genuine sense of relief.
From the moment she realized their conversation would decide something, Xiao Chun Miura wanted to act more proactively.
She had been powerless until now, but since a chance had appeared—
Hope ignited in Xiao Chun Miura’s heart once more.
Let them say more.
Kanzaki Sou, Kondo Haruka, both of them.
As long as she confirmed their feelings, even if she just targeted the right point, she could achieve her goal of breaking their relationship.
Yes, just focus on Kanzaki Sou’s weak spots and stimulate the parts that make him dislike Kondo Haruka.
Xiao Chun Miura’s lips trembled with the thoughts surfacing in her mind.