Ren used two fingers to pinch Shōko Nishimiya's small face. He forced her to pout her lips.
"Shōko, do you think I am easy to fool?"
Ren squeezed his thumb and index finger a bit more. Shōko's pout became even deeper.
With Shōko's personality, it would be strange if she were not bullied at school.
"I... I... am... so... sorry."
Shōko wanted to explain that she did not lie. But as soon as she looked into Ren's eyes, she gave up and admitted it.
When she was not looking at him, Shōko could lie so he would not worry. But when they made eye contact, she found she did not want to trick him.
Even if it was a kind lie, she could not do it.
"Since Shōko lied to me just now."
"I will ask the questions. Shōko, you only need to nod or shake your head. Do you understand?"
Ren let go of her face. He spoke to Shōko in a serious voice.
"Yuzuru, is Ren always this strict?"
Futari Gotō put her hand over Yuzuru's ear. She asked the question in a quiet whisper.
Futari only had a shy older sister at home. This was the first time she saw a brother scold a sister like this.
At her house, Hitori Gotō usually hid in a corner. She never scolded Futari.
"No, Ren is a very gentle person."
Yuzuru Nishimiya whispered back to Futari in the same way.
Ren was not actually related to the Nishimiya family. The fact that he scolded her showed he really saw Shōko as a sister.
As for the scolding Futari mentioned? Yuzuru saw it as Ren caring about her sister's life.
Shōko Nishimiya looked at Ren and nodded. She understood the rules.
Ren began to ask his questions.
"Are the students bullying you again because of what happened at the police station?"
Shōko shook her head.
She did not fully understand what bullying was yet. She still felt it was her fault that her classmates did not play with her.
She thought it was because she had trouble speaking and wrote too slowly in her notebook.
Other middle school kids might be mature, but Shōko was different. With her hearing problem, she was doing her best just to keep up with life.
She was not mature in that way at all.
"Let me say it a different way. Shōko, are you being isolated in class?"
Ren put himself in Shōko's place. He used a more accurate word.
Shōko nodded.
She understood the word "isolated." She knew what her situation was like.
"Has any classmate tried to play with you lately?"
Shōko shook her head.
"I see..."
Ren thought about how to solve Shōko's problem.
This was not hard, but it was annoying. Ren couldn't go to her school and force people to be her friend.
Even after the bullies were gone, no students talked to Shōko.
Maybe they thought talking to her was too hard. Or maybe they were afraid of the police incident. They might fear being "sent away" by Shōko if they made a mistake.
Shōko was in her third year of middle school. She would graduate and go to high school in a year. Then, these classmates would be gone anyway.
So, having "friends" right now was not that important.
Ren made a decision and spoke to Shōko. "Shōko, how about you talk to Aunt Yaeko tonight? See if you can come find me after school."
"We can practice speaking together. Then Shōko can talk to people better."
This way, Shōko did not need to worry about making friends at school. She could focus on Ren instead. He would spend a year teaching her how to speak.
Once Shōko could communicate normally, making friends would be easy because she was pretty and gentle.
Shōko's eyes lit up after hearing the plan. She nodded her head quickly.
Compared to failing to make friends at school, she preferred staying with Ren.
"Um... Ren, can I come with my sister?"
Yuzuru Nishimiya was already eating the cake the waiter brought. She raised her hand like a student waiting for a teacher to call her name.
Yaeko Nishimiya worked many jobs to support the family. She always left early and came home late.
To take care of Shōko, Yuzuru also went home early to do chores.
In the past, Shōko's daily life was being bullied. Yuzuru's daily life was studying hard and then rushing to her sister's side after school. She had no childhood.
Now Ren had invited Shōko to his house to help her speak.
Yuzuru wanted to go too. She wanted to take care of Shōko and also find the "childhood" she had lost. She wanted to try for this chance.
Yuzuru really enjoyed the care she got from Ren.
She had never felt this before.
Few little girls would dress up like boys or like to be called "tomboys."
Every girl has a little princess inside her, and Yuzuru was no different. She also wanted to dress up and have friends tell her she was pretty.
To protect Shōko, Yuzuru had given up a lot. She pretended to be a boy and acted very tough.
She did all this so her mother would not worry and to protect her favorite sister.
"It is not up to me. Aunt Yaeko must agree first."
Ren did not say yes right away. He told Yuzuru he was okay with it, but she had to convince her mother.
He turned Shōko toward the table. He took the notebook she was holding tightly and put a small spoon in her hand.
"Eat first. We can talk about other things after we eat."
As he spoke, Ren pushed the nice desserts Hikigaya had ordered toward the three girls. Then he pushed the cheap desserts the girls had ordered toward Hikigaya.
Hikigaya was sitting in the corner seat. He could only watch as the girls happily ate the desserts he wanted.
That damn. Hikigaya ground his teeth secretly. He wanted to make Ren pay for this.
He was only mad at Ren because the guy pushed all the remaining cheap snacks to him.
Hikigaya did not mind that the expensive desserts went to the girls. In fact, he expected this.
The three girls were too shy to order expensive things. Hikigaya had to be the "bad guy" and order them himself.
Then, Ren would give them to the girls.
The two of them already understood each other well.