Ten Years Earlier.
Horikita's mother knelt down, touched the tip of Suzune's nose with her finger, and said warmly: "When a girl is sad and hurting, the only arms she can take shelter in are her older brother's, and someday her husband's~"
Suzune, who had been crying, tugged at her brother's sleeve and nodded, only half understanding.
Back to the present.
Suzune had just woken from a dream. It was about those words. Thinking back over what had happened between herself and Ryunosuke the day before, she couldn't settle. She got out of bed and ran a hot shower to work through the feeling.
Her long black hair hung heavy and wet under the water, the small room thick with steam. She was a proud person, and yet the shampoo she used was the complimentary kind the school provided. Her toothbrush and cup were the same. You could tell from small details like these exactly how careful and disciplined Horikita Suzune was with her resources. She was going to make a remarkably capable wife someday.
After the shower she dried her hair with a white towel. Today was the day her brother left the school, graduation day for the third years. She had set her alarm for eight o'clock, since he would be departing at half past nine. There was still time.
She changed clothes, picked up a pair of scissors, and stood in front of the mirror.
She was proving something to herself. To show her brother she had changed, she cut her long black hair down to a short, shoulder-length style. No more hesitation.
And, more than that, she needed to be honest with herself.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Manabu had arrived at the school gate early, suitcase already in hand. Tachibana Akane walked beside him. Neither of them had ever officially named what they were, but the odds were about eighty percent in favor of them having been a couple for some time.
His plan after leaving was to ask his parents for startup capital. He had no interest in simply inheriting the family business. He wanted to build something of his own. More specifically, he intended to leave the entire family inheritance to Suzune. By renouncing his own claim, she would become the rightful heir to everything.
Akane would be going into business with him, serving as his secretary, the same role she had held at the student council. Technically she had insisted on coming along and left him no real way to refuse. Given that the two of them were clearly fond of each other, living in the same direction was only a matter of time. They moved forward together.
Ryunosuke had been waiting at the gate for a while. This was his boss's graduation day. Seeing him off was the least he could do.
Manabu stopped walking and signaled to Akane to go ahead, because he had something to say. Akane complied with characteristic obedience, though she glanced back at Manabu once or twice on her way, as though afraid he might run off without her.
Manabu let out a quiet breath. The complications of romance had reached him after all.
Ryunosuke smiled. "Things seem to be going quite well between you and Tachibana-senpai."
Manabu didn't respond to the teasing. Instead he asked, "Did you receive the points I sent?"
They had a prior arrangement. When Manabu left the school, he would transfer all of his points to Ryunosuke. In return, Ryunosuke had given his word to look after Suzune for the three years remaining.
Ryunosuke checked his phone. The incoming balance showed 40 million points, which included the 20 million Manabu had originally purchased from him and never ended up needing. Those had simply been returned.
He accepted it without question. His current total, after spending 20 million to save Masumi and receiving this new 40 million, had reached 238 million points. On top of that, he had 40 million yen in cash. His debt was no longer something to lose sleep over. He had more than enough, and then some.
He was aware that several of the women around him could easily help him pay it off. But he had his pride, and the idea of living comfortably off their money while contributing nothing felt like something he couldn't come back from. If he did that, he wouldn't be standing on the same ground as them. He wanted to arrive at that starting line by his own feet. That was his ego talking, and he knew it, but it was also how he believed a relationship could last. Giving without receiving, or receiving without giving, would wear it down eventually. He had seen enough of that kind of thing in his previous life. He wasn't going to sacrifice his self-respect for temporary ease.
While Ryunosuke and Manabu were talking at the gate, Suzune came running out and threw herself into her brother's arms.
Manabu stumbled slightly but caught her steadily. He was about to say something when he noticed her hair. He blinked.
"Suzune, your hair..."
"I cut it." She said without hesitation. "I wanted to change for you. To prove that I'm not the same child who always trailed behind you."
Her voice wavered just slightly. Manabu reached up and ran a hand gently over her shorter hair, his expression soft.
"Short suits you too. Long or short, you're still my little sister."
Suzune's eyes began to glisten. "Nii-san..."
"Don't cry. Didn't you just say you're not a child anymore?" He wiped the tears from her face.
Seeing the two of them lost in their moment, Ryunosuke put his hands behind his head and started to step away. Manabu called out to him.
He took Suzune's hand and placed it into Ryunosuke's palm, with the particular care of someone handing over something irreplaceable.
"I'm leaving the sister I love most in your hands. Will you take my place in protecting her for the rest of her life?"
Ryunosuke stood motionless, still catching up with what had just happened. Suzune's face went completely red; she understood exactly what her brother meant. She was about to object when Manabu cut her off.
He smiled and touched the top of her head.
"Do you dislike him?" he asked, referring to Ryunosuke.
Suzune opened her mouth and said nothing. Manabu already had his answer. He looked at his stubborn little sister and said, "If I don't do a little pushing, the two of you will never get anywhere."
Suzune said nothing, which was as much of an answer as any words would have been.
He knew her better than anyone. She was far too stiff-necked and far too proud to make the first move. Without someone giving them both a push, she would probably stand frozen even as other girls pulled Ryunosuke away, too stubborn to act.
Having made his case one final time, Manabu picked up his suitcase and walked away. With Ryunosuke here, his sister would be looked after. That man would protect her.
Ryunosuke looked down at Suzune's hand still resting in his. He tightened his grip a little. "Your brother seems to have just entrusted you to me. Does that mean we're officially together now?"
Suzune pulled her hand back at once, turned, and walked away without changing her expression. Ryunosuke followed and tried to take her hand again. She pulled free. He reached for it again. She pulled free again.
After this had gone on about a dozen times, Suzune gave up and let him hold it. He really had no shame at all, and there was nothing she could do about it. He made things considerably worse by interlacing their fingers, which made her instinctively want to hit him.
Ryunosuke spoke steadily. "I like you, Suzune. I felt it from the first day of school."
She didn't answer. She walked with her head slightly down. But the color in her cheeks spread slowly all the way to her ears.
They didn't say anything more. But something had been settled between them, quietly and without ceremony. She hadn't turned him down.
Ryunosuke understood her well enough. She would never say it first. If he wasn't the one to step forward, they would never reach each other. And the reason he was willing to was simple: he had genuinely fallen for her from the very start. Like each of the school's other great presences, he had not been immune to the pull of the girl with long black hair.
He pressed his luck a little further. "Would you let your hair grow long again for me? I really like it when it's long."
"Hmph." She took her hand back and said nothing.
But from that day forward, she never cut her hair again. Just as he had asked, she let the long black hair grow back.
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