But now, her trust was starting to waver.
There was nothing exciting about it at all. Instead, she was being ordered around every day, running errands all over the place.
When nothing was going on, she had to stay by Sakayanagi's side as a bodyguard, making sure she didn't accidentally fall over and fail to get back up.
When something did come up, she had to act as a messenger, running into trash heaps like Class D to personally deliver meeting invitations to people like Wang Meiyu.
On top of that, when rumors were flying around, she had even been forced to play the role of "lesbian," being spread around as the woman who supposedly had some kind of finger-based relationship with Sakayanagi Arisu in secret.
What the hell was all this?!
No matter how firm her trust had been, after all this back and forth, it was bound to shake. The once proud and untouchable image of Sakayanagi Arisu in her memory was starting to become unstable.
And more importantly…
This girl even needed to stay on the phone with her while taking a bath, just to make sure she wouldn't pass out and drown.
Seriously, sis, if you can't even bathe on your own, then don't bathe…
If you can't live independently, then don't let your parents send you to this fully closed-off school, okay?
Still, despite all her complaints, she had to admit that Sakayanagi Arisu did have some ability.
At the very least, she had easily gathered a faction around herself and earned their complete trust and support, forming a force equal to Katsuragi Kōhei's group.
She had even used the first month's exam failure to strip Katsuragi of his authority.
If Kamuro hadn't spent so much time with her, handling everything big and small personally, it would have been hard for others to see that this girl was, at heart, just a proud, frail little princess.
…She had originally thought of it as working herself to death for the class leader.
But if the rumors weren't rumors, but reality…
When she thought about the possibility that Sakayanagi might actually be eyeing her, Kamuro Masumi suddenly felt uncomfortable and grossed out.
"You guess?" Sakayanagi Arisu replied playfully.
She wasn't a lesbian, of course. When Hashimoto Masayoshi had chased her around asking if she was one, she had been pretty annoyed.
But after calming down, she knew very well that such rumors were temporary and couldn't shake her position.
People would soon stop caring.
As long as she didn't respond and let things cool down, once some other news started spreading, everyone would forget about it.
Just like the rumors she had spread about Chabashira Sae earlier.
After a few days, nobody talked about her sexuality anymore.
"…Don't make me guess. I'm hanging up," Kamuro said from the other end, sounding fed up.
If this girl really was into women, she was running.
Whoever wanted to be her errand runner could take over.
She was just looking for excitement, not to be pinned down on a bed by another girl.
Besides, with Sakayanagi's frail body, she was honestly afraid that if she resisted even a little, she'd send her straight to the hospital.
"You're no fun. Boring," Sakayanagi pouted.
She closed the diary she had finished reading and sank it into the bathtub.
"Of course I'm not a lesbian. Do I really need to repeat that? You should know that better than anyone."
"Besides, you were there when the rumors started, weren't you?"
She'd followed her for so long. How could Masumi still ask something like that?
Really.
"Then tell me—why did you ask about kissing?" Kamuro tapped her terminal and asked.
"Today's reading completed. Reading points +1."
The usual sound rang out.
Sakayanagi stretched lazily and slowly pushed herself up out of the tub.
She shifted her small hips onto a stool placed beside the bathtub. After her elegant exit, she dried herself while replying:
"Well, I just suddenly remembered something I'd heard."
"If you press your index finger and thumb together and kiss the gap between them, you can experience what kissing feels like."
After she said that, there was a very obvious silence on the other end of the call.
"…Would anyone really try that? Isn't that way too pathetic?" Kamuro finally complained after a long pause, her tone strange.
After drying off and putting on loose pajamas, Sakayanagi nodded.
"Mm-hm. I think so too. It's rare that Masumi and I agree so completely."
"Since you've never kissed anyone, I assume you wouldn't be curious about something like that either, right?"
Smiling, Sakayanagi stood up, grabbed her terminal, drained the tub, and slowly sat on her bed.
"That's a relief. If you got a boyfriend, I'd be out of usable people."
Though there were other obedient ones in class—like Kitō, who listened well—guys were still less convenient than girls.
Especially someone like Kamuro Masumi, who had a not-quite-leverage-but-still-leverage weakness in her hands.
If she really started dating…
"Whatever. I'm done with you."
Hearing that Sakayanagi had finished bathing, Kamuro rolled her eyes and hung up.
You say that like I can't get a boyfriend.
...
"..."
The pen in her hand lightly touched the paper, then lifted again. Over and over.
She had lost count of how many days it had been.
Shiina Hiyori was still hesitating over what kind of message she should write.
Should she ask about her future in his eyes?
Or ask about the other people hidden in those dish names he had mentioned before?
Or ask about the results of the "impostor trial" he once arranged for Imouto-chan—who the real impostor was?
Asking about Shuchiin would be interesting too. Why did the famous Shinomiya family's young lady want to become a photographer? What was that instant-noodle business war about?
Every long diary entry sparked her curiosity.
Unfortunately, most of the time, there was no follow-up, and her questions were never answered.
[I'll ask him what French-kissing Herzog feels like]
That answer Asakusa Tōru had once given suddenly surfaced in her mind.
If he had the chance to leave a message, that was what he'd ask.
Then… what about her?
What would she ask?
Something about today's diary?
Have you really kissed someone? What does it feel like?
Or…
After hesitating for a while, Shiina Hiyori finally put down her pen and wrote the message she had been struggling over for nearly twenty days.
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