1. A girl named Asaka Kaori sat next to me. Bright and cheerful, everyone in the class loved her.
2. But me? I couldn't stand her.
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4. Their story.
1. "You know..."
2. "ah!"
3. "I don't mean it in a bad way!"
4. "This was your idea..."
5. "eheh"
6. "It's kinda embarrassing reading about yourself."
7. "I love the world you create in your writing,"
8. "...It makes me happy."
9. "so it makes me happy to become a part of it."
10. "Seeing myself in your novel."
1. "It just feels a little weird, that's all."
2. "Ah."
3. "Oh, it's also interesting to learn what you were thinking at the time!"
4. "I had a feeling you didn't like me, and I could tell you weren't enthusiastic about it at first."
5. "I wrote pretty honestly so..."
6. "R-Really...?"
7. "You'd be surprised how much your emotions show, Shizuku."
8. "Hmm? Not at all."
9. "Sorry if anything offended you..."
1. "...I was pretty desperate at the time, too."
2. "No! They're fine like that."
3. "...Not like I'm going to show anyone else... Should I change them?"
4. "...So you're using our real names."
5. "Ah... yeah."
6. "...Okay."
7. "It feels more like our story that way, so that's a plus for me."
1. "I can't wait to see what happens next, Sensei!"
2. "So, you'll bring the next part tomorrow?"
3. "Sensei...?"
4. "Yay!"
5. "That's the plan."
6. How should I write the next part?
7. She liked it...
2. "...!"
1. "Ah..."
2. I just... want you to leave me alone...
3. "..."
1. "U-Um..."
2. "Thank you..."
3. "For helping Kaori when she collapsed."
4. "I never thanked you for that..."
5. "For..."
6. "...For what?"
1. "...It's nothing."
2. "I couldn't do anything by myself..."
3. That wasn't the first time.
4. "..."
5. "Huh?"
1. "You want to know?"
2. "About us and Kao-chan."
3. "...Seri-chan..."
4. "...Are you sure?"
5. "O-Okay."
6. "got it"
7. "Ruri, you go ahead to see Kao-chan."
8. "I'll catch up once we're done talking."
9. "take the gift with you"
1. "Over here."
2. "Ah... okay..."
3. "I do."
4. "I was just doing what I thought was the right thing to do in the moment."
5. "It didn't matter if I hated or liked you when Kao-chan collapsed."
6. "...I thought you hated me, Ichihara-san..."
1. "...It's rough being left out of the loop when someone important to you collapses, isn't it?"
2. "Why did you tell me about Kaori's... sickness?"
3. "...So if something like that happens again, it would be dangerous for you to not know anything."
4. "I figured Kao-chan wouldn't tell you herself."
5. "When you're the only when who wasn't told anything about a sickness, and then they suddenly collapse before your eyes..."
6. "None of the adults around explain anything to you because you're a kid."
7. "...O-Oh..."
8. "That's all."
9. "...Are you close with Kaori...?"
1. It started with Ruri becoming friends with her by being put in the same hospital room.
2. Then I tagged along and started talking to her too.
3. Ruri still keeps in touch occasionally, but we hadn't met in half a year.
5. Ruri also uses the hospital here, so she would visit Kao-chan whenever she was hospitalized. That's about it.
6. "I see..."
7. "W-Wait... so Ichinose-san is also not well...?"
8. "Hah?"
1. "...So it was because you didn't know."
2. "Of course..."
3. "S-Sorry..."
4. "How do you not know...?"
5. "...Ruri was sickly when she was younger."
6. "So, like I said before, I'm kind of used to this..."
7. "Nowadays, all she has to do is come pick up medicine every so often..."
8. "But back then, she used to collapse like Kao-chan."
9. Now that I think about it,
1. It makes sense now.
2. Ruri-chan was always absent or late because she had to go to the hospital.
3. That's why she fell behind in class.
4. And then I...
5. "...I'm sorry."
6. "I..."
7. "..."
8. "Apologizing to me won't do any good."
1. "Hmph."
2. "Ah... um...no, not that I can think of..."
3. "...Anything else you want to know?"
4. "Ichihara-san."
5. "I'll be going then."
6. "Why did you tell me so much...?"
7. "I know you hate me..."
1. "Just taking pity on you."
2. "..."
3. "...I saw a little of my past self in you."
4. "I remember hurting when Ruri collapsed and no one told me anything."
5. So Ichihara-san had a similar experience.
6. "...Also,"
7. "I figure you're the person closest to Kao-chan."
1. "If you're going out with her, you should know all that."
2. "..."
3. "Hm?"
4. "Something wrong?"
5. "Huh? Going out...?"
1. "With Kao-chan."
2. "You're going out, aren't you?"
3. "Wait, did you hear that from Kaori...?"
4. "No, that's just the vibe I was getting."
5. "...Wh-What...!?"
6. If Kaori didn't tell her,
7. that means we looked like a couple to everyone else?
8. "Huh?"
9. "Wait. Was I wrong...?"
1. "Oh...?"
2. "...We're not d-dating..."
3. "I mean, you looked like you had a thing for Kao-chan."
4. "So I figured you were a couple."
5. "If that was just a misunderstanding, then my bad."
6. "Well, I'm off."
7. "Ah..."
1. "Thanks."
2. "For telling me so much."
3. ...So when viewed from the outside,
1. "..."
2. We look like a couple, huh.
3. Kaori and I.
4. "I mean, you looked like you had a thing for Kao-chan."
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