The coastline was deserted at night. Listening to the rhythmic sound of the waves, Natsuki Subaru drifted off to sleep with his thoughts in disarray.
An unknown amount of time passed.
Just as Natsuki Subaru began to feel the chill growing heavier on his body.
Duang!
A dull, heavy impact, seemingly laced with anger, suddenly rang out, capturing Natsuki Subaru's attention.
Following it was a voice both very familiar and very strange to Natsuki Subaru.
"This is so damn annoying!"
"That Horikita is so shameless!!!"
Natsuki Subaru's eyelids twitched slightly, but he didn't open them right away.
'That's Kikyo-san's voice.'
Still lying on the grass, Natsuki Subaru thought to himself.
He had to admit, Kikyō Kushida's appearance and this scene of her venting had successfully shifted his attention from Hiyori Shiina to her.
'It seems Kikyo-san hasn't made any real progress with Horikita-san this week.'
This time, Natsuki Subaru opened his eyes and looked toward Kikyō Kushida's location.
The Kikyō Kushida who always put on a perfect performance for everyone, forever energetic, sunny, and positive, now wore a completely different look.
Her face was dark, her eyes gloomy, and she radiated a palpable hostility.
She made no attempt to hide her true feelings. This purity, the complete opposite of Hiyori Shiina's, was wonderful!
"Acting all high and mighty just because she's cute, it's absolutely infuriating!"
Completely unaware that her actions were being watched by Natsuki Subaru, Kikyō Kushida continued to vent her anger on the coastline's guardrail.
She kicked the guardrail again and again, producing a series of grating sounds.
"Why doesn't someone like Suzune Horikita just die?! What a bitch!"
Kikyō Kushida looked at the guardrail, imagining it was Suzune Horikita's arrogant face, and kicked it with all her might, again and again.
After half a month, Kikyō Kushida had truly had enough.
It wasn't just her encounters with Suzune Horikita that left her feeling frustrated and angry; there were others, especially Haruki Yamauchi and Kanji Ike, who also annoyed her to no end.
Disgusting, what losers!
On top of that, she had to pretend she didn't know anything and chat with them.
"Ah!"
"Just thinking about it makes me want to puke!!"
Staring at the guardrail before her, Kikyō Kushida muttered through clenched teeth.
'Wanting to create a positive, energetic persona for everyone, wasn't this something you expected from the start?'
'If you only bring positive energy to others, then according to the law of conservation of energy, you're bound to receive only negative energy in return.'
Listening to Kikyō Kushida's complaints, Natsuki Subaru thought indifferently, finding nothing particularly surprising.
Just as Natsuki Subaru had said on the first day of school, if you want to be friends with everyone and create wonderful memories together, you will naturally have some unpleasant memories as a consequence.
Most people have a limited number of friends.
So, even if there are some unpleasant memories, they can usually digest and mitigate them on their own.
But it was different for Kikyō Kushida. She wanted to be friends with everyone and create wonderful memories, which meant that everyone would inevitably create some unpleasant memories with her.
Furthermore, because Kikyō Kushida was constantly suppressing her own nature, even deliberately catering to everyone, she accumulated far more negative emotions than a normal friend would.
Coupled with the sheer number of friends, this was the end result.
It had only been half a month since school started, yet Kikyō Kushida could barely control the negative emotions in her heart and had to find a secluded place to vent.
After all, in the dormitory, she was surrounded by schoolmates. Even if the soundproofing was good, there was no guarantee someone wouldn't hear.
The coastline, on the other hand, which was almost deserted at night, was Kikyō Kushida's best choice.
Facing the sea, Kikyō Kushida could scream as much as she wanted, pouring out all her emotions.
Today, Natsuki Subaru had uncharacteristically not chosen to sit on a bench and empty his mind, but instead found an inconspicuous patch of grass to lie on. Kikyō Kushida hadn't noticed him, which led to the current scene.
'Still, what a pity.'
'If you could just show your true self without any baggage... aA
'I might have given you, Kikyo-san, an evaluation comparable to Hiyori Shiina's, or perhaps even higher.'
After watching the constantly venting Kikyō Kushida with some novelty, Natsuki Subaru withdrew his gaze.
Natsuki Subaru admitted that the current Kikyō Kushida was a little interesting.
At least at this moment, for Kikyō Kushida herself, she was being real. But it was a great pity that Kikyō Kushida couldn't bring herself to show her truest self to others.
A Kikyō Kushida like that was destined to never gain her own color in Natsuki Subaru's world.
Thinking of this, Natsuki Subaru closed his eyes again.
Although it was a bit cold now, considering Kikyō Kushida probably wouldn't want this side of her to be seen by others, Natsuki Subaru decided to lie here a little longer.
He would go back after Kikyō Kushida finished venting and left.
Just like that, after another while, Kikyō Kushida, perhaps tired from kicking the guardrail or having vented most of her accumulated negative emotions to the sea, gradually stopped kicking.
'Time to go back.'
Kikyō Kushida looked at the guardrail before her, panting slightly.
Although this place was usually deserted, she couldn't vent here for too long. If someone saw her, it would all be over.
Kikyō Kushida quickly straightened her messy hair and school uniform, which had been disheveled by her vigorous movements. She forcefully rubbed her slightly stiff cheeks, and finally, once again put on her signature daily smile.
Finally, just as Kikyō Kushida turned to leave, she subconsciously glanced at a patch of grass within her line of sight, and a somewhat familiar figure came into view.
Seeing this figure lying on the grass as if asleep, Kikyō Kushida's steps came to an abrupt halt, and the blood in her veins seemed to freeze in that instant.
___
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