“What can I do for you?”

Marin managed to put on a smile and looked up at the girl who had approached her― Kasumi Nemoto.

Marin doesn’t know if she’s smiling properly, but she’s doing her best not to make the other person uncomfortable.

While staring at Marin’s face, Kasumi slowly opened her mouth.

“The classroom is in an uproar right now. It seems you’ve got a boyfriend.”

“…”

This is indeed the age of social networking.

Rumors spread quickly, Marin thought as she opened her mouth.

“That’s troubling.”

When Marin replied, Kasumi muttered in a quiet voice, “Shameless…”

However, she immediately stares at Marin’s face and opens her mouth again.

“I’d like to move to a different location to talk, but we don’t have much time left before our next class. So I’ll ask you straight to the point. I’ve warned you many times since our first year that you shouldn’t get involved with him, haven’t I? Why aren’t you listening to me?”

When Marin heard the word “him”, she immediately thought of the person in question.

The man who draws a line from his surroundings and goes about his school life looking unmotivated every day is referred to by Kasumi― is Yō Hazakura

Since their first year, Marin had been warned by Kasumi at a high rate after talking to Yō.

『That guy is a jerk. He’s the kind of guy that a girl like you shouldn’t get involved with.』

That’s what she used to say to her.

Thinking about it, she was the one who isolated Yō when he first entered the school.

She spread his bad reputation and made sure that no one would come near him.

In particular, there was a section where he was quick to put his hand around any girl who tried to get involved with him.

It’s true that Yō has a personality that pushes others away, but it was definitely Kasumi who caused him to be looked at in a different light.

This was not something that Marin felt good about.

“I am confident in my ability to see through people. He’s a trustworthy man.”

Marin replied with a cute smile so as not to irritate the other person.

Although Marin and Kasumi were rivals in love, they were not on bad terms.

In fact, they were good rivals who competed for the top spot in their studies, and Marin thought that apart from Yō, they were people she could talk to.

Although she was bothered by the fact that Kasumi was unusually hostile to Yō, a person she would normally not pay attention to, Marin decided that it was not a good idea to antagonize her.

That’s why she replied softly― but Kasumi didn’t like Marin’s answer.

“Can you not talk to me like you know him when you don’t even know anything about him?”

The words were uttered in a tone that was several tones lower than her usual cool impression.

The expression on her face clearly showed her disgust.

Marin couldn’t help but be surprised by her tone and expression.

However, perhaps seeing Marin’s appearance brought her back to herself, Kasumi took a breath and looked at Marin’s face again.

“For now, don’t get involved with him again. You’ll regret it if you do.”

Kasumi said this with a serious expression, but Marin was not convinced.

Kasumi keeps only saying that Marin shouldn’t get involved, but she keeps hiding the important part of why she shouldn’t.

It was probably something inconvenient for her.

Otherwise, she would have told her exactly why, since it would have given her a boost.

It’s hard to believe that someone who is so bizarrely obsessed with this is unaware of it.

Having made that decision, Marin knew she couldn’t just listen to her words.

“Even if the future awaits me looks unpromising as you say, it is the end of the path that I chose. Even if I ended up regretting it, I will be able to accept and learn from it later on since it was the path I chose for myself. However―”

Marin stopped for a moment and looked into her eyes.

She then made a cute smile, opened her mouth and resumed speaking.

“I am sure I will regret my decision if I believe your words and distance myself from him. And I am sure that I will not be able to convince myself that I have chosen a path instigated by others. Therefore, I will walk the path I believe in.”

The words were said with a cute smile, but they were clearly meant to fight with Kasumi.

Kasumi was secretly angry at the man who had made a girl like Marin, who was willing to get along with anyone, say that much.

However, realizing what was going on around her, Kasumi suppressed her emotions and opened her mouth.

“Yes, I thought you were a smart person, but apparently you are a fool.”

“I think it’s more foolish to judge someone based on rumors rather than your own eyes.”

“Why are you so protective of him? Did he treat you so well last night?”

“Well, what do you think?”

While Kasumi stared at her with a glare, Marin continued to answer with a smile the whole time.

However, she chose to answer with words that clearly irritated Kasumi.

This doesn’t mean that Marin is allowing herself to be irritated by Kasumi.

She just couldn’t stand the fact that Kasumi was trying to bring down the person who had reached out to her.

This is why Marin, who had initially tried to keep things civil, went on the offensive.

She knew this instinctively.

She knew that retreating at this point would be an irreversible mistake.

The two of them were in the midst of an intense argument.

In addition, the two most beautiful girls in the school were having a meaningful exchange, and it was impossible for the people around them not to pay attention.

Because of this, Marin and the others were now surrounded by a large number of students who were watching them.

And when they were confronted with two people who were clearly different from the norm, the students turned their attention to the only boy who could stop them.

However, he was just as confused as the rest of the students by their unusual attitude, and showed no signs of stopping the girls.

In the midst of this― a voice came from a different direction than his.

“Why are you guys drawing all this attention…?”

Everyone’s gaze was drawn to the annoying voice that suddenly came out of nowhere.

Then, everyone’s eyes widened at the appearance of an unexpected person.

“Hazakura-kun…”

When Marin called out the person’s name, he couldn’t help but turn his gaze to Kasumi instead of Marin, who called out his name.

He then slowly opened his mouth.

“Class is about to start. If you want to talk, I’ll listen to you later, so don’t get involved with Akimi anymore.”

Yō had already gotten information about what was going on by the time he got here.

That’s why he interrupted her like this.

But the other party is Kasumi, who hates Yō.

There was no way she would listen to Yō’s words so honestly.

“It’s none of your business. Would you outsiders please back off?”

Kasumi feigned calm and tried to push Yō out of the conversation, treating him as an outsider.

But for an outsider, Kasumi’s eyes on Yō were unusual.

That’s why Marin finally understands why Kasumi has been spreading bad news about Yō all this time.

There is a fine line between love and hatred.

It was obvious that the eyes of Kasumi staring at Yō were vindictive eyes that had turned love into hate.

(But then, why…)

There is no doubt that Kasumi hates Yō.

But at the same time, it seemed to Marin that Kasumi had not abandoned her feelings for Yō.

This caused Marin to have a big question in her mind.

“An outsider, huh? Is that your answer?”

Marin was about to start thinking about Kasumi, but when she heard Yō’s words, she stopped thinking.

No, it was more correct to say that she forced herself to stop.

Otherwise, for the first time in Marin’s life, she would have developed a black emotion inside her.

Instinctively sensing this, Marin unconsciously let her mind drift to Yō’s conversation.

“What do you mean by ‘answer’…?”

Marin managed to keep her voice from trembling as she asked Yō.

However, he shook his head.

“I’m sorry to drag you into this, but it’s better that you don’t ask.”

Just as Yō said this, the chime rang, signaling the beginning of class.

The teacher in charge of the subject mingled with the onlookers and looked at Yō and the others.

“―Time is up. Any more than that, and Sensei will get mad at you and you’ll lose your internal exams, okay? Go back to your classrooms.”

That’s all Yō said, and turned his back on Marin and the others.

However―

“You’re so quick to run away like that! You’re really mean! You’re the worst! Just what do you want and you always mess up people’s minds like that!”

The voice that came from the bottom of her heart sounded like it contained crying.

The person who made the voice was so unexpected that the other students couldn’t help but stare at her, but Yō stared at the person who made the voice as if he had been waiting for this.

“I want to talk to you. And I want this to be over. I’m not the one who’s running away, it’s you.”

That was all Yō had to say, and then he left.