"You should find yourself a mirror."
He had said that.
So she came here.
Kushida Kikyo was an excellent mirror.
Known as the "Two-Faced One," with both sides to her personality, skilled at reading people and understanding hearts, and widely connected—she was the most suitable person to serve as a mirror.
Only through Kushida Kikyo could Horikita Suzune truly see her own nature.
"…I completely don't understand."
Kushida's expression was extremely strange.
"You're a two-sided mirror"?
What kind of crazy nonsense was this woman talking about now?
Horikita Suzune: "…Ah."
The moment the words left her mouth, she remembered.
Kushida Kikyo hadn't been there that day.
She didn't know the advice someone had given her.
She didn't know what Horikita was trying to do.
"It's fine."
Seeing that Kushida didn't seem inclined to take her hand, Horikita calmly withdrew it and sat back on the bed.
"I'll try my best to make you understand."
Lowering her head, Horikita organized her thoughts slightly, then spoke softly:
"I have an older brother."
"He's amazing. Whether in academics or sports, he's always number one."
"Everyone likes him. Everyone respects him."
"I'm the same."
Suddenly, she began talking to herself about the past.
"I respect my brother, and… I admire him."
"I really wanted to become someone like him, instead of being Horikita Suzune, who can't do anything."
She seemed to be recalling something.
But the more she spoke, the stranger Kushida's expression became.
"..."
…Am I supposed to be listening to this?
Kushida wanted to say something, but after looking at Horikita, she sighed silently and shut her mouth.
Forget it.
Just go along with it.
She couldn't win against this idiot anyway.
Listening to others talk about their past, about regrets—this kind of thing happened all the time.
One more time didn't matter.
So she became a listener.
Quiet.
Wordless.
"I imitated everything my brother said and did."
"Studying. Sports. And… my long black hair."
Horikita gently lifted a strand of her hair.
It was deep black, smooth, carefully maintained for a long time.
"Doesn't it look nice? I think it looks nice too."
Kushida Kikyo: "..."
Why is this woman so narcissistic?
Letting go of her hair, Horikita continued:
"I worked hard. I really think I worked hard."
"I did my best. I achieved the best results I possibly could."
"Even if I did it again, I'd probably make the same choices."
"But the choices I believed were right gave me results I never wanted."
She paused and took a deep breath.
"I think… I must have done something wrong."
"And very wrong."
Letting out the stale breath in her chest, Horikita looked up.
"I can't see my path clearly anymore. And I can't see myself clearly either."
Once again, she extended her hand to Kushida.
"I need a mirror. Please be my friend, and become the 'mirror' that can reflect my true face."
Kushida Kikyo: "..."
…What a shameless request.
After saying all that, it was just for this?
Shameless. Messy. Incomprehensible.
Stupid woman. Foolish woman. Annoying woman.
But…
She still took Horikita's hand.
"Ahhh, something's wrong with my brain too," Kushida cursed.
"Accepting such ridiculous nonsense as a reason… staying in my room too long really messed me up."
Through their clasped hands, she could feel the warmth of Horikita's palm.
Looking up, she could clearly see her eyes.
"This is disgusting," she said.
...
Friend.
A strangely unbelievable word.
Before today, Horikita Suzune had never had anyone who could be called a friend.
But from today on, she would.
The only problem was—
"What do friends… do?" she suddenly realized the thing she had been ignoring.
A friend. A mirror.
Even if she wanted to understand herself through others…
How exactly was she supposed to do that?
Ask directly?
"Don't grab people and ask what they think of you. That's called begging."
She remembered what Asakusa Tetsu had said.
After going back that day, she had even looked up what "begging" meant.
…She hadn't fully understood it, but she remembered clearly that she shouldn't ask directly.
"Gossip about others, talk about recent rumors, decorate things, hold hands, go to the bathroom together,"
Kushida lay casually on her bed, staring at the ceiling, speaking carelessly.
"Basically, it's just doing meaningless stuff that somehow makes you feel like you own each other."
"You really don't have any friends, do you?"
She sat up and sighed helplessly.
Horikita looked a little awkward.
"…So what if I don't?"
"Anyway, I've said so much. What about you?"
As if changing the topic, she continued:
"Why did you want to be friends with everyone?"
She had already talked so much.
Kushida should say something too.
"…I don't have anything to say."
Kushida lay back down, raising her arm to block the bedroom light that had just been turned on.
"I just wanted a sense of superiority."
"The diary already said it, right?"
"Full of inferiority, craving superiority—a genuine… defective product."
"That's me."
She said it without any falsehood.
A perfect description of "Kushida Kikyo."
Nothing fit better.
"..."
Her words faded away, and silence filled the room.
Only breathing could be heard.
A calm, reassuring quiet spread through the air.
"I'll go back to class tomorrow," Kushida suddenly said.
"Honestly, even if you hadn't come, I'd have recovered in a few days and gone back anyway."
"I'm actually better at comforting myself than you think."
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