"Kikyo!?"
Sakuraba Ema's eyes widened, filled with wavering.
Her good friend, Kikyo, why was she attacking her!
Could it be that this so-called friendship was fake?
So I am still all alone.
Why does everyone hate me for no reason...
The corners of Sakuraba Ema's pink eyes grew moist, and her gaze turned slightly hollow.
"Kushida, Sakuraba-san might not necessarily be lying."
Natsuyu knew Sakuraba Ema's past; she had been victimized by a naturally evil Great Witch and indeed had no friends. Unable to stand by while Kushida Kikyo bullied a good child, he spoke out justly:
"It's possible Sakuraba-san has a past she's unwilling to reveal. Does being cute-looking mean one must have friends?"
"I consider myself fairly handsome, yet I don't have friends either. What about you, Yukino?"
Kushida Kikyo snapped her gaze toward Natsuyu, her eyes widening slightly as she began to get angry internally:
Aaaah, Rurikawa Natsuyu, you're actually helping Ema instead of me!
Yukinoshita Yukino's expression stiffened, but she said seriously and discreetly, "First of all, I must ask you to define to what extent one is considered a friend."
Natsuyu did a tactical lean back, looking at her sideways.
What a classic remark.
Only people without friends speak in such a roundabout way.
People with friends only need to answer with a single word: "Yes."
Wouldn't you agree, friendless Flat-no?
Yukinoshita Yukino noticed Natsuyu's seemingly offensive gaze and narrowed her eyes slightly. She brushed back her long hair and revealed a smile, though her words were quite aggressive:
"I know I am cute, but please, Mr. Central Air Conditioner, do not keep staring at me. I only need to get along with those close to me; I don't care about my relationships with others."
The friendless Yukinoshita Yukino, having had her weakness poked by the AOE, began to hiss like a cat.
Natsuyu returned the smile. "Fine, I know you can't make friends now."
Yukinoshita Yukino smiled back just the same. "I simply have no need for those hypocritical friends."
"Alright, alright."
Kiana quickly spoke up to interrupt the bickering. She said with kindness toward Sakuraba Ema, "I've been traveling all over these past few years. Although I've met people I could talk to, we always ended up parting ways, so I guess I count as having no friends."
Kushida Kikyo found it hard to believe:
No matter how stupid a person is, can they really not make friends by age fourteen?
And four of them showed up at once!
Accounting for the 80% majority of everyone present!
"Everyone..."
Sakuraba Ema's hollow pink eyes trembled as the highlights returned, her eyes becoming moist:
"Thank you, Rurikawa-kun. Thank you everyone for comforting me."
"I... actually..."
Sakuraba Ema lowered her head, clutching the edges of her tights, her fingers constantly fidgeting. She explained softly:
"Since that day, for some reason, everyone has hated me. Even Shiro-chan, the childhood friend I grew up with, became incredibly cold to me after that day."
"No one would be friends with me. They used compasses to scratch my desk, tied me up with ropes, and poured buckets of water over my head while letting out piercing laughter..."
"Kushida-san, I really didn't deceive you. I'm really not a bad girl, so please don't hate me."
Recalling her painful past, Sakuraba Ema looked as if she were about to cry, appearing incredibly pitiable.
"They went too far!"
Kiana brandished her fist. "Ema, if anyone tries to bully you again, I'll definitely help you beat them up!"
Yukinoshita Yukino watched Sakuraba Ema for a while before saying coldly:
"Humans are weak and ugly at heart, prone to harming others out of jealousy. That is the fault of society. Someone as outstanding as myself has also experienced having my talents envied by the weak."
"Sakuraba-san, you are not wrong; it is they who are wrong. You simply do not yet possess the power to change this world."
Natsuyu glanced sideways:
I get that you're a literary girl, but having to wrap comforting words in such a convoluted way—your personality is truly awkward.
Natsuyu kept it simple, decisively throwing a "straight ball." He gave Sakuraba Ema a smile and said softly:
"I'll be your friend, Ema. In the future, if anyone dares to bully you, tell me, and I'll protect you."
Being comforted by Natsuyu and the other two in succession, Sakuraba Ema was deeply moved. She clenched her small fists and nodded vigorously with a smile. "Mm! We are friends!"
Sakuraba... Ema...!
Kushida Kikyo gritted her teeth internally. Seeing Sakuraba Ema playing the victim and being cared for by Natsuyu and the others—suddenly snatching away her status—made her extremely angry.
However, Kushida Kikyo also abandoned the idea of finding more ways to attack Sakuraba Ema.
Hmph, I admit you're pitiable.
But in the future, when I should suppress you, I still will.
Sakuraba Ema, the person who becomes good friends with everyone first, the most important person in everyone's heart, must be me.
You can only be second.
As long as you're sensible enough, I might not necessarily be unable to guarantee you won't be bullied.
While Kushida Kikyo was still throwing a silent tantrum in her mind, her body moved first. She pressed her hands together, ran in front of Sakuraba Ema, and bowed deeply:
"Sorry, sorry! It's my fault for making Ema remember unhappy things."
"We're all your friends, you know~. Those things are in the past, so look forward!"
Sakuraba Ema was moved. "Kikyo-san..."
Kikyo must have been unintentional just now.
Yes, that's right. How could Kikyo have any bad intentions?
Sakuraba Ema broke into a smile through her tears. "Mm, we're all friends!"
Finally, I'm not all alone. I have friends too!
Everyone is a good person.
But if I had to say who I want to be friends with the most...
Sakuraba Ema's moist pink eyes secretly stole a glance at the gentle-faced Natsuyu beside her.
Rurikawa-kun had reliably comforted her when she was terrified by the corpse, taking away her fear.
He then quickly took control of the situation, guiding everyone to cooperate and starting the self-introductions so they could get to know each other.
He even just promised to protect her.
He was so kind and reliable, just like Hiro used to be—always protecting me and tolerating me...
Sakuraba Ema hoped to become Natsuyu's best friend, but constrained by the distinction between genders, she hid her little thoughts in the depths of her heart, shyly withdrawing her gaze and not daring to look further.
Kiana looked at Natsuyu and said openly, "Next is my introduction. As the only boy, you'll be the grand finale."
Natsuyu corrected her casually, "That's called the 'Da-zhou'; the 'grand finale' is actually the second to last."
Kiana blinked her large sky-blue eyes. The knowledge went in one ear and out the other; she didn't care.
She had already determined that, with the exception of Kushida Kikyo, everyone was a good person. Most of her initial wariness had vanished. She cleared her throat, puffed out her chest as if boasting, and spoke:
"This young lady's name is Kiana Kaslana. I haven't attended school before, but I'm about to become a student at Chiba Academy in Nagazora soon."
"Mm~, Ema just shared her secret, so in exchange, I'll say a bit more; that's only fair."
"The mysterious voice in my head tricked me by saying I could find my stinky old man here, so I agreed. But it turned out to be a lie."
"Dammit! This lady already guessed it was a scammer."
So it's Kiana from the period before she joined Chiba Academy.
Natsuyu realized this, then facepalmed wordlessly:
Kiana guessed the suspicious voice was a scammer yet still agreed to it, choosing "yes" just like Kushida Kikyo.
Doesn't that make her seem even more like an idiot?
Kiana, go sit at the same table as Kushida Kikyo.