Chiose-mama really was a woman of extraordinary breadth.
Even when she wasn't trying, wisdom had a way of seeping out from under her fingernails.
And it was precisely thanks to those scattered lessons that Soyo now had a plan of action.
Well... at least, that was how Soyo had chosen to interpret Chiose's teachings!
Her magnificent intellect had broken down every scrap of Chiose's guidance and reassembled it into her every move and word right now!
"Sakiko, I'm sorry."
"Hm? What is it, Soyo?"
Sakiko, who had just finished lunch and was planning to head back to class for a quick rest, stood frozen in place — completely baffled as to why Nagasaki-san from the next class over had dragged her into this little corner of all places... to apologize?
Huh? What on earth was Nagasaki Soyo doing.
"Mm... I'm really sorry if I've been too much of a bother lately. Too intrusive, I mean. I must be making all of you hate me."
With a carefully chosen string of self-deprecating words, Soyo laid the groundwork for the questions she planned to ask next — while simultaneously baiting the other girl into saying [Oh no, of course not, how could you think that].
Please... let everything go according to plan!
"Of course not, Soyo-san. You haven't bothered me at all."
"But... I'm pretty insufferable, aren't I?"
As she spoke, Soyo couldn't help feeling a tremor run through her.
What was this? Excitement?
Was it because she was putting Chiose's teachings into practice for the first time? Or was it nerves — because she'd hidden a small lie inside a whole pile of honest feelings?
Soyo watched Sakiko closely, waiting for her reaction — and sure enough, Sakiko Togawa, suspecting nothing out of the ordinary, delivered exactly the expression Soyo had been anticipating.
"No, not at all. Um — did something happen?"
There it was! She'd been waiting for her to ask first.
Soyo put on a show of hesitation, her mind full of all the little expressions Yoshiiro Chiose liked to make.
She was doing her best to imitate her mother.
"I... I've had all sorts of rumours spread about me. And some of my private things too. I thought Sakiko might have heard something, so I came to apologize... because I really must be such a nuisance, right?"
"Ah? Hold on... I think I do remember something, now that you mention it."
Sakiko blinked. She did recall that a few days ago, Niiharu from the next class over had said a few things about Soyo — hadn't she?
Something about Soyo's home situation, maybe?
But it had only been a word or two, and Sakiko hadn't thought much of it. She'd even taken it with a grain of salt at the time, unsure why Niiharu had brought it up with her in the first place.
"What? So — is there actually some kind of group chat going on?"
"Huh? No, there isn't?"
A group chat? What was that about?
Sakiko blinked in genuine confusion, at a loss for how to respond.
"I mean — did you all have a meeting yesterday at lunch? Were a lot of people there? What did everyone say?"
Faced with Nagasaki Soyo's rapid-fire barrage of questions, Sakiko instinctively took a small step back.
"I don't know — what meeting? I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about."
"Oh? Really?"
Soyo admitted to herself that she was getting a little impatient — but she couldn't be blamed for that.
After all, what Haizuka Kyoumoto had told her was starting to sound more and more correct.
What Sakiko had just said seemed to corroborate many of Kyoumoto's points.
[So I really have been shut out?]
No — wait!
Something was off!
But Soyo couldn't put her finger on what.
After all, Sakiko's account didn't quite match Haizuka Kyoumoto's either — and now she had no idea who was holding back and who was lying.
Soyo fell silent and retreated into her own thoughts.
Come to think of it, over the past few days, one or two friends had been... drifting away from her? Though 'drifting' was perhaps too strong a word — they'd simply stopped chatting with her as warmly as before. Could that be because of the clique?
And there was that one classmate she used to exchange little [Take care] and [See you tomorrow]s with every day — she hadn't said a word to Soyo in days either. Could that be because of the clique?
And there were so many other things like that too!
Was it all because of this group?
Soyo could feel the anxiety seeping in. She couldn't draw any reliable conclusions from information gathered from only two people's mouths.
"Thank you, Sakiko — I'll thank you properly again later!"
Soyo bowed deeply, then turned and walked straight toward her own classroom without a moment's pause.
She needed to ask more people!
"Ah? You don't have to be so formal about it..."
Flustered by the whole whirlwind of Soyo's manoeuvres, Sakiko had wanted to say more — to offer some reassurance — but by the time she opened her mouth, Soyo was already gone.
Watching the brown-haired girl's retreating figure, a quiet shimmer passed through Sakiko's eyes.
[Soyo's being shut out? That's bullying, isn't it.]
I can't just let this go. I have to help her!
Even if they weren't close friends — Sakiko wasn't the type to stand by and do nothing.
But right now, Sakiko didn't have nearly enough information. She'd need to do some careful digging around.
Sakiko also jogged off toward her own classroom, and the shadowed stretch of corridor settled into quiet.
It was just then that two figures descended the stairs from above.
Their footsteps were perfectly in sync — their identical movements, combined with the same white hair and gold eyes, made them look for all the world like a pair of twins.
[Niiharu] and [Haizuka] exchanged a glance. Neither said a word.
— And so it was.
"Why is this happening?"
Soyo sat in the car on the way home. It was Friday — being picked up by Chiose was supposed to be a happy thing.
But the restlessness and confusion swirling inside her had spread out like a net, catching all her joy in its mesh.
[I spent the whole afternoon asking nearly everyone I knew, but...]
But everyone said they didn't know — they had no idea what meeting she was talking about.
As if the whole thing Haizuka Kyoumoto had described were nothing but a fabricated lie.
But then after school, she'd tracked down Haizuka Kyoumoto again to ask — and Kyoumoto's explanation had only left Soyo more confused than before.
[You went and asked everyone? That won't work. The people who were involved in that discussion are never going to admit they were part of it. Most of them still don't want to make a scene with you, so they have no intention of letting anyone outside their circle — meaning you — know they participated.]
Airtight logic.
Especially given that Haizuka Kyoumoto had tacked on one final line afterward:
[Because no one besides me would ever tell you the truth. And honestly, if I hadn't met you on the very first day of school, I couldn't be bothered to tell you any of this either.]
Soyo admitted, honestly, that she was genuinely anxious now. She supposed she was being ostracised... it had to be that. Absolutely.
It really was just like Werewolf. A number of people were already secretly hostile toward her, or had stopped being friendly — and she had no idea who any of them were.
Soyo suddenly wanted nothing more than to get away from Tsuki no Mori — because she had never run into problems like these before she came here.
She found herself missing the ordinary days with her friends back at her old, normal school. Nothing especially pure or beautiful about it, sure — but nothing like this scheming and backstabbing, either.
All her troubles had come from Tsuki no Mori.
"What's wrong? My sweetheart — why the long face?"
Yoshiiro Chiose's voice pulled Soyo back from her imagination. Soyo let out a quiet sigh, unsure where to even begin.
"Mama... I... I'm fine."
That was how Nagasaki Soyo answered, in the end.
____
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉