“Kikyo-san?!”
Emma Sakuraba opened her eyes wide, her face filled with anxiety.
‘Why did Kikyo-san attack me like that?’
‘Could it be that all my so-called friends are fake?’
‘In the end…
I’m still completely alone.’
‘Why does everyone dislike me for no apparent reason…?’
Emma’s pink eyes turned hazy and dull at the corners, her gaze growing blank and lifeless.
“Kushida-san, Sakuraba-san might not be lying.”
Natsuyu knew Emma’s background from Magical Girl Witch Trial—she had been targeted by an evil witch and left completely friendless.
Unable to stand by and watch Kikyo Kushida bully a good-natured girl, he stepped forward to speak up impartially:
“Maybe Sakuraba-chan has painful memories she doesn’t want to talk about.
Besides, does being cute automatically mean you’ll have lots of friends?”
“I consider myself pretty handsome, but I don’t have any real friends either.
What about you, Yukinoshita-san?”
Kushida snapped her head toward Natsuyu, her eyes widening in annoyance as anger flared inside her.
‘Ugh!
Natsuyu Rurikawa, you’re actually taking Emma’s side over mine?!’
Yukino Yukinoshita’s expression stiffened for a second, but she maintained her serious tone without flinching:
“First of all, I need you to define what level of relationship qualifies as ‘friendship’.”
Natsuyu leaned back in a tactical posture, glancing at her sideways.
‘Classic response right there.’
‘Only someone with zero friends speaks in such a convoluted, analytical way.’
‘People who actually have friends just answer “yes”.’
‘So, Yukinoshita has zero friends.’
Yukino noticed Natsuyu’s slightly offensive, seeing-right-through-her gaze.
She narrowed her eyes, brushed her long black hair aside, and let out a cold smile, her words turning sharp and aggressive:
“I am well aware that I am attractive, but please refrain from staring at me like that, Mr.
Central AC.
I only care about forming meaningful bonds with those who matter to me; I have zero interest in casual social pleasantries.”
Having her weak point—being completely friendless—hit by an area-of-effect truth bomb, Yukino breathed slightly heavily.
Natsuyu returned her smile smoothly:
“Got it.
So you can’t make friends either.”
Yukino offered a cold smile back:
“I have no need for fake, hypocritical friendships anyway.”
“Alright, alright, that’s enough!”
Kiana quickly interrupted the argument, turning kindly to Emma:
“I’ve been wandering around alone for the last few years.
Even when I meet people I get along with, we always end up parting ways.
So I guess you could say I don’t have any real friends either.”
Kushida twitched inwardly.
‘Unbelievable!’
‘Putting aside Kiana who isn’t the brightest, how can a 14-year-old high school student fail to make friends?!’
‘And four of them showed up all at once!’
“Everyone…”
Emma’s dull pink eyes quivered, light returning to them as tears filled her eyes:
“Thank you, Rurikawa-kun.
Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement…”
“I…
actually…”
Emma lowered her head, her slender fingers nervously twirling the hem of her black stockings, explaining in a quiet, trembling voice:
“Ever since that day, for some reason, everyone started hating me.
Even Hiiro-chan—my best friend who grew up with me—became cold and hostile to me after that day…”
“Nobody wanted to be my friend.
They vandalized my desk, tied me up with ropes, and poured a bucket of water over my head while laughing at me…”
“Kushida-san, I really wasn’t lying to you.
I’m really not a bad girl.
Please don’t hate me…”
Reliving her painful past, Emma’s eyes glistened with tears, looking heartbreakingly adorable and helpless.
“They went way too far!”
Kiana clenched her fists tightly.
“Emma, if anyone ever bullies you again, tell me!
I’ll beat them up for you!”
Yukino stared at Emma for a moment, then said in her cold, rational voice:
“Humans are fundamentally weak, ugly creatures who tend to hurt others out of jealousy.
That is a flaw of society itself.
Even someone as exceptional as me has experienced being envied and targeted by weaker people simply because of my talent.”
“Sakuraba-san, you did nothing wrong—they did.
Your only fault was lacking the strength to change your environment.”
Natsuyu glanced at Yukino sideways.
‘I know you’re a literary girl, but you really gotta wrap your comfort in three layers of awkward tsundere logic, huh?’
‘Your personality is so clumsy.’
Natsuyu’s approach was far simpler and direct.
He stepped up, offered Emma a gentle smile, and spoke softly:
“I’ll be your friend, Emma.
If anyone tries to mess with you in the future, just tell me and I’ll protect you.”
Touched to tears by the encouragement from Natsuyu and the others, Emma clenched her small fists, smiled through her tears, and nodded enthusiastically:
“Yes!
We’re friends!”
Kushida gritted her teeth in secret fury, watching Emma act pitiful while Natsuyu and the others showered her with care—completely stealing Kushida’s center-stage spotlight!
However, Kushida realized that continuing to attack Emma right now will only backfire.
‘Hmph, fine.
I admit you really are pitiful.’
‘But if I need to press you down later, I’ll still do it.’
‘Emma Sakuraba, I am going to be the number one friend in everyone’s heart—including yours!’
‘You can only ever be number two.’
‘If you know your place, I promise not to bully you.’
Even while fuming inwardly, Kushida’s acting reflexes kicked in instantly.
She clasped her hands together, ran over to Emma, and bowed deeply:
“I’m so, so sorry, Emma-chan!
“From now on, we’re all your friends!
Forget about those horrible people in the past and look forward to the future!”
Emma was deeply moved:
“Kikyo-san…”
‘Kikyo-san must have asked by accident.’
‘Yeah, how could someone as sweet as Kikyo-san have bad intentions?’
Emma laughed through her tears:
“Yes!
We’re all friends!”
‘I’m not alone anymore…
I finally have friends!’
‘Everyone here is such a good person.’
‘But…
if I had to choose who I want to be closest with…’
Emma’s teary pink eyes secretly glanced at Natsuyu’s gentle face beside her.
When she was terrified by the hanging corpse, Natsuyu patiently comforted her and calmed her fear.
He took charge of the situation, united everyone, and encouraged them to introduce themselves.
Just now, he personally promised to protect her.
He was so gentle and reliable—just like Hiiro used to be, always accepting and protecting her.
Emma secretly hoped to become Natsuyu’s best friend.
But due to the shyness between a boy and a girl, she blushed and averted her eyes, not daring to look longer.
Kiana looked at Natsuyu and said generously:
“Alright, I’ll introduce myself next.
As the only guy here, you can go last!”
Natsuyu casually corrected her:
“That’s called the grand finale.
The second-to-last is the finale.”
Kiana blinked her big blue eyes, letting the grammar correction go in one ear and out the other.
Convinced that everyone except Kushida was a good person, her initial wariness had melted away.
Clearing her throat, she puffed out her chest proudly:
“My name is Kiana Kaslana!
I’ve never gone to a proper school before, but I’m about to become a student at Chiba Academy in Changkong City!”
“Heh~ Since Emma spilled her guts, I’ll share a bit more too.
It’s only fair!”
“A creepy voice in my head tricked me into thinking I could find my deadbeat dad here, so I picked ‘Yes’.
Turned out to be a total scam!”
“Damn it!
I knew that voice sounded like a shady fraud!”
Natsuyu realized:
‘So this is Kiana BEFORE she enrolled at Chiba Academy!’
‘Wait…’
Natsuyu slapped his forehead in disbelieving silence.
‘Kiana suspected the voice was a shady scam, but she STILL picked “Yes” just like Kushida did?!’
‘Doesn’t that make her sound even dumber?!’
‘Kiana, go sit at the same table with Kikyo Kushida!’