Monday.
Normally, I arrived at school at the same time every day, but this morning I happened to wake up early and reached the high school a bit ahead of schedule.
Thinking I would grab a coffee in the courtyard, I headed over, only to find Shinonome trembling, her small back turned to me next to a vending machine. Three empty cans lay scattered by her feet.
"I-I'm so nervous... Calm down, Emiri."
She chugged an energy drink and immediately went to buy another.
I snatched the can right out of her hand and pressed the change into her palm.
"That's enough of that. You'll end up glued to a toilet all morning."
"H-Hatsukade?! Wh-What am I gonna do? I just want to go home right now and read books forever in a dark room with the lights off."
What are you, Amanatsu?
Taking a sip of the energy drink for the first time in a while, I found it was surprisingly good.
I'd wanted coffee, but caffeine was caffeine, so whatever.
"Just be your usual self. It's more important to be honest and lay everything bare than to try clumsily glossing over it."
"But my usual self is just a spiteful piece of trash."
"...At least you're self-aware."
Exhaling deeply, Shinonome cradled the coins I'd handed her with both hands, letting the tension drain from her stiff frame.
"Seeing you act the exact same as always somehow made me feel relieved. I've calmed down a bit."
"Well, thanks."
"Hey... will you walk to the classroom with me?"
"...Sure."
I trailed behind her as she started walking in silence.
I thought she might have something to say, but apparently not.
She simply kept glancing back at me every so often, catching her breath over and over.
We reached the front of the classroom.
She hunched her shoulders and froze in place, so I gave her back a gentle nudge.
"You're holding up the line."
When I voiced my complaint, Shinonome's face softened in exasperation, and she took a step forward.
A few classmates stared our way.
As I took my seat, I faintly heard the group of girls gathered in the corner giggling among themselves.
"Hehehe, what's with them? Did those two get close?"
"A match made in heaven for two outcasts, don't you think?"
"They should just start dating already."
The girls who had snitched lies to the teacher during the overnight training trip were making a fuss, shooting cold glares at Shinonome.
I opened my paperback as usual, but when I happened to look up, I noticed something off.
From her seat, Shinonome was staring at me unnaturally hard.
Amanatsu and Hiiragi, who were already in the room, had their eyes wide in bewilderment.
The classroom was noisy.
We held each other's gaze for a long moment.
Noticing our stare-down, the chatter around us gradually died away.
Good grief, she really is a handful.
Looking at her nervous expression, I gave her a single nod.
From here on out, there was nothing I should do.
This only carried meaning if she did it on her own.
Shinonome offered a faint smile.
Then, she turned around to face Amanatsu.
"...Nakina."
"Huh? Wh-What is it?!"
"I'm so sorry for pushing you into that fake confession back then!"
Shinonome bowed her head with immense force, prompting Amanatsu to scramble to her feet in a panic.
"Wh-What's wrong, Shii-chan?! You already apologized for that!"
"No, that wasn't a real apology. I didn't tell you the truth at all."
Lifting her head, Shinonome's brow furrowed with deep remorse.
"It's just like Hatsukade told me that day. I wanted to go out with Masanori-kun, but when I heard he liked you, Nakina... I got jealous of you."
"...Shii-chan."
"That's why I thought it would be great if you went out with him through a fake confession and made him disillusioned with you. Even though I knew you hated the idea, I forced you into it. I did it with clear, deliberate malice."
The classroom, buzzing with chatter just moments before, fell dead silent.
The only voices echoing right now belonged to Amanatsu and Shinonome.
Then, the girls deliberately chimed in with snide remarks loud enough to hear: "How pathetic," and "Is she seriously trying to play the victim now?"
Even so, Shinonome ignored them completely and pressed on.
"I realized that my previous apology was just bowing my head for the sake of it. I'm sorry, Nakina... I'll do anything to make it up to you. I swear I'll never betray you again. So... please let me be your friend again."
A sniffling sound broke the silence.
Amanatsu's face was crumpled, tears streaming down.
"Uuu, Shii-chan..."
"Geez, why are you crying, Nakina?"
As Shinonome pressed her lips together with a troubled look, Amanatsu threw her arms around her.
"Because... I'm just so happy. I want to make up with you too, Shii-chan!"
"Yeah."
"We're friends forever, okay?!"
"Thank you, Nakina."
Shinonome gently stroked Amanatsu's back, as if soothing an infant.
Releasing the embrace, she turned around so the entire classroom was in view, and bowed her head once more.
"I'm sorry to everyone else, too. I ruined the atmosphere because of what I did. Even though I dragged you all into that mess, I didn't apologize and tried to sweep it under the rug, thinking I could just leave it alone and time would take care of it."
The classmates looked on, bewildered and unsure of how to respond.
Glancing sideways toward the group of girls in the corner, Shinonome let a fleeting smile show.
"I'm not the kind of girl everyone originally thought I was. I'm actually pretty scheming, and my personality might be awful. It's hard to change everything about myself overnight, but I'll do my best not to cause trouble for anyone anymore, so please forgive me."
At that moment, one of the boys timidly raised his hand.
"I didn't care that much from the start, so I'm not mad at all."
"She apologized, so I don't think we need to keep giving Shinonome a hard time."
The tense air gradually eased.
Just as they said, not everyone in the class held genuine hatred toward her.
Of course, plenty of people remained awkwardly silent.
Among them were surely those who had circulated videos of her on social media to mock her.
It would be difficult for Shinonome to get along happily with everyone moving forward.
However, with Shinonome apologizing so thoroughly and continuing to show genuine remorse from here on, it would be hard for anyone to complain about her openly.
Besides, Shinonome probably didn't care about making up with everyone anyway.
The girl named Emiri Shinonome didn't strike me as the fragile sort who would fall apart just because someone disliked her.
The only reason she'd been helpless until now was that guilt and awkwardness had paralyzed her.
She had Amanatsu and Hiiragi, who truly cared about her.
She had a kind family supporting her.
It didn't matter if some irrelevant onlookers pointed fingers behind her back.
What mattered was where she anchored her own core values—at least, that was how I saw it.
The group of girls who had looked down on Shinonome were glaring at her with bitter resentment.
They looked like nothing more than sore losers now.
No, calling them that would be an insult to dogs.
With that, was the matter finally settled?
Just as I was about to drop my gaze back down to my book...
Shinonome shot a glance at me, flashing a mischievous, wicked grin.
What now?
Does she still have unfinished business?
Walking over, she addressed Masanori, who sat in the desk right in front of mine.
"Masanori-kun, do you have a moment?"
"What's up?"
"There's something I need to tell you."
Her voice steady with resolve, Shinonome looked up at Masanori with an unwavering gaze.
"Please let me finish what I should have done that day."
Someone in the room gasped.
"Wait, is this a public confession?!"
As my jaw dropped halfway open at the completely unexpected turn of events, Shinonome caught my eye and let out a delighted little smirk.
Just what the hell is she planning?