“Is that something you should be worried about, Kirasaksan?”
“Then, is it something that I can’t be worried about?”
If it was the usual Yuuto, he would be replying back with a bitter smile . However, today he was exhibiting a sharp glare towards Kirasaka .
It was as if he was saying that she shouldn’t be probing into this matter since it was none of her business .
In response to this, Kirasaka was also fixedly staring at Yuuto with a similar glare .
“Shouldn’t this be a conversation that has nothing to do with you?……besides, you aren’t even Kanzaki-san’s friend”
Kirasaka brushed off her short hair, folded her arms together and brazenly declared,
“That’s right, I am not her friend or anything . Rather, she is someone I hate”
Even if the person in question wasn’t present, being able to say such a thing out loud was no easy feat . She was able to state her own feelings to this extent and remain unfazed . It was definitely the Kirasaka that I knew .
“However, it’s exactly because she isn’t a friend and it’s because I hate her that I can see a few things that people can’t”
As she said these words, she glanced over at me . I wondered what she could’ve been thinking about .
However, she glanced only for a moment and immediately retracted her gaze .
Towards these words, Yuuto seemed to have a hard time changing his demeanour .
He might’ve been thinking, “What are you talking about?”
Though, there was a point in what she had said .
Regarding someone we hated, one might think that we wouldn’t know anything more than the face and the name of that person . However, in reality, it was different .
We wanted to know more about the people we liked . Similarly, we ended up gathering information on the people we hated too .
Human beings were just those kinds of creatures .
Hating somebody for no reason was simply being prejudiced .
If you truly hated someone, then you would contemplate why you hated them . It was exactly because you hated them, that your eyes would unconsciously end up trailing that person .
Your eyes would trail them because you didn’t want to be near that person, and you didn’t want to have anything to do with them .
It was the same when it came to Kirasaka . There was no doubt that she was able to gather a lot of information on Shizuku; information that others couldn’t even begin to fathom .
She wouldn’t be lacking the minor details either .
“I wonder if you could tell me what is it, that you had been able to see in a matter of just a few months?”
Yuuto issued these words, which could even be interpreted as a provocation .
However, Kirasaka didn’t seem to care .
“That’s easy……”, Kirasaka answered .
She didn’t seem troubled by Yuuto’s question
“In these few months, her heart had never turned to look at you even once”
“……”
Towards these words, Yuuto’s expression grew darker .
Then, to add injury to Insult, Kirasaka said this,
“Are you really going out with her?”
She had hurled the one question at Yuuto that I had been meaning to ask . She had just spoken on my behalf .
Would he answer with a “That’s right” like when I had asked him the same question yesterday, or would a new answer arise this time?
Amidst their terse exchanges, my presence had evaporated into thin air . However, I quietly concentrated my ears and waited for the answer .
However, Yuuto’s reply was far from being an answer to her question .
“Kirasaksan……are you ok with things being like this?”
“……What do you mean?”
“Well, rather than worrying about me or Kanzaki-san, shouldn’t you be worrying about yourself?”
For some reason, their colliding glares had been directed at me .
However, I could perceive two different kinds of emotions from their eyes .
Kirasaka seemed to be worrying about something, while Yuuto was looking at me with a sorrowful gaze .
“Surely, if it continued like this, nothing will change . Whether it’s you, or Kazanki-san, or me……we won’t be able to take a step forward, or for that matter, a step back”
“That’s……”
“……in order to move forward, someone needs to take the initiative and break the status quo . That’s why I decided to have a talk with Minato today”
What are these two saying?
I had no idea what they were talking about . However, I could understand that whatever they were talking about was not only important to them, but it involved Shizuku as well .
“……Shouldn’t you answer Kirasaka’s question first?”
I spoke up to interrupt their conversation .
I was interested in what both of them had to say, but it was Kirasaka who had asked her question first . Therefore, Yuuto should have to answer her first .
Yuuto stood up silently .
“Yes, I will properly answer Kirasaksan’s question……but, before that”
Yuuto then walked a bit away from me and Kirasaka . He then turned towards me who was still sitting on the bench and asked,
“Minato……what do you think of Kanzaki-san?”
That was the one question I wanted to hear the least .