"I get it, I get it. Right now, Hatake Gorou's stuck in the 'unattainable love' stage. If he finds out the crossdressing version of Kuroda is 'dead,'
It'll turn into 'parting with a loved one.' That's two of the Buddha's Eight Sufferings in one go. He might never recover from this in his entire life," Yamauchi Sakura raised her hand and said.
She clearly agreed with Yukinoshita's point, but the latter didn't look pleased.
In fact, she seemed surprised.
"You've never liked reading… Why are you suddenly into Buddhist philosophy?"
"Well, people change, you know~~" Sakura forced a cute smile, trying to play it off.
"For someone with your mental capacity, it's best to stay away from religion," Yukinoshita replied with a rare hint of genuine concern.
If Yukari-sensei were here, she might've guessed why Sakura had started looking into Buddhism.
After all, she herself had once been drawn to Miyamizu Shrine under similarly mysterious impulses.
"But you're right," Yukinoshita admitted. "Even if that solution works temporarily, it would probably create even bigger problems in the long run."
She shot a glare at Hojou before offering her own plan.
"In that case, Kuroda, you'll just have to crossdress again—and reject him face-to-face."
"No way! I'd be exposed the second I opened my mouth!" Kuroda Kaito shook his head furiously like a bobblehead.
"It's fine. We have a professional voice actress right here. She can coach you on how to speak in a female voice. Right, Shouko?"
"Mm… though short-term training won't get you a great voice," Shouko replied thoughtfully.
"That's good enough. A terrible-sounding voice might even help shatter Goro's fantasy," Yukinoshita declared.
"It won't work," said Mitsuhashi Ryouma, shaking his head. "Goro's not that dumb. That time at the shrine, it was just too far away.
If Kuroda's standing right in front of him, no amount of makeup is going to fool him."
"Eh?" A small gasp escaped Yukinoshita.
Kyousuke turned his head and raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, wait… You weren't seriously treating Gorou like a complete idiot, were you? So the most disrespectful one here… is actually you!"
He had to defend his subordinate.
Sure, the situation was weird, but Gorou had come a long way.
"Assuming what someone else thinks and judging them based on that is the height of rudeness," Yukinoshita snapped, turning away with clear annoyance.
Kyousuke raised an eyebrow.
'So you're not even going to deny it?' He'd read her clearly—she'd already written Goro off as hopeless.
Still… her awkward defiance was kind of cute.
He couldn't help but smile watching her pout.
The suggestion shot down, Yukinoshita fell silent, clearly deep in thought.
Just as Kyousuke was about to clap and suggest they call it a day, the club president suddenly stood up.
"There's actually no need for Gorou to meet crossdressed Kuroda again. This whole thing boils down to two key points," she said, pulling out a whiteboard from a pile in the back and uncapping a black marker.
"First: we need Goro to give up—that means getting rejected by the girl he's in love with."
She wrote "Rejection" on the board.
"But for that to work, he has to believe the person rejecting him really is the one he saw at the shrine. Normally, that'd be the easy part, but…"
She trailed off, glancing toward the others.
"…since you all claim Gorou isn't actually an idiot—"
"Hey, what do you mean we claim?! He's really not an idiot!" Kyousuke protested.
"Raise your hand before you speak!" Yukinoshita scolded with a glare.
'Seriously… If you can't even recognize your own best friend, what else would you call that but idiocy?' she thought to herself.
If it were her, even if Sakura and Shouko were hiding in a pile of giant panda plushies at the New Year's festival, she'd spot them instantly.
Even if the pandas were blindingly cute, she'd still notice her friends… right?
Actually, maybe it'd be better if they were holding cats. That way, she could focus completely on them…
Realizing she'd gone off track, Yukinoshita wrote a second word on the board: "Trust."
"If they can't meet face-to-face, then the only way is through a letter or an email. That makes trust the key. How do we make Gorou believe that the person writing to him is the one he fell for?"
Trust. The simplest word, yet the hardest thing to earn.
As she wrote those characters stroke by stroke, Yukinoshita's face became troubled.
Honestly, it would've been easier to just make Kuroda's crossdressing photo into a family joke.
After all, this whole mess started because Kuroda sold out his dignity for personal amusement.
Maybe he should suffer a bit.
But then again, if they shattered Goro's belief in love completely… that wasn't right either.
Sigh… trust… love…
Even someone as smart as Yukinoshita, who had read every psychology book she could get her hands on, couldn't fully grasp those feelings.
She had once had friends.
She had once trusted them. And all she got in return was betrayal.
She was jealous of Sakura. Of Shouko.
Jealous that they could so easily, so stupidly put their faith in Hojou Kyousuke.
Like Yamauchi Sakura.
Her trust in Kyousuke ran so deep that she honestly believed that if he found out she was sick, he'd be devastated—drop everything in his life to find a cure.
That's why she chose to hide it.
It was arrogant trust. Selfish love.
Yukinoshita didn't approve of Sakura's choices—but she couldn't help but envy her.
And Shouko too.
She truly believed that her happiness was right here, as long as she stayed by Kyousuke's side.
Yukinoshita decided she'd keep observing—trying to understand how that kind of trust was even built.
But for now, they had to find a way to convince Goro that the club had tracked down that girl—and gotten her to send him a message rejecting his feelings.
No name. No photo. No info at all.
Not even the best private detective would take this case.
And if they went to the police, they'd probably be told they were delusional, that the girl never existed, and that they never even went to the shrine that day.
"This is easy!"
Kuroda Kaito suddenly yelled.
"…What?" Yukinoshita raised an eyebrow.
'Easy? The thing that's been giving me a headache?'
"Yeah! We just tell Gorou it was the boss who found the girl for him—he'd believe that without hesitation!" Mitsuhashi Ryouma added, looking pumped.
Kyousuke crossed his arms, narrowed his eyes, and stared daggers at his two "loyal" subordinates.
'Oh, I see. You two make the mess, and now you want me to clean it up?!'
Even he would feel bad lying like that to Goro.
As the two of them nodded enthusiastically, Yukinoshita turned her gaze to Hojou as well.
Right… this guy was the kind of person who had so much charisma, people were willing to transfer schools just to follow him.
Because she'd never experienced that kind of trust herself, she'd assumed it was impossible.
But maybe… just maybe… it wasn't.
"Then the problem's easy to solve—we'll just have Kuroda write a rejection letter, and Hojou can deliver it to Hatake Gorou."
Yukinoshita paused, a little uneasy, before adding:
"To make it more convincing, Kuroda should wear the same kimono from that day and take a photo of his back."
"That's not necessary at all. As long as boss—" Kuroda stopped mid-sentence, suddenly suspicious.
Were Yukinoshita's pale blue eyes actually made of ice?
"I never agreed to this!" Kyousuke shouted.
Even though he'd originally been the one to suggest telling Hatake Gorou that the girl had died, actually doing it himself?
That pricked his conscience. He might seem heartless, but his conscience wasn't.
"Supporting club activities is a basic responsibility of every member," Yukinoshita replied coolly, using her best Shizuka-sensei impression.
"Then you go! I can vouch to Gorou that you never lie."
"That's not the same," she said softly, turning her head slightly.
"How is it any different?"
"You're just being redundant," she replied, her face now fully turned toward the window.
"It's just a sentence. I don't mind saying it."
"This is an order from the president." she snapped, raising her voice.
"So this is your version of justice?"
"Exactly. If I said it, my conscience would hurt."
Yukinoshita spun back around and stared directly at Hojou, full of righteous conviction.
"Well, my conscience would hurt too!"
Despite being frequently tormented by his conscience, Kyousuke actually cared about it.
After all, it took on all the moral burdens for him every day—his joy in life was thanks in no small part to that noble little voice.
Yukinoshita didn't respond right away.
Instead, she gave him a sidelong glance, the meaning in her eyes crystal clear.
"What's that look for?! That's way too rude!" Hojou protested. "I'll have you know, my conscience has never judged me when it comes to you!"
"..."
Yukinoshita blinked twice in confusion, caught off guard.
It was true.
From the very beginning—joining the Service Club at her request, earnestly learning to dance for her, cooking for her, competing with her to see who could better support Katou Megumi.
Even speaking on her behalf during the celebration party—Hojou Kyousuke had always been an ideal guy: serious, hardworking, smart, gentlemanly, practically perfect.
His conduct and manners were beyond reproach.
Come to think of it, if he hadn't been so easy to get along with, she probably would've kicked him out of the club long ago.
So why did she always feel so irritated just seeing him?
Yukinoshita fell into deep thought.
Yes, why? Someone like Kyousuke should be someone she admires—someone she would invite to join her in creating the perfect world.
Why did it feel so wrong?
Just then, a stifled giggle brushed through her mind like a 160 km/h fastball.
Of course.
It was because of Sakura.
It all started with her—the girl who could see the length of someone's life—the first strange request brought to the Service Club.
A ridiculous, utterly Yamauchi Sakura-style request.
Written as "make Hojou Kyousuke fall for Yukinoshita Yukino," but read as "make Yukinoshita Yukino fall for Hojou Kyousuke."
Classic Sakura: arrogant in her trust, assuming that Yukinoshita would definitely fall for him, and then take care of him in the future on her behalf.
That's when her curiosity about Hojou Kyousuke truly began.
The scary part? Even though she had seen his name in her mother's files before, it hadn't stirred anything in her.
But one conversation with Sakura's relentless meddling, and she'd voluntarily invited him into the club.
Thinking of this, a quote popped into Yukinoshita's head:
"Curiosity, dependence, even hatred—love wears countless disguises. You won't recognize it until you're too far gone."
Maybe… that was Sakura's real intention all along.
But did she truly believe Yukinoshita would fall for someone tangled up with so many girls? What a joke!
Yes, that was it.
A guy constantly surrounded by girls—how could she not judge his conscience? Especially when those girls happened to be the only two friends she had.
'And you still dare claim you've never wronged me?!'
With that thought, Yukinoshita Yukino lifted her slender white neck and glared daggers at Hojou Kyousuke.
Haven't you read The Devotion of Suspect X? Aren't you afraid of being turned into a jigsaw puzzle?
Crimes of passion were the eternal theme of detective novels.
Out of ten murder cases, at least eleven were because of love. And most of them? Caused by men who couldn't keep their hearts in one place.
As a girl who read novels daily, Yukinoshita knew this all too well.
"Ahem." Clearing his throat, Kyousuke stood and waved Kuroda and the others over.
"What are you standing around for? Go change into your outfit. We're settling this tonight. Lives are at stake—the longer we delay, the closer Hatake Gorou gets to death!"
Yep, his conscience was weak.
Just one glare from Yukinoshita and he was already panicking.
Kyousuke made a mental note: his conscience needed some serious training. Time to pile on the pressure.
"President, I'll go supervise them. I won't be back to the club tonight. Sakura, you guys should head home too. Your mom already booked the restaurant."
With that, Kyousuke made a beeline for the door.
Yukinoshita seemed a little too terrifying right now.
'Eh?? You're just leaving?'
Just as he was about to walk out of the classroom, Yukinoshita suddenly stood up.
"You can't go!" she called out, a hint of desperation in her voice.
'Huh??'
Now it was Kyousuke's turn to be confused.
What now? Are you trying to help me train my conscience too?
He had planned to meet up with Mitsuha and Miki—he was sure Miyamizu Toshiki's murderous stare would put his conscience through a full workout.
"Is there something else?" he asked, pausing.
"I-I have something else to talk about..."
Watching Yukinoshita—clearly flustered and awkward—the other three club members stared in shock.
Wait, wait… was this a confession scene?
Yamauchi Sakura's heart leapt with joy.
Could it be that what she said earlier actually worked? Had Yukino-chan finally realized that her curiosity about Kyousuke was the first step toward falling for him?
That the reason she was always annoyed with him… was because he meant more to her than anyone else?