Yukinoshita finally understood why Iroha Isshiki had been so certain that Shouko Nishimiya couldn't possibly be a bad person.
So this is what they meant when they said one's appearance reflects their heart.
This girl had the kindest, clearest eyes Yukinoshita had ever seen.
Yukinoshita had some basic training in microexpression analysis, or what one might call reading people. If there truly existed someone like the Buddhist ideal body like crystal, pure and flawless inside and out then it must be someone like the girl before her.
The quiet, fragile gentleness Shouko radiated couldn't be captured even a tenth by photographs.
Faced with such a beautiful person, Yukinoshita reflexively reequipped the social mask she'd discarded moments earlier.
She had originally planned to test out her clumsy, half-baked sign language, but now she simply chose to write in her notebook and hand it to Shouko.
Shouko glanced at her curiously, then accepted the notebook.
I'm Yukino Yukinoshita, second year. I was assigned by Ms. Hiratsuka to investigate and resolve the incident in Class 1-D.
Shouko wrote a polite reply in return.
Hello! I'm Shouko Nishimiya.
Yukinoshita wrote again:
I've gotten a preliminary understanding of the situation. I'd like to ask about the money do you have any suspects in mind?
After a brief pause, she added:
No need to be nervous. Just share whatever comes to mind. I'll follow up myself.
Shouko read over the words, lips pressed together as she appeared to be thinking.
Then she wrote her reply and handed the notebook back.
Even though this happened to me, I think it was probably just an unfortunate accident. I don't believe anyone did it to frame me on purpose.
And about the "just share whatever comes to mind" part... I don't think I could say something casually in front of someone like you, Yukinoshita-senpai. You seem like someone who'd take everything seriously even idle speculation.
Yukinoshita immediately felt a headache coming on.
Something about this girl's gentle and soft-spoken demeanor was oddly familiar. Who was it again…?
Ah, right. Yui Yuigahama.
Shouko was like an enhanced version of Yuigahama.
Yukinoshita had guessed that Shouko's personality, even at its most troublesome, would be no worse than Yuigahama's someone who couldn't say no, someone with a soft heart. An understandable headache.
But she had been too naive.
Yuigahama, at the very least, could still tell right from wrong.
Shouko, on the other hand...
Nobody's really at fault. Everyone probably had their reasons. I should forgive them.
Good grief. Where had this little angelic martyr complex come from? She was like a walking embodiment of the desire to redeem the whole world.
Yukinoshita was stunned.
Shouko, noticing Yukinoshita's silence, panicked and started signing:
I'm the one who caused so much trouble for the class. Please don't…
"You, and only you, shouldn't ever think of yourself as a burden," Yukinoshita interrupted her aloud.
The moment the words left her mouth, Shouko froze. Then, almost without thinking, she asked her very first spoken question since meeting Yukinoshita:
"You… can understand sign language?"
Her voice had a strange lilt to it, but Yukinoshita found it rather pleasant charming, even.
"I studied a bit, a long time ago," Yukinoshita replied, clearing her throat.
Just those few words made Shouko smile.
When she smiled, her soft pink lips curved gently, like someone used to suppressing their happiness. But her tightly drawn shoulders, tense since she entered the office, visibly relaxed. The moment reminded her of the familiar comfort of her days at Kitaku School for the Hearing-Impaired.
Back then, she and her classmates had communicated however they wanted signs, writing, voice whatever worked best. Everything had felt so natural, so easy.
Everyone around her had been like her. And over time, Shouko had almost begun to believe that she really wasn't any different from anyone else in the world.
Then the transfer had shattered all of that.
But her mother had been so, so happy.
The day they learned a charity organization would sponsor Shouko's enrollment at Soubu High, her mother had fumbled with the computer, reading aloud the names and accolades of the school's renowned alumni as if picturing Shouko's future among them.
She had hugged Shouko tight and muttered between clenched teeth, "Our Shouko is not inferior to anyone."
Even her little sister had been surprised.
"Soubu? The Soubu? The one that's second only to Suimei in college placement? That Soubu?!"
Everyone had looked so happy.
Everyone else could be happy that was wonderful.
But Shouko had just felt… so very stupid.
She already struggled with her hearing. Understanding what the teachers were saying, absorbing the lessons it was all an uphill battle for her.
Soubu High was a prestigious school. Even regular students found it hard to keep up, let alone someone like her.
The harder she tried to catch up, the farther behind she fell.
Yukinoshita wrote in her notebook:
Soubu High won't let a situation like this spiral out of control. It will be resolved quickly. You can focus on your studies.
Shouko responded:
Um, there's really no need to find the truth. I don't feel like I was bullied or anything…
Yukinoshita was quiet for a moment.
"Shouko…"
Shouko hesitantly looked up at her.
Having just transferred, she hadn't heard the worst of Yukinoshita's infamous reputation. All she knew was that this impossibly beautiful upperclassman had rocketed from the bottom twenty of her year to second place in a little over a month.
An idol, really.
"In the East," Yukinoshita said slowly, her voice calm and soft, "there's an old saying: 'If kindness is repaid with resentment, how then shall we repay kindness?'"
"If you give all your compassion, forgiveness, and understanding to those who've hurt you, then what will you have left to offer those who were kind to you even if only a little?"
"Your heart? Your life?"
Shouko froze.
Yukinoshita tore a page from her notebook and scribbled her contact information, handing it over.
"This will be resolved within two days. If you need help after that, feel free to contact me."
Even after school that day, Shouko couldn't stop thinking about what Yukinoshita had said.
If kindness is repaid with resentment, how then shall we repay kindness?
She repeated the words to herself. They still felt unfamiliar, a little confusing.
But…
The way Yukinoshita had looked at her when she said it so distant, so sorrowful it was as if she hadn't been speaking to Shouko, but to a version of her former self.
Shouko slapped her cheeks to snap out of it.
No way.
Someone as perfect, as brilliant as Yukinoshita-senpai couldn't possibly have experienced anything like being excluded, isolated, or mistreated… could she?
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