Chapter 106: Resistance & Return

Nijika and Kita's expressions stiffened.

Although they wanted to say Hitori, if Hitori came forward now, she might die if the other party attacked! 

She would be verbally attacked to death!

Kita looked at Hitori, and seeing that she hadn't admitted it either, she waved her hand slightly, indicating reassurance.

She smiled and raised her hand, saying.

"Me~ It's me."

She was already used to acting as Ishikawa Hayato's girlfriend at school, so pretending again now was no problem.

"Is that so?"

Perhaps the reactions of the few people just now made Hongo Amane think of something, and she seemed to have found an opportunity.

She said sarcastically.

"I knew Hayato-kun would definitely get a girlfriend. It's really strange, so many girls liked him in middle school, even me back then."

"But in the end, he didn't choose anyone. Why did he run so far to find a girlfriend here?"

After she finished speaking, her gaze flicked to Ishikawa Hayato again.

Nijika and Kita found it a bit difficult to respond to her words, their expressions slightly awkward.

Ryo had been calmly watching her from the side.

She hadn't spoken at all until now, and seeing Hongo Amane looking at Ishikawa Hayato, she finally spoke.

"You didn't come here to ask Hayato to go back and help you, did you? From the beginning, you've only been making Hayato miserable. If that's your intention, you can leave."

Ryo's words were like a bucket of cold water, completely extinguishing the seemingly harmonious atmosphere of the conversation.

Nijika blinked in surprise, looking at Ryo, then said loudly, as if to erase her words.

"Ryo, what are you kidding about, haha, she's just like that."

Her attempt to lighten the mood was not met with cooperation from Hongo Amane, who also seemed to stop pretending.

"Yes, I came here specifically to make him miserable."

She looked at Ishikawa Hayato.

"This guy, who clearly has the ability to help many people and do more, stopped doing it, suddenly left, and is now playing music with you all here, which makes me very, very annoyed."

Hearing her words, Nijika's expression darkened, and Kita's brows furrowed slightly.

Nijika forced a smile and spoke evasively.

"It's not good to force someone to help other people, is it?"

Kita also nodded in agreement.

Hitori also quickly recovered from her earlier, almost broken state. 

She hung her head, her bangs obscuring her face.

Ishikawa Hayato saw that she had stopped pretending and knew that the conversation was falling out. 

He stood up, preparing to ask for leave directly and take her back to her father's office, but Ryo stood up deftly and raised her hand to stop Ishikawa Hayato.

Her golden eyes, which seemed to show no emotion, looked directly into Hongo Amane's eyes.

"From your words just now, I can tell that your starting point is to help more people, but you don't choose to help them yourself."

"Instead, you choose to interfere with other people's lifestyles here. People like you aren't actually good—on the contrary, you’re consciously committing to hateful acts.”

"I dislike people like you very much. If you are only here to make Hayato miserable, please leave. No one welcomes you, and you won't achieve anything by causing trouble here."

Ryo's blunt words were not stopped by Nijika.

In fact, Hongo Amane knew what she was doing, but being so mercilessly exposed by Ryo, her expression stiffened.

And seeing everyone reject her, although she had prepared herself, she still felt a pang of discomfort.

She pushed her chair back, and the chair scraped against the floor. She stood up, clenching her hands in frustration.

"You're right, I am doing something hateful, but when you are betrayed and abandoned by this guy, you will feel my pain."

Her eyes gleamed, and she pointed at Ishikawa Hayato as if throwing caution to the wind, saying.

"This person has nothing to miss. Back then, he did so much to save others and to establish the club."

"And what was the result? He told me he was quitting the club with a single phrase, 'I'm tired of it,' and no matter how much I begged him, it was useless."

"You probably don't know, but he acts according to a few rules he set for himself, one of which is to care for those around him."

"For him, as long as they're far away, they don't count as someone close to him!"

She finished speaking through gritted teeth, then turned and ran out, wiping her eyes with her hand.

Seeing that she had made her cry, Ryo stood still, her eyelids half-lowered, an expression of having done something bad on her face.

Ishikawa Hayato walked over and patted her shoulder.

"Thank you, accomplice. I'll go check on her and be right back."

"Mm."

Ishikawa Hayato quickly chased after Hongo Amane out of the livehouse and ran onto the street.

He looked around and immediately saw Hongo Amane hiding by the vending machine, with the edge of her skirt and the heels of her loafers peeking out.

He felt a little relieved and walked over.

Hongo Amane heard the approaching footsteps, flinched, and turned her head reluctantly.

Her eyes were red from wiping away tears with the back of her hand.

But even so, she still glared resentfully at Ishikawa Hayato.

She was as stubborn as ever, never listening to reason.

"Satisfied now?"

Ishikawa Hayato's voice was devoid of any emotion.

Hongo Amane sniffled again and retorted angrily.

"You care about me now? You didn't even turn around when I was almost crying begging you before."

"No, I was just worried you might get angry and run off, and if something happened, it would make me and my friends miserable."

"You!"

Hongo Amane was so angry that her tears stopped.

She felt a stinging pain in her eyes as she glared fiercely at Ishikawa Hayato.

...

Inside the store, the four sat in silence.

Not only because of Ryo's unreservedly aggressive words that made someone cry, but also because of what Hongo Amane had said.

Based on the information they knew, they could all determine that most of her words were true.

And, most worryingly, Ishikawa Hayato had not denied it.

They didn't care that Ishikawa Hayato had given up his seemingly grand past endeavor, as it didn't look like something a high school student could handle anyway.

They couldn't help but wonder, what if one day, Ishikawa Hayato also suddenly said, "I'm tired of playing," just like Hongo Amane back then?

And then turned and disappeared.

At this moment, Hitori stood up, her voice extremely strained as she said.

"S-sorry, I'm going to the restroom."

After saying that, she ran into the restroom.

After a while, Ishikawa Hayato returned.

He reported to the three girls sitting there.

"I took her to the station, no need to worry."

"Mm, ah, that's good." Nijika said with a forced smile.

Kita looked at Nijika, who didn't dare to ask, and then at the unusually silent Ryo.

She decided to take a gamble and chose to trust Ishikawa Hayato.

She asked.

"Ishikawa-kun, what Miss Hongo said just now..."

"Most of it is true." Ishikawa Hayato's words shattered her illusion.

The three looked up at him in disbelief.

Kita, unwilling to give up, continued to struggle and ask.

"What about the part where you quit the club..."

"I really was tired of it. Because there was no hope in continuing that way, I was planning to take a different path, but at that time I didn't know what to do, so I just told her directly."

Ishikawa Hayato spread his hands helplessly. "But she didn't believe me and insisted I continue."

The three breathed a sigh of relief.

At least it wasn't an irresponsible escape.

They could still accept that much.

Although still a bit gloomy, they decided to put this matter aside for now.

After all, worrying about something that that wouldn’t lead anywhere is useless.

Not long after, Hitori came out of the restroom, clutching her stomach and swaying.

Her face was pale, with some cold sweat.

Ishikawa Hayato noticed her appearance, paused, and asked.

"Bocchi, what's wrong?"

Hitori's gaze darted around twice, but she didn't dare not answer.

"My stomach doesn't feel well, I feel a bit like throwing up..."

Ishikawa Hayato thought of the tense situation just now.

It seemed that she was overly nervous, leading to nausea and vomiting.

He quickly walked over to support Hitori, slowly guiding her towards the long table.

"Come sit down for a bit. Is your stomach feeling any better? Do you want to take some medicine?"

On the other side, Nijika suddenly noticed that the expressions of the two people beside her, after hearing Hitori's words and then looking at Ishikawa Hayato, gradually changed from a gloomy expression to something complex.

They looked at Hitori strangely, as if worrying about something else.

Nijika felt that their expressions were unusually serious.

She thought for a moment, then asked, puzzled.

"What's wrong with you two? Are you also feeling unwell like Bocchi-chan?"

As soon as she said this, Kita and Ryo's faces changed, and they looked at each other in horror, but seeing each other's same expression, they immediately felt relieved.

Ryo shook her head slightly, Kita exhaled and also shook her head, and Ryo's rigidly straight back relaxed.

But then, both of them simultaneously looked at Hitori.

Only Nijika felt excluded.

She looked at Hitori, and out of concern that a loud voice might make Hitori feel worse, she just asked in a normal tone.

"Wait! What are you two hiding?"

Finally, Ryo, unable to watch any longer, leaned towards Nijika and whispered a few words in her ear.

Nijika's eyes widened instantly, her face flushed, and she pointed incredulously at Ishikawa Hayato, who was already supporting Hitori.

She couldn't keep her voice down this time, and she said tremblingly.

"Hayato-kun... Hayato-kun, did you do that to Hitori-chan?"

While supporting Hitori, Ishikawa Hayato had noticed the strange looks from the two people by the table.

He immediately knew what they were thinking, and hearing Nijika ask this, he slapped his forehead in despair.

After explaining everything, Nijika, her face bright red, apologized profusely, then glared at Ryo for giving her wrong information.

But Ryo ignored her, only looking at the Hitori kettle steaming away steaming from its top.

She was clearly curious about how the Hitori kettle worked.