Masumi was quite useful when it came to reporting gathered information.
She felt somewhat uneasy about monitoring Mio's movements, but Houtarou had already taken her to verify the cameras and walkie-talkies that Mio had buried — clear evidence that Mio was planning something.
If Mio were in Class A now, and Class A's leader information had leaked, she would likely be the one secluding herself in the rain instead of Honami.
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At school, Masumi was responsible for taking care of Arisu.
On rainy days, she would manage two umbrellas by herself to help shield them both.
When she saw Houtarou walking out, she hesitated briefly before following him.
Having reported Honami's whereabouts, she must have spotted the girl standing in the rain before coming to Class A's cave.
So he had her lead the way.
Ahead, they spotted a pink-haired figure in the forest.
Masumi held no ill will toward Honami — quite the opposite. Honami was vivacious and approachable, with a strong sense of justice. She had many friends, and even Masumi, typically antisocial, had her number saved.
This proved that she, too, was among Honami's many friends.
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The rain intensified.
Honami stood there without an umbrella, showing no desire to seek shelter. She simply walked forward slowly, her eyes lifeless.
Surely no one awaited her ahead. Beyond this being self-punishment, not a single student on the island wanted to witness her tormenting herself this way.
She was definitely punishing herself — her empty eyes made that clear.
"I tried to convince her to take shelter, but she refused." Masumi said.
Ah. That explained why she'd come to report Honami's situation.
Houtarou realized that Masumi had her own motivations.
He turned to her and said, "Listen carefully. When someone stands in the rain, offering an umbrella isn't always the most caring approach. Sometimes, putting down your umbrella and standing beside them in the rain might be what saves them."
"Is it that dramatic?" She asked, startled.
Because Houtarou had used the word 'save'.
The word 'save'. Yes.
He had witnessed Chihiro confessing to Honami, and heard her say things like "But I'm not that good of a person, I don't deserve it".
She was negating herself because of something in her past.
Despite scoring first in the entrance exam's written test and having charisma equal to Kikyō's, she had ended up in Class B instead of Class A. There must be something from her past that she couldn't reveal to others.
Because of that past, when faced with consecutive setbacks, she might completely shut down if not careful.
That's why he used the word 'save'. Without intervention now, Honami would likely shut down entirely.
As Class B's representative, motivating her could lead to arrangements with Class B. It would be advantageous.
This was business.
Of course, on a personal level, Honami was a unique kind of angel compared to Kikyō. Anyone would want to protect her.
Houtarou thought to himself.
So after sending Masumi away, he walked toward the lone girl in the rain.
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"The sky is raining, but your heart is raining too. Isn't that feeling terrible?" Houtarou approached.
"Oreki-kun—" Honami recognized his voice.
But she didn't turn around.
"Please don't worry about me." She said, "I want to be alone for a while."
Regardless of what she meant by 'alone', Houtarou held the umbrella over her.
Perhaps feeling the rain being blocked above her, Honami finally turned around.
"Thank you, but I don't want this." She said, "I want my feelings to be washed away too, so Oreki-kun doesn't need to worry about me."
As expected, she was doing this to punish herself.
"Is it because of this exam? Or perhaps because since enrollment, you discovered the school's differences but didn't warn your classmates quickly enough, resulting in such a large deduction in the first month's Class Evaluation Score?
Then in this island exam, without proper preparation, you led everyone to walk twenty thousand steps on the first day. Everyone was exhausted.
Or maybe it's because you rejected my warning and chose to raid Ryūen's position, which led to evacuating the camp overnight. And then, you completely failed to notice that you were constantly accepting Class C's spy, ultimately leading to major point deductions and moving further from Class A?"
Houtarou asked three consecutive questions, but Honami didn't answer any of them, only closing her eyes in pain.
Yes. She was in pain.
These experiences, when spoken aloud, each made her fall silent. She felt she might no longer be suitable to lead everyone forward.
The discovery of Mio photographing the leader card and leaking the information was just one incident, but combined with the string of failures since enrollment, it became overwhelming.
Honami had broken down under the weight of it all.
"I'm wondering…" She said, "If I'm suitable to continue being Class B's representative."
"I'm a Class A student, and if Class B collapses, that would be good for us." Houtarou said, "But Ichinose-san, are you sure you want to end it before it's even begun? Kushida-san told me that people are trash—that they need to take and plunder, that their essence is ugly.
But you, I think you're different. With Shiranami-san's situation, you considered everything carefully, putting yourself in others' shoes. You didn't want to give up on any feelings. You hoped to preserve everything beautiful, even studying books about love and friendship that you'd normally never read.
In the end, you succeeded. Your friendship with Shiranami-san remained intact. So after making such efforts before, you want to give up now?"
"..."
This comfort seemed ineffective.
So Houtarou closed his umbrella.
"Since you don't want to use an umbrella, I'll join you."
"Wait—" Honami looked up immediately, "You don't need to accompany me like this."
"If we're talking about this exam's failure, I bear some responsibility too." Houtarou said, "I sent Ibuki to your class. And if I hadn't sent her over—"
"No... it's not like that." Honami shook her head, "Who could have known Class C would use such a scheme? And the ones who took Class C's supplies were from our class too."
She denied that Class B's failure was Houtarou's fault. Instead, they had failed to judge people's characters.
In the distance, Masumi stood alone with her umbrella, watching the scene. Despite the heavy rain, she could still catch fragments of their conversation.
Several thoughts crossed her mind:
Had Honami discovered the school's true nature shortly after enrollment?
Why had she been reading books about love and friendship?
Why was she denying Houtarou's responsibility for their class having a spy?
Yet Honami didn't know that this guy had identified Mio as a spy early on and deliberately sent her to their class.
Though given Class B's angelic nature, even if they'd known someone was a spy, they wouldn't have simply turned them away.
Besides, Class B had already accepted Satoru before Mio. Even without her, that skinny boy alone could have obtained Class B's leader information.
The leak had been inevitable.
Now, how to convince Honami?
As she pondered this, Houtarou made his move.
"Since this is the result, if there's to be punishment, I'll accept it too." He said, standing beside Honami and letting the rain soak him.
"No, no, Oreki-kun... you really don't need to do this—" Honami protested.
"Then why are you?" He met her eyes directly. Opening his umbrella again, he added, "It's easy to catch a cold from self-punishment. Or do you want me to catch one with you?"
"Hmm." Honami let out a soft grunt, "Oreki-kun, you're really mean."
"Let's go rest first, take a hot bath, change into dry clothes, and drink some ginger tea. If you ruin your health, everyone who cares about you and worries about you — all of them will be sad."
"Really..." For the first time, her expression softened.
How could she resist such words?
Honami was a kind person. A gentle soul.
She couldn't forgive herself, yet she would never let others feel sad on her behalf.
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