Chapter 277: Chapter 278 ↦ You Won't Be Influenced By Me Anymore... But By Him?
It had been two days since the classroom acting and rumor incident.
Yesterday, Suzune had rejoined the study group. Although it was just acting, she had grown a bit, understanding that perhaps she didn't need to be completely sincere with everyone.
Because some people won't show gratitude or accept you.
By being a little smoother and hiding her true feelings, the atmosphere around her would become more relaxed.
Is this what Kikyō had been doing all along?
Thanks to this realization, Suzune had reclaimed her peaceful daily life.
Today, Suzune wore a neater hairstyle than usual — evidence of a girl beginning to move forward in her life.
Last night, her brother had sent her a message asking whether she wanted to continue her education after graduation or do something else. This was something she hadn't considered yet.
But earlier on the ship, Houtarou had suggested becoming a lawyer. Being a lawyer, helping others... that didn't seem bad.
In the elevator, she met a male student from the same dormitory building. He had dark green eyes and was undeniably quite handsome.
"Good morning, Oreki-kun."
Suzune was in the elevator with only Kikyō standing in the corner. Seeing Houtarou enter, she greeted him.
This action surprised Kikyō. Suzune was usually as cool as ice, but now the ice had begun to melt.
"Morning." Houtarou said.
Then, as the elevator reached the first floor, he walked straight ahead.
Noticing this, Suzune felt no dissatisfaction.
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Finally able to return to peaceful daily life, this month's special exam was also a written test.
Everything seemed normal — not much different from usual, except for this man by her side.
"What's wrong?" Houtarou looked at her.
Suzune: "..."
They were in the library during lunch break, checking the list of books she was to borrow for him.
For the rumor incident, Houtarou had requested she borrow 100 books, which he would return after reading. The deal from when she hit him was still ongoing.
His initial statement was just testing if he was the kind of man who would accept anyone. If he was interested in her, perhaps he was that kind of bad man.
With returning 2 books equivalent to one kiss, did that mean he actually wanted to kiss her 50 times?
This demand wasn't normal.
Did it imply he was actually interested in her?
As Suzune pondered this, Houtarou noticed her daydreaming.
"Horikita, is something wrong?"
Suzune: "..."
"Is sitting next to me making you uncomfortable? Then I'll move a bit further away."
"At this point, it doesn't matter anymore." Suzune said, "By the way, I could handle this book borrowing myself. You didn't need to come specially."
"Do I need a reason to see you?" Houtarou said.
"?" Suzune's body froze instantly.
"Horikita?"
"No, it's just that you suddenly said something strange."
From a distance, Hiyori noticed Suzune's cheeks turning red. She was looking unnaturally in another direction.
Both tsundere and cute.
Hiyori had no friends at school and was alone in class, but she had been secretly observing the people around her.
Now, for the first time, she witnessed someone falling in love right before her eyes.
How wonderful. The Romance.
Thinking about this made the book in her hand suddenly lose its appeal.
However, Houtarou didn't seem like the type who would quietly accompany someone in love.
"So, Horikita, you've been working hard all this time to gain your brother's approval, right?" He asked, "But if that's all, why did you enter this school?"
"What do you mean?"
"If you just wanted his approval, there was no need to attend the same school." Houtarou said.
"..." Suzune paused for a moment.
She thought for a while.
"Since childhood, my brother has always been ahead of me. No matter the task, he completed everything faster and better than me. It made me feel inevitably inferior. Eventually, I realized what I could do was walk the path he walked — to imitate him."
This was the reason she had been trying so hard.
But Houtarou had already figured it out.
"Horikita, despite your thinking, haven't you noticed something? You're imitating his way of living."
"Isn't it natural to imitate someone you see as your goal?" Suzune didn't understand why he was asking this.
"Let me be direct. You've always been alone, but your brother isn't. He always has many people around him." Houtarou said.
"..." Suzune fell silent for a moment, then said, "I like being alone, while my brother is different..."
"That's exactly it." Houtarou said, "You and he are different, so there's no need to choose the same path, is there?"
Suzune: "..."
She finally realized she had been led into his reasoning.
He wanted to tell her that she and her brother were different people, so there was no need to force herself to become like him.
Was she wrong from the beginning?
"Everyone is different, and everyone has their own thoughts. What kind of person do you want to become?" Houtarou asked her.
What kind of person did she want to become?
This question made Suzune think deeply. She was still pondering it when she went to bed that night.
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The next day after school, Suzune gave her answer.
"I'm sorry for calling you out at this time."
She had called her brother over. But he was still conducting school patrol work.
Akane Tachibana stood at a distance while Manabu came over first.
"No, it's fine." Manabu maintained his calm expression, "Suzune, do you have something to discuss?"
At that moment, Suzune suddenly realized that her brother in front of her had never changed. He had always been excellent. And he was still her family.
She finally understood why he had asked her to withdraw from school when she first enrolled.
Probably now that she had chosen to stay, if she encountered trouble or difficulties and asked him for help, he would respond.
After all, that's what family does.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on these realizations. She had made a big decision.
Suzune pressed her left hand against her chest.
"I wanted to be acknowledged by you, brother, so I've been following in your footsteps until today. But now, I no longer plan to continue chasing after your shadow. I want to be myself!"
This declaration was somewhat difficult to grasp.
But Manabu understood clearly. This was a sign that his sister had broken free from his influence.
His response was simple, "I understand. You've grown, Suzune. Were you influenced by Oreki?"
"Umm... no, that…" Suzune seemed a bit flustered.
Her reaction was too obvious.
"Then, I'll leave Suzune in your care, Houtarou Oreki." Manabu noticed the slender black-haired boy who had accompanied his sister, "In the time ahead, I'll be giving my all to deal with my final year as a third-year student."
Saying this, he watched Houtarou and his sister leave.
A few minutes later.
Manabu hadn't left, but stood in place.
Though he maintained an understanding expression, he knew that he had lost his sister.
Houtarou Oreki, that deceiver. Claiming his sister was easily influenced by others — and looking at her now, she certainly was.
She had declared she wanted to be herself. In other words, she had given up being influenced by him.
Indeed, this was a kind of growth.
However, Manabu knew clearly that for his sister, this wasn't growth at all — merely a change from being influenced by him to being influenced by Houtarou.
This pattern would likely never change. It meant his sister would be under Houtarou's influence from now on.
"President?" The attentive Akane noticed his expression.
"It's nothing." Manabu said, "I just feel that my future brother-in-law might be a rather excessive person."
Saying this, he pushed up his glasses.
"And my sister seems to have been completely deceived, beyond any hope of waking up. It makes me feel a bit unhappy."
Oh. I see.
But isn't this extremely serious?
Also, isn't your sister Suzune who was just here? She's still in school, has she already gotten married?
Akane and Manabu were clearly not on the same wavelength.
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