Living in the Heart of Tokyo

"Poor Yukino-chan~~"

As she said this, Sakura threw her arms around Yukinoshita Yukino, rubbing her cheek against Yukino's face over and over.

Just as she'd imagined—despite having so many "snow" characters in her name, Yukino's skin was warm. And so soft!

Yukino pushed Yamauchi Sakura off with considerable effort, quickly straightened her expression, then lifted her chin proudly and said:

"This sort of thing is unavoidable. I mean, I am just that cute."

Hearing such a line from a cold and elegant beauty like Yukino—how was one supposed to react?

All Sakura could think was: She's way too adorable! Any sense of cool or distant beauty? An illusion, clearly.

"Yes, yes, our Yukino-chan is the cutest," Sakura nodded enthusiastically.

Yukino frowned, automatically assuming she was being patronized.

"It's good you understand. Being popular with boys often makes girls dislike you. There's nothing to be done about it—no one's perfect."

"Humans are weak and ugly inside. They get jealous easily and push others away. That's why this world is the way it is."

"The more exceptional you are, the more you suffer. So—"

"So that's why you want to change humanity, to change the world, by mastering the art of understanding the human heart!" Sakura interrupted with a grin and clapped her hands.

"Exactly." Yukino gave a small nod.

"But you know, perfect people do exist~"

"Impossible!"

"Just like you said—humans do stupid things out of jealousy. In school, people who are popular with the opposite sex often get targeted by their own gender."

"But tell me, do you think someone like Kyousuke has ever had to deal with that?"

Yes—her Kyousuke was the most perfect person in the world.

"Hojou Kyousuke…" Yukino paused.

That was the boy Hiratsuka-sensei had brought up to convince her to establish the Service Club.

Judging from what she'd heard from his former classmates and his behavior at the student council meeting, he had considerable influence among his male peers.

It made sense.

Just like Hayama Hayato—he had been popular with both boys and girls since elementary school.

Yukino acknowledged that such people did exist.

And Sakura herself was like that—shining like the sun, hiding her shadows and always showing her best side.

So the answer should have been: "No."

"That's where you're wrong. Kyousuke did have his indoor shoes hidden by a male classmate once."

"No way!"

If someone had experienced that, you'd be able to tell.

That's what experience taught her—she was a case study herself.

Yukino had always known she was cute.

But after seeing the ugliest parts of human nature, she could no longer open her heart the way she once had.

Her worldview had changed. So had her perspective.

Some people might call her "sharp-tongued," but in reality, she was just stating objective truths.

The venom wasn't hers—it was in the flaws of those being spoken about.

Take Yamauchi Sakura, for instance—she could say the most painful truths all by herself, leaving Yukino nothing to add.

"It's true. But unlike you, Kyousuke was so furious after it happened, he ate three full bowls of rice that night."

"Sat silently at the dinner table, then stormed into his room and yelled, 'So embarrassing!' or something like that."

Thinking back to that moment, a warm smile spread across Sakura's face.

Yukino, who had been listening intently, suddenly felt her breath hitch.

She turned away awkwardly… only to stubbornly face forward again.

It was in that moment she understood what true childhood friends were.

It wasn't just about growing up together—it was about being inseparably woven into each other's lives.

Bring up any memory, good or bad, and the other person would always be there in it.

That smile on Sakura's face was blinding.

"Was it because he felt his status as a leader was challenged?" Yukino guessed, based on what she knew of Hojou.

"Hahaha, a leader? Not at all. At that time, Kyousuke checked every box for someone easily bullied."

As she spoke, Sakura's voice remained light and nostalgic.

She counted on her fingers:

"Good-looking. Smart. A loner. Didn't like to socialize. Popular with the opposite sex. Had pretty girls for friends…"

Each word struck Yukino like a hammer to the chest, blow after blow, hitting her straight in the soul.

Was… was her childhood really that similar to Hojou's!?

"And then?" Yukino asked.

She needed to know—why did two people with such similar personalities and circumstances end up so differently?

Why was she driven to study abroad while Kyousuke became that kind of person?

"Well, your family's rich, right? So when your indoor shoes were hidden, it just made you upset."

"But for Kyousuke, it wasn't just upsetting—he was actually heartbroken about the cost of buying new ones."

From the moment they met, Sakura had been sure Yukino was from a wealthy family.

This was just confirmation.

Her perfect posture, graceful movements, even the red ribbon in her hair—all radiated the aura of a refined young lady.

"Heartbroken… about money?" Yukino's mouth fell open.

Her pale blue eyes were filled with confusion.

The very picture of someone who had been adorable since birth.

"Yep. That was his first reaction—'Ugh, now I have to buy new shoes.'"

Sakura burst into laughter.

Looking back, it was probably Kyousuke's bizarre way of handling the situation that kept the incident from becoming a dark shadow in her past.

That memory had become one she couldn't think about without laughing.

Even after all these years, the moment remained crystal clear in her mind—like a photograph.

The colors, the sounds—unchanged, like it had all happened just yesterday.

Most people in that situation would freeze, then spiral into self-doubt.

'Why me?' they'd think.

They'd feel like everyone around them was watching, judging.

They'd end up collapsing into their chair, spirit crushed, dragging themselves into the classroom in emergency slippers.

But Kyousuke —her childhood friend whose thoughts she could read like a book—his first concern was the expense of buying new shoes.

Not because he didn't want to face his parents, but because he genuinely hated spending money.

Of course, this was the same Kyousuke who, after school, used to sneakily pluck flowers that grew past people's fences.

"These are gifts from nature," he'd say. "I'm helping reduce potential liability. What if someone allergic to pollen walks by and dies?"

"Then that homeowner would have a much bigger problem than a missing flower."

And people said she was full of nonsense.

Compared to that guy, she was just an amateur.

In the end, indoor shoes weren't that expensive.

But for Kyousuke, they represented a missed chance to buy flowers from a shop—flowers he couldn't find by the riverside.

Ones he could put in a vase at home, to make Aunt Mikiko and Sakura herself happy for a few days.

Or maybe to spend that money in the market on some unusual ingredient he'd use to cook something delicious for her.

"I was planning to comfort him and even go with him to report it to the teacher, but who would've thought—he wasn't upset at all. He just kept worrying about the money."

Sakura didn't hold back as she shared her amusement with Yukinoshita.

She'd already decided—once Kyousuke and Eriri's anime was finished, she was going to create one about childhood friends too.

"Hojou Kyousuke… Did he really have a tough childhood?" Yukinoshita murmured quietly.

That thought had never even crossed her mind as a child.

Something like indoor shoes—she honestly had no idea how much they were supposed to cost, not even now.

She tried to recall, but drew a blank.

She might not have been her family's designated successor, but she'd never once worried about money.

Her bank account balance never seemed to go down.

"Hahaha, no, it wasn't like that. The Kyousuke family wasn't rich or anything, but it's not like they couldn't afford indoor shoes. He was just… really upset about the waste."

"Then," Sakura continued, eyes gleaming with amusement, "once he was done mourning the money, he got mad. Like, really mad."

"He looked like a lion who'd just had its mane stolen by a crow—not angry because he was hurt, but because he felt humiliated."

Her clear, ringing laughter echoed through the classroom.

Yukinoshita felt like her past self was being thoroughly dragged through the mud.

Back then, just like Yamauchi Sakura said, she'd doubted herself, felt the weight of every strange gaze, clung to her sister's hand and refused to walk into class—terrified beyond reason.

And in the end…

'Haaah…'

Yukinoshita Yukino let out a long breath, forcing herself to pull away from the abyss of memory.

A wise person draws strength from the past.

Only a fool stays stuck in it. And she—she was no fool.

"So what did he do after that?"

"Eh? I was just about to reenact Kyousuke's speech for you," Sakura said, disappointed.

"That's not important."

"What? That is the important part! That moment totally shows Kyousuke's whole life philosophy!" Sakura protested loudly.

"…" Yukinoshita sighed again.

People in love really were hopeless.

It was terrifying.

She, who had been adored by boys since childhood, could only sigh.

Putting on her researcher hat, she decided to study the two of them like a science experiment.

She had to figure out how they ended up like this.

"Well, if Yukino doesn't want to hear that part, we'll just skip it~" Sakura said cheerfully.

Yukinoshita felt something tighten in her chest.

Her gaze drifted upward. Speechless. Helpless.

"After that, Kyousuke went to ask a teacher for help. But when the teacher said there wasn't much they could do, he demanded the school compensate him."

"That's impossible."

"Right? Then he claimed it was the school's fault for not managing things properly and asked them to install security cameras at the shoe-changing area."

"Wait, wait. Hojou knew about surveillance cameras back then? Wasn't it still called closed-circuit TV at the time?" Yukinoshita narrowed her eyes at the inconsistency.

"Well, it's Kyousuke. You know how he is—a total genius~"

"…Ugh."

Still, Hojou relying on others for help—that did sound like him.

Like how, just now, he asked if the club members could ask her for help instead of finishing his own answer.

Yukinoshita sighed.

 Some people really don't change.

"Of course, the school turned him down. Then when he got home, Kyousuke didn't say anything to Aunt Mikiko either. Oh—Mikiko's his mom."

"Super pretty, super gentle, super kind, super easy to get along with~" Sakura said with a playful wink.

"Then I know what happened next—he ate three giant bowls of rice. Just skip to the end." Yukinoshita's face was expressionless.

She understood what Sakura meant.

But seriously—did people really count "easy to get along with in-laws" as a reason to marry someone?

Marriage was supposed to be between two people! Yamauchi Sakura was impossible to reason with.

"Got it~!"

Then, like a storyteller spinning a yarn, Sakura animatedly recounted the tale Kyousuke had once told her.

It was full of righteous triumphs, bumbling villains, and the clever hero saving the day.

A full-on epic.

It would've made a great picture book—for elementary school kids.

No one older would've bought it.

Even Saitama-sensei had been nearly taken out at the beginning of the fight.

There's no way third-grade Kyousuke had faced off against a dozen classmates and come out completely unscathed.

Were those bruises just makeup?

Sakura knew it couldn't have been as clean as Kyousuke made it sound.

But that's how he told it to her—a feel-good, justice-filled happy ending.

If Sakura could see through that, then of course Yukinoshita Yukino could as well.

Listening to the glorified fairy tale, she mentally reconstructed the truth behind the scenes.

She decided to set Hojou's story aside for now.

What really caught her attention was how Yamauchi Sakura, this radiant "sun," seemed to carry no blemishes at all.

Even something that could've become lifelong trauma had been spun into a whimsical tale in her world.

Surrounded by love like that, how could Yamauchi Sakura not be happy?

And if any darkness tried to reach her, it would be blown away by her ever-victorious hero—like Ultraman defeating monsters to protect Earth.

Except this Ultraman had eyes only for Yamauchi Sakura.

…Well, and also Nishimiya Shouko.

Yukinoshita suddenly felt a chill crawl up her spine.

There was definitely something wrong with Hojou Kyousuke's mindset.

That needed correcting.

How could he love someone so deeply, yet still openly show that kind of concern for another girl?

What was going on inside his head?

But that could wait.

As long as they were together, there'd be plenty of time to fix his flawed thinking.

What mattered now was—

"Violence and trickery, huh?"

"Excuse me! It's called bravery and wisdom!" Sakura protested passionately.

Come to think of it, that described the current Hojou pretty well.

His use of force had evolved into bold, righteous displays of strength that eliminated danger at the source.

And his trickery? Now glorified into mystery novels.

Yukinoshita Yukino examined herself.

As always, she silently rejected Hojou's methods. But then, what had she done to overcome her own trauma?

Trauma…

She despised those who ran from the past.

No matter how painful, she forced herself to remember.

Back then, terrified and overwhelmed, she'd turned to her older sister, already a senior student.

"Yukino, are you sure you're completely helpless?"

What did that mean? She hadn't understood at the time—just nodded over and over.

Even now, she wasn't sure she truly got it.

But there was one thing she knew: her sister, raised under strict expectations and taught countless lessons, would never have been helpless in that situation.

No—that kind of weakness couldn't exist in someone like her.

Her sister, just as beautiful as herself, was a completely different person.

Everyone—boys and girls alike—loved her. And back then, Yukino had admired her more than anyone.

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