"...This has nothing to do with you; you don't need to know," Hanatemari said stubbornly.
"Indeed, it has nothing to do with me. But you tell me... if Saotome saw this surveillance footage, what would she think?"
"Don't tell Meari!" Hanatemari instinctively shouted.
Her face was flustered; it seemed that letting Saotome know about this matter was even more unacceptable than her spending the night with Ayanokoji.
Ayanokoji rested his chin on his hand and sighed lightly with a hint of helplessness.
"To be honest, I really don't want to do something like 'yellow hair' that ruins other people's relationships.
I've always thought of myself as quite upright, but if you keep silent, I'll have no choice but to give the footage to Saotome and let her ask you that question."
Hanatemari Kazura remained silent for a long time before saying: "If I tell you, will you not tell Meari about this?"
"I'll consider it based on your answer," Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said, crossing his arms, adopting a listening posture.
"..." Hanatemari Kazura knew she had no room to bargain. She hesitated for a long while before making up her mind to speak.
"...The purpose of my doing this was to become Saotome's friend."
"Huh?" Ayanokoji was a bit confused, "Aren't you Saotome's friend now?"
"I'm talking about my original purpose when I prepared these shoes!" Hanatemari Kazura blurted out instinctively.
She seemed to feel that speaking like this was somewhat incomplete, so she paused for a moment and then began from the beginning.
"Meari and I met in elementary school. Because of my father's work, I transferred to a nearby public elementary school.
Once the first word was spoken, it became very easy to say the rest.
"Because I was worried about being isolated in a new environment, I specifically asked my mother to buy me a lot of expensive candies and some toys. I brought them to school and gave a gift to every classmate.
You know, kids, as long as they have something new and interesting, they easily get attention, especially since I was very generous and often gave them gifts.
So in class, I was always surrounded by many people, and I really liked the feeling of being needed.
But Meari was different from the others in the class. Every time I gave her a gift, for some reason, even though she clearly looked like she wanted it, she always refused me, and all the gifts I gave her were pushed back by her..."
"I thought at the time, why would this girl refuse me when she clearly wanted it? Just like that, I started secretly paying attention to Meari."
Hanatemari Kazura's face showed a nostalgic smile: "When other children were playing, Saotome would pick up a book early and stay in the classroom to study.
Her grades were always among the top, which made me, who wasn't smart, very envious. So I often brought gifts to Meari, hoping she could teach me how to solve problems.
I originally thought Meari was a difficult person to approach, but every time she would frown with a look of disgust, and then patiently explain problems to me, who wasn't smart, and she never refused me.
When I was bullied by boys in the same class, it was always her who stood in front of me. Even though she wasn't as tall as me back then, she would put her hands on her hips and angrily scold those boys, and those bad kids always became meek in front of her."
Hanatemari Kazura's face showed a longing smile: "Meari is smart, gentle, strong... In my eyes, Meari is my Prince Charming."
"On my birthday, Meari gave me a gift for the first time; it was a pink hairband.
It's just a pity that I was too careless back then; I only wore it a few times secretly at home before it broke, and I cried for a long time.
My mother saw how much I was crying, so she cut off the only undamaged small flower from that hairband and used that small flower as a model to have many identical hairbands made for me at some craft shops. Later, I got used to wearing this kind of pink hairband."
As she spoke, she fondly touched the pink hairband on her head.
Ayanokoji listened to Hanatemari's narration and thought of Saotome's past that she had told him.
The same story told by different people is a completely different story.
The hairband Saotome gave Hanatemari was actually bought by her from a 100-yen shop, so the quality was, of course, poor.
Yet, in Hanatemari's eyes, this gift was a precious treasure.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka suppressed his desire to ruin the girl's beautiful memory and continued to listen to Hanatemari tell her story.
"After elementary school graduation, my father sent me to Hyakkaou Private Academy. I originally thought I would never see Meari again, but to my surprise, a few days ago, I saw her arrive at our school as a new student, and she even happened to be in my class!"
"Do you know? Ayanokoji, to me, this was simply fate's arrangement. But... she was forced to gamble with Aiura Kokoro because of me."
While Hanatemari was speaking, her eyes glowed with color, but now their color dimmed.
"It was my fault that she fell into danger from the beginning. If it weren't for you, she might have become livestock just like me.
Although Meari didn't say it, she must be blaming me in her heart and won't easily agree to be my friend.
I know Meari is a very righteous person; if I were persecuted by other girls, she definitely wouldn't turn a blind eye..."
After saying so much, Hanatemari Kazura finally mentioned her reason for preparing the razor blades.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka could somewhat understand her psychology.
Because Meari was very righteous, and in elementary school, she would stand up for Hanatemari when she was bullied, Hanatemari prepared those shoes, hoping to get closer to Meari through her sympathy and replicate the situation from elementary school...
Ayanokoji nodded: "I understand your reason for preparing these shoes. So, she's already become your friend, right? Couldn't you just put those shoes away? Why did you take them out again now?"
"It's all because of you!" Hanatemari glared angrily at Ayanokoji.
"If you hadn't won against Meari in the 'casino' gamble, how would she have become so dispirited and withdrawn!?
I've seen too many people in this school who became depressed and disheartened after losing a single gamble. I don't want Meari to become like that!"
...So this was his fault?
Seeing Ayanokoji's stunned expression, Hanatemari lowered her head and whispered: "I understand this isn't your fault; it's only Meari's fault for wanting to gamble.
I had originally planned to get rid of those shoes, but I wanted Meari to cheer up, so I specifically waited at the school gate that day. When Meari arrived, I took out those shoes I had prepared earlier..."
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