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‘Believe in the me who believes in you.’
This sounded like a familiar sentence
 it was probably copied from some anime, wasn’t it?
That was Kaho’s first reaction, and then she really wanted to laugh out loud.
She had been encouraged by him once again.
Whatever it was that had been making her feel disheartened disappeared, and she felt more spirited again. Immediately after, she felt angry at herself for needing his encouragement to become spirited again.
‘Honestly, I
 I’m such an idiot. Is it really alright for someone as foolish as me to become your friend, Harano-san? No
 I can’t say this out loud, or I’ll look more foolish!’
Kaho’s eyes flashed. Being self-confident
 was rather difficult. However, believing in Seigo Harano was quite easy.
And Harano-san believed in her, so it was just as he said.
“I can’t bring out too much self-confidence yet, but I believe in you
 I believe in the you who believes in me, which is why I’ll continue working hard!” she said, looking at him while she spoke.
‘I want to become this excellent girl that you speak of.’
Seiji smiled reassuringly as he stretched out his right hand.
Kaho’s face reddened as she looked at his hand. She stretched out her right hand as well.
The two of them shook hands.
“Please take good care of me from now on.”
They said that almost simultaneously, and both of them laughed.


Seiji returned to school. Kaho wanted to return home, so she said goodbye and he returned by himself.
He returned to Year 1 Class 5’s store, and found Chiaki and the others.
Mika wasn’t there.
“Mika said that she needed to go somewhere by herself and left,” the tomboy explained before Seiji could even ask.
“Oh
”
“How’s Miyamoto-san?” Chiaki asked.
“She’s alright; she said that she just made a mistake with her words
” Seiji gave them a rough explanation.
“Made a mistake with her words
 is that really the case?” Chiaki’s tone was one of suspicion.
Seiji ignored her as he turned around to look at Mayuzumi and Saki.
He discovered that the manga author’s complexion was obviously worse compared to earlier.
“Sensei, what’s the matter?” he asked.
Mayuzumi smiled weakly at Seiji’s concern and wanted to say something, but Saki spoke up first.
“Mayuzumi’s not feeling well, and she needs to go home and rest. I’ll take her home
 go ahead and have fun with your classmates, Harano.”
“Ah
 Okay.” Seiji nodded in understanding. “Actually you guys didn’t need to wait around for me. If Sensei needs to go home, you should have gone back immediately; all you had to do was tell me over the phone.”
“No
 I wanted to say goodbye to Harano-kun.” Mayuzumi smiled weakly. “I had lots of fun
 I originally wanted to play a little longer, but
 I suddenly feel rather drowsy.”
‘This must be because she didn’t sleep well last night, plus she just played that rather active laser tag game with us and got a lot of exercise,’ Seiji thought to himself.
“No need to be so polite, Sensei. I had lots of fun as well. In the future
 we’re going to go to a hot spring hotel together, right? We can make more arrangements after that as well, and we’ll have plenty of chances to see each other again.” Seiji smiled. “Your body is the most important thing; if you need to rest, then make sure to have a good rest.”
“Okay
 Harano-kun. Thank you so much
 for the past few days.” The manga author thanked him sincerely, her eyes on his face.
Afterwards, she left the classroom store together with Saki.
Seiji looked back at Chiaki after watching them leave.
“Come, let’s have some fun together, handsome~” the tomboy said seductively, gesturing at him with her hand.
“Stop acting like you’re a veteran at this.”
“Would you like to feel really good, uncle~?”
“That’s even worse!”
“It’s okay to do it outside as well, but you’ll have to pay me extra~”
“Why is it only getting worse and worse!?”
Seiji kept up an endless stream of retorts.
Whenever he and Chiaki were alone together, it was always like this.
The two of them had fun chatting with each other in their classroom’s store.


Mika met with the girl in pink-colored Sakura Island traditional clothing again.
“You came, and you have a nice expression. You must have come to a resolution,” said the silver-haired girl.
“Yes, I want to become ‘special,'” Mika said in a firm voice.
“Then—”
“But before that, I want to clearly know, just what exactly does making me ‘special’ entail?”
The silver-haired girl blinked in surprise at this. “This
 it’s a little difficult to describe
 if the content of what I say is difficult for you to accept, will you refuse?”
“Yes,” Mika said bluntly.
“But didn’t you come to a resolution already?” The silver-haired girl seemed confused.
“Yes, I want to become special.” Mika kept her gaze fixed on the silver-haired girl. “But not necessarily by your method.”
The silver-haired girl’s eyes widened in surprise. “What
 do you mean?”
“What I mean is, I can become special thanks to my own power, not necessarily thanks to your help,” Mika said clearly. “After the last time that I met you, I kept thinking and pondering about my dilemma
 What you said was correct: the ‘ordinary’ me has no way to win the ‘special’ him’s heart. If I want him to pay attention to me, I have to change myself.”
“But that doesn’t mean that I have to accept your help.” The double-pigtailed girl slowly began clenching her fist. “There are various methods to become special, and as long as I work hard, resolutely step forward, and get closer to him, I can definitely do it!”
‘Just like Juumonji-sensei
 Kaede Juumonji.’
Even if Kaede wasn’t already the scion of a rich family, her willpower and resolution alone made her special. Yukari Asamiya was also similar to her as well.
Being special
 these factors didn’t necessarily stem from one’s birth.
Perhaps being born with an excellent appearance or into a renowned family would make someone special to begin with, but there were also others that were just ordinary but became special through their own hard efforts.
‘While I may not be the first type, I can become the second! Any ordinary person has this type of potential.’
“I still don’t know how I should do it. But I’m right beside him—I’m his good friend, and he isn’t my only friend. If I don’t know what I should do, I can ask my other friends.”
Seiji and Chiaki were her closest friends, and one of them was the person she liked
 this was the most powerful advantage that Mika Uehara possessed.
This was actually an incredible strength. If one really tried to find something “special” about her, this was it.
Not everything needed to be told to her friends.
But wanting to change herself
 that is to say, maturing through her own hard efforts wasn’t something she should conceal.
That was something Mika realized after meeting Chiaki today.
After avoiding Chiaki for so long and seeing her today, Mika realized that she had been isolating herself, and that helped her to realize that she really should explain things to her good friend and ask for help.
People should make decisions about their lives on their own, and after making a decision, if that person didn’t know what specific direction to take or where to spend their efforts, asking a good friend for advice and help was only natural
 in fact, it was the most natural thing to do!
That was the correct way to treat your friends.
Well, maybe that sounded a little too pragmatic, but that’s what it meant. You should do the things that you should do, and if you need help, just honestly ask for help.
“That’s what I’ve come up with. There are more choices than what you gave me! You’re willing to help me, and I believe that you offered aid out kindness, but you also said that the way you can help make me ‘special’ has risks to it. I need to know exactly what the risk is, and what will change in me. If your ‘change
’ will make me end up like the Little Mermaid
 then I refuse.” This was Mika’s choice that wasn’t in the girl’s originally provided options.
This was the final answer that she arrived at after being mired in confusion.
She resolutely faced the silver-haired girl and displayed her unflinching will.
The girl observed Mika’s expression closely.
A moment later, she chuckled lightly. Her expression was bright and warm.
“You said something excellent with an excellent expression on your face,” she said. “When was the last time I saw such a beautiful expression? I don’t even remember.”
“Mika Uehara, I’m rather surprised that you’ve matured so much in such a short amount of time
 but this is exactly why humans are so mysterious.”
“Thank you for allowing me to see such beauty
 and as for your question, my answer is
”