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The True Nature of the New Heroine
It was the first time I had ridden in a limousine, and I felt uncomfortable that this space, with its L-shaped seats and tables, was the interior of the car.
I feel 

 kind of uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable for a commoner by nature.
“Why was Kotaro in such a place? Your house isn’t around here, is it?”
The car drives off slowly.
Mary huddled close to me and spoke to me.
I don’t think I should bother sitting next to her since it’s such a big car, 

 and if I got too friendly with other girls, that cute little girl would get jealous, so I kept a good distance from her.
About two seats apart, then I answer her question.
“I was visiting my friend Shiho 

 Shiho Shimotsuki’s house. My house is indeed a bit far from here, 

 but how do you know that?”
Now it’s my turn to return a question.
It is inexplicable. Mary, who had been acting as if she didn’t know anything about me, had identified not only my name but also my address. That was eerie.
“What if I told you that I have a thirst for knowledge?”
“I would reply, [“That’s not an answer.”].”
“You’re not very perceptive, are you? I mean, it’s uncomfortable to not know something, so I make an effort to know everything

. See, my parents are the only people who have money, which means their daughter, me, can use it to do a lot of things.”
She gives a twisted answer, yet roundabout way.
“So you’re saying that 

 you know the personal information of someone as humble as me? I take it that you’re interpreting that to mean that you’ve looked into 

 in a dirty, paid-for way that’s hard to talk about

.?”
“Well? I didn’t say that much, but if you want to think so, I won’t deny it. Anyway, the process may be different, but the result is the same. Maybe I know more about Kotaro than you think I do?”
With that, Mary crossed her legs.
Her school uniform was unchanged, but her short skirt revealed her firm thighs. If I were Ryuzaki, I would have turned up my nose at this sight, but for me, with my low sexual appetite, it was of no importance.
I immediately removed my eyes from her thighs.
Seeing this, Mary was somehow nodding her head.
“Heh, 

 Kotaro is not interested in a girl’s body? I think a normal boy would be a little more delirious now that he can be alone with me.”
(TLN: Hoes mad.)
“
 Didn’t you know that? You know more about me than I think you do, right?”
“Yeah, maybe so, maybe not. So I’ll just pretend that I just found out that Kotaro can’t get through to me in a colorful way, okay?”
What a 

 choice of words you’ve been making since a while ago, all you do is make smoke screens.
She was a much brighter and more innocent character at school, very jolly and foreign, but I didn’t quite recognize her now.
Is this the real Mary?
Is that overly bright, noisy, high-strung character that she plays in front of Ryuzaki a lie?
“Hihi. You’re surprised, aren’t you 

 No, you’re confused, aren’t you? Was Kotaro mistaken about me? What kind of person did you think I was? Well, I won’t tell you the correct answer yet, but I will give you a hint. I am not what you think I am.”
Does that mean that Mary I have in mind isn’t really Mary or is she?