"What is the relationship between Kato-san and Yukima-san?"
In the end, curiosity could not be suppressed.
On the way ho, Miyamizu Mitsuha curiously asked.
Kato gumi, the one being asked, placed a finger on her cheek and thought for a mont.
"Probably lovers, I guess." After so thought, Kato gumi gave that answer.
This response was not surprising.
On the contrary, Miyamizu Mitsuha found Kato gumi's way of phrasing it confusing.
Why say "probably"?
"That's strange. Aren't you two dating?"
Miyamizu Mitsuha felt that if soone as deeply affectionate as Kato gumi were ignored and not given enough sense of security—
That would be nothing short of a cri against heaven and earth.
Moreover, Kato gumi was so gentle and adorable.
Kato gumi saw through Miyamizu Mitsuha's thoughts.
Although explaining was a bit troubleso, Kato gumi did not want others to misunderstand Yukima Azuma.
"Dating? The relationship between and Azuma-san probably can't be defined that simply."
Kato gumi gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
At the beginning of the school year, Kato gumi had a cute bob haircut.
Now, her hair had grown a bit longer.
"Ne, Miyamizu-san, you got scared by this morning, didn't you?" Kato gumi said while tucking her hair, her finger pointing at herself.
Miyamizu Mitsuha nodded slightly.
She had indeed been frightened this morning.
A girl as grown as Kato gumi—
Silently appearing right beside her without making a single sound.
If the other party hadn't spoken first,
Miyamizu Mitsuha felt that she would not have noticed Kato gumi's presence at all.
Seeing Miyamizu Mitsuha nod, Kato gumi slightly lowered her eyes:
"Because I have very little presence."
Hearing this, Miyamizu Mitsuha opened her mouth—
Wanting to refute.
After all, how could a girl as cute and gentle as Kato gumi have a low presence?
But thinking it over carefully—
Today, while walking around Toyogasaki with Kato gumi,
There were indeed a few tis when she spaced out and forgot about Kato gumi's existence.
Her mouth, which was about to speak, suddenly didn't know what to say.
She even took a cold breath, finding it a little unbelievable.
"I've been like this since I was very young. In class group activities, I was almost always alone."
"Sotis, even the teacher forgot to call my na during roll call, and my elentary school classmates completely failed to recognize after moving up to middle school."
Kato gumi lowered her eyes as she recounted her past.
The things that happened to Kato gumi—
Hearing them made Miyamizu Mitsuha feel sorrowful.
She herself felt a little down just from being teased by classmates a few tis a day.
She couldn't even imagine—if she had been ignored by others since childhood, how devastating that would be.
"But Azuma-san was able to notice ."
Kato gumi's words made Miyamizu Mitsuha, who had been about to offer words of comfort, montarily freeze.
"Azuma-san transferred into my class in middle school."
"Everyone had been with for over two years, yet almost no one knew my na."
"But on the very first day he transferred in, Azuma-san ca up to and said: 'You're Kato gumi, right?'"
"At that ti, I found it unbelievable, but that was only the beginning."
"From the day he knew , he never once forgot . He always paid attention to ."
"He always said I had so kind of magic, but to , the real magician was Azuma-san."
Kato gumi's tone was very gentle.
A girl who was always light and subtle, never revealing her emotions—
Yet now, she exuded a sweetness filled with happiness.
Because she was lowering her head—
Miyamizu Mitsuha could not see Kato gumi's expression.
At this mont, Kato gumi's eyes were overflowing with emotions.
This morning, she had truly been startled.
The mont Miyamizu Mitsuha was scared by her—
Kato gumi felt a sense of emptiness inside.
Her Azuma, who could always notice her existence.
Her Azuma, who would gently smile at her and say that she had the pleasant scent of tuberoses.
Her Azuma, who had only her in his heart and in his eyes—whenever she tilted her head, he looked as if he had been struck by Cupid's arrow.
So, even if the person in front of her had the sa appearance as Azuma, the sa voice as Azuma, everything was the sa—
Kato gumi could still imdiately recognize that this was not her Azuma.
Up until now, Kato gumi's heart was still empty.
She could feel that Yukima Azuma, the one who always noticed her, was not here.
But Kato gumi still calmly conversed with Miyamizu Mitsuha.
She simply didn't want to cause any more trouble for her Azuma.
"What happened next? What happened next?"
Miyamizu Mitsuha had been completely drawn into gumi and Azuma's story.
Kato gumi withdrew her emotions, lifted her head, and blinked.
"I'll continue the story later. We're almost at the station."
...
The bullet train arrived at Shibuya Station.
The two got off and walked toward Yukima's house.
Seeing the silhouette of the apartnt building from afar—
Miyamizu Mitsuha suddenly rembered sothing important.
Inside that apartnt, there was also another girl with long, straight black hair.
"Ah, how should I act to resemble Yukima-san the most?"
Miyamizu Mitsuha asked.
"The senpai in the apartnt probably doesn't know about my situation yet."
"To avoid causing more trouble for Yukima-san, I want to try pretending a little."
Hearing this, Kato gumi could only shake her head helplessly.
"I don't think you'll be able to fool her. Kasumigaoka-senpai is very smart."
Hearing this, Miyamizu Mitsuha looked unconvinced.
Yukima Azuma had stayed at her house, facing Yotsuha and her grandmother for seven whole days without exposing a single flaw.
And yet, for her, everyone could imdiately tell sothing was off?
The reason she got exposed by Kato gumi was simply because this gentle girl cared too much!
There was no way that everyone could see through her that easily!
Seeing Miyamizu Mitsuha's unconvinced expression,
Even though she knew it was probably futile, Kato gumi still explained a little.
"Normally, Azuma-san calls Kasumigaoka-senpai 'Utaha-senpai' or simply 'senpai.'"
"Azuma-san and Kasumigaoka-senpai are very close—holding hands, head pats, that kind of thing is normal."
"And Kasumigaoka-senpai usually calls Azuma-san 'Lonely-kun.' If she refers to him as 'you' or 'him,' or if she keeps tapping or shaking her leg, it ans she's angry."
After hearing this, Miyamizu Mitsuha's jaw dropped.
She really wanted to ask Kato gumi if she ever got jealous when other girls were this close to Yukima Azuma.
But before she could ask—
The two had already arrived at Yukima's doorstep.
Before they could even open the door, it was pushed open from the inside.
Kasumigaoka Utaha stood with her arms crossed,
Her wine-colored eyes staring at the two of them.
Miyamizu Mitsuha suddenly felt a chill down her spine.
It was clearly the middle of a sweltering sumr, yet it felt as if a cold breeze from the Arctic was creeping through her collar.
Cautiously stepping into the apartnt—
She hadn't even had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief—
When she heard Kasumigaoka Utaha speak:
"You, go stand over there. I have sothing to say to you."
Hearing this form of address, Miyamizu Mitsuha shuddered.
Tsk tsk tsk...
She looked down.
A pair of white slippers was tapping rhythmically against the wooden floor.
Judging by the speed of that leg shaking, she could already tell how irritated the owner was.
Why!?
Miyamizu Mitsuha obediently walked to the spot Kasumigaoka Utaha had pointed at.
But Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't look at her.
Instead, her gaze settled on Kato gumi.
In those eyes, there was a hint of questioning.
Kato gumi turned away and softly whistled.
Receiving no information, Kasumigaoka Utaha turned back to Miyamizu Mitsuha.
"Aren't you going to explain?"
"Senpai, um... explain what?"
"Yukima Azuma?"
"Senpai, could you give a hint?"
"Stop calling 'senpai' over and over. I don't know you. Who are you?"
"Eh? That is..."
"You. Are. Who!? Where is Yukima Azuma right now?"
Miyamizu Mitsuha froze, startled as she looked up.
Had she really been seen through after just a few sentences?
But the mont she lifted her head—
Kasumigaoka Utaha had already walked into the kitchen at so point.
At this mont, she was holding a kitchen knife, gripping it tightly in her hand.
Even though she was holding it upside down, with the blade pointing toward the floor,
Miyamizu Mitsuha had absolutely no doubt that the long-haired girl in front of her would dare to stab her.
Kato gumi hurriedly ran over and wrapped her arms around Kasumigaoka Utaha's waist.
Kasumigaoka Utaha's breathing was slightly ragged.
But perhaps because Kato gumi was here, she was still holding onto a sliver of rationality.
Knowing the story behind the 600-page Love Letter—
Kasumigaoka Utaha understood clearly that if sothing had really happened to Yukima Azuma, Kato gumi would not be standing here so calmly.
But reason was one thing.
At this mont, the fact that she was gripping the knife wasn't just for show.
Miyamizu Mitsuha's face turned slightly pale.
She hurriedly, as quickly as she could, recounted the entire story of the identity swap.
Kasumigaoka Utaha listened halfway before putting the knife back in its place.
However, her gaze toward Miyamizu Mitsuha remained far from friendly.
Since the day before yesterday, she had already felt that sothing was off.
Today, after just two sentences, she was absolutely certain—the person in front of her was definitely not Yukima Azuma.
The personalities were too different.
Thinking of Hogyokumaru,
Kasumigaoka Utaha imdiately linked the situation to supernatural phenona.
After a brief silence, she turned away and left.
Even though she understood that the swap wasn't Miyamizu Mitsuha's fault,
Kasumigaoka Utaha still didn't want to talk to her.
Watching her retreating figure ascend the stairs and disappear onto the second floor,
Miyamizu Mitsuha let out a sigh.
"Kasumigaoka-senpai doesn't actually have anything against you. She's just taking out her anger elsewhere."
Kato gumi spoke up to explain.
Miyamizu Mitsuha nodded.
"I get it. Honestly, that kind of reaction is normal. Kato-san, you're a little too gentle."
Hearing this, Kato gumi simply smiled quietly without responding.
She was being this kind to Miyamizu Mitsuha because of Yukima Azuma.
In reality, her feelings weren't all that different from Kasumigaoka Utaha's—it was just that she expressed them differently.
"I… I'll go to sleep first. Hopefully, I'll switch back soon."
Miyamizu Mitsuha slumped and walked toward her room.
"At least eat dinner first."
Kato gumi pulled her back.
Then, she stepped into the kitchen, opened the fridge, took out the ingredients, and started preparing dinner.
—
Nightti.
Miyamizu Mitsuha lay on the bed, eyes closed, trying to fall asleep.
Kato gumi sat at the edge of the bed.
To avoid putting pressure on Miyamizu Mitsuha,
She didn't look at her,
But instead picked up the Bunny Girl Senpai book on the table and buried herself in reading.
Even though Miyamizu Mitsuha was tense,
She had been exhausted from the entire day.
About half an hour later, she finally drifted into sleep.
Once Kato gumi confird that Miyamizu Mitsuha was fast asleep,
She finally lifted her head,
Fixing her gaze on the girl lying on the bed, her eyes never wavering for even a second.
Before long, the door to the room was pushed open.
Kasumigaoka Utaha also stepped inside, pulled up a chair, and sat down beside Kato gumi.
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