Yukinoshita Yukino.
The second daughter of the Yukinoshita family.
A true genius.
Even without having to study hard, she could consistently top the rankings throughout her high school years.
When she got into university, it was called "the year of Yukinoshita."
The national university entrance exam, with an absolute leading score, she was accepted into the University of Tokyo.
It wasn't that she didn't get into the University of Tokyo's School of dicine, known as the gathering place of monsters.
It's just that Yukinoshita chose the Finance departnt instead.
A person as brilliant as that should have shone brightly when entering society.
This needs to be repeated once again:
In this society of Japan, where the class system is clearly divided.
No matter how dazzling a genius is, in this world of clear class division, they will be sowhat lowered.
If you don't bend, you can't live well, you can only live with difficulty.
And Yukinoshita Yukino should not have to endure this.
After all, she is the second daughter of the Yukinoshita family.
It could even be said that she is one of the people who benefit from the fixed class system.
But the condition to enjoy this is:
She must obey the arrangents of her family.
Because the Yukinoshita family must marry into a family of equal status.
Even if the husband she must marry is soone she has never t.
What's worse, this person is a scoundrel who is said to have turned won into playthings, having hard countless won.
Still, she is forced to comply.
Yukinoshita Yukino could not accept this.
So she ran away.
Leaving the Yukinoshita family's house in Chiba.
She went to Tokyo alone.
She wanted to live freely in this place.
But looking back now, true freedom was a luxurious and expensive commodity.
.....
She boarded the Shinkansen back to her rented apartnt.
It was a small room on the outskirts of Tokyo, where it took her an hour and thirty minutes to commute to the city center every day.
The space was cramped, there was no natural light, the soundproofing was nearly nonexistent, and sotis the water or electricity would go out.
She closed the rusty iron door behind her.
Leaning against the door, Yukinoshita hugged a cardboard box and slowly slid down to the floor.
Tears flowed uncontrollably, dropping one by one.
They ran down her flawless, pale cheek, silently falling to the ground without a sound.
Yukinoshita Yukino didn't even have the right to cry out loud.
Because her sobs would echo far.
Perhaps they would disturb the rest of those around her.
Her neighbor was a single woman, who, after divorcing her husband, raised her young child on her own.
The child was probably still asleep.
That mother had to struggle desperately to make a living.
Yukinoshita Yukino felt that she shouldn't disturb them any further.
But the more she thought like that,
The more the feeling of humiliation in her heart beca harder to suppress.
She closed her eyes tightly, curling herself into a ball.
In her mind, images from many years ago resurfaced.
The boy from that year, the one who gave her courage.
That spring, when she returned to the Yukinoshita family's main house.
A stranger boy was sitting in front of her mother.
Facing the mother she had always feared, the teenager wasn't afraid at all. In fact, he was a little arrogant, speaking loudly and confidently.
The mory of his face had faded.
But the words from that day still echoed in her ears.
"Want to borrow the Yukinoshita family's reputation? Who do you think you are, dreaming such nonsense?"
The teenager: "Borrow? Am I not paying? The stock transfer agreent and store transfer contract are right here."
"How ridiculous. Do you even know what the Yukinoshita na represents in terms of status?"
The teenager: "To put it bluntly, it's that you don't have enough money. You flaunt your status as if you were once the Pri Minister."
"Hmph, you're right about not having enough money. And I also find you repulsive. What can you do to ?"
The teenager: "Fine. I'll go to another real estate company in Chiba and see if they're interested in Yukinoshita's shares."
The teenager: "At most, I'll take the money and disappear. That should give you quite a headache, huh? Wait until they drag you into the shareholders' eting for a 'debate'~"
"The shares you hold, the Yukinoshita family has the right of first refusal."
The teenager: "Fine, I'll prioritize you. Thirty billion, do you want it? If not, I'll sell it to your rivals. They'll definitely buy. After they buy, I'll play two rounds of golf with them, and after hitting a hole-in-one, I'll even give them a red envelope."
"You!"
The teenager: "What about ?"
"Hmph, fine, you're good. Give the contract, the Yukinoshita family will adopt you."
That afternoon, under the cloudy sky,
The teenager took the contract and then raised his middle finger.
"I don't need the Yukinoshita na, you keep it and play with it yourself."
"So birds are born destined not to be caged. Each of their feathers shines with the light of freedom."
The teenager walked past Yukinoshita Yukino that afternoon.
Even though the clouds were thick and there was no sunlight,
A golden light seed to emanate from behind the teenager.
That brilliant light had led Yukinoshita Yukino to escape after graduating from the University of Tokyo.
But now,
The last flickers of golden light in her soul were gradually fading away.
The inability to fit into society, being fired multiple tis from jobs, résumés sinking like stones into a deep ocean, rent due soon, and a tight financial situation that barely allows her to afford discounted lunch boxes.
One thing after another, these struggles slowly wore Yukino down.
They forced her to return to that gilded cage.
Ding!
In the dimly lit rented room, even during the day, a clear reminder sound echoed.
Yukinoshita quickly wiped the tears from her face.
She pulled out her phone, her eyes still blurred with tears, staring at the screen.
"Hello, Miss Yukinoshita Yukino, our company, Laplace, has reviewed your résumé. For a talent like you, Miss Yukinoshita, we are always eager to collaborate.
We would like to discuss possible opportunities with you. May I ask when would be a good ti for us to et and talk?"
Seeing the ssage pop up on her screen, Yukinoshita Yukino hurriedly unlocked her phone, checking the ssage urgently.
Like soone drowning, clinging to a lifeline, she feared it might just be an advertisent from so unknown app.
After carefully checking and confirming that it was from a job application platform where she had submitted her résumé, and that Laplace was indeed a legitimate company recognized online, Yukinoshita Yukino gripped her phone tightly in her hands, nearly bursting out in a joyous exclamation.
This ssage was like a ray of light breaking through the darkness of her world.
It made her reach out, desperate to seize the future that could be hers.
.....
Midday, the sun shining brightly.
"Finally... finally, I've arrived. What the hell am I doing here?!"
Gotoh Hitori crouched next to a pile of sand in the park, holding her head in her hands, lost in thought.
This week had been an extrely difficult one for Gotoh Hitori.
At the end of spring break, she had experienced sothing she never dared imagine.
A super handso, high-class guy had struck up a conversation with her.
The two of them beca friends and could even call each other by na!
Gotoh Hitori wanted to describe her experience like that.
However, the reality was far from it.
The other person was too cruel, completely exploiting her personality.
Just after one eting, their relationship had quickly escalated to the point of "master and pet."
Moreover, that person had asked to et again.
Bocchi was filled with anxiety and unease.
In a restless state, Gotoh Hitori entered her first day of high school.
She deliberately chose a high school far away from ho.
After enrolling, no one knew who she was.
However, this didn't mark the beginning of a new chapter.
During middle school, Gotoh Hitori had been unable to make friends due to communication barriers.
And this, even in high school, showed no signs of improving.
As a result, as expected,
A week after school started, Gotoh Hitori still hadn't made a single friend.
In an attempt to make friends, Gotoh Hitori brought her guitar to school.
She hoped soone would notice the prominent instrunt and strike up a conversation with her.
However, despite trying, Gotoh Hitori remained all alone.
"Listen to my song: 'I quietly died in the corner of the room because no one cared.'"
Reflecting on the events of the first week after school started, Bocchi took out her guitar from behind her and began to play and sing by herself.
Yes, she had brought her guitar.
It could be said that she was completely imrsed in her own world.
With dark, somber lyrics, she sang through the entire song.
Finally, she ended the performance with a strong strum of the strings.
Bocchi, as usual, bowed in all directions out of habit.
She acted as if she had just completed a major performance.
Usually, these self-perford monts were only faced with empty air, and of course, no one would respond.
But today...
A round of applause rang out from one side.
Bocchi froze in shock, her whole body stiffened, and she slowly turned her head.
Yukima Azuma was standing there, smiling in admiration, clapping his hands non-stop.
"Please, please... please forget what just happened!"
Bocchi felt as if her entire life had just collapsed.
What was she supposed to do when a social anxiety sufferer like her had her "self-destructive mont" witnessed by soone else?
"How could I forget? Bocchi played so well, really reached the level of a professional guitarist."
Yukima Azuma praised her seriously.
Although he wasn't highly skilled in music, at least he had a basic ability to appreciate it.
If he had to quantify Bocchi's guitar skills, Yukima Azuma guessed it would be sowhere between lv5 and lv6.
That was true professional level, even standing out among professionals.
Bocchi covered her face with her hands.
Though the praise made her genuinely happy, being complinted for a "self-destructive" mont felt no different from being publicly shad.
'No... that's not right. Azuma-kun was just complinting my guitar skills!'
Bocchi reassured herself in her mind.
Her confidence instantly surged.
Seeing that Gotoh Hitori seed to have regained her spirits, Yukima Azuma extended his hand toward her.
"Let's go."
However...
"Wan?" (jp dog sound) Gotoh Hitori suddenly lunged forward, pressing the tips of both her hands against Yukima Azuma's hand.
She looked just like a puppy at that mont.
No, she had even made a sound like that, so she definitely was a "puppy."
"Bocchi, so you actually have a hobby like this? Well, I don't mind it anyway."
Yukima Azuma mimicked Kato gumi's tone as he spoke.
"I... I just wanted to show absolute obedience to you. But earlier, when you said 'let's go,' where exactly are we going?"
Bocchi tried to explain her actions.
"We're friends, right? What do friends usually do on the weekends?"
"Um... get tattoos, pierce their tongues, sothing like that?"
"Let's go with sothing a little more normal."
"Uh... eat out?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Go shopping?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Watch a movie?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Rent a room?"
"Bocchi, do you want to be 'friends' with that way? I'm fine with that."
Bocchi's face imdiately turned bright red, and she tried to bury her face deep into the collar of her hoodie to hide her embarrassnt.
'What did I just say!?'
'And... Azuma-kun is way too kind!'
...
"Let's go."
Yukima Azuma proactively took Bocchi's hand and led her forward.
There was no other way; if he didn't take charge, Bocchi would probably cling to him in the park all day.
Bocchi, holding hands with him, didn't react as strongly as he had expected.
For her, the biggest issue wasn't the difference between n and won, but the difference between soone with social anxiety like her and... the rest of humanity.
Yukima Azuma was the first person to cross that barrier and stand in front of her.
As a result, she had no idea what the proper distance should be between friends, or between n and won.
'Since we're friends, holding hands is normal, right?'
'Yeah, Hitori, show so spirit, don't be so shy.'
'Co to think of it, Azuma-kun is really handso, and his style is on point. Compared to him, I'm just hopelessly uncool.'
'I've got dark circles under my eyes, my back is hunched, and I probably sll bad. After all, I spend all day hiding in the cupboard.'
'Ah, but I think I still sll like insect repellent. anwhile, Azuma-kun slls so nice, I really like it!'
Bocchi noticed Yukima Azuma wasn't looking back at her, so she secretly leaned forward to get closer.
A pleasant scent drifted by.
"Bocchi."
"Yes!"
The mont he called her, Bocchi imdiately pulled back to maintain so distance, turning her head away as if nothing had happened.
"Being around crowds might be hard for you, huh?"
"If you feel uncomfortable because of people staring, you can get closer to . You can think of as your shield."
Upon hearing Yukima Azuma's words, Bocchi turned around in a daze.
Then she saw Azuma-kun smiling at her, a smile full of trust.
'An angel! Azuma-kun is definitely an angel!'
For the first ti, soone cared about the issue of being watched by others, sothing that caused her so much pain.
Gotoh Hitori felt like she might burst into tears at any mont.
Even if Yukima Azuma asked her to kneel and swear lifelong loyalty right now, Hitori would do it without hesitation.
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