“Um… Senpai, there’s something I need to talk to you about as well.”

“Okay. What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?”

Now it’s my turn.

“Yes… well, I know it sounds like a personal story, but I want to be honest with you, so that Senpai and I can be friends from now on.”

To be honest, I was worried that she might get disappointed with me telling her about this, but since she had already told me so much, I just had to tell her.

I looked Senpai in the eye and began to talk.

“Did you know that I’m isolated in class?”

“Isolated… I  didn’t really think of it that way, but after what happened on the rooftop where we first met, I knew there are problems going on in class.”

Senpai replied with a slight nod.

Before, on our earlier exchange, I had hinted at it in a subtle manner.

And if I’m always alone, she’s bound to notice it eventually.

“As far as my class is concerned, it wasn’t that they did anything to me initially. It started out simply because I couldn’t fit in, or rather, I hated the guys in my class because they brought up things from junior high that I didn’t like.”

I can’t or don’t want to say much about my junior high school days.

However, I can’t explain this without mentioning it, however briefly it may be.

“You mean what happened when you were in junior high school?”

“Yes. Shortly after I started third grade, I was isolated from my class after I got in trouble with them. I didn’t think I did anything wrong, but that isolated me, and after that they ignored and excluded me from just about everything.”

“So something like that happened…”

“It was similar to the students from my class then, the ones in my current class now. So I hated them, they hated me, and then they made fun of me on the rooftop.”

“…”

Senpai continued to listen to me in silence.

She was staring firmly at me, and listening carefully.

And the next part was the one I’m afraid to talk about.

“Since the rest of the class seemed to agree with the morons, I became more and more disgusted with the class and found myself isolated again. I didn’t want to be with them anyway, so I ran away from the classroom. The flower garden just happened to be the place I ran to. I started watering the flowers because I had nothing better to do.”

“As for your grandmother, I happened to see her right in front of me, and a part of me felt that I couldn’t overlook her, but the other part of me was compulsive because I knew that if I walked past her without helping her, people around me would give me the reproaching look. And the fact that I didn’t listen to Senpai’s words properly, misunderstood and ran away, only made me feel worse about myself that no one would look at me after all.”

Perhaps I didn’t really need to be so honest about this.

However, since I told Senpai something like that anyway.

Then I want to be honest with her.

“That’s why, although senpai praised me a lot, the truth is…”

“I won’t change my opinion of you even if I hear that, you know, Takanashi-san?”

And Senpai, who had been silently listening to me the whole time, opened her mouth.

To be honest, I had prepared myself to be disliked, but the words that came out of Senpai’s mouth were both surprising and reassuring.

“I told you that I believe you, Takanashi-san. And also, I feel that you and I have some similarities, including our stories from junior high school.”

That’s what I also felt when I heard Senpai’s story.

Maybe Senpai also felt resemblance from my story after all.

“About the flower garden, about my grandmother and the girl, for whatever reason, Takanashi-san took action. That’s already the difference. And you weren’t reluctant to do so, were you? I think that’s your kindness, Takanashi-san. Today’s incident is the same. Even though you were avoiding me, you still came to help me, didn’t you?”

I hadn’t expected to be perceived so favorably.

I didn’t think I would be hated, but I was prepared for her to be disappointed, or even for her to be discouraged about me.

That’s why I felt relieved, and the tension that had been building up inside me seemed to have loosened.

“No matter what Takanashi-san says, I believe and agree with you. Therefore, my evaluation will not change. Do you understand?”

“…Y-yes…”

And before I knew it, I was crying.

The fact that she saw the things that I’ve done.

That she felt this way about me.

That she believed in me wholeheartedly.

The person I’ve been searching for… finally showed up.

I am really happy…

Then senpai approached me and started caressing my head.

“Fufu… So this is what it’s like to pat someone’s head…”

“Sen…pai…”

Senpai smiled kindly, patted me on the head and continued the talk.

“I didn’t get your reply earlier. So I’m going to ask you again… will you continue… to be friends with me?

“Yes… of course.”

“I’m really glad. Then, please take care of me from now on.”

And until I stopped crying, Senpai was smiling and caressing me like a goddess…