Chapter 7 Part I

I noticed a change as soon as I set foot inside the classroom. Sakura, who usually made it to school just in the nick of time, was already sitting at her desk. Had she come here early for any specific reason?

Horikita also looked shocked to see Sakura. Moreover, Sakura's body language itself… Well, she looked the same as usual, but I felt like she was sitting up straight, as if ready for something. It was such a subtle difference that you couldn't really call it a change. It was so miniscule that if you told me I was imagining it, I would say you were right and drop it.

Just as we were about to pass Sakura's seat, she looked up. Instead of a proper greeting, she meekly raised her hand. For someone like Sakura, that seemed an appropriate response.

That's what I thought, until—

"Um… Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun. Horikita-san."

"G-good morning…"

That was the first time Sakura had given a morning greeting. I was so shocked that my response stuck in my throat. Our eyes didn't meet, but she still desperately tried to squeeze out the words.

"What's with her?" Horikita muttered.

"Maybe because of what happened yesterday, she took a step forward on the path to adulthood?"

Sakura, who rarely spoke in front of others, had boldly given testimony in a tense environment. She'd likely taken the opportunity for some self-reflection.

"People don't change so easily. Trying to change yourself is virtually impossible." Horikita's brief but realistic statement shattered the lovely image I'd created. As I was no idealist myself, I thought Horikita was mostly correct. There was no truly major difference between the today's Sakura and yesterday's.

However, it certainly wouldn't be true to say she was exactly the same. In order to change, first she had to think about changing herself. She had to want to change. There was no mistaking that.

"As long as she doesn't overdo it, I think it'll be fine," Horikita said.

"Overdo it?"

"If she tries to do what isn't possible for someone like her yet, she'll just set herself up to fail."

There was a mysterious yet convincing power to Horikita's words, almost as if she were speaking from experience.

"Well, as a loner who loves her solitude, you're very persuasive on this topic."

"Do you want to die for good?"

Perhaps she didn't come from solitude, but rather from hell…

I observed Sakura from a distance. She wasn't yet in a state where she could easily greet other students. Just as I'd expected, she didn't spontaneously become sociable. Would it be better if she didn't force herself? Certainly. She didn't usually talk to anyone, but she gave us a greeting. What another would consider a trivial action was a tremendous mental and physical strain on Sakura.

It was hard to think that this wouldn't have an effect on her. Then again, she might split at the seams if she tried to force herself to change too much. We should take care with how we executed our strategy.