Episode 51: Why
“Why?”
Shiori asks it quietly.
Her tone sounds calm, and yet something underneath it comes through anyway.
“Why are you this fixated on Shiraishi-san?”
—That’s what I want to ask.
What’s actually different?
Shiori is kind, and being with her is calming, and she genuinely treasures me.
And yet, why won’t my heart move?
“…I don’t know.”
I answered honestly.
Shiori’s eyes narrow, just slightly.
“You don’t know, huh.”
She repeats it quietly, and lets out a small breath.
And then, the next moment—
“…Then, why don’t we try something?”
Shiori’s hand touches my cheek.
Startled, I lift my face, and in that instant the distance between us closes sharply.
“…Shio—”
Before I can finish the word, Shiori’s face draws closer.
—I’m going to be kissed.
The moment I think it, I’ve already reached out on reflex and pushed back against her shoulder.
“…!”
Shiori’s movement stops.
The air in the room tightens all at once.
Her eyes, fixed on me, tremble faintly.
“…Why.”
Shiori’s voice drops low.
“Why are you refusing?”
The eyes looking at me seemed to be burning, quietly.
I don’t feel afraid. But it’s intense. So intense it feels like it could stop my breath.
“…Shiori.”
“Do you hate me?”
At the question, I shake my head immediately.
“No. I don’t hate you.”
“Then what is it?”
Shiori presses in, closing the distance with her question.
She’s angry. No — more precisely, I can tell she’s desperately holding the anger back.
“I told you how I felt, didn’t I?”
Shiori’s voice trembled.
The voice that had always been so composed, so full of confidence — now wavering, just slightly, with unease.
“Even so, it’s still no good?”
At those words, I catch my breath.
I understand how Shiori feels.
But I can’t accept it.
“…I’m sorry.”
That was all I could manage.
I could tell Shiori started to say something, and swallowed it back down.
Her fist clenched, her brow drew tight—
“…Hey, Yuna-chan.”
A low voice.
A voice more nakedly emotional than I’d ever heard from her before.
“What’s so good about Shiraishi-san?”
—My heart lurched.
“I’d treasure you more, you know?”
Shiori’s words drove sharply into my chest.
“I would never make you cry. I’d put you more at ease, love you more. More, even more—”
Each time Shiori piled another word on, her eyes grew hotter with it.
“I could definitely make you happier than she ever could.”
Shiori’s eyes held mine, fixed, unwilling to let go.
In them, I could feel something fierce, something burning.