"They thought they had the championship locked down, but the teams destined for the championship and runner-up are clashing in the semifinals—what a pity!"

"There's only one champion at Koshien, no runner-up. Sooner or later, you must defeat everyone!"

The commentary on TV was extremely excited.

One look at the audience's reaction, and you knew everyone was highly anticipating this game.

The scene on the television made Dubian Che think back to his own rescue in the regional finals—but all of that was inconsequential.

The most important thing about that day was what Kiyono Lin said to him in the sweltering corridor:

"Do you not have something you want to do, regardless of others?"

What did he want to do?

Of course, it was to live happily with the five people, including Kiyono Lin.

That was an impossibility.

Kiyono Lin had her own convictions and pride, her own promises, and responsibilities that she couldn't just easily give up.

What else did he want to do?

To get Jiutiao Meijie to do something other than sleep all day, to keep Kiyono Lin from reading alone, and to reconcile the two so they could become friends again.

To have someone to go shopping with, someone to discuss which outfit looked better—that is the only thing he wanted to do now.

His thoughts followed this thread further, and it was Jiutiao Meijie's voice that replaced Kiyono Lin's:

"Your relationship with Kiyono Lin is too good; you can't think rationally, can't look at her objectively, and you think everything from her perspective."

To view Kiyono Lin calmly... Not just Kiyono Lin, but the relationship between Kiyono Lin and Jiutiao Meijie.

If it were anyone else, even the whole world, Dubian Che would stand by Kiyono Lin without hesitation.

But this person was Jiutiao Meijie. This wasn't about arguing over whether tenacity and honesty were right or wrong; Dubian Che believed he could stay calm.

If both sides were equal, then the problem could be simplified: When it comes to friendship, whoever is more in the wrong should apologize.

Based on his understanding of the two, once one apologized, the other would definitely respond with sarcasm.

But that didn't matter, with Kiyono Lin's ability to see through lies, their reconciliation and their hearts drawing closer would be clearly revealed.

As long as one of them felt sorry, they would make up—that much, Dubian Che was sure of.

No need to worry about someone knowing they are wrong but not admitting it because of their personality.

Kiyono Lin would admit fault, as she wasn't someone who, because she'd been excellent for so long, wouldn't allow others to outshine her or allow herself to have flaws.

As she herself had boasted last spring:

Acknowledging her shortcomings was, in itself, a part of her excellence.

As for Jiutiao Meijie, getting her to admit she was wrong was harder than expecting her to eliminate the person pointing out her mistakes.

But Dubian Che was the other party, so was Kiyono Lin—one who whispered intimacy in bed, the other who could see true intentions beneath the surface, who only spoke the truth.

He had thought so much, but getting one of them to feel sorry was the most difficult and critical step.

After Kiyono Lin gained the ability to see through lies, she made a pact with Jiutiao Meijie: They would not lie and would continue being friends.

Jiutiao Meijie agreed, but how could she not lie if she intended to take over the Jiutiao Family.

The pact was broken, Kiyono Lin felt betrayed and no longer associated with Jiutiao Meijie;

Jiutiao Meijie thought Kiyono Lin was unapproachable and stopped associating with her as well;

Two little girls who played together every day before they were four years old started to disdain each other after that age.

In their hearts, each felt they had been betrayed and treated unfairly.

They each had their stance, their difficulties—no one was wrong, yet everyone was wrong.

This was the crux that had troubled Dubian Che all along, the reason for the deterioration of their relationship to this point, and something even the ladies were helpless about.

"Godawa is behind for now, come on!"

The TV showed a baseball game that Dubian Che had no interest in.

With the commentator's voice in the background, the camera panned to the Godawa cheerleading team.

The whole school formed the two large characters for "Goda";

The wind instrument club blowing hard in the scorching sun;

And in the front row, Akiko who was about to faint from the heat, Xiaoquan Aonai, and Miyazaki Mieko caring for her.

After half a month, Xiaoquan Aonai's eyes were still so gentle.

Even if he couldn't hear what she was saying to Akiko, Dubian Che could imagine the softness of her voice.

"..." Dubian Che suddenly remembered something.

The words of Jiutiao Meijie faded from his ear, replaced by the images of Xiaoquan Aonai and Mayi Asuka on the lawn at the Meiji Shrine:

"The only way to happiness is if we care for and understand each other."

It was what Xiaoquan Aonai had consoled him with after he deliberately kept his distance from them in front of Jiutiao Meijie and later apologized.

Each of the five of them had their wishes to fulfill, their fates entwined, their emotions and desires intricate and complex.

Wasn't the sole path to happiness for them to care for and understand each other?

Having this realization, Dubian Che finally determined a way for the two to make up.

It might fail, but until a better method was found, all he could do was to go for it.

Whatever he did, even if it was like what the two ladies did—insisting the two spend more time together—was better than just waiting and doing nothing.

Dubian Che felt pleasured and snapped back from his inner world.

Kiyono Lin was reading by the window, the two ladies asleep on the sofa, and Jiutiao Meijie slumped on his shoulder sleeping.

From the TV came the school anthem of Osaka Tsubaki.

The Godawa baseball team, the buzz-cut boys who persisted in their morning jogs, wiped away uncontrollable tears with their dirt-streaked, black hands.

Dubian Che put Jiutiao Meijie on the sofa and stood up to turn down the volume of the TV.

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