The next day, Sachiko is feeling jittery about how the gameplay went with Hanako taking her place.
"It was okay, I guess? I let him win some but I won most of it. I had to later ignore his requests to play further, " Hanako says.
"That's a relief."
After the homeroom teacher arrived, he informs that he'll be selecting the class representative.
He looks at Hanako and says, "Hanako, you scored the highest marks in the entrance exam, and therefore, you'll be the class rep."
"A-Ah, okay sir, " Hanako didn't seem enthusiastic about it at all.
"Congrats, Hanako!" Sachiko says.
"Thanks."
"I didn't know that you were a woman of intellect, " Sachiko butters her.
"Nuff said, " Hanako says.
At long break, Hanako and Sachiko are having their usual conversation. Souta appears outside their classroom and he calls Sachiko out.
"Takahashi! Here."
Sachiko gets flustered. A popular guy came to their classroom for her. Of course, all eyes were on her, she felt like an actress walking down the red carpet.
Whilst Hanako was basking in the view of a live-action Shoujo romance going on. She is in awe of the two.
"Isn't that Souta Honda of class 1-3? What is he doing with that loser Takahashi?"
"They happen to be in the same club. She obviously joined the club 'cause of him."
"As if that average-looking girl would score such a hottie, haha."
Hanako overhears two girls bitching about Sachiko, her friend. Of course, she didn't like it and so, she decided to intervene.
"You girls are standing in the way, go back to your respective seats, and don't be a bother, " Hanako tells her classmates who were bitching about Sachiko.
"O-Oh, okay."
The two girls leave.
"Look at Fujiwara, intervening 'cause she's the class rep."
"She was obviously trying to stop us from bitching about Takahashi."
"But seriously, why does a girl like her hang out with Takahashi? Fujiwara is too cool to be her friend."
"Yeah, on top of that, Sachiko is totally dependent on Hanako like a baby. She doesn't even have a spine."
Hanako could still hear them gossiping. She felt hurt by what they said about her friendship with Sachiko but decided not to do anything because she couldn't care less about them.
'Sachiko is pure unlike these filthy classmates, that is why she's my only friend. Moreover, I can't always keep everyone happy that is why Sachiko is my only priority. Plus, I'm comfortable whenever I'm with her. Why should I even care about what they say?'
But she couldn't help but agree to the fact that they were right about one thing— Sachiko was too dependent on Hanako.
'I know that I made a deal with her but sometimes she needs to deal with some problems by herself. If she only relies on me, she'll become the kind of person I dislike the most.'
After Souta goes back to his classroom, Sachiko runs to Hanako to tell her the good news.
"Hanako! Honda-kun was really impressed, all thanks to you, " Sachiko says, full of joy.
"That's great!"
"He said he couldn't wait for July to come. By that time, I'll be good to go. And we'll have club activities in summer, too. I'll be able to meet him, I'm so happy!"
Sachiko was feeling very ecstatic and she couldn't help but start fantasizing the two of them going out together.
"I'm glad that the two of you are developing a great friendship. He's slowly warming up to you. That's great progress considering how he was to you in the first meeting, " Hanako says, smiling.
"To show you my gratitude, I'll buy you bread. You wait here, I'm going!"
Sachiko went off to buy Hanako bread.
After buying the bread, Sachiko is heading back to her class. That's when she overhears two random guys talking about Hanako.
"I tried talking to our class rep., Fujiwara. She totally ignored me!"
"Look at that face of yours. Do you seriously think she'll talk with you?"
"You're right. She's out of my league. But a popular senior asked her out and she rejected him!"
"She's an ice queen. An ice-cold beauty!"
"She's kinda short but she's cute~"
"Cute plus sexy. Have you seen her assets?"
"Yeah! I wanna go bam, bam, bam on them."
Sachiko, after hearing those two guys talk, felt weird. She kinda started feeling insecure and jealous. Her inferiority complex started to resurface after whatever happened with Natsume. Another girl better than her, why? Why was she always overlooked? Maybe 'cause she's still clueless. Clueless that the world isn't pretty as it is painted in fairytales.
She then realizes something.
'All that I present to Honda-kun isn't even me. The irony is that the only person that I'm not real to is the person I like. Showing myself to be a gamer and talking like a gamer. I was just copying Hanako. So if he ever falls for me, will it be I who he falls for or will it be Hanako?'
Saddened by the random gossip she overheard, her happy day turned out to be a bad one. This is what High school gossips do to everyone, as it did to two good friends— Sachiko and Hanako.
Sachiko enters her classroom and gives the bread to Hanako.
"Thank you, Sachiko!"
Sachiko was like an open book to Hanako, she could see that Sachiko was unenthusiastic.
"What's the matter, Sachiko? Did someone say something to you?"
Hanako had a concerned look on her face.
Sachiko then realizes something— both of them, Hanako and Sachiko had their own share of problems but Hanako was stronger.
She didn't show her weakness and strived to make her friend happy. That was the difference between the two.
She also realized that even if Hanako tried to make herself sound like a bad person, she wasn't.
'I'm the kinda selfish that Hanako hates. I only think about myself, but I forget about her. I should improve myself as a person.'
"I'm sorry, Hanako. I made you worried, yet again. I just lost my energy running to buy the bread, haha."
Sachiko lies, feeling embarrassed that she thought ill of Hanako before.
"I'm glad! Let's share this bread, " Hanako says.
And everything was alright with Sachiko again.