He remembered something, vague and blurry, but wasn't sure if it was what the girl meant. He stayed quiet, trying to sift through the fragments of memory.
If she's talking about that time, then she's wrong… I wasn't helping her back then. I was just trying to help myself, he thought, tilting his head slightly, eyes narrowing as he nodded to himself in agreement.
And he was right. He did help himself, but in doing so, he ended up helping her too. There was a detail he'd forgotten: the part where he'd helped her into the room while she was unconscious.
"If it wasn't for you that day… I don't know what would have happened to me. I'm sorry you were punished in my place," the girl said, clutching the book tighter, fighting back her emotions. Guilt was written all over her face.
Punished? Hajime's confusion deepened. What is she talking about? I've never been punished since arriving here.
Then he noticed something different about her, something he'd never seen before.
