First and foremost, I do not recommend that high school students engage in gambling.

I think, no matter how the world may change—even if space is turned upside down and time splinters and intertwines—the girl named Hoshino Morihoshi standing before me now will remain as she is. Nothing can change her, just as nothing can heal me. Perhaps it is the same principle.

From the moment I first met her, I knew she was a girl capable of growing on her own. There’s no special secret to it; it’s simply that I’ve seen too many girls, held too many girls, kissed too many girls. Like fish growing gills, like humans naturally shedding their body hair—it just happens.

They roughly fall into two categories. One believes herself to be an appendage of men—usually weak, usually docile, convinced she cannot live without a man, never even taking a step to prove otherwise. So when I feign deep love for them, kiss them with adult passion, whisper vows I don’t even believe myself, and see their faces light up with happiness, I feel utterly depraved. Perhaps, it was then that Jinguuji Tsuki’s true heart died.

The other kind stands at the opposite end of the spectrum, treating men as their own possessions, scorning love and everything else, simply coveting my looks. And when I kiss them, I feel the resignation of a sullied harlot, as if I’m a lifelong prisoner of the system, perhaps in need of a retreat to a remote sanatorium in Kyoto.

Even so, whenever I think of Sakura, longing to return to how we once were, longing to confess to her anew, I steel myself. I force myself not to be captured, not to be defeated. Thus, by conjuring Sakura’s face in my mind, I comfort my nearly shattered heart. Again and again, relentlessly, endlessly, unceasingly...

...I keep kissing those women who fill me with revulsion.

One day, I could no longer maintain my anger; it vanished without a trace. Whenever something provoked me, I found myself unconsciously replacing rage with sorrow—like a glass of water left out for three days and nights.

It was during that time that I received the system’s final task. If I completed this one, if I conquered this last target—could I go back? Return to when it all began, to a time when I still had a true heart, to my childhood friend, the one I loved? Start over.

Ah? Love? Do I really... still love Sakura? What, after all, counts as love? It feels as though I no longer understand myself. No matter how many women I’ve held or kissed, I’ve never felt truly needed by anyone.

They lingered over my voice, obsessed with my appearance, but none noticed the scream within my heart. My soul seemed to have left my body, floating numbly in the void, in another world. I watched “Jinguuji Tsuki” commit all sorts of sins in that world, while in this one, I let out powerless cries.

So, when I hurt her then, my tears were false.

“You don’t need to become anyone else, Tsuki, nor think about returning to some former version of yourself.”

“I truly believe that the Hoshino Morihoshi standing here now has met the Jinguuji Tsuki at his best.”

“Even if others don’t accept you, I will—Hoshino Morihoshi will always stand by your side.”

“Because you saved me.”

“You should be even prouder of yourself—stand tall.”

“Tsuki, you’re my hero.”

I think, for the Jinguuji Tsuki of that time, Hoshino Morihoshi was just as irreplaceably special as Sakura Sakurakouji.

That’s why I didn’t want to get close to her.

...

...

Standing in the connecting corridor, Jinguuji Tsuki and Hoshino Morihoshi gazed quietly at each other. In those beautiful, trembling eyes, it seemed as if some emotion was about to overflow and drown her, leaving the boy defenseless. Pretending the autumn wind had stung his eyes, he averted his gaze from the girl.

“Jinguuji, whenever I try to have a serious conversation with you, you always look away as if you’re guilty.”

“I don’t.”

“Are you really so concerned about what I’m thinking?”

“I have no interest in what the Student Council President thinks.”

“Liar.”

“And how can you be so sure I’m lying?”

“Because, as the notorious playboy, you love beautiful girls—you can’t possibly have no thoughts about me.”

“How arrogant.”

“Well, can you blame me? I was born so stunning, with a figure any high schooler would envy. Do you know how many modeling agencies I’ve turned down by now?”

“How many?”

“Do you remember how many slices of bread you’ve eaten?”

“Who was it that said not to compare girls to slices of bread?”

“I only said not to compare girls to bread slices.”

What a sharp tongue she has. Jinguuji Tsuki knew well that Hoshino Morihoshi was stubborn to her core—she’d simply lived in a cage since childhood. Once she broke free and tasted liberty, she could never go back to being a caged canary.

“President, you just said you wanted to save me?”

“Because your face always looks so terribly tired, Jinguuji—exhausted by people, by high school life. I just can’t leave you alone.”

“I don’t think I need anyone to save me.”

“But you’ve got this face that’s screaming ‘help’.”

“What kind of face is that?!”

“Pfft... Hahaha, you’re always more interesting when you banter with me.”

“......”

He’d unwittingly slipped into her pace. Hoshino Morihoshi truly was a formidable woman, he thought.

The boy sighed helplessly, raising a hand to the back of his head, a hint of resignation in his gesture.

“I really can’t keep up with your thinking, President Hoshino. Just so you know, you’re the one insisting on coming over, so I won’t be responsible for what happens next.”

“Oh? And what do you mean by that, Jinguuji? Care to explain a little more?” Hoshino Morihoshi looked at him with sly amusement.

“I might use my position as vice president to make advances on the female students.” He stated calmly, a declaration that would make every boy in school curse him.

“Oh my~ With the school’s top beauty standing right in front of you, you still think like that? Jinguuji, you really are greedy.”

Suddenly, the girl smiled, placing her hands behind her back, her voice soft and sweet.

“Hey, Jinguuji, would you care to make a bet with me?”

“A bet?”

“Mhm.”

Jinguuji Tsuki watched her for a moment. “What’s the bet?”

She smiled and beckoned him closer. “Come here, let me whisper it.”

After a moment’s hesitation, he stepped forward.

“Bend down, I can’t reach.”

He bent down. The girl rose on tiptoe, brushed aside a strand of sky-blue hair, and brought her soft lips close to his ear. Her breath, hot and sweet, tickled his skin unbearably.