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413 Open the Door!!!
🕑 Added 2025-07-29 15:00:19 +0000 UTCThe first period was Modern Japanese, and it basically turned into Hiratsuka Shizuka’s personal lesson for Kyousuke.
She kept throwing out question after question, and he answered every single one—standing for nearly the entire class.
Though she was supposed to be a modern literature teacher, Hiratsuka kept pulling out questions from classical Japanese and even foreign poetry.
Her stern demeanor had the other students frozen in fear, terrified they might be the next target.
In stark contrast, Kyousuke handled it all with ease.
Whether it was The Iliad or Tagore’s poetry, he answered fluently, as if the very words had been carried to him on the wings of birds gliding across the sky.
Of course, in the eyes of Hikigaya Hachiman, the more accurate explanation was that the club president must’ve absorbed some superpower from a plasma spark tower or something.
Otherwise, how could he be so overwhelmingly good? Hachiman’s pride at being ranked 11th in the year for Modern Japanese felt absolutely crushed.
So the expressions on the classmates’ faces kept swinging between awe and terror—until the second period, their favorite Classical Japanese class, finally arrived.
Their teacher Yukari, a classic beauty who looked like she’d stepped straight out of a painting, could mesmerize the class just by gently reading out passages from the Manyoshu.
Unfortunately, her soft black eyes never lingered on anyone except Kyousuke.
Just another loud and chaotic day with Hiratsuka-sensei.
During breaks, Kyousuke had no peace whatsoever.
Not only was he surrounded by students from his own class, it felt like half the school passed by their classroom door just to get a glimpse of him—like it was some kind of influencer hotspot.
Despite the presence of Yamauchi Sakura and Nishimiya Shouko, some still hadn’t given up on trying to win over the famously “single” Kyousuke.
That morning, as he reached to open his locker, the door suddenly burst open—startling him into thinking it might be a bomb.
But instead of an explosion, a cascade of perfumed love letters poured out.
Even with help from his friends, it took several minutes to clean up the mess.
That said, this kind of thing probably wouldn’t happen again.
After sorting everything out, Kyousuke turned to the nearby students with his usual warm smile and said,
"Thanks so much for your kindness, but I’m afraid I won’t be reading any of these."
He then handed the bag full of letters to Yamauchi Sakura, silently expressing where his heart lay.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry~ I’m not gonna read them either,” Sakura said cheerfully.
Though they hadn’t known each other long, everyone who’d met her already trusted her character.
After all, she was Kyousuke’s childhood friend!
“We’re here, Yukinooo~!”
Sakura threw the door open, expecting to find Yukinoshita reading quietly by the window. Instead, to her surprise, Yukino wasn’t calm at all—she was visibly agitated.
The long-haired girl was hunched over her desk, one hand propping up her head, eyebrows furrowed with frustration.
A novel with a black cat on the cover lay abandoned nearby.
“I get that yelling is your version of knocking,” Yukino muttered, raising her head, her brows still knitted in annoyance, “but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t.”
Fortunately, the sight of sweet, well-mannered Shouko bowing politely behind Sakura seemed to soften her irritation a bit.
“C’mon, you need to get used to it, Yukino~” Sakura grinned, stepping inside and placing her bag on the desk next to Yukino’s. “This is how real friends say hello!”
“…You’re way too close.” Yukino flinched and turned her face away, pushing lightly at Sakura’s face with her hand.
Whether it was the way Sakura’s bright amber eyes looked straight into hers or something else, her cheeks turned a shade redder.
“And besides,” Yukino continued, recovering a bit, “what you said is totally baseless. As far as I know, even good friends send a message or call before coming over.
It’s polite to check first. That’s how you avoid being a bother—and that’s how real friendships are maintained.”
Her tone was firm as she recalled an article from the social expert “Miss.L” that she’d studied in detail.
Now that she finally had friends, she was determined not to mess it up.
She would treasure her friendships!
“You’re totally wrong! That’s just what normal friends do!” Sakura declared, sliding into the seat beside her and wagging her finger seriously.
Wait… friends have levels?
Yukino froze, blinking in confusion.
She instinctively reached for her phone—this sounded like something she needed to fact-check.
What if she’d misunderstood and Sakura only saw her as an average friend, while she…
‘Did I mess this up?’
For a girl who was usually calm, brilliant, and always had a solution ready, the thought of misreading such an important relationship had her spiraling.
This was only her second real friendship ever, and she was already panicking.
“We’re not just regular friends, Yukino. We’re ride-or-die. We’re soulmates. There’s a huge difference between casual friends and best friends—like the gap between a convenience store and a mega-mall!”
Sakura threw an arm around her shoulder and beamed with all eight teeth on display.
“R-Really?” Yukino stammered, blinking in disbelief, hands held up near her chest like a squirrel clutching an invisible acorn, completely overwhelmed.
“Totally! Just like me and Kyousuke—we’ve been besties since we were kids. I never knocked when I came over. I’d just shout from the stairs, run down like a quarterback, and slam the door open to barge into his room!”
“That’s true friendship!” Sakura announced proudly.
Yukino, who had never once visited a friend’s house before meeting Sakura, had always relied on books and observation to learn how friendships worked.
And now—she believed every word.
So this… this is what it means to be friends.
Come to think of it, when Sakura just barged in and yelled, it did feel different from how regular classmates acted.
She’d thought she was annoyed by the rudeness—but now she realized, it was just inexperience.
She hadn’t known how to interpret the feeling.
“I get it now, I’ll work hard to get used to it.” Yukino clenched her fists in front of her, eyes sparkling with determination.
She had truly taken the lesson to heart.
“That’s the spirit! Next time you wanna hang out, just come by my dorm—no need to be polite!” Sakura gave her a proud pat on the shoulder, like a master praising a promising apprentice.
“Okay. I will.” Yukino nodded eagerly.
“Yoshi yoshi~”
Sakura laughed joyfully, gently brushing her fingers through Yukino’s long black hair.
Successfully promoted from “friend” to “best friend,” and having gained deeper knowledge about what that means, Yukinoshita wore a rare, bright smile on her face.
“Pfft—hahaha!”
The sudden burst of laughter made Yukinoshita instantly drop her smile, her gaze sharpening in displeasure.
“Sorry, I just suddenly remembered something funny,” Kyousuke said quickly, already having taken off his jacket and settled into a chair nearby.
Shouko added helpfully, “He was thinking about Momotaro. Wondering if it’s eating and using the bathroom properly today.”
Yukinoshita narrowed her eyes suspiciously but still replied to comfort Shouko, “It probably is. After all, Momotaro listens to Sakura really well.”
“Mhm, mhm—pfft hahaha!”
Shouko, who had been trying hard to suppress her laughter, couldn’t hold it back any longer, her eyes crinkling as she giggled uncontrollably.
Yukinoshita frowned even deeper but let it go.
After all, she was still riding the high of being acknowledged as a “best friend.” Still, her sharp mind didn’t miss a detail.
“But… isn’t the ‘Ruyi Dorm’ Hojou’s home?”
“Hojo’s house is my house!” Sakura declared proudly. “If you come visit me, you’ll find a whole crowd of friends all at once!”
“But I’m not best friends with the others…”
Sakura paused, then her eyes lit up with inspiration.
“Think about it like this—say a group of bank robbers pulls a heist. Do you think the judge will go easy on one of them just because they didn’t get as big a cut of the loot?”
“That’s… not the same thing at all!”
“It is, it is! I mean, even if I’m the one who scopes out the bank, breaks into the vault, and stuffs the money in the bags—without the lookout and the ones handling the hostages, could we pull off the job?
No way! Everyone shares the risk, so everyone shares the reward. It’s the same in the Ruyi Dorm.
If someone visits one of the girls, it’s the same as visiting me. So you can just come straight over, Yukino!”
Sakura threw her arms wide as if she were making a grand declaration.
Yukinoshita raised her right fist thoughtfully under her nose, assuming her classic "thinking" pose.
“…But still…”
Something felt off.
Was Sakura really still talking about friendship? Or was it just that her analogy was so bizarre that it threw her off track?
“Think of it another way,” Sakura continued without missing a beat. “You go on a quest with a hero to slay a dragon.
Everyone’s risking their lives, right? But only the hero gets all the praise in the end. Isn’t that totally unfair?”
“That… I agree with,” Yukinoshita responded immediately.
That kind of injustice was exactly what her sense of righteousness stood against.
If the supporting players were acknowledged too, maybe the brilliant ones wouldn’t get treated so coldly. Not that it was an easy fix.
“Waaah~” Shouko, who had been folding Hojo’s jacket neatly nearby, let out a quiet awe-struck sound, her wide eyes and perked-up ears glued to the conversation.
Even though she’d already been exposed to Sakura’s oddball logic countless times, she always figured it was just because she and Eriri were too gullible.
But seeing the brilliant Yukinoshita getting drawn in just the same was eye-opening.
“I didn’t know Sakura could talk like that… She’s amazing.”
“That’s because you’re too kind, Shouko.” Kyousuke let out a soft laugh, watching Sakura with a warm, helpless gaze as she spun her wild theories with a perfectly straight face.
Her story wasn’t even accurate.
She didn’t crash into his house like a quarterback; she burst in more like an SWAT officer shouting “Open the door!”
No, in Japan, it’d be more like SAT—no negotiations, just breach and subdue.
With the help of his mom, a still half-asleep Kyousuke would be jolted awake by Sakura’s war cry.
She’d kick down his bedroom door and crash into his chest like a tiny missile.
And as he sat there, dazed and groggy, she’d worm her way into his arms and cheerfully start planning the day.
“Kyousuke, Kyousuke! Let’s go play! Want to go to the park and use the slide? Nah, we just did that yesterday.
Then the river trail? No wait, you said that’s dangerous… Oh! Let’s go to the shopping street! I’ve got 100 yen Mom gave me!”
She’d squirm around in his arms like an overexcited ferret, dreaming out loud with unstoppable energy.
And slowly, inevitably, his morning grumpiness would fade.
After all, she was his childhood friend.
And now, watching Yukinoshita get swept away just the same, Kyousuke couldn’t help but feel deep sympathy—about 1.2 million units of it, in fact.
The real issue wasn’t Yukinoshita’s lack of experience with friendship.
The real issue… was that Sakura was completely unhinged.
But that’s also why she was always the most beloved person wherever she went.
Not just because of her adorable looks, but because of her sheer warmth and sincerity.
There were plenty of pretty girls—even just in their own class, several had model-tier faces.
But Sakura still stood out as the most lovable, and it wasn’t because of appearance.
It was her charm.
Her ability to draw people in.
Where Kyousuke might deceive or scheme to navigate relationships, Sakura simply radiated unfiltered light.
Her honest, sunny nature made people want to believe every word she said.
Even Yukinoshita Yukino the reserved, intelligent, and forever skeptical girl—couldn’t help but be drawn in.
That’s just who she was.
Kyousuke smiled softly at Sakura, making no move to “rescue” Yukinoshita from her current daze.
Shouko, glancing back and forth between Kyousuke and Sakura, wore a blissful expression on her round, soft cheeks.
High school life like this really was the best.
‘Knock, knock—'
A knock on the door pulled everyone's attention.
Thankfully, despite being brainwashed by Sakura, Yukinoshita hadn’t lost the basic etiquette of saying:
“Come in.”
The clubroom door opened. Unsurprisingly, it was Ryouma Mitsuhashi.
Well—unsurprising for Kyousuke and the others.
For Yukinoshita, it was a bit different.
Seeing who it was, she subtly let out a breath of relief.
At the start of the day, she’d assumed her Service Club was relatively unknown.
But within just five minutes of opening the door, they’d already had four requests.
At first, she’d been happy.
So many cases would surely help her master “the art of understanding the human heart.” But unfortunately, all the cases so far had been… annoying.
All girls. All looking to use the Service Club as a stepping stone to get close to him— Kyousuke.
Seriously… How ridiculous.
Romance really did get in the way of chasing dreams.
Just look at Sakura and Kyousuke. Individually, they were each exceptional.
But together, they became… a handful.
Especially Sakura. She was such a good—no, best—friend! And yet…
Yukinoshita shook her head, straightened her posture, placed her hands formally on the table, and looked toward the door.
“Now then,” she said clearly, “how can the Service Club help you today?”
