The note passed through the crack in the door read the way out.

Sakuragi Hitomi admitted to herself that she had a bad habit.

That is hypocrisy.

Of course, everyone may harbor a bit of hypocrisy, as no one is keen on hearing the truth forever, which leads to pretension and play-acting to disguise their real thoughts.

It's just that Sakuragi Hitomi knew to what extent she could be hypocritical and how dreadful the reality hidden beneath that facade was.

Thus, the girl with deep self-awareness grew rational thorns on her gentle exterior.

This made her declare openly when she first entered school: she would never fall in love.

It seemed like a statement looking down on everyone, but in fact, its meaning was to prevent any close relationships from getting past the thorns of rejection to see the most real and dreadful her.

By that time, the so-called affection would be scared off by her terrifying inner self anyway.

Since such an ending was inevitable, it was better not to start anything at all.