The answer was a machine.
Yes, that was her first impression of Amane.
Amane stood there silently, her expressionless face a stark contrast to the chirping birds around her.
This led Sakayanagi Arisu to even mistakenly believe she was just a machine doll.
She even pinched Amane's cheek, and although Amane remained silent at the time, Sakayanagi recognized that she was a living girl.
The taciturn, icy loli back then was a world apart from her expressive self now.
She still remembered the first word Amane said to her.
"Who?"
That was the first thing Amane said when she looked at Sakayanagi after her cheek was pinched.
Even though she was in a temperature-controlled courtyard, surrounded by birdsong and fragrant flowers, with vibrant greenery everywhere she looked.
Yet, she felt as if everything around her, including the temperature, had been stripped away in an instant.
As if she were standing naked in a world of ice and snow.
That feeling left Sakayanagi Arisu unforgettable to this day.
"Who?"
Amane repeated the simple, monotonous word.
Sakayanagi thought for a long time before realizing that Amane should be asking for Sakayanagi's name.
"My name is Sakayanagi Arisu, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Miyako Amane."
Amane said coldly and then intended to turn and leave.
Just as Amane passed by her.
Sakayanagi, as if possessed, reached out her hand.
"Hmm?"
Amane looked at Sakayanagi Arisu with confusion.
"I want to be friends with you."
"No need."
She was bluntly rejected by Amane.
Sakayanagi felt a little disappointed; usually, she was the one rejecting others, but today she was rejected by Amane.
Just as Amane was about to leave, a maid came and told Amane that guests were being received in the living room, and her father wanted her to interact more with Sakayanagi Arisu.
From the maid's unfriendly gaze.
Sakayanagi Arisu clearly understood the implied meaning.
Her reputation sometimes brought trouble upon herself.
But no matter what kind of competition, as long as it wasn't physical, Sakayanagi Arisu had never feared anyone.
However, Amane's next words left her completely stunned.
"Should I kill her?"
"No, Miss Amane! Please, absolutely do not do that, otherwise, it will cause considerable trouble."
"Grandpa will handle it, won't he?"
"Although that's true, but... please try to communicate with the other party using non-physical methods."
The maid was forced to reveal her intentions in front of Sakayanagi Arisu; this could completely be described as showing her true colors.
However, Sakayanagi Arisu was still immersed in Amane's initial words about killing.
"I understand."
After the maid left, fearing that Amane might misunderstand something, she specifically prepared various chess pieces to facilitate a competition between the two.
They should be able to finish their discussions by the time a game of chess was over.
"Choose."
Amane still pointed at the chess pieces coldly.
Sakayanagi Arisu unceremoniously chose international chess.
She originally thought this would be a long battle.
But to her utter surprise, Amane won three consecutive games in a short amount of time.
This completely extinguished the temper of Sakayanagi Arisu, who had always prided herself on her chess skills.
However, compared to losing the game.
She was more curious about Amane's words.
"You said you would kill me, that was a joke, right?"
"I was serious."
Amane's fingers gently stroked the king chess piece, and a cruel smile, unbefitting her age, appeared on her face.
This was the beginning of what Sakayanagi Arisu later called a fated, ill-fated relationship... "Hey, hey! Arisu, are you asleep?"
When Sakayanagi came back to her senses.
A large face was pressed against hers.
Her wide, purple eyes looked watery.
Very captivating.
But Sakayanagi was startled.
"Why are you so close?" Sakayanagi pushed Amane away with a look of disgust.
"I just saw you spacing out," Amane stood up, dusted off her uniform, and then extended her hand to Sakayanagi Arisu.
Sakayanagi gently took Amane's fingertips.
A strong hand then pulled Sakayanagi's light body up.
"What about me?" Kiryuin saw Amane helping Sakayanagi up.
She, who was already halfway up, lay back down and looked at Amane with anticipation.
"Get up yourself."
"Tsk." Kiryuin pouted and stood up on her own.
Now, the question was how to clean up the mess.
"What do we do now? Kitou-kun was knocked out by you. Hashimoto and Morishige are probably in dire straits too. How do you plan to handle this?" Sakayanagi looked at Kitou Hayato, who was lying motionless on the ground, feeling quite speechless.
He was supposed to be Class A's strongest fighter, yet he was utterly dominated by Amane.
It was truly too unsightly.
"Can't we just wake them up?" Amane asked tentatively.
Sakayanagi glared at her in response.
"Do you think you can just wake them up by saying so?"
"I didn't use much strength... What kind of look is that? I was very gentle, hey, hey! Aren't we friends? Trust me!" Amane seemed to want to prove that she hadn't used much force, so she picked up the broom she had just used to knock out Kitou Hayato, to show that she hadn't used much force.
But embarrassingly, the moment she picked up the broom, the handle broke into two pieces.
"Uh... that was an accident... Kitou-kun, wake up! Kitou-kun, don't die!!! Kitou-kun!!!!" Seeing Amane busy trying to wake Kitou, Sakayanagi Arisu felt a headache coming on.
She regretted setting up this whole scheme. Originally, her idea was for the aloof Amane to find the clue and then say, "A guessing game? Hmph, just what I wanted."
But who knew that the current Amane would just use a hand chop on anyone she saw.
If a hand chop didn't knock them out, she'd immediately resort to a broom.
It was so simple and crude.
This made Sakayanagi look like an idiot.
"Speaking of which, I enrolled first. What exactly did she go through in that last year? Didn't she live at your house? How did she end up like this?" Kiryuin still couldn't accept that the slightly goofy idiot in front of her was the Miyako Amane she once knew, who was so high and mighty in her eyes.
"Ahem, I just taught her some adult knowledge."
"You're quite bold."
"It's alright." While the two were still chatting, Amane finally used ancient physical care to wake Kitou.
"What happened? My neck hurts so much..." "It's good that your neck hurts... I mean, maybe you slept too long and got a stiff neck."
Kitou was stunned for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
It did feel like a stiff neck.
But when he saw Sakayanagi's speechless expression, he finally remembered his task for the day.
"You, you're not..." "The game is over. Call Morishige and Hashimoto over." Sakayanagi Arisu said, leaning on her cane, as she approached Kitou.
"It's over... I understand. Are you alright staying on the rooftop alone?" Kitou Hayato looked at Sakayanagi Arisu with concern.
He clearly didn't consider Kiryuin, who was beside them, as a combatant.
But who knew that Sakayanagi Arisu's face would suddenly turn red.
Alright? There's no way it would be alright! Amane would definitely take advantage of her! Definitely!!!
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