Inflated Pride
Misuzu had gone her entire life without ever being scolded by anyone, always pampered and adored, raised like a delicate flower or butterfly.
Her father held an important executive position at a large company, and her mother also had a respectable standing at her workplace.
Their family was far wealthier than most, and she lived a life without a single inconvenience.
Her parents, relatives, and everyone around her often said she looked like a doll. Because of that, Misuzu came to believe, even as a child, that she was someone special.
An inflated sense of pride can sometimes lead to success, but that was never the case for Misuzu.
She had an ego that was too strong, and she never hesitated to hurt others when it suited her.
If she disliked someone, she would wound them without hesitation. And if anyone mocked or tried to undermine her, the outcome was predictable.
Things might have been different if she were someone people truly respected, but she had no real popularity. Her relationships were shallow and built on pretense. With her beauty and cruel personality, only people who flattered her and tried to please her surrounded her.
That was why Yuuki’s defiance felt to her like an unforgivable insult.
“I’m the one who was harmed by your group’s nasty little game. If you want to play pretend at being friends, then do it without dragging me into it. I can’t stand it, it’s nothing but unpleasant.”
“Playing pretend at being friends.”
Those words lingered in Misuzu’s mind ever since.
As she was now, she probably could not even understand what exactly about them irritated her so much.
It was because Yuuki had struck a nerve.
Deep down, she knew she was, in truth, alone. Unless she faced that reality, she would never be able to truly understand herself.
But her bloated pride would never allow that, creating a deep contradiction within her.
If Yuuki had been a part of her life since childhood, perhaps she might have turned out differently, but that was only a hypothetical. She had already grown into the person she was.
As she walked toward the café where Yuuki worked, her thoughts kept circling back to him, her irritation growing until she began muttering curses. Those around her joined in, and that only helped her calm herself a little.
Her mind was consumed with thoughts of how to make Yuuki reflect and how to make him miserable.
What had started as something she claimed was “for Ayaka’s sake” had long since become something she was doing for herself.
She would never realize that her supposed concern for Ayaka had only ever been a facade.
Having lived a life without failure or hardship, mistaking her parents’ power for her own, Misuzu had no idea what would happen once she crossed a line she was never meant to cross.
Not yet.