I Quit the Going-Home Club for a Girl with a Venomous Tongue

uring lunch break and, as expected, Arina was there.
I guess it was pretty much the law of physics that she would be there.

 

“So, are you going to tell me what you’re up to?”

 

She closed the book she was reading.
This was supposed to be a perfectly normal action, but it was the first time that she did it.
Normally, she would just ignore me and continue reading her book.

 

“We’re going to make you some friends.”

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“Huh?”

“We’re going to make you some friends, Arina-san.”

“I don’t need friends.”

“Umu, I expected that reaction from you, so I’ll back off for now.
Then, what we are going to do next is, to live a normal school life.”
“I assume that you got ridiculed a lot by other people, didn’t you?”

“I guess, yeah.
People had been ridiculing me ever since I was born and recently those ridicules had increased in frequency ever since I met you.
But that’s that and this is this.
I said that we’re going to live a normal school life.
Since you’re smart, do you know what that means, Arina-kun?”

“…No…”

“You really don’t know?”

“I have a vague idea, but I don’t know…”

“Well, I’ll tell you then.
The Rose Garden will be dissolved.”

 

The Rose Garden had served its purpose.

 

Dual personality disorder, abuse, bullying.
I didn’t know about any of those when I first met her.
I did everything I could to interact with her in the Rose Garden, a space made for me and her.
But it had served its purpose.
We wouldn’t solve anything by staying here. 

 

That was why, dissolving it, would be for the best.

 

Even if this place was gone, we would still be able to meet up and talk.
It was just this place that shackled her, which would be gone.
I didn’t want to take it away from her, but she had been overly dependent on this space for a while now.

 

At first, I didn’t think it was a good idea to force her to make friends.
After all, if you were to force someone to have a relationship with another person, that relationship normally wouldn’t last long.

 

But after meeting her, I was proven to be wrong.
Meeting up and getting to know someone could still have a certain amount of impact on you.
After all, people had their own experiences, thoughts and interests.
Little by little, those things would leave their marks on your heart and influence you in one way or another.

 

My meeting with Arina was pretty much forced on me, but she left such a huge impact on me that I started to change how I lived my school life.
I started to think that spending time with someone after school wasn’t so bad.
This made me aware that if you wanted to change yourself, then the best way was to meet with more people.

 

“This place is no good, Arina.”

“Why?”

“It is nothing but a place for you to run away from people, Arina.
I want you to find out what you really want to do, so I have to do this.
You have to be more friendly toward other people, not everyone is out for your blood.
You know there are people like me, Tsuru, Shirona, Makoto, the student council members and Akakusa-sensei, there might be more people like us somewhere.
You don’t need to worry about bothering other people, that’s a normal thing to do.
Just don’t reject others, stop being a poisonous rose.
Humans are social creatures, no matter how much they try to reject others, they’ll still feel lonely deep inside their heart.
If you keep your thorns around, you’ll only make it harder on yourself.
Be true to yourself, Arina.
That’s how you’ll find the answer that you seek.”

 

That somehow, turned into a sermon.
Arina stared at me with her face void of any expressions.
Then, she let out a series of giggles.

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“Did you come up with that on the spot?”

“Of course.
Even if I write it down I won’t be able to remember it.”

“Haha… That’s just like you.”

 

Arina stood up and patted her skirt.

 

She let out a deep breath before she looked up at me.

 

“Got it.
I’ll believe in you.”

“Sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing, you cockroach?”

“At least compare me to a mammal, please.”
“That’ll be an insult toward mammals.”

 

She spoke with her usual tone.
For the first time in a while, I felt excited.

 

“The Rose Garden will be dissolved, but our relationship will stay the same, I assume?”

“Ah…”

 

Arina smiled and showed me her middle finger.

 

“Alright, I’ll be in your care, Sakaki Sui.”
“Likewise, Hiwa Arina.”

 

I raised my middle finger in response.

 

We really are a pair of idiots.

 

But I think we’re a great match.