Sora stood there, just a few steps away from Yuria, feeling the once tender connection between them fray as the silence grew heavier. The air around them was thick with tension and unspoken words, a far cry from the warmth and laughter that had once defined their encounters. Yuria, with her golden hair cascading over her face, tried to maintain a cold, distant exterior, but Sora could see the conflict swirling in her eyes.
"Why are you still visiting me?" Yuria asked, her voice edged with an unfamiliar harshness. She leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed defensively.
Sora took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. "Just because your parents say we can't date doesn't mean we can't be close friends."
Yuria blinked, a flash of surprise crossing her features before she sighed and sat on the steps, her gaze still sharp but laced with something more—something that hinted at vulnerability.
"I'm not saying we couldn't still be close," she began quietly, almost to herself. "But you might as well know, I've changed drastically these past few months." Her voice was low, as if admitting it out loud made the changes real and irreversible.
"I know," Sora replied, his voice soft but steady. "That's why I came here today. I want to ask why you seem so cold to me now."
There was a long pause as Yuria seemed to wrestle with her thoughts, her fingers absentmindedly threading through her golden locks. Finally, she looked up at Sora, her expression troubled. "I simply realized how stupidly naive and hopeful I was as a child... I realized my parents are just trying to protect me from you."
Sora frowned, genuinely puzzled. "What did I do that makes you need protection from me?"
Her eyes hardened, and she looked at him with a mixture of pity and disdain. "You being a commoner is enough," she said, her words cutting through the silence like a blade. "You can't give me a high quality of life like any other noble families do. You were simply beneath me."
A bitter laugh escaped Sora's lips, and he pulled out his notebook, jotting something down. "Ah, I see. The 'protect their reputation' route this time, huh?"
Yuria’s curiosity piqued, and she leaned closer. "What are you writing there?"
"Just the usual stuff," Sora said, without looking up. "You see, I used to have friends before you. Most of them were nobles, and they all ended up leaving me. It happens so often now that I’ve started writing down the many ways nobles will betray my friendship or love and leave me again."
A flicker of discomfort crossed Yuria's face as she processed his words. "And you're not at all frustrated with all of that happening to you?"
Sora smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "I've grown numb to the pain. Now I'm just curious how many tries it’ll take until I meet a truly nice noble."
Yuria looked taken aback, her eyes widening slightly. "Numb to the pain? You're kidding, right? You're just... okay with being a pawn of those nobles and getting toyed around like that?"
"Why do you care?" Sora asked, his tone challenging. "I mean, I’m just a lowly commoner."
She bristled, her posture stiffening. "Exactly, you're just a lowly commoner. Yet you keep pushing yourself to be around us nobles. You're trying so hard to socialize with a class that's superior to you."
"So? I couldn’t care less about the roles people play. If they want to be my friend, let them be. If they don’t, they can leave. Most of my friends—including you—wanted to be friends with me until their parents started talking about 'nobles are greater than commoners.' Then they left me, just like you did."
