From the Bottom to the Top

Volume 2: Chapter 7

The young man stared at Alya, gobsmacked. He wasn’t particularly affected by her refusing to apologize for her actions, but rather her conviction to stick with her beliefs despite the position she was in.

“Alya… why are you still…?”

“Apologize? To him? The same person who would rather be here instead of working to get back home? Why would I do something so laughable?”

Refusing to even look at the young man, Alisa turned towards everyone else with a hardened look, showing that she was ready to die on the hill that she stood on.

“Like I already stated, I’ll handle things on my own. I never asked for his help, and I will never need his help. Whatever happened to him is his own fault.”

Masachika felt a pang of hurt in his chest as he listened to those words but somehow, he wasn’t surprised at any of it.

“So that’s how she feels…”

Although Kuze was the target of her words, everyone else had an appropriate reaction on their faces nonetheless.

Maria was the most affected, due to her relationship with both individuals. She covered her mouth to try and minimize her reaction, but it was useless when the tears started flowing out of her eyes like waterfalls.

Ayano’s stoic expression fell for a moment — giving way to a look of shock — before regaining her composure right away. Alisa was definitely making that hard for her, though.

Yuki was struggling to keep her cool after hearing all those things from Alya’s mouth, all of which were about her dear brother. From the way that her fists opened and closed tightly several times, she could snap at any given moment. 

Nonoa only had a little frown on her face; while she didn’t have a connection with Masachika to be deeply affected like the rest of them, this whole incident will impact them in a negative manner and that’s something they can't allow to happen.

Even the uptight Sayaka winced at what Alya said, and it was actually hard for her to keep up her stone-cold facade after all of it.

“Your words are cruel, and there was no need for you to be particularly harsh with your answer, Kujou-san,” she commented.

“...well, if that’s your answer, then I’m afraid you leave us no choice.”

Chisaki shook her head in disappointment. She wanted to think that Alya was better than this because she was Masha’s sister, because of how much Kuze believed in her, and because she also knew the girl to an extent…

But there’s a limit to how much one can tolerate an attitude like this.

“If you're not going to apologize to Kuze-kun and Ayano-chan, or even feel remorse for what you’ve done, then maybe it's best if you're not in the same place as us for a while, Alya-chan.”

“What do you mean?” asked the silver-haired girl in confusion.

“Your attitude clearly shows everyone here that we will never be on the same page again. And so, from now on, you’re not allowed to be near any of us, especially when we’re all gathered like this in one place.”

Alisa froze.

“To put it simply, you can't eat your meals at the same time as us. You can only use the bath after everyone else is done. You can’t approach us for anything. And you can't sit here with us while we're all here. You’ll be responsible for your own work, and your own resources eventually.”

“What…?!” the girl clenched her fists so tight that it seemed like she was ready to pounce.

Her eyes flew to their other companions, who were all either staring at her with blank expressions or looks of sympathy.