As always, I kept quiet under the unerring gaze from those big, round eyes of hers, poking at my salad as a diversion. Thinking about it now, those eyes were perhaps the very reason that I had not managed to shake Akiyoshi at all during those two months. At some point or other, within the many times each week that I would make her acquaintance, I had come to discover a certain purity to her, beyond all that vexing naiveté. It was a purity that was certain that the things she believed in could be brought to fruition with effort and that with the power of that belief, they would come true. However, I believe the reason this so pained me to see was that I could recall, in some small way, having thought similar things myself in the past, which meant that my opinion of her was based somewhat on my embarrassment at my own past self. Looking at her from afar, one would take her for a simple idiot. However, when faced directly with that purity, it was difficult for me, at the very least, to completely write her off. Had I cut all ties with her at that moment, she would not have had any particularly sour feelings toward me, but it still would give me a bit more freedom than the times when others thought it was best to cut off ties with me and treat me as a stranger. Rather than hate that about me, Akiyoshi accepted me. As a result, within those two months, the whispers surrounding her had begun to spread to me as well. This was not the university life I had hoped for. DzŠƒ–”‡‹†•‡ǡ™Šƒ–™ƒ•–Š‡–—†›‘ˆ–‡”ƒ–‹‘ƒŽ‡Žƒ–‹‘•…Ž—„ Ž‹‡ǫdz Dzǡ†”‘’’‡†‹‘‘‡‘ˆ–Š‡‹”‡‡–‹‰•ǡ„—–†‹†ǯ–”‡ƒŽŽ›˜‹„‡ ™‹–Š‹–ǡdz‹›‘•Š‹•ƒ‹†ǡŽƒ—‰Š‹‰‹–‘ˆˆǡ„—––Š‡ truth was all over her face. More than likely, there had been those present who had already come to the conclusion that they did not care for Akiyoshi. At least once, I had seen an upperclassman directly express their disdain for how often she interrupted class. I got the impression that something had happened with the aforementioned Model UN as well. Dz ‘ƒ‰‘…Š‡…‘—–ƒ›‘–Š‡”‘‡•Žƒ–‡”ǫdz Dz‡ŽŽǡ„›–Š‡–‹‡™‡ǯ”‡Œ—‹‘”•™‡ǯ”‡‰‘‹‰–‘‡†—’’”‡––›„—•› with classwork, and I get the feeling that the first two years are going to be pretty focused on self-†‹”‡…–‡†•–—†‹‡•ǥdz•Š‡–”ƒ‹Ž‡†‘ˆˆǡ„—––Š‡”‡™ƒ• obvious disappointment on her face. Dzˆ›‘—”‡ƒŽŽ›™ƒ––‘Œ‘‹ƒƒ…–‹˜‹–›ǡƒ›„‡›‘—•Š‘—Ž†•–ƒ”– •‘‡–Š‹‰—’›‘—”•‡Žˆǡdz…‘•‘Ž‡†ǡŠƒŽˆ™ƒ›Œ‘ing.