"Amamiya Ren... a boy I don't know very well."

  Sitting in her , Ran pondered over the information she had gathered.

  She didn't know much about him.

  But acc to the diary, it seemed like Sonoko had taken an i in him. That meant she could ask her.

  Just like how Sonoko always gossiped about people at school, Ran figured she could approach this casually, as if she were simply curious.

  With that in mind, as soon as css ended, Ra straight to Sonoko.

  "Sonoko, are you going on a date with a boy tomorrow?"

  "???"

  Sonoko looked at Ran, her face full of surprise.

  "Ran, what's up with you today? Since when are you ied in my dates?"

  "You usually don't care much about these things."

  "Did you hear someoalking about it?"

  Sonoko thought back to the moment she had invited Amamiya.

  There had been quite a few students around at the time.

  She had been so focused on his presehat she hadn't paid attention to whether others had noticed.

  After all, it wasn't every day that she spotted a hidden gem like him.

  "Ran, why are you suddenly curious?"

  "I heard some people say that the guy you're seeing isn't very handsome."

  "Who said that?!"

  That sente Sonoko like a dagger to the heart.

  "That's an insult to my instincts as Suzuki Sonoko!"

  "You think I—I—'t tell if a guy is handsome or not?!"

  She immediately recalled Ren's usual appearankempt curls, thick-rimmed gsses, and a deliberately ordinary demeanor.

  No wonder people uimated him.

  Sonoko clicked her tongue in annoyance.

  Those blind fools!

  Only she, Suzuki Sonoko, had seeruth!

  With a mixture of smugness aement, her voice lowered slightly as she spoke.

  "Listen, Amamiya isn't just 'not bad looking'—he's easily on par with that show-off, Shinichi."

  "That high of an evaluation?"

  Ran was surprised.

  Sonoko had once said, "Shinichi's good looks are the only thing saving his personality."

  That was the highest praise she had ever heard Sonoko give Shinichi.

  "Of course!"

  "Ran, you don't get it. Amamiya looks 'average' on purpose—he hides his face."

  "Half of his face is covered by those pin, thick gsses."

  "Then there's his curly bangs, they block part of his features."

  "But if you see his full face, he's a total knockout."

  Sonoko was pletely fident in her judgment, betting on the fwless track record of her "handsome guy radar."

  Plus, there was another bonus detail she had discovered.

  "Also, I noticed that Amamiya doesn't seem to i with girls much."

  "I think I might be his first date."

  "That does seem likely."

  Rahat Sonoko had a tendency to exaggerate things.

  But when it came to Amamiya, everything she had said so far aligned with the diary's records.

  If Amamiya wasn't lying in his diary, then he really had never dated before.

  Ran then recalled something else Sonoko had once said:

  "That clueless detective is going to get himself in serious trouble one day."

  And that statement had turned out to be 100% accurate.

  Until now, Ran had never given much thought to Sonoko's ability to judge people.

  But with so many of her past remarks proving true, she was starting to resider.

  "I never realized ho Sonoko's observations actually were."

  For the first time, Ran saw her best friend in a new light.

  "So, you only just now noticed Amamiya's hidden charm?"

  "Do you need any other reason?"

  "…No, I suppose not."

  Ran had known Sonoko for years.

  She knew full well that Sonoko would absolutely pursue a guy based on looks alone.

  "Right now, I know that Amamiya isn't good at dealing with girls."

  "But there's still a lot I don't know."

  She frowned slightly.

  She didn't have many sources to gather more information.

  But if she needed help…

  Ran's eyes nded on Sonoko.

  "That's it!"

  If she couldn't do something alone, wasn't that what friends were for?

  "Sonoko, e with me for a moment."

  "Hm? Okay."

  Sonoko felt that Ran was ag a little straoday.

  But she followed her out of the without question.

  And then, Sonoko's worldview was pletely shattered.

  "…"

  After listening to everything Ran told her…

  She eechless.

  Especially when Raioned Shinomiya Kaguya, Sanzenin Nagi, and the world-altering effects of the diary…

  Her mind ime to process.

  But the first thing that truly sank in?

  "Wait… Ran is actually the heroine of a story?!"

  That was her first realization.

  She turo look at her best friend.

  Ran was geous, had a perfect figure, was kind, smart, and athletic.

  The only fw was her plicated home life, but other than that, she ractically fwless.

  "Yeah… you do seem like the protagonist type."

  "And if you're the heroihen Shinichi is obviously the male lead."

  Sonoko o herself.

  It all made sense.

  "Ugh. I think I uand why Shinichi's like this now."

  Sonoko sighed.

  She could picture it perfectly, the cssic overfident, reckless protagonist.

  Talented, intelligent, and totally oblivious to danger.

  Which was exactly why he ended up getting knocked out and poisoned.

  "He was just too overfident."

  "That's why he got careless and ended up in this situation."

  Ran looked at her.

  "What do you think now that you know Shinichi's situation?"

  "Me?"

  Ran fell silent for a moment.

  Then, she shook her head.

  "I 't accept it."

  "If he had told me the truth, I would have kept his secret forever."

  "I would have even helped him hide his identity."

  "But instead, he lied to me."

  "He used 'proteg me' as an excuse… while doing something purely out of selfishness."

  "I 't accept that."

  "Then it's over."

  Sonoko made her clusion.

  After hearing Ran say that so decisively, she khere was no going back.

  Yes, Shinichi was a textbook male protagonist.

  But once he made that choice, to lie and manipute Ran instead of trusting her—

  It didn't matter what kind of "story" this was anymore.

  Because iy, he had already lost.