Mika tried. She dyed her hair lighter. She practiced laughing louder. She stopped finishing people’s sentences and started interrupting—because that’s what Saki did.
And when she does, Mika hoped she’d have the strength Mika eventually found: the strength to say, "I am not anyone’s instead. I am someone’s because." If you ever hear "ano ko no kwari ni suki na dake" directed at you—run. Not because you’re unlovable, but because you deserve to be loved as a first choice, not a substitute. ano ko no kwari ni suki na dake
"I'm glad I met you instead."
Yuto compared her to Saki constantly—but not in the early "you're better" way. Now it was: Mika tried