3.6
When we gathered the following afternoon, Kushida was there, too.
“Hello, Ayanokouji-kun,” she said.
“O-oh, hey,” I responded. Why was she there?
Ike answered my unasked question. “You see, I had a chat with Kikyou-chan yesterday. When I told her that we were going to buy a present for Katsuragi, she said she definitely wanted to help. She was like, ‘Please let me help,’ and all. Anyway, Katsuragi would probably be happier to have a girl celebrate with him, rather than a bunch of guys.”
Ike blabbered on and on about what a good person Kushida was, but he probably just wanted an opportunity to get together with her. Also, in her eyes, this would probably make him look like a good guy—the type who cares about his friends.
“Katsuragi-kun has done quite a bit for me, too. I’ll help out with the present’s cost, of course,” added Kushida.
Ike looked at her lovingly. Yamauchi also seemed happier with her around. Kushida’s charms affected him, too, even though he was aiming for Sakura.
“By the way, Ayanokouji-kun, why are you wearing your uniform?” asked Kushida.
“Meh. No reason.” I’d taken off my jacket because it was hot, but the uniform still made me stand out, unfortunately.
“Come on, let’s get going!”
Ike and Yamauchi walked on either side of Kushida, while I followed behind. Moments after we started walking, they managed to get a conversation blossoming.
As we walked, I saw someone I didn’t usually see outside.
“Hey, sorry. Could you guys go on ahead? I want to stop here for a sec,” I told them.
“Sure, but don’t keep Kikyou-chan waiting too long,” Ike replied.
“Okay.”
I left them and approached Horikita.
“Don’t you look carefree? Are the four of you just casually going shopping? Even after we suffered so much at Ryuuen-kun’s hands?” she said.
“Well, that just means that Class C did something right. There’s no use worrying about it now.”
“I suppose not. But I’m still uneasy about certain things.”
“Such as?”
“Never mind.”
She turned away with complete disinterest, like a haughty actress.
“When are we? Right now?” I asked.
“Huh?”
“I mean, at what point in the school year are we now? Do you know? The month?” I continued.
“What are you talking about?”
“Look, we just finished the first semester of our first year. We don’t need to ricochet between happiness and despair, with nothing in the middle, simply because they’ve got a small lead on us now.”
“But, even so, we suffered a severe loss. If we don’t think of a way—”
“Although you can’t see what’s directly beneath your feet, you’re always looking far ahead. If we’re talking academics, then you’re certainly peerless. But when it comes to unusual tests, well, you just kind of run in circles. That’s my impression, anyway.”
“I know that,” she replied.
“So, you’re aware? I think that it’s preferable for you to fall until you hit rock bottom,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
It was good to be thoroughly beaten down from time to time, as long as you eventually crawled back up. I thought Horikita had the potential to do that.
“There’s an order to things. It’s probably better for you not to panic, but to take things slowly. Right?”
“You say there’s an order to things, but if that’s true, why did you go to all that trouble back on the island? Isn’t that contradictory?”
“Yeah, probably.”
It made sense that Horikita found that confusing. She had no clue about my dealings with Chabashira-sensei. During the test on the island, I was forced to show off my abilities. I’d had no choice but to act.
Of course, I had no pawns at my disposal during the test on the cruise ship, which made it extremely challenging. Various other methods had been available to me, but no good could come of overexerting myself and getting sloppy, so I’d refrained from employing them. I was fundamentally disinterested in things like class rankings. By giving Chabashira-sensei only a partial display of my abilities, I’d bought some time without making too much of a splash. From that perspective, the tests had been hugely successful.
“More importantly, don’t you have any questions about the way I look?” I asked.
“Well, I think your clothes are ill-suited to this weather, but I don’t really care,” Horikita replied.
She wasn’t interested in others, as usual. “What are you reading today?” I asked.
“None of your business.” Apparently, she didn’t intend to show me the book’s title.
“Well, whatever. I’m keeping Ike and the others waiting. Do you want to come?”
“You’re kidding, right? I refuse.”
I’d known all along that that would be her answer.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login