Chapter 8: Parent and Child, Child and Parent

Chapter 8: Parent and Child, Child and Parent

Chapter 8:

Parent and Child, Child and Parent

S PRING VACATION THIS YEAR presented more problems that needed to be dealt with than last year’s. Most of them had been taken care of, but one of the remaining issues would surely be resolved in the near future. That said, there was little that I could do, and in this case, I could only rely on the passage of time. It was now four o’clock in the afternoon on the first of April, and I put on my school uniform and left the dormitory to head to school, since my parent–teacher meeting was starting at 4:30 p.m. Originally, the meeting was scheduled for five o’clock, but Chabashira-sensei had contacted me during the spring vacation, and it was decided that I would be switching places with Kouenji, who was initially just before me. The schedule had changed for one man’s convenience.

Incidentally, students were instructed to wait in their respective classrooms fifteen minutes before their scheduled meetings. It was calculated that there would be plenty of time to meet, even if someone walked at a leisurely pace. Each student and their respective family members were allotted fifteen minutes for their actual parent–teacher meeting, and the intervals between meetings were thirty-minute increments.

I wondered if that man would really come. At this point, I felt like the chances were fifty-fifty, but I hadn’t heard anything about him calling to cancel. So far, anyway.

“Coming to a place like this once is quite enough.”

Although those words had been directed at Chairman Sakayanagi and not me, it should have been safe to conclude that it essentially meant that he would never be coming to this school again. Despite that, he had gone against that statement to attend this parent–teacher meeting. If that were true, then naturally that must have meant something was behind it. I had thought that Ishigami, who had a connection with him, might have contacted me in some form, but ultimately no action whatsoever had been taken until this day.

“I guess there’s really no point thinking about it anyway,” I mused aloud.

Since the issue was completely separate from school life, I figured that was all it would be. In theory, it seemed that parent–teacher meetings were usually held in a classroom or something, but at this school, they were held in places like the waiting room, the guidance counseling office, the student council office, and whatnot. Perhaps it was out of respect for the privacy of each family. In the case of students from Horikita’s class, we were supposed to use the guidance counseling office for the meetings, which was a little distance away from the classroom that we were to wait in. Once I took my seat in the empty classroom and waited for my scheduled time, I received a message from Chabashira-sensei ten minutes before that. She said that her previous meeting was over, and that I should come over to the guidance counseling office.

Now then, let’s tackle this parent–teacher meeting, shall we? I thought to myself.

8.1

A S SOON AS I SAW the guidance office, Chabashira-sensei noticed me from where she was standing in front of the office door. The meeting was going to begin in just about five minutes, but that man was nowhere to be seen, even now.

“It seems like your father isn’t here. Will he not be attending?” asked Chabashira-sensei.

“No,” I answered. “Or at least, I haven’t received any word to that effect.”

Apparently, that hadn’t been the answer that she had expected. However, it was certainly true that he hadn’t arrived yet, and Chabashira-sensei seemed a little anxious about whether or not he was really coming. I’m sure that, as a homeroom instructor, the matter of her overall schedule was something she was concerned about too. Time passed slowly as we stared at one another in the hallway, neither of us able to do anything but wait. Chabashira-sensei broached another topic, possibly because she was suffering in uncomfortable silence.

“Um, about Chie…,” she started, “Have you seen her since then?”

“No, I haven’t had any contact, either,” I replied.

“I see,” said Chabashira-sensei. “Well, I know this isn’t something that I should expect from a student, but…”

“It will take a little time, but I will be doing something over spring vacation, just as I told you the other day.”

“You did say that, but what in the world are you actually planning to do?” asked Chabashira-sensei. “Chie seems to be preparing herself for the worst, strengthening her resolve in order to defeat me. I can’t imagine anyone will be able to convince her, by any means.”

“I understand what you’re trying to say, but in that case, would you be willing to go so far as stepping down as homeroom teacher?” I asked in return.

If Chabashira-sensei raised the white flag of surrender, then Hoshinomiya-sensei should be satisfied. I was sure that Chabashira-sensei would be spending the next year focusing on her duties as a teacher.

“That’s… I can’t do that,” said Chabashira-sensei. “I have a duty to watch over all of you in my class.”

“In that case, it is important that you wait patiently. You can’t act carelessly, Chabashira-sensei.”

Right now, Chabashira-sensei needed the courage and fortitude to wait. I had no other choice here but to get her to understand that the best thing was to continue biding her time.

“I…understand,” Chabashira-sensei said after thinking it over. “But if anything happens, contact me right away.”

“I know. I trust you, and I’ll be depending on you, Chabashira-sensei.”

I figured that if a pupil said that to her, she wouldn’t be able to argue. Now then, was that man coming or not? I thought. I heard footsteps, though faint, coming from the end of the hallway that I was looking down. As the clock ticked away, the man we were expecting appeared, dressed no differently from last year. He seemed to have noticed me right away, but he closed the distance without showing any kind of visible reaction.

“We have been waiting for you. I am the homeroom instructor, Chabashira.”

“Ayanokouji. Thank you for meeting with me today,” the man replied to Chabashira-sensei with a stern expression. Then he casually glanced over at me. “It’s been a long time, Kiyotaka. I’m glad to see you’re doing well. How’s school life going?”

For a moment, the words coming out of his mouth made me think he must’ve hit his head or something, but it seemed like he was trying to act the part of a father in front of my homeroom teacher. If that were the case, that made things easier for me, so I figured I’d go ahead and play along to some extent. I was strongly conscious of the fact that this man was a “father” only while he was in front of certain people.

“Guess so,” I replied, “I’ve made some pretty good friends too.”

“Oh ho. I’m glad to hear that!”

There was no doubt that the two of us were engaging in a conversation that neither one of us cared about at all, but Chabashira-sensei didn’t comment.

“Well, then, please, step inside,” said Chabashira-sensei.

She flashed a pleasant smile, opened the door, and led the two of us into the counseling office. That man and I sat down next to one another in chairs that were lined up, and Chabashira-sensei closed the door before sitting down in front of us.

“First of all, I would like to give you a brief report on Ayanokouji Kiyotaka-kun’s life at school, his grades, and so on over the course of the past two years here,” said Chabashira-sensei, getting the ball rolling.

With that, Chabashira-sensei slid two printouts of reports, which had been prepared in advance, onto each of our desks. My father picked up one of the copies and checked the contents, while I followed suit and looked over the other one.

“I would humbly ask that you please listen to what I have to say as you read,” said Chabashira-sensei. “Please rest assured that he exhibits few behavioral problems with respect to his general attitude and his engagement during class. He is incredibly diligent.”

Two years spent at this school. How did students perform in their written exams and special exams held by the school? How did the school evaluate the students? Good points and bad points were both included in the report.

“Excuse me,” he interrupted. “May I ask a question?”

“Yes, of course. What is it?” asked Chabashira-sensei.

“What is OAA?” he asked in return.

He pointed to the written report, still playing the part of an ordinary father that was interested in his child’s development.

“It is a system that has been newly introduced to our institution,” Chabashira-sensei explained, “and you can think of it as a simple grading system for the students. The scores are revised every month and raised or lowered based on the student’s overall ability at that time.”

“An interesting experiment,” he replied.

Even though the reports were written in great detail about how a student performed over a given year, you wouldn’t be able to fully understand it at a glance. On the other hand, the OAA scores conveniently provided a rough idea of an individual’s abilities. My OAA as of the end of March was as follows:

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka

Academic Ability A (87)

Physical Ability B (73)

Adaptability C (54)

Societal Contribution B (70)

Overall Ability B (71)

“Can you please tell me how this compares to the average student, in terms of standing?” came his follow-up question.

“He is in the top 5 percent of all second-year students. I believe his scores are enough to warrant considering him an honors student. Actually, I would say it may be even more than that. Looking at average scores in OAA for the second-year students, he has demonstrated an impressive rate of growth in the past six months,” summarized Chabashira-sensei.

My score for overall ability around this time last year was fifty-one. Looking at it that way, my score certainly did improve a lot.

“That’s good. As a parent, I feel as though I can watch over him from here on with peace of mind,” said the man.

With that, my father nodded firmly toward Chabashira-sensei, and what followed was a bland, inoffensive conversation between parent and teacher. Meanwhile, I remained silent and listened, occasionally responding when necessary with something simple to show that I was actively listening. After Chabashira-sensei had more or less finished going through her explanation of the presented material, she switched to the next topic.

“Now, then. May I ask what your thoughts are in regards to Kiyotaka-kun’s future?” asked Chabashira-sensei.

“Meaning what?” he asked in return.

“I think that with his academic ability, he should aim for a higher-level university,” Chabashira-sensei answered. “While I would say that academics are not everything in life, it is my personal opinion that, if he is able to get in, the best choice would be to give him an environment in which he can fully demonstrate what he is capable of.”

“You are exactly correct. As a parent, I would be overjoyed if my child were to go on to a good college. However, the most important thing is what my son thinks. If he has no intention of going to higher education, then there is no point in discussing it here.”

My father’s answer had satisfied Chabashira-sensei, and now both of them turned their attention to me. Apparently, I was being asked to give a model answer.

“As long as my parent is giving me permission, I don’t think going to college would be a bad choice,” I declared.

“I see. Of course, personally, I have no reason to oppose. Do you have a university that you would like to go to?” he asked.

“I’m interested in the college that my senpai who have taken care of me at this school have gone off to,” I replied.

“The senpai who have taken care of you?” asked Chabashira-sensei. “Do you mean Horikita and Nagumo, by any chance?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“I think that is a promising idea. While it certainly isn’t a low bar to clear, it should definitely be possible for you,” said Chabashira-sensei, sounding as pleased as though I were her own offspring, and went on to explain the university to my father.

“I see. One of the top three national universities, eh?” he answered, deliberately putting on a show and acting as though he were honestly impressed. “If that is what you wish, do not hesitate to go for it.”

“I’m so glad to hear that. If your family says so, I think that is deeply heartening,” she said to me.

“Yes, I suppose so,” I replied.

“However, Kiyotaka,” my father continued, “I am not against you going to college, but what do you see beyond that?”

What curious turn of events even led to this? Saying that, my father asked me for my opinion. Was he going to keep up this farce until the end of the parent–teacher meeting? It wasn’t necessary to use up every single minute of the time you were allotted for a meeting, after all. We were already about halfway through, so even if we wrapped things up now, there wouldn’t be any problem. It wasn’t like he wanted to make a show of being a good father by continuing to talk about things at length that didn’t interest him.

Which meant that he must’ve been prolonging this meeting for a reason.

“Beyond college?” I asked.

While I pretended to think about the answer to that question, I figured I’d take another guess as to what my father was after. What kind of fallout would be caused by prolonging this meeting, which could be over in five or ten minutes? What did he gain by using up the full time? What would happen in the event we were to go overtime? Naturally, there would be one effect. It could possibly cause problems for the next parent–teacher meeting, the discussion with Kouenji’s father. Which meant, in other words, he was trying to create an excuse to get in contact with Kouenji’s father under the guise of an accident. Was that it?

“Yes. Going to an excellent college is wonderful, of course,” he said. “But what are your goals in going to college, and what are your prospects? I would like to hear that before we settle on your career path.”

Chabashira-sensei, who couldn’t possibly have any inkling as to what my father was scheming, listened along happily to what seemed like a conversation between parent and child.

“I’m sorry, but I haven’t decided any of that yet. Would it be too late for me to make those decisions in college?” I asked.

“No, if you haven’t decided, then that’s fine,” he answered. “I wondered if you were going to college for no reason of your own, simply out of consideration for your parents. I simply thought that, if you were straying too far away from what you originally wanted for yourself, that would be a problem.”

“Does that mean if I said that I wanted to find a job instead, you would consider it?” I asked in return.

“As a parent, yes, naturally,” he replied.

“Thank you very much,” I answered.

It was nice that he made this easy, since all I had to do was play along, but this certainly wasn’t comfortable in any way, shape, or form. Even when he was acting, it wasn’t pleasant to look at my father from up close. My homeroom teacher and my father continued to talk about even more meaningless drivel than I expected, and eventually, after neatly using up all the time we had been given, he even forced us to go a little bit overtime.

8.2

O NCE THE EXCRUCIATING parent–teacher meeting ended, the three of us got up from our seats. It had been an exceedingly long fifteen minutes and change.

“Thank you very much for everything today,” my father said as he bowed to Chabashira-sensei, politely and properly.

“No, no, thank you!” Chabashira-sensei, flustered, hurriedly bowed in return. “We sincerely appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to come here.”

I figured I was finally relieved of duty too; however, such wishful thinking was shattered in the blink of an eye. Immediately after we stepped out of the guidance counseling office, my father turned to say something to Chabashira-sensei before she could see us off.

“By the by, Sensei, this is nothing to do with my son, but may I have a bit more of your time?” he asked.

“Of course. Is there something on your mind?” she asked in return, without any visible signs of discomfort.

Normally, Chabashira-sensei probably would have wanted to contact Kouenji next, but she couldn’t bluntly refuse him to his face. Fortunately, since they started talking about the school, and it had nothing to do with me, I just let my mind go blank and let their conversation go in one ear and out the other. As I looked out the window, the only thing on my mind was the wish to leave soon.

I didn’t know the exact time because I couldn’t exactly mess around with my cell phone, but I figured that they had talked for about five minutes by the time that even Chabashira-sensei herself had become unable to hide the impatience on her face any longer.

Finally, my father nodded deeply.

“You’ve soothed my doubts,” he declared.

“Is that so? I am glad to hear that,” said Chabashira-sensei, exhaling a sigh of relief now that the tension had evaporated.

“Thank you for giving me so much of your time today,” he said.

“No, no, thank you,” Chabashira-sensei replied. “We sincerely appreciate you coming all this way to our school. I am sure that Kiyotaka-kun is overjoyed as well.”

I most certainly was not. Regardless, I responded with a firm nod, to show that I was being mature about this. After looking at my sensei once again, my father glanced in my direction at the very last moment.

“Just try not to do anything reckless for the rest of your time at school,” my father said.

“Sure…” I replied.

Despite my father deliberately delaying things, it seemed like this parent–teacher meeting had gone smoothly. Without any further ado, my father quickly turned his back toward me and walked away.

“He’s a good father, isn’t he?” mused Chabashira-sensei. “He’s not at all what I imagined.”

Just as I expected, to my teacher, we looked like a normal father and son.

“Maybe so,” I replied.

At this moment, there was absolutely no point in explaining to Chabashira-sensei that she was wrong.

“Now, then, one mountain cleared, and one more to go. Once I get through that, I’ll feel like a weight has beeen lifted from my shoulders.”

“Kouenji, is it?” I asked. “I hope that his meeting will be as trouble-free as mine was.”

“You’re telling me. You were obedient to me, but I can’t imagine how things will go with Kouenji,” said Chabashira-sensei.

She probably wanted him to act like a gentle little lamb in front of his parents, but chances of that were likely slim. Chabashira-sensei casually looked down the hallway, and when I followed her gaze, I noticed my father standing immobile, staring back at me. Apparently, he was waiting for me to follow…

“Your father’s waiting,” Chabashira-sensei said. “If there’s anything you’d like to discuss with him, you should now, while you have the chance.”

“I’ll do that,” I replied.

There was no conceivable way he hadn’t had his fill of talking already. Was he going to continue this game of delaying things, taking the game into overtime even with just the two of us? Or was he going to take some kind of action against me? In any case, it was impossible for me to avoid him or just not do anything. Chabashira-sensei, after bowing and walking away from me, quickly headed back inside the counseling office. Now, since I was left with no choice, I slowly walked over to my father…

No, over to the man who had come to the meeting earlier. I stopped once he and I were standing side by side, but the man didn’t seem like he was going to open his mouth to speak.

“Was it really necessary for you to wait?” I asked.

I could have ignored him completely, but I decided to talk to him, to try to find out what he was up to. However, I figured that even if I was right on the mark, he probably wasn’t going to confirm the reason so easily.

“I just thought that we could have a little chat, as father and son, more or less,” he said.

“Father and son, huh? Unfortunately, I have never once thought of us that way,” I replied.

“That’s for sure,” he answered.

One thing was for certain: I didn’t bear any particular grudge against this man. It was just that our relationship was more like a teacher-and-student relationship rather than a parent-and-child one. Wait, no, perhaps even that wasn’t the right way to put it. A more removed, hierarchical relationship, in which the distance between us could never be bridged.

“I’ve spent the past year racking my brain over what to do with you post-graduation,” said the man in question.

“You don’t have to bother explaining it to me. Even if you did, I already know,” I replied. “And I have no intention of rebelling against it, anyway.”

“I will install you as a new mentor in the White Room, and create a generation that surpasses you,” said that man.

He went and said it aloud, even though I already told him that I knew.

“If we’re looking at it in the long term, that is probably a safe choice. If you become a mentor and operate the White Room, there’s a chance that in twenty years, I’ll have countless of the best of the best, the kind of capable people that I’m looking for.”

The man’s mouth moved in an indifferent manner as he envisioned that future.

“But that safe choice is a preposterous future, and to be honest, it’s a dreary one at that. Just as the state of things in the world is changing minute by minute, the environment surrounding me has also changed considerably in just one year,” said that man.

“I’m not interested in your environment,” I replied.

“And I couldn’t care less about what you’re interested in,” he fired back. “What’s important is how I put that talent to use.”

“What is it you’re telling me to do?” I asked.

“You have at least a vague idea of what I’m talking about, don’t you?” he asked in reply.

It was like his stare coiled around me. I didn’t know whether it was this man’s intuition or something else, but I guess it wasn’t surprising that he was still suspicious of what I kept hidden in my mind.

“Dunno,” I replied.

“At any rate, it will take time to prepare,” he continued. “You can do whatever you like for another year. Until then, I will not do anything whatsoever to interfere.”

It seemed that he was giving a guarantee that I could live out the rest of my time at this school as a student, but I couldn’t trust him even that much. I wouldn’t be surprised even if he changed his mind tomorrow and shamelessly, unscrupulously sent new assassins in after me.

“Are you not worried that my intentions will change in the meantime and that I’ll rebel?” I asked.

“Rebel? That’s not going to happen,” he answered. “You ought to understand everything by now. Namely, that my cooperation is indispensable if you are to fully demonstrate your own worth and your reason for being. In the unlikely event that you were to do something like defy me, or resist despite knowing that, then, well. There would only be one conclusion.”

It wouldn’t be something like my freedom or lack thereof. It would be in the tier of life or death. It seemed clear that this man had no concern whatsoever as to whether I was his actual child or not.

“No matter how confident you are in your physical strength, if you’re unexpectedly hit by a stray bullet, that’ll be the end,” he added.

For 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. There was no way someone could completely protect themselves at all times. In fact, I’d been killed many times over in simulations in the White Room. Being attacked while sleeping. Shooting from a blind spot. Or something in the food. Although we sharpened our minds to the utmost limits and received training to increase our chances of survival, at the same time, we were taught that our lives were in no way guaranteed. That point was drilled into us, almost to the point of nausea.

“Do not think about anything unnecessary, Kiyotaka,” he warned me.

By “anything unnecessary,” he meant our earlier conversation topics, including all that foolish blabbering about going to college.

“If you want that, you’ll need to keep convincing me that you’re useful to me,” I replied.

“Oh?” he said curiously. “In that case, is there something that you wish for?”

He spoke as though he couldn’t even imagine that there was such a thing, and he was right in the sense that there wasn’t any physical object I wanted.

“What happened to Yagami, who you sent here to have me expel—well, no, who you sent here to check on me?” I asked.

“What you want is that information?” he asked in return.

To be perfectly honest, I couldn’t care less, but the same wasn’t true for Amasawa.

“He’s been disposed of, of course. Or rather, I’m sure that the old me, from a time before last year, would have answered as such,” he answered, then paused for a moment, with a look on his face that I couldn’t read any emotions from. “That one is still one of the better candidates we’ve had in the White Room. Now, we are having him undergo the education process once more.”

“Re-education, huh?”

“Unlike you, we gave him too much emotion,” he elaborated. “You could say that this is also a test, to get rid of that.”

“Meaning that Amasawa will eventually follow Yagami?” I asked.

“That’s what it means, yes,” he said. “But I will allow her to stay here for two more years. Whether she graduates or is expelled, she’ll be collected afterward, and we’ll verify the differences between her and Yagami.”

“It’d be fine if she could just hear that from you, though,” I replied.

“We are teaching them so that they will listen,” he said. “Just as it is not so simple for you to rebel against me, despite your skills. In the unlikely event that they do not comply, that is when we will go as far as to dispose of them.”

For most people, something like being able to influence another person’s existence or lifespan so easily wasn’t something that you just got used to, but that didn’t apply to this man. At least as far as the children who were chosen to be put into the White Room from before they were even conceived, they should understand all of the details, including the background. Even in the unlikely event that Amasawa were to develop a rebellious spirit in her time at this school, they could simply use Yagami as a pretext in dealing with her.

Amasawa couldn’t abandon Yagami. It was precisely because she had been instilled with such emotions that things would backfire. Well, actually, no, I supposed that the end result might have been the same regardless of how much emotion she might have. Looking at the matter impartially, you would think that Amasawa could object to things like instructions from this man without batting an eye, unless her opponent was an especially skilled pursuer. There was even the possibility of her publicizing the White Room to the world at large, forcing the plan to collapse, or driving them into a corner.

However, I couldn’t imagine that Amasawa would do such a thing. Even for me, at this time, I didn’t consider that as an option. Or perhaps it would be better to say that it was unthinkable. Our education, which we had received since early childhood, was so deeply ingrained in us that it couldn’t simply be washed away just like that.

“I never imagined you would care about Yagami and Amasawa,” he said.

“Even though we were never really acquainted, Yagami is still like a little brother,” I replied.

“Laughable. It would seem that spending these past two years with normal students has had a profound effect on you.”

There was no aspect of play whatsoever in the education in the White Room.

“Is that a welcome change for you? Or the opposite?” I asked.

“If I had to say, I believe it’s a welcome change. When you were in the White Room, you were a complete machine, for better or worse. The fact that humanity has been instilled within you, even if it’s only ostensibly, will be an asset in the future,” he mused.

Which meant that if he could ultimately control me, then it wasn’t worth worrying about, from the sounds of it.

“Well, I’ve confirmed everything that I wanted to on my end. Can I leave now?” I asked.

“Don’t be in such a rush,” he chided. “You don’t get many opportunities to speak with me.”

“I’m fine with that, though,” I replied, starting to feel uncomfortable with how long this man had been standing there.

Yet he kept speaking regardless. “About what your homeroom instructor said earlier, about how your class has grown thanks to your effort. Even though it is within the small world of a classroom, the fact that you got them promoted to Class A is not bad. Well done.”

“I’m surprised you would praise me over such a stupid, insignificant thing,” I replied.

“I’m sure it was no trouble for you to win, considering your ability. But that isn’t why I was praising you. I was praising you for your attitude in getting to the top. You wouldn’t have been concerned about such things before coming to this school.”

“Maybe so,” I replied. “But in that case, then your aspirations are fruitless. I’m not trying to get to the top, not really. If you need proof, I’m going to be moving into a lower-ranked class soon.”

“Oh? You’re saying that you’re deliberately going to fall all the way down again?” he asked. “You mean you’re going to pull them up, and pull others down from below, then?”

“Who can say? Maybe, maybe not,” I replied.

I had a feeling about the way the wind was going to blow from here on out, as it was. I was deliberately not looking at the results, because I thought that might get my hopes up.

“That’s an interesting response,” he said.

I didn’t want to engage in pointless conversation about that here, but there still wasn’t any sign that he was going to let me go.

“What you’re after is—”

Fed up and thinking that enough was enough already, I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could speak, I heard the sound of footsteps from the stairway. I supposed it was around the time when it wouldn’t have been unusual for Kouenji and his attending parent to come by. The moment the person making that sound came into view, my father’s expression immediately changed.

It was none other than Kouenji’s father. He was tall, with a good build. Kouenji’s father spotted us standing there at the end of his line of sight and briefly came to a stop once he finished climbing the stairs. At that moment, my own father acted without delay and called out to him.

“Oh, heavens, it couldn’t possibly be,” he said. “President Kouenji, is that you?”

My father made a deliberate show of surprise, bowing his head before he stepped in front of the other man and forcibly blocked his path. A chance encounter with a parent and their child, at a place and time when they were visiting for a parent–teacher meeting. His performance, of making it look like a coincidence, was certainly well executed. Kouenji’s father did not utter a word at first but gazed fixedly at that man, like he was looking down on him. His intimidating aura was quite impressive.

“I do not wish to be rude, but who are you, exactly?” asked Kouenji’s father.

Upon being asked that question, my father immediately took out his business card and offered it to Kouenji’s father.

“Please forgive me for the late introduction,” he replied. “I am a member of the Mutual Prosperity Party. My name is Ayanokouji Atsuomi, and I have been hoping to meet with you for quite some time, President Kouenji. I never imagined that I would be able to do just that here, while visiting my son. Well, I suppose one never knows what coincidence may bring.”

“I make it a rule not to accept unnecessary business cards,” said Kouenji’s father.

“I see. Well, then, in that case, I will make every possible effort so that you would graciously accept my card. If at all possible, would you please do me the honor of giving me a few moments of your time, perhaps after the meeting with your son has concluded? You will not regret it.”

My father bowed his head once again. I didn’t know why he was interested in Kouenji’s father, nor did I care myself, but I would’ve preferred that he took care of this kind of bothersome nonsense without involving me.

“Sorry, but I have an appointment after this parent–teacher meeting. I will have to pass,” said Kouenji’s father.

That man had drawn close to him, pretending that it had been by chance, but apparently, Kouenji’s father had seen right through him. I figured that man wouldn’t back down so easily, but I wondered how he would respond.

“I see… I am extremely interested in this appointment you speak of, President Kouenji,” that man persisted, looking up as he said those words and making a show of force with direct eye contact, revealing that this encounter wasn’t by chance after all. With his grasp on the inner workings of social politics, he must have known that doing so would make a bad impression, but thought that forcefully bringing Kouenji’s father into a dialogue was worth it.

“It is time for my meeting. Please excuse me,” said Kouenji’s father.

Once Kouenji’s father said that, the other man slowly made way for him. As he passed by, Kouenji’s father and I locked gazes for just a brief moment. The sharp gleam in his eyes and the powerful sense of purpose conveyed in his gaze were even stronger than that of Ayanokouji Atsuomi. It wasn’t simply his social standing or his title; it seemed like you could say it was a manifestation of himself, which radiated from a perfect body. In terms of age, he must have been in his forties or fifties, and past his physical peak, but I could sense in an instant that he was an unfathomably strong man. My classmate Kouenji’s talents were undeniably something he inherited from this person.

“For a child—”

Kouenji’s father was about to say something to me, but ultimately he cut himself off and went straight toward the guidance counseling office at the end of the hallway.

“He’s not an easy one to catch. Oh well, if he were, then I wouldn’t bother,” that man said, watching Kouenji’s father walk away.

“I knew from the beginning that you had no interest in my parent–teacher meeting. It looks like your objective was meeting with Kouenji’s father,” I noted.

He must have suddenly decided to come to school when he noticed that Kouenji’s name was listed near mine in the schedule. The fact that our conferences were scheduled together was probably not something dictated by that man, and, hypothetically, if the date and time of my conference and Kouenji’s had been far apart, he may not have come at all.

“It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he is the biggest supporter of the National Civic Party. He doesn’t make appearances, he doesn’t say anything, but he donates, and he’s a particularly important person to the NCP,” he explained.

In other words, to this man, Kouenji’s father was a supporter of the enemy.

“If I can get him to change sides, the situation will change significantly,” he said in conclusion.

“If that’s the case, then couldn’t you have just met with him anywhere, even if you can’t here?” I asked.

“Not at all,” he answered. “His private life is shrouded in mystery, and he spends most of his time abroad. Even if I made the effort to catch him, it wouldn’t be so easy.”

Which meant that if he knew such an untraceable man were to appear here, he’d leap on the opportunity.

“At any rate, he dealt with you so casually, huh?” I commented.

Just then, his phone rang, and he answered without looking at all bothered.

“…Yes. We’ll just go along with it, then,” he said.

After that brief back-and-forth he had with someone, he hung up the phone and turned to make his way down the stairs, without saying a word to me. Now that we had actually made contact, I saw proof that the time spent with me had become nothing more than a waste. Since I had no intention of walking down the stairs alongside him, I decided to just watch him go.

8.3

A S SOON AS I SAW his back disappear down the stairs, another person appeared, as if to replace him: the son, Kouenji Rokusuke. He strode down the hallway, humming a tune. I thought he was just going to continue on and pass by me, but right when he stopped humming, his long legs came to a stop too.

“Ayanokouji boy. May I have a moment of your time?” asked Kouenji.

“Sure. It’s unusual for you to come talk to me, though,” I replied.

“Would I be inconveniencing you?” he asked.

“No, I was just surprised, since I didn’t think you were the type to make conversation.”

“I was just thinking I would issue you a bit of a warning,” he said with a grin, and smoothed back his hair. “Your behavior as of late, well, you’ve been doing more and more things that are just intolerable.”

“Intolerable?” I asked. “I don’t understand what you mean by that.”

“Surely there’s no need for you to be so evasive, is there?” he replied. “I mean, for instance, the matter of the End-of-Year Special Exam.”

From the way Kouenji was speaking, it sounded like he was talking about more than just that.

“You mean the thing with Maezono?” I asked in return. “That was an unavoidable choice, if we wanted our class to win. I’m fairly sure I explained the situation properly after the exam, didn’t I?”

“Do you recall how I once said that I could see neither truth nor lies in you?” Kouenji replied, an audacious smile on his face.

“Hmm, you might have said that, come to think of it.”

“Words that come from you are often laced with a foreign contamination. ‘You were only forced to deal with a traitor in order for the class to win.’ All of that is nothing more than an excuse for you to selfishly do whatever you please, isn’t it?”

“It would appear that you have been terribly misled about me.”

A unique view of me that differed even from that of Kushida’s and Karuizawa’s.

“You can fool the masses, but it will not work on me,” said Kouenji. Maybe he wanted to demonstrate something, because he took out a hand mirror and held it out in front of me. “Take a look. See the expression on your face. The truth is clearly reflected in this mirror, wouldn’t you say?”

All that I could see reflected in the mirror was the same old me.

“Sorry, but I don’t get it. A mirror is a mirror. It only reflects what’s in front of it,” I replied.

“Apparently, the ways you and I see things are different. Well, no, perhaps you see it too, but you’re simply lying.”

“You don’t care about the class in the first place, Kouenji. You aren’t supposed to care about what happens to anyone. So, what’s the point of you giving me this warning?”

“Trying to bat away a fly or a mosquito that’s buzzing about in front of you all the time doesn’t mean that you have a particular interest in the pest, does it?” he asked rhetorically. “That is all there is to it.”

“In that case, it’s not necessary for you to show restraint. If something is bothering you, the quickest method would be to simply knock it down,” I replied, suggesting that he shouldn’t bother trying to issue a warning or anything like that, but rather, to just deal with me himself. “But you’re not going to do that. Because even if it’s a little irritating for you to have something flitting about, it’s not like there’s any direct harm being done to you, after all.”