Chapter 3: Making Sure

Chapter 3: Making Sure

Chapter 3:

Making Sure

S INCE CLASSES weren’t going to begin in earnest until tomorrow, our first day of the new school year ended at around eleven thirty in the morning. No, it might have been better to say that it ended before we even knew it.

All thanks to the completely outrageous story of Ayanokouji-kun’s transfer.

I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard it, and I still didn’t believe it, even now. It just wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be possible…

I kept repeating those same things over and over in my mind, like some kind of incantation.

But…

But…this was neither a misunderstanding nor a dream. It was really happening, in real time, as reality…

I wanted to see him.

I didn’t want to see him.

To be honest, it wasn’t like there was any part of me that was afraid of seeing him. No, that was actually a lie. I was terrified. I couldn’t help it. As conflicting thoughts continued to swirl around in my mind, I looked down at the palms of my hands. They were trembling.

My body was shaking just from imagining it. I gave up on thinking and tried to dispel my fears. But…but, even so…I needed to find out what Ayanokouji’s true intentions were. I couldn’t just give up. I still hadn’t heard what he was after from his own mouth, after all. It wouldn’t be too late for me to judge everything until after I got that confirmation. He might have been shouldering something that he couldn’t tell the rest of us about.

I need to make sure.

Relying only on that thought, I got up from my seat.

“Horikita-san.”

Perhaps he had been waiting for me to get up, because Hirata-kun approached me before I even realized it. Sudou-kun and some other students were also looking at me.

“I’m sorry, but can this wait until later? I’m going to go pay him a visit now,” I replied.

I didn’t have the time to let my imagination run wild because of pointless chitchat. I stepped out into the hallway with only my cell phone in hand, leaving my bag behind. A fair amount of time had passed since the end-of-the-school-day chime had rung. When I got into the hallway, I saw that many students had already begun to leave. I immediately sensed something unusual in the air from the way the other students were behaving.

I didn’t know whether there had been an announcement given to the students in the other classes or not, but at the very least, all of the students in our grade already knew that Ayanokouji-kun had transferred classes. The curious looks in my direction told me that. Of course, I’m sure there were probably a myriad of implications and guesses behind those stares.

They might have had theories that he was sent to another class as a spy. Or a theory had he had been banished from our class, or that he had been betrayed. Though it was all just groundless speculation, I’m sure that there might have been all kinds of ideas flitting about. But none of that mattered right now. That was because I didn’t even know what people in my own class, or Ayanokouji-kun himself, were thinking, let alone getting to whatever opinions other people might have.

Without a shred of courtesy or etiquette, I flung open the door to what had formerly been Sakayanagi-san’s class. If he’s still here, then … That’s what I had thought, anyway, but… As I searched for him, I subconsciously counted the number of desks as well. Sakayanagi-san had supposedly withdrawn from school of her own accord, and yet, the number of seats hadn’t decreased. But, more importantly, there were only a few boys and girls left in the classroom, and there was no Ayanokouji-kun in sight.

“Tsukasaki-kun,” I called out to Tsukasaki-kun, who was standing closest to me.

“Do you need something from me?” he asked.

“Surely you already know what I’m after, right? Where’s Ayanokouji-kun?” I asked in return.

“He left the classroom a few minutes ago. This is just a guess, but I think he’s probably headed to Keyaki Mall,” he replied.

“I see. Thank you,” I answered.

In that case, I had no more use for this place. When I stepped back into the hallway, I immediately saw some students smirking. Sure, we were in the middle of a vortex of troubling controversy right now, but even so, it was disconcerting. As I walked down the hallway, I attempted to contact Ayanokouji-kun on my phone. The phone was ringing, but no matter how long I waited, there was no sign of him answering it. Either he didn’t notice, or he did, and he wasn’t picking up.

“Horikita-san.”

It was none other than Matsushita-san who had called out to me as I headed for the exit.

“Sorry, but I’m in a hurry right now,” I replied.

“I know. You’re going to see Ayanokouji-kun, right? Let me go with you,” she said as she started walking right alongside me, keeping pace so as not to slow me down.

“Why do you want to come with me?” I asked.

“Because I also want to know the reason for Ayanokouji-kun’s transfer. Also, I’d like to ask you this now just to be sure, but this isn’t part of your strategy or anything, right, Horikita-san?” she asked.

“Unfortunately, no, I didn’t plan any of this. Even if it were viable as a strategy, I’d have him transferred to Ryuuen-kun’s class. There’s little point in sending him down to Class C now that Sakayanagi-san is gone,” I replied.

“Yeah…I figured as much. Which must mean that Ayanokouji-kun made the decision to transfer without telling anyone then, right?” said Matsushita-san.

“I don’t know. Maybe he was asked to do this by someone, or he was threatened, or…” I replied.

Or maybe, he had been offered a hefty sum, and his heart was swayed…

A few such fantasies sprang to mind, but I immediately understood that they were virtually impossible. At the very least, he wouldn’t be the sort of person who would bend for money, and there was no way that someone as capable as him would decide to transfer because he was threatened. I didn’t want to acknowledge these truths, because it meant that Ayanokouji-kun really had made the decision to transfer based on his own whims. A worst-case scenario, that such a thing really might be the case after all, came to mind.

“I…don’t want to speculate right now. Not until I hear directly from him, anyway. So you’re going to have to wait and—” I began.

“As much as I’d like to wait, I also want to hear Ayanokouji-kun’s explanation with my own two ears. I want him to say that…that he has some kind of angle here, or say something that will convince us,” argued Matsushita.

I understood her feelings completely. I, too, wanted to hear a convincing answer. He didn’t say much to me, nor to anyone around him. That was why he was sometimes misunderstood as being incompetent or even antagonistic. But the truth was different. He thought about the class and lent a helping hand to them even when he felt like it was a hassle. So I was sure that he had some agenda that he hadn’t communicated with us.

Surely it was because he sensed something unusual and dangerous about the class that formerly belonged to Sakayanagi-san, which seemed to be steadily sinking now. Or…it was also conceivable that he had been hit with some kind of powerful threat. That was why he had marched in there alone, without telling his allies anything. Something like…what a hero from a movie would do.

Of course, my personal wishes factored into this too, but…that wasn’t the only important thing. I wanted him to have talked to me, regardless of what his reasons for deciding to transfer might have been. Leaving the class without saying anything, that was…that was…

“Ayanokouji-kun… Why…?”

Was I that unreliable?

“How stupid…”

Yes…I clearly was that unreliable. That question unintentionally forced my expression into a bitter smile. From his point of view, I was still like a child, not even remotely qualified to stand next to him. There was no way he would rely on me.

“Horikita-san are you all right?” asked Matsushita-san.

“I’m…fine,” I replied.

I wondered if the things I wasn’t saying aloud had somehow reached Matsushita-san, because she was looking at me with concern.

“More importantly, let’s focus on Ayanokouji-kun,” I added.

The class transfer had already been made official, but there was still a good chance that it hadn’t been his intention. If that was the case, then I definitely needed to rescue him. And not just me—the whole class needed to come together and scrape up Private Points for him.

3.1

I CAME TO KEYAKI MALL based on what Tsukasaki-kun had told me. Once there, I grabbed a random student, followed what I heard from them, and then went to the café. If the information I received was correct, then Ayanokouji-kun should be here…

I wondered what kind of face he was making right now, what he was letting show on his face. And I wondered about what thoughts he was thinking. I arrived, while trying to hold back feelings of impatience and restlessness. At the back of the café, in a corner, I saw Ayanokouji-kun…together with Hashimoto-kun and Morishita-san from Class C, as well as Ichinose-san from Class D.

“There…he is…” I remarked.

“Yes…” said Matsushita-san.

He looked like he was talking to the people around him casually, as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

“He doesn’t seem to think anything of the transfer…” noted Matsushita-san.

It happened only an hour ago, but he was acting as though it was already something in the distant past…

“Anyway, let’s…begin by talking. It all starts from there,” I replied.

I wasn’t going to come to any conclusions at this stage. I couldn’t allow myself to draw any conclusions. I walked onward, suddenly attempting to bury my feelings as I felt my footsteps grow heavier. Right when I had closed the distance enough to be able to call out to Ayanokouji-kun, Hashimoto-kun noticed me and jumped to his feet.

“Hey, Horikita. We’re in the middle of a little strategy meeting right now. What do you need?” he asked.

An obstacle has arrived . I was fully cognizant that I would be met with such a response. However, right now, the only person I wanted to talk to was Ayanokouji-kun.

“I need you to let me talk with Ayanokouji-kun,” I replied.

“If you want to talk to our leader candidate, you’re gonna have to go through me first,” said Hashimoto-kun.

“Leader candidate… That’s quite a sudden development,” I remarked.

“It’s not sudden at all. We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time now. Isn’t that right, Ayanokouji?” said Hashimoto-kun.

Hashimoto-kun smiled and looked to Ayanokouji-kun for agreement. I wished that Ayanokouji-kun would tell him off right then and there, but I couldn’t even bring myself to look directly into Ayanokouji-kun’s eyes as he turned his gaze toward me. That was because I wasn’t confident that I’d be able to accept the next words that were going to come out of his mouth…

“What he says is true. There wasn’t any chance of it happening while Sakayanagi was still around,” Ayanokouji-kun said plainly.

It was a declaration that I didn’t want to hear. I deliberately chose to ignore that and continued with what I came here to ask.

“What is the meaning of all this? You’re transferring classes?” I asked.

“Hey, don’t just launch into a conversation on your own, come on,” said Hashimoto-kun.

“Sorry, but I need you to shut your mouth right this instant. As the leader of my class, I need to have a grasp on the current situation,” I barked.

“I see, okay, as the leader of your class. All right. Well, it’s definitely true that one of your classmates suddenly left. I suppose it’s only natural to be curious, but it ain’t like I can just let you confirm anything, since it’s more convenient for us if you guys are struggling,” said Hashimoto-kun.

The grinning Hashimoto-kun had a sound argument. There was no doubt that it would be better for Class C to turn me away when I came barging on in.

“Come on, don’t glare at me like that. By the way, what’s Matsushita doing here with you at such a crucial moment?” asked Hashimoto-kun, curious about the combination of me and Matsushita-san.

He had the sort of personality where he never dropped his guard, poking and prodding you over every small detail. It would’ve been better for me if he didn’t care who I was with, but he was feigning interest so he could stir things up. How could I answer this question in such a way to convince him, then, I wondered. As I started to consider my next move, Matsushita-san came up and stood beside me.

“I just randomly tagged along, that’s all. All so I can tell the others what I’ve seen and heard here as a fellow classmate, not as their leader. Horikita-san seems to think something of Ayanokouji-kun, but honestly, it’s not that big a deal for the rest of us,” said Matsushita-san.

Matsushita-san answered thusly, as if she had deliberately chosen to take on a thankless role. I played along with her kind gesture and responded with a small nod.

“I see. Well, I’m sure it certainly looks like a strange transfer for all but a few students, yeah. There’s no point in Ayanokouji dropping down to a lower class, and more importantly, why a student like him? That’s what people are saying, right?” said Hashimoto-kun.

He was right. There shouldn’t have been many people like Sudou-kun and me, who were aware that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was a capable student—only a select few should’ve been in the know. Matsushita-san, standing here beside me, shouldn’t have been any exception to that, but…

Ayanokouji-kun briefly looked at Matsushita-san and me and then returned his gaze to Hashimoto-kun, who was about to sit back down.

“What Matsushita said just now about randomly tagging along was probably a ruse,” Ayanokouji-kun stated plainly.

“A ruse…? Horikita seemed like she was pretty convinced that was true though, dontcha think?” said Hashimoto-kun.

“It’s a difference in perception. From Horikita’s point of view, Matsushita is probably just an ordinary classmate. In reality though, Matsushita is actually quite more than she appears. It seems like Matsushita values my abilities highly, just as much or perhaps even more so than Horikita,” said Ayanokouji-kun.

After hearing Ayanokouji-kun’s words, I briefly looked over at Matsushita-san. She was trying to appear calm, but I could tell that she was slightly shaken. Did she know more about Ayanokouji-kun’s abilities, maybe even earlier than I had imagined…? That was how I had interpreted it based on how Ayanokouji-kun phrased things, but…

“I think it’s likely that she felt she couldn’t entrust this matter to Horikita alone. That’s why she came along to see me with her own two eyes: to find out the reason for my transfer and confirm the truth of the matter. If you look only at her OAA and how she acts on a day-to-day basis, Matsushita appears to be a typical good student, but in reality, she is one of the more intelligent students within Horikita’s class. She’s the type of person who usually doesn’t give her all and stays in the background. In fact, in this situation, it would be better to see Matsushita as being able to analyze things more calmly than even Horikita,” explained Ayanokouji-kun.

“Oh, come on now, Ayanokouji-kun, you’re way overestimating me, don’t you think?” replied Matsushita-san.

When Matsushita-san tried to deny it, Ayanokouji-kun continued to shower her with words, showing no signs of letting up.

“No, that’s not true. You have a history of skillfully laying the groundwork for me behind the scenes on many occasions when I’ve asked you for help in the past. Even with the matter of Maezono’s expulsion, you lent me a hand. If anything, I think that I’m giving you a reasonable evaluation,” said Ayanokouji-kun.

That’s how Ayanokouji-kun broke things down. When I looked in Matsushita-san’s direction once again, she could no longer hide her unrest whatsoever. This cooperative relationship between Ayanokouji-kun and Matsushita-san must have been going on without my knowledge, in ways I didn’t know. What’s more, this was casually revealed in front of students from other classes. Was this to give the impression that he was no longer an ally…? No, that might not even be playing into why he was revealing this all so openly. Ichinose-san, who had been listening to this conversation with apparent interest, rested her hand on her chin and gave a friendly smile.

“I had no idea that she was so dependable! I suppose this means I still don’t have a particularly good understanding of many students myself yet. I’ll need to pay careful attention to Matsushita-san from here on out myself , ” said Ichinose-san.

It felt like my legs were shaking unsteadily and I was about to lose my sense of balance. These are suspicions that I never once had before, not in the slightest. This place had completely turned into unfamiliar surroundings for both me and Matsushita-san, and Ayanokouji-kun’s attack on us wasn’t done yet.

“There isn’t any point in looking for a reason why I transferred. That was why I didn’t tell you, Horikita, or you, Matsushita. Well, no, it’s why I didn’t tell anyone in the class about this. I’m sure you’ve already noticed, but as you can see, neither Hashimoto, nor Morishita, nor Ichinose look surprised by my transfer. You can infer what I’m trying to say when I point that out, right?” said Ayanokouji-kun.

“Well…maybe you just told them after you met up at this café, and…” I protested.

“In that case, you should head on back to Class C or catch that classmate of mine you asked earlier and talk to them. They should be able to tell you how long they knew about my transfer,” said Ayanokouji-kun.

Though it should have been able to come out, my voice was stuck in my throat. The words that were supposed to pass through weren’t coming.

“Yeah, it’s scary when a student leaves your class, Horikita, for sure. Same for us, too, like how there was a flow of information to Ryuuen from Katsuragi after he left our class. Though he did get cut off from us… Well, that was because Sakayanagi had made an effort to cut him off. So Katsuragi didn’t have too much of the inside story. But that’s not true for Ayanokouji, now is it? He was the backbone of your class, so I’m sure that if he digs through what he knows, he’ll bring up lots of stories, and not just about Matsushita,” said Hashimoto-kun.

Hashimoto-kun, speaking as though he found this amusing, lightly slammed his hand down on the table.

“All righty, then, Horikita, I think it’s about time you said what you came here for. We were in the middle of an important discussion,” said Hashimoto-kun.

“What I came here for…? I already told you, I… I want to speak with Ayanokouji-kun. With just the three of us, if possible,” I replied.

“As you can see, I’m talking with Hashimoto and the others right now. Say what you need to right here and now,” said Ayanokouji-kun.

“It’s…difficult for me to say what I want to here. If you’re in the middle of something, then, sure, okay, we could even talk at night, or tomorrow, or the day aft—”

“Sorry, but I have a full schedule for a while after this,” he said coldly.

No matter how much he tried to turn me down, I had no other choice but to remain tough. There were numerous students in the café, some of whom were my classmates. If I were to carelessly let myself lose my cool here, it would affect the future direction of Class A.

“In that case, I’ll go ahead and say my piece here and now… I came because I wanted to hear what your true intentions are. You know that, don’t you?” I asked.

“You really want to hear the reason for my class transfer, no matter what?” he asked in return.

“Yes. Why would you do something like that…?” I replied.

Was I the cause? Or was there some kind of event that caused you to change your mind? A thought that would remain unvoiced. A shout from my heart that I desperately tried to conceal so that it didn’t become real.

“Sorry, but I don’t feel like answering that. The only thing I can confirm is that my transfer from Class A to Class C is real. It’s not a dream or an illusion, it’s the truth,” he replied.

With those words, he broke his gaze away from me. Even though I told him that I’d listen, he responded in a way that was almost crude, like he was turning me away at the front door.

“Unfortunately, I have nothing further to say to you,” he added.

“Are you all right with not answering anything? You do realize you’ll be treated as a traitor, right, Ayanokouji-kun?” snapped Matsushita-san, persistently trying to sink her teeth into him. “Don’t you think that you’re already more than halfway there?” she added.

The person in front of us didn’t care how he was seen by others. He didn’t think about it in terms of being prepared for the ramifications of it or not.

“Yes,” he replied.

Even if I attempted to push him any further, I wasn’t going to get any results. It was clear that by doing so, I’d only be making myself appear pitiful. No…I knew that things were going to play out this way from the beginning. If I’d had any worry about being seen by others, I could have taken countermeasures by simply meeting in the dorms or delaying the timing. I knew that, but I just couldn’t restrain myself.

“Let’s go, Matsushita-san. He… I understand quite well that he’s become my enemy. It’s obvious that there’s no need for us to show any discretion moving forward,” I declared.

Turning my back to him, I began walking away. But even so, I don’t think that any clear emotions remained in me. Only an indescribable wave of discomfort, like a headache or dizziness, remained.