19 Ichinose

'Hmm, my hair seemed to have grown quite a bit ever since I possessed Ike's body' I got lost in my thoughts while I was waiting for the elevator to arrive at my floor. I have been wondering for a few days whether I should go to a barber or just let it grow longer. I wouldn't have any problem even if they grew longer since I was usually using an elastic thin sports headband to keep them from falling over my eyes.

*ding* As I was fiddling around with my hair, the sound of the elevator arriving at my floor woke me up from my thoughts, however I was slightly surprised to see the person inside it.

"Oh! Good morning, Ike-kun" A girl greeted me with a sweet smile despite being from a different class.

"...Good morning, Ichinose-san, excuse me" I greeted her back and entered the elevator, keeping a decent distance from her since we were the only ones inside it.

"In advance, I apologize for prying but teachers have informed the classes about the incident involving your class and class C. Would you mind telling me what exactly happened?" As we arrived at the lobby, she asked me with a curious expression. I spared her only one glance before I returned my sight in front of me.

"No need to apologize, I am sure you would be able to find out the details with your connections, after all, you are quite popular." I proceed with an explanation while we were walking to school together.

"I see...And your class believes Sudo-kun wasn't the one who initiated the fight?" She asked me, showing a great interest in our class's "unity"

"Not exactly my class but certain people within the class who are also resolved to clear Sudo's name." I replied and noticed several people greeting Ichinose on our way to school.

After she was done waving to each one of them, she quickly refocused on me.

"I am sorry about that. A certain people you say...what about you, Ike-kun?"

"I believe him" I shortly said, however, her next question caught me slightly off-guard.

"Do you believe Sudo-kun or your judgment?"

Her question was most likely said without bad intentions but I still couldn't help but frown.

"I believe him because he is my friend and I know his personality. He might be violent but being violent isn't the same as being dishonest." I bluntly replied leaving no space for doubt.

"In that case, would you mind if I collaborate with your class to reveal the true liar in this incident?" She asked with a kind smile that just screamed "I want to help!"

"*sigh* I have no idea why are you asking me of all people, however, I don't think your help will be necessary, though, do as you wish, no one is going to stop you from investigating this on your own."

"Eh? Why? Wouldn't it be better to look for witnesses with more people?" She asked with a thoughtful expression that looked especially cute.

"Because our class's genius, Horikita-san, is on the case. If this incident was truly planned then...an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. Obviously, we don't mean to use any kind of violence in solving this, haha" There were a few reasons why I decided to share all of this with Ichinose.

One...she is trustworthy not to spread it. Two...she will think I am taking this too lightly and will not overestimate me in the future. Three...she appreciates honesty so it was practically free friendship points with her.

"I see, however, should you really casually talk about this to just anyone?" Ichinose asked with a concerned look as if she was more worried about me for spreading some possibly class secrets.

"I trust Ichinose-san!" I smiled at her and oddly, it caused her to have a stunned expression.

"I just feel like Ichinose-san is a good person even if we are destined to be enemies. You could say, I view Ichinose-san as an honorable enemy. Well not exactly me since I doubt I can be called something akin to an enemy haha."

"Hehe, I see, thank you for saying that" She laughed it off before a slightly guilty expression appeared on her face for a split second.

"Are you excited about the summer break? You must have heard about the island in the south, right?" She suddenly changed the topic and asked with an excited smile.

"Hm? Oh! Yeah, I have heard of it, I am looking forward to it" I was never a good actor so once she suddenly asked me about the "vacation" that wasn't exactly a vacation, I couldn't sound even a bit excited. There was probably much more weariness in my tone than excitement.

I was aware of my actions only after I replied in such a monotonous way.

"Are you sure? You don't sound like it...Are you perhaps also suspicious of this vacation?" She looked a bit surprised before she asked me with what I would personally call a teasing tone as she leaned a bit closer to me.

"I am not sure, I just don't trust this school anymore after everything that has happened till now."

"I see...that makes sense. Would you like to exchange contact information so I can contact you in case I find out something about the 'incident'?" Ichinose muttered with a thoughtful expression before asking for my number and email when she noticed it was time for us to go our own ways.

"You are still going to bother with investigating it, huh? I have no problems with that..." I shrugged my shoulders in response and took my phone out. I was wondering how much she was involved with Ayanokoji however there was no way I could just ask her that. I hope she isn't going to ask me for help with her love life since I would be forced to repeat Ayanokoji's words as I have absolutely no idea about love.

---Honami Ichinose---

Affection: 8 -> 10

???

???

We said our goodbyes and went on with our day, however, after the school hours ended, I received a message. At first, I thought it was from Inogashira but when I saw the sender was Ichinose my smile froze, however, I was still feeling optimistic that the message might contain some information on Sudo's incident, that is until I opened it.

She asked whether we could meet up and I pretty much assumed what it was about. I had no reason to refuse a request for help from somebody like Ichinose so I accepted. It wasn't like I didn't want to get involved with Ichinose, I certainly wouldn't mind becoming friends with somebody as trustworthy as her even if we belonged to different classes, the problem was my involvement would greatly change Ayanakoji's and her relationship which could create big holes in the story that I would be forced to fill in, that is, if I truly intended to become her friend.

I could also stain their relationship as much as possible and then do nothing to help which might resolve in slowly deteriorating her mental state as the story would progress, however, why would I do something like that to her?

I wasn't raised to be a completely heartless beast, however, growing up I found out a certain amount of heartlessness is necessary when dealing with unpleasant people. The actions I choose here will have consequences.

As I have heard many times..."With great power comes great responsibility" I had trouble truly understanding the meaning of those words since I never possessed any power when I was little. Later, I understood those words but only now do I feel the weight of those words. Knowing the future is scarier than I initially thought.