Chapter 4: Unchanging Intent

THAT THURSDAY, I spied Ichinose while heading back to the dorms. She was usually surrounded by a gaggle of students, both guys and girls, but she seemed to be alone right now, which was rare. For some reason, I didn't sense her usual bubbliness from her either.

I wondered if she was alone because she was keeping her distance from her friends right now, rather than by mere coincidence. She was currently the person with the most concentrated attention focused on them in our school, regardless of grade level, and anyone she carelessly got involved with might take collateral damage themselves. I wouldn't be surprised if she'd made the decision to stay away from her friends as a result.

I thought back to Kanzaki's and Hashimoto's conversation from the other day. Should I try calling out to her?

I considered doing so but then sensed someone behind me and decided to refrain. I took out my cell phone and turned on the camera, switching from the rear-facing lens to the front-facing one and using the image on my screen to casually examine what was behind me.

Two students on their way back to the first-years' dorm, just like me.

One was Hashimoto. He seemed to be walking normally, but after what happened the other day, I couldn't assume it was a coincidence. Was he following me?

While I was trying to ascertain that, however, the other student approached me without hesitation. I closed the camera app and returned my phone to my pocket as she drew near.

"U-um, excuse me, Ayanokouji-kun. Do you have a minute…?"

It was my classmate, Wang Mei-Yu. People tended to call her Mii- chan because her name was difficult to pronounce, though I found it a little embarrassing to call her that, even in my head.

"Do you… have a little time right now? I was hoping I could talk to you about something," she said.

She wanted to talk to me? We'd barely had any contact at all so far. In fact, this was practically the very first time she'd ever spoken directly to me. It didn't seem like there was anyone else around whom she could be addressing, though…

Ichinose continued getting further away, without noticing me. At this point, running on over and chasing after her would just look strange.

"I'm sorry, you're probably busy, aren't you…?" "No, I was just heading back to the dorms. It's okay."

Mii-chan brightened when I said that, releasing a sigh of relief.

Hashimoto passed by us and continued in the direction of the dorms, not looking in my direction and not calling out to me.

"So… You said you wanted to talk to me?" I asked.

"Well, talking here will be a little awkward…" Mii-chan looked around the surrounding area, fidgeting. Apparently, this wasn't a topic for casual conversation.

"Okay." Of course, it wasn't like I could go, "Oh, since the dorms are so close, how about you come to my room?" And going to Mii-chan's room myself seemed even more far-fetched. "What do you want to do, then?"

I left the decision to Mii-chan, who thought it over, then suggested, "Would…the café be okay? We might be a little late heading back after, though."

If that was what she wanted, I had no reason to decline. She said we'd be a little late, but it was only a difference of about five or ten minutes on foot, which wasn't a big deal.

In accordance with Mii-chan's suggestion, therefore, we headed on over to the Keyaki Mall Café. That being said, we didn't know each other very well. We walked some distance apart from one another, rather than close together.

4.1

THE CAFÉ WAS ALWAYS PACKED, and today was no exception. Even I, who lacked common sense about the details of normal high school life, understood why. It was extremely popular, especially with girls, and owned by a major company in the outside world. Their drinks were pricey—too pricey for your average high school student to indulge in more than a few times a month, unless they worked a part-time job.

But students at this school received allowances based on their class points, meaning many could afford to patronize the café as often as they liked, as long as they weren't in dire straits or anything. As a result, the café was inevitably packed, day in and day out.

We still managed to find open seats, though, and sat down, facing one another. Mii-chan stared at the drink she'd ordered, making no attempt to look me in the eye.

She reminded me of Airi. If I inadvertently put pressure on her, it would probably make it even harder for her to speak her mind. I decided against attempting to break the ice. To give her room to marshal her thoughts, I said I was going to get some sugar.

I went over to the counter, where I took one sugar packet. Without letting my eyes wander around the room, I confirmed that Hashimoto had also found his way to the café.

I doubted he'd had a sudden craving for a caffeine fix. He was following me, without a doubt. Had Sakayanagi told him to keep an eye on me? No, that didn't seem right. Sakayanagi didn't want word about me to get around. And if she did want to tail me, she'd use her puppet, Kamuro.

Assuming Sakayanagi understood what kind of person Hashimoto was, she'd know he wasn't the right choice for tasks like these. She'd want to avoid carelessly giving Hashimoto information about me, only for him to leak that information to a third party.

Was he following me of his own accord, then? I didn't recall doing anything during the school camp to warrant that. I should have come across as nothing more than just another member of the group.

Ryuuen, Ishizaki and Albert, and Ibuki. I wondered if they'd been talking to anyone, but then nixed that possibility. Well, I wasn't going to solve this mystery right now. It did seem like it was going to become a problem I'd have to deal with before long, though.

I decided to ignore it for now in favor of continuing my conversation with Mii-chan. It had been about a minute since I'd left my seat across from her, which I now retook. Almost immediately after, Mii-chan broke the silence.

"Um… Well, it's about Hirata-kun." About Hirata-kun, huh?

"I was hoping you could tell me some things…" she continued.

"We're not really all that close," I replied almost immediately, as if taking precaution. But Mii-chan looked at me with surprise.

"Then why did Hirata-kun tell me you're the most reliable person in class, Ayanokouji-kun?"

"…Is that so?"

"Yeah. He said that you're the most dependable person in class. He really spoke highly of you."

While I was honestly happy to be praised by Hirata, if that kind of talk got around, it would spell trouble. That said, I could understand why Hirata had given Mii-chan my name. There were plenty of students you could count on, but if you restricted your search to Class C, well, things got a little complicated. If you further narrowed your criteria to only include guys, then it wasn't so odd that Hirata had named me.

Still…she wanted to talk about Hirata, huh? In light of the earlier conversation with Haruka, I could guess what this was about.

"So, um, Hirata-kun and Karuizawa-san, well… They broke up recently. Did you know that?"

"Yeah, of course." I pretended to have no idea why she was bringing that up.

"W-well, um…" Mii-chan faltered a few times, then finally got to the heart of the matter. "…D-do you know if there's anyone that Hirata-kun likes

right now?"

Yep, there it was. What was the correct course of action in a scenario like this? I mulled it over for a moment, then decided it would be best to just give her an honest answer.

"I don't think so." "R-really?"

"I can't say for absolutely certain, of course. But as far as I know, no, there isn't anyone. Besides, he only just got dumped by Karuizawa. It's probably too soon for him to have feelings for someone else," I replied.

"That's certainly true," replied Mii-chan, seeming to grow calmer. "Is it okay if I ask you one thing, just out of curiosity?"

"S-sure."

"When did you start liking Hirata?" "Huuuuuh?!"

Was that an odd question? Mii-chan's face had gone bright red. She

looked completely flustered.

"Wh-wh-wh-why are you asking me that?"

"Well, if you don't want to answer, you don't have to—"

"…Right after the entrance ceremony, I think?" she replied, cutting me

off.

So, she'd told me anyway, huh.

"I'm a little clumsy…" She'd fallen in love with Hirata the very first

time she'd met him, Mii-chan went on to candidly explain. "…I guess. That's what it feels like, anyway."

"Is that so?" There was a lot I didn't understand, but I was sure of one thing: she'd been charmed by Hirata's gentleness.

"But—" Mii-chan had blushed as she spoke about meeting Hirata, but now her expression grew cloudy, like she'd snapped back to reality. "I… I don't think someone like me could be Hirata-kun's girlfriend…"

"Why?" I asked, wondering how she could be so sure of that. "Because there are too many rivals out there… And besides, I've never

been in love before or anything…" she replied.

So despite overflowing with feelings of love, she didn't have the courage to make a move? I didn't want to believe the absence of romantic experience was necessarily a handicap, but I couldn't say for certain that it had no effect at all.

"Well, Mii-chan… Wait, it's probably not okay for me to be calling you Mii-chan, is it?"

"Oh, no, it's completely fine. Everyone calls me that. Even though both my parents are Chinese, they seem to like my Japanese nickname, so they call me Mii-chan too."

In other words, she wasn't half-Japanese. "Are you studying abroad?" I

asked.

"Um, well, when I was in my first year of junior high, my father came

to Japan on business," she answered.

So she'd moved here with her family? "Did you encounter any obstacles? Like dealing with a language barrier, for example."

"It was really at first. I was more worried about whether I could make friends than learning the language… But lots of people spoke good English at the junior high I enrolled in, so we got along pretty well," she explained.

That reminded me—I'd heard Mii-chan was good at English. On top of that, she'd also perfectly mastered Japanese in her three years of junior high. I'd heard Chinese students had to keep their noses to the grindstone to make it in a society that was far more competitive than Japan's. It was probably precisely because she'd received such a rigorous education that Mii-chan had been able to smoothly integrate into Japan. All that remained was for her to improve her communication skills, like Airi.

"I wonder if someone like me even has a chance…"

"I don't want to make any irresponsible statements, but I think you should have a decent chance. Don't you?"

"Really?"

"I'm not lying about that. But…" "B-but?"

Though this might make her more anxious, I should probably tell her about a rather difficult part of this equation. "Hirata's a good guy, right?"

"Yeah."

"Don't you think that's exactly why, the next time he goes out with someone, he'll be really careful? Right? He might even feel responsible for what happened, like he wasn't able to make Karuizawa happy or something."

"I see…" she replied, nodding. "You're right. And I don't think…I could confess my feelings to him right away either."

"You might be concerned about the competition out there, but if you get impatient and confess your feelings too soon, there's a high chance you'll be rejected," I told her.

I advised her to take things slow and steady. She was going to have to ask Hirata how he felt before she could be sure of anything, but I couldn't picture him pointlessly rushing into dating another girl right now. It was far more likely that he would reject the majority of the girls who happened to confess their romantic feelings to him right now. In that sense, Mii-chan had a better chance of winning if she waited.

"…I think I might have been mistaken about you, Ayanokouji-kun." "Mistaken?"

"Well, it's just, you don't normally talk all that much. Or at all, really.

You kind of give off this scary vibe. But after meeting with you face-to-face, and talking like this, I feel like you're super easy to talk to. It feels like you really care about my problems, I guess…"

Despite her compliments, the truth was that I wasn't really listening to her. It would be more accurate to say I was subconsciously analyzing our conversation, carefully scrutinizing it for information that might be helpful to me later, or something that I could use. If I came off like I really cared about her problems, then that was a convenient bonus, no more.

Should I go a little bit further? It seemed this might be a good opportunity to ask her about a number of different things.

"Oh? Mii-chan and… Ayanokouji-kun, is that you?"

Just as I opened my mouth, Shiina Hiyori, from first-year Class D, appeared at our table. I closed my mouth without a word.

"Hello, Hiyori-chan," said Mii-chan. Judging by the way they referred to each other, they were close.

"Are the two of you here on a date, by any chance?" asked Hiyori. "N-n-no, that's not it at all, Hiyori-chan!" said Mii-chan, panicked,

quickly rising to her feet. She waved her arms before her to signal her

rejection of the idea, a gesture so expansive that her entire body shook with the motion. The fact that she would deny it so excessively kind of stung.

"In that case, would it be all right if I joined you?"

"Of course, that's fine with me. …Is it okay with you, Ayanokouji-

kun?"

"Sure."

"Thank you very much." Hiyori sat down next to Mii-chan, wearing a

wide and happy smile. "It's rather unusual to see the two of you together. What were you talking about?"

"U-Um, well…" Mii-chan struggled to admit that we were talking about her crush.

"I'm interested in China, so I was asking her about it," I replied. "In…China?"

"Yeah. It's a country I'd like to visit sometime, and so I thought I'd

talk to Mii-chan, a Chinese person."

I shot a look over at Mii-chan, basically saying "Right?" with my eyes.

She nodded quickly several times in response.

"China is really nice, isn't it? I'm also really interested in it, especially things like the Great Wall." Hiyori put her hands together in front of her, still smiling. Surprisingly enough, it seemed this was a topic she was really into.

"I suppose you can't really avoid mentioning the Great Wall when you talk of China. But personally, I'd like to visit the Ancient City of Ping Yao," I replied.

"Ping Yao?"

It seemed Hiyori hadn't heard of that before. On the other hand, Mii- chan's eyes widened in surprise at hearing me mention it.

"Wow. It's a World Heritage Site, but still…I'm impressed that you know it…" she said.

"I just happened to hear about it is all."

"By the way, are you two…friends?" asked Mii-chan, seeing Hiyori and I speak so naturally to one another.

"Yes. We're reading buddies."

"Well, you're not wrong about that, I guess."

"Reading buddies…?" repeated Mii-chan. She looked puzzled for a moment, like she didn't get what we meant, but then immediately turned that confusion into positivity. "It's wonderful to have friends in other classes, isn't it?"

She probably hadn't had any friends outside her own class before the school camp.

"I think so too. I think there's more to life here at school than just antagonizing each other," said Hiyori.

Competing with other students was fundamental to how the Advanced Nurturing High School worked. Many students here had a strong tendency to see people other than their classmates as rivals. However, now that we'd gotten this far, more and more of them had started to open up to people outside their own class.

That said, the school was still keeping parts of its agenda hidden from us. If not, it wouldn't have implemented rules like the ones at the training camp. I couldn't say with any certainty that the inter-class mingling wouldn't have a negative impact down the line. If the time came when you were forced into a competitive situation, a half-hearted acquaintanceship could do more harm than good.

4.2

"THANK YOU for everything today, Ayanokouji-kun," said Mii-chan. "No, I should be the one thanking you, since I just dominated the

conversation asking you about China and all." I reflexively expressed my

thanks to her in response, causing Mii-chan to scratch her cheek with her finger, appearing embarrassed.

"Ah, w-well, I suppose," she replied.

"I'll head on up after taking a look at my mail," I said aloud, turning my back toward Mii-chan and Hiyori as they were about to get on the elevator.

I checked the contents of my mailbox once or twice a week, as I was sure many other students did. A lot of what arrived in our mailboxes was from the school, but people sometimes received packages via personal

correspondence. There were also times when things students had mail- ordered were routed to them through the school.

But I wasn't checking my mailbox for anything so ordinary. "Nothing today either, huh?"

I had started checking my mail regularly ever since my father came to visit the school, anticipating he might try to contact me. Since I saw nothing of note, I headed back to the elevator. When I got there, I saw Hiyori there waiting for me.

"Do you have a minute?" she asked. "Yeah."

We headed over to stand by the sofa in the lobby, a short distance from the elevator.

"There was something I had wanted to ask you earlier, but since you were with Mii-chan…" said Hiyori, trailing off. She briefly scanned our surroundings to see if anyone was around, and then spoke again. "Have you heard anything about Ichinose-san?"

"Meaning what? If you're referring to those bizarre rumors, then yeah, I've heard about those."

"Exactly that. Do you happen to know who's spreading those rumors?" asked Hiyori.

"No… I'm afraid I don't."

It would have been easy to name Sakayanagi or Hashimoto, but I thought I'd avoid doing that.

"To be honest, I really hate seeing Ichinose-san being tormented like this. She treats even students like me, who don't have many friends, the same as she would anyone else," said Hiyori.

If I'd remembered correctly, Hiyori and Ichinose had been in the same group at the school camp. I supposed she might feel a stronger bond with Ichinose than with other students after eating the same meals and sleeping in the same room.

"Ayanokouji-kun." There was a kind of determination in Hiyori's eyes. "I dislike hurting others. However, I believe that it's sometimes necessary to fight in order to protect your friends."

"I suppose that's right. You can't possibly save everyone."

"Even though Ichinose-san is a mutual enemy of ours, there must be a way to help her. I don't have a plan yet, but… Will you help me?"

"Help, huh? In that case, you should talk to Horikita." "Horikita-san?" Hiyori didn't seem thrilled by the prospect.

"I suppose Class C might also be willing to help Ichinose," I added. If that happened, it would mean Classes D, C, and B were joining forces against Class A. But Hiyori wasn't jumping for joy at this prospect either.

"So you won't do anything yourself, Ayanokouji-kun?" "I have no influence whatsoever over Class C."

"Is that so?" she replied, tilting her head to the side with a puzzled look on her face.

"For the girls, it's Horikita. For the guys, it's Hirata. You'll just have to talk to one of them about it," I answered.

"I see…" said Hiyori. Her shoulders slumped, seemingly in disappointment.

"Dissatisfied?" I asked.

"No…Well, it's just that I barely know Horikita-san or Hirata-kun, So I thought that if I went to you, Ayanokouji-kun, then…" She slumped her shoulders even further, looking despondent. I was surprised by the sight.

"Sorry. If there's nothing I can do, then there's nothing I can do." "No, no, it's okay… It was a selfish idea on my part. I just came up to

you and asked without considering how you might feel," she replied, bowing

to me.

"Well, do you want me to put in a word in with them on your behalf, for the time being?" I asked.

"Really? You would do that for me?" Even though that was exactly what Hiyori had just said she wanted, she seemed to have changed her mind. "I'm sorry, but…on second thought, let's just meet another time. If we act carelessly, it might make the rumors spread even further and cause more trouble for Ichinose-san."

"I see. Yeah, you might be right about that."

As of this moment, there was no telling what the people targeting Ichinose might do next. Moving incautiously might do more harm than good.

Not to mention the possibility that the rumors about Ichinose were closer to the truth than many might think…

4.3

AFTER RETURNING TO MY ROOM, I received a text from Horikita.

Do you have a minute now?

I didn't respond, but when she saw the read receipt on her text, she sent another right away.

Since the message I just sent was marked as read, I'm just going to go ahead and keep talking. Ichinose-san is coming to my room tonight. Are you coming too?

Now that was unexpected. I'd planned to just read her messages, but now decided to actually respond. What led to this? I texted back.

We have an alliance with Class B. It's only natural that we'd want to lend a hand when the situation calls for it. But in this case, we're not getting the full story. So I was thinking we'd hear it from the person in question, replied Horikita.

In other words, she'd contacted Ichinose and asked if they could meet in person, huh? A bold move.

It would be easy for me to refuse. Horikita would probably tell me what they talked about if I asked her later. That being said, Horikita might not get the whole story out of Ichinose. Even Kanzaki didn't know everything about her, despite how close they were.

If that was the case, would I get closer to the truth if I met with Ichinose directly and asked her myself? Unfortunately, I couldn't do so without getting involved in whatever happened next.

What should I do? After giving it some thought, I sent Horikita a short response.

What time?

Seven.

That was a little late. I'd have to be careful to not be seen by other students.

Got it. I'll let you know before I head over.

And so, I decided to meet Ichinose together with Horikita.

4.4

I SPENT THE REST of the time leisurely hanging out in my room. At five minutes to seven, I left my room and walked over to Horikita's. At almost the exact moment I got off the elevator, I spied Ichinose.

"Ah, good evening, Ayanokouji-kun," said Ichinose. I responded to her with a light wave.

"Sorry for the bother," I told her.

"Aha ha! No no, I'm the one being a bother." With those words, Ichinose took the lead and rang the bell to Horikita's room. We heard the lock click open at once.

"Please come in."

We planned to meet at seven; there was nothing odd about us arriving at the same time. Horikita invited us in without comment, and I went ahead and sat down on the floor. I had visited her room before, and it didn't seem to have changed much since the last time. It was much like mine: simple and austere.

"I'm sorry to call you over like this on a weeknight, Ichinose-san." "You're doing this out of consideration for me, though. There's no

need to be sorry," Ichinose said.

Seeing her face-to-face like this, she seemed like the same old Ichinose she'd always been.

"But…if this goes on too late, it'll affect us tomorrow, so I don't plan to draw out this conversation. So I'm sure you've heard some worrisome rumors going around about me."

"Yes. Do you know who is spreading those rumors?" asked Horikita, getting straight to the point. I listened, curious to see if Ichinose would answer the question honestly.

"I don't have any hard evidence. But if I had to guess, I'd peg Sakayanagi."

A much more direct answer than I'd expected. I doubted Ichinose would have named a specific person if she was less than halfway certain; she wasn't the type to suspect others without good reason. This made something very clear to me: if nothing else, Ichinose was aware of the identity of the person who was spreading rumors about her.

"Sakayanagi-san… What makes you so sure that she's the one?" asked Horikita.

"To put it simply, it's because she declared war on us. Is that not enough to convince you?"

Horikita probably already knew how aggressive Sakayanagi could be. Considering the fact that she'd been willing to deepen the rift within her own class to bring down Katsuragi, one could easily imagine her taking aim at Class B's leader, Ichinose, in order to defeat them.

"No. That is enough." It was precisely because Horikita thought the same way that I did that she saw no need to pry further. "So, she's circulating baseless rumors about you to damage your character?"

"Hm… How do I put this?"

"Are you not going to deny the rumors?"

"I'm sorry, Horikita-san. I can't answer that question. You and Ayanokouji-kun are my friends, but you belong to a different class. Even if we say we're allies now, we're still destined to compete with each other someday, right?" said Ichinose.

Direct as Ichinose's first answer had been, it seemed she was declining to answer this question. Well, that was only to be expected.

"I don't intend to force an answer from you. But you do know that silence can be interpreted as you saying the rumors are true, right?" said Horikita.

"Everyone is free to interpret the rumors that way, including you, Horikita-san. But I have absolutely no intention of overreacting to this situation. Sakayanagi's strategy is to get Class B all riled up. I think the best possible countermeasure is to stay silent," replied Ichinose, smiling, looking the same as she always did.

Harassment of this sort happened everywhere, all the time. There was

no foolproof way of dealing with it: you could react or stay silent, but at the end of the day, the peanut gallery would cause as much of a ruckus as they wanted. But perhaps it was precisely because of the rampant speculation she knew people would engage in that Ichinose had chosen not to react, but rather to simply wait for things to pass.

"The reason I wanted to meet with you today, Horikita-san, was to talk to you about this whole thing. I don't want you to get dragged into it. Even if I stay silent, it'll take longer for the situation to blow over if people around me make a fuss. More importantly, though, there's no need for Class C to end up in Sakayanagi's crosshairs just because they tried to help me. I'll be just fine," said Ichinose, giving us a vigorous nod, her smile not fading at all.

"…I know that you have a strong heart. Regardless of their veracity, anyone would be affected by having such vile rumors about them do the rounds. But despite that, you aren't thinking about yourself. You're showing consideration for the people around you," said Horikita.

"I'm really not that great," said Ichinose, sounding a little bashful now. "You and your class should carry on as you have been, Horikita-san. I'll clean up my own mess."

Saying that, she quickly stood up. It seemed she'd only come here to caution Horikita not to get involved.

"Do you know about Kanzaki and the others?" I asked. My input was probably unnecessary, but I thought I'd try something.

"Kanzaki-kun?"

"He confronted Hashimoto from Class A the other day, asking him point-blank to stop spreading the rumors. Well, I guess it might have gone a bit beyond simply asking."

"I see… Kanzaki-kun is really kind. I told him he didn't need to do anything."

"It's not just Kanzaki-kun, though. I'm sure more of your classmates are trying to take action for your sake," said Horikita. Though this was the first time she'd heard mention of what Kanzaki did, I was willing to bet she was right on the money.

"I'll have a talk with my classmates again. Is it okay if we call it a

night and end our conversation here?" asked Ichinose.

"Are you really okay with this?" Horikita stopped Ichinose, seeking confirmation yet again, just in case.

"Of course," answered Ichinose, without any hesitation. "Thank you for worrying about me. And Ayanokouji-kun, thank you too, for coming out so late."

"It's nothing. I just tagged along."

Ichinose bid us goodnight and then left. Horikita didn't stop her this

time.

"I wonder if we really shouldn't do anything?" she said aloud. "Who knows?" I replied.

Based on what we'd just seen, Ichinose seemed no different than usual.

If I had to describe it, I wouldn't say she was acting tough, but more that she was trying not to think about the situation. That was my impression, anyway.

"What do you think I should do?" asked Horikita. "You want my opinion?"

"Yes. I want your honest opinion," she replied without hesitation.

"In that case, I say do nothing." "And your reasoning?"

"If Sakayanagi is the source of the rumors, as Ichinose said, then

getting involved might cause her to set her sights on Class C."

"I see. But, what if Ichinose-san is defeated by Sakayanagi-san?

Wouldn't Sakayanagi make Class C her next target, anyway?"

A natural conclusion. "It's certainly true we'll be targeted sooner or later. But when that time comes, the pesky leader of Class B will have already been dealt with. That'll work to our advantage."

"…So, you're saying you don't care about whatever happens to Ichinose-san? You're quite cold-blooded."

"Cold-blooded? Isn't that also how you acted at first? Helping a classmate is one thing, but Ichinose is from another class. She's an opponent we'll have to face. Her defeat would be a welcome development for us.

There's no reason for us to lament it."

"She's currently our ally. Until Sakayanagi-san and the rest of Class A falls, and things come down to a one-on-one battle with Class B—"

"That's being pretty idealistic though, isn't it?" I said, interrupting her.

Class A being conveniently demoted to C, while Ichinose and Class C rose to A and B respectively, ending in us duking it out? That was nothing more than a pipe dream. While I wasn't sure how much she could really rely on other people in this situation, Ichinose was turning down people's offers to help her. If Horikita and Ichinose had had this conversation weeks ago, I was sure Horikita would have been satisfied and stopped offering help at a much earlier stage. How and why had she come to think the way she did now?

Well, I supposed I could hazard a guess. She had been striving to improve her relationship with Kushida, after all.

"You should leave things alone," I told her.

"I-I suppose…" Horikita didn't try to argue any further, which told me that she knew, deep down, that this was the right thing to do.

We'd been able to express to Ichinose that we were concerned about her, as a partner in our alliance, and that we were prepared to help. That was a good thing. Class C's best plan of action from here was to keep a low profile and ingratiate itself with the other classes, slowly closing in while they were busy battling each other. Here and now, it was important that we not seek to help them.

I'd given Horikita my opinion because she asked for it. It was ultimately up to her to decide what Class C did next, though I did think she probably wouldn't get further involved in what was going on with Class B. After all, she didn't have a way to really help improve the situation without getting in the way of Ichinose's plan.

"I'll head back too. A guy shouldn't be sticking around too long in a girl's room," I told her. If I stuck around past eight o'clock, there might be trouble.

"I suppose…" replied Horikita, lost in thought, without looking my

way.

Horikita had begun to change, little by little. However, the changes she

was going through were a little extreme. She was showing an increasing tendency to lose sight of her goals and be influenced by her surroundings. I imagined she'd keep struggling, both for her own sake and for others, for the foreseeable future. But would she move past that and finally become her true self? That was the most important thing.

After I left the room, I saw Ichinose standing in front of the elevator. While I wondered whether she had been waiting for me to come over, she waved at me with a broad smile on her face.

"Hey, over here!" she said in a quiet voice, calling me over.

I got onto the elevator, feeling like she was urging me on. She pushed the button for the first floor, sending us down to the lobby.

"Do you mind coming with me for a minute?" asked Ichinose. "I don't mind, no, but… Where are we going?"

"Hm, would it be okay if we headed outside for a bit?"

We got to the lobby. Even though there wasn't anyone else around, we headed outside. The sun had set, and it was now completely dark. In that darkness, Ichinose and I walked over to one of the rest areas on the path toward the school building.

"I know that it's cold outside, but…I don't want to attract any attention."

"I understand. Are you okay, Ichinose?"

"I'm fine. Ah… Um, well, how do I say this… I'm really sorry."

I had wondered what she was going to say, but the first thing that came out of Ichinose's mouth was an apology.

"Why are you apologizing?" I asked.

"I guess since I've been causing problems for you and Horikita-san, Ayanokouji-kun, and the rest of Class C. I've caused you a lot of unnecessary worry because of these rumors. Please don't pay them any mind," said Ichinose.

"That's what you said to Kanzaki and the others, isn't it?"

"It's the best answer I have, I think. This is the stance I'm going to take until the rumors have gone away." Ichinose looked at me with determination

in her eyes. If she'd addressed them this way, it was no wonder Kanzaki and the rest of her supporters in Class B had had no choice but to listen. "Well, that's all I had wanted to say… It really is cold, isn't it? Let's head on back."

"Okay."

We'd talked for just a moment. Ichinose had urged me to head inside first, so I made it back to the dorm before her.

4.5

THE DAILY LIVES of the people around me had gotten quite hectic. I hadn't even done anything particularly proactively myself, and I kept getting swept up in the things going on around me. Despite the ups and downs, maybe this was the kind of normal, everyday life that I'd wanted to have?

I had a hunch I was going to arrive at an answer—soon. But then something strange happened.

The phone I'd placed near my bedside vibrated quietly. The clock showed that it was just past one in the morning. I checked to see who would be calling me at such an unusual time, but it was an unregistered number.

It shouldn't be possible for an outside number to contact me. The phones the school had provided us were only able to make and receive calls from school numbers, and there seemed to be no way to change those settings

—a countermeasure put in place to prevent students from inadvertently making contact with the outside world. It wasn't a particularly unusual feature for a phone to have. There were similar parental controls you could activate when giving a phone to a small child, for instance.

In other words, the call was coming from someone on the school campus whose number hadn't been registered in my phone. I couldn't determine if it was from a student or from a teacher.

"…Hello?"

Still slightly sleepy, I cautiously answered the phone, pressing it to my left ear. No one spoke on the other end. The only sound that reached my ears was the faint sound of someone breathing.

We both waited in silence for about 30 seconds, as I waited for the other person to speak up.

"If you're not going to say anything, I'm hanging up," I said, warning the person on the other side that I had enough of waiting in silence.

"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."

The person on the other side said my name. It was a male voice that I

didn't remember ever hearing before, but it didn't sound like an adult. In which case, it was highly likely they were a student.

"And you are?" I asked in return.

The person went quiet again. And then, they hung up.

"Calling me just to say my name." I couldn't dismiss this as a simple wrong number. "So you've made your move, huh…?"

The identity of the caller was a trivial concern. I began to see that man's strategy. He'd begun moving against me. But why do this, and let me know he was coming? If his goal was to get me kicked out of school, then a surprise attack made more sense.

Deliberately doing something like this was a threat. A threat that he meant to crush me.

Was there anything at all that lay beyond that man's power…? Regardless, there was no changing what had just begun.