5.6

Although it took some time, I was able to obtain important information that led me to the truth of the shoplifting case.

With Asahina's help, I didn't waste any time, but that was why I wanted to pause for a moment.

The fact was that I was on the verge of a solution on the very day I embarked on my investigation.

Of course, I could attribute this to my good fortune, including unintended coincidences.

That was why I wasn't satisfied.

It wasn't that the others—Asahina, Yamanaka, and Tachibana—were lying or anything like that.

What will happen if I report the results to Kiryuuin?

And what's the goal of the person who orchestrated this scenario?

Depending on the decision and outcome, there was a possibility that it would affect the third semester.

I decided to send a message to Kiryuuin about what I found, excluding the crux of the matter.

I then suggested what to do next. The question was whether Kiryuuin would be on board with that or not, but since she wanted a solution, she probably would be.

On the way back from the Keyaki Mall, I arrived at the dormitory.

As I expected, there was no call from Kei on my cell phone, and she didn't seem to be waiting for me in the lobby.

I wonder if Kei will be able to keep her distance from me and diminish her relationship with me.

No, that was something I didn't need to think about yet.

As long as she acted as a host's parasite, she wouldn't be able to escape on her own and take independent action.

The elevator arrived on the first floor, so I planned to get on and go to the fourth floor.

I should concentrate on Kiryuuin's case rather than Kei's. That was the plan, but then I came across a website, which I found in the middle of the night.

That's what I was thought…

"Welcome back, Ayanokouji-kun."

As I got off the elevator, I saw Ichinose wearing a coat and smiling at me, looking a little cold.

It seemed that she was waiting for me in front of my room.

"What's wrong?"

"Hm? Like, I just wanted to see you. Am I bothering you?"

"No, not at all. It's just that you've been waiting a long time, haven't you?"

Normally I would've been home by 5:00 p.m., but it was already around 6:00 p.m. because I had to make a detour to see Asahina and the other third-year students.

Ichinose curiously pulled out her cell phone to check the time.

"What? When did it get so late? I didn't even notice."

I thought what she said might've been out of concern for me, but it didn't seem to be that way.

"How long have you been there?"

"Uh, a little after school. So that would be a little after… 4:30, I guess."

So she was on her feet for at least an hour and a half.

She said that she had wanted to come talk to me but didn't because she didn't want to interrupt me.

"You should've let me know beforehand."

Even if I couldn't see her right away, I could've at least told her when I'd be leaving.

"No, I didn't want to disturb you."

I didn't think that was a matter of good or bad, but if she wasn't bothered by waiting for me, there was nothing more to say.

"Hey, there's nothing I particularly need to talk to you about, but..."

She asked hesitantly.

"Have you made up with Karuizawa-san?"

"No, I haven't."

When I answered, Ichinose murmured, "I see."

Ichinose's expression was joyful, sad, or something else.

The expression on her face seemed to be any of these, but it was hard to see her true feelings.

"Then… can I be selfish for a moment? I'd like to have a little chat with you.

Only if you don't mind…"

I'm sure it wasn't just to say hi since she took the time to wait for me.

"I'm fine with it. If you don't mind, do you want to come into my room?"

"Are you sure?"

There was no reason to refuse. Since Kei hadn't contacted me, I had nowhere else to be for the rest of the day. This also wasn't a place I could make her stand outside and talk in.

I couldn't let her body get any colder than it already was, so I turned the key in the lock and opened the front door.

"I'm a little nervous. Sorry to bother you."

When Ichinose entered the room having said that, she must've immediately noticed the difference from before.

"The last time you came to my room was on a rainy day."

"Thank you for that time. I was soaking wet from the rain…"

I took off my shoes first, then Ichinose, and she came up to the room neatly.

When the lights were turned on and the entire room was brightly lit, Ichinose made a noise.

"Ah—It's a very cute room, isn't it?"

Ichinose's eyes were drawn to the changes in the bed and its surroundings as she replied.

There were no major changes, such as buying furniture or redecorating.

Just stuffed animals, hand mirrors, cushions, etc., which were a little out of place in a man's room.

There were many more small things here than before.

They were all brought in and left behind by Kei who came in and out of the room. If someone who didn't know the situation at this school were to see them, it might've been unsurprising for them to mistaken us for two people living together.

If you looked in the kitchen, you'd easily notice matching cups and chopsticks of different colors.

She knew that Kei and I were dating, and she must've assumed that the situation in the room had changed. In fact, you couldn't see any confusion on her face.

"Please sit down at your leisure. I'll pour you a hot drink. Cocoa?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Ichinose smiled happily as I offered her the same drink as that day.

The best way to warm up a cold body was from the inside.

However, it was getting quite cold in the room, so I turned on the heater and activated the humidifier.

"I think it'll warm up soon."

Nodding, Ichinose took off her coat and placed it at her feet.

"Girls are impressive, aren't they? They always go to and from school in skirts like that. It must be cold."

"It's definitely cold, but I'm so used to wearing skirts that I haven't really paid much attention to it."

After answering, she looked at a photo frame with a picture of Kei and me in my room, she went up to it and stared at it for a long time.

"Can I ask you how you fell in love with Karuizawa-san?"

"Are you interested?"

"Yes. I didn't have much contact with her, but I knew that she was dating Hirata-kun during our first year. I never thought that she'd be dating you."

Even many students in Horikita's class were still puzzled. If it were another class, it would be more difficult to figure out why.

"It's not that I don't want to answer, but it's hard to answer. I'd never been in love before, and even if I wanted to talk about it in detail, I couldn't. Maybe it was just a natural progression of learning about each other together in class."

I couldn't talk about specifics, so I just used common words and ran with it.

"Karuizawa-san is cute, isn't she?"

"I don't deny it."

The water in the pot had boiled, so I poured in the hot water and mixed the powder with a spoon to make cocoa.

"Here."

"It's warm."

She wrapped the cup with her hands, which had been cold, and exhaled.

"The other day, I dragged you around to the gym and stuff because of my selfishness. Did you mind?"

"I originally proposed the idea by asking for your day off. And..."

I opened my desk drawer and took out a piece of paper.

"The experience was so good that I'm thinking of pulling this out on my next day off."

"Oh, a gym membership…"

I already filled out the form with my name, student ID number, and monthly course selection.

"I'm always leading a life of self-indulgence. I thought I'd get some exercise."

"I see. I'm glad to hear that."

Until the school trip, Ichinose often showed a downcast face.

However, since the last time we spent the break together, she had been smiling a lot more.

"We'll probably see each other more often at the gym from now on, so I'm counting on you."

"Yes! I'll count on you too... Oh, right. We'll be able to meet at the gym too, huh?"

Ichinose drank cocoa and squinted her eyes happily.

"Actually, you know, I…?"

"Hmm?"

Ichinose looked into my eyes as if she had been thinking about something.

"I wasn't just waiting for you in front of the room because I wanted to see you. I had something I really needed to tell you… Can you sit next to me?"

She lightly patted the empty bed space with her hand.

I knew she was serious, so I sat down next to Ichinose to fulfill her wish.

"The reason I met with you this past Sunday was to put an end to it."

"An end?"

"To end my feelings for you."

Determined, Ichinose made no pretense of looking away.

"You've got someone you love, Karuizawa-san, so I thought that day would be our first and last date."

There was no trace of sadness on Ichinose's face as she said this.

Was that what Ichinose was thinking on the day we shared our time at the gym?

"That's the end of it."

Ichinose nodded emphatically.

"We won't see each other in private anymore. I thought it was the right thing to do."

"If that's the case, it would contradict our time today here."

Even if it wasn't a holiday, it was undeniably a private time.

"But I was wrong. That way of thinking wasn't right. I realized that nothing would change if I kept doing that."

I still don't know what conclusion she came to.

But I guess that change in thinking is the reason for the bright Ichinose we have now.

"I don't know what I should do. What should I do from now on…?"

The smile seemed to be the same as usual, but it also seemed to be different.

So far, I interpreted Ichinose as a relatively easy-to-understand person whose smile was easily visible on her face.

Of course, she sometimes showed her poker face well in exams, but at least in her private life, I had thought so.

However, nowadays, Ichinose often showed a face that couldn't be read.

"That day, I had made up my mind that I'd never ask you about your girlfriend, Karuizawa-san, in front of you."

"Why's that?"

"Because it would hurt my heart and make my chest feel tight. I thought that if I asked, I would be in pain."

Ichinose muttered, choosing her words carefully as if exposing herself to me.

"But after the gym, I couldn't resist asking you which one of you fell in love first?"

That's right, she did ask me that. I knew how Ichinose was feeling at that time.

"Was it hard?"

"Strangely enough, it wasn't. It was at that moment that I realized I was wrong."

"What did you figure out? What was the right thing for you?"

"You want to know? I'll tell you."

Ichinose took a slow breath and looked into my eyes as I sat next to her.

"I still love you."

Ichinose didn't run away. She didn't want to catch me to then let me go. She looked at me with such eyes.

"At that moment, I realized how much I love you."

It was the first and last date that she accepted with the idea of stepping aside.

However, Ichinose came to the opposite conclusion.

"At the same time, I thought that I couldn't remain in the dark. I had to change from the ground up."

That was the moment that changed Ichinose from being in the dark.

"Hey... Can I touch your face?"

"'You won't get any prizes for touching me."

When I jokingly said that, Ichinose laughed softly and nodded her head.

Then she reached out her right hand and touched my cheek.

With a slight effort, she turned my face towards her.

"I've never done this to anyone. I've never felt this way about anyone. I've been nervous all the time, and somewhere inside, I'm in pain… but I'm so happy right now. Just having the person I love beside me fills my heart."

I wanted to ask Ichinose, who told me so honestly.

"I asked you on the school trip, didn't I? I asked you if there was something you wanted."

"Yeah. What I wanted... was to get to Class A. A goal that I could reach with my friends. I lost sight of that, and I almost broke down and said I couldn't do it anymore. No, I was broken. I even thought that I had no choice but to leave this school."

"Not anymore, huh?"

"Not anymore. I want to stay. I want to aim for Class A. I want to achieve it."

A hand on my cheek.

"And I want one more thing. The one I love… Ayanokouji-kun."

"I think you know, but I..."

"Yeah. You've got Karuizawa-san. I know that, so I won't ask for anything more than that now, but…"

"But?"

"Things will be different from now on. I'm going to become the kind of person you will look at."

Even though her cheeks were blushing, her unwavering gaze remained fixed on me. She didn't take that final step that would go against her morals despite being in love with someone who already had a partner. If she had crossed that line, I would've had to stop her, but she was able to restrain herself.

This was the core of Ichinose Honami.

"Ayanokouji-kun, watch me from now on."

"I was going to watch over you even if you didn't want me to."

"It's… at the end of the school year."

"Yeah. Then when we'll meet again, I'll tell you one thing."

"My resolve was broken once, but it's absolutely fine now."

I don't need to question you about that.

As I sat next to her, I could feel the passion and strength that Ichinose exuded.

I didn't know how the outcome would turn out, but Ichinose had definitely undergone a great change mentally.

It was based on an intense dependence that was different from that of Karuizawa Kei.

This dependence, which may have been a double-edged sword, had undeniably given Ichinose great strength.

By nature, we wanted the person we loved to respond to us.

Even if it was the first time, we'd want them to say, 'I love you' to us.

We'd want to touch them and know what happens next.

But Ichinose didn't beg.

It was clear that she was determined to win this statement for herself.

Slowly, her hand left me.

"I'm going home."

"I'll see you out."

"You have to make up with Karuizawa-san as soon as possible."

"I'll take care of it."

Ichinose, with her coat in her hands, put on her shoes and opened the front door with light steps.

Then she waved her hand softly and the door closed.

Silence and a slight scent of cocoa and citrus lingered.

I wondered what kind of world Ichinose would create.

How it would affect the people around her, and how it would change my own thoughts.

I look forward to school life even more.