Chapter 4 Part VIII

After we got out into the hallway, an unexpected person was waiting. She waved and smiled, and ran over as soon as noticed us. Horikita wasn't surprised. Instead, she approached her and responded positively.

"Kushida-san, I've kept you waiting for a while."

"It's alright, there's still some time left until the appointed time. What were you talking about with Honami-chan just now?"

"Just a trifling topic."

"I'm interested. Or is it something you can't tell me about?"

Her tone and smile remained the same, but I could feel a heavy pressure that seemed to be directed at Horikita.

"Yeah, after all, it wasn't something unrelated to you. Let's talk."

Horikita began to naturally recount the conversation that she had with Ichinose, making slight changes where necessary.

"I asked her about what could be done to treat everyone equally."

"Really...?"

"I'm not going to beat around the bush about who it was about. I had been referring to you, Kushida-san."

"You see, Horikita-san. Maybe I can't really get along with you, but I'd rather you not share such a story while Ayanokōji-kun is present."

The true meaning of Kushida's words was that she didn't want Horikita to increase the number of people who knew her secret.

"Or… is it that Ayanokōji-kun and Ichinose-san now know something else?"

A sharp gaze pierces through Horikita. She accepts her gaze head-on.

"Or, I'm sorry Ayanokōji-kun, but could you please head home without me?"

"...I guess I'm in the way. In which case, I'll go back first."

I left the two of them and went to the entrance. After changing my shoes, I began my trip back to the dorms. On the way, I was called by Horikita and picked up the phone.

"You and I came from the same middle school, and because I know your past, you want me to drop out of school. These are the facts, correct?"

Then, a muffled voice came through over the phone.

It seems that she had put her cell phone in her pocket and dialed me directly. It appears that Horikita was doing me special service by allowing me to listen in on their conversation directly.

"What short notice, why bring up the past so suddenly? I don't like that topic."

"I don't want to look backward either. However, this is something we can't avoid."

"Let's see, after all, we hardly ever have the chance to be alone. Yes, sure, I do hope you disappear from this school. This is indeed because of the fact that we came from the same school, and that you know about my past."

"I've thought about it many times. I did hear about the incident, but it wasn't interesting to me as I didn't have any friends back then. All I ever heard were rumors, not the truth."

"There's no guarantee that you don't know the facts, is there?"

"Yes. That's the reason why this issue we have has yet to be buried. No matter how much I deny it, you won't be able to ignore the possibility that I'm lying to you. Not only that, I don't think you'd be comfortable with me knowing anything about the incident at all, and would choose to kick me out of school regardless."

Kushida doesn't deny it, so Horikita continues.

"Do you want to hold a bet with me, Kushida-san?"

"Bet? What does that mean?"

The other end of the cell phone went silent.

They seemed to stop their conversation and start thinking. Horikita offered to make a bet. This was not something she came up with on the spot, but something that she had thought of in advance.

"You don't like the fact that I exist. It's a helpless question, right?"

"Let's see, as long as Horikita-san is in this school, my mind will not change."

"However, we are all students in Class D. If we don't help each other in the future, we won't be able to advance to Class A."

"That depends on your way of thinking. I think that the problem will be solved as soon as you drop out of school."

"Do you have any plans on dropping out yourself?"

"No way. If anyone is dropping out, it would be you, Horikita-san."

While the quality was low and there were many choppy parts, the voices of both of them were calm.

"I'm not going to drop out of school either."

"Then there's no way. No matter what, I don't think we're going to get along."

"Yeah… Maybe so. From that day until now, I've been thinking about it. Thinking about what to do to coexist."

A solution doesn't come to me either. Even now.

"Then I came to the conclusion that no matter how much I struggled, it was impossible."

"I think so too, Horikita-san. It wouldn't be over unless someone didn't disappear."

"But we're not children. I'm not going to move forward just to pushed back again, but you still don't trust me."

Shrouded in a brief silence, Kushida then asked:

"Well then, what are you going to do? What did you mean by bet?"

"If I get a higher score than you on this upcoming final exam, I want you to cooperate with me in the future without being hostile. No, I won't expect you to help me. However, I hope you won't continue to interfere with me in the future. That's it."

"Does that mean you want to have a personal battle, regardless of the total points that your pair gets?"

"Yes."

"That's a bad bet, Horikita-san. I didn't score higher than you during the midterms. Even if we did it based on total score, it would be even harder for me. Besides, I don't think that there would be much in it for me if I won."

"Yeah. It's only natural that the odds would be relatively different. Therefore..."

At this point, Horikita's voice became very hard to hear.

"Let's base it off of the eight subjects on the final exam instead of the total score. You are free to choose a subject that you're good at. Then if your score is higher than mine, I will take the initiative to withdraw from the program."

Horikita offered an unbelievable bet.

It would be hard to establish the bet if the two people had a dramatic difference in ability.

However, everything changes if the bet includes Horikita willingly deciding to drop out of school.

It also sets a good condition Kushida by letting her pick a subject that she excels in.

If Kushida loses, there is no need to drop out, she only needs to stop attempting to have Horikita do so. While on the other hand, if Kushida wins, Horikita who has been in her way will drop out.

"This also might just be a mere verbal agreement. You could lose and then just treat the bet as though it had never happened. Of course, I also might not keep my end of the agreement. Can we really establish this bet based on just trust alone?"

"In order to avoid that kind of situation, I think I have prepared a reliable witness."

"A reliable witness?"

"If you would please, nii-san."

"Eh-!"

Kushida sounded really surprised when he showed up. So was I.

I heard Horikita's brother's words from over the cellphone.

In order to improve the credibility of her proposal, she actually enlisted such an unexpected guy as her witness.

"I'm terribly sorry, nii-san. I absolutely had to borrow your power, so I called you here."

So, the witness turned out to be Horikita Manabu. He is both the former student council president and the elder brother of Horikita Suzune.

"Long time no see, Kushida."

"...Do you remember me?"

"I won't forget the people I've met."

They were probably referring to their experiences from back in middle school. The Horikita siblings should have come from the same school. However, due to his graduation, he should be completely unaware of the situation surrounding Kushida.

"He is the person that I trust the most in this school. He should also be someone you can also trust to some extent as well. Of course, I didn't tell my brother any of the details."

"I was just called in as a simple witness. I'm not interested in the details."

"Are you alright with this, Horikita-senpai? If your sister loses the bet-"

"My sister is the one who made the bet, so it's not something I should weigh in on."

"I also swear that I will not say anything to anybody in the case where I lose. My brother's reputation would be hurt if it became widely known that his sister was the type of person who goes back on her promises. I would never behave in such a way."

This is the best absolute margin for a deal.

"You're serious, Horikita-san."

"I am someone who cannot stop and wait forever."

"Alright. I'll play this game with you. The subject that we'll compete over will be mathematics. The terms of the bet are just as Horikita-san had said earlier. If our scores end up tying, is it okay to invalidate the whole bet?"

Horikita assents to this, and the bet was confirmed in front of Horikita's brother. There was no way to back out of this for either of them.

"I'll do my duty as a witness. If one of you decides to break the agreement, you better be prepared."

Even though he was now the dethroned student council president, Horikita's brother's authority should still be large.

At least under her brother graduates, Kushida would have to keep her end of the bargain.

"Thank you very much, nii-san."

After this thank you, the phone temporarily became silent. It felt like they were waiting for Horikita's brother to leave.

"I'll be looking forward to the final exams, Horikita-san."

"Let's do our best for each other."

"Yeah. For Ayanokōji-kun as well."

"...Why are you bringing him up now?"

"Because I'm not stupid. You told him, didn't you? About my past."

"This is-"

"Ah, you don't have to answer that. Either way, I don't trust you, so it doesn't matter. I'm not going to break my side of the bet, so you can rest assured. Since Ayanokōji-kun has already seen a little of my bad side, it doesn't matter anyway."

After being sharply reprimanded, Horikita's anxiety and restlessness were transmitted to me over the phone.

"Even so, I still have to answer it. I did discuss your situation with Ayanokōji-kun."

"I know. For some reason or another, I knew this after looking at you. Moreover, are you also using your cell phone right now? I've tried calling you many times already, so it's almost as though you've been in the middle of a call for this entire discussion."

It wasn't just intuition, Kushida had both the proof and the conviction to go on the offensive.

"Can you come and join us at once, Ayanokōji-kun?"

The voice of Kushida came from afar.

Apparently, I'm being called for. It's probably better to obediently respond to her.