Short Story 4 : Arisu Sakayanagi’s SS - Feelings of Concern

"I DON'T LIKE IT. I don't like the idea of being assisted by you."

"But that's why I'm here. I'm standing here to help you."

Yet, he didn't even flinch and simply explained his reasons for being there. He shamelessly stated such embarrassing words that I couldn't normally articulate. 

Indeed, it was a typical Ayanokōji-kun move.

"Your miscalculation was that Kamuro's presence was larger than you thought at face value. You made the decision to draw lots because you wanted to think that Kamuro was no different from the rest."

His words seeped into my heart. Clear manipulation of people's feelings—obvious remarks that I usually find repulsive. 

Yet... they resonate deeply in my heart. Words from none other than Ayanokōji-kun.

"I..."

This guy was truly evil. Regardless if someone was good or bad, he just would just ignore it and climb over their protective barriers. He found the gap in my heart that I showed to no one.

"I haven't made any friends throughout my time in primary and secondary school. I couldn't blend in with immature people of a lower intellectual level."

Things I felt. Things I knew and pretended not to notice.

He brazenly stepped into that.

"It hasn't changed even at this school. Masumi-san, Hashimoto-kun, and Kitō-kun were the same. They were close to me, but only to be used as tools. Nothing more, nothing less. I saw them as strangers."

Before I realized it, I found myself talking. I wanted him to know.

The one who boldly understood me, whom no one else could understand.

"So I thought it wouldn't matter who disappeared..."

In this special exam, I made a mistake, and he had prepared a place for me to repent.

"It seems that, somewhere along the line, Masumi-san became a friend to me."

I felt relieved after confessing it.

He is truly… a dreadful person.

I kept looking at Ayanokōji-kun, thinking the same thing over and over.