8 Chapter 6 Visitor

INTRODUCTION

It was around 11:00 a.m., and I could faintly hear the cheers coming from outside the closed

window.

The sports festival seems to have been quite exciting.

Not everything went smoothly, but the class is still putting in a lot of effort to win.

They can compete well with other classes and grades.

As a result, I was able to decide without hesitation not to attend the sports festival.

All the arrangements are in place, so I'll leave the rest to Chairman Sakayanagi.

I don't necessarily have full trust in him but If he were to betray me it would be practically

impossible for me to stay in the school, so it's easier to make a choice.

The only thing that remains to be seen is what kind of battle the second year students will have

at the sports festival, and what results they will leave behind.

Sakayanagi's presence determines the winner of the sports festival. So did she participated or

not?

I looked at the door.

I had a strategy to keep the situation under control… if it worked, the results are taking a while

to show up.

There are a lot of things to be concerned about, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see,

including what happens at the sports festival.

It's time to start preparing for lunch.

Just as I was beginning to think that, the doorbell finally rang.

Now is this visitor a welcome presence or not?

You can't be sure about this until you answer them.

"Hello, Ayanokoji-kun."

I heard such a voice, probably anticipating, as I kept my distance from the front door and kept

an eye on the situation.

I let my guard down a bit and put my hand on the front door.

I tried to think of various situations.

The only person on the other side of the door was Sakayanagi, dressed in plain clothes, smiling

and looking up at me.

"I was wondering if I might interrupt you for a moment. Even though I'm only forbidden to leave

the dormitory, visiting a man's room during a sports festival is a bit of a problem."

"But going inside will be even more of a problem."

Having said that, I decided to welcome Sakayanagi without turning her away.

"Excuse me for disturbing you."

With slow movements, due to physical disability, Sakayanagi takes off her shoes and walks up

to the room.

"Come to think of it, this is the first time you've been in my room."

"I don't usually get to visit you, you know. Have you eaten lunch?"

"I was just about to get ready."

"I see. I'm glad to hear that. Here, it's a souvenir."

She said, handing me a small plastic bag.

"I bought it at a convenience store early this morning. It seems to be a new product, and I

thought it would be a good time to share it with you."

I looked into the plastic bag from above and saw two small Mont Blancs in it.

Mont Blanc would be good with some coffee.

"Sitting on bed would be better than sitting on the floor. You can sit on it if you like."

"Thank you for your consideration."

After getting Sakayanagi to sit on the bed, I stood in the kitchen and twisted the gas regulator to

start pouring water into the pot.

"You don't seem to have come to visit me on a moment's notice, do you?"

I said this with a plain expression on my face, but Sakayanagi, behind me, amusingly laughed a

little.

"On normal days, I don't know who would be in the dormitory, and it would be strange if I, as the

leader of Class A, would visit Ayanokoji-kun's room alone."

No matter who you are, if you see Sakayanagi like that, you will be surprised and suspicious.

That's why Sakayanagi never usually came in contact with me in the dorm.

Until this moment.

"You're a really bad person, Ayanokoji-kun…this is Ayanokoji-kun's strategy, isn't it?"

"Strategy? What do you mean?"

"No need for small talk, Ayanokoji-kun was almost certain that I will be here today… no, let me

correct that. I'm sure you were sure of that."

As far as Sakayanagi was concerned, she saw through the trap without even having to think

about it.

"In this sports festival, we, Class A, with our small number of athletic students, are at a

disadvantage. Furthermore, there are students like Kito-kun and Hashimoto-kun who are

promising, but their average is not enough to reach Horikita-san's class. If that's the case, what

we need to do in order to win is to determine who will be participating in which competitions, as

well as the participation of your rivals in the events, and manage our schedule from time to

time."

The water started boiling in the pot. I grabbed a jar of coffee powder from the cupboard and

prepared a cup and filter.

"Then again, you never know how things will turn out if I participate."

"You still have a high self-esteem, don't you?"

"The best way to ensure that the other classes beat Class A is to not have me participate in the

sports festival."

The sports festival must proceed under a precise schedule, Sakayanagi is capable of placing

and directing the students in the right places in her mind. Besides, she would be able to

coordinate the participants of the competition using students from other grades.

"Last night, my father told me that he asked Ayanokoji-kun to be absent. He said he was

assigning security to the dormitory to prevent any contact with the people being sent from the

White Room as guests."

"It's true that I was asked by Chairman Sakayanagi not to participate in the sports festival, but I

didn't expected him to tell his daughter about it as well."

"Please stop joking, Ayanokoji-kun. It was you who instructed my father to tell me what I just

said, wasn't it?"

Has she read through it?

Even though she is his own daughter, Chairman Sakayanagi would never do anything like

mixing public and private affairs.

So, I asked Chairman Sakayanagi to let her know what was really going on, instead of telling

her myself.

I asked him to explain the situation beforehand in case Sakayanagi, who might be absent from

the sports festival due to physical reasons, thinks of visiting me because I wouldn't want her to

get involved in any trouble between me and the White Room.

Sakayanagi was willing to participate as the leader of Class A, but I don't think the chairman

knew about it.

Even if he did know, it would be safer to tell her, in case she took a sudden leave of absence on

the day of the sports festival.

If it was his own daughter, he would have known that there was a risk of her getting involved.

However, there was something that Chairman Sakayanagi could not fully understand.

Sakayanagi's curiosity and instincts are not easily controlled. It's not surprising that she believes

it'll be a good opportunity to chat to me without being interrupted if I'm going to be absent.

In fact, she showed up in my room, which is currently one of the most dangerous areas in the

school, without fear.

"Did you choose to come before noon just to make me feel uneasy?"

"I was trying to be a little mean. I wanted to make you think that maybe I was going against

Ayanokoji-kun's strategy and participating in the sports festival."

"So that's how it is."

"By the way, everyone is present today except for myself and Ayanokoji-kun."

With Sakayanagi's information network, it appeared that someone had validated the attendees

of each class and relayed the information via cell phone prior to the sports festival.

They're not slacking on that regard.

"I was a little mean, but I was actually planning to visit you a little earlier."

Sakayanagi said, just as the water in the pot started to boil and make a bubbling sound.

"I just went down to the lobby to check on the situation outside."

As I was seemingly on sick leave, it was strictly forbidden for me to go outside my room.

Sakayanagi, on the other hand, is also not allowed to leave the dormitory, but she is not absent

in the form of sick leave.

Even if she is warned for going out, it does not violate the reason for her absence.

"So, how was it downstairs?"

"There were three people who seemed to be security guards. They seem to be stationed

throughout the school, not just in this dormitory, so it shouldn't look particularly unnatural."

While the purpose is to protect me, the guards are disguised as security for government

officials.

"The Shukun-sho for this sports festival wouldn't go to Horikita-san, who offered cooperation to

Ryuen-kun, nor Ryuen-kun, who accepted it but to Ayanokoji-kun who made me become an

absentee. That was the only thing that decided the winner, so it is as expected."

[T/L Note - 'Shukun-sho' is a special prize given for outstanding performance (It's a sumo term.)]

"You don't know how it's going to end yet."

"True, there are always surprises, but they are unlikely. By now, Class A is probably at the

mercy of Horikita-san's class, who is fighting head-on, and Ryuen-kun's class, who is doing

everything they can think of. Even if you have excellent arms and legs, you can't do anything

without a brain. That's the class I'm building, you know."

Something similar could be said about Ryuen's class, but that's the problem with too much

power at the top.

The fact that the leader solves all of the problems means, on the flip side, that nothing can be

solved without the leader.

"Well, that's okay. Because this time, I will enjoy my time with Ayanokoji-kun instead of winning

150 class points."

She didn't seem as if she cared about the damage that Class A would suffer.

"You're not afraid of losing class points, are you?"

"This school system is game for me. As long as I can maintain my Class A status to some

extent, I don't have any problems."

I took the Mont Blanc out of the pack and placed them on the plate, and placed two of them on

the table.

Then I poured hot water from the pot into the filter with the coffee grounds.

"You're pretty good at this."

"It's no big deal."

"Is each of these preparations new and fun for Ayanokoji-kun?"

Sakayanagi could tell that this was something I would never do in the White Room.

"It's like everything else in school. I just wanted to do something normal, that's all."

Still, Sakayanagi's words from earlier bothered me.

"You have a sense of purpose to maintain Class A position. Is that your pride?"

I ask her about that as I place the milk and sugar stick on the table.

"At start, I had no intention of committing to Class A. However, when I learned that

Ayanokoji-kun was a student at this school, I changed my mind. We may be in for a genuine

fight when Ayanokoji-kun eventually leads the class up to Class B."

To put it simply, she'll wait on the top.

"Class D gave away all of their class points in the first semester of the first year. They did,

however, begin to increase their class points after a certain point and eventually rose upto Class

B. The reason for this was, of course, the presence of you, Ayanokoji-kun."

She speaks expressively and happily as if she were bragging about herself.

She picked up plate from the table and placed it on her lap.

"Let's eat together, Ayanokoji-kun."

I sat down on the bed without complaint when she asked me to sit next to her..

She took the Mont Blanc with her fork and scooped it up, then held it out to me.

"Here you go."

"What do you mean 'here you go'?"

"Can't you see it? Please eat it."

"No, I can see that, but ..."

"It doesn't matter. Right now It's just me and Ayanokoji-kun now, and no one will bother us."

I was curious if there was a reason for this, but it didn't appear to be the case. The sweet aroma

spreads as I bite down on the fork into my mouth. Surprisingly, it was the first time I had ever

eaten Mont Blanc.

"Is it good?"

To be honest, I don't really like the taste that much.

Personally, I thought a simple shortcake had a more pleasing taste. But I don't want to be mean.

"Of course."

Sakayanagi smiled slightly when I told her simply that it was delicious.

"Then I'll have some, too."

Without caring about the fork that I used to eat, she scooped up her own portion and put it in her

mouth.

"It's not as good as the ones at the cafe, but as a convenience store sweet, it's good."

She nodded in satisfaction and held out her fork to me again.

We easily finished the first Mont Blanc, as we both ate one at a time

"I'll bring you another cake next time."

"Huh?"

"Since Ayanokoji-kun's reaction was that it didn't seem to suit his taste very well."

"I thought I responded with a normal response."

"I'm proud to say that I still have excellent insight into this. Especially when it comes to Ayanokoji-kun."

I didn't expect her to be able to see through what I was feeling about it.

"You never show any gaps when you're really serious in your thoughts, but in this kind of private

life, you can't always hide your feelings."

"Maybe it's because I'm not used to it after all."

"Fufu~I like that part of you, too."

I can't tell if she's serious or joking, so Sakayanagi continues.

"Please let me have my revenge next time. If I find a good cake, I'll bring it to you."

"I wish there was a time when I could reliably avoid the public eye like this."

Regardless of weekdays and holidays, it's nearly impossible unless it's when people are out of

the dorm. Or there's also the line of early mornings and late nights, but that also brings up its

own issues.

"But it's Ayanokoji-kun's change of heart that's unusual. Why is it that you not only occasionally

assist others in their school lives when you were supposed to be quiet, but also to begin

seriously aiming for Class A?"

"I guess there are some things you don't understand."

"I'm not a God. And because I know Ayanokoji-kun's situation, there are parts of it that I don't

understand and my thinking hasn't been able to keep up. Could you please tell me about it?"

The genius, driven by the quest for the unknown, wants an answer.

The main reason Sakayanagi is not interested in the A or D class ranks is probably that she will

not benefit from them after graduation. As the daughter of the school's chairman and a talented

student herself, most things are within reach for Sakayanagi.

She doesn't care because she doesn't have to use her Class A privileges to do anything. This is

also true for me as I'm sure I'll be back in the White Room after graduation.

We are not on the same path but the privilege of Class A doesn't mean anything to both of us.

"It may seem strange."

"It's not so that you can play around with a lot of private points like Koenji-kun, is it?"

"He's in a similar position like us, I'm sure."

He is the type of person who grabs and holds on to his parents' power and his own talent alone.

Koenji, such as he is, occasionally contributes to the class on a whim for class points.

"You at least have the right to ask why I decided to contribute to the class. You played into my

obvious trap and gave up on winnings at the sports festival."

If she risked losing 150 points and gained nothing, there was no way she would help going

forward. However, if I give her a sprinkling of bait here, I can leave a chance for her to get on

board if we follow the same strategy again.

"If I get an answer to my question, I'll come back here the next time it happens."

"Don't say what I was just thinking."

"Fufufu."

"It's basically what you're attempting to do, Sakayanagi. By defeating me, you're attempting to

answer the issue of what it means to be a genius. In my own way, I'm attempting to demonstrate

that White Room education is not without flaws."

I can't sense the surprise from Sakayanagi. It was evident that she had been expecting that line

of thinking, even if it wasn't confirmed.

"Are you saying that Ayanokoji-kun is trying to create the strongest class with his own hands?"

Nodding in approval, Sakayanagi puts her index finger to her lips.

"It's not that I haven't thought about it, but… it does raise a few questions."

"Go on."

"This sports festival. Ayanokoji-kun could have forced himself to participate regardless of the

conditions. Wouldn't it have been better and more efficient to give orders directly to increase and

solidify the victory rate? And I'm sure he wasn't afraid of my participation."

"I spent this sports festival based on one theme."

"Interesting story. What is the theme?"

"Careful Supervision. I decided it would be a good opportunity to see how well they could compete on their

own, without interfering directly in the festival. Your absence was a byproduct of that."

"It's just that I came to see Ayanokoji-kun for being quiet, and he didn't do anything directly

regarding the content of the sports festival. I see."

As we were talking, Sakayanagi arrived at the conclusion one step ahead of what someone else

in her position would.

"In other words—Eh"

I lightly pushed Sakayanagi, who was about to give her answer. No, it's not as if I'm

exaggerating when I say I pushed her. I just lightly grabbed both of her shoulders and pushed

her backwards, causing the weak Sakayanagi to fall backwards onto the bed unbearably.

The sound from the mattress and the faint creaking of metal. Even Sakayanagi, who prides

herself on being a genius, would not have thought of this action at all.

I looked down at Sakayanagi as if covering her before she could catch up with her

understanding.

"Ah, umm?"

Sakayanagi, who was always so strong and relaxed, wasn't keeping up with the changes in the

situation.

"My school life is based on this plan I have. The fact you would come here today, would show

interest in and eventually reach the answer as within possibility."

Sakayanagi, who has never been handled by a man before, clears her throat from impatience

and nervousness.

"You will be a hindrance if you told anyone else about this."

"You think I'm going to tell anyone about it?"

"The chances aren't zero. You may try to blackmail me by saying you'd expose it unless I

agreed to have a match with you. I'd have no other options in that case."

"I see, that's certainly true… But, if I'm willing to force a match between us couldn't I just reveal

the truth about the White Room instead?"

"No, that won't work. Even if you make the existence of such a facility known, it's not something

that other people can understand. It wouldn't be a risk to me personally."

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji was raised in a White Room institution.

Most people would probably just nod their heads and shrug if they heard such a story. It's not

something you can search up on the Internet.

It would create some confusion in Sakayanagi's case, but of course it would do nothing for me.

"I'm not at the stage where I want people to know what I'm planning to do. I can't let you use

that as an excuse to blackmail me."

I closed the distance to Sakayanagi, casting a dark shadow on her as I came in the way of

ceiling lights.

"Well, now I have come to know. What do you want me to do...?"

"A secret for a secret. A threat for a threat. The only people left in this dormitory right now are

you and me. That means that no matter what happens here, no one will come to your aid. Even

if you shout out loud, at best it will only be audible in the hallway."

"Are you going to commit a crime to protect your plan?"

"Crime? You and I are going to share a collective secret."

I pulled out my phone and activated the Camera.

"I guess the only way to refuse would be to run off on your own."

With her disability— No, even if there were no problems with both legs, there is no way out for

Sakayanagi.

How could she answer in this hopeless situation?

"——Do you think you can beat me?"

"Can I Win?"

"If things were to go as Ayanokoji-kun envisioned here, would he really have an advantage...?"

"I'm sorry, but you can't win."

"A slight difference in experience, for example, can be caught up with and overtaken by one way

of learning. In fact, you might even learn that you've been studying the wrong way, right?"

"The difference in experience is only a matter of how you learn and how you catch up. Even with

a slight difference, one can catch up. In fact, you may even find out that your way is the wrong

way."

Even though she was in a tight spot, Sakayanagi continued to think as calmly as possible.

She must be anxious, but it's impressive that she's been able to keep it under control so far.

I throw the cell phone and slowly move my hand toward Sakayanagi.

I grabbed her by the shoulders and brought my hands closer to her neck.

Even so, Sakayanagi only averted her gaze.

"Shall we start the special lesson?"

Sakayanagi smiled and calmly closed her eyes without resistance.

PART 1

"You really are a mean person, aren't you?"

"Yeah, Maybe."

It had been about an hour since Sakayanagi had come to my room.

"So now there's a secret between me and Ayanokoji-kun that I can't tell anyone~"

"That's a deceptive way of putting it."

"It was Ayanokoji-kun, of all people, who first said it that way, wasn't it?"

"Sure."

"Then again, this is the first time I've ever been in a man's bed."

"You were out of it in ten seconds, it doesn't even matter."

"That's taking the girl's memory lightly."

While showing the cell phone screen to Sakayanagi, I select and dispose of the necessary

items. Perhaps because I slid it too far forward in the process, a picture of me and Kei showed

up.

It was a picture of the two of us at the Keyaki Mall.

"It seems that your relationship with Kei Karuizawa-san is going well."

"Well, That's right.."

Sakayanagi continued, looking at the picture of Kei smiling happily.

"Either her appearance, voice, or personality attracted Ayanokoji-kun to her.. Normally, I would

have thought so, but there are a few things that don't quite add up."

Sakayanagi then looked up at me, her eyes narrowed, as if she was fighting me.

"I've looked into her as much as I can. From how she spends her time after school to how she

spends her days off. And also now Ayanokoji-kun can easily be followed."

As long as the entire third year was monitoring me, I wasn't paying attention to every single one

of them. If Sakayanagi's spy was mixed in, it would be difficult to distinguish them.

Even if it was Hashimoto, who I had noticed before, or someone else, there was no way to

identify them.

"I have not been able to find out the truth of why Ayanokoji-kun chose to go out with her, but I

have been able to understand some things. Her behavior, to which she is directing her strong

trust and affection, could be described as delusional. Is Ayanokoji-kun going to use her for his

experiment or is Ayanokoji-kun trying to save her? I have deduced that it is something like that."

I don't remember giving her any unnecessary information and I don't think she has as much

information about Kei as Ryuen does, so I don't know how she could have guessed so close to

the truth in that situation.

"That's what your special lesson for me was about, right?"

"I'm getting tired of using the word special, but you're right."

Sakayanagi was able to understand me without the needs for words, but in a different way from

Kei.

Ding dong.

Abruptly the bell rang suddenly in the room.

It was around 12:30 p.m., and the students would be about to finish their meal.

In a dormitory where no one was supposed to be left, a visitor suddenly appeared.

After looking at each other, I and Sakayanagi stare at the front door at the same time.

There were supposed to be three bodyguards waiting in the lobby, but did they force their way

in?

No, even if they had used their skills to subdue the armed bodyguards by force, the problem

didn't stop there.

If that was the case then they would not take their time to ring the doorbell, they would at least

try to break in.

The doorbell rang once more.

It would be strange to ignore it much longer when I was meant to be resting in my room.

It is possible, though unlikely, that it is someone from the school.

"Who is it?"

I call out to the visitor, not moving from my position on the bed.

"Stay where you are and listen."

The man replied, as if he could tell from my voice that I was sitting far away from the entrance.

A young voice. Not an adult, but the same age.

"That voice sounds familiar."

But no figure comes to mind. It is a voice that seems to be that of a student, and while I don't

recognize it, the voice sounds familiar enough to me. Of course, when you live in a school, you

hear an unspecified number of voices.

But I quickly came to an answer about the owner of this voice.

"You called me once, didn't you?"

When I asked back, the person behind the doorway remained silent for a bit.

"I'm impressed. You remember my voice that you only heard once."

The fact that it was after my father had visited this school was also impressive and left

impression on me.

"You didn't say what you wanted back then."

"It was a good thing I did, but something inconvenient happened soon after. I haven't been in

touch with you since then, but if you're wondering, it doesn't matter who I am. Because I'm

neither your friend nor your enemy."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Once Tsukishiro is gone, all that remains is to eliminate the white room students and peace will

return. I thought you might be making that mistake, so I came here to advise you."

"Fufu~ That sounds like lot of fun. Would you be willing to let me join you?"

"Sakayanagi Arisu, huh?"

The man on the other side of the door shows no sign of being anxious by Sakayanagi's

unexpected response.

Rather, they instantly say who it is just by hearing the voice.

Perhaps they had narrowed down the list of absentees for the day, or perhaps they knew

Sakayanagi and recognized her voice.

"Anyway, be on the lookout if you want to stay in school until graduation."

"For a neutral, you've got a lot on your shoulders, don't you?"

"Your presence is having a negative impact. I'm just trying to prevent more of it…"

The Visitor replied as the voice trailed off.

Apparently, they did not intend to stay long, and it is safe to assume that they walked away.

"That voice... somewhere…"

"Do you have any idea who the voice belongs to?"

"I can't answer that as clearly as Ayanokoji-kun. But I think I vaguely remembered the presence

on the other side of the door."

So it's something different from what I remembered from the voice.

"It's not a recent memory, it's a reasonably old memory, five, ten years anyway."

"If you're sure about that, then the possibility of a White Room student seems infinitesimally

small."

"Yes. If I had met, when I was little, then yes that would be the case."

His reaction to learning of Sakayanagi's existence was somewhat verifying this fact.

In addition to the lack of surprise, they reacted as they would to someone they were acquainted

with.

But whether it's Amasawa or the other one, it's not something I care about.

As long as there was no harm done to me at the moment, I wouldn't do anything about it.

PART 2

The sports festival, in which I was not present, ended in an almost ideal way. The class was

excited by the final result, which was unthinkable in the past year and a half.

Horikita's class had decreased the gap between them and Class A, and Horikita's class had

been able to enhance their class points through the desert island exam, the unanimous special

exam, and the sports festival, all of which were unquestionably beneficial.

A few days later, it was the middle of October.

The ranking of the sports festival was

Horikita's class in first place, Ryuen's class in second place, Ichinose's class in third place, and

Sakayanagi's class in fourth place.

Of course, this was not due to any one person, but to the will and strength of the entire class.

Furthermore, the Sudo and Onodera pair took first place in the individual competition.

Koenji also achieved 1st place in all 10 events, but ended up in 2nd place because they were all

individual events.

That seemed to be good enough for him, and he never had any problems.

Sudo Onodera were then given the right to move classes, but private points were chosen

without hesitation. Despite his unsteadiness, Sudo is steadily moving up the ladder to Class A.

On this day, Kei, who apparently had an appointment with a friend, decided to stop by Keyaki

Mall and go home.

As I was about to head home alone, I was approached by Horikita.

"I'd like to talk to you for a moment, if that's all right."

"If you don't mind, we can do this on the way home."

"That's fine."

Since she approached me as I was leaving, I guess it's not something that can be overheard by

many people.

"I've learned a lot from the last unanimous special exam."

"Let's hear it then?"

The sports festival was over, but all of the problems had not been solved, and the class was

starting to move forward, although it still left an uncertain situation, one that Horikita was still

struggling with and learning from.

"I made the right choice to leave Kushida-san behind, and I can now recognize once again that I

made the right decision."

Kushida contributed to the class by scoring more points at the Sports Festival.

She has returned to being a dedicated honour student in her daily academic life, and while her

social participation in OAA was reduced in the beginning of October, it is likely just a matter of

time before she regains it.

If we're going to draw harsh comparisons, she has significantly contributed more as a classmate

than Airi.

Of course, it is not all just benefits.

"I know. I'm leaving a couple questions unanswered. I honestly don't know what to do with

Hasebe-san right now. But I think I'll be able to handle it better next time if there's another

special exam like that."

"What's your basis for that thinking?"

"I made a careless pledge in that exam to obtain unanimous approval. I promised to expel the

traitor, but then I backtracked. It seemed a simple way to achieve consensus, but I didn't realise

the gravity of the risk. Kushida-san, I knew, was a traitor. And that I'd made that decision before

I'd even had the confidence to expel her out of school. That was a big mistake."

"If there was a possibility of leaving her behind, then surely a careless promise would only hurt

you later on."

It was a desperate measure as time was running out, but if we had been able to make a

unanimous decision at that point while leaving open the possibility that Airi or someone else with

similar abilities might be cut off, the after effects would not have been as severe as they are

now.

What to leave behind and what to choose.

"We gained class points. But we also lost many things. That special exam has taught me a lot. It

has shown me both sides of success and failure."

"Even so, not making a mistake is preferable."

Horikita closes her eyes, exhales, then opens them again.

"I'm only a second year in high school. I'm just a kid. It's okay to make mistakes."

"You've reopened your mind."

"It's not like me to dwell on it. I'm going to - I'm going to be me. I may not be able to do as well

as the other leaders. But I have Hirata-kun, Karuizawa-san, Sudo-kun, Onodera-san,

Kushida-san and Koenji-kun. With the support of these people, I am moving forward. Class A is

waiting for me after that, that's what I believe."

"I see."

"Of course, you're one of them. I don't know what you're thinking, and you're often

uncooperative, but... you're indispensable to the class and to me."

My existence is similar to that of a bicycle's training wheels.

Even though it's a necessity at first, you will take it off, fall, shake again and again. Eventually,

you are able to ride without difficulty. The bicycle you start pedaling isn't supported by a single

person.

You will literally be supported by all your classmates.

After I have witnessed your growth

I will leave your class.

I won't put it into words now, but one day you, Horikita, will know the truth. And then

you will understand.

That there will come a time, when the class you thought was invincible, will be met by a reality

that you cannot defeat.

I will teach you that.

I'm not doing it for anyone else but myself.

I— As long as I win in the end, that's all that matters.

Once I decide to become your enemy and defeat you, Horikita, everything will be set in stone.

But, I am leaving because I want to be defeated.

There is this uncertain future that I wish for.

It's a contradiction. I have the answer, but I wish for it to be wrong.