376 Epilogue : A Touch of Anxiety

ON THIS DAY, after the second semester's closing ceremony, the special examinations were over.

The time that students had been waiting for was here.

Although not as long as the summer vacation, it was still a time of joy for most of the students. The hard work of studying day and night has been rewarded with a head-to-head win against Class A. The winter break will start tomorrow, and we look forward to many happy days ahead.

It is sure to be a fun time for all.

That's what everyone thought, except for one person in the class.

The only exception was Karuizawa Kei, who had come to the Keyaki Mall with her best friend, Satou Maya, with a sigh of melancholy. Good at putting on airs by nature, she remained calm at school and concentrated on her studies even after the fight with Ayanokouji.

Therefore, the people around her had no way of knowing that Karuizawa had been suffering. Her best friend Satou was one of them, but Satou was a close observer of not only Karuizawa, but also Ayanokouji. She had noticed that the two of them seemed to be rather distant from each other, even though they were always close.

However, she thought that the cause of their behavior was not because of a quarrel, but because they were keeping their distance to concentrate on their studies.

"Haah..."

"You've been sighing a lot. We've just finished our studies and it's getting easier. What's wrong?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing..."

Karuizawa, who had been trying to avoid being noticed up to this point, realized that she had been sighing repeatedly without knowing it, perhaps because she had become relaxed after being released from her studying and examinations which were her weak areas.

"... Really?"

"Really, really."

Karuizawa answered stoutly and acted so, but Satou's suspicions remained unanswered.

"I'm going to ask you an insensitive question, but weren't you going to make plans with Ayanokouji-kun today?"

"Eh..."

"Because tomorrow is a holiday. Usually, don't two people go out and have fun together? Shinohara and Ike were excited to go see a movie with their arms around each other, right?"

Karuizawa knew it was strange for her to invite Satou out with no prior appointment. While she felt she had made a mistake, she was showing this attitude because somewhere in her heart she wanted to ask Satou for some advice.

Karuizawa gave a small nod and walked through the café, which was getting crowded. They sat down together on a bench near the rest area on the second floor of the Keyaki Mall.

"Hey, Maya-chan. Can I talk to you about something..."

"Yeah, that's totally fine."

Satou was not reluctant, but enthusiastic, showing that she has been waiting for it.

"I think my relationship with Kiyotaka might be in trouble..."

"What…? Really!?"

Karuizawa, after making sure that no one was around, revealed her pent-up feelings. Satou, who had not expected a bomb to be dropped on her, was startled to the point of falling over.

"Does 'relationship trouble' mean... that you might break up?"

"I'd like to think that's not true, but... I can't help but feel that way lately."

The fact that her expression seemed more serious than expected made Satou choke on her words, unable to hide her agitation.

Still, Satou wisely tried to find the right words to say so as not to make the atmosphere heavy.

"You had a fight with Ayanokouji-kun, but you two can't make up and it's been going on for a while... is that it?"

If it was just a small quarrel, the relationship would be back to normal in a few hours at most.

Karuizawa looked serious. Satou could not hide her confusion since she thought the two had been getting along well ever since they started dating.

"I thought it was just a little fight, but maybe not for Kiyotaka."

Karuizawa sighed gloomily and nodded quietly.

"Have you two had any discussions since that fight?"

Karuizawa told her that the fight did not happen yesterday or today.

However, she was not ready to talk about the contents of the fight, nor the cause of it.

"Isn't it winter break already? I focused on my studies that Kiyotaka told me to work hard on, and I answered 3 out of 4 questions correctly on the exam. I thought I could do this... so yesterday after the exam I made a bold move and approached him..."

"And?"

"Nagumo-senpai called him and they went away. I was going to call out to him after the closing ceremony today, but Horikita-san called out to him again..."

Satou pressed her forehead at the repeated bad timings.

"So, you didn't get a chance to talk to him at all and now we're here."

"Yeah."

"But I couldn't tell if Ayanokouji-kun was angry or sulking."

"He's always expressionless and his attitude never changes."

This also made Karuizawa's judgment unclear. If he had shown an explicitly angry reaction, she would have been able to apologize earlier.

"Don't take offense to this, but aren't there a lot of fights in relationships?"

It is a word that pops up regularly among girls who are particularly excited to talk about love, and it is not unusual in itself.

Moreover, there are many cases that cannot be called 'fights,' such as when a minor problem starts to make things awkward. Satou wanted to make sure that the situation did not fall under this category, but she could not ask about that right away.

"I can't imagine Ayanokouji-kun being angry at all, but did he get angry that time?"

Satou asked fearfully, but Karuizawa immediately shook her head from side to side.

"I was the one who got angry."

"Oh, hm, I see."

Satou thought she was about to hear an unexpected side of the story, but she quickly erased that thought.

"So you are still angry at him?"

If so, the way to end the fight is simple. Satou thought that if Karuizawa smiles and forgives Ayanokouji, things will be back to normal.

"Not that... but..."

"If you don't mind me asking, can you... tell me what the fight was about?"

Without knowing this, she couldn't fully understand.

Karuizawa trusted that Satou was listening to her seriously and decided to tell her the origin of the quarrel.

It all started one Saturday night when she invited him to go shopping for Christmas presents. When she found out that Ayanokouji was going out with Ichinose for the holidays, she got mad.

Karuizawa couldn't imagine him having a good reason for going out with her.

Satou, having finished listening to the situation, quietly closed her eyes.

Then she strongly patted her knees with the palms of her hands.

"I see... it's definitely Ayanokouji-kun's fault!"

Satou gave her thoughts and opinions as a pure girl, without any biases. She answered with confidence.

"R-Right!?"

Having her friend as an ally, Karuizawa's expression became a little more cheerful.

"That's right. It's out of bounds to go out with someone other than your girlfriend on a holiday, no matter what the circumstances are! You have to say no, or at least have Kei-chan or some other boys or girls with you! You have every right to be angry. On the contrary, you should be angry."

"I was surprised that you met with Ichinose-san without taking offense... and held yourself together this long."

From the time she was told about Ayanokouji going out with Ichinose until today, Karuizawa had been worried and anxious. Still, she devoted herself to her studies as instructed and persevered until today.

"Ichinose-san's not dating anyone is she?"

This was a source of uneasiness that Karuizawa couldn't shoulder alone.

'Anyone.' It is not a reference to Ayanokouji, but to Karuizawa's wish of someone else being in a relationship with Ichinose.

"...I don't know if you've heard of her. She's quite popular and famous at school, so if she went out with someone, you'd know right away..."

"...Right."

Karuizawa cast her eyes down, confirming once again that she understood.

"Uhhh...!"

Satou couldn't hold back any longer and hugged Karuizawa.

"Hey, Maya-chan!"

"It's not Kei-chan's fault!"

"...Thanks. But I have my faults too. If I had listened to Kiyotaka more honestly and understood what he said, we wouldn't have ended up in a... fight. I should have smiled and said, 'Let's go shopping for Christmas presents next week,'

and grabbed him by the arm. If I could go back in time, I would have fixed it; I regret that I can't."

From Satou's point of view, Karuizawa is cute. She is one of the top girls in terms of pure looks.

When I first entered the school, there was a time when I disliked her as a wanton[1] girl who nestled close to Hirata. A high-handed, overbearing, power-hungry girl with a nasty personality. But now that we fell in love with the same person, and got to know each other, I have come to realize that this girl was just being stubborn. She has a cute personality despite her outward appearance.

I can confidently say that even if other girls try to get Ayanokouji, there is no way they can beat her.

However, it's a different story if it's Ichinose Honami, of all people.

Suppose that Ichinose has a crush on Ayanokouji.

I couldn't eliminate the possibility that Ayanokouji would switch from Karuizawa to Ichinose.

"Hey... Let's do a little digging, shall we…? On the people in Ichinose-san's class."

It's possible that they will see things that they are afraid of, but even if Karuizawa can make peace with Ayanokouji after this, the worry and anxiety will resurface if something like this were to happen again. However, if Ichinose were found to have no intention of doing so...

(TL Note: Wanton: a lewd or lascivious person)[1]:

"No... I don't think so."

Still, Karuizawa's anxiety got the better of her and she turned down Satou's offer. Then, as if to shake off her bad feelings, she stood up enthusiastically.

"I'll try not to think about it anymore. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Maya-chan now and go see Kiyotaka at night. Then we'll make up for sure!"

"That's the spirit! I'll support you!"

Right after that they laughed at each other, and the cell phone in Karuizawa's hand vibrated.

For a moment, Karuizawa thought it was a call from Ayanokouji, and opened her chat.

"What?"

"What's wrong?"

Karuizawa's expression froze as she stared at the phone screen.

Satou instantly looked at her with concern.

"Kei-chan?"

<Illustration>

She called her name again, but Karuizawa kept staring at the screen as if time had stopped. Satou wondered what was going on and stole a glance at the screen from the side.

"..."

Satou saw the picture on the screen and stiffened up.

"Who gave you that?"

"From Nene-chan..."

It was because the two people they were just talking about were in the picture attached to the text sent by Mori Nene.

It was Ayanokouji and Ichinose coming out of the gym while talking.

The photo showed the entrance to the gym where the two of them were walking in front of a bench.

"When was this taken?"

"Ask her..."

She quickly asked Mori to confirm the date and found out that it was the evening two days ago.

It was when Karuizawa and her group were studying with Horikita and her group for the final push.

"Why..."

"Maybe they just happened to be together around here or something like that."

Satou replied in a desperate attempt to console her, but he had obviously just come out of the gym.

"Does Ayanokouji-kun go to the gym?"

"I don't know..."

"Hello Karuizawa-san."

"!?"

As if to push her into an unstable state of mind, she was approached by Ichinose in front of the gym.

Ichinose was in her casual clothes.

"Huh? Did you come to the gym by any chance?"

"No, no, it's just that... we just happened to be here... right?"

"Uh-huh."

Satou nodded repeatedly over and over to back up Karuizawa and said she was taking a rest on the bench.

"I see. I thought you and Ayanokouji-kun had started going to the gym together."

Ichinose replied with a nonchalant smile, as if it were a matter of course.

"Eh...?"

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"...Ichinose-san knew Kiyotaka went to the gym?"

Turning off the screen, Karuizawa put the phone away in her pocket.

"I told Ayanokouji-kun about it and we tried the gym together. He liked it and decided to start."

"I see..."

Karuizawa muttered in a muffled voice.

"Is Ichinose-san going to the gym now?"

"We're going to celebrate with the whole class since we won the special exam. We're going to meet at the cafe, but I forgot something the other day when I came to the gym, so I thought I'd stop by and pick it up."

Ichinose smiled.

"Hey Ichinose-san, is it true that you and Ayanokouji-kun met the other day?"

If Karuizawa couldn't ask her, Satou had no choice but to make her own move.

"What?"

"Nothing happened with Ichinose-san... and Ayanokouji-kun, right?"

"Oh no. There's nothing between me and Ayanokouji-kun."

She waved her hand lightly and denied it.

"...Really?"

Even so, Satou's suspicions were not confirmed, and she showed a more aggressive attitude in her pursuit.

She tried to stop Satou by pulling her cuffs, but Karuizawa's resistance was not strong enough.

"Yes. I wouldn't lie about something like that. I was just asking Ayanokouji-kun for advice about my class... Was I perhaps misleading you?"

Ichinose was puzzled by Satou's glaring eyes and Karuizawa's uneasy look.

"I am thinking that maybe Karuizawa-san is upset.... sorry."

Ichinose looked apologetic and bowed her head.

Seeing this, Karuizawa also had the courage to express her unspoken thoughts.

"... Was that Kanzaki-kun's doing?"

Karuizawa's mention of Kanzaki's name allowed Ichinose to deduce the situation, even though she had no personal knowledge of it

"I had no idea about it, but I could guess the situation just by hearing it. Our class was down to Class D and we couldn't afford to lose any more time. We didn't have the strength to rebuild ourselves and we were struggling. Ayanokouji-kun saw that and said he would try to help us. I wonder if you've heard of any other names, like Mako-chan."

"Mako-chan?, do you mean Amikura-san? I'm not sure... but did Himeno-san hear about it?"

As the suspicions around Ayanokouji and Ichinose faded slightly, Karuizawa's tone lightened.

"Yes, Himeno-san is going to help us rebuild the class. We are discussing it together. There are other people who know about it, so don't worry."

Ichinose, who did not seem to know much about it, said this to reassure Karuizawa.

"But I don't understand why Kiyotaka is helping Ichinose-san's class."

"I know. There must be some strange reason..."

The two, still not fully satisfied with the information they received, looked at each other and voiced their concerns.

Ichinose nodded and closed her eyes.

"It's a matter of mutual interest."

"Mutual interest?"

"We've been struggling to win recently. We were in a pinch with the special exam at the end of the second term against Ryuuen-kun, where if we lost, the gap between us and Class A would widen again. It's more convenient for Ayamokoji-kun to have us, the bottom-ranked class, win against Ryuuen-kun, who is aiming for second place, rather than us losing. That's why he helped us."

This is the most plausible answer as to why Ayanokouji helped Ichinose, his rival. She emphasized that Ayanokouji was only a temporary helper to assist in defeating a strong rival.

"There's really, really nothing going on with... you and Kiyotaka, right?"

"I have nothing to do with him in that sense."

With straight eyes, Ichinose clearly stated that she had nothing to do with Kiyotaka.

Karuizawa and Satou could only nod their heads repeatedly at this attitude that could not be considered a lie.

"I think Ayanokouji-kun is a bit of a jerk for not being able to communicate with his precious girlfriend. But if I'm the one who caused the rift, then yes, I'll take responsibility for making things right."

"That's okay. Now that I know what's going on, I'm sure we can make up today! Thank you for clearing things up, Ichinose-san."

"No problem. If you have any more problems, please let me know."

Ichinose told them kindly and watched their backs as they left the gym.

"I'm telling you the truth, nothing has happened with Ayanokouji-kun yet."

<Illustration>

As Karuizawa and Satou walk away, there is a small voice that can't be heard behind their backs.

Ichinose muttered something to herself.

"Not yet, you know..."

Leaving behind the scent of the perfume she wore, Ichinose walked away.

E.1

The first day of winter vacation. The sky was covered with thick clouds and had been pouring since the morning.

About 10 minutes past the appointed time, Ryuuen approached with an umbrella in hand. Ichinose, who had been waiting ahead of time for him, gazed silently into his face.

They stopped when they were far enough away from each other so that they could hear each other through the sound of the rain

"The weather has been like this lately, hasn't it?"

Ichinose spoke to Ryuuen without making any inquiry about his delay.

"Not going to complain about the delay?"

"I was prepared to wait for 30 minutes. If you didn't show up by then, I was going to leave without hesitation."

Ichinose, who answered with a relaxed attitude, seemed to be more concerned about the sky than Ryuuen. She tilted her umbrella and looked up at the rainy sky a little.

"It won't stop for the rest of the day."

"You're such a softy for taking the trouble to answer my call."

Ignoring Ichinose's muttering, Ryuuen told Ichinose.

"I don't know if Ryuuen-kun would be satisfied if I said we were friends, but I think it's normal for me to answer when you call. I didn't have any plans at this time. So what do you want?"

"My schedule got a little screwed up. I thought I'd see if I could figure out why."

"Is it the special exam you're talking about? I was a little confused about the harassment."

"I know you think it's not artistic to do that, but it suits our needs. If it's the easiest and most effective way, why not repeat it?"

Ryuuen instructed his classmates to relentlessly pressure and sabotage Ichinose's classmates. He would force his way into classrooms, libraries, or karaoke rooms where Ichinose's classmates would gather for study sessions, and would disrupt their studies by making a lot of noise.

Unbeknownst to Ayanokouji and the others, Ryuuen was also giving dangerous instructions. He offered money to students with high academic ability and rewarded them if they got all the questions wrong. Or he threatened that answering all the questions correctly would cause trouble for some of their peers.

The strategy was based on the idea that a weak class would be able to open a hole in a tight-knit class.

"I'm sure everyone was annoyed."

"I guess."

However, it did not cause much damage in the end.

In the academic competition, Ryuuen did not have a good chance to win even if they played a straightforward game.

Knowing this, Ryuuen planned to fight them outside of the ring.

"But did you really think you could win that way?"

"Yes, I did."

However, as it turned out, none of the strategies worked against Ichinose.

"I thought your class would fall apart after something like that, but it seems you've grown since the first year."

Ishizaki and the others who came up to Ryuuen were all reporting that the sabotage of Ichinose's class had been a success. Although some of the students did not accept the temptations and threats, they were aware of their effectiveness, as evidenced by the agitation that could be seen in the students.

However, the students of Ichinose's class were only outwardly showing that they were in trouble. Behind the scenes, they were steadily making time to study and acting as if they were frightened by the threats.

"Where'd this wisdom come from? If it had been you in the past, you might have canceled the study sessions immediately and shut yourself in early instead of wasting your energy. You would've rejected our threats outright. Yet, you went through the trouble of pretending that you were still falling for our strategy."

If it was Sakayanagi or Ayanokouji, Ryuuen would not have been surprised.

Instead, he would have considered making a stronger move as a natural countermeasure.

A cornered rat bites the cat. The cornered and weak strike back.

To find out firsthand, Ryuuen invited Ichinose to talk.

"There is no wisdom in there, Ryuuen-kun. We just continued to study in the midst of the noise. The threatening words simply frightened everyone. It just happened to not have much effect."

"There's no need for modesty here. Obviously, something must have changed in your class."

"Ryuuen-kun and the others should have taken it seriously like we and the other classes did. You should have studied and scored points... just like the way Horikita-san and her class beat Sakayanagi-san."

"You're talking from a very high place just because you picked up a win in a favorable exam. Well, this special exam was the ultimate in lukewarmness. No risk of anyone dropping out, just a firm grip on the pen and arm movement. I didn't care enough to take it seriously either."

"Why couldn't you have done it the normal way like everyone else did?"

"I've been teaching these idiots for a week or two, but I don't think they're going to improve much. It's just easier and faster to kick them down the road."

Ryuuen laughed as he faced Ichinose in the pouring rain.

"But that decision was a mistake, wasn't it?"

"I was beaten by you people whose only merit is earnestness, but next time I'm going to have to sabotage you even harder."

"So you're not going to change your ways if the same special exam is repeated?"

"Yeah, I'm not going to change. I'm going to sink you on the spot."

Ryuuen answered with a confident manner as if this was his own way of doing things.

"I see. It seems that no matter what we say, we can't agree on anything anymore."

"You're back in Class C by a narrow margin for a while. But don't think that's going to help you win again. You're a pathetic sheep that's long since been defeated. No matter how hard you struggle in the mud, you are doomed to sink eventually. Don't you agree?"

"We've been losing so much lately. That hurts my ears."

"I'll say it again, you're only saved this time by the content of the special exam."

"I won't deny that."

Ryuuen had his own reasons for relentlessly and forcibly biting Ichinose.

He thought that he could see through the other party by talking this way.

However, he couldn't see it. The openings that Ichinose would have shown in the past did not appear at all.

"The class you'll face in the final exam is Ayanokouji's class. That's a pain in the ass, you know? Even more so than Sakayanagi, the class I plan to crush. So defeat is inevitable for you. I'm not the only one who thinks so. Sakayanagi must be thinking the same way. You will be finished at the end of the school year. There is no way we could have won this time. I urge you not to get your hopes up."

Ichinose did not answer immediately, but stood still and listened to Ryuuen continue on.

"It's easy for Ayanokouji and the others. They get class points for fighting small fry like you without having to deal with me and Sakayanagi. Nothing could be luckier."

He attacked Ichinose relentlessly, ignoring her lack of response and trying to push her into a corner.

"Indeed... If we lose in the final exam, we may be finished."

If the gap widens for the new Class C in a direct confrontation, it will be almost impossible for them to make up for it in a year.

"So I'll tell you how to graduate in Class A."

"Is there such a thing?"

"The end-of-year exam will cut off your path to Class A. Then the only way to graduate in Class A is to collect private points."

"It would take a large sum of points to save 40 people. I don't think that's possible."

"We can't save all of them. But what about one person? Just 20 million points. You have the ability to collect points out of the goodness of the hearts from your class. They'll deposit 1 million, 2 million, whatever you want with you as collateral for their trust. You just have to spend the money in the end."

"Using the money entrusted to you to move to another class is embezzlement. The school won't allow it."

"I don't know. Certainly, if people like me or Sakayanagi were to do the same thing, we would be punished. We would be expelled without question. But that's not likely to happen to you."

"Why?"

"Because the good guys will take your feelings into consideration. Even if you know you've been embezzling, you can tell the school that 'the money was given to you somehow.' It's not 100% true, but it's a good enough chance to bet that you'll get straight to Class A."

"Interesting story. But I think I've had enough."

Ichinose, who had figured out the reason for the invitation, had no reason to stay there any longer.

"I think it's time to end this conversation."

"I was going to play with Suzune and Sakayanagi from now on, but if there is a battle involving expulsion from school in the future, your class will be a target.

I'll erase your friends who have been trying so hard to protect you."

From Ryuuen's point of view, Ichinose is still not recognized as an obstacle and tried to threaten her.

Ichinose took the threat head-on and smiled.

"Then I'll just stop you before you do. If necessary, I'll just have you expelled."

"Kuku. You think you can make me, or anyone at all, disappear?"

Ichinose, who is a good-natured person, is extremely against other people getting hurt. This has been the uniform impression of not only Ryuuen but also everyone around her for the past two years.

"You've certainly become more skilled at lying, haven't you?"

"What's the need for you and Sakayanagi-san to be so cautious of me now? I don't really care about what you say. I'm not the kind of person you need to worry about."

Thick clouds covered the sky and the sound of rain became stronger.

Before he knew it, Ryuuen's smile was gone and he was thinking about Ichinose's words.

'The woman in front of me is not worth the trouble.' I thought I had been treating her as such.

However, when I looked back on it calmly, I realized that I was being very stubborn.

"I won't hold back against anyone in the future. I won't choose a means to an end."

"That's not like you to be bluffing."

"I just realized I don't have time to worry about it anymore. That's all there is to it."

Ryuuen's rash thoughts quietly receded from his mind.

"You're not going to give any mercy to anyone, huh? You seem to be quite obsessed with Ayanokouji these days. If that's the case, the first thing you should get rid of is Karuizawa's existence, right?"

A joke. This was Ryuuen's way of harassment to upset her mentally.

Even after saying this, Ichinose did not change her soft, smiling face.

"What do you mean, 'obsessed'?"

"Rumors travel fast in this small school."

Ryuuen was already aware of the increasing contact between the two parties in the process of gathering information. Ryuuen was also convinced of Ichinose's one-sided feelings, though he can only guess.

"Why don't you move more calculatingly? If you want, I can help you get rid of Karuizawa."

'Impatience, anger, frustration or disgust.' Whatever feelings you have, show them to me.

This is Ryuuen's aim in this incitement.

"If Ryuuen-kun already knows. Then there's no need to hide it."

Ichinose, with a faint smile on her face, looked Ryuuen in the eyes and replied without hesitation.

"I don't want to expel Karuizawa-san because of my personal feelings. That's a different story."

Despite her bold words, she is a good person after all.

So Ryuuen tried to interject this, but...

"But Ryuuen-kun is mistaken. I am a calculating enough person."

Saying this, Ichinose puts her hand on her chest and smiles.

"If you can't solve a problem, think about it and come up with an answer. If you still can't find the answer, take action. That's how most paths open up."

"What do you mean?"

"I wonder?"

Ichinose thought back… to the night of the school trip.

It was then that my destiny began to change.

There is a slight possibility. No, it was a result derived by instinct that didn't even consider the possibility.

The situation at midnight when everyone was at the inn. A blizzard. A vanished self.

How will my classmates react and what will happen to them if it turns into a commotion?

What Ayanokouji found out for me was not a surprise at all.

Everything at that time, at that moment, was inevitable.

Something unpleasant clung to Ryuuen's hand holding the umbrella, and then spread to his whole body.

"I've got to go to the gym now. I don't want to waste even one second of happiness."

All the analysis of Ichinose that he had been holding until then, all of it, was negated. Ichinose was not interested in Ryuuen at all anymore. She started walking, passing by Ryuuen and heading for the Keyaki Mall.

"I take it back, Ichinose."

Ryuuen turned around and spoke to Ichinose.

"It might be lucky for us not to run into you at the end-of-year exam."

That was a hunch.

It was a word of respect for her presence, which made him think she was more troublesome than Sakayanagi, even if only for a moment.