62 #62 Asking for advice

-----(Horikita Manabu's POV)-----

"What was that?" Tachibana asked with a shaky voice while watching Walker's back slowly disappear in the hallway.

I would like to know too...those eyes, that smile...the pressure he generated only with those two things was enormous. If I have to compare it to something it would be pressure from my own father, however, he is an influential person and has the air of authority around him but Walker was slightly different. He had the air of authority around him, however, it was still different. It felt like his authority was undeniable no matter what.

I couldn't help but deepen my frown while thinking about it.

"President?" Tachibana called out to me when I didn't show any reaction to her previous question and this woke me up from my thoughts.

"Forget about it. Let's go, we can't afford to idle here any longer, we have work to do" I glanced at Tachibana and then began to slowly walk to our previous destination.

"President, were you serious when you asked him to join the student council? Isn't he...dangerous for the school?" Tachibana asked with a worried expression and even shivered when she recalled that scene.

If I wasn't accustomed to my father's pressure, I would probably feel in the same way.

"Yes, he has a talent, enormous at that. And I don't think he is dangerous at all" At least to people who either ignore him or don't provoke him. He might appear to some people as slightly similar to Nagumo but I definitely don't think so.

He is the ruler type of the person, he can make difficult decisions without blinking and he is too proud to break his promises or principles for benefits. At least that's how I view Walker after today's meeting with him. He would make perfect successor to my position.

Should I try to talk to Nagumo about this? Even if I tell him not to touch Walker, I doubt he would listen to me, I might make it even worse and he would be even more interested in Walker. All of it depends on how he views Walker, as a threat or not.

I thought with a hand on my chin and thoughtful expression on my face.

But to think that rumor might actually be true...Karuizawa Kei.

I took my phone and typed her name to a searching tab to find her from the list of all students.

Academic Ability D-

Intellect D-

Judgment Ability C-

Physical Ability D

Cooperativeness E+

Why would he be interested in her? Today he looked too proud to even care about such an average girl, as for her physical appearance...she might not be bad, however, I heard that there are some rumors among the 2nd-years and 3rd-years girls, apparently, some of the senior girls are eyeing him.

There are much better choices...What is his reason behind this? It's not like I am interested in his love life but I am curious about his reason, he doesn't seem like a person who views the appearance in the first place yet he picked Karuizawa with her average abilities.

-----(Horikita Manabu's POV END)-----

It's been already 1 hour from my meeting with Horikita-senpai, yet my eyes hadn't changed back. Will they remain like that forever? I don't particularly feel tired from using them and I even feel comfortable having these eyes, however, I doubt it is all these eyes can do. There must be more secrets to them but to get some answers I will have to enter that dreamworld place.

I was walking through the Mayaki Mall while thinking about my new eyes.

I stopped walking and looked up, straightly at the bright sun in the sky with wide-open eyes without even blinking. However, even after a minute of staring, my eyes weren't burning from the pain.

I shook my head and started walking once again however I quickly noticed a group of girls talking with each other and laughing aloud.

"Haha, he really said that? You must be kidding, haha"

I recognized the girl who had just spoken, however, I didn't know her name. I only knew that she was from class B so when I looked around them I quickly found out that Ichinose was among them with a few more girls from Class B.

"Oh?! Hey! Walker-kun!" Ichinose immediately stopped talking to her friends when she noticed me and waved at me with a big smile on her face. Her friends looked confused to see her act like that so they looked towards the location where Ichinose was waving and when they spotted me, they looked at each other with a mischevious smile on their faces.

I stopped when Ichinose called out to me and they approached me.

Should I try to cover my eyes? ...Nah, it's too windy out here to even try that.

"Good afternoon, Walker-kun! Oh?!" Ichinose said with her usual friendly smile, however, when she noticed my eyes she seemed a bit surprised and even her mouth remained slightly open in a cute way while staring straight into my eyes.

That's not the reaction I would call frightened...she seems even more curious than surprised.

.

.

.

And she is also staring too much.

"Good afternoon, are you here to buy something with your friends?" I just blurted out a random sentence to make her stop staring so intensively at me.

"Ah! I am sorry, it was very rude of me!" She quickly bowed to me when she realized what she was doing just a while ago.

"And yes, we already bought what we wanted so we are just wandering and looking around the different shops." She said with a silly smile while scratching back of her head awkwardly.

"Honami-chan, aren't you going to introduce us? Or do you plan to keep talking to him by yourself, haha" The girls who stayed quietly behind her while giving me curious looks finally spoke out.

"Ah, yes...I am sorry this is..."

She introduced me to all of her friends and I just politely nodded with a smile.

"Walker-kun? Can I talk to you in private? There is something I would like to discuss with you, regarding the last special exam." She asked me in a low voice.

I guess I could also use this chance to use her advice.

"I don't mind but I also have one request"

"Oh? What is it?" She asked me with an eager expression while leaning closer to me out of curiosity.

"Ehm, Honami-chan, we will go ahead of you." The girls lightly coughed and left with those words behind.

"Was it intentional?" I asked her with a smile when she returned to her previous position.

"Maybe, anyway what is your request?" She winked at me with a cute sly smile.

"I need your advice on something I want to buy. We can talk while we go there" I suggested and she instantly nodded her head a few times in succession.

...

"Who was the real target, Walker-kun?" We were talking about everyday things while walking towards our destination, however, Ichinose couldn't halt her curiosity anymore and asked me this question. I guess she didn't want to appear as rude by straightly asking me this kind of question, therefore that chit-chat.

"Me" I honestly told her with a carefree expression.

"But...how? I even made sure to call you on your phone" Ichinose didn't seem surprised by my statement, so she was already suspicious of me.

"How I changed the SIM cards with Karuizawa-san while making them functional at the same time?" I said aloud what she wanted to ask me.

"Yes, how did you do it?" She asked me with a truly curious look.

Hearing her question, I just smiled at her to show that I didn't want to reveal it. I already confirmed her suspicion of me being the real target.

"I hope you don't mind if I keep this to myself, also I am sorry for lying to you even though we were supposed to be allies."

"Of course not! And I am not angry at you for lying to me...fool your allies and you will definitely fool your enemies too. I totally understand your reasoning. The main thing is that the person who betrayed us didn't get any rewards from it and your class didn't lose anything." She quickly shook her head to show that she didn't mind it at all.

"By the way, are those contact lenses?" She asked me with a curious look while staring into my eyes.

Contact lenses...not the worst excuse.

"Yes, they are." I nodded with a smile.

"Really?! It almost looks like they aren't. They look good, they are totally mesmerizing. It must have cost you not a few points." She exclaimed in an excited voice.

We talked for a bit before we arrived at the shop where I bought the chessboard, the last time when I was here with Kei.

"Here we are, this is the thing I am considering whether to buy or not" After we greeted the clerk behind the counter, I showed Ichinose the exactly same necklace I saw during my visit with Kei.