The True Elites

Chapter 3-7: Finale On A Desert Island

"What? There's a rule like that?" I asked, trying my hardest to sound shocked.

"Y-you..!"

Horikita's eyes slowly widened, before she shook her head and returned to her normal, cold expression. The rest of them looked similarly incredulous.

"Anyway, you guys are looking for food, right? Mind if I join you for a little?" I asked.

"Sure! The more the merrier, right?" Ichinose gave a vibrant smile.

It seemed that, even though I was directly responsible for her class' situation, Ichinose didn't harbour any ill will towards me. I wondered whether that had anything to do with Lelouch smoothing things over with Class B and E yesterday.

"Mhm~! We'd love to have Ayanokōji-kun come along!" Kushida gave an equally captivating smile.

With that, our group set off on a trip through the forest, collecting various foodstuffs as we went and making idle conversation.

"Why are you even with us, Kushida?" Horikita asked coldly, after a while of silence. "What happened to your usual friends?"

"Oh, eto..." Kushida leaned in to Horikita and whispered something that I couldn't hear.

"I see... But still, why did you choose our group to go with? Many groups are out looking for food right now. You must've had other options."

Horikita and Kushida didn't get along. That much was obvious. In fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they hated each other beneath all the formalities. The question was why?

Who hated who first? And for how long have they hated each other? What sparked the hatred in the first place?

These questions must have answers, answers that're shrouded in mystery. Uncovering them eventually could be beneficial to me.

"I wanted to talk to you, Horikita-san, and thought this was a good chance. You know, we haven't really talked at all during this trip, have we? Well, as soon as it gets dark out, let's head to bed."

Even though Kushida understood that she was disliked, and dislike Horikita in turn, she wanted to try making friends with her. When I first met Kushida, she'd mentioned that her goal was to make friends with everyone.

Even after learning of her dark side, I still thought that making friends with everyone was her true goal. Only the motivation for that goal was changed by my shift in perspective.

As a result of this, Kushida couldn't avoid dealing with Horikita, no matter how much she wanted to.

"I don't have enough free time to spend it with you unnecessarily."

"You're so mean, Horikita-san. Even though your face is so cute when you're sleeping."

Horikita seemed a little annoyed by Kushida's odd teasing.

"So... Do they like each other or not?" Yamauchi scratched his head in confusion.

"Hard to say," I lied in response. "Some friends have this kind of playful and teasing dynamic, but there's also a possibility that Kushida and Horikita genuinely despise each other."

"Despise?! That's a strong word!" Ichinose cried in shock.

"Yeah, you shouldn't use words like that when talking about people like this, Ayanokōji-kun!" Kushida scolded me.

"I see... My mistake."

Apparently, there are numerous social nuances that I'm out of the loop on.

"The forest is kinda eerie... Or maybe I should say that it's scary, plus hot and humid."