Seen Through the Eyes of Goodwill

Chapter- 22 (Last day)

Our small group gathered in Zazen Dojo. The test was going to be held in four phases: 'Zen', 'Speech', 'Long distance relay', and 'Written exam'.

Starting from Zazen, we were seated in a completely different order than usual. I was seated beside Kushida-san. Sakayanagi-san was missing out on the 'Zazen' and 'Long distance relay', so the other spot beside me was empty.

I closed my eyes, trying to meditate. Trying to escape the whirling thoughts of the consequences brought forth by my actions was nothing but an exercise in futility. Unbidden, the memories floated to the surface of my mind.

All was going well. I had judged my actions to be a boon. To save Karuizawa-san and Manabe-san from the ominous fate descending on them... I took matters in my hands, sought to smother out that piece of insidious evil. The disaster was averted, and the two girls were saved. But, I was a naive girl. Was I blind? Did I fail to notice it? What was the wrong step? I believed, naively. I thought, good will finally triumph.

"The end justifies the means. But what if there never is an end? All we have is means."

One sacrifice, leading to another. It always starts from one. An eye for an eye would make the whole world go blind.

Even though I couldn't oppose Ryuuen-kun myself, I tried to achieve the result without offering those sacrifices.

Ryuuen-san has retired from this test.

Kaneda's words in the cafeteria made me realise the grave mistake I made.

Why? Last night, he clashed against 'X'... it was a nightmare... He fought valiantly, but in the end he was crushed.

When faced with the feral aura of Ryuuen Kakeru, I had submitted to his will quietly. Even though I was strictly against it, I knew my will didn't hold a candle when faced against him.

To think someone like Ryuuen-san... was crushed. Was there really such a wide gulf of power between him and his opponent? I asked myself.

What he went through last night... anyone would break. Just remembering it makes me nauseous.

Even though it was subconsciously, I took it for granted that Ryuuen-san would win once he found 'X'. However, 'X' turned out to be an existence that was in a league above him?

Impossible... my mind said. Nevertheless, reality narrated a different tale.

"Shiina Hiyori, you can leave now." The voice of our instructor halted my gloomy train of thought.

"Y-Yes, thank you." I bowed my head and left the dojo.

With the 'Zen' part of the exam done, we moved on to the writing part of the exam immediately.

With my head down, I scribbled whatever I could remember from the past few days. As much as I wanted to think up thoughtful answers, I couldn't focus on writing convincing answers. In the end, they were all just information dumps; correct, yet lacklustre at the same time.

Once the written exam was over, our small group were boarded into the vans. We were dropped at the same eighteen kilometres track we used to cover daily.

In the long distance relay race, I was given the task to cover 1.2km. The amount appeared measly when I realised that Ibuki-san and Horikita-san will be covering a distance of 3.6 km each.

We were dropped according to our order. I was the sixth one. Once the van dropped me off at the designated spot, I spotted a few other girls from different small groups. Unfortunately, I didn't know any of them, so all I could do was ponder alone.

Looking at the girls warming up around me, I was reminded of the sports festival. Ryuuen-kun had obtained the participation table of Class D, however, he didn't stop at that.

He targeted Horikita-san. For that he had sacrificed Kinoshita-san, the ace of our class. In my eyes, it was an imprudent move. However, Ryuuen-kun had obtained outstanding results in the Zodiac exam preceding the sports festival. Even though he took an incautious course of action, the students followed him, enduring the pain in hopes of victory.

Was it that recklessness that led to his downfall? I asked myself when I saw the result of the sports festival.

Our class came last due to the absence of Kinoshita-san... No, that's wrong. Ryuuen-kun must've predicted that in absence of Horikita and Sudou Class D's performance the recommended participants would be crippled. That should've placed Class D at the last spot.

The sudden rising of Koenji Rokusuke and Ayanokouji-kun took the whole school by surprise. Both of them displayed athletic prowess I had never witnessed before. At the end, Class D was able to get third place in the sports festival. They lost a total fifty of class points: a victory when compared to other classes.

Class B had come second. However, due to the loss of White team they suffered a damage of hundred class points which was very crucial to their cutthroat competition with the newly crowned Class A.

On the other hand, due to coming in the last position , we suffered a grave loss of two hundred class points.

Class D had closed in on us. 'X' had directly contacted Ryuuen-kun. Both planned and played their moves correctly... But, I messed up my role.

Am I the reason Ryuuen-kun lost? What if he knows about my betrayal already? Am I any different if I betrayed my own classmate?

A thought flickered in my mind, and, unwittingly, I hated every fibre of my being. The worst of both sinners and saints. I walked behind his back, in my arrogance–incapability–to usher peace, but I merely bought damnation.

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