His flawless motives (CotE)

fallout (chapter 2.5)

She must have urged me to keep silent as eavesdroppers might not be out of ear shot. 

But why? 

Confidential information was not mentioned in our conversation at all. 

Plus, who would think that we would host a private meeting in a student populated public area? 

Unless..

There are two options, one wa- 

-

Before I could finish analysing the situation, Horikita tugged onto my arm and abruptly pulled me forward across the dining table.

¨æ-¨

Our heads were ridiculously close, and she whispered into my ear, 

¨Ayanokoji-kun, just ac- act along with me for the time being okay?" 

"You must be wondering why, but this is urgent. I'll tell you later.¨

in an agitated tone. 

The following events which happened afterwards left me at a loss. 

All I could do was assist her in agreeing, if that's all it meant to keep her out of trouble.

-
(Horikita's perspective)

I cursed repeatedly in my mind. I'm so careless.

I should not have gone outdoors and invited Ayanokoji-kun as well. 

This would lead to much more suspicion that Ayanokoji is the mastermind behind the scenes if I continued to hang around him. 

His reputation was in my care and it depended on me whether I could tackle this off. 

I did not want to be at fault to be the main reason why his peaceful life was in jeopardy. 

I could use our position as a valuable asset in making them believe misleading information. 

For that to happen, I had to stir up a convincing conversation.

However, this was risky. 

It is also possible that the eavesdropper has spotted that we've been putting up an act.

 Thankfully, I have not made much movement when I came to realize the threat. 

¨Ayanokoji-kun, I know this may be sudden, but congratulations on getting 64 as your aggregate score." 

"Well, although you might have improved significantly by ten points, I'd like you to remain persistent in improving."

" So, I'll cut straight to the point. Can we agree to hold study sessions in your room? I'll also be inviting a few other guys in our class if you do not mind.¨

The both of us returned to our seats.

¨Sure. But who else will you be inviting?¨ he asked. 

¨Well, I'll have to ask them first if they agree, so that question is on hold.¨ I responded.