Classroom of the Elite: Quintuplets

44 - Myself

I held a hand in front of my face, so the sunlight would no longer dazzle me, enabling me to view Kiyotaka more closely.

    "Yes?"

While he only breathed one word, I could feel his voice in my torso.

    "How long have I been sleeping?" I asked, lifting my head from his lap, where I had apparently been resting for the last few hours.

He checked the time on his phone, still nonchalant as in the past.

    "About eight hours."

Eight hours?! No, more importantly...

    "Kiyo, I remember everything now!" I excitedly exclaimed while my eyes were glittering sparkling stars and wagging my imaginary tail like a cat.

    "That's good to hear."

I bobbed my head energetically at his statement, unable to cease grinning in mirth.

A few moments later, he stood up and offered me a hand to aid me in getting up as well.

    "Why didn't you try to tell me earlier?" I thereupon asked, my inquisitive growing.

There was nothing natural, of course, about the fact that I would have recognized him right away. In all probability, I would have repudiated his statements without any second thoughts.

But still, why did he hesitate to tell me?

    "For my own sake," he replied, with his back facing me.

To be defeated? Now that I reflected on it, it makes sense.

Albeit, I don't recollect being a disciple of the white room, I did possess some knowledge and proficiency from there.

To put it differently, he had hoped I had developed even further in the outside world to test whether that environment could lead to growth beyond the white room.

However, was that really the main reason?

    "Are you sure?"

    "What other reason would there be?"

    "Perhaps, you did not tell me deliberately, so I would not get involved with this mess. Furthermore, I would not recall the atrocity."

My theory may be far-fetched, but it is not out of the realm of possibilities.

    "Who knows?" he retorted, delayed.

In return, my body drooped, my eyes crinkled, and I heaved a rush of air.

He hasn't changed, has he?

    "Your communication skills still suck, you know," I disappointedly bleated.

However, inexplicably, I was content that he didn't change. Yes—I wish to alter his emotionlessness, yet I don't want him to completely transmute into a whole new person.

It's strange, I know.

    "We should head back before the others realize we didn't spend the night at the camp house."

Indeed, if others were to discover this, they would certainly grow suspicious.

I, therefore, followed his steps toward the camp closely, watching his back.

My delightfulness was still unfathomable, so I reminisced about the occasions I had with him as "Kaiya."

The wind faintly enchanted the treetops when it suddenly hit me.

"Hey, I love you."

    "T-The sentence you uttered to me this night, did you mean it?" I stammered with an unusually weak tone.