Classroom Of The Elite : Demon Of The White Hell

Vol 4: Chapter 18 - Vulnerability

6th August,

6th Day,

The rain doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. If it got much worse, I might get stuck or have an accident. Also, the fact that the sun was going down earlier than I'd anticipated made it difficult to push forward without a flashlight. The passing showers grew even stronger, and the winds started to howl more violently. The weather was just negative all around, no favourable points at all.

"Oh, here she is."

Near a large tree lay a muddy Horikita. She'd collapsed, unconscious. A single keycard lay on the ground beside her.

After examining the situation, I hypothesised that more people than Ibuki had discovered Koeunji's keycard. After picking it up, I gently lifted Horikita into my arms.

From my experience on the island, there aren't any close sheltered area nearby where I can let Horikita rest. Of course there's the hut, but that was Class B territory and it was quite a distance away.

"If only we were near the rock tunnel..."

Walking a couple dozen metres forward, I found a tree big enough to at least somewhat shade Horikita from the rain. Slowly, I sat down against the tree and laid Horikita on my lap, using my jacket and body to shade her from the rain as best as I could.

"Ngh..."

About 15 minutes went by, before Horikita began showing signs of waking up. Slowly but surely, her eyes started fluttering, trying to open as best it can.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"Ayano...kouji...kun?" She mumbled for a moment, trying to grasp the situation.

Then, her eyes shot open in an instant.

"Ayanokouji-kun!?" She yelled out in surprise.

"What's wrong? Are you surprised to see me?"

Her breathing got heavier. Her hands began trembling and tears started forming in her eyes.

"N-No... why'd it have to be you...?" Her voice started getting shaky.

That was rude. And uncalled for. After the trouble I went through to pick her up, I'd expect at least some form of gratitude, even from her.

"Uh, did you not want to see me?"

"No! That's not it! It-It's just..." she trailed off, not able to finish her sentence.

Then, she did something I least expected. She started crying right in front of my eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She repeated those words as she tried her best to hide her teary face from me.

No, crying might just be an understatement to the state she's in. This is bad bad. Like, someone hitting rock bottom and somehow managing to dig deeper bad. Just what could have happened for her to become like this?

"What are you talking about? What are you 'sorry' about?"

I've never seen this before, and I doubt anyone has. Horikita, weeping so hard, like a little child who'd lost their parents.

I couldn't tell if she had tried her best to endure it, or if she's just letting it all out without care. Needless to say, if it was the former, then something must've hurt her deeply if she couldn't stop herself from bawling to this extent.

"You-You trusted me! You trusted me! And yet! And yet! I failed you!"

If I'm inferring this correctly, then she probably valued the trust I've placed in her to a high degree.