Lilac Petals (Classroom of the Elite)

Chapter 8

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka

Upon exiting the theater, my eyes instinctively fluttered a little to adjust to the sudden change in lighting. After all, we had been in a dark room for an hour and a half.

I spotted Matsushita near the entrance, happily chatting with Kei and Satou.

"I must say; that was quite fascinating." Arisu, who was walking beside me, remarked with a smile.

"Hm, yeah. I mean, the movie was pretty good. It was decently scary and the antagonist had surprisingly good depth—"

"May I ask about what you did during the movie?"

"What did I do?"

"I'm sure you're well aware of it," she answered, letting out a subtle, playful hum. "What prompted you to do that?"

"Obligations, I guess?"

"Fufu, I'm sure you aren't one to abide by such obligations. Tell me; could there have been a particular catalyst? Perhaps... an emotion?"

"...I don't know."

"Hmm, is that so?" She spoke in an innocent tone.

Was it really an emotion? Or just a natural response of my body? In any case, I was certain that it had something to do with Arisu.

"Anyhow, what will you do regarding Matsushita-san?" she asked.

I supposed that she had also noticed her watching us during the movie. She was usually attentive to her surroundings anyway, so it wasn't all too surprising.

"Good question..." I glanced over to where Matsushita was, and saw that she was waving her friends goodbye. She was staying behind for some reason. I continued, "I can't really just go up to her. It would make things look suspicious on my end."

"I suppose that's true."

If I were to suddenly confront Matsushita about it, there was no doubt that she would try to twist my words. And I didn't have conclusive evidence, either. It was easy for her to pass it off as a mere coincidence. There was also the fact that I'd probably garner unwanted attention if I were careless.

After the movie, we left the cinema. It was a little past 5 pm as we exited, so I supposed that we'd probably catch the sunset by the time we got out of the mall.

As we headed toward the exit, I noticed a presence trailing us behind. I didn't really need to think hard to figure out who it was. Arisu, who was walking by my side, looked at me and smiled, signaling that she had also realized.

"Matsushita-san has a rather strong fixation on you, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I wonder why, though."

Matsushita was one of those people in our class who weren't overly capable, but didn't lag behind either. To put it simply, she was exactly like how people viewed me—an average, unassuming person. And the fact that she had suddenly taken an interest in me was pretty odd, though, I could probably make a few guesses.

"We may be able to confront her there," remarked Arisu.

I followed her line of sight, and spotted a corner nearby next to a clothing shop. She probably had the same idea. The mall was absolutely packed with people, but I had already been getting enough looks because of Arisu, so attention wasn't even a concern for me anymore. If the three of us were seen talking to each other, people would probably think it was just your casual, everyday conversation.

We had turned the corner somewhat quickly and were ready to ambush Matsushita. A little over ten seconds later, Matsushita fell into our trap.

"Wha—?" Matsushita let out a surprised yelp.