3rd Person POV:
Chronos: "I will give the context of the video, before I show it..."
Then Chronos explained how Ichinose's past was revealed to the school (He did not tell what she did or who started the rumors, he did not tell about Arisu and Nagumo too) and how Ayanokoji visited her everyday until she got back and all the important stuff which author forgot to write here...
Ryuen: "Kukuku, We will finally know something about that rumors."
Mako: "Thank you Ayanokoji-kun, For trying to help Honami-chan, you even missed your classes to do that."
Meanwhile, Horikita has a frown on her face....
Horikita: 'Why is he helping other class?'
Hamaguchi: "We are thankful that Ayanokoji is helping Ichinose-san, But why? He is still from another class."
Chronos: "You will get your answer in the video..."
Manabu: 'I am guessing it's because of Nagumo, I am sure he has eyes on Ichinose...'
Ichinose: 'I have to brace myself for what's about to come, I won't blame them if they lose all their trust in me...'
Chronos: "Now Let's start..."
THE END OF THAT WINDOW approached in a flash. Before I knew it, it was Wednesday.
I held a can of coffee that I bought from the convenience store in my hand. I let out a sigh, my breath visible in the air.
I wasn't going to press Ichinose that day, even though we were out of time. Because there was no way Ichinose, herself, didn't understand that today was her last chance. She would definitely take action. I was sure of it.
"February's already almost over. If we can get through the special exam next month, we'll have officially made it to our second year. They say, 'once on shore, we pray no more,' but I have to wonder if there's really any truth to that," I said aloud.
The Uninhabited Island Exam. The Cruise Ship Exam. Paper Shuffle. Time and time again, we'd been subjected to a series of bizarre exams.
Kanzaki: "Paper Shuffle? What is that?"
Chronos: "Ohh It's a very fun exam, Not a good exam for Kushida, But a very fun exam for Ryuen."
Kushida: "What do you mean?"
Ryuen: "kukuku"
Chronos: "You will know Kushida..."
"Once we're second-year students, I wonder if the special exams will get even stranger than they are now?" I added.
"...Hey. Can I... ask you something kind of strange...?" asked Ichinose, mumbling in a quiet voice, as if she were talking to herself. It was the first time in a while she'd responded to me.
Mako: "She finally spoke..."
Shibata: "She is sounding so weak, It's like she hasn't eaten properly for days."
Kanzaki: 'It's good that she is at least talking to Ayanokoji but why is Ayanokoji even missing his classes to help her? Does he like her? But his face doesn't look like it...'
"Sure. As long as you're okay with talking to me through the door, you can ask me anything," I replied, welcoming her with open arms. But she didn't respond immediately.
"Why haven't you said anything to me, Ayanokouji-kun? Asked me anything?"
Sato: "Yeah! now that she mentioned it, Ayanokoji-kun hasn't talked once to her, he just came and sat at the door everyday."
Chiaki: "Yeah! any particular reason Ayanokoji-kun?"
Kiyotaka: "No idea"
Chiaki: *pouts*
"Like what?"
"My classmates and my friends from other classes have all come by, trying to convince me to come back to school. They all say they want me to talk to them about anything that might be bothering me. And yet, Ayanokouji-kun, you've been coming here every single day without saying anything like that at all... Why?"
Arisu: 'Fufu, Like Ayanokoji-kun's methods will be same as you naive fools.'
Shinohara(frowning): "Will you do same thing as what you did to Hirata-kun?"
Kiyotaka: "Nah, that won't work here." 'although I'm getting a feeling that this is not as serious as Hirata's case'
Class-B sighed in relief hearing that...
Chiaki: "Then what will work Ayanokoji-kun?"
Kiyotaka: "Watch it on the screen."
She probably didn't want me to worry about her, just as she hoped the other students wouldn't. She couldn't understand why I was slipping away from school every day and wasting my lunch break just to come here.
"Well, that's because those other students are really, really worried about you, Ichinose. Their attempts to convince you, again and again...that's something I could never do. My ability to connect with other people is so limited that if I tried to use my emotions to appeal to your emotions, I can't imagine it would really resonate."
Horikita: "I completely disagree with that after watching how dealt with Hirata-kun."
Akito: "Yeah dude! Not everyone can do that Kiyotaka."
Mako: "I'm actually excited to see how you will deal with Honami-chan!"
Kanzaki: 'I agree with Amikura, I'm curious too'
I heard the faint sound of footsteps within her room. I had a feeling she was sitting on the other side of the door now. The door was the only thing separating us.
"Maybe I've been coming here every day because I'm waiting for you to just unload everything and tell me," I said.
"Waiting for me... to unload everything and tell you?"
I decided to break down the walls of Ichinose's heart for the first time.
"I know what crime you committed."
"...!"
Ichinose: 'Huh? I never told anyone... wait, Chronos told I shared my past with two people... they must have told to Ayanokoji-kun...'
Mako: "How did you know?"
Kiyotaka: "You will get nothing from me now, I'm as confused as you are." 'The only way I can see is that those two people to whom Ichinose told her past to'
Horikita: "How did Ayanokoji-kun know?"
Chronos: "You'll see Horikita."
"Well, I say that, but I don't actually know the background details or anything. But the fact that Sakayanagi dug so deeply into this, and spread it around so much that it's caused you to take time off from school, tells me how much this is weighing on you, Ichinose. But I guess there's no point in me saying that to you."
Class-B: "W-What? Sakayanagi-san!!"
Arisu: "Fufufu, Looks like I'm one of those two people to whom Ichinose-san shared her past."
Kanzaki(angered tone): "Why did you share to whole school, Sakayanagi?"
Arisu: "All I did was just start a rumor Kanzaki-kun, Ichinose-san could have instantly denied it but she didn't, instead she just locked herself in her room... fufufu how pitiful."
Ichinose just lowered her head, slowly shrinking into her seat...
Shibata: "Who is other person who knows her past?"
Chronos: "You'll see..."
"How...do you know that?"
"That's not really important right now. I don't intend to get any deeper into it."
Hamaguchi: "So it is Sakayanagi-san who told to Ayanokoji?"
Chronos: "No."
Kanzaki: "Huh? Then who?"
Chronos: "To protect her privacy I won't tell her name but here is a small hint, 'Beer Girl'.
Kanzaki: "Beer girl?"
Kiyotaka: 'Beer girl? Does she drink beer? Now I'm curious how it tastes...'
Kamuro: 'ugh! I definitely know its me, but why did I tell him? Did she order it too?'
Arisu: "Fufufu, so that's how it is..."
If Ichinose didn't want to talk about it, then our conversation would be
over right here and now.
"You're probably not very good at opening up to other people about your own troubles, Ichinose. Even though you can save others, you can't save yourself. That's the kind of person you are. That's why I'm here now." (AN: Kinu really cooked with this line)
Girls: 'Wow, That line is soo good!! I wish he said that to me...'
Mako: "Looks like it's right thing to get excited about this, Nee Honami-chan!"
Then, Amikura looked at Ichinose who is still looks dejected...
Mako: 'She is even crying now...tch! this is not good'
The feelings I wanted to convey had to be reaching Ichinose, little by little.
There was a brief silence. It was hard, wanting to let your emotions out, but having no one you could let them out to. I'd seen countless children suffer through the same thing back in the White Room. Eventually, they broke down and disappeared. Became broken people with no hope of ever recovering.
Everyone in the hall gasped at sudden information about his past. They didn't know how to react to it...
Chairman Sakayanagi: 'No wonder you mentally so strong Kiyotaka-kun."
Arisu: 'Quite an irony there Ayanokoji-kun, you talk about 'wanting to let your emotions out' and how children suffered because of that and yet you never do that yourself.'
Kei: ' I know you won't break down but I hope you can genuinely open up one day Kiyotaka.'
Horikita: "I know you told me not to pry into your life and I will not but I told this to Hirata-kun too and I will tell this to you too, Mental health is a serious problem Ayanokoji-kun."
Kiyotaka: "I didn't break down, did I?"
Horikita: "That's..."
Hirata: "It's not about that Kiyotaka-kun, what she meant is that we are always here for you and we will listen to you if have any problems."
Kiyotaka: "I'll keep that in mind, Yousuke."
All the people close to him had smiles on their faces hearing that...
"I'm your door right now. I can't see your face and I can't reach out and touch you. I'm just a door. No one will laugh at you if you reveal your weakness to a door."
Manabu: 'I see what you're doing there Ayanokoji'
There was a light clack as I set my coffee down on the ground.
"So what are you going to do, Ichinose? This moment, right now, is your moment of truth."
All of Ichinose Honami's friends were reserved, gentle people. It wasn't hard to imagine them offering a deluge of kind words to their dependable leader. However, that wasn't going to work. It might seem like the correct approach to the people supporting Ichinose, but you couldn't handle this situation like it was a problem to be fixed. You just had to apply enough pressure to make her crack.
Manabu: "You are creating a scenario where she confesses her own problems to herself, am I right Ayanokoji-kun?"
Kiyotaka: 'Horikita-senpai is much smarter than I thought' "Maybe..."
Manabu: *smirks*
Ryuen: "Kukuku, That crafty bastard is more smarter than I thought."
Arisu: "Fufufu, Are you sure you're his sister Horikita-san?"
Horikita started glaring at Arisu more menacingly than ever...
Kiyotaka: 'That is the angriest glare I have ever seen from Horikita, she really likes her brother huh...'
"Even someone so pathetic like me... Can I really...?"
"Who has the right to deny you that?" I asked.
"Can a criminal like me...ever really be forgiven...?"
"Everyone has the right to be forgiven."
I'd knocked on the door to her heart. All that was left now was to see how Ichinose would respond.
From the other side of the door, Ichinose slowly opened her mouth to speak.
"I... I shoplifted. And then I missed out on half a year of school during
my third-year of junior high, because I was in so much pain. I couldn't talk to
anyone about it. I just kept blaming myself. I holed up in a small room, just
like I'm doing now..."
Ichinose started speaking, finally pulling her hands away from the wound on her heart that she'd been so desperately trying to cover for so long. She talked about what she had done. About her weakness, about how she'd retreated inward and hid herself away.
There was a two minutes silence after they listened to Ichinose Honami's past. All the people in the hall had expressionless faces and are staring at Ichinose who had tears in her eyes and finally someone broke the silence...
Ryuen: "That's it?"
Chronos: "That's it."
Ryuen: "For real?"
Chronos: "For real."
Now, Ryuen is staring at Ichinose as if she is the biggest idiot he has ever seen in his life...
Class-B: *sighs* 'And here we thought it was a serious issue, But for her it is a serious issue...'
Shiranami: "Ichinose-san, Sorry you had to go through that."
Hearing what Shiranami said, Kanzaki, Hamaguchi and Amikura had completely lost their composure.
Mako: 'What is this stupid girl saying?? What do mean 'Sorry you had to go through that'?? She has been through nothing you stupid girl!!! ughh!! I don't like this... This is not the Honami-chan I know...'
Hamaguchi: "And here I thought it was something really serious."
Kanzaki, Himeno and Amikura nods hearing Hamaguchi but some of his classmates did not take to well...
Yume: "Now is not the time Hamaguchi-kun"
Mako: "I completely agree with Hamaguchi-kun"
This shocked everyone in the hall, even Ryuen and Arisu looks surprised hearing Amikura and Ichinose is looking at her best friend with tears in her eyes. Hamaguchi, Kanzaki and Himeno are looking most shocked because they never expected Amikura Mako, the best friend of Ichinose Honami to back them up.
Shimanami: "W-What are you s-saying, Amikura-san? You of all people should support her at this time."
Amikura just ignored Shiranami and started talking to Ichinose.
Mako: "Honami-chan, 'I stole a hairclip and I locked myself in a room for six months because my mom made me apologize for the mistake I've done' forgot this happened to you for a few minutes and look at this story from an outsider's perspective."
Ichinose thought about what Amikura said and suddenly Ichinose widened her eyes and blushed like crazy, Amikura grinned because she got the reaction she hoped for.
Mako: "Yeah!! Yeah!! You see it now, don't you... You see how childish that is, don't you. At that time I can accept you being sad about it Honami-chan because you are still in middle-school but what pisses me is that YOU ARE STILL CLINGING TO IT!!! AND THAT IS PLAIN STUPID!!!"
Amikura is breathing hard now as if she is out of breath...
Hamaguchi: "D-Drink water, Amikura-san"
Amikura accepted the water from Hamaguchi and thanked him...
Mako: "Now continuing...
Kanzaki/Hamaguchi/Himeno: 'She is still not done!?!'
Mako: ...you know Honami-chan, in the previous video when you said you locked yourself for six months for the mistake you've done, I seriously thought you were a bully or you murdered someone. Not only me, I'm pretty sure few students in this hall had the same thought or something similar to it."
Shiranami: "Enoug-
Mako: "I'M NOT DONE YET!!"
Shiranami flinched and tears are visible at the corner of her eyes...
Mako: "What pisses me off the most is that you thought this small mistake of yours is enough to break our class's trust in you, it just says that you don't have enough trust in us, Ichinose Honami."
Both Ichinose, Class-B and everyone in the hall are completely shocked at what Amikura just said and none of them were able to speak a word out...
Ryuen: "Kukuku, That was quite a show."
Arisu: "Fufufu, I agree"
Chie: 'I have never been so proud of you, Mako-chan!!'
Sae: 'Chie looks really happy, she must have enjoyed it'
Sakagami: 'Well, She is a Class-B student alright...'
Mashima: "There are many promising students in this year, don't you agree?"
Chie/Sae/Sakagami: "Yeah, I agree"
Chairman Sakayanagi: "You're right, Mashima-kun"
Mashima nods with a smile on his face...
Chronos: "Let's continue..."
About how she told this story to Nagumo, and only him. About how Sakayanagi had approached her, asking for advice on a classmate, and told her that there was a shoplifter at our school. Ichinose had known then that it couldn't be a coincidence. She'd known Sakayanagi had probably found out about her past because she heard it from Nagumo. With no room to lie about it, all she could do was confess it all.
While students are still processing Amikura's outburst, They were struck another bomb...
Kiyotaka: 'Nagumo? Why him?'
Manabu: 'I knew it'
Manabu was looking at Nagumo as if there isn't anyone lower than him...
Manabu: "Is this how you're using your power Nagumo? I have never been this disappointed in my life."
Meanwhile Nagumo just shrugs it off...
Horikita: "Is this why Ayanokoji-kun is helping Ichinose-san?"
Chronos: "Yes Horikita"
Nagumo: 'that bastard'
Ichinose had been putting on a brave face, unable to let herself be weak. Do you know how hard and scary it is to admit to your own crimes? Many immature young people have shoplifted... No, have committed some kind of "crime" at least once in their lives. But if you said that to a large crowd of people, they'd all probably say something like "I'd never do such a thing."
And that was only natural. Admitting to your own crimes was terrifying, as was talking about them in public. Our society is one that deals out harsh punishments in the name of justice, after all. Such is the tragic fate of a criminal. That's why they hide. That's why they never speak of their crimes, burying them deep within themselves instead. That's why they try to live on under the guise of being good people.
Mashima: 'This kid is really mature for his age. In fact, he is more mature than some of the adults I met in my life. I feel like I can learn many things from him.'
Hiyori: 'You are really an enigma, Ayanokoji-kun. You say you are socially inept, you say your ability to connect with people is less and yet you have the most mature thoughts I have ever seen for 15 year old, if you have achieved this maturity just from reading books and without proper social interaction... then I'm afraid of what level you will reach if you have proper social skills.'
Ichinose, overcome by her guilty conscience, spent half a year completely alone. And then, finally, she was released from her shackles...no, she broke free of them. But her guilt would continue to follow her, no matter where she went. It would be with her until the day she died.
In fact, her guilty conscience was standing in her way right now, attacking her heart. Which was why she had no choice but to confront it.
By the time she was done telling me her whole story, lunch break was already over, but that didn't matter. Even though afternoon classes had already started, I just sat there and listened to what Ichinose had to say, without trying to console her or reprimand her.
Ichinose was softly crying on the other side of the door, trying to hold back her tears. I offered her no words of comfort, because that would have been meaningless right now. It had been clear from the very beginning who her real opponent in this battle was: herself.
It all came down to whether or not she could put an end to this herself by coming to terms with what she'd done. Very, very few people are capable of honestly facing their crimes in the true sense of the word. But when we do face our crimes...then we're able to grow and take one step forward.
Chronos: "That's the end of the video..."
Ichinose suddenly stood up and went towards her Best friend, Amikura Mako.
Ichinose: "I'm sorry Mako-chan."
Mako: "Not to me, Apologize to the class."
Ichinose nods and turns towards her class...
Ichinose: "I'm sorry everyone, I let my past get over me and acted like a baby... I hope you guys will still accept me as your leader."
Class-B: "It's ok, Ichinose-san"
Mako: "I know you feel guilty of what you did and I won't say what you did is a right thing but for god's sake Honami-chan you stole a hairclip once and in the video you sounded like that's what you have been doing all your life. You seriously forgot everything that you have done for us and stuck on that single mistake!?! *sighs* What I'm trying to say is that please don't let a single mistake decide what you are, Honami-chan."
Tears formed around Ichinose's eyes hearing what Amikura said and Ichinose quickly gave a hug to Amikura and she hugged her back... and whole of Class-B is watching them with warm smiles plastered on theirs faces.
Author Notes:
Really Sorry for the long delay. You will get fast updates from now on! (not as fast as you guys think)
I've been delaying this chapter for a long time and its now finally completed. And, this also my first chapter from my new Laptop-chan.
Next chapter will be Kiyotaka vs Tsukishiro. It will be a big one, It might take time to write that one but I will try my best to publish it before this week ends.
Bye!! See you guys in the next one...
Published: 19th April 2023