Waking up, I felt somewhat constrained given everything that has happened so far. With Ichinose's absence dealt with, I should be feeling alleviated in a way however, I'm still far from it. This isn't the only problem Class-C will face this month and eventually, probably soon, Ryuuen will come to recognize my role during the special exams. Of course, if circumstances were different then I could've possibly avoided any confrontation with him to begin with but what's done is done.
Leaving my room, I left the dormitories and made my way to the school building. Going back to Ichinose's situation, whether she will show up or not is still yet to be seen. After her problems were solved, she should show up but then again, nothing is ever one hundred percent going to happen unless you see it happen yourself. In any case, the probability of Ichinose being absent again is one in a million, something unpredictable should've happened if that was the case.
Arriving at my classroom, everyone carried on with their daily discussions as usual, everything was nice and quiet. Horikita on the other hand, idly stared at me for a few seconds before returning to her book. As for me, I took my seat and looked out the window, thinking back to everything that's happened throughout my time at school. Even though I haven't fully lived out the 'high school life', I'm still grateful I've even made it this far, and now that I have, I intend on continue living this life for myself.
As I was thinking about such things, my troubles from earlier vanished as Ichinose walked in through the door. The first people to approach her were her group of friends as well as a few others. I didn't get the impression that she was bothered by anything but deep inside, I'm sure she's still in pain to a certain extent. The conversation we've had from yesterday must've made an impact on her mental state if anything else.
"It appears Ichinose-san returned," Horikita said, interrupting my train of thought.
"It would seem so."
Horikita was the first person to even have concerns about the Ichinose not coming to class, although she herself had predicted on what could've happened, she disregarded them as just that, predictions. Well, after seeing her come to school today anyways she started to disregard them.
"Given the circumstance, did you think she was ever in any trouble?" I asked.
"Would I be wrong in thinking so?"
I wouldn't really say wrong but rather, it's a bit over the top. Ever since special exam we took back on the island, Horikita started being more careful and having her guard raised. It's not as if she wasn't careful to begin with anyways.
"You're free to think that way if you so desire," I responded.
Ryuuen aside, Horikita is also careful of one other individual, someone in our Class-C. That person being Kushida. Only I happen to have discovered her identity though, it's no surprise that Horikita will become even more untrusting of the people in our class since she figures one of them could be the traitor back on the island. Speaking of Kushida, she hasn't done much as of late. Looking at her now, the only thing she has done up to this point was converse with her friends, not once has she bothered to look in my direction. I suppose she wants to avoid me at all costs after I found out her secret.
In any event, we left it at that and class started for the day. Chabashira-sensei gave her lecture as everyone patiently sat at their desk and listened. With our new promotion to Class-C, everyone was especially determined to work on their academics to keep that position. Why? Simply put, we proved that moving up from zero class points is indeed possible. On the first month alone, we've come to learn of the true nature of this school and with our rankings on that month, everyone has gave up hope. But now, with Class-C's successes, that hope has since been regained.
Anyways, first period came to a close as we moved on from period to period and it wasn't until long that lunch rolled around. Originally, I planned to spend my time eating inside the classroom and move onto the library but those plans would quickly dissipate as a student from another class walked into our classroom just after the bell rang. They are from Class-B and if I recall correctly, their name was Amikura Mako.
"H-huh, Mako-chan?" Ichinose blurted out.
"Hey, Honami-chan! I heard you're back so if it's alright with you, wanna have lunch with me?"
Amikura's unexpected arrival only captured the attention of a few students but that subsided and everyone continued mining their own business. I, of which, also continued doing my own thing but I couldn't help but listen in on their conversation in the end. Ichinose though, she remained still as if she was thinking about something until she opened her mouth, agreeing to Amikura's invitation.
"Oh, sure. Why not?" she smiled.
"Great! But there's also someone else I wanted to invite.." Amikura said as she observed the room with her hand above her eyes, blocking the imaginary sunlight.
After searching through the perhaps dozen remaining students, Amikura's eyes landed on me of all people. As she did, both our eyes met and Ichinose's concentration also shifted to me in the process. Immediately regretting ever eavesdropping into this conversation, I moved my attention elsewhere. A futile attempt sure, but what more could be done? I've already passed a point of no return.
Approaching me, Amikura showed a wide grin as she spoke up. Obviously, I could tell how this discussion would go so for arguments sake, let's say I did accept. Not only will this be uncomfortable for me, I'm sure Ichinose wouldn't like this arrangement after yesterday.
"You're Ayanokouji-kun, right?" she asked.
"If I assumed another identity, am I inclined to tell you?"
Humor, albeit dry, is one way to hide displeasure I suppose, not as if it would do anything to help in this situation though. But anyways, Amikura didn't reply to my attempt at making a joke but instead, she continued smiling. Actually, now that I have a better look of them, they sort of remind me of another student in our class, the resemblance is almost uncanny.
"Hmm.. Okay then! Care to join me and Honami-chan?"
"I'll pas-"
Just as I was about to decline, it appeared Amikura was hellbent on this absurd idea of hers and interrupted me. It's as if she predicated my answer from the very beginning.
"Great! In that case, let's go!"
Not leaving me any room to escape, Amikura grabbed me by the arm and went up to Ichinose, who of which she also grabbed by the arm as Amikura dragged the both of us out of the classroom. Once the three of us left, we followed her to the cafeteria, preferably I would've liked to go on with my usual lunch plans but that's out the window now. At the very least, I've come to be content with it now as my role of Ichinose's 'partner in crime' became more apparent, I shouldn't stand out as often when I'm with her.
Arriving at the cafeteria, Amikura picked out an empty table that could house up to four students, since there was only three of us, it was good enough given that there aren't any that just had three seats. Doing so, I thought Amikura would've just claimed this spot by replacing the red marker with a green one at the center of the table but, no. Instead, Amikura pulled out her phone and turned to Ichinose.
"Hey, Honami-chan, there's something I want to ask Ayanokouji-kun," she said, "Do you mind getting us lunch~?"
Using her phone, she aimed it towards Ichinose and pointed towards the food items listed on a school-issued app which detailed what meal sets the cafeteria had. Although she looked conflicted, Ichinose decided not act upon her intuitions and followed along with what Amikura asked of her. Getting up, she made her way towards the line of the ticket machine and with that, now it's just me and Amikura, this possibly can't end up well.
"Tell me, Ayanokouji-kun, what do you think of Honami-chan?"
That was rather.. to the point I suppose? But anyways, what I think of Ichinose, huh. I can't say I've ever given it any thought. As our leader, I admire her determination to do everything for the sake of her class. Even if her optimistic side is somewhat of a personal defect, that has changed for perhaps the better of her. Ichinose will no longer just work towards the sake of everyone, but work towards the sake of everyone in her class instead because as it so happens, everyone's dreams of reaching Class-A align with each one another. Actually, scratch that, even if it didn't I'm sure she'd want our class to graduate from Class-A together, despite everything that'll happen in Class-C's future.
"They're a decent leader," I said impassively.
"That's not quite what I meant, Ayanokouji-kun."
I'm sure I didn't mishear anything, Amikura had asked me what I thought of Ichinose and I gave her my answer. What she wanted to hear is unknown to me but I get the feeling she was on a completely different page than what I was thinking.
"Then what did you mean?" I asked."
"I meant what you thought of her as a person, you know?"
As a person? This was something that was far from what I had pictured. What I thought of Ichinose as an individual wasn't a topic that I thought of much because I never really felt the need to. In fact, the only reason why I'm thinking of it now is because Amikura raised the question.
"I guess they're a really nice person, I don't see anything wrong with them." I answered.
"No, I mean as maybe your girlfriend?"
I've never entertained the thought of ever getting into a relationship, let alone with someone like Ichinose. Suppose it wasn't her though, suppose it's someone like Satou or maybe even someone quieter like Sakura, I can't imagine myself ever getting a romantic relationship with anyone at this school. This doesn't mean I'm unwilling to learn about the concept of loving someone though, it just means I'm incapable of such things at the moment.
"That's probably not possible."
"H-huh, why's that?" she asked me.
"It's because I'll never date Ichinose Honami, and Ichinose Honami will never date me."
The truth of the matter is, Ichinose's personal feelings are of no real concern to me. Who she loves or doesn't love isn't a problem I have to needlessly stick my head in. Of course, this doesn't mean I'm denying what she said to me back then but I need some way to prevent Amikura from continuing her questioning. When Ichinose was still sick, she confirmed her feelings of love to me and yet, I still find it hard to believe. Given that she had an illness and based off of the way she acted, it's almost as if there was another force making her act that way. There was no reason for me to point it out, if Ichinose wanted to confess again then so be it. How will I react though, I wonder.
"O-oh, I see.."
From the way things look, Amikura must've been asking me these questions to get a reaction out of me for fun but it would seem I took things a bit too far. The once joyful expression she had on her face quickly left and she now had a more sad look..? In any event, it changed once more back to that joyful look after Ichinose returned with the food she asked for.
As we started eating, Ichinose noticed the tough atmosphere and decided to talk to Amikura by herself now to put her at ease. Throughout our meal, Ichinose remain fixated on Amikura and made no effort to look in my direction. The reason for why is obvious to me but I wont call her out on it.
As they chatted, I offered no input and fell back eating silently. It wasn't as if I had anything to offer to the conversation in the first place. Even if it was a little bit odd, my lunch ended and I left the cafeteria, leaving both Amikura and Ichinose at the table.
- XXV.I -
After finishing our lunch, Ayanokouji-kun had left. Now it was just both me and Mako-chan. When she asked me to get our lunch, I couldn't help but feel reluctant about it but eventually agreed because of two things: The first is that I was curious how it would go. Even if I was in line and couldn't hear into it exactly, I could try to use my own interpretations if I paid attention to way their mouths moved while I was waiting. Though that didn't get me anywhere since I was too far away to even see them. As for the second, I needed a reason to step away from the two of them. As rude as it sounds, I still don't feel comfortable enough to be around people, even if it's just Ayanokouji-kun and Mako-chan.
But any who, after he left, Mako-chan didn't seem to be herself anymore as the tension became a bit awkward, I have no idea what happened but something tells me I shouldn't pry into it further so I didn't touch on that topic and carried the conversation to something else entirely. As we both exited the cafeteria shortly thereafter, Mako-chan became a bit more talkative. That's a relief.
Fast forwarding a little after school, everything ended pretty well. Nothing too interesting happened and it was nice and peaceful. Like the time we spent at lunch, I decided to go with Mako-chan on the way back to the dormitories except without Ayanokouji-kun this time.
"So are you feeling any better now, Honami-chan?" she asked.
"Huh? O-oh, yeah, I'm fine now, haha!"
Since Mako-chan was in another class, she had every right to be concerned for me since she might as well be my best friend at this school. But as someone from another class, she doesn't exactly understand the sort of situations I'm in so it's understandable for her to be curious. Though the question of how she knows about some certain feelings of mine still aren't clear to me.
"Speaking of, Ayanokouji-kun did quite well in the first half of that special exam we took on the island, don't you think?"
Mako-chan bringing up Ayanokouji-kun so suddenly already got me curious again about what they were talking about but once again, I chose not to act upon what I felt but answered Mako-chan as I saw fit.
"Yeah, he did well."
I learned that Ayanokouji-kun did exceptionally well from the students who were in his group at the time, despite the fact that we weren't in the same participating groups. He didn't participate in the second half of the island exam, but I understood why because I was able to debunk his plans. I was only able to do so because of the time we spent together during the special exam and my understanding of Ayanokouji-kun's personality up to that point.
As I was thinking about these things, something inside me started to boil up and I stopped in my tracks. I don't know why but I did. No matter how brief our time together was, I treasured it. I felt more vibrant than ever being in his company, and his presence calmed me. Even though our chats were frequently brief, they were always meaningful, and I found myself paying close attention to everything he said.
But managing my emotions wasn't always simple. I didn't want to risk our friendship by being too outspoken. I made an effort to enjoy our time together without placing any strain on either of us. I wanted to be patient and sympathetic because I thought that love was a delicate thing. I attempted to maintain a healthy balance between my sentiments and reality even though my pulse beat faster whenever he was nearby. I treasured each time and prayed that fate would lead us to where we were supposed to be since I didn't want to lose the friendship we had.
Anyways, Mako-chan had now noticed I wasn't with her and turn around to face me.
"Hm? Is something wrong, Honami-chan?"
Immediately dropping my bag, I rushed towards the student dormitories, leaving Mako-chan behind. I could hear her calling out to me but I can't stop, I won't stop. After coming this far, I'm not going to just let him go right now, I know this was a huge mistake I'm making right now and yet, I can't help but proceed. As I ran, I made several turns and passed by other students who's attention I caught as I sprinted pass by them. Soon enough, I was there at the dorms. Running inside, I swiftly made my way to the elevators and pressed on the buttons again and again. After it stopped at the lobby, I went inside and clicked on the fourth floor. Getting off, I went to the one room of which I made my destination. It was Ayanokouji-kun's room of course.
When I got there, I knocked on the door repeatedly without stopping. I'm sure his neighbors could hear and they're probably annoyed because of how loud it was but I can't care about that right now. There's only one direction for me to go and for me to get there, this must be done. I can't wait any longer, this has to be said right here and now.
This knocking would go on for about ten or so more seconds until the door opened slightly and soon, the door was fully opened. There stood Ayanokouji-kun in his casual attire. There's no running away now.
"Hey!" I said aloud.
Reflexively, I also raised my hand in the air as I looked up to meet him in the eyes. Softening my tone, my voice quivered as I struggled to get these words out and after a few more seconds, a newfound courage was lit inside me as I spoke up. At long last, I could finally say what I wanted to say you after all this time.
"What in the world is the matter, Ichinose?"
"I'm in love with you."
-
i got lazy with this i think and i havent written anything in a while
idk i was too busy getting rejected by a vampire waifu in a game (we're probably not on the same page when i said "game")
anyways uhhhh yeah see ya
also, of all the cote mobile games they could've released, it looks like some sort of puzzle game