With that settled, we reconvened in the classroom during our lunch to discuss strategy. Horikita had been reluctant to participate, but thanks to Kushida's persuasive tears, she'd agreed to join. As for the person of interest himself, even if Sudou said he didn't care and compromised, he could easily become obstinate in critical situations. While I thought about how he might become difficult at any time, I kept silent.
"Can we really prove Sudou's innocence tomorrow?" Kushida asked.
"Your class has no choice but to prove it." Shibata stared at them in pity.
"Of course we will. It's obvious that I was set up. I'm definitely innocent. Right?" Sudou said.
"Why are you asking them if you're innocent or not? You, yourself must know the truth. But of course, proving that without proper evidence is hard." Katsuragi stated.
"Which makes me think, how did you proved it?" Nishikawa asked.
"It will probably be shown later." Hirata said.
"Oh, okay."
'Isn't it already obvious though?'
They simultaneously looked to Horikita for her opinion. Horikita simply ate her bread in silence, either because she was unable to answer or because she found discussion to be annoying.
"Hey, Horikita. What do you think?" Sudou, clearly unable to read the room, drew nearer to Horikita.
"Don't bring your dirty face so close to me."
'Ouch.'
"HA HA HA HA HA dude, your face must had been so dirty that Horikita didn't want it near hers." Ike laughed at Sudo who glared at him.
"I-It's not dirty." Sudou was shaking. Maybe he was hurt by that unexpected jab?
"I can't help but be mystified by your belief that your innocence can easily be proven. Although you've gained evidence that works in your favor, you're still in a very disadvantageous situation."
"But we have a witness who knows I'm innocent, and the other guys were real jerks in the past. That should be enough, right? Those guys are bad news." Sudou, completely blind to his own shortcomings, arrogantly crossed his legs and nodded in agreement with himself.
"I know, I know. Having Sakura as a witness really didn't make a difference since she's in our class." Sudo grumbled. The students who opened their mouth shut it again.
"Who are you and what have you done to Ken?" Yamauchi asked.
"Huh?! Oi, I am Ken. What the hell are you talking about?!" Sudo shouted.
"Stop talking! Some of us are trying to watch in peace, do you know that?" Karuizawa snaps.
"Sorry."
"Ah, hey, wait a second! I'm still reading that! Give it back!"
"It's fine, isn't it? I paid for half of it, anyway. I'll give it back later."
Ike and Yamauchi scrambled over a weekly manga magazine. I guess they'd been quietly reading manga while we had our important meeting. Considering their bitter tears over having absolutely no points at all, I found it kind of amazing that they still managed to buy a magazine each week.
Ike and Yamauchi smiled sheepishly.
"Hehe."
"You Class D folks really surprised me every time." Ryuuen laughed.
"How much point to hire you?" Sakayanagi asked the two.
"Huh? What do you mean? Hire–what?" Ike asked confused.
Sakayanagi smiled, "To rent you and your friend, of course. I want to provide a good entertainment to my class who has done a marvelous job, and of course, to celebrate Katsuragi-kun's defeat."
"Eh...?" Ike, no, the whole students and teachers stared at her dumbfounded. Some found it funny and laughed quietly, while others sent pity stares at the other class A representative.
Katsuragi only glared at the girl. No doubt in his mind that she sabotaged him.
"What's the face for, Katsuragi-kun? Your defeat in the recent exam wasn't my fault." Sakayanagi giggled.
"You are such a creep. Stop that laugh." Kamuro irritatedly snaps.
"Whatever do you mean, Masumi-san?"
Meanwhile, Hirata tried to comfort the two 'depressed' students with the best of his capability.
"Huh?" Kushida, seated beside me as the Ike/Yamauchi spectacle unfolded, appeared deep in thought. "Perhaps…" she murmured.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Ah, nothing. It's nothing. There was just something on my mind."
I didn't understand what she was getting at, but Kushida pulled out her phone and began looking up something.
After returning to my dorm, I lay in my bed and absentmindedly watched TV. My mind was kind of a blank, as I let myself relax. Then, I got an email from Sakura.
"If I was absent from school tomorrow, what do you think would happen?"
"Hmm, so you're the type to escaped or retreat whenever a problem arises?" Ibuki said.
Airi flinched embarrassed. She lowered her head and avoided looking at anyone. Haruka frowned. She didn't like this one bit.
"So, what? It's only expected from people like Sakura-san to be shy whenever talking to a group of people. A tense and important one at that." Haruka defended the shy and timid girl.
"Just saying." Ibuki shrugged.
Airi looked over to Haruka and smiled at her thankfully.
"No problem!" Haruka mouthed back. Maybe she made a new friend. Smiling at the thought, she look back to the screen and continued watching.
"What do you mean?"
Even though my reply had been short, I waited a while for her response.
"What are you doing right now?"
That was her answer. I replied that I was in my room by myself.
"If it's okay with you, could we meet right now? I'm in room 1106."
"If you could keep this a secret from everyone… That would really help me out."
"A rendezvous with a girl that late? Ayanokoji, you bastard." Ike glared at him.
"We didn't do anything wrong." Ayanokoji said. 'And it's not like I was the one who wanted to meet up in the first place.'
Airi blushed at the implications.
I received two messages from her in quick succession. It was more like texting than email. What exactly was she getting at, I wondered? I thought about asking her why, but then stopped typing. If I bungled this, she might keep messaging me, but it would probably get more difficult to pay her a visit. I had the gut feeling that it would be better for us to meet directly, so I started rewriting my response.
"I'll head over there in about five minutes."
After sending my reply, I reached for my coat, but stopped. Since we were in the same dorm, going out with just a jersey on was probably fine. I headed towards Sakura's room. The upper level…in other words, where the girls lived. This was my first time setting foot there. The school didn't necessarily prohibit boys from entering. Even if someone saw me going there, it wouldn't be a problem. In fact, the popular guys often headed up
there to hang out and have fun.
"I-im sorry for the trouble, Ayanokoji-kun." Airi bowed apologizing for causing trouble for the boy.
"It's fine. At least in the end you got your answer." Ayanokoji nonchalantly said.
Horikita's eyes widened when she realized that this was where she encountered him waiting for the elevator.
"Huh. Maybe you're a decent boy after all." Horikita said. "And here I thought you'll be fantasizing about Sakura-san that's why you are so involved with this case."
"I told you, didn't I?" Ayanokoji sighed.
Ichinose paused, "Horikita-san thought that Ayanokoji-kun was fantasizing about Sakura-san...?" She let Horikita's comment to digest in her brain. "Eh?!"
"That's not nice, Horikita-san." Matsushita said. "Ayanokoji-kun didn't seemed to be that type of a person."
Although we were allowed a relative degree of freedom, entry was prohibited after 8:00 PM. Naturally, going to the girls' floor in the middle of the night was prohibited.
I pushed the elevator's call button. When the doors slid open, Horikita was standing there. What horrible timing.
"…"
For some reason, I was completely unable to move. I just stood there. Was this good luck or bad? In the case of bumping into an acquaintance, I had to wonder.
"Bad luck, man." Hashimoto laughed. "That's why she thought like that. Especially seeing you sneaking up to Sakura-san's room like that."
"What? You're not getting on?" she asked.
While she stared at me, she tried to close the doors.
"Ah, yeah. I'm getting on…"
While I felt like this was probably a bad idea, I hopped in and pushed the button for the eleventh floor. I saw that the button for the thirteenth floor was also lit. That must've been Horikita's floor. For some reason, I got the strange feeling that she was watching me from behind.
"You're…heading home late tonight, huh?" I asked, without looking at her. The silence was unbearable.
"I was out shopping. Did you not see?"
I heard the rustle of vinyl bags.
"That reminds me. You cook for yourself, don't you?"
"Eh, really? I don't peg you as the type to cook her own food." Karuizawa said.
"I'm only saving my money. Besides, it's more healthy and cheap compare to buying it in the cafeteria or convenience store." Horikita said.
"Heh. I can't cook though. It must be nice to cook your own food." Karuizawa puffed her cheeks.
'Cute.'
It felt like the elevator was going more slowly than usual. We were still only on the sixth floor. Being stealthily invited over by a girl was a stressful situation. My unease meant I had to say something.
"This isn't the tenth floor. Is that okay?"
Why in the world was she asking me about the tenth floor? What was her intention?
"For someone who dislikes trouble, you've been extremely proactive in involving yourself with this case. Or perhaps you have ulterior motives?"
"As you have probably know now, I don't." Ayanokoji denied.
Sudo looked particularly touched. "Aw, thanks, man! You're a great friend unlike someone." He subtly jabs at his other two friends which is Ike and Yamauchi. He's thankful that Ayanokoji helped him because they're friends and all, with no ulterior motives.
"Hey what do you mean by that?!" Ike shouted outrage.
"Yeah! We helped you, you know!" Yamauchi seconded.
Ike glared at Sudo, "Have you forgotten that we helped search for the witness?"
"Yeah? And after that?" Sudo retorted back.
"..."
"That's what I thought."
Horikita was clearly probing.
"If you have something to say, why not come out and say it?"
"You're going to meet with Sakura-san, aren't you?" she asked
"No, I'm not." I immediately denied it, but wondered if Horikita could see the truth.
"Well. I suppose where you go is none of my business."
In that case, don't ask me about it! Well, that was what I wanted to say, but I spoke the words only in my head.
"How many and what things have you thought about me differently than what comes out of your mouth, I wonder? Horikita said sarcastically.
Ayanokoji opened his mouth, but paused momentarily. "Probably a lot."
"That was sarcasm."
"I know."
After a long time, we finally arrived at the eleventh floor in complete silence. I stepped off the elevator, trying to remain calm. I didn't look back.
"Pardon me for intruding…" I said at Sakura's door.
"Come on in." She greeted me wearing casual clothes.
"So. What did you need from me?"
"Umm… Ayanokouji-kun, do you remember what you said before? You said I wasn't obligated to step forward, even though I was the witness. You also said it was meaningless to force me to testify."
"Well..." Katsuragi think hard. "If only the witness was in different class then that can affect the case differently. You're also shy and timid from what I gathered so speaking in front of an audience must terrified you."
That was back when I'd met Sakura by accident. I gave a slight nod.
"I…just don't have any self-confidence after all."
"Is this about speaking in front of other people?"
"I've been terrible at it for so long… I'm not good at speaking in front of others. If I'm asked to testify in front of the teachers tomorrow, I don't think I'll have the confidence to answer properly. So…"
"Which is essential. Your confidence in answering those questions are the credibility of your role as a witness and what comes out of your mouth." Ichinose nodded understanding.
"So, if Sakura-san didn't answer clearly or confidently, her statements credibility will be question?" Sato asked.
Hirata nodded in confirmation. "It will come out as she was forced to testify against class C because they are classmates. It can even be interpreted as a scrip or lie in order to save Sudo, a classmate."
The students who was confused nodded understanding.
"So you're considering taking the day off from school?"
Sakura gave a slight nod before collapsing and laying her forehead onto the table.
"Ahhhhh. Jeez, why am I so completely useless?!" She shrank into herself, clearly ashamed. It was the first time I'd seen her like that.
"Don't need to degrade yourself, Sakura-san!" Haruka grinned.
Miyake agreed, "Yeah. Being the witness and knowing that you control a students future in the school is hard after all, especially since Sudo-kun is a classmate."
"What's important is, you're trying your best for Sudo-kun." Yukimura added.
"Sakura, you're surprisingly high-strung, huh?"
I felt the gap between the person I saw now and her usual behavior, and was a little taken aback. Or rather, I was shocked.
"Huh?!"
Sakura, realizing she'd let me see this side of her, blushed and shook her head.
"N-no! I'm not like that at all."
So she could be animated. I'd had no idea, considering her usually depressed look.
"Hey, can I ask you just one thing? Why did you call me?"
Kushida or somebody else would've been friendlier, easier to talk to.
"That's because I'm not afraid of your eyes, Ayanokouji-kun…"
"His eyes?"
Students stared confused.
"What's that got to do with anything?" Kamuro asked.
"Uh..a...well–" Airi stuttered. "I can tell if someone an ulterior motive or if they are a good person or not." She quietly explained.
"Oh.."
"What a neat ability!"
"I wished I can do that too." Yume pouted.
Airi breathe in relief.
Huh? What did that mean? I certainly didn't have scary eyes or anything, but…
"If you're looking for someone to talk to, Kushida is a much warmer, more outgoing person. She has a lot of friends, too."
"Oh, no. I don't mean the eyes that you've seen me with. I mean the pupils, way back in the eyes… If you look someone deep in their eyes, you'll understand. I'm sorry, I can't really explain it well."
So, was it like insight into a person's true self? When someone looked at me, would they see that I was insubstantial and lack ambition? This was kind of complicated.
"Seriously, what a helpful ability." Amikura sighed.
"I know, right?" Sato agreed.
Karuizawa pouted, fingers playing with her hair. "I want that too. It must be neat to be able to tell if someone like you know, evil and stuff."
"Well, it's just… When I see a man…even if he seems kind…I suddenly get afraid."
Perhaps that came with a woman's point of view. It might have been natural for her to be uncomfortable around men, but Sakura had an abnormally terrified expression. Speaking of which, I recalled the day we'd gone to get her digital camera repaired…
"Ugh! Don't remind me." Karuizawa shuddered in disgust.
The girls agreed with her.
"He's so honestly creepy." Nishikawa said.
"Especially the way he stared at Sakura-san." Himeno said.
The boys inched away when some girls eyed them suspiciously.
It was certainly true that men and women generally differed in physical strength and stamina. However, some girls were overly mindful of that fact, and lived in abnormal degrees of fear. I wondered if something had happened in Sakura's past to cause her intense fear of men.
Why the heck was I arbitrarily analyzing her? I felt a little disgusted with myself, as usual.
"It's fine, Ayanokoji-kun." Airi smiled.
"It's not." Katsuragi disagreed.
"Eh? What do you mean?" Sato asked.
Before Katsuragi could answer, Ryuuen butted in. "He means that analyzing a person that deep it not normal."
"Isn't it normal for people to analyze a person base on their actions and what they're showing. Right?" Amikura said.
This time, Sakayanagi shook her head. "It's perfectly normal for humans to analyze a person based on what you said. But what Ryuuen-kun and Katsuragi-kun is saying is that, analyzing a person that deep–the cause of its origin, thoughts, and the way the person sees the others is not normal. Moreover, for Ayanokoji-kun, it seemed to be a subconscious thing that he does in a daily basis which people does not do."
The students stared at her before moving their gaze over to the boy.
'I thought you got my back? You traitor.' Ayanokoji sighed, knowing that he have to provide a good explanation.
"My father taught me that. As a heir of a company, you must be cautious and quick to make a deduction in a matter of moments. He taught me how to used it to my advantage. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable, Sakura. Practicing that certain skills multiple times must have made me do it subconsciously." Ayanokoji explained and apologized.
Airi only smiled and reassured him that he didn't, in anyway made her uncomfortable.
"Hmm, you do have a point, Ayanokoji-kun." Sakayanagi agreed for the sake of his reputation. Katsuragi on the other hand, stared at him deep in thought.
It's true that having that skill is important but–in that dept? It's creepy and disturbing for him to know that someone analyzes him in great detail.
"Huh, that must sucks." Karuizawa played along.
"Yeah," Sato agreed. She sent a pity gaze over to Ayanokoji.
"Your father seemed to be strict, Ayanokoji-kun." Miyake commented.
"He is." Ayanokoji nodded, "I follow his every command. Even letting him take control of my own life."
'In that place, at least.'
"I know it would be good to simply say what it is I saw. But no matter what I do, I can't seem to imagine it… How can I speak that assertively?"
She was so worried that she'd asked a student like me for help. She'd probably been agonizing over it for the past few days. Even with a helping hand from me, she appeared to be suffering.
"If you want to quit, would you like me to talk?"
"You're not going to get mad?"
"I told you before, didn't I? If we forced you to testify, it would be meaningless."
Sakura was an invaluable witness, but her evidence wasn't automatically reliable. She might not have any influence on the outcome. However, if she were absent, Sudou might get angry. I should probably try to coax her into participating, but I had no idea how to do it.
"I won't!" Sudo sputtered. He waved his arms around.
Airi only nodded at him.
"Really, Ken?" Ike teased.
"I thought you were mad at the witness for not coming out sooner?" Yamauchi also teases.
"W-what! Having a witness especially in our class were meaningless!" Sudo said.
"But that's not what you said that time." Ike and Yamauchi laughed at him.
"Umm… What do you think would be best to do, Ayanokouji-kun?"
"I think you should do what you want, Sakura."
She probably wanted more concrete guidance, but unfortunately this was the best I could do. I wasn't an outstanding person, and certainly not qualified to guide anyone. I wasn't suited for that job.
"Even with being witty and cunning, you have low self-confidence, huh?" Ichinose said.
"And you seemed to be a great person to ask for advice though. The advice you have Ichinose-san was perfect after all." Hiyori said. Chihiro flushed when she was reminded of her failed confession.
"I see. Well, I suppose it's probably bothersome to ask you for help like that… I'm just no good. It's probably why I can't even make a single friend myself."
'Then what am I here for? To be a decoration?' Ike, Yamauchi and Sudo thought.
Sakura shrugged and smiled bitterly. She seemed disgusted with herself.
"Sakura, I think you'll be able to make friends with someone in no time."
"I'm sorry. I don't know how to best say what I feel… You seem to get along really well with a lot of people, Ayanokouji-kun. I'm a bit envious."
"No, I don't."
Apparently Sakura believed that I had many friends and lots of fun.
"Well looking at someone else perspective, it does appeared that you have a lot of friends and always going out to hang out with them after class." Ichinose said.
"It might be presumptuous for me to say this, but I think that we're like friends. We are," I said.
Sakura and I stared at each other.
"We're friends? Really?" she whispered.
"If you don't think so, Sakura, then that's different."
"No… It does make me happy…to hear you say that," replied Sakura, while still looking somewhat perplexed.
"If that's the case then Miyachii and I will also be your friends!" Haruka smiled and cheerfully said to Airi who only stared at her shock.
"Count me in, Sakura-san!"
"Me too!"
The girls in different classes, mostly from class B and class D said.
Airi's eyes turned glassy. "I-i, thank you, everyone." She whispered, truly touched.
I began to realize that if people didn't talk face to face, they wouldn't get a feel for what the other person was really like. I was surprised by the discovery of Sakura's unexpected side. If she let this part of her out more, she'd probably make friends right away. Honestly, even a minor adjustment would do wonders. But for her, I supposed making even a minor adjustment would be difficult. What might seem trivial to one person could be quite difficult for another, depending on their issues.
"Thank you for coming to see me today," Sakura said.
"It's no big deal. You can call me
anytime."
If I could ease Sakura's burdens even slightly, then it was worth it. I'd leave it up to Sakura herself to decide whether or not she'd come to school tomorrow. Thinking that our conversation was over, I stood and started to leave, but Sakura looked like she still wasn't feeling well.
"Do you have any plans for tonight? For right now?" I asked.
"Huh?" Yamauchi and Ike stopped cheering.
They slowly turned to look at Ayanokoji. "You bastard! Did you asked Sakura-chan out?!"
"I didn't. I only invited her out to think more clearly."
"S-sakura-chan...?"
"Right now? No, I don't have anything planned. Or rather, I didn't make any plans."
Hmm. Even I felt a little sad when I heard someone say that.
"Well, why not go out with me for a while? If it's not a bother, of course."
I decided to be daring and invite Sakura. She stiffened, almost like she had forgotten the time and realized she had to be somewhere important. She looked like she couldn't understand what I'd meant. Then, without any hesitation, she shot up out of her seat.
"Huh?!" As she leapt up, she banged her knees against the table and doubled over in agony. Her glasses flew off her face.
"O-oh."
"Ouch."
Multiple students winced, they know the pained when you bump into hard and sharp objects.
"How clumsy." Ryuuen mocked.
"Shut up!"
"Wha...who said that?!"
"That looked like it really hurt just now. Are you okay?" I asked.
"I…I'm perfectly fine!"
She wasn't very convincing; the pain was so intense that she was on the verge of tears. I picked up her glasses. Just as I'd thought, there were no lenses. I handed her glasses back. Her hands trembled when she took them, and she thanked me. Sakura wrestled with her pain for about a minute before she finally calmed down and quieted.
"Wh-where do you want to go?" she asked.
She was on her guard, but I didn't understand why. Maybe she believed
I was some kind of pick-up artist trying to smooth talk her. If that were the case, it was bad.
"I-i'm sorry." Airi meekly and shyly apologizes. She turned red in embarrassment because she indeed, thought of that.
'She really thought that? That hurt.' Ayanokoji felt a pang in his heart.
"I haven't really decided. Just kind of felt like wandering around, you know? Ah, but I hate being in hot places…"
Sakura responded cautiously, as if worried about what to say. "If you don't mind…there is someplace I'd like to go. Is that all right?"
"Huh? Yeah, sure, I don't mind. Please lead the way."
I didn't really care about the location; I just wanted to get a change of scenery and talk. If Sakura had a place she preferred, then everything would be going according to plan.
"So, you do have a plan that day." Horikita said.
Ayanokoji shook his head. "More like a quick and completely unthought of a plan."
Sakura took me to the place she wanted to visit. I must admit, I hadn't expected the location. We went to a part of the building used specifically for club activities, located away from the school.
She guided me around a building that had a pronounced Japanese flair, one that hosted things like the archery club and the tea ceremony club. From a short distance away, we could hear the sound of arrows being fired.
"Where you in the club that day?" Haruka asked Miyake curiously.
He shook his head, "I was in my room resting after class."
"Heh. Who was that, I wonder?" She smiled.
"You're a curious one, aren't you?" Miyake laughed. "Just watch."
"Just asking!"
"You're not doing any club activities, right?"
"I'm not, but I've wanted to come here at least once. I'd stand out if I came by myself, so…"
"You really hate standing out, huh." Matsushita said.
"Not just me, I can tell."
"Not all people like standing out, Matsushita-san." Kanzaki said.
Ryuuen grinned, "Yeah, take a look at Vice President-kun for example."
"Huh?! Are you saying someth—!" Nagumo was cut off when Manabu glared at him, forcing him to bit his tongue and scowled at the boy.
If you hung around here on your own, people would think you were interested in joining their club. However, if a couple came together, then people would just assume they were on a date.
"Why did you ask me to come out, anyway?" she asked.
"Hmm? Why? It's kind of hard to answer when you ask me like that." I was worried about how everything would go tomorrow. But even if I said something, I'd still feel uneasy. "I asked you because I thought it would be good to get a change of scenery, I suppose. I mean, I'm kind of a loner, so I usually just stay in my room. I have a tendency to hang back all the time."
Sakura looked somewhat unconvinced by my roundabout answer.
"Ayanokouji-kun, don't you have lots of friends?"
"I do? Like who?"
"Horikita-san, Kushida-san, Ike-kun, Sudou-kun, Yamauchi-kun…"
She listed their names while counting them on her fingers.
"Well, they're just for show. No, you're right, a friend is a friend. I guess what I mean is, I feel like that's all we are. I feel like I'm still kind of standing outside the group and looking in. Do you think we get all along, Sakura?"
"I get you." Miyake, Haruka, Yukimura, Nishikawa and the other students who's a loner said.
"Just for show?" Ike, Yamauchi and Sudo stared.
"I don't count you as a friend, don't misunderstood." Horikita glared at him.
"I know. That's why I said that." Ayanokoji raised his arms in mocked defense.
Sakura nodded without hesitation. If she said so, perhaps it was true. I guess I just didn't understand myself.
"How can someone not understand their selves?" Yume asked confused.
"A baby who's still developing its person." Sakayanagi said.
"But Ayanokoji-kun is a teenager?" Sato asked.
"Some are still developing even in our age, Sato-san." Katsuragi said.
"I don't know how to make friends at all. I'm envious. You were the first person to call me a friend."
"What about Kushida? Wasn't she the first person who invited you out?"
Sheepishly, Sakura gave a self-deprecating smile. "Yeah. I should apologize to Kushida-san sometime. She was the first one to call and invite me out, because I didn't have the courage… I actually wanted to hang out with her. I just couldn't answer her, no matter what I did. I'm so pathetic."
If you were good at making conversation with other people, you'd have an easier time of it. I was once again impressed by Horikita's ability to make fun of Ike and Yamauchi while also dealing naturally with complete strangers. That was a splendid talent.
"You are mocking me again, aren't you?" Horikita gritted her teeth in anger.
"Uh...no?" Ayanokoji asked unsure.
"I–!"
"Can I give you one bit of advice for tomorrow?"
I didn't intend to give her empty encouragement like "Do your best." Sakura should face tomorrow entirely as herself.
"For Sudou. For Kushida. For your classmates. Throw all of those thoughts away."
"Huh?"
"Throw it all away?"
Students asked confused.
"Huh? Throw them…all away?"
"When you testify tomorrow, speak for yourself. As someone who tells the truth of what she saw, as a witness."
It was good for a self-reliant person to try doing something for other people. However, Sakura still couldn't properly take care of herself. She had a tendency to wrap herself up and endure pain, sorrow, and suffering alone. If you weren't happy yourself, then you couldn't make others happy, either.
"That...make sense." Ichinose said.
It's simple really. How can you make someone happy and love if you can't even do it to yourselves? To be happy for yourself, to love yourself. All of those are the first step before giving it to someone else.
How can you testify as a witness if you are not confident in yourself to speak in front of an audience expected to people to believe your statements? No one. So in order to make the others to believe you and your statements. First, you have to believe in yourself and have confidence to deliver your speech perfectly to them. After all, no one will believe a person who have low expectations and confidence to their selves.
"Tell the truth for your own sake. Do that, and Sudou will be saved. That's enough."
I didn't know how effective my advice would be. It probably was meaningless blather, actually. But perhaps it was right to encourage Sakura to speak for herself. Maybe I did it because I understood how it felt to be wanted. Because I needed someone to know I understood the pain and anguish of battling loneliness.
Sakayanagi smiled sadly.
The person, who was called as the masterpiece, the whole survivor of the 4th Generation must have been sad and lonely for him. To fight alone, to watched his companions being disposed of one by one until he was the only left. Sharing his pain, sufferings, loneliness, and burden with no one but himself. Even as the proclaimed Masterpiece, he must have reached his limit mentally.
"Thank you, Ayanokouji-kun."
Hopefully, my words had found purchase somewhere in Sakura's heart.
That night, under Kushida's orders, everyone except for Sudou gathered in my room. Apparently Kushida had even invited Horikita, but it seemed she didn't want to join us.
"So. Has there been any progress, Kushida-chan?"
"There has been progress, yes, but I've also noticed something incredible. Ayanokouji-kun, can I borrow your computer for a minute?"
"Sure," I answered with a nod. Kushida went to my desktop computer, booted it up, and opened the Internet browser.
"Okay. Have a look at this!"
Kushida accessed what appeared to be somebody's blog. It was rather elaborate, too. Unlike some normal person's website, it had the sheen and polish of a fully-fledged business.
"Huh?!" Airi gasped in shock, Haruka and the others turned to her.
"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Haruka asked worried.
Airi can only nodd before returning her gaze at the screen.
'They found my blog?'
"Wait, is that a picture of Shizuku?"
"Shizuku?"
"Shizuku?"
"Who's that?"
"Eh? You guys don't know her?" Ike asked shocked.
"She's a gravure idol. She was just featured in a young men's magazine."
There were many pictures of her. I certainly couldn't complain about her looks or proportions.
"An idol?!" Shibata screamed.
"Hey, isn't that... Sakura-san?" Matsushita asked unsure.
Ibuki, Amikura, Yume, Sato, Shinohara eyes widened.
"We have an idol in our school–class?!" Sato screamed.
"P-please shake my hand!"
"Signed my face!"
"Please marry me!"
"You're so cute, Sakura-chan!"
"Uh..."
"Do you recognize her?" Kushida asked.
"Am I supposed to recognize her?"
"Look closely."
Kushida clicked on a picture of Shizuku's face. Ike took a long hard look at her, and then…
"She's cute."
"No, not that! This is Sakura-san, isn't it?"
"Kushida-chan, who are you talking about?"
"Sakura-san, from our class."
"Huh? No way, no way. Sakura-san? No, no, no, there's no way that's true." Ike laughed, but Yamauchi's expression stiffened.
"What do you mean? She looks exactly the same without the glasses and different hairstyle!" Yume said excitedly.
"Hey, Ike… You know, when I actually get a good look at her, I… think she probably does look a little like Sakura."
"But she's not wearing glasses, right And her hair is different."
"Those are simplistic ways to identify somebody…"
Although I hadn't made the connection at first, I realized that this was definitely Sakura. It seemed like Ike still couldn't believe it, though. He was still scrambling in confusion while looking at the screen.
"So Sakura is Shizuku? That's a lie, right? I mean, sure, there's a slight resemblance, but they're different people. I mean, look how crazy bright and happy Shizuku is. Right? Come on, Ayanokouji."
"Why are you so adamant on denying it? It's so obvious, you're being annoying." Shinohara asked annoyed.
"Who asked for your opinion?!" Ike glared at her.
"Huh? You're saying something?!" Shinohara glared back.
Hirata came between them, "Fighting is not good and necessary. Let's all calm down, shall we?"
All of the pictures she'd uploaded were cute, so she seemed accustomed to taking selfies. However, I glimpsed one piece of incontrovertible evidence that proved Sakura and the idol Shizuku were one and the same.
"No, Kushida is definitely right. That's Sakura. Here."
I pointed to one of the pictures.
"You can barely see it, but the door to
her dorm room is in this picture."
"Huh, now that you said that." Ichinose squint her eyes at the screen. Despite knowing it already, she's still giddy about meeting and shaking the hand of an idol.
"It looks like the same as the doors in
our dorm."
In other words, it was likely she'd taken that picture at school.
"Okay, so Sakura is Shizuku after all… I still don't understand the point."
"I don't either."
"Do you have to? She's an idol!"
"Huh?! That's beside the point!"
"Stop arguing with me!"
"You stop!"
"Good job noticing this, Kushida." I meant it. Even though there was a clear resemblance, I wouldn't have noticed without Kushida drawing our attention to it."
"When I saw Ike-kun reading that weekly magazine, I remembered something. I had the feeling I'd seen Sakura somewhere before," Kushida said.
"Oh my god, there's a gravure idol in our class! I'm so turned on!" Ike exclaimed enthusiastically, unable to hide his excitement. After such an undignified reaction, I imagined Kushida would want to pull away from him. Although she was kind to an almost reckless degree, I couldn't sense that kind of acceptance from her now.
"But just when Shizuku started to become really popular, she suddenly
disappeared."
She lived a double life as an idol and a quiet, inconspicuous student at our school. Why had she wanted to create another life? It was like a coin with two very different sides.
"Everyone have a side to them that they don't want others to see." Sakayanagi said, smiling at Ayanokoji in particular.
Ayanokoji narrowed his eyes, 'How much does she know exactly about me and that place? When did she even met me? I don't remember her.'
"Am I wrong?" She asked after everyone only stared at her.
"No, no. You're right, Sakayanagi-san." Matsushita said.
"Hmm? Do you belong to that category, Matsushita-san?" Sakayanagi asked her innocently.
Matsushita tensed, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Is that so? What a pity."
-x-
Previous Chapter: Confession and Creepy Store Clerk.
Next Chapter: Truth and Lies.
Word Count: 6318
Hi guys! I liked to finished Volume 2 this week so expect more chapters. I'm also still debating whether to add the Tool Monologue or not. If I decided to add it, I might changed it a bit in order to save some of Kiyotaka's reputation, heck I'm also thinking about the whole spread your legs thing. The purpose of this screening is to see an important scene that may effect their lives inside the school, for them at least. So abandoning the Tool Monologue and Spread your legs don't seemed to be a bad thing.
Question though, do you want me to add a intermission every six chapters or nah?
That's all! Thanks for the voting and reading my story.
Sayonara!