Chapter – 10 - (And Worse But Better)

"IT'S NOT A FETISH!"

I basically screamed right in Raizou's face the moment we parted ways with Souya, Mitsumi and Chihiro at the Eastern end of the main city area.

The idiot had been relentlessly pushing the idea that it was nothing more than a sexual kink that I had finally discovered, rather than it being a legitimate cause of my attraction to Sukeda-san; and that ticked me off to no end. Not to mention, he hadn't informed me earlier about how the friend he was supposed to bring with him had ditched him at the last second for some band practice or something.

For the rest of the karaoke session and the walk back towards my home, I had restrained myself in order to not scare off Chihiro when I would finally burst and go off on Raizou for implying something so embarrassing like that.

It was such an eye-opening sensation that had filled my heart during my brief time with Sukeda-san but Raizou was adamant that it wasn't what I thought it was. I had to convince him otherwise before he had spread unsavoury rumours about my newly discovered "love life".

"Nah! You're just saying that because you don't understand what a fetish is" he countered as we walked past the last chain of shops on the street we were on, "Does that mean if you saw Kasumi-senpai wearing a cap, you'd be head over heels for her as well?"

I cringed at the mere thought of that.

"Do you how inappropriate that is?" I flailed my arms in front of him to get my point across, "Why are you saying that when she's been in a relationship for like a week now?"

"I'm just trying to explain the difference to you in a simple way" he coolly replied.

"I didn't ask for that though…"

"You did ask for it!"

"Huh? When did I do that?"

"When you decided to reveal that in front of everyone!"

The two of us were no longer surrounded by the huge buildings and tall skyscrapers that adorned our city. Instead, we were moving between moderately large structures and short apartment complexes which no longer restricted our view of the proper residential area where our own homes were situated.

With the clear blue sky and the shining sun above our heads, the wintery cold was slowly burned away by the growing warmth which had made its way to my skin through the seams of my clothing; but the optimal temperature beckoned a lot of people to spend the Saturday afternoon outside their houses.

Raizou and I were on our way towards an alternate route that would take us in front of his home and then, eventually lead me to my residence as well.

"Didn't ask that though…" I mumbled defeatedly, pouting a bit as I stared to the side.

"Well, look on the bright side!" Raizou said in a cheery tone, "You did sound like you had a swell time singing with that girl."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You heard me?"

"Only faintly" he admitted, "But you were definitely singing your heart out so it wasn't that hard to think you were having fun."

Reminiscing the better parts of my karaoke with Sukeda-san made me smile warmly.

"Well…you're not exactly wrong."

"And also, it means you'll never forget to check the room number in the future" he added to specifically piss me off again.

Glaring at him, I tapped his head with the back of my hand.

"Don't remind me of that, asshole" I groaned.

"Not being forgetful will help" he said, laughing a bit.

At that moment, the back of my mind seemed to come to life, vaguely reminding me of something that I had done during the inter-school festival preparations but I had forgotten about.

"Speaking of which, I've just remembered that I've forgotten something" I told him rather bluntly.

"Sounds exactly like a problem you'd have" he joked.

"Shut up…it might be something important!" I retorted, trying to rack my brain.

If it was something related to the festival and the sports, I knew I would regret it for a long time if I couldn't figure out what I had forgotten.

"It wouldn't be about anything sports-related, right?" Raizou helpfully guessed for a change, "I mean, you wouldn't forget anything important about that, right?"

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of…" I muttered.

My partner then snapped his fingers triumphantly.

"If it's very important and related to sports, then kendo's the best answer!" he suggested.

"You've got a point" I nodded, "So, what am I missing about kendo? I already got the brackets and the schedule plus the timing."

I quickly ran through a mental checklist of everything remotely related to kendo that could've scraped past my line of memory.

"What about your swords and stuff?" Raizou inquired.

"Hakuo will be providing us with that" I told him, "Well, except for our sashes."

Then, it hit me.

"Oh! Right! We could customize our costumes!" I exclaimed, "That's what I forgot!"

"Really?" my friend wasn't looking too impressed by my answer, "The costume? It's that important?"

"I think so."

"Why is so important to customize them?"

"I'm not sure but-"

I stopped myself as something clicked in my head, opening a door in my head. It had a lot to do with a special bit of information Kasumi-senpai had told me.

"That's right! I sent mine over to a tailor to have a spider embraided in the back!" I said in a rather whimsical manner.

The nearby pedestrians joined in with Raizou in shooting me confused stares. To be fair, that was a rather strange statement to announce in the middle of a street.

"A spider?" Raizou repeated.

"Yeah" I nodded, "Although I can't recall why I chose a spider specifically."

That was true.

I was certain that I had sent my kendo attire over to our tailor neighbor to make some adjustments a couple of days before and I also remembered asking if some additional embroidery could be done as well.

"And you have the balls to call me the weird one" Raizou laughed.

"You are the weird one though. It's no contest!"

As we both chuckled at that exchange, I realized we were nearing the waiting stand for the bus service which was less than 10 meters from where we were at that moment. It was right near a junction of the main road which redirected all vehicles towards the heart of the city.

Just a few minutes walk past that was a narrow path that led straight to Raizou's house which would mark a period of peace and quiet as I would finally be rid of my friend's obnoxious comments.

"I also have something I need to bring up before I forget" he suddenly told me.

"Like what?" I asked, instantly checking my surroundings, "What is it?"

Cautiously, he leaned close to my ear, cupping his mouth.

"I've hooked you up to meet with someone who knows Katsura-san's weakness" he replied secretively.

"Huh? Eh?"

I was confused at first but as I slowly began to recall all the conversations I had with my friends at the start of the practice sessions, I suddenly remembered that I had completely forgotten to have that talk with Raizou.

"Hey! Wait!" I stopped in my tracks, "Didn't I tell you that you did not have to do that?"

"No" he answered, "Well, you never mentioned anything about that for a while now so I just went and did things my way."

"What!?" I shouted rather loudly, "I didn't tell you not to look into that!?"

A nod confirmed my suspicions.

Sighing deeply, I scolded myself for having been too caught up in the preparations that I had not cared to think of the favour I had asked of Raizou after my meeting with Katsura-san. Of course, I had already learnt of Katsura-san's weakness from Kasumi-senpai so I didn't need anyone to look into that any longer.

"Why are you so worked up about that?" Raizou smirked, clearly enjoying the chance to toy with me, "I thought you wanted to know her weakness?"

"I did and I already have" I grumbled, "I just forgot to tell you that."

"Ah! Don't worry!" he patted me on my head, "The info you've got could be wrong so take this as a chance to get a second opinion!"

"Why would I need a second opinion?"

"Well, it doesn't matter if you need it or not" he said, shoving me a bit to get me to continue walking, "You're gonna get a second opinion on that precious bit of information."

Annoyed by his antics, I moved away from his hands to properly trod on my own.

"Who's gonna give me that?" I inquired.

"I already told you" he chuckled, "I've already made plans for you to meet up with someone who knows Katsura-san's weakness."

Due to being completely fed up with his rash behavior, I had missed the part where he had casually mentioned that.

"I don't want to" I staunchly told him, "I wanna go home."

"You don't have a choice" he said with a grin, "She's sitting at that bus stop."

Indeed, there was a bus stop in front of us which was made of metal beams and glossy plastic walls. Stops like those were usually packed in the morning hours but somewhat deserted during midday so it was rare to see someone sitting and waiting there just a couple of hours after noon.

But just as Raizou had stated, I could make out a figure sitting inside the bus stop through the slightly opaque panels. In order to properly face the person though, I had to be directly in front of the bus stop.

I didn't even have the wherewithal to ready myself for the person Raizou had contacted for our not-so-noble cause.

Since it seemed highly probable that they were there for me, I decided to confront them and hopefully, clear up the misunderstanding and tell them I actually didn't need to know Katsura-san's Achilles heel.

Quickly, I stood in front of Raizou.

"Look, if that's the person you're talking about then stay here" I told him sternly, "I don't want your mouth to land me in more trouble."

In an instant, he held his hand up and placed the other on his chest.

"I promise I'll be here" he said in cartoonish manner.

I glared at him, wanting to chew him out on his stupid reaction but saner heads prevailed and I walked away from him and towards the front of the bus stop.

A want to head straight home was pounding my brain in and I was determined to finishing my imminent interaction as soon as possible.

Before I could fully see who it was, I slowed my pace and practically peeped past the side panels.

I was fairly astounded by the person's outfit.

The person that Raizou had contacted was a girl with long purple hair and sporting a rather calm and reserved expression on her face. Judging from her seated position, I could make a guess that she was as tall as Chihiro.

She was wearing a yukata that had the same hue as her hair and from my initial glance, I was sure that it was one of those expensive ones that rich kids would wear at festivals. On her lap was a notepad and a pen.

Whoever she was, there was a huge chance she was from Hakuo Academy.

That called for a proper introduction.

"Hello I'm E-"

"Esashi Kenta-san…I've been expecting you."

The strange girl said in a soft and controlled voice, staring in my direction and turning her head slightly. The side of her mouth was curled, forming a weirdly discreet smile.

My shock kinda wore off the second I realized Raizou had probably contacted her way before and she was really waiting for me at the bus stop.

On the plus side, at least this girl was undoubtedly affiliated with Raizou.

"Ah…yes. Raizou had mentioned you to me" I replied, a bit too hastily for my liking.

She then gave a small nod before placing her hand on her notepad.

"So, you know of the reason behind our meeting here at this public location?" she questioned.

"Yeah…he also told me that already" I answered truthfully.

There was this unmistakable mystique about her that put me on the edge quite a bit. The aura she exuded was not close to anything I had felt before and I instantly got a gut feeling telling me that I shouldn't engage with her for too long.

"Don't worry about pleasantries" she instructed, "However, you can address me as "The Master" if you want to."

My instincts were right on point as I was freaked out by that suggestion.

"It's alright…" I sheepishly replied.

Daintily, she stood up, allowing me to properly assess how tall she was. Like most girls around my age, she was shorter than me by nearly five inches. But that disparity in height had no effect on improving the unconscious control I had on our interaction.

"So, you want to learn of our Student Council President's weakness?" she said, looking into my eyes.

I shivered for a brief moment as her lax but mysterious gaze shot right through me.

"Uh…about thattttttt…" I dragged my syllables to give me time to think, "I'm not reall-"

My next sentence was interrupted by her opening her notepad. I watched closely as her pen rested on top of an empty page.

"Collecting information is not an easy task nor is it something to talk about. It was only due to your friend's deal that I've decided to divulge it all. You know, such information comes at a price" she told me.

That mention of Raizou gave me a window to put my mounting nerves on hold as it was replaced by a desire to wring my friend's neck for making a deal with such an enigmatic person.

"A deal, huh?" I mumbled, "And a price?"

She nodded before leisurely pointing a finger at my chest.

"The price for that information…" she revealed in the same calm tone, "…is to tell me about your own weakness."

The anxiety that "The Master" had induced on me through her sheer presence alone subsided in the blink of an eye. I was now filled with intrigue about her practices and how she benefitted from collecting these weaknesses from different people.

It would certainly be an interesting hobby to pursue and the rule of giving something to attain her collected knowledge wasn't too far off from something comic-book characters would do.

Come to think of it, she kinda admitted she was from Hakuo and I had already known that that school was filled with wacky people.

Nonetheless, I was somewhat glad.

I was glad not because I was going to know about Katsura-san's weakness which I had already known.

No, I was glad because I could have a clear conscience, knowing that the girl could then tell my own weaknesses to Katsura-san so that we'd be even.

And so, I gave her an answer.

"Sure" I said nonchalantly, "My weaknesses are snakes and the fact that I have motion sickness."

For some reason, I assumed she would be surprised by my willingness to reveal my weakness and also in such a casual manner. But no, she still had that passive and lax smile that I was sure even Kasumi-senpai couldn't read through.

In one precise motion, she picked up the pen with her hand and began jotting some words down on the page of her notepad. I instantly knew she was writing down the weaknesses I had mentioned but it didn't faze me at all.

"I'm glad to have the pleasure of working with you, Esashi-san" she said, offering me a handshake.

I accepted it.

"The pleasure's all mine" I replied, "You know, this was way more helpful to me than you'd think."

"I understand" she nodded.

For a split second, I had thought I had caught a glimpse of something horrifically intimidating behind her seemingly innocent eyes; an essence of an ancient abomination manifesting its presence through this young girl.

Just simply an eerie sensation that I was being watched.

Or maybe I was just imagining things.

"And now for my part of the deal…" she continued.

"Oh! I actually don't-" I tried to stop her but it was futile.

"Hina-chan's weakness is heights" she blurted out.

I had already made my mind up and was now at peace after having revealed my weaknesses. I didn't need to hear anything more about Katsura-san nor did I have to scheme to gain advantage over her.

It was all over and all that was left for me to pursue was nothing more than friendly but fierce competition in less than two days.

"I already know tha…What?!"

I couldn't believe my ears.

"She has a fear of heights and it takes a lot for her to even do anything when she's anywhere higher than six feet from the ground" she added rather calmly.

"Heights? She's scared of heights?!" I was confused beyond comprehension.

All this time, I was certain that her true fear was of spiders which wasn't an uncommon phobia. Having heard that fact from Kasumi-senpai, of course I would've taken that as gospel and believed it wholeheartedly.

But here was a new development: someone from Hakuo who was close enough to Katsura-san to call her "Hina-chan" had given me information which was completely different from what I had initially assumed to be the truth.

"I…I thought she was scared of spiders" I said aloud.

"Oh! That's arachnophobia" "The Master" explained, "What Hina-chan has is acrophobia. But I can see how you might've mistaken it for arachnophobia."

That revelation had gone in a manner that I hadn't anticipated in any way whatsoever!

Well, at least being scared of heights seemed more plausible and rational than being scared of spiders.

"Oh…I guess that's something serious, huh? I was actually hoping we'd have some sort of a "weird phobia" camaraderie going on…hehe…" I lied to make a joke in order to save myself from a bit of embarrassment, "You know, hers being spiders and mine being snakes."

However, like before, her expressions still stayed eerily the same.

"Maybe you could still talk about it with her" she said.

I liked and disliked that suggestion.

There was no doubt that talking about our more vulnerable sides would surely help us open up more and get us to be acquainted with one another much easier.

Besides, I was also certain that Katsura-san wasn't like those stuck up and snobby rich kids that went to Hakuo Academy. Especially after witnessing both her softer side and her more fiery side, I wouldn't bet against the two of us getting along if we had known each other that much to the point of calling ourselves "friends".

"Ah…I don't think we could tal-" I ceased my rambling the moment I realized there was someone else standing behind the side panels.

I vigilantly watched as that person moved towards us and the moment I saw who it was, I was absolutely surprised.

"Honestly, Aika-chan, can we just go now?"

Try as I may but I could not hold in my sheer astonishment upon seeing Katsura Hinagiku walk right into view.

The heralded Student Council President of Hakuo Academy was standing in front of me with her arms crossed, looking fairly crossed and annoyed. I had only seen her sport such an expression from afar and seeing her close up and quite ticked off added to my initial bewilderment.

In fact, I was too baffled by her sudden appearance to even take note of the little detail that it was also the first time I had seen her wear a casual outfit. If I had focused a bit more, I would've probably thought she looked quite distinguished and mature with her brown overcoat, black shirt and boots.

There was only one course of action I had to follow without fail: Composing myself.

"Hello, Katsura-san" I immediately said, trying not to stutter, "Good afternoon!"

Silently wishing her to acknowledge my presence, she blinked and shifted her gaze away from her friend and stared at me with her piercing eyes.

"Good afternoon, Esashi-san" she returned the greeting with a smile, "I can't say I thought I'd be seeing you soon."

I had never thought I'd be enthralled to see Katsura-san smiling at me again. It had been a long time since I even talked to her either in person or through text messages and it was a weird feeling understanding that I had somewhat missed her.

"Likewise" I replied.

I didn't necessarily need a short break to know it would be uncouth of me to not respond with the same warmth in my words as hers.

"Well…" Raizou suddenly said from behind me, "…we'll be off then!"

Puzzled, Katsura-san and I looked directly behind, only to see Raizou and "The Master" preparing to unceremoniously take their leave.

"Eh? You're going?" I asked my friend.

"Aika-chan, where're you going?" Katsura-san followed up with a question of her own for her friend, "I thought we were heading home together!"

"The Master", who was in reality a girl named Aika, simply waved her hand at Katsura-san as she continued on walking.

"Oh…Hina-chan, I only asked you to come with me till this bus stop" Aika replied in the usual soft tone.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Katsura-san glancing to her side with a slight blush on her cheeks.

That brief moment of her showing her humanity made me understand even more that the seemingly perfect leader of Hakuo Academy too had fallacies like us and she wasn't immune to being forgetful at times.

"I forgot…" Katsura-san mumbled.

"Have a nice chat, you two" Raizou told us with a grin as he walked alongside Aika, "And don't fight!"

"Where the hell are you going?!" I shouted at him out of instinct.

It was only a second later that I regretted swearing at the idiot in the presence of Katsura-san.

"Home, of course" he chuckled, "Have fun, Milklord!"

I physically flinched the moment I heard him mutter that dreadful nickname.

As he continued bellowing like the idiot he was, I was filled with a near unstoppable urge to reach out and cup his mouth with my hands to save me further embarrassment. With Aika-san by his side, who could know how much of my secrets he would blather without any filters?

However, I was unable to act like I had wanted due to Katsura-san standing close to me. I had too much respect for her to simply act rashly while she was watching.

""Milklord"? What's that?"

As I feared, Katsura-san had heard it as well and I didn't need to look at her to know she was confused.

Feeling heat rising from my cheeks again, I promptly faced her and frantically waved my hands in a pathetic attempt to downplay how I actually felt about being called by that nickname.

"Ah! It's nothing!" I faked laughter to bring our conversation back down to earth.

Instead of pressing further, Katsura-san closed her eyes and sighed defeatedly.

I couldn't figure out the reason for her reaction instantly but I soon understood it was because Raizou and Aika had already gone out of view in just a couple of seconds.

"And she's gone…" she remarked.

Not sure how to follow up, I blindly decided to go the astonished route as well.

"How did those two even know each other?" I asked, staring off into the street.

"Only they can answer" she replied, letting out another sigh, "Honestly, I hadn't expected something like this would happen when she told me to follow her to this bus stop."

I laughed a bit to break the underlying tension.

"Can't say they haven't surprised us, can we?"

Thankfully, she nodded in response.

"So, what was their goal in all of this?" she inquired, facing me, "Was it something to do with what we…didn't like?"

Thanks to my impeccably focused brain prioritizing my current interaction with Katsura-san, I caught her hesitating a bit and trying not to use the word "fear" in addressing the situation that had bought us together. That cemented the idea that I had correctly known what her phobia was.

"I'm not sure" I told her, "But maybe they wanted us to know more about each other that way."

"It's a very strange way to do so if you ask me" she commented.

Since no one else was nearby, I decided to take my chance meeting with Katsura-san and turn it into another worthwhile encounter. Of course, that would mean discussing what Raizou and Aika had chalked up and also somewhat helping them succeed in their little scheme of bringing me and Katsura-san together.

"I agree" I nodded before deciding to spice up the conversation a bit, "So, heights, huh?"

If this interaction had taken place a week before, I would've no doubt kicked myself in the ass for such a weak attempt at changing the topic.

I devilishly fist-pumped in secret the moment I noticed Katsura-san hesitating and fidgeting a bit. It felt kinda wrong but good to see here in a fairly different light that made her more relatable than usual. I didn't know if seeing her in casual clothing helped a bit but the atmosphere between us was different than before.

"Umm…it's a bit complicated" she revealed, appearing to be quite flustered at this point, "I'm trying my best to overcome it but I have a lot of work to do it seems. Luckily, height won't be a factor in the coming festival."

She smiled again as she finished that sentence which made me feel weirdly happy for her. Perhaps it may have been due to my soft spot for people who were able to find ways to overcome what hindered them.

However, I had one question I needed to ask out of curiosity since she had admitted she was scared of heights.

"Wait! Isn't the office of your student council located on that clock tower?" I asked.

Katsura-san seemed to appear quite uneasy and embarrassed upon being asked that.

"Yes, it is" she answered with a nervy voice, "If you've heard of our clock tower then I suppose I don't have to tell you how tall it is."

Although I hadn't seen the famed clock tower of Hakuo Academy up close, it was unmissable to anyone walking near the outskirts of their institution. Come to think of it, Raizou really hit the nail on the head with his rather explicit analogue.

"I've seen it" I half-lied, "Do you go there every school day? I bet you could see the whole of Hakuo Academy from up there."

"Yes…" she said tensely, "The view is…um…breathtaking and vast once you're up there. And you can actually see a majority of the school grounds easily."

I had never thought about it before but our student council never even had a designated room much less a whole goddamned clock tower where we could meet up. To be fair, we were less important that what our reputations made us out to be so we'd usually pick a spare classroom to discuss important matters.

"It's very tall so I don't doubt that" I chuckled, "It must take a long time to get up there from ground level."

"Not at all" she replied with a smile, "We have an elevator."

The mere mention of that sent my stomach into a whirl.

"Ah…then, I…uh…I probably won't be visiting your clock tower anytime soon" I sheepishly remarked.

"Oh…" she placed a hand at the base of her chin, "Is it because of your motion sickness?"

Bingo! She had instantly recognized the reason as to why I avoided a lot of things which involved moving the ground I stood on. Even a small shake would disorientate me to the point I would have to sit on the ground to stop myself from emptying my innards.

"Yes, it is" I laughed nervously, "I've avoided riding anything that moves for as long as I can remember."

"So, you must walk a lot then, huh?"

"Definitely! I'd rather walk than even hitch a ride on someone's bicycle."

"Well, no wonder you look fairly athletic" Katsura-san surprisingly stated, "Even if you weren't involved in any sport, you'd still be fitter than a lot of people."

"Well…" I decided to be a bit modest, "…it's only because of my aversion to moving vehicles. Trying to be an athlete's not really my end goal."

It was at that point that I realized I actually enjoyed having a casual conversation with Katsura-san without the need to spiral into a serious talk about the festival. It only served to make me wonder what more we could have talked about if the festival wasn't looming over us.

"But you are a fully-fledged athlete, aren't you, Katsura-san?" I quickly asked.

She giggled.

"I suppose you could say that but I'd rather just be known as a student. I don't know what it's like for you being the Student Council President of Shiomi but for me, I gather a bit too much attention than I'd like…though I'd never admit it unless asked."

"But I didn't ask you that, did I?" I said jokingly.

"You're a Student Council President too so it doesn't count" she replied, smiling.

"That's understandable…"

Seeing as I couldn't come up with anything more that we could discuss in our impromptu meeting, I prepared my mind to say my goodbyes to my prime rival in the upcoming battle our schools would have.

I felt I had known a lot more about Katsura-san than I did in our previous interactions and just like before, I felt I held more respect for her the longer I talked to her. Even in an informal setting, she did not lose that charisma and aura that had caught my attention the first time I spoke with her. And now, I had our next meeting to look forward to.

Unfortunately, this meeting wasn't going to end so quickly.

"I apologize if I'm wrong but by chance, did you send spies to our school last week?" she suddenly questioned.

"Eh?"

It would be an understatement to say I was caught off guard.

A shiver ran down the length of my body as I instantly understood that Katsura-san had caught wind of Raizou and his accomplice's antics near their school. They had mentioned being chased off the Hakuo Academy grounds by someone and it was clear that Katsura-san had known that.

And to add to my dread, she had also made the connection that I had asked them to find out about her weakness as a favour the previous week. There was no way out for me in such a situation since I had so clearly involved myself in all of their exploits.

So, what would Katsura-san do to me now?

Her expression was unreadable as she simply stared at me with her eyes, full of nothing but genuine curiosity.

"Last week?" I repeated her words to form a semblance of ignorance.

"My sister said she had caught some of your students snooping around, trying to sneak into our school" she explained, "And Aika-chan told me that your friend Ryuzaki-san confessed to spying on us on your behalf."

I was caught between wanting to yell at Raizou for exposing that fact and immediately apologizing to Katsura-san for my mistake in believing I needed to know her weakness.

Instead, I went for an exasperated response.

"Of course, he would tell you that" I groaned, "Yeah, I admit that it was all because I asked them to but I felt my curiosity about you was justified at the time."

That was a fairly straight forward but honest answer which really didn't bother me.

If I was going to not deny anything and spill my beans, I might as well throw out my genuine thoughts without hiding anything. For every shitty thought I had about Katsura-san, she deserved my full honesty for the rest of our conversation.

"About me?" she raised an eyebrow, "What were you curious about?"

Backing down was no longer an option.

"Because you're the Student Council President of Hakuo!" I said aloud, much to her surprise, "Look! I know you probably downplay your position a lot but the truth is: you are miles ahead of me in every aspect and you will, undoubtedly, be the favourite in everything we're competing in."

It was an unchanging view I had of Katsura-san since the first time we had met. I felt I had seen through the mask of modesty she had put on for my sake and though I fancied our chances against them, it was no lie that she would still be the favourite, no matter what.

"But talking to you…" I continued, "…I understood that you're not a machine and you're a human like me. So, I figured you'd have a weakness like everyone else…"

"…and you sent those guys to find that out?" she asked.

"Yes…" I nodded, "…it went in a completely different direction than I expected though."

"Seems like it."

She was neither smiling nor glaring at me when she said that. I could only wonder if she was thinking of another response though I was no longer antsy about whether or not she'd be angry at me over the "spy mission".

A clear conscience going into the inter-school festival was more valuable to me than a grasp at an underhanded advantage.

Although, I was overwhelmingly surprised to see her smile again.

"Thank you for thinking about me like that" she said, "You know, it's kinda surreal hearing that from you."

"Huh? How so?" I inquired.

"I'm not sure" she shrugged, "Maybe it's because we're in similar positions."

I finally understood what she meant.

She had taken my spying as a compliment apparently. I had no clue what her exact line of thinking was but she had hinted that it was due to me being a fellow Student Council President. And with me trying to resort to scheming to gain leverage over her, that probably showed that I truly viewed her as someone better than me.

Which she was…let's not skim over that fact.

"Well…I'm relieved to hear that!" I said before smirking comically, "But say, you haven't sent spies over to our school either, have you?"

Luckily, she picked up on that.

"Save for a bunch of unruly students causing trouble near your school, I don't think anyone else has been over there" she answered before grinning ever so slightly, "But with all due respect, if we had sent spies, you most likely won't notice them."

I found that theoretical statement rather flawed, mainly due to Kasumi-senpai being our main eyes and ears within the school and there was no chance in hell that anyone could evade her omniscient gaze.

"I wouldn't count on that while my senpai is around" I said proudly, "She'll be on your guys' heels in no time at all. She's our trump card for practically everything!"

There was no rhyme or reason behind me suddenly mentioning Kasumi-senpai but I blamed it on the Shiomi High school spirit abruptly taking hold of me and telling me that I should one-up Katsura-san with a truth I had believed in.

And strangely, I didn't resist it.

"Even for the inter-school festival?" Katsura-san asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

"Definitely that!" I exclaimed, "Don't take this in the wrong way, Katsura-san, but things have changed since we last met each other" I added confidently, "We're bringing our best and we'll strive for nothing less than to completely overwhelm Hakuo!"

As I looked right into her eyes, looking for any signs of doubt, Katsura-san simply crossed her arms and smiled amusedly.

"I admire your fighting words, Esashi-san" she said, "And also your fire."

I was about to answer when I noticed she had this strangely polite aura about her that I hadn't expected.

"Good luck for next week" she told me, without any hint of ulterior motives and without any signs of sarcasm.

I could feel my boisterous self retreating back into its shell as she did not reciprocate the fierce statements that I had made. She only continued to put up a calm and mature façade even when faced with an invitation to act aggressive as well.

Shoving my hands in the pockets of my jacket, I found a familiar and awkward sensation of unease coming over me. I fidgeted as I stared at the ground for a couple of seconds.

"Good luck to you too" I mumbled quietly.

With that exchange done, she turned towards the crosswalk with the intention to head back into the city.

"Goodbye, Esashi-san."

"Goodbye, Katsura-san."

I didn't even look at her as she walked off to who knows where, leaving me alone at the bus stop to contemplate and reflect upon our impromptu meeting.

Her presence faded away behind walls of vehicular noises and pedestrian chatter and I was once again embraced by the public environment, having no one else to talk the hours away. With time having gone forward a couple of hours after my session at the karaoke bar, I understood the need to walk home myself.

However, I simply could not shake off Katsura-san's surprising yet admirable attitude to me reiterating the drive that our school had.

She hadn't laughed in our faces nor had she undermined our efforts during the practice sessions. Instead, like a sane person, she wished us luck and nothing more…not that anything more was needed.

I was glad to rediscover the pleasure of conversing with someone like her and like before, I came out of it respecting her even more. Worrying about how she had thought of me wouldn't consume me any longer as I had learned of how she saw me as an equal.

And that was the end of all that concerned me.

It almost felt like it happened in the blink of an eye but the opening day of the inter-school festival arrived abruptly like this last passage on this chapter!

There was nothing overly different about my normal routines on my way to school on that fated Monday morning.

I got up, responded to unread messages, cleaned myself up, stretched a bit, ate my breakfast, packed my belongings and then headed out.

At the usual junction in the road, I ran into Raizou and we did nothing except psych ourselves up for the battle we felt we were destined to win. Although I had wanted to keep a realistic outlook on the whole thing, I, too, allowed myself to be gripped by the school spirit.

All we had to do upon reaching our school at 9:00am was to wait for the teachers to address us with some pep talk and then haul us over to Hakuo Academy's indoor stadium for the opening ceremony at 10:00am sharp. Also, there were no other responsibilities for us Student Council members so we could blend in with the rest of the students as much as we wanted.

However, I didn't bank on Kishida-sensei calling me out while he was talking to the sea of Shiomi High students before we headed out.