Chapter 160: Volume 4.5 Chapter 5 Part 6

“Horikita-senpai, your shift is done. Please rest.”

Two hours passed since the Treasure Hunting Game started and noon arrived. The next person to verify the rewards, Yagami-kun approached and said that. I closed the name registry of the 1st years and looked up slowly.

“I’m not particularly tired, so I wouldn’t mind if you let me continue verifying the rewards like this.”

Right now, I want to place importance on the time I have to look at the names in the registry.

“I can’t. I have work I was assigned to. It wouldn’t be fitting as a member of the Student Council to give that to you, Horikita-senpai.”

“…Yes, it’s as you said.”

If I can take it easy then I’ll take it easy. First of all, no one who thought that way could enter the student council.

I won’t keep insisting here. I pulled my chair back.

“Thank you. I’ll go ahead and rest.”

“Of course.”

If this is the case, my duties would finish after I help with the rewards verification again two hours from now.

If I look at it as time for work, it’s not a big workload but…

“Horikita-senpai. How many people have accepted their rewards by now?”

Yagami-kun dropped his eyes onto the registry and asked me.

“Including the ones in pairs, I believe it’s about 40 people. There were also students who got 500,000 points, but there seem to have been more students who were mistaken in their scanning and received 5000 points than I had expected.”

“Perhaps it’s because only they had found it. If you think that then you wouldn’t want others to take it, so you unconsciously want to scan. I somewhat understand.”

And once you let that 2D code pass, there wasn’t any guarantee that no one else would find it.

What I’m curious about more than that is the other person who came here with Yagami-kun.

Yagami-kun turned to that person and smiled.

“Alright, see you later then, Kushida-senpai.”

I heard that they had been close in middle school, but it looks like that relationship is continuing even in this school.

“Yeah, later Yagami-kun.”

I didn’t not see her profile sending him off familiarly as something that surpassed the barriers of just friends. I suppose I’ll look at their relationship as one to which the phrase, more than friends but less than lovers applies to.

“If anything happens contact me, I’ll come right away.”

“Understood. Thank you very much.”

Yagami-kun still didn’t have much to do with the Student Council’s work. He adds his power, being good at things he would obviously be good at, and he has good communication skills.

Being able to trust him with my work meant that I was a reliable Senpai, and that a 2nd year in the Student Council was unmistakably more competent than a 1st year in the same school year.

There are still more, but he seems to be the most likely candidate to become the Student Council President after us.

After I left that place, Kushida-san also left instead of staying by Yagami-kun’s side.

You could call it natural so that she wouldn’t disturb the work, though.

I couldn’t see her walking beside me as something without any meaning.

“You were with Yagami-kun. Why didn’t you participate in the treasure hunt?”

“Yeah. For whatever reason I didn’t feel like participating in a game. Didn’t many people feel the same way?”

“Indeed, the 2nd year and 3rd years’ participation rates weren’t as high as I had expected.”

They prioritized resting more than getting a chance to win many private points.

In any case they were simply on vacation. The time they spent on this ship is precious.

“You’ll rest from now on, right Horikita-san? If it’s okay won’t you eat lunch with me?”

“With me?”

Since it’s rare for Kushida-san to propose to me, I couldn’t hide my suspicion.

“Is it strange for me to invite you? No, it is, isn’t it.”

Even while laughing in humor, she didn’t let her smile collapse in front of anyone.

I don’t have to think here.

“That’s fine. I have more work in the Student Council after this, so I’ve been thinking about placing food in my stomach. Though this is sudden, so could we buy from a store?”

“Of course.”

I definitely don’t get many opportunities where I’m called by Kushida-san like this.

It might even be a good opportunity to settle some questions smoldering in my heart.

“Could I ask you some simple questions?”

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Since time was precious, I started speaking as we started moving.

“Is it the reason I invited you?”

“That’s one of them but-“

“The reason I get along with Yagami-kun?”

The thing I was suspicious about seemed to have been naturally understood by Kushida-san.

“It’d be a lie if I said I’m not curious.”

I have always been curious about her own actions which I couldn’t understand.

“You’re trying to hide your past in middle school. So you’re antagonizing me, having shared your middle school, and Ayanokouji-kun, who ended up learning about it. This makes sense.”

Kushida-san didn’t turn around. She only kept facing forward with her ears lent to me.

“Even if Yagami-kun didn’t know anything, I had the impression that you avoided getting particularly close with any men. If I were to phrase it badly then you’re a people pleaser, if I were to phrase it well then you treat everyone well. That’s what I’d been thinking.”

“There wasn’t any need to phrase it badly there was there?”

“…No. I’m sorry if I spoiled your mood.”

“Ahaha, I’m not angry so relax.”

I didn’t deliberately mean to talk bad about her. I was just saying my impressions.

Though I think that was careless, I can’t take back what I said.

“Why do you think I’m close with Yagami-kun?”

Instead, what I said became a problem and went back to me.

“Could it be – you have that sort of relationship with Yagami-kun?”

I hesitated to say it directly, so I tried saying it ambiguously.

“‘That sort of relationship’, you mean we’re going out?”

“..Yes.”

“Sorry but there’s nothing there. I don’t intend to go out with anyone who’s attending this school, you see.”

That was certainly so she could continue being a people pleaser.

For guys Kushida-san took pride in how popular she was, but she wasn’t interested in things like that. Even I knew that. Whether it be a junior or whoever, it would definitely cast a shade on her popularity. That would be unavoidable.

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I thought it didn’t suit Kushida-san, who wants to be seen by everyone.

“Then why are you getting along with Yagami-kun to this extent?”

“It’s obvious isn’t it?”

Kushida-san said strange words, laughed and brought her hand to her mouth.

“In order to erase obstacles, it’s best to put them in your pocket after all.”

“…I see.”

I had imagined it, but I was mentally overwhelmed with how she gave a straight reply exactly as I had imagined.

In other words, she sees Yagami-kun as someone to eliminate like me or Ayanokouji-kun.

But that doesn’t erase all the questions I have.

“Can you say that he knows about your past? You can’t say for certain can you?”

“Yeah. There’s no guarantee that he definitely knows.”

“Then…”

“But there’s also no guarantee that he definitely doesn’t know.”

Always smiling, Kushida-san continued.

“Yagami-kun seems to hold feelings of me like that of a junior towards his senior, so sticking to him is even easier than I had imagined. So I’m waiting for him to show a gap from there.”

Even if it were 1 or 2%, she wanted to eliminate the possibility until it was 0%. That was her fundamental stance.

Which means that Yagami-kun, her senior, wasn’t an exception…

“The thorns on your side keep increasing. Even though you can’t have Ayanokouji-kun expelled, do you intend to increase your enemies even more than this?”

“You think I’m acting like an idiot, Horikita-san.”

At the very least, I don’t think it’s a smart thing to do.

“To begin with, I don’t believe there is a need for us to fight. It would be different if it were other people who are talkative, but Ayanokouji-kun and I would never let it slip.”

Why didn’t she understand this? I took a step into the territory I wasn’t able to step into until now.

“What’s the guarantee? Can you say that with 100% certainty?”

“I can say it’s roughly close to 100%… But you can’t consent to that can you?”

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“You know the past I must guard. That’s already equivalent to having my heart exposed and defenseless for you. At any rate, there’s no mistake that you’ll come to capture it.”

“I don’t understand. There’s no need to do that.”

“There’s no need to, so you won’t do it. So what if the need arises?”

“…What do you mean?”

“What if I bring out our class’ secrets and leak them to other classes? What if I betray you and move to another class? If that happens, can you say for certain that you wouldn’t hit the nail on the head, saying ‘If you didn’t want your past to be revealed then you shouldn’t have betrayed us’?”

“That is-“

Indeed, if a situation arose where we had to suppress her, I couldn’t guarantee that I wouldn’t touch on Kushida-san’s past. If I had to do so for the sake of my classmates, then I can’t say that I’d never bring it out as a trump card… right?

Of course, Kushida-san would likely try to write it off as a 『fabrication』.

But belief in Kushida-san would unravel just a little bit.

Her failure in trying to use the class votes just made her stand out for no reason.

“For me personally, you see? I feel a lot of frustration from having to talk about this kind of stuff. Even now I feel so bad that I’m getting nauseous.”

Opposite to her words, her face and the tone of her voice were calm.

She is controlling most of her anger and preventing it from leaking to the surface.

“I more or less understand what you want to say, but… after all is said and done, you’re overthinking it. I’m worried about you.”

“Heeh, is that so? You’re worried about me?”

“If I can, I want to lighten the load on your emotions.”

“Ahahaha, don’t worry Horikita-san. I’m okay.”

“Okay?”

“I’ve been thinking to myself that I have to erase these problems already.”

“Which means…”

“It means I’m thinking of a way to remove this load.”

So Kushida-san approached me with some sort of decisive plan?

“I’ve been thinking of a lot of things. At this rate the situation would become worse and worse even as the amount of people who know continues to increase. So… starting with you, won’t you drop out?”

Indeed, the most logical way to lighten her emotional load was to have me expelled.

Of course I can’t consent to that. More than anything, that wouldn’t solve everything.

“I don’t think that we’re on the same page. What about Ayanokouji-kun? Yagami-kun? Even if I’m expelled, people who know about you will remain.”

Her emotional load definitely wouldn’t decrease very much with that.

“I know well that Ayanokouji-kun is an opponent I can’t be careless around. But did you know? He’s giving me private points.”

“Giving you…?”

It was one of the things Ayanokouji-kun told me about before.

I pretended not to know and answered.

“He said it was to make sure I don’t get him expelled. In other words, it’s proof that he knows I’m an enemy and is afraid of me at the same time. If I eliminate you, even Ayanokouji-kun would have no choice but to be quiet, you see? If I’m not careful I’ll get expelled myself after all.”

She showed an ominous smile and went just a little closer to me.

“Anyway, even if I don’t eliminate those aside from you I can still get a certain peace of mind. It’ll be settled if I can think of a way to eliminate Ayanokouji-kun in that time you know. Then something will happen to Yagami-kun sooner or later. He’s just an honest guy who likes me.”

Her big pupils held color yet didn’t.

People can read emotions from each others’ eyes, but Kushida-san is without a doubt an exception.

Her will to never be expelled didn’t waver at all.

“Sure enough, the reason I want you to go first, Horikita-san, is because you were in my grade at middle school. If other people investigate they might learn that as well. But I met Ayanokouji-kun in high school. Hypothetically, even if he exposes me, I could just explain it away as a lie, can’t I?”

Indeed, what Kushida-san is saying is correct.

If she were to pick who would cause her the most trouble if they expose her between me and Ayanokouji-kun, then it would be me, who was in her school grade, without a doubt. And that’s with an overwhelming difference.

“Do you think that even though I said I’d eliminate you, I can’t have you expelled so easily? You are right? For the past half of a year, I didn’t do anything against you. That’s a fact. So I won’t have you expelled in the future, either… is that really the case?”

“If we were enemies from different classes, then that might have been possible. But that’s not true. It’s not easy to have a comrade from the same class expelled.”

“I’ll definitely prove it to you.”

“Do you not understand? I’m aiming for all of us, including you, to reach A-class. Your abilities will be indispensable for that.”

“I-diot.”

Like the end of a sentence small enough to fade away, she insulted me.

“I’d never work with you. Don’t say things that’ll make me wanna vomit.”

“Kushida-san…”

“Look forward to our 2nd term. I think we’ll definitely share a fun time.”

She slowly pulled her close face away. The malice on her expression faded away.

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Despite that, the hatred and anger hidden behind her smile was apparent.

“It’s no use whatever I do…”

As if she was finished speaking with me, she walked away.

“But I believe… that someday, you too will be able to understand.”

My words definitely should have reached her ears, but she didn’t stop walking.