Volume 7, Chapter 2: Notice of Parting and Reunion Part 7
I removed the wet sheet that had absorbed the garbage starting from the top and threw it in the trash. When I sat down on my bed after washing my hands, the sound of a spring reverberated faintly.
Since the end of the year is at hand, I decided to clean my room over the weekends. I never had anything in this room in the first place so half a day was all it took to wrap it up.
"A clean room is such a nice thing to have".
I wonder if I've succeeded in bringing back that shine the room had when I first set foot in it. I switched the kettle on and sought a brief respite. I'm slightly hesitant about using the newly polished, glittering cup but there's no way around it.
I took out my phone and tried accessing the school app. Class points and personal balances and the such are displayed there and I stared at them aimlessly. Deciding that I'll do so until the water boils, I tried sorting out my own future in that time.
Let's start from the very beginning.
Why I even enrolled at this school in the first place? It's so that I won't have to return to the place I came from. It's not like I particularly dislike my life in the White Room or anything.
In terms of human rights, it's a very problematic place but at the very least, it's true that the best education you can possibly receive lies there.
Thanks to that, I was able to form my own unique personality and acquire a convenient skillset. However, I felt an indescribable discontent at being hailed as the ultimate masterpiece by my father.
Even if I am the ultimate human being.....is that really something I should be overjoyed about?
It's precisely because I've always lived my life believing there's something that needs to be learnt that studying became meaningful. But what happens when there's nothing left to learn?
That would be excruciatingly boring.
But I suppose I couldn't care less about that. I should think about what I plan on doing next. I knew my father would make contact with me one day. That was something I had already known from the moment Chabashira-sensei threatened me with expulsion during the summer.
Of course, even back then, I had my doubts. Because if my father does make contact with me, the matter of Chabashira-sensei protecting me or not goes right out the window.
He's not the sort of man a mere class teacher would be able to deal with. But, knowing my father, I couldn't entirely rule it out as a lie either. Due to that, I put up a cooperative front and executed several strategies in the name of rising to Class A.
I started hearing the sound of water boiling in the kettle.
However, by coming this far I was able to determine that Chabashira-sensei's claims are based on a lie. Strangely enough, it was because my father made his presence known.
The most important thing here is not the fact that she has no connection to my father.
It's that I was able to determine that her threat of 'expelling me unless I give it my all' is a lie. Chabashira Sae carries a deep trauma from her past and wishes to rise to Class A.
Just like Horikita and Keisei. No, she's probably more obsessed with Class A than either of them.
A person like that won't have the courage to expel someone from their class. No, at first I had considered the possibility of her performing a suicide run because until after the island exam, Class D was in an extremely disadvantageous position.
It wasn't a situation where one could cling onto hope in.
She probably felt like doing that if she couldn't make use of me. That is why I was able to see through the lies weaved into those words of truth. Now that the cat's out of the bag, her ability to issue orders to me is rapidly fading away.
It doesn't matter if it's Class A or Class D, as long as I only aim to achieve 3 years of an ordinary school life then involving myself any deeper with the class than this is just a bother.
As a matter of fact, people like Ichinose and Sakayanagi are already beginning to develop an interest in me. However, if I can successfully fade out now then they should lose interest in me right away.
If there's a problem left then that would have to be Ryuuen.
If he gets all the way to me then he may use that fact as a means of stirring up our surroundings. That is why it's best to avoid having my identity revealed. But that's probably no longer possible.
Even if I end my relationship with Karuizawa Kei, that invisible 'thread' between us remains.
If left to his own devices, Ryuuen will definitely grab hold of that thread one day.
A week later? Or perhaps a month later? Or maybe a year later?
That uncertain 'someday' is a problem for me. As the water began boiling and the notification sound rang out, the kettle turned itself off automatically.
"...I suppose I'll have some tea".
Since I used to have many visitors, my cabinets are overflowing with tea bags. Coffee and black tea as well as green tea. I have a wide variety of them. I placed the black tea bag in the cup just as a call for me came from the 1st floor.
"The 1st floor?".
If they're a classmate of mine then they would've simply rung my doorbell directly. No helping it. I went to check on it and there I saw an unexpected face. I could've pretended to be out but I'd like to keep things honest here.
Because the man I was considering going out to meet came all the way here himself after all.
"I'd like to borrow a bit of your time. Or should I come back later?".
".....not really. Now's as good a time as any".
To think this sort of uncommon visitor would come. The one I could see through the monitor is Horikita's brother, who had been student council president until a while ago.
I unlocked the automatic lock and welcomed him into the dormitory. Meanwhile, I poured the boiling water into the cup with the tea bag in it.
Not too long after that, the doorbell rang.
"I'd rather not talk standing so please come in".
"Likewise".
If Horikita sees this, she'd definitely complain about it. Also, I'd like to avoid being seen with the former student council president by other students as much as possible.
I invited the older Horikita into my room.
Upon entering the room, the older Horikita noticed the presence of the black tea immediately.
"I was just thinking about drinking some".
"For a 1st year, you sure tidy up after yourself".
"I just don't have any personal belongings".
There's no need to go out of my way to tell him I just tidied it up today. Unfortunately though, by looking at the wet sheets faintly sticking out of the trash, he'd be able to tell that I cleaned the room either today or yesterday.
"Coming all the way over to the 1st year dorm. Do you have business with me, former student council president?".
"The second semester will end next week. I don't have much time left at this school".
The actual time he'll be attending school, after subtracting the weekends, will amount to roughly two more months. It'll pass in the blink of an eye.
"There's something I want to inform you of before I leave this school. It's about Nagumo Miyabi".
Nagumo Miyabi. I don't think I need an explanation but he's the current student council president from Class A of the 2nd years. I only know him from the sports festival and the welcome ceremony for the newcomers but he seems like a rather dark person to me.
But regardless of what Nagumo may be, that has nothing to do with me.
"I doubt you have anything to say to a mere 1st year student like me. I'm not part of the student council either like Ichinose is".
I explained that but the older Horikita continued without paying me any mind.
"I had no intention of discussing this with anyone else either but the circumstances have changed a bit".
The circumstances have changed, huh?
"I maintained the traditions this school was founded on because I believed in the rules of the system and felt that this is the correct path. However, Nagumo is trying to overturn it all. In all probability, next year you'll be faced with an unprecedented amount of expulsions".
He has yet to act openly as part of the student council but I suppose it's only a matter of time.
"When Nagumo was still a 1st year, you were already the student council president, weren't you? If so, aren't you the one responsible for recruiting him?".
"That may be the case".
The older Horikita accepted it without any denial.
"After joining the student council, I made a single mistake. That would be my repeated failures in training my successor. The only one who I noticed any talent in was Nagumo but he ended up developing ideals different from my own. The other 2nd years too are all under Nagumo's control".
"That's strange, I can understand Nagumo controlling 2nd year's Class A but the other classes should be his enemies, right?".
"He's already conquered the entire school year".
I don't know what strategies he's been executing but looks like he really is doing something that absurd.
"This year, among the 1st years, two applied for a position at the student council. Katsuragi and Ichinose. Both of them are promising, talented students but I ended up not letting them join. It's precisely because their talents are so pure that I feared Nagumo would end up influencing them. But Nagumo gathered information behind the scenes and made contact with Ichinose and as a result, he forcibly invited Ichinose into the student council".
"What are you planning by telling me all this?".
"If you don't want to stand out then use Suzune. Just like you've done in your exams so far, manipulate Suzune from behind the scenes. I will be the bridge between you and the student council".
"That's a rather unreasonable request. If you're in the council, your sister would gladly join but now that you've stepped down, your sister no longer holds any interest in the council. Besides, regardless of whether your sister joins the council or not, I won't do anything".
After a brief interval, I sipped some tea.
"That tradition you and your predecessors have protected. Any change to it would just either be the times changing or fate, wouldn't you say?".
I don't even need to say that. This man should already understand that.
"That's right. You may be spot on".
There are still things I don't understand from this conversation but there are also things I've begun to comprehend. As a student enrolled here, the older Horikita wishes to stop the actions of the student council that will be occurring next year.
As such, he thinks he'll be able to make use of me conveniently. That's why he chased me all the way over to the 1st year dormitory.
"Looks like I've disturbed you".
Even though he knows he won't be able to entice me without any tools of his own. It may just be that he no longer has room to care about things like that.
"For the record, do you mind giving me your contact number?".
"What?".
I unplugged my phone from the charger and took it in hand.
"I'd like some time to think about putting your sister in the student council and manipulating her from behind".
"So you'll consider it?".
"So you came expecting me to turn you down. I'll look bad if I don't at least think it through".
By showing him this unexpectedly positive reaction, the older Horikita felt disbelief. However, he did tell me his contact number without any hesitation. It's probably proof that he's just that wary of Nagumo Miyabi's student council.
"If I ever consider cooperating with you, I'll contact you".
"I'll be waiting without any expectations".
In the end, the older Horikita never sat down and never took a sip of the tea before leaving my room.
"I don't think there's a need to be so hung up over the student council though".
It's pointless worrying about a person who's about to graduate in a few months but I still felt some concern.
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