The classroom after dismissal.
The students dispersed, welcoming the late end to the school day.
I'll thank Horikita and Yosuke another day. They might have understood what I intended, as Horikita was the first to leave. While, Yosuke was laughing with the girls with Kei at the centre as they started walking out the classroom, just like normal. I picked my bag up, mixed in with everyone, and walked out into the hallway.
My day would have been considered over… But the situation now wasn't as simple.
Although it's enough for making everyone understand the main points, personal problems were different.
A few people chased after me right away. I knew without even thinking that they were members of the Ayanokouji group. Among the people approaching from behind, there was someone at the front whose footsteps sounded intense. There was no need to look back to know how much frustration Keisei had built up
I pretended not to notice and continued to walk forward. After a bit, he spoke to me.
"Kiyotaka."
I slowed to a halt after my name was called.
Looking back, all three of them still had stiff expressions.
"Going back without even saying hello, isn't that a bit cruel?"
Haruka, the most outspoken of the group, forcefully spoke.
Representing both the severe Keisei at the front and the concerned Airi at the back, she expressed what they both wanted to say.
This seemed to have an effect, as the emotional Keisei who was on the verge of bursting kept his mouth shut for the time being.
After taking a breath, he said this once more.
"Why didn't you tell us before?… If it's to hide information as Horikita said, does that mean that you don't trust us at all?"
Although he acknowledged Horikita's statements to an extent, he still looked dissatisfied.
That was par for the course.
It was like I crushed Keisei's feelings as he was kindly, and seriously, teaching me.
Because they were clear on this point, Haruka and Airi were also following him.
The easy way to get this over with was to put all the blame on Horikita.
But I couldn't bear doing such a thing to her, as she'd just crucially helped me right before.
No, this sentiment was unnecessary. There was a need to think about the future.
Keisei was an excellent student, and he was not one of the slow ones in the class in terms of accurately judging situations. But if I don't positively accept him, I'll just be making him carry a strong psychological burden from now on. And if he couldn't function properly, it would be damaging to the class. It also wouldn't be good for Horikita who held the reins of power.
"I've always trusted you guys. But I judged that not revealing it to anyone was better for the plan in the future. It's because I've been so close to you guys that I've had to stifle my desire to tell you and keep quiet."
Instead of placing the blame on someone else, I told Keisei that it was my own judgement. Even though he approached aggressively, seeing that he hesitated to say what he wanted after listening to Haruka, doing this would make him have no choice but to move his emotions to the side.
"I completely understand your anger over this incident. After all, this is related to the group you're closest with, and you even tutored me. I'm truly sorry."
Anyone would feel uncomfortable if the person you were teaching was hiding that is better than you.
And I guess Haruka and Airi by his side felt the same.
Haruka heard my apology from the side, and she didn't say anything else.
She probably judged that she had to let Keisei think, and digest it on his own, so she kept silent.
"To be honest, I'm still angry. You could have told me from the start that you didn't need to be taught, that you could have passed the exam without any problems, and that you could have handled it on your own."
"You're right."
To Keisei, my situation and background didn't matter.
It's only natural that he wanted me to have told him from the start.
"And based on what Horikita said, you'll continue to hold back after this, right? If you don't tell me which subject you will and will not hold back in, I can't completely trust you."
From now on, Keisei will always have his doubts. Stuff like, "what was this guy good at, and what was he not good at."
As someone who taught others, he had to think badly of having someone as strange as that close to him.
"I want out of this group- Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have that thought."
"Yukimuu, are you serious?"
Haruka, who had remained silent, spoke up.
After all, it's impossible to stay silent after hearing that.
"Yeah, I'm serious. Until I heard Horikita's explanation, I was determined to leave because I didn't think Kiyotaka could be trusted at all. But…even so, after being in the same group for so long, I can still understand some things. I know that Kiyotaka isn't a bad person. Since he was hiding something for the sake of the entire class, it's understandable that he didn't want to tell anyone. Kiyotaka could have told me that he didn't need tutoring, that is true, but he's bad with words, so he couldn't say it. I can understand that too."
Keisei clenched his fists and said it without trying to hide it.
"It's just…yeah, it's just… I need some time to sort my thoughts out."
Saying that, Keisei deliberately sighed loudly.
"There's no advantage in taking this further… In the end, what I wanted to say, what I wanted to express is… it doesn't matter even if you hide your strength in other areas. It's not like you're holding the class back like Koenji, so no one has the right to complain. If I continue to criticize you forcefully, the atmosphere will become even worse."
Arguably the most dissatisfied and unconvinced person, Keisei, chose to suppress those feelings for the sake of the Ayanokouji group, as well as his fellow classmates.
"Even though my rational side is clear with that, I can't suppress it emotionally, so I'll need to reflect on that. Next, I'll recognize the part of your strength that you revealed as a real thing. As for the other subjects, I'll continue to use my previous assumption that you're passable, and I'll continue to tutor you. Is that fine?"
In a situation where our friendship could collapse, this was definitely a valuable proposal.
I had no reason to refuse, so I nodded my head and straightforwardly accepted.
"Thank you, Keisei."
I chose to express my gratitude in words.
Airi, who had witnessed everything, finally found the courage to speak.
"H-how about you two do a…reconciliation handshake?"
"A reconciliation handshake? That's nice!"
Hearing Airi's proposal, Haruka expressed her agreement.
Feeling the heavy, depressed atmosphere being gradually dispelled, Keisei immediately shook his head.
"Don't, it's embarrassing."
Haruka quickly grabbed the right hand of Keisei who wanted to refuse. She also grabbed my right hand at basically the same time.
"Alright, make up!"
Saying that, she shoved our hands together, forcing us to shake them.
We didn't prepare our hands to shake, so they just touched each other.
"If you don't shake hands, I won't let go, alright?"
"I know, I know…!"
Perhaps having his hand touch mine in this half-assed handshake was even more humiliating, as Keisei gave in in the end.
With that, the two of us shook hands, a symbol of our official reconciliation.
"I'm fine with it, but Akito still doesn't know anything."
"Miyacchi probably won't be a problem. I think he'll just accept Kiyopon like normal right?"
"…That's true."
Keisei thought for a bit. He quickly came to the same conclusion after thinking about his image of Akito.
"Well, everything's back to normal. It feels we've taken a huge weight off our shoulders, right?"
Right~? Haruka and Airi looked at each other, both agreeing.
"In any case, you've become a celebrity so quickly, Kiyopon… That…"
Haruka stared at me like she remembered something, and became stiff.
The three of us waited for her to continue, but she didn't seem like she was going to.
"What's wrong, Haruka-chan?"
Airi, worried about the Haruka who stopped moving, said something to her.
At that moment, she continued, as if the magic had become undone.
"Oh, ahh. Well, it's nothing. Anyway, it's going to be hard for you since you're a celebrity now!"
"Isn't getting full marks a bit excessive? Sakayanagi, who was 2nd in the year, got 91 points."
After Keisei acknowledged me, his worries shifted to something else.
"Speaking of Sakayanagi-san, she got similar scores in all her subjects, right?"
Airi tried to think back.
She got 91 points in math, and surprisingly, she had similar scores in the other subjects. Considering the difficulty of the exams, she was a student who was undoubtedly extremely good at academics. In the entire year, she was definitely second only to me. What was more impressive was that she hadn't studied in an extraordinary environment like the White Room. In that case, it wasn't an exaggeration for her to call herself a genius.
"I know she was smart, but ever since the introduction of the OAA, her strength has become more apparent."
Although there was regret in his voice, Keisei honestly acknowledged Sakayanagi's strength.
There was no need to doubt her high scores in the past, but her strength had now reached another level.
Had she deliberately held back, or had she started to study outside of class?
No matter what, there's no doubt she'd become more of a problem than before, and even more of an opponent we had to beat.
"As a commemoration of our conciliation, why don't we meet at Keyaki mall once Miyacchi's club activities end?
There wasn't a single person who refused Haruka's suggestion.