Sunday morning.
I arrived at the destination 10 minutes before the agreed time, and the person I was waiting for was already sitting on a bench.
"Good morning."
When I called out, a beautiful profile turned towards me and smiled.
"Good morning, Ayanokōji-kun. Is it okay? Calling me out to a place like this."
"What do you mean?"
"This is a public place. If Karuizawa-san or the others around see us, won't they get the wrong idea?"
"No need to worry. I've already talked to Kei about today. Careless secrets and clumsy lies only become shackles in maintaining relationships."
I answered that way, and she modestly agreed that lying indeed might not be good.
"What will you do about the special exam, Ayanokōji-kun?"
Ichinose probably wanted to know which side I would take in the exam.
"I don't plan to participate as a representative in the special exam at the moment."
So I decided to answer that way. Lies are shackles in relationships, a statement I made just before telling a lie.
However, the lie I told Horikita to deceive Ichinose's class was unfortunately not necessary.
Because the strategy I told Horikita itself was a lie, something trivial.
"I see. That might be good news for us then."
Ichinose, who took my words at face value, seemed slightly relieved.
There was nothing suspicious about her attitude.
She almost certainly didn't know that I would participate as a representative at this point.
"For now, that is. Maybe Horikita will ask me later. If that happens, please go easy on me."
"That's my line. If possible, I'd rather not compete against you, Ayanokōji-kun."
After answering, Ichinose corrected her previous statement.
"I'd rather not compete against you, but it can't be helped. It's inevitable that our classes will clash."
Ichinose quickly responded after that.
"We better not talk about the end-of-year special exam more than this, right?"
I sensed her intention not to engage in unnecessarily probing each other's intentions.
"We are both set to face each other directly, after all. It's better not to delve too deeply into the good things or the bad things."
"Yeah, that's right."
"The reason I called you here today is because the time for our promise is approaching soon. Do you remember?"
"How could I forget? It was about our conversation last year in your room, right?"
I nodded, and Ichinose nodded back in agreement.
'One year from now, I want to meet you again like this.'
'Just the two of us, Ichinose and me.'
'Go through the next year without hesitation and meet me. Can you promise that?'
Those were the words I conveyed to Ichinose last year.
"If neither of us gets expelled in the special exam, let's make some time then."
What kind of words would she hear?
Ichinose probably didn't know either.
Amidst mixed feelings of anticipation and anxiety, she clearly answered.
"Definitely."
I nodded and stood up from the bench.
The conversation was very brief, but considering tomorrow, this was probably enough.
"I'm going to stop by the gym now. What about you, Ichinose?"
"I have plans to meet with classmates after this, so I'll pass this time."
With the end-of-year special exam just around the corner, it probably wasn't the time to be sweating in the gym.
As she had said earlier, she seemed to have plans to meet with friends.
Ichinose, still sitting on the bench, saw me off as I headed to Keyaki Mall first.
That makes three. After talking to Sakayanagi, all my tasks would be completed.