Chapter 10 - Chapter 9 - Building the World of Your Choosing

***

"The purpose of looking at the future is to disturb the present."

--𝕽𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖙--

Almost immediately after stepping outside the library, Kiyotaka glanced at his watch.

It was still 5:45 PM. It seemed like he actually saved an ample amount of time compared to the original timeline. That was interesting to note.

Pushing the thought aside, he sent a reply to Shiina, who just sent him a photo of an old, dusty book she borrowed from the library.

[Were you at the library this afternoon?]

The girl immediately saw his message and began to type.

[Shiina Hiyori : No. I borrowed it during lunch time. I have a fever so I borrowed a book to read in my dorm room.]

So that was why I didn't see her earlier. Makes sense. Kiyotaka mused. 

He was actually searching for the silver-haired girl earlier, only to find out she wasn't at the library. 

[You have a fever and you borrowed an old, dusty book? Do you not want to get better soon?]

[Shiina Hiyori: I haven't read The Red House Mystery before. And it's the only copy the library has.]

The Red House Mystery was the only mystery book written by. A. A. Milne, the creator of Winnie the Pooh. 

Kiyotaka hadn't read it himself. He looked it up in the internet just now.

[I see. Well, I hope you feel better soon.]

After sending the text to Shiina, he made a couple of calls to Kushida. As expected, she didn't answer his calls.

In the original timeline, it was actually the girl's refusal to take his calls that gave future Kiyotaka a working hypothesis on what Kushida was truly up to. He didn't exactly need memories of the future to analyze a person's behavior.

But since hypotheticals — regardless of how he already deemed it to be likely — cannot be confirmed without eye-witness evidence, he decided to search for Kushida and see things for himself.

And the rest, as they say, was history.

This time, however, Kiyotaka was gifted the knowledge of the future and how it would unfold. He did not need to see things for himself to confirm his hypothesis. The memories had already confirmed it for him.

Still, his curiosity was gnawing at him. Even if he knew trouble was coming.

Then again, as Seneca had said, "the man who has anticipated the coming of troubles takes away their power when they arrive."

With his mind set, he began walking toward the school.

--𝕽𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖙--

At around 6 PM, Kiyotaka had spotted Kushida inside the school. Like his future self, he decided to silently pursue her. There was still a chance, however slim, that she might end up in a different place.

Although, Kiyotaka thought it to be unlikely.

Still, he trailed her, just stopping around the middle section of the staircase that led up to the rooftop. Moving closer to the handrail, Kiyotaka peeked above to see the rooftop door.

As expected, he saw Kushida standing there. He couldn't clearly see her expression, but he could tell she was intently staring at the rooftop door.

He calmly watched as the beige-haired girl slowly dropped her bag on the ground, and prepared himself for the show he was expecting to see.

"Ahhh... so annoying..."

She growled in a voice that didn't sound like the Kushida the class knew.

"She's seriously annoying! God, how irritating. It'd be better if she just died..."

She grumbled to herself in between breaths. 

"Ugh, I hate stuck-up, snobby girls who think they're so cute. Why is she such a harpy? To think a rotten girl like her that couldn't even teach an idiot had the audacity to think she's so much better than everyone."

That wasn't the script.

Then again, she wasn't being 'tutored' by Horikita in this timeline. Kiyotaka had changed a lot about how the study group was set up.

"Ah, she's the worst! She's just the worst, the worst, the worst! Horikita, you're so annoying! You're so damn annoying!"

Although Kushida had all the reasons to be annoyed with Horikita, Kiyotaka couldn't help but think how she was even more foolish than Horikita.

He knew exactly why Kushida was hell-bent on trying to weasel her way into Horikita's impenetrable sphere. But all the reasons for doing so should have crumbled once she realized what type of person Horikita Suzune was.

There was no point in pulling an enemy closer when they had no intention or desire to hurt you. 

Of course, paranoia was a real thing. And that was among Kushida's biggest flaws.

Thump!

The sound of a door being kicked had rung out louder than imagined throughout the school. It was an unexpected loud sound. 

Kushida, probably thinking she'd overdone it, stiffened up and halted her breath in an instant. Worried that someone had heard it, she turned around and, upon her gaze, saw a small glimpse of Kiyotaka.

After a brief silence, Kushida coldly asked, "What... are you... doing here?"

"I should ask you the same question," Kiyotaka replied.

Kushida looked straight at him, unamused at his reply. She glared at him so intensely that even in the night, he could see it clearly.

"Did you hear?" she asked.

"The door being kicked? Yes. It was rather loud," he replied.

"I see..."

The beige-haired girl gritted her teeth in annoyance. Then, she briskly walked down the stairs. She reached for Kiyotaka's throat, only for her hand to be swatted away by the boy.

The force behind the swat was unexpectedly great that Kushida stumbled on her feet. But just as she feared falling down a flight of stairs, Kiyotaka reached for her wrist and pulled her back to balance.

Hand still firmly holding the girl's wrist, he faced her with an impassive look. "What was that about?"

"Let... go... of me," she demanded.

"No. You'll just try to attack me again. At least tell me what's going on, and I'll consider letting go," he replied.

Kushida tried to wiggle her way out of the boy's grip, to no avail. Of course, she considered striking the boy on the groin... but something in her mind told her she might actually get attacked if she did so.

"Are you actually that dumb?" she asked, still glaring at Kiyotaka. "You heard everything, didn't you?"

"I did. But that didn't explain you trying to attack me," he replied.

"So you did..." she muttered as she held her head down. Then, as she slowly raised her head, Kiyotaka saw a twisted, ugly expression from her face. "If you tell anyone what you just heard, I won't forgive you."

"And if I did tell?"

"In that case, I would tell everyone that you raped me," she replied.

"Is that so?" 

Assuming she caught him off-guard by her plan, Kushida twisted her wrist against his hold. When he loosened his grip by a fraction, she seized the opening and grabbed for his wrist, trying to drag his hand upward toward her chest.

But before history could repeat itself, Kiyotaka took out his phone. The act distracted Kushida, who ended up dropping her hand. Her face had lost all color as realization sunk in.

"You... you didn't..." 

Kiyotaka stared at her, then tapped the screen on his phone. 

At first, she didn't understand what she was hearing. Just audio from his speaker. Just noise.

Then she recognized the voice.

Her voice.

"Ahhh... so annoying..."

No....

"She's seriously annoying! God, how irritating. It'd be better if she just died..."

No no no no—

Kushida's face went cold. This... this cannot be.

"I had a feeling this would happen after Horikita called you out earlier," Kiyotaka revealed. "And I simply did not want to confront you unprepared."

"Wha... what do you want?" she spoke through gritted teeth.

"In exchange for not spreading the recording, I simply want you to cooperate with me, Kushida," he replied.

"Cooperate how?"

Kushida wanted nothing more than to scream at herself for being so careless. She had no idea what the boy's angle was, but if it wasn't something outrageous, then she'd be willing to cooperate. Until she figured a way out.

"I want our class to eventually be Class A. Our class, as it is now, will likely never make it. But if you work with me, I can see a possibility where we can achieve it," Kiyotaka answered.

Kushida scoffed at his words. Their class? Class A? Half of the morons in class would probably fail basic algebra. In what world would their class actually reach Class A?

She had spent the previous month mingling around people from different classes. They were all, by far, superior than their class in every metric available. Was Kiyotaka actually stupid?

It didn't seem like it, but then again, the boy had the bright idea of making Horikita tutor Sudō. From the moment the brown-haired boy announced the pairing, she already knew the study group would fail.

"Do you even hear yourself? Take your head out of the clouds, idiot. Even idiots like Ike know it's impossible for our class to surpass Class A," Kushida finally responded.

"I wonder about that..." Kiyotaka muttered. "But it matters not what you think about it. You asked me what do I want, and I told you my answer. Now, what's it gonna be, Kushida?"

As the girl was trying to make up her mind, Kiyotaka's mind strayed to an unlikely hypothetical.

If someone were to see us right now, would they think Kushida and I are having a lover's quarrel? He thought.

After all, from an onlooker's standpoint, the scene — the girl's gritted teeth, matched by his calm face while holding her wrist — could pass as a couple having an argument. He immediately got rid of the silly thought.

"So long as you don't spread that recording... I accept," Kushida finally said.

"Could I even trust your words?" Kiyotaka asked.

Kushida glared at him. "I could say the same to you... how can I trust you to not spread the recording? After all, you've shown yourself to be quite sneaky, Ayanokōji-kun."

The brown-haired boy raised a brow.

"In our call last night, you said you'll leave things to me. That's why I brought Okitani-kun with me. But apparently, I didn't need to. Because you made your own plan to give Horikita-san no choice but to let me join the study group," she explained.

"Hmm... if anything, that should give you a glimpse into what I'm capable of, Kushida," Kiyotaka cooly countered.

It would guide Kushida into thinking along the lines of, if this guy was able to catch both Horikita and I off-guard, then he might actually be able to make plans against the other classes. And as much as she would probably hate the thought, she would lean into it being closer to the truth.

"Hmph. If you were truly that capable, you wouldn't have to hide behind Hirata-kun. Don't tell me you just wanted a challenge. That's complete bullshit."

"Think what you want to think. All I want is for you to follow my instructions whenever I give them," Kiyotaka replied. "I am not going to treat you like a slave. You can go about your day like nothing happened. But, if there's something I want done, I expect it to be done."

"How kind of you," she replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Or would you rather have me turn your earlier threat into reality?"

All the fight disappeared from Kushida upon hearing his words.

Kiyotaka decided to twist the knife deeper. "And I know you wouldn't do anything about it. You'd accept that reality if it meant you could still get to live as everyone's angel. Am I wrong?"

"You—" Her voice cracked. She hated that. Hated that he heard it. "Asshole."

"Asshole, huh? I guess I am. So, if you ever get any thoughts of betraying me, then I want you to keep that in mind."

Kushida had no words to say against that. Right now, she held no leverage to try and be defiant. The boy in front of her held all the cards.

"Anyway, we should probably get out of here. Some staff may snoop around and spot us," Kiyotaka advised.

The beige-haired girl nodded and picked up the bag she dropped before the rooftop's door. 

As she caught up to the already descending Kiyotaka, the boy spoke to her. "Hey, Kushida. That angry persona is the real you, isn't it?" 

"That's none of your business."

"I see. Well, I was wondering something. If you hate Horikita, then you don't need to involve yourself with her, right?"

Now that he got what he wanted, he decided to follow the script for a while.

"Is it bad to want everyone to like you? Do you understand how difficult it is to accomplish that?" she asked.

Kiyotaka rejected her point. "Only an idiot would think it's possible to make everyone like them."

"Huh... I guess I am an idiot," Kushida muttered bitterly. "But at least on the surface, I wanted to appear to get along with Horikita-san."

"But the stress of that just kept building, huh?"

She answered without hesitation. "Yeah. But that's what I want out of life, though. That way, my existence has meaning."

Kushida had a singular way of thinking. Her own internal rules demanded she get close to Horikita.

"I guess I can't completely blame you. We're still young enough to chase unrealistic goals," Kiyotaka conceded.

The beige-haired girl let out a humorless chuckle at that. "But let me tell you something, while I have the chance. I absolutely despise guys like you."

"Guys like me? Like what? People you couldn't control?" Kiyotaka asked.

In the original timeline, Kushida had called him gloomy and ordinary. His actions over the past month had shown him to be anything but those two adjectives. If she still despised him, it had to be something else.

"Something like that..."

"I appreciate your honesty."

Silence ensued for a while until Kiyotaka spoke again.

"I'm just speculating, but did you and Horikita know each other before this year? Maybe you both attended the same school in the past?"

Kushida froze in her step.

"What the... I don't know what you mean. Did Horikita-san say something about me?" she snapped.

"No, I had the impression that this was the first time you'd met. But something seemed strange."

"Strange?"

Kiyotaka recalled the first time Kushida had spoken to him.

"You learned my name only when I first introduced myself, right?"

"So what?" Kushida responded flatly.

"Well, where did you learn Horikita's name? Back then, she hadn't introduced herself to anyone yet."

In other words, Kushida wouldn't have had the chance to learn Horikita's name.

"You got close to me so you could spy on her, right?"

They had actually interacted more in this timeline than they did in the original simply because he was part of Hirata's group. And if he was around, Kushida had actually made it a point to interact with him more. So this time around, his words held more ground.

"Just shut up. Hearing you talk irritates me, Ayanokōji-kun."

"It's a small price to pay for having me keep your secret," he quipped.

Kushida closed her eyes and slowly exhaled. "Horikita-san is rather unusual, isn't she?"

"I've seen toddlers with better social skills than her," Kiyotaka replied.

To his surprise, Kushida actually found it funny. 

"But yes, I'd say she's unusual."

Kushida hummed in agreement. "Other people don't influence her, or rather, she keeps her distance from everyone else. She's the complete opposite of me. But despite that... she opens up to you. And she even respects you enough to not immediately reject your decisions."

Unlike his future self, Kiyotaka couldn't deny Kushida's observations. He had made enough subtle changes to make it clear that Horikita held some semblance of respect toward him.

"Out of all the people I've ever met, Horikita seems the most wary of others and yet, also the most self-confident. She certainly wouldn't trust anyone worthless, even if they were unbelievably kind," she continued.

"So, you think she has good instincts for people? I'd agree simply because she was immediately wary of you," Kiyotaka replied.

"How about you? Were you wary of me from the start?" she asked.

"From an early age, I've already understood that humans have an ugly side they wish to keep hidden. So I didn't really care if you had a hidden side," he answered.

"Hmm... I guess it's just as expected. After all, you're fundamentally indifferent to other people, aren't you?"

At the boy's raised brow, she explained herself. "It's not an out-of-place judgment. Back on the bus, you didn't show any interest in giving up your seat to the elderly woman."

"I just assumed someone else would eventually give it up to her. It wasn't my problem to deal with," he replied.

Kushida smiled. "That sounds just like you, Ayanokōji-kun."

Just like in the original timeline, her attitude had drastically changed in the middle of their conversation, like something out of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.

It was another instance that ended up replicating his foreign memories, but at least the outcome was significantly different this time.

--𝕽𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖙--

Instead of heading straight to his dorm room as his future self did, Kiyotaka decided to enter the convenience store.

For some reason, he wanted to eat some yogurt.

As he approached the refrigerator, he stumbled upon an athletic looking purple-haired girl who was staring intently at the refrigerator next to where the yogurts were.

"Students aren't allowed to buy beer, if that was what you were looking to get," he spoke to her.

The girl turned to him, then returned her attention to the fridge. She looked quite nonchalant, but he knew the girl was somewhat rattled by his comment.

"I was... just wondering why they still sell beer knowing full well there are students here," she tried to deflect.

"It's obviously for the teachers and the other staff in campus," Kiyotaka replied as he took out a yogurt cup from the fridge.

"Right..."

The brief conversation ended there as Kiyotaka went to the cashier to pay for his yogurt.

She was probably looking to shoplift... again, he concluded as he spared a parting glance at the girl, who left the store without buying a thing.

He didn't personally know her, but his future self did.

She was Kamuro Masumi, a Class 1-A student who supported the leadership of Sakayanagi Arisu. 

The girl had a habit of shoplifting, which didn't stop even after being admitted into the school. Sakayanagi caught her a week after class started, and Kamuro had been her loyal aide since then.

She was the person Sakayanagi would often rely on when she wanted correspondence with Kiyotaka's future self.

Pushing the thought of Kamuro aside, Kiyotaka paid for his purchase and received a wooden spoon from the cashier.

Nodding at the man, Kiyotaka exited the convenience store and sat on a nearby bench. Then, he opened the yogurt cup, and scooped one small bite.

Ah... I should probably order a yogurt maker online, he thought after eating another bite.

Once he consumed half of the cup, he placed the yogurt and the spoon by his side, and took his phone from his pocket.

Glancing at the phone, he had received a few messages from the group chats he was on, and one from Hirata.

The de facto leader of Class D asked him if he wanted to play football with him on Saturday.

[I'll pass. I'm no good with team sports.]

Pressing send, he checked the other notifications in the messenger app.

[Ike Kanji: Satō's joining the group!] 

Just like in his memories — Kiyotaka had grown tired of having to repeat the thought — Satō ended up joining the group chat with Ike and the others. 

[Satō Maya: Hiya! Ike-kun invited me to join when we were talking earlier.]

Kiyotaka decided to play the observer again.

[Satō Maya: I heard of what happened today. Horikita is really frustrating, huh?]

Ike and Yamauchi, as expected, tried to pretend they were cool in front of a cute girl. Apparently, they believed saying they might hit Horikita would score them some brownie points.

[Yamauchi Haruki: Hey, Ayanokōji, you want in on bullying Horikita lol]

[Satō Maya: @Ike Kanji you didn't tell me Ayanokōji-kun is here!]

[Ike Kanji: Ehh... why would that matter?]

[Satō Maya: @Ayanokōji Kiyotaka I'm sorry for talking bad about your girlfriend!]

[Ike Kanji: WAIT THEY'RE DATING?]

Kiyotaka sighed. It seemed like he actually had to say something, lest he encourages a misunderstanding.

[If Horikita was actually my girlfriend, I would have reprimanded all of you from the start.]

[Yamauchi Haruki: Oh right! You were actually on our side earlier]

[Ike Kanji: That's why I was shocked Satō said they were dating! If they were, Ayanokōji wouldn't have shut her up earlier lol]

[Ike Kanji: Thanks for earlier, dude. If you didn't intervene, I might have really lost it.]

[You should rethink your plans, though. If the school finds out you're bullying Horikita, it'll cause trouble for all of you. Keep that in mind.]

[Yamauchi Haruki: Wait, you're on her side?]

Kiyotaka no longer wanted to continue the pointless conversation, so he took inspiration from his future self and ended the discussion in one text.

[I'm on no one's side. Anyway, if Kushida heard about this conversation, she'd probably hate both of you. Lol.]

After sending the message, he slid the phone back in his pocket and continued eating his yogurt.

--𝕽𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖙--

Kiyotaka spent most of the evening holed up in his dorm room and sifting through the school's forum. Nothing truly interesting came up, so he decided to look at the challenge threads that some students would put up on the site. He wanted to make more money. 

Unfortunately, other than a challenge in virtual basketball — that he won in five games, and earned 3,000 points from — nobody had posted anything tonight. So, he decided to kill time by watching videos online. 

"You should enjoy the little detours to the fullest. Because that's where you'll find the things more important than what you want."

The brown-haired boy hummed in thought as the scene continued. Anime can actually be insightful at times.

A few more videos and message replies later, Kiyotaka checked the time on his phone. 

I must have been watching on my phone for quite some time, he thought, sighing.

He tugged his socks up and slipped on his shoes. Then, he quickly exited his room and headed to the elevator, where he descended to the lobby.

As the elevator's doors opened, Kiyotaka walked up to the lobby's vending machine and bought a can of orange juice.

Then, he exited the building and used his future self's memory as the guide to navigate his way.

Eventually, he had arrived at his destination.

He was about a minute or so late. But fortunately, not too late.

By the time he arrived, Horikita Suzune had already been pushed against the wall by her older brother, who stared at her in disinterest. 

The scene unfolded as it should have, but he missed the start to the conversation. Not exactly a big deal, but a detail he noted nonetheless.

"No matter how I try to avoid you, the fact remains that you're my little sister. If people around here learned the truth, I would be humiliated. Leave this school immediately," the Student Council President ordered.

"I-I can't do that... I will definitely reach Class A. I'll show you."

Horikita tried to sound defiant, but it ended up looking like a whimper.

"How incredibly stupid. Do you want to relive the pain of the past?"

"Nii-san..."

"You possess neither the abilities nor the qualities needed to reach Class A. Get that through your head," the older Horikita emphatically shut her down.

Then, he made a move forward. 

Kiyotaka knew the script he had to follow, but decided to see what would have happened if he decided to let nature take its course. 

If he wanted to measure what reality could bend and what refused to, this was the time.

And so, he remained in hiding. 

Waiting for what was coming next. Watching trouble unfold.

The frozen Horikita didn't offer even a sliver of resistance as her brother mercilessly threw her to the ground. The thud of her shoulder hitting concrete echoed up the path.

At that, Kiyotaka finally made his presence known. 

"Horikita?" he called, letting the can slip from his fingers. It hit the ground with a sharp metallic clatter that cut across the silence.

Two pairs of eyes — one teary, the other impassive — turned to him.

"What are you doing here?" the older Horikita asked.

"I was strolling in the night. Then, I heard a loud thud," Kiyotaka replied as he steadily walked toward the siblings.

Horikita Manabu's eyes trailed him. "A smart person would have just continued to walk and not concern himself with the problem of other people," he said.

"I wouldn't exactly call myself smart."

Kiyotaka continued walking until he reached the younger Horikita, who was still reeling from the pain of being thrown by her brother.

But as he tried to extend a hand to the girl, he had to evade a quick left jab thrown by her older brother.

The older boy seemed like he was dancing as he smoothly transitioned his missed jab into a backhand with his right. But like his first blow, Kiyotaka deftly moved outside his reach.

Tears still falling down her face, the younger Horikita finally found her voice. "Nii-san, Ayanokōji-kun... stop it!"

However, her plea fell on deaf ears.

"That could have hurt," Kiyotaka muttered.

Manabu hummed in appraisal of the unexpected intruder before he stepped back into range and aimed a sharp kick at Kiyotaka's unguarded side.

Kiyotaka saw an opportunity to check his kick, but decided against it. Instead, he continued to defend on the backfoot.

The older Horikita, who noticed his own mistake, looked quite confused at the brown-haired boy's decision. He exhaled deeply, refusing to allow confusion to cloud his own judgment. Then, he extended his right arm, and opened his hand as it approached Kiyotaka.

Kiyotaka, knowing full well what the other boy was planning, slapped his hand away.

"Good reflexes. I didn't imagine you could evade all of my blows so quickly. Also, you seemed to understand quite well what I was trying to do. Have you been taught?"

After the attacks stopped, the questions began.

"Yes, I was taught piano and calligraphy. I wasn't quite taught how to mind my own business, however," Kiyotaka wisecracked.

"Clearly. And you're in Class D too, aren't you?" he asked, then turned to his little sister. "What a unique boy, Suzune."

"Yes, we are classmates," Kiyotaka replied as he approached the younger Horikita, offering her a hand.

Naturally, the girl refused. Then, she tried to stand on her own, only to find out she didn't have strength in her knees. Kiyotaka caught her before she could fall again.

"Let me go..." she weakly complained.

"I could, but your brother would think I'm just as bad as him. I'd rather not have that," he replied.

The dark-haired girl glared at him, but stopped resisting. Kiyotaka guided her to a wall, and helped her lean against it.

"Hmm... interesting. So you finally made a friend, Suzune," the older Horikita remarked as he observed the display.

"He's... not my friend. Just a classmate," she replied, her head held down. She made an attempt to face her brother, but found out that she didn't have it in her to look him in the eye.

"If it matters, she taught me how to cook," Kiyotaka added. 

He knew the girl was probably glaring at him now, but he never cared for such things. He was more interested in the reaction of the older boy in front of him.

Looking at the older Horikita, Kiyotaka found a wistful smile on his face. 

"I see," the bespectacled boy said, going over Kiyotaka's seemingly mundane remark. "Then, I hope you could succeed where I failed, Ayanokōji."

After leaving behind vague words, Horikita Manabu walked away from the scene and disappeared into the night. 

Kiyotaka let out a quiet sigh as he watched the older boy go. He knowingly allowed this to happen. He could have prevented Horikita from being struck by her brother, but his curiosity got the best of him. He wanted to see the outcome from another choice.

He wasn't regretful, by any means. But this changed a lot of things.

"I'm going to drag myself up to Class A even if it kills me," the younger Horikita vowed to herself as she wiped her tears.

"You don't have to do it alone," Kiyotaka remarked as he turned to face her.

The girl didn't respond, opting to slump down against the wall.

"What is it to you? Why did you step in?" she asked.

"Your family affairs do not necessarily concern me, Horikita. But I need you to be at your best. I cannot just let your older brother think he can do with you as he pleased... I just hoped I arrived a minute earlier," Kiyotaka answered.

"What... what would that even do? If not now, the same thing would still happen down the line," she replied.

By now, she had already sat on the ground, still leaning against the wall. Kiyotaka had an inkling this would happen, but reality was often more striking than thought.

"You think so?"

The girl didn't respond. 

Understandably, Horikita remained in shock after being struck by her brother in their first meeting in three years. 

While Kiyotaka didn't think the girl hoped for a happy reunion, she likely didn't expect him to actually hurt her physically. 

Words, she could deal with. Horikita Manabu must have given her plenty of sermons over the years.

But being hit? After such a long time apart?

She must be questioning her reality at this very moment, Kiyotaka concluded.

"Do you have any idea what he meant when he said he hopes I could succeed where he failed?" he asked the girl again.

Horikita looked up at him with an uncharacteristically defeated look on her face, and shook her head. "I don't know. Nii-san... he tends to say things halfway."

That was indubitably true.

However, Kiyotaka knew exactly what the older Horikita was talking about. He was passing a herculean task onto him — helping Horikita Suzune live up to the potential her brother thought her to have.

This was probably one of the few times he was thankful for receiving memories of the future. He couldn't have immediately known otherwise.

"Do you think you could make it in class tomorrow?" he asked.

"I'll manage..."

Horikita wasn't seriously hurt, by any means. But emotionally, she looked one sharp word away from shattering.

"Let me help you up. It's already late," he said, extending an arm to her.

"No. I ask you to leave me be for the meantime, Ayanokōji-kun," she said, rejecting the offer. 

"Alright."

With a parting glance, Kiyotaka left the withdrawn Horikita alone.

There was no point in pursuing the matter tonight. She'd either stand back up on her own, or she wouldn't.

That was the beauty behind uncertainties. You may have an idea of the possible options, but you couldn't ascertain the results.

Kiyotaka then picked up the can he had dropped earlier. Luckily, it was still exactly where he dropped it.

As he cracked open the now-mildly cold juice, he let his thoughts drift back over the day

People were often taught of how the concept of choice dictated the life a person was going to lead. But an important piece of the lesson was generally left off by design — choice was only reserved to the hands of the few.

--𝕽𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖙--

Once he was certain no one could see him, Horikita Manabu slowed his pace and finally stopped. He tipped his head back and let out a quiet breath toward the night sky.

Since they were children, he'd never once doubted Suzune's potential.

If anything, he'd thought she might surpass him one day. Her intelligence, her ability, her discipline... none of it was second-rate. The problem was simple, and had been for years.

She was trying to become him.

Imitating his gait, his decisions, his path. Walking a step behind, convinced that if she traced his outline perfectly, she'd reach the same height.

It was understandable. He knew what people said about him. He knew how teachers, relatives, even strangers had looked at him. Admiration was an almost inevitable by-product of the life he'd chosen.

But if she was satisfied merely standing beside him, then everything she carried inside would go to waste.

She cannot be like him. She had to be herself — Horikita Suzune.

And for that to happen, the tie between them had to be cut cleanly.

That conclusion had hardened long before she set foot on this campus. If she followed him even here, he would do whatever was necessary to make her stop. If making her hate him was the cleanest scalpel to achieve that, then so be it.

He'd decided: if her resentment was the price, he'd pay it without hesitation.

Or so he'd told himself.

Now that he'd followed through—now that he'd actually thrown her down—there was no sense of release. No feeling of having done something decisive or noble.

Just a dull, persistent discomfort sitting in his chest.

Regret, he supposed. And a thin thread of self-disgust.

There was no point dwelling on that. What was done couldn't be taken back, and turning soft over it wouldn't help Suzune.

After tonight, she would almost certainly despise him. That was fine. In fact, that was the point. If she stopped chasing his shadow and finally moved under her own power, then his role as "villain" would have been worthwhile.

The only comfort in his heart was how it didn't seem like she would be alone in her journey.

Ayanokōji Kiyotaka.

The boy who'd stepped in—late, but not too late—had moved well enough to be worth noting. He'd read Manabu's intent quickly, evaded without panicking, and never once lashed out despite openings to do so.

If Ayanokōji had wanted to, he could have put the student council president on the ground in front of Suzune.

He chose not to.

Whether that restraint came from recognizing Manabu as her brother, from understanding the risks of attacking a council president, or from some other calculation didn't really matter. What mattered was how the boy was definitely capable.

It wasn't just martial arts.

Academically, the boy scored 50 in all subjects during his entrance examinations. In an exam of exactly 100 items in each subject, the probability of ending with 50 across was board was astronomically low.

Intrigued by the result, he purchased a copy of the boy's exam papers and noticed another layer of irregularity.

He answered the most difficult questions correctly, and the easier ones incorrectly.

Manabu knew something was up from that alone. He didn't rise to his current standing to be fooled that easily.

Knowing the boy would be in his little sister's class, he was actually worried on whether or not the boy would be harmful for his sister. Unpredictable people like Ayanokōji could be dangerous.

But luck seemed to have smiled brightly on Suzune, for she had actually connected with the boy.

"If it matters, she taught me how to cook," the boy had said, rather casually, when Suzune tried to deny their connection.

A throwaway line on the surface. But it told Manabu everything he needed: she'd let him into her space. She'd shared something with him. It wasn't exactly friendship— his little sister still mistook independence with solitude—but it was something close to it. And that was enough for now.

However, despite his relief, Manabu remained worried.

After all, the boy's shrewdness had already gotten him the attention of Nagumo Miyabi, the Vice President of the Student Council.

Manabu remembered the scene about a week ago inside the Student Council Office.

Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a stray, unsorted folder placed on Nagumo's table.

While it wasn't his nature to pry, he knew such disorganization was unlike the boy. So, he glanced at the folder, and skimmed through it.

It was information on Ayanokōji Kiyotaka.

Combined with the rumor he'd heard—Nagumo losing upwards of four hundred thousand points to an anonymous player in the gambling ring he'd so carefully constructed—the picture wasn't hard to assemble.

Nagumo was suspecting that Ayanokōji, of all people, was the one who caused him to incur such losses.

And knowing the ever-scheming Nagumo, he saw beyond the points he lost. Manabu didn't think the boy minded at all. Instead, Nagumo likely saw a possible asset that he could make use of. 

That thought didn't fill him with comfort. Especially with what he had just uncovered about the boy's relationship with Suzune.

Manabu could only hope Ayanokōji's ability to weave through problems extended beyond physical altercations. He would need it against someone like Nagumo on his tail.

And if the situation escalated beyond what the boy could handle... then Horikita Manabu would intervene.

For Suzune's sake.

End of Chapter