Epilogue
A Touch of Anxiety
ON THIS DAY, after the second semester's closing ceremony, the special examinations were over.
The time that students had been waiting for was here.
Although not as long as the summer vacation, it was still a time of joy for most of the students. The hard work of studying day and night has been rewarded with a head-to-head win against Class A. The winter break will start tomorrow, and we look forward to many happy days ahead.
It is sure to be a fun time for all.
That's what everyone thought, except for one person in the class.
The only exception was Karuizawa Kei, who had come to the Keyaki Mall with her best friend, Satō Maya, with a sigh of melancholy. Good at putting on airs by nature, she remained calm at school and concentrated on her studies even after the fight with Ayanokōji.
Therefore, the people around her had no way of knowing that Karuizawa had been suffering. Her best friend Satō was one of them, but Satō was a close observer of not only Karuizawa, but also Ayanokōji. She had noticed that the two of them seemed to be rather distant from each other, even though they were always close.
However, she thought that the cause of their behavior was not because of a quarrel, but because they were keeping their distance to concentrate on their studies.
“Haah...”
“You've been sighing a lot. We've just finished our studies and it's getting easier. What's wrong?”
“Hmm? Oh, it's nothing...”
Karuizawa, who had been trying to avoid being noticed up to this point, realized that she had been sighing repeatedly without knowing it, perhaps because she had become relaxed after being released from her studying and examinations which were her weak areas.
“... Really?”
“Really, really.”
Karuizawa answered stoutly and acted so, but Satō's suspicions remained unanswered.
“I'm going to ask you an insensitive question, but weren't you going to make plans with Ayanokōji-kun today?”
“Eh...”
“Because tomorrow is a holiday. Usually, don't two people go out and have fun together? Shinohara and Ike were excited to go see a movie with their arms around each other, right?”
Karuizawa knew it was strange for her to invite Satō out with no prior appointment. While she felt she had made a mistake, she was showing this attitude because somewhere in her heart she wanted to ask Satō for some advice.
Karuizawa gave a small nod and walked through the café, which was getting crowded. They sat down together on a bench near the rest area on the second floor of the Keyaki Mall.
“Hey, Maya-chan. Can I talk to you about something...”
“Yeah, that’s totally fine.”
Satō was not reluctant, but enthusiastic, showing that she has been waiting for it.
“I think my relationship with Kiyotaka might be in trouble...”
“What…? Really!?”
Karuizawa, after making sure that no one was around, revealed her pent-up feelings. Satō, who had not expected a bomb to be dropped on her, was startled to the point of falling over.
“Does 'relationship trouble' mean... that you might break up?”
“I'd like to think that's not true, but... I can't help but feel that way lately.”
The fact that her expression seemed more serious than expected made Satō choke on her words, unable to hide her agitation.
Still, Satō wisely tried to find the right words to say so as not to make the atmosphere heavy.
“You had a fight with Ayanokōji-kun, but you two can't make up and it's been going on for a while... is that it?”
If it was just a small quarrel, the relationship would be back to normal in a few hours at most.
Karuizawa looked serious. Satō could not hide her confusion since she thought the two had been getting along well ever since they started dating.
“I thought it was just a little fight, but maybe not for Kiyotaka.”
Karuizawa sighed gloomily and nodded quietly.
“Have you two had any discussions since that fight?”
Karuizawa told her that the fight did not happen yesterday or today.
However, she was not ready to talk about the contents of the fight, nor the cause of it.
“Isn't it winter break already? I focused on my studies that Kiyotaka told me to work hard on, and I answered 3 out of 4 questions correctly on the exam. I thought I could do this... so yesterday after the exam I made a bold move and approached him...”
“And?”
“Nagumo-senpai called him and they went away. I was going to call out to him after the closing ceremony today, but Horikita-san called out to him again...”
Satō pressed her forehead at the repeated bad timings.
“So, you didn't get a chance to talk to him at all and now we're here.”
“Yeah.”
“But I couldn't tell if Ayanokōji-kun was angry or sulking.”
“He's always expressionless and his attitude never changes.”
This also made Karuizawa's judgment unclear. If he had shown an explicitly angry reaction, she would have been able to apologize earlier.
“Don't take offense to this, but aren't there a lot of fights in relationships?”
It is a word that pops up regularly among girls who are particularly excited to talk about love, and it is not unusual in itself.
Moreover, there are many cases that cannot be called 'fights,' such as when a minor problem starts to make things awkward. Satō wanted to make sure that the situation did not fall under this category, but she could not ask about that right away.
“I can't imagine Ayanokōji-kun being angry at all, but did he get angry that time?”
Satō asked fearfully, but Karuizawa immediately shook her head from side to side.
“I was the one who got angry.”
“Oh, hm, I see.”
Satō thought she was about to hear an unexpected side of the story, but she quickly erased that thought.
“So you are still angry at him?”
If so, the way to end the fight is simple. Satō thought that if Karuizawa smiles and forgives Ayanokōji, things will be back to normal.
“Not that... but...”
“If you don't mind me asking, can you... tell me what the fight was about?”
Without knowing this, she couldn’t fully understand.
Karuizawa trusted that Satō was listening to her seriously and decided to tell her the origin of the quarrel.
It all started one Saturday night when she invited him to go shopping for Christmas presents. When she found out that Ayanokōji was going out with Ichinose for the holidays, she got mad.
Karuizawa couldn't imagine him having a good reason for going out with her.
Satō, having finished listening to the situation, quietly closed her eyes. Then she strongly patted her knees with the palms of her hands.
“I see... it's definitely Ayanokōji-kun's fault!”
Satō gave her thoughts and opinions as a pure girl, without any biases. She answered with confidence.
“R-Right!?”
Having her friend as an ally, Karuizawa's expression became a little more cheerful.
“That's right. It's out of bounds to go out with someone other than your girlfriend on a holiday, no matter what the circumstances are! You have to say no, or at least have Kei-chan or some other boys or girls with you! You have every right to be angry. On the contrary, you should be angry.”
“I was surprised that you met with Ichinose-san without taking offense... and held yourself together this long.”
From the time she was told about Ayanokōji going out with Ichinose until today, Karuizawa had been worried and anxious. Still, she devoted herself to her studies as instructed and persevered until today.
“Ichinose-san’s not dating anyone is she?”
This was a source of uneasiness that Karuizawa couldn’t shoulder alone.
‘Anyone.’ It is not a reference to Ayanokōji, but to Karuizawa’s wish of someone else being in a relationship with Ichinose.
“...I don't know if you've heard of her. She's quite popular and famous at school, so if she went out with someone, you'd know right away...”
“...Right.”
Karuizawa cast her eyes down, confirming once again that she understood.
“Uhhh...!”
Satō couldn’t hold back any longer and hugged Karuizawa.
“Hey, Maya-chan!”
“It's not Kei-chan's fault!”
“...Thanks. But I have my faults too. If I had listened to Kiyotaka more honestly and understood what he said, we wouldn't have ended up in a... fight. I should have smiled and said, 'Let's go shopping for Christmas presents next week,' and grabbed him by the arm. If I could go back in time, I would have fixed it; I regret that I can’t.”
From Satō's point of view, Karuizawa is cute. She is one of the top girls in terms of pure looks.
When I first entered the school, there was a time when I disliked her as a wanton[1] girl who nestled close to Hirata. A high-handed, overbearing, power-hungry girl with a nasty personality. But now that we fell in love with the same person, and got to know each other, I have come to realize that this girl was just being stubborn. She has a cute personality despite her outward appearance.
I can confidently say that even if other girls try to get Ayanokōji, there is no way they can beat her.
However, it’s a different story if it’s Ichinose Honami, of all people.
Suppose that Ichinose has a crush on Ayanokōji.
I couldn't eliminate the possibility that Ayanokōji would switch from Karuizawa to Ichinose.
“Hey... Let’s do a little digging, shall we…? On the people in Ichinose-san's class.”
It’s possible that they will see things that they are afraid of, but even if Karuizawa can make peace with Ayanokōji after this, the worry and anxiety will resurface if something like this were to happen again. However, if Ichinose were found to have no intention of doing so...
(TL Note: Wanton: a lewd or lascivious person)[1]:
“No... I don't think so.”
Still, Karuizawa's anxiety got the better of her and she turned down Satō's offer. Then, as if to shake off her bad feelings, she stood up enthusiastically.
“I'll try not to think about it anymore. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Maya-chan now and go see Kiyotaka at night. Then we'll make up for sure!”
“That's the spirit! I'll support you!”
Right after that they laughed at each other, and the cell phone in Karuizawa's hand vibrated.
For a moment, Karuizawa thought it was a call from Ayanokōji, and opened her chat.
“What?”
“What's wrong?”
Karuizawa's expression froze as she stared at the phone screen.
Satō instantly looked at her with concern.
“Kei-chan?”
She called her name again, but Karuizawa kept staring at the screen as if time had stopped. Satō wondered what was going on and stole a glance at the screen from the side.
“...”
Satō saw the picture on the screen and stiffened up.
“Who gave you that?”
“From Nene-chan...”
It was because the two people they were just talking about were in the picture attached to the text sent by Mori Nene.
It was Ayanokōji and Ichinose coming out of the gym while talking.
The photo showed the entrance to the gym where the two of them were walking in front of a bench.
“When was this taken?”
“Ask her...”
She quickly asked Mori to confirm the date and found out that it was the evening two days ago.
It was when Karuizawa and her group were studying with Horikita and her group for the final push.
“Why...”
“Maybe they just happened to be together around here or something like that.”
Satō replied in a desperate attempt to console her, but he had obviously just come out of the gym.
“Does Ayanokōji-kun go to the gym?”
“I don't know...”
“Hello Karuizawa-san.”
“!?”
As if to push her into an unstable state of mind, she was approached by Ichinose in front of the gym.
Ichinose was in her casual clothes.
“Huh? Did you come to the gym by any chance?”
“No, no, it's just that... we just happened to be here... right?”
“Uh-huh.”
Satō nodded repeatedly over and over to back up Karuizawa and said she was taking a rest on the bench.
“I see. I thought you and Ayanokōji-kun had started going to the gym together.”
Ichinose replied with a nonchalant smile, as if it were a matter of course.
“Eh...?”
“Huh? What's wrong?”
“...Ichinose-san knew Kiyotaka went to the gym?”
Turning off the screen, Karuizawa put the phone away in her pocket.
“I told Ayanokōji-kun about it and we tried the gym together. He liked it and decided to start.”
“I see...”
Karuizawa muttered in a muffled voice.
“Is Ichinose-san going to the gym now?”
“We're going to celebrate with the whole class since we won the special exam. We're going to meet at the cafe, but I forgot something the other day when I came to the gym, so I thought I'd stop by and pick it up.”
Ichinose smiled.
“Hey Ichinose-san, is it true that you and Ayanokōji-kun met the other day?”
If Karuizawa couldn’t ask her, Satō had no choice but to make her own move.
“What?”
“Nothing happened with Ichinose-san... and Ayanokōji-kun, right?”
“Oh no. There’s nothing between me and Ayanokōji-kun.”
She waved her hand lightly and denied it.
“...Really?”
Even so, Satō's suspicions were not confirmed, and she showed a more aggressive attitude in her pursuit.
She tried to stop Satō by pulling her cuffs, but Karuizawa's resistance was not strong enough.
“Yes. I wouldn't lie about something like that. I was just asking Ayanokōji-kun for advice about my class... Was I perhaps misleading you?”
Ichinose was puzzled by Satō's glaring eyes and Karuizawa's uneasy look.
“I am thinking that maybe Karuizawa-san is upset.... sorry.”
Ichinose looked apologetic and bowed her head.
Seeing this, Karuizawa also had the courage to express her unspoken thoughts.
“... Was that Kanzaki-kun's doing?”
Karuizawa's mention of Kanzaki's name allowed Ichinose to deduce the situation, even though she had no personal knowledge of it
“I had no idea about it, but I could guess the situation just by hearing it. Our class was down to Class D and we couldn't afford to lose any more time. We didn't have the strength to rebuild ourselves and we were struggling. Ayanokōji-kun saw that and said he would try to help us. I wonder if you’ve heard of any other names, like Mako-chan.”
“Mako-chan?, do you mean Amikura-san? I'm not sure... but did Himeno-san hear about it?”
As the suspicions around Ayanokōji and Ichinose faded slightly, Karuizawa's tone lightened.
“Yes, Himeno-san is going to help us rebuild the class. We are discussing it together. There are other people who know about it, so don't worry.”
Ichinose, who did not seem to know much about it, said this to reassure Karuizawa.
“But I don't understand why Kiyotaka is helping Ichinose-san's class.”
“I know. There must be some strange reason...”
The two, still not fully satisfied with the information they received, looked at each other and voiced their concerns.
Ichinose nodded and closed her eyes.
“It's a matter of mutual interest.”
“Mutual interest?”
“We've been struggling to win recently. We were in a pinch with the special exam at the end of the second term against Ryūen-kun, where if we lost, the gap between us and Class A would widen again. It's more convenient for Ayanokōji-kun to have us, the bottom-ranked class, win against Ryūen-kun, who is aiming for second place, rather than us losing. That's why he helped us.”
This is the most plausible answer as to why Ayanokōji helped Ichinose, his rival. She emphasized that Ayanokōji was only a temporary helper to assist in defeating a strong rival.
“There's really, really nothing going on with... you and Kiyotaka, right?”
“I have nothing to do with him in that sense.”
With straight eyes, Ichinose clearly stated that she had nothing to do with Kiyotaka.
Karuizawa and Satō could only nod their heads repeatedly at this attitude that could not be considered a lie.
“I think Ayanokōji-kun is a bit of a jerk for not being able to communicate with his precious girlfriend. But if I'm the one who caused the rift, then yes, I'll take responsibility for making things right.”
“That's okay. Now that I know what's going on, I'm sure we can make up today! Thank you for clearing things up, Ichinose-san.”
“No problem. If you have any more problems, please let me know.”
Ichinose told them kindly and watched their backs as they left the gym.
“I'm telling you the truth, nothing has happened with Ayanokōji-kun yet.”
As Karuizawa and Satō walk away, there is a small voice that can’t be heard behind their backs.
Ichinose muttered something to herself.
“Not yet, you know...”
Leaving behind the scent of the perfume she wore, Ichinose walked away.
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