Seen Through the Eyes of Goodwill

Chapter- 16 Shifting gears 3. A step ahead

Chapter- 16 Shifting gears 3. A step ahead

As per Koenji's advice, I walked to the nurse's office. Maybe my pain will improve if I apply an ointment to it.

On entering the office, I found an assembly of rather odd individuals.

The first person that caught my attention was Ryuuen, he was accompanied by Kushida. Horikita stood opposite to them and Chabashira sat on a chair beside her with a slightly bitter expression.

On a bed near them Kinoshita was lying, her right leg was bandaged tightly. Looking at her injury, suddenly I wasn't feeling pain in my leg anymore.

What is going on here? The question crossed my mind.

For a moment they all looked at me, but then resumed their conversation.

"She denies it, sensei. Besides, even if Kinoshita did call Suzune's name, what's the big deal? That doesn't constitute foul play. It was probably a cry of desperation, born from a desire to win. I mean, Kinoshita has way

more spirit than anyone else. She's strong-willed and hates to lose. That's not a crime," said Ryuuen. Judging from the atmosphere, it appears that he is trying to rope in Horikita.

"Um...Kinoshita-san, Ryuuen-kun, I think this is all just bad luck. I can't imagine that Horikita-san would deliberately hurt her opponent."

Hurt her opponent? They can't be seriously blaming her for Kinoshita's injury. Horikita would never do that. But then . . .

I thought hard, trying to find solid evidence against it but I stood there in silence witnessing the conversation between Kushida and Ryuuen unfold.

"But Horikita-san said that she definitely wouldn't let me win! She said that!" Kinoshita yelled.

"Don't you think your desire not to lose just got to you? I mean, I think that Horikita-san was really upset when she fell. I think she was just trying her best," said Kushida.

Out of all people Kushida was arguing against Ryuuen? It would be hard to convince myself that this wasn't already scripted by them.

Horikita was enduring it all in silence, from the look on her face I can say she also understands that this is a scheme to trap her.

"I can't forgive Horikita-san for this. Now I have to take a break from track and field practice," she said.

"Don't you feel any shame at all?" Horikita asked.

"Is lying like this to entrap someone fun for you? Or did Ryuuen-kun devise all this? I can't imagine it was coincidental that he just happened to show up right now." Horikita tried to wrestle for control of the conversation.

"So, you're saying it's my fault that Kinoshita got hurt?" Ryuuen asked her.

"You really are a piece of work, aren't you?"

"Please. You messed with Sudou-kun earlier. Don't pretend you forgot about that. You're just trying to use the same trick this time around."

"I had nothing to do with that. It's ridiculous to try and tie those things together, anyway." Ryuuen wasn't about to admit anything.

"It's clear you did this, isn't it? You bumped into Kinoshita deliberately. It's an open-and- shut case. There's no room for any further debate, so let's report this to the

higher-ups right away." Horikita was already entangled in the web of the spider, but then again I was on the same boat.

"Ryuuen-kun . . .would you let me talk to Horikita-san for a little while. I will try to clear the situation-" Kushida interfered again.