Revelation Of An Ordinary Life

A Saintly Liar's Past

Kanzaki POV:

I am an above-average student in most areas. I have good academics and decent physical ability.

But I am not a leader.

I learnt this the day that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka convinced me not to switch classes. How could I, an easily swayed person, lead 39 people? Ichinose is smart, certainly. But she is naive. If all students in this school were to be assigned a defect then hers would be naivete.

However, Ichinose is the end goal. I must get others on my side before ever interacting with her about this. I turned my sights to Himeno Yuki. If I were to do this alone then I wouldn't have ever thought of her name until near the end, but Ayanokouji told me to go to her specifically.

I am not a leader, but I want to make a difference. In my own way, I am also naive.

Ayanokouji POV:

What an uneventful morning.

No interesting things happened and I was left to go through the motions. I know I said that I liked a mundane life, but I don't want to be a robot repeating code over and over again.

I got to my seat in the theatre, and the voice came back.

"Welcome back, everyone. Today, I will show the past of Kushida Kikyo. Enjoy!"

Surprisingly, Kushida looked unfazed. I don't know whether or not she was putting on an act like before, or if this was a genuine reflection of her true feelings. It would be nice to say that she had gotten over the fear of people knowing her past, but people don't change that fast.

Kushida was waiting for us out in the hallway. When she saw Horikita and I, she gave a small wave and smiled brightly. Horikita, however, was anything but surprised.

"Kushida-san. Sorry to have kept you waiting," Horikita said.

"It's all right. There's still a little time left before we were scheduled to meet. What were you talking about with Honami-chan?" asked Kushida.

"Nothing important."

"I'd still like to know. Is it something you can tell me?" Kushida's tone of voice and smile remained unchanged, but the tension rose.

"Sure. After all, it's completely unrelated to you," said Horikita.

After being deliberately prompted to share what happened, Horikita began telling Kushida about her conversation with Ichinose, albeit with some changes.

"I asked her how I could talk to people equally, without showing distinction or favoritism."

"Wouldn't Hirata be better for something like that?" Sudo said while scratching his nape.

"Maybe she wasn't comfortable talking to me about something like this. I don't really care whether or not she consulted me or someone else, as long as she gets her answer," Yosuke explained graciously.

"'Distinction', huh? You wanted to know how to talk to Kushida, right?" Sakayanagi glanced at Horikita.

"I won't lie. That was the main reason," Horikita confessed.

"Oh?"

"I'm not going to lie. I was asking about you, Kushida-san," said Horikita.

"Listen here, Horikita-san. While you and I may not get along, I'd much rather talk about this without Ayanokouji-kun," said Kushida. In other words, she didn't want any more people to know her secret. "Or could it be... that Ayanokouji-kun and Ichinose-san now know something?"