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Classroom Of The Elite Volume 1 - Chapter 23
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I left the library and chased after Kushida. I wanted to thank for her working so hard to get the study group together, and to apologize. Besides, I wanted to do everything possible to get along with such a cute girl, you know?
Whipping out my cell phone, I pulled up Kushida’s contact information. Although it was my second time calling, I felt nervous contacting her. The phone rang twice, then three times. However, she didn’t pick up. Did she not notice me calling? Or was she refusing to answer it?
Kushida wasn’t around campus, so I continued to search for her. When I got inside the school, I glimpsed someone who looked like Kushida from behind. It was already around six PM, so the only people here should’ve been involved in club activities. Well, this was Kushida we were talking about. She was probably waiting for one of her good friends to finish club stuff.
I decided to keep up the chase. If she were busy, I’d talk to her again later. Bearing that in mind, I pressed on. I took out a pair of indoor shoes from the cubicles in the hallway, but didn’t see Kushida. Had I lost her? I thought I had, until I heard the faint clack of shoes.
I followed her up the stairs to the second floor. The sound of footsteps continued up to the third floor. The next level after that was the roof, wasn’t it? Students were free to use the roof during lunchtime, but it should’ve been locked after class. While I thought it strange, I went up the stairs, trying to hide my presence as best I could in case she was meeting with someone. Then, I stopped partway.
Someone was up there.
I gently leaned against the handrail and peeked through a crack in the rooftop door. Through the opening, I glimpsed Kushida. No one else was with her. Was she waiting for someone?
A rendezvous at such a secluded place… Could she possibly be waiting for her boyfriend? If that were the case, I could end up cornered on all sides. While I agonized over how to sneak away, Kushida slowly set her bag down on the ground.
And then…
“Ahhh, so annoying!”
Her voice was so low that it didn’t sound at all like Kushida.
“She’s seriously annoying! God, how irritating. It’d be better if she just died…”
She grumbled to herself, as if chanting the words to some kind of spell or curse.
“Ugh, I hate stuck-up, snobby girls who think they’re so cute. Why is she such a harpy? A rotten girl like her couldn’t possibly tutor me.”
Was Kushida annoyed with…Horikita?
“Ah, she’s the worst! She’s just the worst, the worst, the worst! Horikita, you’re so annoying! You’re so damn annoying!”
I felt like I’d glimpsed another side of this gentle girl, the most popular person in our class. She probably didn’t want anyone else to see this darker side. A voice in my head whispered that it was dangerous to stay here.
However, an odd question arose. Why had she agreed to work with me if she felt such hatred toward Horikita? Kushida should have understood Horikita’s personality and behavior perfectly well by now. She could have refused to help, or just left the study group to Horikita, or otherwise washed her hands of involvement.
Why force herself into the study group? Did she want to get along with Horikita? Or did she want to become closer to another participant?
None of it made sense. I couldn’t explain her reasoning.
No. She may have shown signs of this from the very beginning. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but considering the state she was in right now, I had a hunch. Perhaps, Kushida and Horikita were…
At any rate, I needed to get away from there. Kushida probably didn’t want anyone else to hear her diatribe. Still hiding, I quickly tried to leave.
Thump!
I’d kicked the door much louder than I’d anticipated. It’d been unexpectedly loud, really. Kushida tensed and stopped breathing. I’d instantly become her enemy. Turning, Kushida set her sights on me. I’d been seen.
After a brief silence, Kushida coldly asked, “What…are you…doing here?”
“I got a little lost. Sorry. My bad, my bad. I’ll be going now.”
Kushida looked straight at me, clearly seeing through my obvious lie. I’d never seen such an intense gaze before.
“Did you hear?” she asked.
“Would you believe me if I said I didn’t?” I replied.
“I see…”
Kushida briskly walked down the stairs. She placed her left forearm against the base of my throat, and pushed me up against the wall. Her tone of voice, her actions, everything about her was completely unlike the Kushida I knew. This new Kushida wore a terrifying expression, one that I could almost compare to Horikita’s.
“If you tell anyone what you just heard, I won’t forgive you.”
Her words were ice, and I didn’t think they were an idle threat.
“And if I did tell?”
“In that case, I would tell everyone that you raped me,” she said.
“That’s a false charge, you know.”
“That’s okay. It wouldn’t be false.”
Her words had heft and power, leaving me unable to reply. As she spoke, Kushida grabbed my right wrist and slowly opened my hand. She pushed my palm up against her soft ******.
“What are you doing?” I asked. I hurriedly tried to pull away, but she pushed on the back of my hand.
“Your fingerprints are on my clothes. That’s evidence of my claim. I’m being serious. Understand?”
“I understand. I really do. So let go of my hand.”
*Although, this was from the official book… I still can’t believe that Ayano was blushing here. In anime, his reaction/emotion was all plain there.
“I’m going to leave this uniform in my room without washing it. If you betray me, I’ll hand it over to the police.”
I glared at Kushida for a while as she kept my hand pressed against her.
“It’s a promise,” she said.
Kushida stepped away from me. Even though this was the first time I had felt a girl’s breasts, I found I couldn’t remember the sensation.
“Hey, Kushida. Which is the real you?”
“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?”
I knew she probably wouldn’t like that question, but I was curious about her motivation.
“Is it bad to want everyone to like you? Do you understand how difficult it is to accomplish that? You can’t know, can you?” she asked.
“Well, I don’t have that many friends, so I guess not.”
Ever since the first day of school, Kushida had made an effort to exchange contact information with, invite out, and, of course, talk with the pessimistic Horikita. One could easily imagine how difficult and time-consuming that would be.
“At least on the surface, I wanted to appear to get along with Horikita.”
“But the stress of that just kept building, huh?”
“Yeah. That’s what I want out of life, though. That way, my existence has meaning.” She answered without hesitation. Kushida had a singular way of thinking. Her own internal rules demanded she get close to Horikita.
“Let me tell you something, while I have the chance. I absolutely despise gloomy, ordinary guys like you.”
The fantasy of a cute Kushida that I’d carried until now had been shattered, but I wasn’t actually that shocked. Most people possessed both a public face and a private, inner self, after all. However, I felt like Kushida was both telling the truth and lying right now.
“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?”
The instant I said it, Kushida shuddered in response.
“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?”
I recalled the first time Kushida had spoken to me.
“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. The only person who knew was Sudou, but I doubt you’d met him by then.”
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?”
“Just shut up. Hearing you talk irritates me, Ayanokouji-kun. I only want to know one thing. Do you swear you’ll never tell anyone what you learned here today?”
“I swear. Even if I did, it’s not like anyone would believe me. Right?”
The entire class trusted and loved Kushida. The difference between us was like night and day.
“Okay. I believe you, Ayanokouji-kun.” Kushida closed her eyes and slowly exhaled. “Horikita-san is rather unusual, isn’t she?”
“Yes, I’d say she’s really unusual.”
“Other people don’t influence her, or rather, she keeps her distance from everyone else. She’s the complete opposite of me.”
Kushida and Horikita really were polar opposites.
“You know, Ayanokouji-kun, you’re the only one that Horikita-san opens up to.”
“Wait a minute. She doesn’t open up to me. Absolutely not.”
“Even so, she seems to trust you more than anyone else. 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.”
“So, you think she has good instincts for people?”
“That’s why I said I believed you. Ayanokouji-kun, you’re fundamentally indifferent to other people, aren’t you?”
I didn’t remember doing anything that would make her think so, but Kushida seemed confident in her assessment.
“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.”
Ah, so that’s what she was talking about. She’d picked up on what was happening that first day. She had understood that I’d no intention of giving up my seat.
“If you believe I’m telling the truth, then you won’t spread pointless rumors,” I said.
“If you were really so confident, you wouldn’t have felt up my breasts.”
“Well, that’s… I was really flustered. I panicked for a second.”
Her stern expression melted into one of impatience.
“So, Kushida, would I be right to think of you as the kind of girl who lets guys touch her breasts?”
She kicked my thigh as hard she could. Panicking, I grabbed the railing.
“Hey, watch it! I could’ve fallen and gotten seriously hurt!”
“I kicked you because you said something stupid!” Kushida snapped, her face flushed from anger.
“Hey, wait a minute.”
She still looked furious. Kushida tromped back up the stairs, grabbed her bag, then returned wearing a huge grin.
“Let’s head back together,” she said brightly.
“Oh. Sure.”
Her attitude had drastically changed, like something out of Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde. It was so drastic that I wondered whether I’d had a bad dream. She was her usual sunny self once more. I couldn’t tell which Kushida was the real one.
…—————-…
…Please don’t report,…
…Wilysha_Purple♡…