Volume 9, Chapter 6: Something Vague

For Hashimoto Masayoshi, the question of whose side he supports was a trivial one.

Or better yet, it wouldnt be an exaggeration to say that he didnt care about it at all.

Regardless of whether the leader of the class turned out to be Sakayanagi or Katsuragi, he wouldve chosen the side that turned out most beneficial to himself. Thats all there was to it. While he was fortunate to have started out in Class A, he was always considering the option of falling down to Class B or C.

The important thing for him was to take up the position that would turn things around in the end.

This was the reason why, after sensing his potential, he had gotten into contact with Ryen Kakeru after he had quickly risen to power within Class C at the start of the year.

His outstanding talent couldve taken down both Sakayanagi and Ichinose. Hashimoto had realized that the man had an ominous amount of strength. If Ryen had asked for it, Hashimoto wouldnt have hesitated to leak him information about Class A. Of course, this behavior was just espionage done under Sakayanagis instruction. However, if Ryen had the potential to overtake the other classes, he was fully prepared to double-cross even her.

This was the same reason why he had targeted Ichinose in Class B. However, Ichinose was different than Sakayanagi or Ryen because underhanded deals simply wouldnt work with her. In response to this, Hashimoto decided not to be too pushy, choosing instead to gradually approach from another angle. While they wouldnt go as far as to betray Ichinose, he established connections with a certain someone from B class who was close to her.

Hashimoto had promptly set up this type of social network with students from each class immediately after coming to this school.

It was better to prepare as much insurance as possible for the sake of any unexpected situations.

And today, once again, he was making preliminary arrangements in preparation for yet another unexpected situation.

U-um, Hashimoto-kun. Do you have a minute?

Within the hallways, after school. A girl from Class A, Motodoi Chikako, called out to Hashimoto from behind. Like Hashimoto, she was a member of the tennis club. She appeared to have run to catch up with him after he had left the classroom. She gave off a slightly fidgety appearance, unable to completely maintain her composure.

Hashimoto immediately understood what was going on without having to hear anything more.

Today was February 14th. He had already experienced this sort of scene several times.

However, even though he understood what was happening, he didnt let that show on his face. Of course, he wouldnt say anything either.

Sure thing, Motodoi. Whats up?

After getting such a gentle response, Motodoi composed her thoughts and came out with it.

This is chocolate. Because, uh, its Valentines day today.

As she spoke, she held out the chocolate, to which Hashimoto immediately accepted.

Thanks Motodoi. Im glad.

G-great!

Hashimoto had already noticed that Motodoi had been looking at him with affection as a member of the opposite sex. Thus, this chocolate was most likely meant with romantic intentions. While he was confident that he would succeed were he to confess, he felt nothing towards her. This was because, for better or worse, he saw her as a person who simply wasnt worth using. He had already judged that there werent any merits to going out with her.

You should show your face around the club every once in a while.

Sorry, Ive been skipping out a lot recently, havent I?

Definitely. Our senpais have been worried.

Ill keep that in mind. Anyways, Ill make sure to properly show you my thanks next month.

Y-yeah.

Motodoi blushed, nodded, and ran off. It was as if she was escaping from the embarrassing atmosphere.

Despite the fact that there was no possibility that the two of them would get into a relationship, Hashimoto made sure to keep his options open.

After all, maybe there would be some sort of change with her in the future.

In order to make up for this delay, Hashimoto sped up his pace as he moved toward the first-year Class C classroom.

For now, there was somebody far more worthy of his attention than Motodoi.

A male student within Class C, Ayanokji Kiyotaka.

Why is it that I care so much about him

There was a part of himself that couldnt help but wonder.

Before the training camp, he had no impression of him. He was just another student with a vaguely familiar face. He could remember that he had run a fierce relay against the former student council president during the sports competition, but that was all he could think of. Even then, Hashimoto didnt think that his evaluation of someone should change simply because they were quick on their feet. Furthermore, both Sakayanagi and Ryen were quick to catch on to things like this, yet Ayanokji hadnt caught the attention of either of them.

Recently, however, there was an incident that forced him to change his opinion of Ayanokji.

A curious remark from the current student council president, Nagumo Miyabe, enigmatically claiming that Ayanokji was somebody that Horikita Manabu holds in higher esteem than anyone. Hashimoto planned on passing it off as a joke, but somehow he was just unable to do so.

As he thought about it again, there had been signs that he had overlooked.

Why did the former student council president and Ayanokji personally confront each other during the relay?

What if that confrontation was more than just a mere coincidence?

What if it was intentional? Spurred on by some form of goal, pressing them to race against one another?

Doubts like these began to swirl in his mind.

Hashimoto had also yet to be convinced about what had happened to Ryen, who was said to have been overthrown by Ishizaki and others from his own class. Moreover, the current Class C, who had started out the year at the very bottom of the ladder, was now steadily starting to close the gap with the upper classes.

What if Ayanokji had actually been involved with each of these events?

What if hes an existence that surpasses both Sakayanagi and Ryen?

At this point, this train of thought didnt seem very likely to him.

And that was to be expected. For now, it was nothing more than a mere suspicion accompanied by exaggerated delusions. It was missing something definitive to tie it all together. What Nagumo had said was simply an unrealistic joke, and the reality of what had happened during the relay at the sports festival was nothing more than a fantasy that Hashimoto had come up with to fit his own convenience.

That was why Hashimoto chose to confirm the facts.

He usually spent his time acting under the orders of Sakayanagi, spreading rumors about Ichinose, but recently he had been spending his free time shadowing Ayanokji, spying in order to find out the truth.

Hashimoto finally reached the Class C classroom, but Ayanokji was already nowhere to be seen.

You never do waste time, do you Ayanokji?

His pool of friends was rather confined, so he seldom stayed behind in the classroom after school.

Was he with Yukimura and Miyake and that group of close friends today as well? Hashimoto considered it, but saw that both Yukimura and Sakura were still in the classroom, so he quickly dismissed the idea.

Yo, Hirata.

Awkwardly watching the students of another class would make him stand out.

To avoid that, immediately after arriving at the classroom, Hashimoto called out to Hirata, who had yet to head out to his club activities.

Yo, Hashimoto-kun. Whats up?

I just came by to see whether or not youve gotten yourself a new girlfriend.

Is that it? Im not thinking about finding a new one right now.

In the midst of healing your broken heart, are you?

Haha Something like that.

Id like to hear all about it sometime. Anyways, Ive been asking around for the contact information for the guys I was lodging with back during the training camp. I was looking to catch Ayanokji, but it looks like hes gone home already.

You didnt run into him? I think he left just a minute or two ago

He had missed him by just a bit. Quickly making the judgment that he could still catch up with him, Hashimoto gave his thanks to Hirata and immediately went back out into the hallway.

The end-of-year exams were coming up soon, so Hashimoto couldnt afford to keep tailing Ayanokji every day. He was hoping to come to a definitive conclusion about Ayanokji soon so that he could turn his full attention to the exams and tackle them at peak condition.

Id love to catch onto something new any time now.

He would make his move at the soonest opportunity. With this conviction, Hashimoto moved forward.

Luckily, Hashimoto caught sight of Ayanokji standing near the front entryway, his attention focused in on his cell phone. Was he meeting up with someone, or was he just killing some time? Either way, it was a lucky break.

Ayanokji was always using his cell phone to stay in touch with somebody. Was he just getting in contact with Miyake and the others? Or was he speaking to someone Hashimoto hadnt ever met before?

The one thing he could say for certain was that Ayanokji was an unusually easy target to track.

Hashimoto had tailed a fair number of students so far. Katsuragi, Ryen, Kanzaki, and even Ichinose at times. None of them were particularly easy to keep tabs on. It would be a stroke of good luck to be able to follow one of them once every two days. On the other hand, it would take more than an entire week to find out any new information about them if things went poorly.

However, Ayanokji lived a monotonous daily life with a very confined amount of friends and social connections.

This made it incredibly easy to anticipate his actions ahead of time. Moreover, Ayanokji didnt show a shred caution in regard to his surroundings.

He never took note of what was behind him, never showing any indication that he had sharp senses or a keen intuition.

Even so, Hashimoto wouldnt allow himself to grow complacent.

Though it might be overcautious, he decided that he would follow Ayanokji from even farther away than necessary.

At that point, Hashimoto got a phone call from one of his classmates, Naoki Shimizu.

Hello. Has something happened, Naoki?

No Actually, its about this morning Ive seriously had enough of this.

Ah. It would probably be better for you to forget about it, right? There are just a lot of talkative people in our class.

A somewhat problematic event had taken place within Class A that morning. Shimizu had confessed to a girl named Nishikawa, only to be rejected, and knowledge of his failure had begun to circulate among the girls of the class. Perhaps Nishikawa had carelessly told one of her friends about the confession, and it just spread around from there. Something like this would happen every once in a while.

You wont be able to confess to anyone at this rate if you worry too much about every single thing, you know?

Th-thats right but I still cant forgive Nishikawa for spreading it.

Well, while Id love to hear you complain about it, Im in the middle of something else right now.

Oh really? My bad.

Hashimoto made arrangements to call him back this evening and cut the call.

This is just how confessions end up when you dont meet all the conditions to ensure your success.

With the resolution to comfort his friend later on, Hashimoto returned to his mission of tailing Ayanokji back to the dormitories.

If hes going straight to his room like this, then I suppose I wont be finding anything new out today either.

If there was anything painful about tailing Ayanokji, it would be the overall monotony of the entire thing.

However, after Ayanokji got into the elevator, it passed the fourth-floor, where his room was located and continued to rise. Hashimoto watched the elevator monitor from the lobby as Ayanokji disembarked on the girls floor.

If my memory serves me right thats the floor Ichinose is on, isnt it?

Or was that merely a coincidence, and he was just there in order to meet with another girl?

Though, given the recent events, it was hard for him not to associate things like this with Ichinose.

Even though its weird, it is Ichinose so isnt it possible that hes just making a courtesy visit?

While Ayanokji only has a very confined amount of friends, Ichinose was incredibly popular with students throughout every school year.

It wouldnt be surprising for her to be friends with Ayanokji. In addition, that wasnt even considering how cute she is. It wouldnt be strange for a student to expect to get something by making her a courtesy visit.

However, Ayanokji immediately got back into the elevator and rode back down to the fourth floor, where he got back off.

What?

Nothing about it made any sense. Hashimoto continued to watch the monitor as the elevator returned to Ichinoses floor and several girls from Class B got on. He came to the conclusion that Ayanokji had run into all of these girls who had come to visit Ichinose before him, and made the decision to turn back after getting cold feet.

Just in case, Hashimoto immediately rode the elevator up to the fourth floor, but Ayanokji had already disappeared.

It was pretty much guaranteed that he had returned to his room.

So in the end, I dont find out anything today either, huh?

Considering whether or not to call it quits for the day, Hashimoto ultimately decided to ponder the situation for a little while in the lobby.

It was still pretty early. Hashimoto decided that it was still rather probable that Ayanokji would try to get in contact with Ichinose later on, or even potentially make arrangements with somebody else entirely. In addition, as long as he used the elevator, it didnt matter if he went upstairs or downstairs because hed be able to confirm things on the monitor.

Hashimotos resolution to stick around paid off after an hour or so.

Ayanokji boarded the elevator and began to ride down to the first floor.

Furthermore, he hadnt changed out of his school uniform yet.

Is he heading back to the school?

It wouldnt make any sense for him to head all the way back to school after deliberately heading home.

For instance, it would make sense that he wouldnt bother to change his clothes if he was simply heading off to the convenience store, but he had his school bag with him.

Hashimoto quickly got up from the sofa and hid in the emergency stairwell.

Im looking forward to seeing where this goes from here.

As if in response to Hashimotos wishes, Ayanokji walked out of the lobby, headed toward a relatively unpopular part of campus. With this, the odds of him heading to the convenience store or the school vanished. In which case, who was he meeting with? No, the place he was heading toward wasnt suitable for the usual simple meeting with a friend.

Given the situation, anybody would be filled with anticipation about what hes going to do and who hes going to meet.

The idea that he was meeting up with someone was effectively certain at this point.

If hes meeting up with former student council president Horikita, or even Ryen, things were about to get pretty heated.

However, each and every one of his expectations were spectacularly betrayed by what he saw.

Woah, woah, are you serious?

The person who turned up to meet with Ayanokji was none other than first-year Class Cs Kei Karuizawa.

She was a girl who, due to her recent break-up with Hirata, had caused a bit of a buzz within Class A. Even though Hashimoto had never had any contact with her so far, he still couldnt hide his astonishment at her unexpected appearance.

Feelings of weakness began to overwhelm him. The betrayal of all of his expectations.

This had nothing to do with the other side of Ayanokji that Hashimoto had been seeking to uncover. Instead, this was a matter of love. His brain automatically tried to see it in a different light, but no matter how he looked at it, their relationship with one another was clearly beyond that of just friends.

Hashimoto had witnessed Hirata and Karuizawas relationship several times before, but he had never felt a strong sense of love or intimacy between the two of them.

I dont get it. Why Ayanokji?

In the first place, which one of them was interested in the other? Or were they both interested in each other? He could posture guesses as much as he wanted, but he would still never come to an answer. After all, at a fundamental level, there are no such things as answers when it comes to love. If you were to objectively compare Ayanokji with Hirata, 80% of girls would end up choosing Hirata. However, it wouldnt be strange for the remaining 20% to choose Ayanokji.

That is to say, if there were 100 people, 20 of them would end up picking Ayanokji.

In which case

Ayanokoji has been in frequent contact with Karuizawa?

Hashimoto immediately abandoned that idea. It was just something he had come up with to explain the current situation, nothing more than an aspect of his imagination. He wouldnt be able to come to any conclusions without investigating things further. However, due to the low traffic of people through the place they were talking, it was impossible to get closer to hear exactly what they were saying.

What should I do

Just as Hashimoto was pondering about what steps to take next

There was a sudden development between Karuizawa and Ayanokji.

Chocolate, huh?

Karuizawa handed Ayanokji an object that she had been holding onto. Today was February 14th. For her to hand something over in a place so obviously outside of the public eye, anyone would be able to tell what she had handed over without actually seeing the gift.

Due to this, its clear that, at the very least, Karuizawa favors Ayanokji.

Well, at any rate, I guess I can leave it at that for today.

However, this bit of knowledge was unrelated to what he originally set out to discover.

With this in mind, Hashimoto started off back home. However, he then stopped in place.

Its a rare opportunity Why not challenge him directly?

Given that there wasnt very much time left until the end-of-year exams, this could also be the best option available to him.

He could shake things up a bit by forcibly dragging the unrelated Karuizawa into this. It was his chance to expose Ayanokjis weaknesses. At the same time, if Ayanokji doesnt show any response to his challenge, Hashimoto could conclude that he had nothing to worry about to begin with.

Satisfied with his decision, Hashimoto began walking toward Ayanokji and Karuizawa.

(Introduction End)