Chapter Text
(Ayanokouji Pov.)
It was already 6pm and I was serving tea to Horikita while she was sitting on the floor of my room in front of a wooden table.
She was wearing a simple black blouse with a white skirt, the black blouse made her beautiful hair stand out much more, her hair after a long year had grown much longer since the day she cut it at the end of our first year when she and her brother said goodbye.
In my opinion, she was as beautiful as ever, her expression was much calmer and relaxed compared to when we first met.
If someone said that the girl in front of me was the same girl I met in my first year, I would quickly disagree with that person, Horikita currently had a much more relaxed and cute look compared to her arrogant and cold first year self.
"You were thinking of something rude just now, weren't you Ayanokouji-kun?" -Horikita asked, staring at me as she placed the tea cup on the table.
Impressive, her intuition is still frighteningly accurate.
"No, Horikita, I don't see any reason for you to insinuate that." -I calmly replied as I began to drink some of my tea.
The conversation will certainly be problematic, knowing my luck and because of the recent events involving the class.
Reason 1- We finally arrived in class and we are currently class 2-A at the end of this second year and in a few weeks we will finally reach our third year, but the cost of us reaching class A was me expelling the traitor Maezeno who was passing information about our class to Hashimoto, it seems that the class didn't take it very well that I expelled one of his friends even though she was a traitor.
Reason 2 - I broke up with my girlfriend Kei Karusaiwa and it seems that after that she locked herself in her room and is no longer coming to class. What she is doing is that we lose class points and since Kei was a central figure among the girls, a large part of the class blames me and hates me, what a problematic situation.
"You really are a cruel man, aren't you Ayanokouji-Kun?" - Horikita says, staring at me as if she could look at my outer self with those beautiful violet eyes.
"What do you mean?" - I tilt my head to the side with an innocent act.
I knew what she was referring to, but I wanted to hear her talk herself. I'm currently enjoying spending time with her, so I'll use any opportunity to increase our conversation time without any problem.
"Don't act so innocent. I saw your argument with Kei when you broke up. Even at that moment, you didn't show any reaction on your face while you broke up. It was as if you had never cared about her. And knowing you in the two years we studied together, I bet I'm right in saying that you only used her for some purpose of your own and you discarded her now that she fulfilled her purpose." -Horikita said with a calm look on her face, going back to drinking her tea.
Yes, she's completely right. I really don't care about my breakup with Kei since I caused it myself. Unfortunately, I really couldn't love Kei. She taught me many things about love, but unfortunately, the main thing was to feel, and I couldn't learn or feel the emotion called love.
"These are very serious accusations Horikita, do you really think so low of me as a human being?" I ask sighing looking down as I receive Horikita's calm, but at the same time soft and serious gaze.
Strange, why is she so calm? She currently knows me much better than most, since she has been much closer to me than most people, both physically and mentally.
"Yes, I really think so, as a student you are an exemplary student, but as a person you are really quite flawed, cruel, horrible." - Horikita says calmly, finishing her tea.
Then, hearing her say this with a calm voice and with a calm look hurt more than the punches I received in my childhood from adults.
But this is still strange, I am slightly surprised by this reaction of hers, she is very calm, I expelled a student coldly and even broke up with my girlfriend also coldly in society's opinion, and yet she is still talking calmly to me.
"This hurts Horikita, but anyway, why are you so calm about this? You actually know the answer to most of your questions about my methods and concepts of caring for someone, so I'm curious why you're not judging me and just saying what you think about me, everything you said is true, so I'm curious about why you're so calm." - I ask calmly, staring at her, making our eyes meet in silence.
Her gaze was calm and beautiful, her skin seemed soft like cotton, her lips were red like a pink flower, it seemed like she had put on red lipstick that made them much more prominent, her beautiful hair moved with the wind from the fan in my room, which made her look even more beautiful.
"I think I've gotten used to this cruel side of you. After 2 years of studying with you, I've gotten used to this cold and cruel side of you. You've used me several times in your plans and I've seen firsthand how far you can go just to achieve victory. So to your question, the answer would be that I've adapted, I've adapted to your ways." - Horikita says calmly with a calm look and a small smile.
Okay, I have to be careful with what I'm going to say now. A wrong answer from me could generate something very problematic and difficult to deal with, and could hurt her emotionally.
I think I'm going to do something that few people have ever gotten from me and that's called "honesty". I'm going to be honest with her. I think she deserves some honest answers from me since she's genuinely become my first friend at this school.
And no, I'm not lying. Her presence has become something indispensable to me. I genuinely care about her and I don't want anything bad to happen to her.
"So Horikita, even though you've adapted to my ways, why? Why did you do this? You could have easily distanced yourself from me after the island test in our first year where I used you in a very cruel way, so I'm curious about why you still want to be around me when everything suggests that I'm not a person worth your time." - I finish speaking while looking at her.
I'm genuinely curious about what her answer will be, she's slowly becoming the person that her brother and I hope she will become, currently she's not at her full potential yet, but I'll make sure to make her get there, I want to see how far she can go and feel it firsthand.
Horikita stared at me for a while, it seemed like she wasn't even expecting this question from me, I think she's used to me killing the conversation when it comes to personal matters involving my personality or history, so I find it understandable that she took so long to answer me.
"...Even though I said that about you being a horrible person and even though you've done horrible things, I still think you can be a good person, you're a brilliant student and you know how to be kind too at times, you helped me at times when you could have easily refused and you also supported me a lot even when I was an arrogant girl and helped me improve as a person and as a student, I've evolved a lot thanks to you so even if I wanted to I couldn't hate you or distance myself from you Ayanokouji-Kun." -Horikita said with a slightly embarrassed look looking down.
Her gaze shifted away from my eyes more and more as she spoke, it seemed like she tried really hard to be able to say those words, I could analyze and feel that she hid a few more and kept them inside out of shame or some other reason that I still didn't know.
Cute, her blushing look and the way her hands trembled gently after admitting some of her honest thoughts made that look of hers even cuter and more beautiful. Her lips trembled gently showing her nervousness, the way they opened minutely as if she wanted to say something more, but something was stopping her.
"I'm surprised, I didn't expect an answer like that from you." I said calmly, looking at her.
"Please, let's change the subject, I'm already starting to regret every word I said." Horikita said, trying to return her normal gaze, but it was still possible to notice traces of her shyness, like her slightly flushed cheeks.
"Okay, let's talk about the original subject, which was about Kei and Maezeno." I said calmly, bringing that subject back.
If we continued on that other subject, certain things from my past would most likely be questioned, and that was something I wanted to avoid as much as possible.
"Yes, so tell me, Ayanokouji-Kun, what do you plan to do now that 80% of the class is angry with you?" Horikita said, finally returning to normal completely.
"Good question, Horikita." I replied, placing my teacup on the table. - "To be honest, I don't have a defined strategy yet. It's a new scenario for me to have to deal with the anger of several people, but nothing that I can't manage with time. They may be angry now, but that doesn't mean that this situation will be permanent, they will calm down after a certain amount of time."
Horikita sighed, crossing her arms as she looked at me with that critical look that was already so familiar, additional thought, as she crossed her arms her perfectly sized breasts stood out above her beautiful arms.
"You always already have something in mind, Ayanokouji-kun. Don't come at me with that idea that you're still planning. Be honest, you've already thought of some way to turn the game around, haven't you?" - Horikita said with a serious look.
It seems that she really learned to deal with some of my lies, scary.
"Maybe." - I shrugged, keeping my tone carefree. - "But before I go ahead with any plans, I need to observe more. What do you think, Horikita? How should I handle the situation?" I spoke calmly, turning my gaze to her.
I decided to test her, how will she answer this question? Let's see how much she has evolved in these years.
She arched an eyebrow, clearly surprised by my question. I rarely asked anyone's opinion on my own plans. However, there was something interesting in seeing how Horikita would react to this, I want to see how much she has evolved in these years, show me Horikita, show me how much you have evolved.
"Do you want my opinion?" She asked, tilting her head slightly, but soon continued. "I believe that if you want to regain the class's trust, you will need to show that, despite your decisions, you are committed to the class's overall well-being. Expelling Maezeno was necessary, but how can you guarantee that no one else will be treated the same way? They need to trust you again, because this year your reputation has increased quite a bit among our class and it wasn't in a good way, they need to see that you really aren't as horrible as they think." She said, looking like she was going to finish speaking, but slowly her lips opened again. "Even though they were partially right about you."
That last part was unnecessary and cruel. But anyway, I watched her closely as she spoke, the tone of her voice was direct, but there was no judgment, only logic and truth. Horikita had really matured in these two years and it made me slightly proud to see how much she had evolved.
"Interesting." I replied, after a brief pause. - "Maybe you're right. However, trust isn't something that's easily regained, especially when dealing with a class full of egos and insecurities."
Whether we like it or not, our class started in Class D for a reason and most of them haven't fully matured yet, some still deserve to be called flaws.
"You're right," she admitted. - "But you have no choice. If you don't do something, the class will continue to slowly divide between your friends trying to defend you and the other party criticizing you, and that could put our position as Class 2-A at risk. You're the only one who can reverse this now since you caused it yourself." Horikita said calmly.
She was completely right, there was no way I could use her to fix this because I caused it myself and this time the class wouldn't want to hear Horikita's words anymore, they wanted to hear what I had to say about my actions.
It was remarkable how she could see things pragmatically, but still maintain a supportive tone. Maybe that was why I felt a certain ease in opening up to her, even if in a very limited way.
"Horikita, do you really think my cold approach is the main problem? Or are they simply projecting their own frustrations onto me?" I asked, testing her reasoning.
I want to see how she will answer this. I like seeing how much she has evolved over the years more and more. Every time I see some changes between her and her flawed first-year self, I feel a kind of pride. I guess you could consider it pride. I can't say what I feel when I see it, but the only thing I know is that it's a good feeling.
She thought for a few seconds before answering.
"A little bit of both, maybe. Your approach is functional, but inhumane and quite cruel. It scares people. However, they are also dealing with their own insecurities and looking for someone to blame. You are the most obvious target. They are afraid because someone who can easily hurt them without caring and they couldn't even fight back before seeing what hit them. So at the first opportunity, they want to attack you to try to keep their insecurities and fears low and keep their pride intact." -Horikita said calmly, looking at me as she finished explaining.
I smiled internally, or at least I tried. She was absolutely right, it seems that her human analysis capacity has evolved considerably.
"You've really grown, Horikita." - I commented, observing the slight expression of surprise that appeared on her face. - "If you keep it up, I won't have to work anymore helping our class and you'll finally be able to do everything on your own without needing me." - I said calmly, filling an extra cup of tea for myself.
She laughed softly, something rare, but that highlighted her cold beauty even more, it was something rare to see her like that and I feel very lucky to be able to witness something like that.
"Don't be hasty, Ayanokouji-kun. I'll still be asking for your help for things I can't do, you yourself told me to trust my friends, so I'll follow your advice." - She replied, with a small smile.
As the conversation continued, I noticed something curious.
Despite the criticism, accusations and arguments, Horikita continued by my side, supporting me and following me. No matter how troubled or distant I was, she seemed determined to understand me and somehow support me. Perhaps, without her realizing it, she ended up becoming the most reliable person for me in this school and the person I cared about the most these days.
And I think that's why I'm increasingly hesitant to put that plan of mine into action.
What did you do to me, Suzune Horikita? Why do I hesitate to make my plan because of you, when this has never happened before? I hope to find the answer to this question before it's too late for me.
But in the meantime, I will enjoy every second and minute with you before it disappears forever and my life becomes a blank canvas again.
"What a beautiful smile." - I whispered discreetly, seeing Suzune's beautiful smile.
I hope I can enjoy this smile for much longer than I have a time limit.
End.
Let me know if you want me to make a sequel to this one-shot.
I think I'll bring a react from him too.