Chapter 144: Volume 4.5 Chapter 3 Part 2

“Um… Sakayanagi-san. Do you have some time?”

Right after lunch, Ichinose-san appealed to me as I was resting in a cafe. Because I had only been drinking tea on my own, I had no reason to decline.

“Is something the matter?”

I knew what she wanted to discuss since before she told me, but I deliberately tilted my neck in mock curiosity.

“In the special exam… I think I have to apologize. On the last day, I went off on my own… I’m truly sorry!”

It seemed that she had resolved herself to an extent since I’m not someone who would accept excuses. Ichinose-san lowered her head desperately.

No, if it were her then she likely wouldn’t have given an excuse no matter who she was talking with.

Even if she had angered me, the driving force behind Class A, and in doing so destroyed our cooperative relationship, it couldn’t have been helped.

Perhaps she felt that she had done something worthy of that.

“Please raise your head Ichinose-san. I am not angry.”

“…Eh?”

“Rather than that, as someone in our group I acknowledge that you have contributed quite enough. You would often be correct in the quizzes, and you brought together our exhausted comrades amidst the harsh life on the island. You did superbly as a central member of our group. Is that not why we were able to achieve a splendid 3rd place?”

“Bu-but…”

“On the last day, the fact that you did as you pleased is indeed a fact. However, the harm you caused to our group because of that was extremely miniscule. In comparison to your contribution, it is not enough to punish you. If despite all this we had dropped to 4th place by a slim margin, then I might have punished you, but that did not happen.”

“But that’s only in hindsight…”

“Is hindsight not also good at times? We cannot expect everything to always go perfectly. On the other hand, if we had dropped to 4th place by a small margin after fighting with all we had, the damage we would have sustained in our morale would have been considerable.”

In response to my stance to not punish her at all, Ichinose’s guilt may have doubled. She would not let herself off.

“If you won’t get some kind of consequence you wouldn’t feel at ease. That’s the kind of face you are making.”

“Uum, that’s… not necessarily untrue.”

“If that’s the case, shall I offer you a punishment?”

Overpowered by my unrivaled expression, Ichinose nodded.

“Yes. I think that takes a weight off my shoulders.”

“Fufu. What a strange person. Well, then – please sit here.”

I encouraged Ichinose to come before me and sit on a chair.

She looked like a borrowed cat, quiet and meek. I ordered one item from the menu to the waitress.

“Go on, please order what you like.”

“Um… the punishment?”

“Accompany me for afternoon tea for 30 minutes from now.”

“Eh? Tha-that’s punishment?”

“That’s right. I will take 30 minutes of Ichinose-san’s precious time. There is no other punishment for you.”

“Is that-so… but, if Sakayanagi-san says so, I will follow.”

Ichinose-san wasn’t satisfied with that, but she followed my instructions and ordered a drink.

“You really are honest, aren’t you Ichinose-san. Although I once held you in contempt, you are accompanying me without heeding that in the slightest.”

“I don’t think you did. In the first place… The error I was blamed for in the past was an actual mistake.”

“At the very least a past one is guilty of is something that should be hidden and not made common knowledge, I believe. Even if it’s an actual mistake, as you say.”

Until now, from when I was a child to when I became an adult, I have seen many excellent people from up close.

Needless to say, even while knowing that I was the best, the number of people who I’ve acknowledged is not small.

On the other hand, I’ve seen dozens of people who were incompetent to the point of being completely useless.

And different from excellence and incompetence, I had never known someone who could purely be called virtuous.

That is something me, my father, my mother and Ayanokouji-kun have in common.

“You are a difficult person to define. Consequently I sometimes see you as a frightening person.”

“I’m… frightening?”

She must have never been told that even once in her life. But those who have been frightened by Ichinose Honami surely don’t number one or two.

“Those who live in this world are evil to lesser or greater extents. But I can’t feel that from you at all. It’s as if you’re a lump of goodness.”

“You’re praising me too much. Like in middle school, I have done bad things before…”

Her past which she could never take pride in but would rather be ashamed of still remains even to this day.

“The goodness I am talking about here has nothing to do with that sort of thing. Ever since the beginning, even when you stained your hands for a moment, in the background was your family’s irreplaceable love.”

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The evil described by the law could be seen as goodness depending on one’s perspective.

“Your goodwill is a strength and a weakness. Please be careful not to be exploited.”

“Are you talking about Ryuuen?”

“Not just him. Even I or Horikita would use your goodwill to win.”

I took a breath before continuing to convey the most important thing.

“Ayanokouji-kun is the same.”

Including Ryuuen-kun, whom she mentioned, the names until now all fitted as their respective classes’ leaders.

Reacting to my sudden mention of Ayanokouji-kun’s name, Ichinose-san visibly shook.

“On the last day of the uninhabited island exam, Ayanokouji-kun was saved because of you, right?”

“Wa-wait a second. Um, what do you…”

“Please remember that this is only my conjecture. There are many parts I honestly still do not understand, so please take these words as my ramblings.”

If I question her here, I could easily imagine learning about things that are unclear to me from Ichinose-san. But I avoided that. If I do that here it would have been boring after all.

“When I see you, I can somehow guess that the thoughts you hold about Ayanokouji-kun are different from those you hold from other students.”

“Eh-ehh!? N-no um, that, um…!”

“That’s fine, isn’t it? It’s human instinct to hold such feelings about someone special and of the opposite sex. However – if you admire him too much you risk getting a painful response. All the more if the other party is Ayanokouji-kun.”

“I don’t quite understand your meaning, Sakayanagi-san.”

Today is a warning. I won’t do anything more here.

“Let us conclude this conversation here. Our afternoon tea is over.”

Ichinose-san, having been dragged here for tea, surely can’t taste its flavor well. She can’t forget the words I spoke. It likely haunts her mind.

That was my small malice, my mercy, and my plan.