The weather outside was nice.
I walked down the path with my hands in my blazer pockets and looked around campus like I had all the time in the world. The sun was warm. The breeze was light. Students were standing around doing student things.
Which meant, of course, that most of them were wasting time.
Two girls were laughing over a phone screen near the benches. A boy ran past me with a plastic bag in one hand and the expression of someone who had definitely forgotten at least one important ingredient. A couple farther ahead were arguing over something small and dumb.
Normal.
Very normal.
That was the strange part.
Places like this had too much room in them. Too much room to stand around. Too much room to waste time. Too much room to be a person instead of a result.
And right now, I was walking through all of it to meet senpai.
We were going shopping for ingredients.
And then he was going to cook something yummy for me.
Honestly, that still sounded ridiculous enough to make me smile a little.
It wasn't like I was blushing and twirling my hair about it or anything embarrassing like that.....
I looked up toward the dorm windows as I passed.
Curtains open. Curtains closed. Shadows moving behind the glass. Little lives stacked on top of each other.
People here really did just... live.
Eat, talk, forget things, buy groceries, waste days.
How terribly cute....
And under all that, there was still the other thing.
The uglier thing.
The reason today wasn't just shopping.
I didn't think about it too hard.
Not at first.
Because another thought got there before it could.
Or more precisely a person.
Yagami.
Ugh....
I kept walking, but my smile faded a little.
His face from last night slipped back into my head all on its own. The look he gave me when I told him about me and Hōsen's move.
Not impressed.
Not curious.
He was Just annoyed.
That was what got under my skin.
He looked at the whole thing like it was cheap.
Like he already knew exactly how it would go.
That irritated me.
Did Yagami not want any proof?
Proof that Kiyotaka really is as a good as they say he was?
I was already most of the way there, sure. I had enough reason to believe in Senpai and his skills.
But I still wanted to see it with my own eyes.
I wanted that final push.
That last little piece.
Yagami, meanwhile, sounded like he didn't need that at all.
How annoying....
Why are you so sure? I thought then immediately clicked my tongue at myself.
You haven't even seen enough to act like that.
I sigh and shook my head.
Ah foolish young Yagami... right idea wrong direction.
Hm....
Maybe I should fix that.
Maybe I should gently, kindly, beautifully guide him toward the correct answer.
Get him to worship my lord and savior, Ayanokōji Kiyotaka.
Perfect.
The idea made me smile again for a second.
Then the breeze shifted.
The warmth on my skin thinned a little. The girls by the benches laughed again, but the sound felt farther away this time. My steps stayed light, but my thoughts had already stopped walking beside me.
That was the annoying thing about memories. They didn't really ask.
One second I was outside, in the sun, with leaves moving overhead and stupid little errands happening all around me.
The next, the nice colors were fading at the edges.
The path under my feet stayed there, but it stopped feeling warm. The noise of campus blurred together. The blue of the sky drained slowly, then all at once, until all that was left was white.
And by then, of course, I was already back there.
The White Room was always too bright.
The room Tsukishiro used was the same as all the others. White table. White floor. White walls. Air that smelled faintly of paper and disinfectant. No windows. Nothing soft in it.
The briefing had already ended.
Yagami and I had both been there for it. Mission. Cover. School. Target.
We had to absorb ridiculous amounts of information and then we were recited on it.
Then... Yagami left.
And I was told to stay.
That was where the whole thing started.
I remember standing beside my chair and thinking, Hm?
That was it.
Just curiosity.
Why am I still here?
Tsukishiro stood across from me with one hand on a folder. He always looked like he had planned the amount of movement he was going to use before he entered the room.
"Amasawa," he said.
"Yes, sir."
"You understand the mission."
Not a question.
"Yes."
He gave a small nod.
"You and Yagami will enter ANHS. Ayanokōji Kiyotaka is the target. Yagami will act as your assigned partner."
Nothing new yet.
I stayed quiet.
Then he said, "Yagami was given inadequate information."
That made me look up properly.
What..?
That.. definitely was not where I expected this to go.
He was told less?
For a second, all I could think was..
Why?
Why would you do that to him?
Tsukishiro answered before I could ask.
"Yagami Takuya is the most capable product of the fifth generation," he said.
Well, duh.
Even a blind person can see that.
I didn't say that out loud. I do know how to behave when I feel like it.
Still, that part was hardly news.
Yagami's ability had never been hard to notice. He wasn't one of those children who chased first place like a starving dog. He just ended up there and looked mildly inconvenienced that other people were still trying.
Tsukishiro continued.
"He is the only one in that generation remotely close to the Professor's standards. His academic and physical results are exceptional. His judgment is highly advanced."
Yes.
And?
Then his voice cooled a little.
"That is not the problem."
Ah.
There it was.
"The problem," he said, "is his emotional disposition."
That got my full attention.
"He displays unnecessary empathy. He shows concern for weaker students despite correction. His loyalty to the institution is unstable."
A short pause.
"He is a flight risk."
The room felt colder after that.
Not because the words were dramatic.
Because they fit him too well.
Yes.
That was Yagami.
That was exactly the irritating part of him.
The White Room wanted things simple. Strip away what wasn't needed. Sharpen what remained. Make children useful. Make them obedient. Make them efficient.
A lovely idea, really.
If you liked kicking puppies.
I had never liked the shape of that life. Not really. Even as a child, the idea of spending my entire existence in that little closed garden felt miserable.
Grow for the sake of the place.
Work for the sake of the place.
Die for the sake of the place.
How exciting.
No thank you.
But Yagami was annoying in a different way.
Not because he wanted out.
That part I could understand.
No, what bothered me was the strange little human things he kept doing anyway.
Helping people.
That was the ridiculous part.
He didn't even do it loudly. If he had, it would have been easier to dismiss. Easier to laugh at. Easier to hate.
But Yagami did it quietly.
A slower student. A weaker child. Someone stumbling. Someone struggling and too proud—or too well-trained—to ask for help.
And somehow Yagami kept drifting close to those moments.
Just close enough to interfere.
Then he'd get punished for it.
And that was the part I never knew what to do with.
Because I had seen it.
Not rumors. Not guesses. Seen it.
Seen him help.
Seen him take correction for it.
Seen him do little things that made no sense in a place like this.
And every single time, I expected to feel one thing.
Disgust.
Or maybe amusement.
Or at least nothing.
Instead...
Something else showed up.
Only a little.
But it was unfortunately there.
Admiration.
How annoying.
I hadn't expected that sort of feeling to appear for many people besides senpai.
And yet there it was.
Small.
Quiet.
Real enough to irritate me.
Tsukishiro's voice cut through the thought.
"You will watch him."
I looked back up.
His expression hadn't changed.
"You will report irregular behavior. Deviations in loyalty. Any indication that he intends to act outside mission parameters. If Yagami becomes a second problem, you will inform us immediately."
There it was.
The real reason I had been kept behind.
I wasn't just a partner.
Observer.
Monitor.
Leash, if needed.
It sat cold in my stomach.
Probably because it made too much sense.
And probably because, if I was being honest with myself, I had already been watching him more than I meant to.
How irritating.
"This assignment is important, Amasawa," Tsukishiro said.
"Yes, sir."
"Do not let personal judgment interfere."
His eyes stayed on mine.
"And do not fail."
That was all.
No lecture. No speech. Nothing theatrical.
He didn't need any of that.
The chill still crawled down my back anyway.
"Yes, sir," I said again.
A small nod.
Dismissed.
I turned toward the door.
And one thought followed me out.
If Yagami truly is a flight risk...
Then maybe part of him had already escaped.
The memory broke with the sound of laughter.
Campus returned in pieces.
The breeze. The path. Warm light. Students talking. Someone calling out that they forgot something.
I blinked once.
Then again.
Ah.
Right.
I was outside.
And I was supposed to be meeting senpai.
I resumed walking.
The smile slid back into place naturally enough. It always did.
Still, Tsukishiro's order lingered a little.
Watch Yagami.
Honestly, that felt late.
He had already been getting under my skin for a while now.
Not in a dramatic way.
Just enough to be irritating.
Just enough to be interesting.
Just enough that I kept thinking about him when I really should have been thinking about Senpai instead.
Very rude of him, honestly.
Then I looked up and saw a familiar figure waiting ahead with that same terribly ordinary air he always had.
There he was~
Ayanokōji-senpai.
Waiting like this was just another normal afternoon.
My smile brightened on instinct.
All right then.
Time to go shopping.
___
My room was quiet.
Not empty. Not White Room quiet. There was still the low hum of my laptop, the occasional footsteps outside in the hall, the sound of a door closing somewhere farther down the floor. Small sounds. Human sounds.
I sat at my desk and stared at the screen.
Too many tabs were open again.
School notices. A message board full of idiots arguing about cafeteria food. A news page. A video site. A game store. Another video. Then another.
Video Games.
I still didn't really get them.
Actually, no. That wasn't true anymore.
That was the annoying part.
I was starting to get them.
Not fully. I still thought spending hours farming fake materials or shooting digital monsters with strangers online was a little ridiculous. But I understood the shape of it now. People wanted something they didn't have to be good at. Something they could lose themselves in without it needing to matter.
That part kept catching in my head.
I clicked on another trailer and watched a character fly across the screen in a blur of light and metal. Big sword. Bigger explosion. The comments below were all over the place.
Peak fiction.
Worst update ever!
This boss ruined my marriage ):
Interesting...
I leaned back in the chair and let out a slow breath through my nose.
Lately, I'd been doing this too much.
Not gaming. Just... drifting.
Watching things. Reading random threads. Following links I had no reason to follow. Clicking around because something looked interesting, not because it was useful.
The White Room would've hated that.
But here, people wasted time on purpose.
And somehow, I'd started doing the same thing.
That should have bothered me more than it did.
But it didn't.
So whatever.
I clicked the trailer off and looked at my dark window instead. The glass reflected the room back at me. Desk. Chair. Lamp. My face. A convenience store bag on the floor. A room that locked from the inside.
That part still felt strange sometimes.
A door nobody opened without permission.
A laptop I bought because I could.
A room that was mine, even if only for now.
The internet was one problem. Privacy was another. Too much room. Too much time. Too much freedom to think about whatever I wanted.
Maybe that was why my mind had been wandering so much lately.
I reached for my phone and opened the school app.
Enough nonsense.
The pairing page loaded.
Seventeen more pairs finalized.
Seventy-three total.
Eighty-four left.
I looked at the numbers for a second, then put the phone down.
People were moving now.
The boards shrinking.
Seventeen in one stretch meant the smart ones had already started locking things down. Anyone who kept hesitating now was either very confident or very stupid.
That left Kushida.
And Ichika.
My eyes drifted back to the laptop screen, but I wasn't seeing it anymore.
Ichika was with Ayanokōji tonight.
She'd told me last night that she and Hōsen were going to try something. The details made me roll my eyes. Hōsen's name alone already explained the tone of it.
Honestly, that was exactly why it irritated me.
Not because I thought it would work. It won't
But because it was such a stupid way to approach him.
Hōsen only knew one method. Push harder. Get louder. See what breaks first. It worked on a lot of people, sure. It will not work on Ayanokōji Kiyotaka.
Ichika should have known that too.
Maybe she did know and wanted to watch anyway. Maybe she thought it would be fun. Maybe she was just being Ichika.
Whatever.
I already knew Kiyotaka was the real thing. That had been settled in my head for a while now.
I didn't need Hōsen to prove it. I didn't need Ichika hovering around him with some half-hidden little setup either.
So yes, what they were doing tonight annoyed me.
And no, I didn't care enough to chase after it.
I continued to scroll through the internet. Loe and behold, I found a.... promising video
"30 Minutes of Funny Cat Compilations!"
....
I slowly moved my mouse towards the play button.
Unfortunately I wasn't even Able to click play before.
BZZ!
My phone buzzed on my table.
I sigh..
It was No doubt Kushida.
I will watch you later cat videos...
I picked up my phone and opened to the chat.
The message was short.
South stairwell. Come alone. Ten minutes.
I stared at it for a second.
Then I laughed a little.
No smiley face emoji. No "Yagami-kun."
Interesting.
I lowered the laptop lid halfway, stood, grabbed my phone, and left the room.
⸻
The hallway was quieter now.
I walked with my hands in my pockets and headed for the stairwell.
Kushida wouldn't message me like that unless she was frustrated.
She also wouldn't choose the south stairwell unless she'd thought about it properly. Private enough for a real conversation.
Of course she was angry.
I'd told her I knew. I'd told her I didn't want to use it over her. To me, that was the cleanest way to handle it.
To her, it probably sounded like I'd laid a knife on the table and called it manners.
Fair.
I passed two students on the stairs. They barely glanced at me. Fine by me.
Whatever Ichika and Hōsen were doing tonight, this was still the more useful move.
Kiyotaka would handle himself. That part wasn't even worth doubting.
Kushida, though...
Kushida mattered.
Not because I knew her. I didn't.
But Becuase she had a direct relationship with Kiyotaka and most of class 2-D.
She could be used to stir trouble in Kiyotaka's class worst comes to worst.
I reached the stairwell door and pushed it open.
Kushida was waiting on the landing between floors.
And for a second, I just looked at her.
Oh boy..
No smile. No careful warmth. No bright, harmless little expression she wore around everyone else.
She was standing with one hand on the railing, shoulders tight, chin lifted just a little, staring at me like she'd decided that if I said one wrong thing she was going to skin me alive.
Her eyes were sharp. Her mouth was set. Even the way she held herself looked different. Less soft, more exact.
Ah.
So this was what she really looked like.
Huh....
Honestly?
It suited her more than I expected.
I stopped a few steps away.
She looked me over once and said, "You came."
"Well yeah, You told me to."
"Wow. Good for you."
That got a small smile out of me before I could help it.
Bad move.
Her glare sharpened instantly.
"Don't smile."
"Sorry."
"You don't sound sorry dumbass."
"Yeah I'm not."
That made her click her tongue.
Good start. Great start
For a second, neither of us said anything. The stairwell hummed softly around us. Somewhere below, a door opened and closed.
Then she said, "You told me something really interesting the other day."
Her tone was light.
Too light.
Right. Angry enough to kill. Polite enough to sharpen it first.
"I remember," I said.
"You remember." She laughed once, but there was nothing warm in it. "That's nice. I'm glad one of us has been sleeping well."
I almost said I'd actually been looking at game trailers and trash videos, but that felt unwise.
Probably.
Kushida pushed off the railing and took one step toward me.
"You said you knew," she said. "And then you said you didn't want to use it against me."
"Yes."
"And I've been thinking..."
That smile l came back for a second. Not the real thing. The public one. The smooth one.
"What the fuck exactly was I supposed to do with that?"
Sheesh we have a Mini Hōsen...
I looked at her for a moment before answering.
"You could've ignored me."
"And let someone who knows that much keep walking around?"
"I told you I wasn't gonna use it." I said
"Then you should have kept your mouth shut in the first place!" she snapped.
"I could have."
"Then why didn't you?"
Because if I kept quiet, it would've turned into leverage whether I meant it to or not.
Instead I just said, "Because you were going to notice something was off eventually."
She narrowed her eyes. "That's not an answer."
"It's the one I'm giving."
Her jaw tightened.
Interesting.
She was trying very hard not to just tell me to go to hell.
"You know," she said, "for someone standing in front of a person he just cornered, you're weirdly calm."
"Cornered..?" I raised my brow.
"Yes, cornered." She folded her arms. "You know the kind of thing I can't afford to let spread. That's not 'starting a conversation,' Yagami. That's standing on someone's throat and pretending you're not."
That one actually made me pause.
She was kind of right I guess...
Maybe this approach wasn't as kind as I thought it was.
Then I nodded once.
"All right."
She blinked.
That probably wasn't the reaction she wanted.
I went on before she could say anything else.
"You're right," I said. "From your side, it looks like that."
Her expression shifted, just a little.
Then she said, "...What?"
"You asked."
"No, I heard you." She frowned harder. "I just didn't expect you to say that."
"Why not?"
"Because you've been acting like this is all perfectly reasonable."
"It is to me."
"That's the damn problem..." she growled out.
I sigh.
"Then explain it to me from your side, cause I don't get it"
That got her attention.
Maybe because it sounded genuine.
She stared at me for a second, like she was trying to figure out whether I was an emotionally stunted toddler or setting a trap.
Then she sighed deeply.
"Fine."
She glared at my eyes. Her voice was still sharp, but it had changed. Less explosive. More direct.
"You know something from my old school. Something I don't let people know. Something I absolutely don't want connected to me here." She took another step closer. "Then you say you know it, and you say you're not going to use it over me. You expect me to believe that and relax?"
"Uhm... No?"
"Good." Her eyes narrowed. "Then stop acting like this is normal."
I let out a small breath.
"Maybe not normal," I said. "But it can still be honest... kind of"
Kushida looked at me like I had personally offended the concept of common sense.
Then she said, "What do you want from me?"
There.
Straight to the point.
"A deal," I said.
She stared.
"Hehe...."
Then actually laughed.
"A deal? You want a deal?"
"Yes."
"You know something that could ruin me, and you want a deal."
"I know something you don't want exposed."
"That's the same thing."
"No."
Her eye twitched
"No?" she repeated.
"No."
"Explain."
"All right." I straightened a little. "If I wanted to control you with it, I'd have used it that way already. I didn't."
"You still might."
"I might do a lot of things."
"That's not reassuring..."
She sucked in a breath through her nose and looked away for half a second, visibly restraining herself from cursing me out too early.
It was honestly impressive.
"Why me?" she asked.
"Because you're useful," I said.
Her eyes went flat.
I elaborated quickly.
"You hear things. People trust you. You move through Class D easily. You understand how to handle people." I looked at her properly. "And you're a not as evil as you think."
That hit.
Her eyes widened slightly.
She liked that answer.
Good.
"Don't talk like you know me," she muttered.
"I don't."
That made her stop.
I added, "I know one thing you're afraid of. That's not the same as knowing you."
Silence.
For a second, she just stared at me.
Then she clicked her tongue and muttered, "Creep."
"That's fair."
"Stop saying that."
"You keep saying fair things."
That got a proper glare out of her.
Worth it.
I looked at her again while she was glaring.
Really looked.
Her hair had shifted slightly from how she usually wore it, just enough to make her look less polished. Her eyes were sharper like this. More direct. The fake softness was gone, so every expression on her face actually meant something.
She caught me looking and snapped, "What."
"Nothing."
"Bullshit, spit it out creep"
I tilted my head a little. "This is easier."
"What is."
"This."
She blinked once. "Excuse me?"
I pointed vaguely between us.
"You're angry. I know you're angry. You know you're angry. It's easier than that fake disgusting smile all day right?."
....
She just stared at me.
The look she gave me after that was incredible.
For a second, I genuinely thought she might throw me down the stairs. I was really just saying ridiculous thing after another.
Then she said, very clearly, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
That almost got me.
Almost.
Instead I shrugged and said, "A lot, probably."
"No, shut up." She looked confused in a way that was almost funny. "You don't get to say something that weird and then act normal."
"I'm not acting. I'm perfectly normal."
"No your not!"
Her voice bounced off the wall. She immediately lowered it again, but the damage was done.
I had to bite back a smile.
Bad idea.
She saw it and looked even more insulted.
"Why," she said, slower now, "would you ever say that to me?"
Because it was true.
Instead I said, "Because I don't like being lied to directly while you smile like that."
"And you think that means I owe you my honesty?"
"No."
"Then what are you saying?"
"I'm saying I'd rather talk to this version of you, Obviously."
That hit again.
Not pleasantly.
But directly.
She looked at me for a long second, then folded her arms tighter.
"You are seriously messed up... seriously.." she said.
"You said that three times now"
"And I'll say it again!" She yelled.
Then she exhaled exhausted and said, "Fine. Let's stop wasting time."
"All right."
"If you want anything trustworthy from me while standing there with that over my head, then I want one of your secrets."
There it was.
Insurance.
Makes sense.
I nodded.
"Okay."
Her eyes narrowed. "Just like that?"
"You asked."
"And you're agreeing?"
"Yep"
That bothered her more than if I'd argued.
Interesting.
I slipped one hand out of my pocket and said, "Before I tell you, you should know it isn't just mine."
She frowned.
"It's also Ayanokōji's."
That made her stop and perk up.
"Ayanokōji...?"
"Yep."
"Why would you know his secret?"
"It's a real long story."
She stared.
Then said, "Then... start talking."
I slowly smiled
And then I completely wrecked the mood.
"The short version is that I grew up in a deeply insane place, Ayanokōji did too, and both of us are tied to things that sound fake if you say them out loud."
Kushida just blinked.
So I kept going.
Not the full thing, Just the shape of it. The kind of summary that sounds ridiculous to anyone hearing it for the first time. Training. Being raised for things no child should be raised for. Ayanokōji being tied to the same place. Why I was here. Why it mattered.
I basically just dumped my life story.
Her expression kept changing while I talked.
Annoyed.
Then confused.
Then absolutely convinced I had utterly lost my mind.
When I finally stopped, the stairwell went silent.
I let out a breath.
"Phew.." I said. "That actually feels better, thanks for listening."
Kushida stared at me.
-....-
She goes through the full five stages of grief.
Then—
"What...the fuck are you talking about....?"
There it was.
"I asked for a secret," she hissed, stepping forward, "not some insane bullshit story!"
"But It's true..."
"No it isn't."
"It is."
"No, it fucking isn't!" She looked genuinely furious now. "Do you seriously expect me to believe any of that?"
"I knew you wouldn't believe it."
"Then why say it?!"
"Because you asked for a secret."
"I asked for a real one!"
"That was real."
"Yagami....." she warned.
I lifted a hand a little.
"Fine," I said, "it wasn't useful."
Her mouth tightened.
"You wanted one you could use," I said. "That one wasn't that."
She stared at me, then swore under her breath.
I gave her a second to cool off.
Then I said, "Do you want the useful one or not?"
That reset her.
Not nicely. Just enough.
"Fine," she said. "Give me the real one... and you better stop mocking me"
I nodded once.
"The first year Hōsen is trying something against Ayanokōji soon."
That got her attention immediately.
"Hōsen?"
"Yeah."
"What kind of something?"
"Something stupid."
"That tells me nothing."
"There's another first-year involved."
"A girl?"
"Yep."
"Who?"
I shook my head. "That part doesn't matter."
"It does to me."
"Not enough."
She clicked her tongue hard enough to echo.
Of course she did.
"The point," I said, "is that Hōsen is making a move against Kiyotaka."
That made her go quiet.
Because Hōsen made sense.
Hōsen was visible. Loud. Obvious. If his name was attached to something, it was real enough to matter.
This secret sat better with Kushida.
She slowly unfolded her arms.
"All right," she said. "Then terms."
She looked at me.
"You keep your mouth shut about my past."
"Done."
"You don't hint about it. You don't joke about it. You don't bring it up later if you get pissed off."
"Done."
"You don't drag me into things without warning."
"I'll warn you if it matters."
She thought that over.
Then nodded once.
"We partner for the exam."
"Agreed."
"You tell me things I actually need to know."
"You do the same."
"If it affects me."
"If it affects me."
"That's not equal."
"It doesn't have to be equal. It has to work."
She didn't like that answer.
She also didn't argue.
Interesting.
"If you betray me," she said, "this ends."
"Same."
"If you lie to me in a way that puts me at risk—"
"I won't."
That answer came out quickly.
She caught it.
Her eyes narrowed. "That sounded disgustingly sincere."
"It was."
"Fucking annoying creep."
"I'm hearing that a lot tonight."
She gave me a look and sighed.
"Fine," she said. "Then we're partners."
That was it.
I nodded once. "Works for me."
She looked at me for another second, then said, "That first secret was still complete bullshit."
"You don't have to believe it."
"I don't."
"I know."
"You're seriously creepy.."
"I've heard worse."
"I'm sure you have."
She turned toward the stairs, then stopped.
Without looking back, she said, "If Hōsen makes a bigger mess later, and it starts affecting me, you tell me first."
"Maybe."
That got me a sharp look over her shoulder.
"Yagami."
"All right," I said. "Probably."
"That's not reassuring."
"No," I said. "But it's honest."
She clicked her tongue one last time and headed downstairs muttering about my "honesty" being bull crap"
I stayed there until her footsteps faded.
Only then did I move.
The stairwell felt quieter after she left.
Partner.
Useful.
Kushida thought I was insane. That was probably fine.
And now she knew just enough to stop treating me like a threat.
That was good enough.
I pushed through the stairwell door and stepped back into the hall.
A vending machine hummed at the far end. Someone opened a door, muttered goodnight, and closed it again. Two people were taking next to an elevator.
I walked past them without slowing.
I just headed back toward my room, where the laptop was still open and that stupid cat Video was probably still waiting for me.