“…I see. Well, to be honest, the idea of losing on purpose is totally out of the question for me. All right. I’ve decided,” she said, uncrossing her arms after a few moments of careful consideration. After getting this far in our talk, Horikita seemed to have decided which future she wanted to aim for. “To be honest, I was prepared to take on the role of the general myself. There were no other candidates anyway, and I thought that I should probably fight, as the leader.”
“That makes sense,” I replied.
“But, if you’re willing to serve as the general, then… Well, everything else is trivial. The class winning is my number one priority, more important than my personal wishes. I will take the strategy that has the best chance of winning,” said Horikita.
“So you’re saying that you’re willing to hand over the position of general?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said. “I will fight with everything I have. It will give me peace of mind, even if it’ll make me more nervous at the same time. Because it means I’ll be forced into an inevitable, hard-fought battle, and that I’ll have to think of a way to win that battle when I’ve given up the position of general.”
For Horikita’s part, she got the insurance and peace of mind that even if she lost, I’d handle it somehow. But, on the other hand, if she used that insurance, she wouldn’t have my cooperation in the future. In that case, the ideal scenario for her would be to lead the way to victory herself while working as the center.
“So then, I formally accept your proposal. I will have you be the general for this upcoming special exam,” said Horikita. Then she added, “You’re sure about this? I’m going to be considering you an asset in this.”
“I don’t intend to drag anyone down, of course. All right. We have a deal,” I replied.
I offered my hand, and Horikita took it, giving it a shake. I will do whatever it takes to claw out a victory myself. I’m sure that kind of feeling must have been growing stronger in Horikita, like the feeling of having a fire under you.
“Oh yeah, that reminds me. There’s something I need you to do for me beforehand, if I’ll be accepting this role. I don’t know what the others will think about me being in the general’s seat. There may be classmates who would react negatively to the idea of me being entrusted with such an important battle. There’s also the matter of what happened last year,” I explained.
“I’m sure that not many people will be against the idea. But I guess it’s not impossible,” said Horikita.
“Therefore, I want you to get the consent of the entire class,” I added.
“The entire class?” she asked. “Including Kouenji-kun?”
Her words carried the implied question: “Is it really necessary to go that far?”
“Yes. Including Kouenji,” I replied.
“But what if he says no? There’s a good chance that he’ll be temperamental.”
“I don’t think that he’s the type to object to something unless it’s actually detrimental, but I suppose I can’t guarantee that. If he does object, let me know right away. If that happens, I’ll take action directly.”
“You will?” asked Horikita. “Well, that’s fine with me, but… Very well. I’ll begin right away.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it. But be as discreet as possible.”
“What do you mean by ‘as discreet as possible’? Oh, and I’ll keep quiet about the part about how your participation here is based on the condition that you won’t be helping the class in the future. You don’t mind, right?”
It was only natural that students wouldn’t look too kindly upon it if they knew that I was participating in order to cut corners in the future. Regarding the terms and conditions, those should be kept between us, after all.
“Not at all, that’s fine. What I mean by discreetly is that I don’t want Ichinose’s class to know that I will be taking on the role of general. In order to increase our chances of winning, even if only slightly, it is essential that we surprise and fluster our opponent. So please make sure that everyone in our class knows not to leak this to anyone outside,” I explained.
“Even if I didn’t do that, I’m sure that there isn’t anyone in our class who would share secrets with another class anyway,” said Horikita.
“Even so. Even if someone doesn’t intend to leak it, there’s a risk that someone could pick up on it through incidental conversations. In that sense, the warning is so that they focus their minds, so to speak,” I replied.
“Yes, that’s true,” said Horikita, honestly accepting what I said. “All right, then, I’ll let you know if I can get the go-ahead from everyone in class or if there are any dissenting opinions. We’re running out of time, so I intended to get that done by this evening.”
I nodded and decided to wait for Horikita’s report.
3.1
HORIKITA AND I went our separate ways at the café shortly after 6 p.m., after which I stopped by the bookstore. I killed time for just under an hour inside the store, and then walked toward the karaoke room where I’d agreed to meet with the guy I was speaking to next, just as planned. On my way there, I spotted Hasebe Haruka in front of me.
Miyake, who was usually together with her, was nowhere to be seen. If we had just run into each other by sheer coincidence, we would have passed by each other in silence. But Haruka’s gaze never left me, and there appeared to be a hint of confusion in it. It was easy to tell that there was something she wanted to say.
“Did you need something?” I asked.
When I called out to her as I closed the distance between us, her eyes widened in almost comical surprise. She definitely looked as though she wanted to talk to me, but perhaps she didn’t expect that I would come and talk to her.
“Oh, um… Well, it’s… I happened to see you talking with Horikita-san earlier, and…” said Hasebe.
Hasebe spoke in a quiet, whispering voice, looking over briefly at the café behind me.