Suzune Horikita pulled the door open and stepped aside to let Subaru in.
The room was as tidy as ever. Textbooks and notebooks on the desk were arranged with precision, the bed was made without a single crease, and a faint, pleasant fragrance lingered in the air. The stainless steel water bottle that had once trapped her hand now stood quietly in the corner of the desk, as if silently mocking something.
Subaru's gaze lingered on the water bottle for a split second.
Suzune keenly caught that look, her cheeks heating up slightly.
"Don't look over there!" Her voice remained cold and hard.
Subaru didn't say anything; he simply sat down on the chair by the desk. Suzune closed the door and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed. A distance of about one meter separated them, exactly the same as last time.
"The list is ready to be submitted," Suzune got straight to the point. "For the relay race, the order is as we discussed before. You're the anchor, the final leg. The runner before you is Ayanokoji."
Subaru nodded.
"The other events are also arranged..." She paused. "Kushida signed up for the obstacle race."
Subaru remained silent.
Suzune looked at him, a trace of complex emotion flashing through her fox-like eyes. "Don't you... find it strange?"
"What?"
"Kushida." Suzune lowered her voice. "She didn't make a single move all summer vacation. Now, for the Sports Festival, she voluntarily signed up for the obstacle race—the event where accidents are most likely to happen. After all, I couldn't let her participate in group events to avoid her pulling any strange stunts."
"And then?"
"And then..." Suzune took a deep breath. "She's too quiet. This kind of silence is more unsettling than any action."
Subaru was silent for a few seconds. "What do you think she will do?"
"I don't know." Suzune shook her head honestly. "But precisely because I don't know, we have to be on guard. The Sports Festival has many people and mixed eyes, and the competition is fierce. If someone wants to pull a little stunt, it's the best opportunity."
She paused. "I've already arranged for people to watch her. But..."
"But what?"
"But I don't know if it's enough." Suzune's gaze fell upon Subaru. "The person she really wants to deal with right now isn't me, it's you."
"I know." Subaru's answer was as flat as ever.
Suzune stared at him for a few seconds. "You... don't care?"
"Care about what?"
"Care that she wants to deal with you."
Subaru tilted his head slightly, seemingly considering the question. "Her dealing with me—what does that have to do with me?"
Suzune froze for a moment. "What do you mean by that?"
"What she wants to do is her business," Subaru's voice held no inflection. "If she wants to hate me, that's her business. If she wants revenge, that's her business. If she wants to pull some little stunts at the Sports Festival, that's also her business. I don't care how she does it. I only care..." He paused. "About what she will become in the end."
Suzune fell silent.
She recalled the word Subaru always had on his lips—color. To him, Kikyo Kushida wasn't an enemy, nor a threat, but an... experiment. An experiment he wanted to watch to see what color would eventually be revealed. Moreover... Subaru expected to see if he could find something else in Kikyo Kushida. Something other than color.
"Then what if..." Suzune spoke, her voice somewhat dry. "If she does something at the Sports Festival and hurts someone else?"
Subaru looked at her. "Who do you think she will hurt?"
"I... don't know—"
"She won't." Subaru interrupted her.
Suzune frowned. "How do you know?"
"Because the only person she truly wants to hurt is me." Subaru's voice remained flat. "Everyone else is just a tool she uses to get close to me. She won't waste too much energy on that front." He paused. "Besides, she doesn't have the capability."
Suzune was silent for a few seconds. Then she let out a long breath.
"You're always like this."
"Like what?"
"Seeing everything... so clearly." Suzune's voice carried a trace of complex emotion. "Clear enough to be frightening."
Subaru didn't speak. The room fell into a brief silence.
Suzune suddenly stood up and walked to the window. With her back to Subaru, she gazed out at the playground shrouded in moonlight.
"The Sports Festival is in a few days," she began, her voice lighter than before. "For these few days, I will keep watching Kushida. Watching her every move, watching who she talks to, watching where she goes. But to be honest..." She paused. "I don't know to what extent I can watch her. She's too good at disguising herself. You never know what's hidden beneath that smiling face of hers."
Subaru didn't answer.
Suzune turned around to look at him. "Kushida knows our class's participant list. I feel she will definitely leak it intentionally. So I was thinking, before the final submission, should we change the list?"
"No need."
"No need? If others know our layout, it might put us in a passive position."
"Because it's unnecessary. I'm afraid Kushida might have already leaked the list by now."
Subaru guessed that at this very moment, Kikyo Kushida might have already gone to find Kakeru Ryuen. Suzune's surveillance was too late.
"But if that's the case..."
"No matter what, it's unavoidable. And if it's just this level, it won't have too big of an impact on us," Subaru said slowly.
"Natsuki, have you ever thought about it—what if Kushida really does something at the Sports Festival? How will we respond? You said you don't care how she does it, but if our class loses because of her, if someone gets injured because of her, if we fall back to Class D because of her actions—do you not care about these things either?"
Her voice held a trace of interrogation, and also a trace of... expectation. Expecting him to give an answer. Expecting him to prove that he wasn't truly indifferent to everything.
Subaru was silent for a few seconds. Then he spoke. "What do you want to hear?"
Suzune froze. "What?"
"Do you want to hear me say I 'care about the class', or do you want to hear me say I will protect everyone?" Subaru's voice remained flat, but within those eyes, something seemed to be faintly flickering. "Or perhaps, you want to hear me prove that I'm not the kind of person you think I am?"
Suzune opened her mouth but found she couldn't speak.
She hadn't expected Subaru to see through her thoughts. And she indeed... wanted an answer. She wanted proof that this person, who was always cold, always alienated, always seeming to be separated by a barrier, actually had warmth. Even if only a little bit.
"Horikita."
Subaru stood up and walked to her side. "You asked me just now, if Kushida did something, how we would respond. My answer is—" He paused. "If she really does something, we'll deal with it then. Soldiers come, generals block; water comes, earth covers."
"If she spreads rumors, we clarify. If she creates chaos, we quell it. If she hurts others, we stop it. This isn't because I care about the class, nor because I want to protect anyone. It is simply because—" He turned his head, looking at Suzune. "She is she, and I am me. What she wants to do has nothing to do with what I do."
Suzune looked at him. The light fell on his face, softening that usually cold countenance a few degrees. Those empty eyes still didn't hold much emotion. But beneath that calm, she seemed to see something. Not warmth, not care, not the things she expected. But an existence that even Suzune didn't know how to define.
"...Really." Suzune lowered her head and sighed softly. "You, this person, are always like this."
"Like what?"
"Making people not know what to say about you."
Subaru didn't speak. The two of them stood by the window like this, looking at the night scenery outside.
After a long time, Suzune spoke. "Natsuki."
"Hm?"
"That summer vacation... did you do anything?"
Subaru turned his head, looking at the girl beside him. "Why ask that?"
"Because..." Suzune's voice was very soft. "Because you've changed. You wouldn't have said so much before. You wouldn't have explained anything. The answers you gave... would also have been different."
She turned her head, looking at him. "So I want to know, what made you change?"
Subaru didn't answer immediately. He looked at the bright moon outside the window. It was a long time before he spoke.
"I met Hiyori Shiina a few times. She said a sentence."
"What sentence?"
"She said, perhaps it's not that I can't see color, but that I'm unwilling to see it."
Suzune frowned. "What does that mean?"
"It means—" Subaru paused. "I always thought I was searching for color, but actually, I was escaping."
"Escaping what?"
"Escaping myself."
Suzune fell silent. She recalled Subaru's consistent appearance—cold, alienated, indifferent to everything. If that was a form of escape... What was he escaping?
"You..." She spoke, her voice somewhat dry. "What have you experienced in the past?"
Subaru's gaze focused on Suzune. That single look tightened Suzune's heart. It wasn't fear, it wasn't a chill, but a more complex emotion—like being deeply seen through by something.
"Are you sure you want to know?"
Suzune bit her lip. "...Not sure." She admitted honestly. "But I want to know."
Subaru was silent for a few seconds. Then he retracted his gaze, continuing to look out the window. "Then forget it."
"Forget it?"
"Yeah. Because even if I said it, you wouldn't be able to understand."
Suzune froze for a moment, then smiled lightly. It was a very faint smile, almost invisible. "You're always like this."
"Like what?"
"Treating others like fools."
"It feels like you're talking about the former yourself."
Subaru's answer made Suzune shake her head with a bitter smile. After a few seconds, he spoke again. "One day... maybe one day, I will say it. But not now."
Suzune nodded. "Okay, I'll wait."
The two fell into silence again.
"By the way." Suzune suddenly remembered something. "Have you heard about Ayanokoji's side?"
"What?"
"He voluntarily asked to participate in the relay race."
Subaru didn't speak.
"Do you know why?"
"I know."
Suzune raised an eyebrow slightly. "Why?"
"Because he wants to cross hands with me."
Suzune froze. Although she had guessed this reason earlier, hearing it confirmed from Subaru's mouth still shocked her slightly. "Just... just that?"
"Yeah."
"But he's on our team? In the Sports Festival, you are teammates. How can you cross hands?"
Subaru turned his head, looking at her. "The Sports Festival is just the beginning."
Suzune frowned. "You mean..."
"What he wants isn't the Sports Festival." Subaru's voice remained flat. "What he wants is—proof."
"Proof of what?"
"Proof of his own strength. Or—" He paused. "Proof that he also has color."
Suzune was silent. She recalled Ayanokoji's empty eyes. She recalled his usual attitude of indifference. She recalled her own confusion when he voluntarily asked to join the relay race. Sure enough, it was because of Subaru.
"You guys..." She spoke, her voice somewhat dry. "What exactly are you two doing?"
"I didn't do anything; it's Ayanokoji doing it."
"What exactly does he want to do... and what exactly is his background?" Suzune frowned.
Although Suzune usually walked relatively close to Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, she couldn't see through him at all. Until today, she became increasingly certain that Kiyotaka Ayanokoji might be far beyond her imagination.
"I only know the gist of it, but I don't care. He just unilaterally wants to seek a duel with me."
"I won't obstruct your duel, but—" At this moment, an incomparably serious expression appeared on Suzune's face. "That is established on the premise that it won't produce an impact on the class. I also won't watch helplessly as you two drag the class down to collapse."
"Do you think you can achieve that?" Subaru narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Even if I can't, I will do my absolute best." Suzune's tone was incomparably firm, as was her gaze.
Subaru looked at Suzune's exquisite face, but a smile emerged on his own. He seemed to have seen it. He saw something he hadn't been able to see before.
"Horikita."
"Hm?"
"You just said, I've changed."
"Yeah."
"Maybe you're right. But do you know?"
"What?"
"It's not just me who has changed." He looked at her, the smile still on his face. "You too."
"What?"
"Although it's very shallow, I saw it. The color that belongs to you."
Hearing Subaru's words, Suzune froze for a moment, but soon her face flushed somewhat red.
"You guy... suddenly saying some inexplicable things?!"
She used her elbow to forcefully nudge Subaru a few times.
____
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