My Real Intention

HORIKITA POV

My last school year just began but I was already welcomed by a dilemma.

An unfamiliar man called me and made me choose over the whole student body, my dream and the future of my brother or the expulsion of Ayanokoji-kun.

All these casualties, only to retrieve a single person.

A lot of questions are needed to answer and I know I have to rack my brain right now and come up with a plan to save everyone. But my mind is in a mess. Not because of everything that happened but because of a single question that's occupying the majority of my brain right now.

Why did they lie to me?

My heart was aching so much just by asking that question to myself. 

I wouldn't be affected like this if I don't see them as someone important to me, but they are one of the few who I considered as friends. They are the one who I trusted the most.

Though I always knew that Ayanokoji-kun had been lying to me a lot due to him hiding his real identity, but confirming that he indeed lied to me and hearing it from someone else still hurts.

Maybe because I was working so hard for him to acknowledge me and to gain his trust but according to what happened today, I realized that he's still not trusting me......... after everything. 

No, I always knew it. I knew..... I just ..... couldn't accept it.

After our argument about the bounty exam, I thought to myself that I could wait as I'm still not worthy enough of his acknowledgement.

But, Ayanokoji-kun knew it all along how stupid I was for getting fooled by Utomiya-kun as he kept on giving clues to me about him. He must have thought how helpless I was after I told him that I believed Utomiya-kun won't ever betray me. Of course, Ayanokoji-kun won't trust me. I couldn't even get what he wanted to say.

That reminds me. Ryuen-kun once told me that Utomiya-kun has something after me back at the training camp. Even Ryuen-kun, who was from another class, noticed....... while there's me. 

How naive.

I was only sitting on my bed. I didn't even have the energy to change my clothes as my foolishness kept on crossing on my mind. 

How is it that I wasn't able to see through Utomiya-kun?

I laughed in my mind.

Funny. I really had to ask that to myself when I already knew the answer. 

Just like what Ayanokoji-kun told me, I thought and pretended that I already know them, but the truth is, I really don't. 

I thought that they were showing enough to me about them but they were actually hiding a lot. In fact, it was the idiot me who showed too much that they could already read me like a book.

My strengths, weaknesses, my background and my personality. How much information about me did Utomiya-kun acquire after less than a year of interacting with me?

I bet he gathered a considerable amount of information considering how he perfectly used it against me. After all, I was so stupid for revealing too much about myself. I was blinded by his abilities and help for reaching class A that I started trusting him.

Tsk. It was awfully familiar.

I was the same with Ayanokoji-kun. I hardly vent my anger towards him after knowing he manipulated me a couple of times and even without apologizing, I ended up forgiving him. Hmm, not really. 

I also didn't mind becoming his invisible cloak and continuously covering up for him in the class as long as I'll receive his cooperation.

They really used my greatest desire in reaching class A and took advantage of it.

I buried my face in my hands. Embarrassed by how naive I was.

No. This isn't what I should be thinking right now. I should...... I should...... choose who to save right away.

But is choosing who to save the right answer?

Is it?

I guess so. After all......

"I even dragged my brother into this mess and put his future at risk because of my foolishness."

Really. I just never stop continuing to be my brother's disappointment.

Wait.

My brother?

I raised my head as I thought of him. 

"I think..... I think I just found my answer."

That's right. My brother.

Utomiya-kun included him to make sure I'm going to follow them.

The people around me in this school might not be trustworthy but my brother is. He's not someone that's easy to take down. I also have to believe in my parents. I'm sure they wouldn't let my brother turn out like that, especially in an unjustifiable way.

But most especially, my brother would be more disappointed in me if he knew I let myself become a puppet of someone I don't know just because I was succumbed by my emotions and did not believe in him that he could protect himself.

I'm scared and worried. Seriously. But I have to believe in him and my parents. This way, making decisions would be much easier. 

You made a miscalculation Utomiya-kun. You might have studied me very well but you don't know anything about my family.

I have to do the right thing, after all, I sense that there's something wrong with those people. There's something bad going on to Ayanokoji-kuns life. The main reason why he's trying so hard to hide it from me.

Just like what Utomiya-kun said, I have to connect all the information I heard this morning.

Let's see.

Utomiya-kun said that Ayanokoji-kun belongs to an elite and influential family outside and he was working for them including that unfamiliar man and acting director Tsukishiro. Utomiya-kun is a student while the acting director is working in this school but that unfamiliar man is definitely not from here.

Considering that the acting director of this school is also working for them, Ayanokoji's family must be a powerful clan.

What type of elite clan are they? Successful businessman? Politicians?

But I never heard of them. 

No, it's not important whether I heard of them or not, after all there's something that I've been thinking about Ayanokoji's family.

If his family is a successful businessman, I don't think they could enter here that easily considering how strict and strong the security of this school is. 

But if they are politicians, there could be a chance as this school is run by the government. But they have to be a high ranking official to get the approval.

No. Even if they are just businessmen or just low ranking politicians, acting director Tsukishiro must be the one behind that possibility.

I stood up and went to my computer. If Ayanokoji-kun indeed belongs to an influential family, there must be few articles about them online. I could also prove what I'm thinking.

"Ayanokoji."

After I turned on my computer, I pressed my fingers on the keyboard and searched for that name.

As I pressed enter, I was surprised upon seeing the name.

"Ayanokoji Kyojuro?"

I clicked the article and saw a picture of a man in a suit that I haven't seen before.

"Could it be?"

Is he Ayanokoji's father?

My eyes immediately went to the words below his name.

"Mayor of Okayama City."

Mayor? And he was able to send his man inside this school? How?

I scrolled down and started reading the article to illuminate myself.

I was only in the first paragraph but was even more surprised by what I read.

"What? He's a newbie in politics?"

It was said in the article that he was a long time professor in a University but quit as he found his interest in politics. He gained a lot of voters as he was a good and a well known professor. Not just his students but also in other departments thought highly of him. His co-professors also respected him. 

Though everyone in the school thought that it was such a waste to lose a very good professor, they still offered great support to him as they also believed that the city is in good hands. Since that University was also supported by the government, he was happily welcomed by other politicians of Okayama City.

He also has a business but isn't really big. It was said that his employees have good opinions of him.

"Oh.... So he's a good person?"

Is this...... true? This isn't what I expected.

He won the election back when we were still in the first year, in September.

"So Okayama City held an election at that time."

I scrolled down and continued reading.

And there, I saw the possible reason why he was able to send someone inside this school.

Just a few months ago, when Ayanokoji Kyojuro was still a year old mayor, Okayama City was hit by a typhoon along with it's two neighboring cities.

Despite being a beginner in politics, he was able to give immediate response and rescue to the citizens that were affected by the typhoon. Better than the mayors of the other two cities, who were already a veteran in politics.

The Prime Minister who visited the City was even impressed and praised him for how he handled the situation which led to lesser fatalities than the previous much weaker typhoons that hit the City.

"Despite being a mayor, he was able to get the attention of the Prime Minister. Kind of reminds me of someone."

Though there's still more than two years until his term ends, people across the nation were already sending their support if he ever runs as a member of the House of Representatives.

"If he also gains the support of the members of the House, then he could be the next Prime Minister....... Though I don't think that would be easy."

Ayanokoji Kyojuro was thankful for the support but only responded that he wanted to slowly introduce himself to the government as he's still an amateur. Japan is facing a lot of problems, not just natural disasters so he believed that there's still a lot that he should learn. He doesn't want to put the nation at risk as he's still ignorant to a lot of things. Before running as a member of the House of Representatives, he wanted to run again as a mayor for one more term or might reconsider to run as a governor of Okayama Prefecture first.

Trying to be humble huh.

I don't think so. He knows that he won't be elected as the Prime Minister that easily as those jealous long time members of the House wouldn't allow him.

More importantly, he's only saying this to gain more trust from the nation and especially, from the Prime Minister.

I don't think the Prime Minister would become fond of him if he decided to be his enemy for the position.

"Don't tell me he asked permission from the Prime Minister himself to let that unfamiliar man enter this school?"

That could be one of the possibilities.

Lastly he shared a little information about his family and it was said that he's married with a son. His wife is the one managing their business while his son is soon to be a third year student in Advance Nurturing High School.

"So he's indeed Ayanokoji-kuns father, after all, there's no other Ayanokoji in our year level." 

But something is off from this article. There's only a single photo of Ayanokoji Kyojuro and the rest are only photographs of the destroyed part of the City. And I think it's also natural to put a picture of the Prime Minister, who visited the City, together with the mayor who was praised.

I searched somewhere else, but it's the only article that was available. 

But it wasn't just that. There's no other pictures or videos of him even when he was doing his campaign. 

For someone who took the attention of the whole country, is this even possible?

"Is this perhaps...... fake?"

I wanted to believe that but the article was uploaded on a Japanese government website. 

A very reliable source.

"Am I wrong again?"

No..... No.

The source of this information might have put a hole in what I wanted to believe in but the lack of evidence did not fully convince me that what I'm thinking is wrong.

After every threat that I received, I'll hold on to my intuition.

AYANOKOJI POV

For someone who wanted to stay low, I got tired from all the attention I was getting today.

Wherever I go, I always get gazes from students who know me and Kei. 

Considering that Kei is quite popular, students who don't know me became curious and would stare at me intently.

Most people would go to Kei but there were also some who would ask me, trying to confirm our relationship. Then there's Hashimoto who was wearing a teasing smile while asking about my love life and I know he was actually asking about something dirty.

Sigh.

But let's put those events that happened this morning aside first as I invited a junior in my room who was the one responsible for making my first day as a third year high schooler noisy.

As soon as I heard the doorbell ringing, I opened the door and welcomed my visitor who was smiling widely at me.

"Good evening, senpai."

I greeted Amasawa back and invited her to come inside.

Before I could offer her to sit anywhere, she already sat on my bed.

"Waah.... It's my first time being asked by you to accompany you, senpai."

"What are you saying? You're here for interrogation."

Amasawa's smile did not fade away even after hearing that.

"Is that so? But still, is it okay for you to invite a girl to your room, senpai? Your dating rumor just got out today, you know."

"Well yeah. That's actually our opening topic tonight."

She then looked at me attentively and was waiting for my question, as if she was a kid who was waiting for the storytelling to start.

"I heard that you were spreading the rumor in broad daylight. You did not even try to hide."

She nodded twice as a response, not feeling guilty of what she did.

"What's your intention?"

"To tease Karuizawa-senpai of course."

Knowing her, that could be one of the reasons, but I know there's a much bigger reason behind it.

"You're fine if your relationship went public right? While Karuizawa-senpai is not."

"It's not because someone told you? Or should I say.... your partner told you?"

"Partner? You're my only partner, Ayanokoji-senpai. I only follow you."

I don't know if she's that good at hiding it but she's looking like she's telling the truth.

I did not reply and only stared at Amasawa. Indirectly telling her that I wasn't convinced of what she said. 

Upon understanding the meaning behind my stare, she showed a teasing smile and said.

"I only wanted to act dumb sometimes. But it seems like you want to take this matter seriously."

"Should I not?"

"Depends on you. But as of now, I think not."

There it is again.

"Well, the truth is, I've always wanted to expose your relationship with Karuizawa-senpai much earlier. But that person told me not to as it could be a good excuse for that person's plan."

"You can just say his name. You know that I already know who he is, right?"

Amasawa chuckled.

"That's right. Utomiya told me that I can expose your relationship to the public now, and so I did."

"So the two of you are actually working together to expel me."

"Of course not. Just so you know, that was a favor and it was not for free."

"Really?"

"What? You don't trust me, senpai?"

"Should I?"

"Ouch! That hurts. After everything I've done, you still don't trust me?"

She asked me while trying so hard to look sad.

"Well, I'll tell you what I think."

I wasn't really sure if my deduction was right. But I might get some more information from her answer.

"You and Utomiya are actually working together. While his job was to make Horikita become my enemy for your plan to be successful, your's was to divert my attention away from him. You took advantage of Yagami's motive and made me believe that he's the only one who wanted to expel me while you're acting like my ally by serving as my information network about him. Basically, you made Yagami as your sacrificial piece so that I won't go after Utomiya first who was making a better plan to expel me. His strategy might be close to perfection but by pulling Horikita on your side as a backup plan, expelling me would be very possible. Is that it?"

Amasawa became quiet and was looking at me with amazement. She then showed a small smile and said.

"...... You're really impressive Ayanokoji-senpai........ but not because you deduced everything perfectly but because you're still looking calm as if telling me that our perfect strategy that you're saying won't work on you."

"So you're saying that I'm wrong."

"Not really. But you missed the main reason why we're doing this. And you know the reason for that right?"

"Because as much as you don't know me, I also don't know anything about you two. No, both of you actually know more about me."

They know a little bit of my family, like who my father is but I don't know anything about them. Considering that they believed that I'm the masterpiece of the white room, Tsukishiro might have shown them my data while I've never seen their's.

"Oh.. so you actually know that you're not fully correct."

"You told me that you're someone I can trust right? How about proving that to me now by correcting my mistakes?"

"Hearing that again really hurts. But well, I don't think I have to correct everything, I'll just have to say one thing and you might be able to get it already."

Before telling me what it is, Amasawa looked straight into my eyes. Indirectly telling me to make myself ready as what she's about to say is not a lie.

"What Utomiya was doing this whole time wasn't to expel you, he wanted to defeat someone else."

Indeed. This one sentence already changed everything.

So he's actually going after the bigger fish out there.

I couldn't utter a word after knowing Utomiya's real intention, impressed by the guts that he has. But how will he pull it off?

Or Amasawa might be fooling me again.

"Are you trying to divert my attention again? If you are, then your technique is very impressive by throwing some interesting scenarios there."

"It's really interesting right? That's why I decided to help Utomiya a little 'cause I want to see it too."

"Then what you actually meant when you said that Utomiya is not my enemy now is because you still don't know where I'm going after this."

"That's right. It's you who will decide if you want him to be your enemy or not."

Amasawa was definitely looking like she was telling the truth. But something bothers me.

"If what you're saying is true, then why is he involving Horikita?"

No matter what his reason, Utomiya knows how dangerous it is for outsiders to know about the white room and Horikita must be investigating now.

"Hmmm... unfortunately, I can't tell you now senpai. I might not be able to get my favor from him if I'm going to tell you. But if you're only worried about Horikita senpai, then don't think too much about it as Utomiya surely won't harm her."

"Are you saying-?"

"Yeah, it's exactly what you think."

"You still haven't heard me."

"Considering you, I know you already get it."

She's overestimating me.

"So how about we just watch Ayanokoji-senpai and don't mess up his plan. Who knows that his plan will become useful for you in the future."

Useful for me huh....... I actually don't know. I have to know more before I judge it to be useful.

I already accepted my fate, I believed.

But just like what Amasawa said...... 'Who knows'

Authors Note:Kyojuro is not an original Cote character. I stole that name from other anime LOL (demon slayer- Rengoku Kyojuro)

I actually don't know of when is the next chapter as I feel like I got tired of writing. So sorry, but please don't expect any new chapters for days, weeks, or I don't know.

But who knows. I might suddenly like writing again.

Thank you for reading and hope you still enjoyed it😊😊