Sakayanagi's change of heart

Sakayanagi's...warmth

Kiyotaka was walking comfortably to the the special building where he had asked to meet up with someone. He wanted to confirm something.

It wasn't long before he came to the unsupervised place where he had arranged the meeting.
The person was there already, leaning against the wall.

"It's unusual for you to call me out like this." Sakayanagi said with a knowing smile. "Could it be a confession?" Her cane was currently lying on the floor as she used the wall as her full support.

"No." And she knew exactly what it was about.

"Then an invitation for battle?" She sounded excited at the thought. "I thought you had your hands full with the Acting Director's schemes..."

"I don't plan on challenging you." He responded honestly. "I want to know what you're planning."

"Whatever do you mean?" She asked with a knowing expression that showed that she was interested in how exactly he would say what he wanted to say.

"You're the one responsible for the rumours."

"Fufu...That's an interesting accusation. Do you have any proof?"

"You are one of the few people who would be able to get access to not only all of this information, but also every single person's phone number. The video of Komiya confessing to someone before he had come to this school wasn't something anyone could get their hands on."

"Interesting theory. What makes you say that it's me then?"

"As the daughter of the suspended chairman, you are perhaps the only one who could get a hold of the documents of the school's supervision of its students from before we came here."

"Fufufu..."

"First I believed that it was the White Room student using information provided by Tsukishiro. But they most likely wouldn't be happy to defeat me in such an indirect, uncreative way. They would want to prove their superiority."

After a few moments of silence, Sakayanagi spoke up, "As expected of you, Ayanokoji-kun." She seemed satisfied.

Sakayanagi had wanted him to know. She could have chosen a different, less obvious approach, but she didn't.
"Why did you reveal to me that it was you?" He was interested in the answer to that question.

"Maybe I wanted to play with you just a bit." She laughed. When she finally quieted down, she said, "I wanted to give you a choice."

"A choice?"

"Who should be my final victim?" She asked in mock thoughtfulness. "You are the one to decide. You or Karuizawa Kei."

Kiyotaka didn't show his surprise. He had expected something like a challenge; not an ultimatum. An ultimatum seemed a bit unlike Sakayanagi. Perhaps this was just to see his reaction.

"What kind of rumours would be revealed?"

"That's a secret." She said delightedly, clapping her hands excitedly.
That had been expected.
"So, tell me what do you choose?"

Kiyotaka mulled over this for a few seconds.
Regardless of his personal relationship with Kei, any type of rumour about her would be detrimental to the class' current state. While he wasn't forced to aim for Class A anymore, he wasn't interested in seeing their growth over the past year be annihilated either. And then there was the fact that he was even less interested in seeing Kei be destroyed, especially since he needed her in order to be able to explore what it meant to be in love.

No, perhaps it was more accurate to say that he wanted to prevent any harm befalling his girlfriend. Not just because that might lead to her trusting him less or her becoming less useful. He simply didn't want to see Kei in pain.

Then there was the other option...
He couldn't be certain what kind of rumour Sakayanagi would choose to spread about him.
He doubted that she would tell anyone about the White Room and his past, since she had shown no interest in doing so so far. She had never even threatened him with its reveal. Nonetheless, that option couldn't be completely discarded.

However, as it stood, it was far more likely that she would reveal his identity as the mastermind.
Proof of that wasn't that hard to find. If you dug deep enough into the Deserted Island Exam, the involvement of someone other than Horikita would become obvious. Plus, since she planned on him being his main victim, at that moment in time when everything else had already been proven, evidence would be of secondary importance anyway.
Consequently, she could say anything about him or Kei and most people wouldn't hesitate to believe it.

"I choose myself."

It wasn't only the least emotionally gruelling choice, but also the most logical one. Kei's status in the class was more important than his own.
Besides... he might be expelled at some point in the future anyway. Kei shouldn't have to suffer alone for years.

"Fufu... Interesting." Sakayanagi replied. She didn't seem surprised at all.

"Do you plan on involving the teachers?"

"Who knows." She answered vaguely, shrugging. Then she added, as if being able to read his mind, "Don't worry. It won't lead to your expulsion. I promise."

Kiyotaka wasn't certain what her goal was.
Was she really just bored?
No, there had to be more to it.
He doubted that she would break her promises, though.
Furthermore regardless of her intentions, spreading rumours wasn't easy to prevent. The only way to get her to stop, would be to threaten her with something else.

He noted the determined glint in her eyes.

It was doubtful that Sakayanagi, in this case, would give up on her plans. No matter what he threatened her with, the information she held about him was a lot more dangerous.

Sakayanagi held all the cards in this situation. The most he could do was damage control.

"Do we have an agreement?" she asked.

"One rumour about me?" he clarified.

Her lips twisted up into smile again. "I never said anything about the number of rumours."

As expected, she had a lot planned. Perhaps she would expose all of his activity as the mastermind.

If he asked about the nature of the rumours though, she would probably answer just as vaguely.

"And Kei will be left alone?" he inquired.

"Yes. Fufufu, I didn't think you'd care about her this much."

"What do you want to achieve with this?" Kiyotaka wondered what had prompted this change in her actions. So far, she had been as considerate to his circumstances as possible.

"You'll find out soon enough." A faint smile appeared on her face as she looked at him with affection in her eyes. This time, there seemed to be some kind of darkness behind it that he couldn't decipher. "Perhaps I want you to learn of warmth in more ways than one." Again, with the warmth. Just like she had done after their chess match, she squeezed his hand with both of hers. He didn't understand her actions any more than he had the last time.
It only lasted a few seconds. She then picked up her cane and started walking away. "I hope you'll still be able to learn."

She didn't say anything else.

"Warmth...huh." He repeated under his breath.
Would she blackmail everyone into performing that strange, pointless gesture with their hands on him?

Kiyotaka waited until she was out of sight before returning to his dorm room.