Time Of Our Lives; Kirisuna

Chapter 58: A Helping Hand

Kirito POV:

With my two words, the atmosphere around the table became tense and I saw them clench their jaws in anticipation. But before that...

"Other than Yuuki, all of you know why I called you here, right?" I said.

"Oh, I know!" Yuuki raised her hand like a child, "It's about why Asuna's been pouty these past few weeks."

While her phrasing embarrassed Asuna, she got close to the truth.

"It is. So you need to keep this a secret from everyone else, even your families. I don't know who we can trust."

The mixed emotions on their faces vanished as they shared serious expressions to listen to what I had to say.

"What I kept from Asuna, from everyone, is that Shiro has a partner." I said.

They didn't respond and it seemed as though it took a moment for them to process what I just said. Eugeo, however, was the first to react as he slammed his hand on the table and rose from his seat.

"That's impossible! Who in the world would work with him?!"

"I thought so at first as well, but I'm certain. The both of them told me themselves."

"He's lying. He never had a partner in the past, why would he have one now?"

"Don't know, but I think it's because he owes him."

"Owe him how?"

"By getting him out of juvie."

He paused, unable to refute me, while Alice sat him back down and turned to me.

"If what you said is true, why did you avoid getting help? If he has help, you should too."

Asuna crossed her arms once she heard this.

"I..." I stared at my palms, "I wanted to work alone one last time. I've always worked alone, even when I dealt with Shiro. I thought I could beat them alone this time as well."

My ignorance, no, rather my arrogance blinded me and I underestimated them. If I had only asked for help, I might've found them.

"There's more." Argo said.

"There's more?" Yuuki said, baffled.

"With Shiro, there's always more."

She was right. Since I planned on telling them everything, there was no point in hiding my defeat.

"We made a bet. If I could find out who his partner was, Shiro would leave the school. If I failed, I had to pay them 500 million yen."

Except for Argo, everyone jumped at the number I gave.

"You won then, right? You told us it's been resolved, which means you won, right?" Eugeo said.

I looked down and kept silent, which was all they needed to know how it went.

"500 million yen... The things they could do with that much money... I don't even want to think about it!"

"We can't stand around doing nothing! So, what's the plan? Do you at least have an idea who his partner could be?" Yuuki said, trying to raise everyone's spirits.

I perked up a bit at her question since this was the only time I could give some good news after all my mistakes.

"I do, and it's someone on this ship." I said.

"The student council... That's why you invited them." Alice said.

"Wait, since you excluded Liz, Yuna, and the others, does that mean you suspect them too?" Sugu noticed this fact before anyone else.