Motivated to be lazy

Chapter 24

I had done my regular trip back and forth, and on the way back I was stopped by Honami who was beaming with happiness. It was infectious and I found myself a little bit happier with myself especially with the way things were going for me right now. I was incessantly teased by Arisu, which was becoming a regular occurrence now. She really had changed and started to loosen up a bit now that we had come to school. The old Arisu would have never made jokes like she did and I was happy for it.

Sure the jokes were at my expense, but Arisu was never like this before. Class D had their issues without a doubt. I'm sure everyone looked at the group of defects and probably disliked most of them, but they were the perfect class for me. Compared to the others, they were normal. It was the high school experience I wanted and I was fond of them in a strange way. They had their quirks and we had our dramas but this was as close to a regular high school experience as I was going to get at this place.

People were changing around me and I was fortunate enough to see the growth. It was interesting to see and I was cherishing the experience. Class Points, special exams, leadership and all these mind games were boring for me. If I really wanted to compete in these arenas we'd be Class A already; that didn't interest me. To foster and witness the growth of the people around me, now that was interesting. Whether it was Honami, Arisu or any of the others in our class, growth was growth, and it was intriguing.

I wanted to give people a chance and Horikita was a prime example of someone who grew a lot and someone I was glad to have given a chance. If I only knew her as the hard headed and arrogant person that I saw her as when we were first interacting, I wouldn't have been able to see her as she is now. It isn't a stretch to say that the awkward encounter where she asked me to be her first friend was a life changing one, I found a close friend in her that I had come to cherish.

She was very different now, surprisingly humble. Horikita even went out of her way to look out for Arisu and since the island exam started the two bonded more. It was genuine too; Horikita wasn't doing this to get into my good graces because she was already there. She seemed to have a very real respect and admiration for Arisu and I wouldn't have had the chance to see that if I was prejudiced and allowed her to get expelled because I didn't like her. She was still Manabu's sister, regardless of whether or not I disliked her at the time. Now I have another friend.

The other person who I was fortunate to see growth in was Honami. If you looked at her with rose tinted glasses you would think she wasn't someone who needed to grow. Aflawlessly beautiful and genuinely kind person who would do anything for anyone. Selflessness was her downfall. She was perceptive and capable but had a seemingly unwavering sense of justice. She had no issues whatsoever in sacrificing herself for the people around her, regardless of how close to them she was.

She had an incredibly strong moral compass as well, one that meant she would never resort to hurtfully deceitful tactics. It was admirable, but it made her predictable and the losses would have taken its toll. Especially with people like Ryuen, who very much loved a good underhanded strategy, and took pleasure in breaking people.

Through my influence, she started to love herself a little bit more. I know my flaws, I'm not deluded. I'm not a very good influence and I have bad tendencies. I'm just glad that some of my better traits rubbed off on her. She even took some of my negatives on herself just enough for it to be beneficial, in comparison to myself, who went overboard to the point of self destructiveness.

When I went to pick Arisu up after the roll call, she gravely told me that she would be staying with Class A until the next day. Katsuragi assured me that she would be cared for and that if I was needed he would send someone to get me immediately but I was very apprehensive. I have a bit of an unhealthy obsession with making sure Arisu is okay. I can admit it.