Time Of Our Lives; Kirisuna

Chapter 56: Identity

Kirito POV:

In the end, I went to school without knowing who Shiro's partner was out of the three of them. When I woke up this morning, I found Sage still calculating who it was and left before he finished.

It usually took him a few seconds to answer and at most an hour. This has never happened before.

If even he couldn't figure it out, I doubted I could with the time I had left.

I yawned as I passed through the school gates. I failed to sleep for my usual 6 hours, but I had to arrive early for my meeting with Shiro.

I dragged my feet behind the campus grounds to the place he specified and waited for him to arrive.

While I waited, I reviewed the list of candidates one last time.

-List of Candidates-

1. Osamu Haruto (Most likely)

2. Kiyoshi Ryoko (Physical Threat)

3. Aki Chiyo (Potential Threat)

Osamu, Kiyoshi, and Aki.

Let's look at it from a different angle. Instead of who it could be, I should figure out who Shiro would work with.

Shiro was already strong so for someone to catch his interest, it'd take more than physical strength, so excluded Kiyoshi.

With Osamu's intellect, he could give Shiro the upper hand. However, being smart with machines and being smart in battle tactics were two different things.

I'd never known Osamu to be one who'd use underhanded tactics as Shiro would. He was a straightforward person and would rather take on his opponent with everything he had and lose than win through trickery or deceit.

It was more likely for Shiro to use him for his skills rather than his strategic ability. In this aspect, I thought Aki would be more suited to be his partner.

Her wit and quick thinking had caught my attention at times. In addition, she was smart so her possessing a tactical mind was possible.

The problem was that Aki was a diligent student and a stickler for the rules. She hated troublesome situations so it was unlikely she'd associate herself with either of us.

Now that I thought about it, who approached who first? Was it Shiro? Or his partner?

Shiro never viewed others as equals. Other than me, his enemy, he's never given a second thought to those around him, friend or foe.

So, it was likely his partner who approached him. But how did he catch Shiro's interest?

Only one possibility came to mind... Shiro was supposed to be in juvie for at least 3 years after he recovered. It was why I looked forward to my high school life and enjoyed my days until he arrived.

How in the world did they manage to get him out before that? Just who was this guy?

Before I thought about it any further, Shiro arrived. I checked my watch and he arrived as it just turned 7:00.

"Long time no see. I don't have much time so let's this over with, all right? Who do you think it is?" He said.

He was unusually distant and calm. He'd usually greet me with a grin and condescending tone, but he was tame for some reason.

Was it because he was confident I didn't know? Or was it because he was nervous? Regardless, I needed to give him an answer.

Kiyoshi was out, that's for sure. Haruto was too afraid to ask him for help and Aki avoided being involved with either of us.