Prodigy of the White Room

Ch-15 The Mask Slips

Ayanokouji POV

That didn't really end well...

Yamauchi and Ike as well as a few others didn't seem even slightly interested. None of them bothered to study. Kushida mysteriously ran off just after Horikita did.

I decided to chase after her to thank her for working so hard and getting the study group all together, and also to apologise for the uncooperativeness of our classmates.

Whipping out my cell phone, I pulled up Kushida's contact information and dialed her number. The phone rang twicez then three times. Did she not notice me calling ? Or is she just refusing to pick it up ?

Kushida wasn't around campus, so I conturd to search around for her. When I got inside the campus, in the corner of my eye, I glimped someone who looked like Kushida from behind. It was already 6PM, so the only people here should have been involved in club activities. Well, this was Kushida we were talking about. She was probably waiting for one of her friends to finish their club stuff.

I decided to keep up the case, if she was busy, I'd come back later. Bearing that in mind, I pressed on. I took out a pair of indoor shoes from the cubicles in the hallway, but didn't see Kushida. Had I lost her ? I thought I had, until I heard the faint clank of shoes.

I followed her up the stairs to the second floor. The sound of the footsteps continued on till the third floor. The next level after that was the roof wasn't it ? Students are free to use the roof during lunchtime, but it should have been looked after class. I went up the stairs, trying to hide my presence the best I could in case she was meeting with someone.
Then I stopped partway.

Someone was up there.

I leaned gently against the handrail and peeked through a small crack on the rooftop door. Through the opening, I glimpsed Kushida. No one else was with her. Was she waiting for someone ?

A rendezvous at such a secluded place. Could she possibly be waiting for her boyfriend ? If that were the case, I could be cornered on all sides. While I agonized over how to sneak away, Kushida slowly set her bag on the ground.

And then....

"Ahh, so annoying!"

Her voice was so low that it didn't sound at all like Kushida.

"She's so annoying! God, how irritating. I'd be better if she just died..." She mumbled to herself, as if chanting the words for a spell of curse.

"Ugh, I hate stuck up, snobby girls who think they're so cute. Why is she such a harpy ? A rotten girl like her couldn't possibly tutor me."

Was Kushida annoyed with.... Horikita ?

"Ah, she's the worst! She's just the worst, the worst, the worst! Horikita, you're so annoying! You're so damn annoy!"

It felt like I just glimpsed into another side of this gentle girl, the most popular person in our class. She probably didn't want anyone else to see this darker side of her. A voice in my head whispered that it would be too dangerous to stay here any longer.

However, one question arose. Why had she agreed to work with me if she harboured such hatred towards Horikita ? Kushida should have understood Horikita's personality and behaviour by now. Moreover, she even managed to become friends with Horikita. An action which no longer makes any sense when looking at this.

None of it made sense. I couldn't understand her reasonings.

No. She may have shown signs of this from the very beginning. I hadn't really thought about it much before, but considering the state she was in now, I had a hunch. Perhaps, Kushida and Horikita were...