Classroom of the Elite: Liars Edition

Chapter 14: Alone

"I'm going to take my leave now."

Harukawa announced while putting away her book in her bag.

It wasn't that long ago that Horikita left for Chabashira-sensei's office to get confirmation on whether our class material was different from the other classes. I was curious when Sakura intended to deal with the study guide questions, but from what it seems, she wanted Horikita to figure out the catch for herself by meeting up with Shiina.

It seemed redundant for her to do so, but I'm sure Sakura has some sort of plan for my unpopular seatmate, and this little session was just a small part of it.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again, Harukawa."

"Yeah, it's nice seeing you as well, Ayanokōji-kun." Harukawa-san then directed her gaze toward the silver-haired girl I sat next to. "See you at class, Shiina-san."

Harukawa nodded at the two of us before departing her seat and taking her leave from the library.

Once she departed from the library, Shiina sighed before placing her study notes back into her bag. Throughout my stay, it was apparent that she was uncomfortable around Harukawa.

But what was confusing to witness was the brief conversation between the two girls from Class C. Why did Shiina allow Harukawa to join the book club, and what does she have to lose by doing so?

Not only that, but based on how Shiina acted to get Horikita to join this newly established friend group, I knew something was off about this whole ordeal.

I placed down the book I was reading, The Liar Beside Me by Rika Anzai, and turned my gaze to the silver-haired girl sitting beside me.

"You look relieved."

Shiina turned her head to me with a self-defeated smile on her face.

Based on her reaction, my deduction was right on the mark. Not that it was difficult to make such a deduction. I'm sure that even Horikita could spot her discomfort earlier. Despite her notable defect, she's observant enough to notice if something is off within her surroundings based on what I witnessed from the picnic day and our limited interactions with each other every other day.

"Do I now?" She forced out a dry chuckle. It wasn't the sweet smile I've come to appreciate from her, but rather one that reflected a sense of 'I was busted.' "Was it hard to hide that I'm uncomfortable around Harukawa-san?"

"Maybe I'm just a bit observant, but I did notice you stiffen your body whenever you interacted with Harukawa during our little book buddy session."

"I guess I'm not good at hiding things when it really matters then."

She lowered her head, averting her gaze away from me.

"Is there a reason why you wanted to hide your fear? Sorry if I'm prying into something, but as someone I consider a friend, I just want to ensure you're not uncomfortable."

From her point of view, we talked a few times after the group picnic over a month ago. Still, most of the time, those talks were just about discussing books similar to what we did not that long ago, so I was curious whether she was me as a friend as we haven't had an interpersonal conversation regarding how we see each other.

"I'm glad you see me that way, Ayankoji-kun. I want to say the same too." Shiina rose from her seat with her bag in her hands. She then turned her head back to me with a nice angelic smile with her red. "But looking at the time, there's only a couple minutes left until classes, so how about we talk about this later?"