A Liar's Truth [UNDER FINAL REVISION]

Ch 32: Hope

Third-person's point of view 

["Good morning, everyone."]

The AI's flat monotone voice rang through the classroom.

Ritsu was back to her original settings—emotionless, mechanical, cold. Her upgraded bubbly interface and personality had been wiped clean. Her creators had reset her.

A quiet heaviness settled in Ginka's chest.

Of course they did. That's what the grown-ups always do. Pull the strings. Flip the switch. Reset the parts they didn't approve of.

She lowered her gaze to her book, pushing forward with advance study. The classroom would be a war zone again anyway—with Ritsu's relentless gunfire raining down all class hour.

"You have a contract not to inflict harm on a student," Karasuma explained, standing in front of the board. "But they've now declared that even enhancements fall under harm." His eyes shifted toward Korosensei, then snatched the duct tape from Terasaka, who clicked his tongue in annoyance. "The same goes for all of you. Apparently, if she's even slightly damaged from being tied up again, they'll demand reparations. Her developers made that very clear." He sighed—clearly not thrilled either.

"It may be troublesome for the developers," Korosensei said with a nervous chuckle, "but I'd prefer to respect the student's wishes... rather than her parents'."

'Wouldn't that be nice?'  Ginka gave a tight, bitter smile to herself.

["Commencing attack preparations. Please begin the lesson, Korosensei."]

The soft click of gears echoed like a trigger cocking. Desks scraped loudly as students ducked instinctively, chairs screeching against the floor. Even the air seemed to still.

Ginka clutched her ears, bracing for the familiar barrage of bullets.

There was a click—then a soft whoosh, followed by a rustle of petals fluttering through the air. One landed on Ginka's desk, pink and bright, a sharp contrast against her pale knuckles.

["I promised to make flowers."] Ritsu stated simply, the bouquets retreating back into her form ["Korosensei made 985 modifications to my body. Master deemed almost all of them unnecessary for assassination and deleted them. But from my study of Class E, I deemed the power of cooperation to be indispensable. So... I hid that software deep in my memory bank before reset."]

Korosensei lit up like a light bulb. "How splendid! In other words, Ritsu-san, this means..."

["Yes. With my own will, I disobeyed the master who created me."] She twirled a strand of virtual hair and smiled sweetly.

While the class cheered, Ginka felt something more than happiness.

Something stirred in her chest—soft and unfamiliar. Not joy, not relief. Something warmer. Lighter. Like the tight cord inside her had loosened, just a little.