Control (Aphorism Fanfic) COMPLETED

Chapter 12

For the rest of following days, the students began to search the school only to find nothing – no trace that the fake Yama ever existed.

Sanjuurou assured his schoolmates that he will be in contact with the government and tell them what to do. A few days later, after he received news, he asked his circle of friends to meet in his room.

Misaki stopped outside room 206, earlier than their supposed meeting time, hoping for a chance to simply spend time with the bright-eyed boy after the whole ordeal they faced. She raised her hand, about to knock when Mino's voice spoke from inside.

"About what we saw..."

It was wrong to eavesdrop – her mother always told her that – but she couldn't bring herself to walk away.

She listened on.

She heard Sanjuurou laugh dismissively. "Yeah, who knew little Rokudou had it in him."

"Sanjuurou," Noa said firmly. "You know what we're talking about. We're trying to ask you about how your kanji changed."

Sanjuurou heavily sighed. "... my real kanji is 'deception'. It can take on the form of a few other kanjis. 'Knowledge' just happened to be one of them."

Misaki clapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from gasping.

From inside the room, all she could make out were their voices murmuring as they spoke quietly amongst themselves. She straightened up, about to leave when her elbow bumped into the door.

Her eyes widened in horror.

"Who's there?" she heard Sanjuurou call sharply.

The door flung opened, and Sanjuurou stared at the blonde girl in front of his doorway, her eyes wide and shoulders starting to tremble.

He looked at her in stunned silence. Mino and Noa peered over his shoulder from inside his room, faces grim.

Sanjuurou heavily sighed, burying his head in his hand. "... this isn't supposed to happen."

Misaki swallowed. She opened her mouth and no words came out.

"... Mino, Noa, can you give us a moment alone?"

Mino and Noa quickly complied, filing out of his room. Noa touched Misaki's shoulder as she passed her, sending her an almost sad look.

Sanjuurou brought Misaki into his room, seating her on the edge of his bed. He flopped onto his chair in front of her, rubbing his neck, sighing yet again as he asked her what did she manage to overhear.

"Not much. But enough to know about this."

Her hand reached out, fingers lightly touching the 'knowledge' kanji on his neck.

He hung his head. "That's right. I've been lying about my kanji the whole time for my personal gain. I did it so I could have the upper hand when the situation called for it. Tell me, Misaki – do you still like someone like me?"

"Yes." Her voice had no hesitation at all.

His head snapped up. "I've been deceiving everyone the whole time, blackmailing people to help me out in eclipses when I could very well do so myself. Blackmailing people like you."

"You're wrong!" Misaki cried. She folded her hands on her lap, twisting her skirt between her fingers. "It's not... It's not for personal gain at all. This whole time, Sanjuurou... you've been doing nothing but trying to protect everyone from this hell. Even hiding your kanji – it's just so you can have an advantage against the enemy."