"Shion." Safu put her elbows on the table, and folded her hands over each other. She placed her chin on them, and gazed at Shion.
"I want to ask you something."
"What?"
"Four years ago ― why didn't you enroll into the Gifted Curriculum?" It was as if her question saw right through him. Shion broke off a piece of the blandly sweet apple pie with his hands. The filling oozed out onto the plate.
"Why're you asking now?"
"Because I want to know. Even from an objective point of view, you were a stellar student. You absorbed information well and knew how to apply it. All the teachers had high expectations for you."
"You're giving me too much credit."
"It's the truth. The numbers prove it. Do you want me to show you your Skill Test results again from four years ago?"
"Safu." He had a bitter taste in his mouth. It felt like it was welling up from the very core of his body.
"What's the point of asking me this now? Four years ago, they decided I wasn't qualified for the Gifted Curriculum, so I lost all special privileges. I didn't choose to not enroll, I couldn't. Now I work for Park Administration to pay for my tuition, and I'm taking trades courses from the Labour Bureau. But my attendance hasn't been good so I'm not even sure if I can graduate. That's reality. That's the truth you're talking about, Safu."
"And why did you lose your privilege?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"But I'd love for you to tell me."
Shion finished licking the pie crust from his fingers, and closed his mouth firmly. He didn't want to talk about it. Or, rather, he couldn't think of any explanation that would make Safu understand.
The reason was simple. He had taken a VC under his wing for the night, and let him escape. The Security Bureau had found that out. They had thought it suspicious that his mother Karan had left the security alarm off, and Shion had left the foreign-object detection system off in his own room. The security systems of each house were connected to the Central Administration Bureau's computer system, and could be easily tracked.
Not one hour had passed after Nezumi had disappeared when officials from the Security Bureau were knocking on his door. It was the start of their long and persistent interrogation.
You knew that he was a VC, then?
Yes.
Why didn't you call the police immediately?
Well....
Answer my question. You don't need to rush. Just give us a clear and accurate answer.
It was because he looked about the same age as me, and he was seriously injured. So I felt sorry for him....
So you sympathized with this VC, didn't contact the police, but instead treated his wounds and helped him escape.
It ended up as so, yes.
The Security Bureau's Investigations and Interrogations official was named Rashi. He spoke gently throughout the whole meeting, never once raising his voice or his fist in violence. When their gruelling two-day investigation was over and Shion was released, he even gave him a friendly clap on the shoulder and said, "It's been hard, I know. Thanks." But Rashi's eyes never smiled once, and Shion had noticed. Even now, four years later, those unsmiling eyes came into his dreams, their gaze boring into him. He would awake in the morning, shaken, and soaked with sweat.
He concealed a criminal and aided his escape. Shion wasn't sentenced for this crime, but he was deemed severely deficient in appropriate judgment skill and ability to take action, and as a result all his special privileges were removed.
