In Your Dreams

She felt a little regretful, but Horikita Suzune quickly readjusted her mindset.

No problem, there are three more questions.

Excluding the few people who participated in the club, there are only about ten left.

"How close are he and Yamauchi Haruki?"

"Yes."

The range suddenly narrowed to single digits.

Those who are close to Yamauchi Haruki are limited to a few people.

Kanji Ike, who has already dropped out of school; Sudo Suto, who has been excluded; Sotomura, who is called "Doctor"; Hondo, who has little presence; Ijuin, Yamauchi's friend; Miyamoto, whose name sounds like sushi; and Ayanokoji, who is vaguely remembered.

This is Yamauchi Haruki's network of relationships.

After excluding those who were ruled out, there are five people left.

She has two more questions to ask.

One is used for exclusion, and the other is used for final locking.

Horikita Suzune: "..."

But how do we eliminate it?

She knew nothing about her friends in the Yamauchi; the only distinguishing feature she knew was that the Sotomura was a blatantly reclusive place.

Could the Sotomura be that Pseudo-human? Chubby, nerdy—would Pseudo-human imitate that kind of personality?

"..."

For now... let's categorize him as a non- Pseudo-human.

After much hesitation, Horikita Suzune made this decision.

That leaves a one-in-four chance choice.

Let's go back and think about it again, and organize our thoughts.

It is known that the Pseudo-human is male, the Pseudo-human was not expelled from school, the Pseudo-human did not join any clubs, the Pseudo-human pretends that his grades are bad but is actually very good, the Pseudo-human pretends that his physical fitness is average but seems not to be pretending.

... excluding the Sotomura the obviously worst physical fitness.

Then Hondo, Hondo grades she remembers were last, only behind Yamauchi and Ike.

And, by the way, Miyamoto seems to be an otaku too, a bit overweight, and belongs to the same category as Sotomura.

As for Ijuin, Horikita Suzune had absolutely no recollection of him.

Finally, there's Ayanokoji. Although Horikita Suzune initially considered him as a potential friend because their seats were relatively close together, intending to start making friends with him besides Kushida Kikyo, she gave up after seeing him hanging out with Yamauchi Haruki.

His physical condition... I don't have a clear impression, neither good nor bad?

As for her grades, she seemed to have always been in the middle of the class; at least, she had never seen her name among the worst or best students.

Very common.

But perhaps the Pseudo-human is precisely the one among ordinary people who plays the role of someone who will not be suspected.

Yes, she should change the direction of her thinking. She shouldn't look for those who have obvious flaws and don't seem human; those kinds of people are more likely to be Mahito.

A true Pseudo-human is one who hides very, very well, so well that no one notices or cares about them.

"..."

... Aren't there still three alternatives?

Hondo, Ijuin, Ayanokoji.

Choose one of the three.

These three people were the kind of people who wouldn't be surprised if they suddenly disappeared; she had absolutely no recollection of these three names.

It's time to test your luck.

"..."

Hondo Ryotaro, Ijuin Wataru, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

"Is his name five characters long?"

"Yes."

The final choice between the two.

Horikita Suzune's heart pounded.

She finally reached her final decision.

Only one question remains, and only one option is left to choose from.

No matter how you ask, she can always get an answer.

But as expected, for the last question, she still wanted to give the correct answer herself.

To wash away the shame of the past.

So...

"Is it Ayanokoji Kiyotaka?"

The girl parted her red lips slightly, trembling, and asked cautiously with incredibly expectant eyes.

Finally, Asakusa Toru turned around and faced her directly.

Provide an answer.

"Yes."

"Congratulations, you have completed the game. You have successfully found the Pseudo-human, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who had been hiding in Class 1-D for many days."

He spread his arms wide in a gesture of celebration.

"According to the rules of the game, I should be reading the soup base now," Asakusa Toru said, his words clearly hinting at a turning point. "But..."

"Our connection began with a diary, and this Trial of searching for Pseudo-human also stems from that diary."

"In the last few minutes, let me reveal a little more information to you."

As soon as he finished speaking, a very familiar Diary appeared silently in Asakusa Toru's hands.

The pages turned with a rustling sound, and he began to write.

No water today.

Let's get down to business.

After all, I'm in a pretty good mood today; it's the best mood I've had in a long time.

The reason, of course, is that the game I played with everyone at the beginning of the semester has finally come to a complete end today.

Although I had said before that the Hide and Seek Game was ending early, my good readers have been taking it upon themselves to continue it, catching me one after another.

Exhausted, oh, utterly exhausted.

If there are no unforeseen circumstances, then there probably won't be any.

I have four good readers and one good friend.

Let me first announce the order of the winners.

First and foremost, the last one, my Little Sister-chan!

The earliest efforts were initiated, the earliest Trial were faced, and the earliest encouragement was received.

But they came in last place, such a regrettable situation, so heartbreaking that it brings tears to one's eyes.

Poor baby.

Luckily you found me before the end of the first semester, otherwise you would have been a laughing stock, the only one who couldn't find anyone after a whole year.

Well, I'm in a good mood today, so I won't tease you too much. You really have worked hard, and I've seen it all.

Although, the efforts didn't yield much result.

But in short, I tried my best.

Then comes fourth place, and fourth place... oh, that's our Little Princess.

Miss Alcee, you are my light, my hope, my dream, my...

Persistence.

You don't need my apology, I don't need to apologize, and I won't apologize.

The time for heart-to-heart talks won't be now, but you can rest assured and look forward to it; it will be something that exists right now.

I was actually a little hesitant about getting third place.

You probably already have the answer, and most likely you've already decided on it.

But if you don't speak up, and I don't reveal my own involvement, our relationship will stop here; it won't move forward, but it won't regress either.

Not bad.

But the day has come to pierce that veil.

This won't change our relationship; at most, it means you can complain about my past mistakes to my face.

... Well, whether it was a mistake or not is still debatable.

However, as I said before...

I will not apologize.

Chapter 295 You're Dreaming

"..."

Kushida Kikyo gently raised her hand and turned the pages of the book, her fingertips slowly resting on this sentence as she followed her gaze.

"... I never intended for you to apologize."

The girl murmured to herself, giving a response that sounded like an answer.

Her slender hand loosened its grip, the pages turned on their own, and new words appeared on the paper.

She was second; she should have been first.

Yes, it's a pity, but she should have been number one.

If she hadn't suddenly appeared out of nowhere, you, my favorite, would rightfully be number one.

While I did reveal a bit of myself, someone as intelligent as you will surely be able to deduce the best from the clues.

This is not a denigration of the first place, but a sincere statement.

Dear NPC, I wish you well.

First place, it has a bit of an arbitrary feel to it.

Habit and coexistence are a wonderful power, I mean...

I never thought our relationship would carry that much weight.

But I was wrong.

Feelings are irrational.

Intuition is something that defies logic.

It's obvious you're the winner.

The list of winners has been finalized; the answer will be revealed next.

I once entrusted this puzzle to my younger sister as Trial.

But she failed.

She submitted a seemingly reasonable but incorrect answer.

I was supposed to laugh at her, but I said I wouldn't laugh at my sister today.