Honami Ichinose: Reborn

Regardless of whether the Horikita Suzune seen was her future self, one thing is certain: this was neither a prophetic dream nor a rehearsal of the future.

Because the male protagonist in the story was someone she had only met a few times, and he didn't even live under the same roof as her.

The most important thing right now is to pass the final audition to get into the Drama Club and then go to Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School to participate in the Cultural Festival with Ryo... right.

--?

Going to the Cultural Festival was to see my brother... but seeing him now would disappoint him.

No, no, no, it's wrong to even have that kind of thought. What my brother should want is for me to get rid of his shadow.

If Liang hadn't appeared, I don't think I'd be having these thoughts right now.

Wait, when did it start to naturally address someone as "[Liang]"?

Horikita Suzune was completely thrown into chaos.

However, one thing she was certain of was that she might, probably, indeed should try to change.

Because I didn't want to disappoint myself, nor did I want to disappoint my brother.

Also, I don't want to disappoint Liang.

So why did this last thought come so naturally?

Horikita Suzune covered her face.

"What's up with Horikita asking me out?"

Kushida Kikyo looked at Horikita Suzune, who had suddenly texted her to invite her out, with some confusion. The other woman had always been completely isolated from others and never sent any private messages except for rehearsals.

"--"

Horikita Suzune didn't speak, but instead showed the other person the screen on her phone. It was a personal blog space, and with just a glance, one could see a lot of extremely offensive and abusive language.

However, it seems like this blog was last updated a long time ago.

"What... what's going on?"

Kushida Kikyo immediately recognized the familiar page; it was the alternate account she had secretly created to relieve psychological stress, used to post things that were inappropriate to say in public, after all, she was playing the role of a gentle and kind angel.

However, since joining the Drama Club, she has found another way to relieve stress. Upon reflection, she realized that she hadn't logged into this anonymous account in a long time.

However, this does not diminish the brutal consequences that followed the exposure of this substance.

Kushida Kikyo knew very well that humans were creatures accustomed to lifting people up high only to smash them to pieces. If her radiant exterior were to reveal even the slightest flaw, someone would immediately step forward to kick her while she was down.

"This should be Kushida's old account, right?"

Horikita Suzune breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the other party's reaction; this could be considered an attempt to verify the authenticity of the events that appeared in her memories.

In her memory, it was because the content of this alternate account was exposed that Kushida Kikyo ignited public opinion throughout the class and even the grade. In the end, Kushida Kikyo, who gave up on herself and exposed everyone's dirty secrets, indirectly destroyed the entire class, which was a rather heinous incident.

Because she had worked with Kushida Kikyo as an executive committee member for a Cultural Festival, Horikita Suzune had a deep impression of her, since Kushida Kikyo had left a good impression on her at that time.

"Yes, so what is Horikita trying to do? Use it to threaten me?"

Seeing that feigning ignorance wouldn't work, Kushida Kikyo decided to be blunt, and she began sarcastically:

"I might be a little afraid of others, but Horikita- kun is the only exception."

"Because no one will believe you."

A girl with zero interpersonal relationships, ignored or even hated by those around her, exposes the beloved Tian. Even with evidence, she has almost no chance of winning.

"No, it wasn't a threat, and I never intended to threaten Kushida."

Horikita Suzune shook her head. She once again deeply felt the importance of interpersonal relationships. Just as Ryo said, you may not like someone, but you cannot fail to control them.

"I won't expose it, but I hope Kushida can stop these little tricks against me and let me participate fairly in the Drama Club's final review."

Having inherited her memories, Horikita Suzune is gradually changing compared to her past self, and thus easily notices Kushida Kikyo's little tricks on her.

Horikita Suzune wasn't sure if her past self had simply ignored these little tricks or hadn't noticed them at all, but the situation was different now.

While she may not have the ability to ignite public opinion Kushida Kikyo, she could certainly use this to put an end to these annoying charades.

Just as Kushida Kikyo Horikita Suzune nodded.

"If that's all you ask for, I agree."

After all, Horikita Suzune's reputation has now dropped to its lowest point.

Having achieved her goal, Horikita Suzune turned and left without hesitation. After resolving the issue of Kushida Kikyo, all that remained was the final hearing and the upcoming Cultural Festival.

If everything in my memory is true, then my brother's Class 1-A would have been attacked by other classes during this Cultural Festival.

I remember that the program that Class 1-A was scheduled to perform was the musical "Cats".

"What's missing is the lead actor and the Pianist."

Horikita Suzune suddenly remembered her conversation with Kitagawa Ryo of the school year, and he seemed to have mentioned <cat> as well.

Rubbing her temples, Horikita Suzune headed towards the Drama Club president's office, which she had already visited once. Since she couldn't avoid Kitagawa Ryo, she might as well go and see him.

"Please come in."

Kitagawa Ryo was still sitting in the minister's office, reading a mystery novel and slacking off. When he heard the knock on the door, he didn't even look up and spoke.

The person who came in didn't say a word, but walked straight to Kitagawa Ryo's desk.

"Hey... excuse me, classmate, could I bother you for a second?"

Horikita Suzune braced her arms firmly against the desk, the breeze blowing in from the window ruffling her hair. Her tone was accusatory, but what she said at the end made Kitagawa Ryo almost chuckle:

How's my hairstyle today?

"Very beautiful."

Kitagawa Ryo closed the book in his hand and replied with a smile.

"So you do remember too."

"Certainly."

The boy lay lazily on the back of the chair.

[Super Detective]

Golden talent shone brightly in his mind. Of course he knew, and had long known Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei each possessed their own simulated memories.

It took them several years to confirm their feelings for each other.

Therefore, Kitagawa Ryo didn't want to miss any of them.

Chapter 30: Ichinose Honami - A New Beginning

"So, is this some kind of prank by a god, or is it part of the so-called parallel universe theory?"

Although reluctant to admit it, Horikita Suzune breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that Kitagawa Ryo also possessed this memory that had been inexplicably implanted into his mind. On one hand, it was better for two people to face this anomaly than for one person to face it alone. As for the other hand...

Memories between two people should belong to both. If one person loses them, then all of the other person's past will fall into the black hole of time, like sand slipping through your fingers. Every word and every sentence, the memories you cherished, will be nothing more than the bones left by time when only you remember them, worthless.

"In any case, this isn't exactly a bad thing."

Kitagawa Ryo rested his chin on his folded hands, speaking leisurely:

"After setting aside the issues between the two of us, all other objective facts should be true."

"Suzune must have already verified it herself before coming here."

Horikita Suzune nodded.

"So other facts should also be true, such as Suzune's brother's opinion of you and his own confusion, and the accident that will definitely happen at this year's Cultural Festival. These are all beyond our control, so they are very likely to happen in reality."

"At least on my brother's issue, I won't argue."

Horikita Suzune bit her lip and answered with some difficulty. It was like looking back at the question while comparing it with the answer key. Horikita Suzune could easily tell that Horikita Manabu's true thoughts were exactly the same as those in her memory.

In other words, what she insisted on was indeed false and meaningless, as if her past life had been negated.

"Are you going to cry? Here are some tissues."

Kitagawa Ryo casually pulled two tissues from the tissue box on his desk and handed them over, since Horikita Suzune had cried her eyes out in the simulation after learning Horikita Manabu's true thoughts.

"..."

Horikita Suzune angrily crumpled the tissue into a ball and threw it back.

"You've already cried, there's no need to cry a second time."

Even as she said this, Horikita Suzune was still somewhat bewildered. Her arms, which had been supporting her on the table, bent down, and she slowly squatted down, resting her head on her arms.

She may need some time to adjust, but she should no longer be confused, because what guides Horikita Suzune is the future, even more brilliant Horikita Suzune herself.

"Is this... considered growing up?"

Kitagawa Ryo heard Horikita Suzune ask in an extremely soft voice, sounding as if she were asking herself, yet also as if she were asking him.

"In fact, this is a chance to start over."

[Life Restart]

"Ugh... It would be better to kill me."

"I remember that it was Suzune who decided to help Horikita Manabu with her studies, right?"

"But what I meant was for you to give him a Sakayanagi Arisu."

"There's no way to be sure if they'll resort to other sabotage tactics. Rather than facing unknown changes, it's safest to let the past incident repeat itself and then resolve it. I've already so generously decided to take the place of the missing Pianist, Suzune should have no problem playing the female lead, right?"

"But all I can feel is a deep sense of morbid amusement."

"No, I'm Suzune's partner."

Kitagawa Ryo withdrew his hands, which he had been busy with for a while, and picked up the mirror from the side:

"Ta-da! Cat ear Suzune!"

"You might as well just kill me."

Horikita Suzune covered her eyes, but still managed to glimpse the fluffy cat ear decorations on her head through her fingers.

What she probably wants to do most right now is to question her brother about why he chose "cats" as the performance for the Cultural Festival.

"One of the key reasons for the great success of the musical 'Cats' is that the costumes and props in the original show strive to recreate the authentic appearance of cats. Cat ears are just the most common feature. On the stage of 'Cats,' each Actor even has specially made cat fur stuck to their face, and they also have long cat tails trailing behind them. Walking on all fours is also the most basic movement."

"So, Suzune's teacher today is Hotaru."

Kitagawa Ryo picked up Hotaru, who was watching TV nearby. Ever since Hotaru's golden talent solidified, he had always felt that the cat was teetering on the edge of becoming a spirit, and it was not impossible that she would suddenly turn into a cat-eared beauty one day.

However, speaking of cat-eared beauties, there is already one standing right in front of me.

"Meow."

Hotaru licked Kitagawa Ryo's hand and looked at the human in front of her with the same cat ears as her, somewhat puzzled.

"Go from here to there."

Kitagawa Ryo pointed to the other end of the coffee table. Although Hotaru didn't know what her personal Pooper Scooper wanted to do, she was in a good mood today and didn't mind giving him face. She gracefully walked over with her cat-like steps.

"So cute."

Even Horikita Suzune, who wasn't particularly interested in pets, couldn't help but praise it. Hotaru, upon hearing this, proudly raised her paw at Kitagawa Ryo.

Isn't it cute?

Kitagawa Ryo's eyes narrowed with laughter as he squatted down in front of Horikita Suzune and patted her head.

"Come on, you should have one too."

Horikita Suzune: orz.

The last time I experienced such a humiliating moment was probably the last time.

"It's okay, it's just the two of us at home now anyway."

"I feel ashamed because I'm the one who feels cold."

"Suzune, you absolutely can't give up! You're Horikita Manabu's little sister."