Classroom of the Elite, I Have a Life Simulator

The young girl in her arms let out a low plea, her voice trembling and weak to the point of exhaustion, as if she might collapse at any second.

Karuizawa Kei shook her head with a bitter smile:

"No, you have to say it. Ichinose-san, you cannot run away, and you have no way to escape. The reality you are avoiding, the things you are covering up—they will be dug up by someone eventually. It is most appropriate for me, who has nothing to do with you, to play the villain."

[This was, after all, the role she had assigned to me.]

A suffocating sense of misery firmly enveloped Ichinose Honami; a feeling of unease seeped into her body, piercing deep into the marrow of her bones.

"Kitagawa-senpai has always wanted you to believe in yourself. He wants to hear your true thoughts. If it isn't the real Ichinose Honami speaking, then both acceptance and rejection are meaningless—they are merely subconscious avoidance and lies."

Like a sharp blade lancing a boil, the incisive words were more hurtful than a knife, and the ugly, repulsive negative emotions surged out like pus.

"You haven't spoken your own mind from beginning to end, which is why you've been acting like that."

"...I know."

What spilled from her pale lips were equally pale, despairing words.

"...I've known for a long time."

Everything, all of it, the entirety of it.

Ichinose Honami could be honest with everyone else, yet she could lie to him over and over again.

"Wouldn't it have been better for you to realize this reality sooner?"

"...Stop it."

Her original courage and determination were drying up; her initial firmness and expectations were withering away.

She bit her lip, desperately trying to endure the emotions surging up from the bottom of her heart.

"Actually, you knew it a year ago, didn't you? Even though deep down you knew it was impossible, you comforted yourself by trying to give up, while simultaneously hoping for a possibility. You've been torturing yourself for this entire year."

"I..."

She wanted to argue, wanted to say she hadn't harbored any other thoughts, wanted to admit that she had given up once she knew the truth.

But she couldn't bring herself to say it. Perhaps, just as Karuizawa Kei said, even at this moment, Ichinose Honami's heart still held a tiny bit of expectation, waiting for that sliver of possibility.

Was this a despicable thought?

"Ichinose-san, if Senpai confesses to you again at the fireworks festival in two days, will you accept?"

No.

The answer, becoming increasingly clear in her heart, remained unspoken, as if admitting it would cause the fortress within her to collapse like a row of dominoes.

Feverish, anxious emotions reached out into the void, trying to touch that trace of possibility.

"He..."

"He shouldn't, right? He clearly knows me. He can understand."

She was quibbling, struggling, begging for mercy.

Karuizawa Kei shattered Ichinose Honami's final defenses without hesitation.

"I think this is simply a matter of priorities."

Cruel words quietly closed in from behind. For a moment, Ichinose Honami even wanted to cover her ears; she was terrified to hear what would come next.

But the voice rang out regardless—this was the unchangeable reality.

"If Ichinose Honami placed Kitagawa-senpai first in her heart, this situation wouldn't have happened."

"If Ichinose Honami placed herself first in her heart and made judgments based on her own inner truth, this situation wouldn't have happened either."

Dull, bitter breaths.

Karuizawa Kei's tone grew increasingly flat, like a judge pronouncing a death sentence.

"Those who cannot love themselves or others have no right to be in love."

Merciless.

"I like to think that we had it all."

"We drew a map to a better place."

Karuizawa Kei's phone suddenly rang, interrupting their confrontation with an aggressive posture. Karuizawa Kei tapped the screen and saw Kitagawa Ryo's profile picture. Because they were in a False Love relationship, his profile picture was the same as hers: a photo of the two of them sharing a smoothie at a ramen shop.

"Hello, hello, hello? Why did it take you so long to answer?"

Under Ichinose Honami's pleading gaze, Karuizawa Kei turned on the speakerphone, and the next second, Kitagawa Ryo's voice came through.

"Ryo, Ryo, when did you wake up? How is your body? Is the injury serious?"

Karuizawa Kei, who had been aggressive just a moment ago, suddenly began to stutter.

"Hey, I'm fine. I just choked on a bit of smoke at the time. There wasn't much of a fire to begin with; once that quilt burned out, it was basically extinguished."

Kitagawa Ryo's voice was indeed full of energy, adding a few points of credibility to his words.

"By the way, I finally managed to convince my mom to let me go out for the fireworks festival tomorrow. How are your preparations going on your end?"

He suddenly lowered his voice:

"Is Honami not by your side?"

"...She isn't."

"That's good. I'll give her a call in a bit. I want to tell her that I only just realized today that when I unfolded that paper crane she gave me a long time ago, it actually had the same twelve 'I like you's written inside. Haha, she's such a tsundere, refusing to admit it even now."

"Mhm. I've finished preparing what you assigned me, Senior. Should we still proceed as planned?"

There was a silence on the other end, followed immediately by Kitagawa Ryo's forced, casual laughter:

"Actually, what I wanted to tell Kei is that there's no need to prepare anymore. Kitagawa Ryo's confession plan has been canceled."

"Eh?"

"My mother came back this time to take me abroad. I've only managed to delay it by a single day; I'm leaving Tokyo the day after tomorrow morning."

"A confession before parting ways... it's unnecessary for both of us, isn't it?"

"Until I can be certain I can give her happiness, it's better to let the confession plan run aground for a while longer. Besides, we're both just waiting anyway."

"So."

"So?"

"So, Karuizawa Kei's acting career is coming to an end as well. Even though we haven't known each other long, I've been very well taken care of by you."

"That's not true at all. It was actually me... who was being taken care of by you, Senior."

"Then please, Karuizawa-san, attend the Fireworks Festival tomorrow on time. We'll end our relationship there."

"Breaking up and having my heart broken under the sky full of fireworks... that feels... it feels a bit cruel, doesn't it?"

Ichinose Honami saw that Karuizawa Kei looked like she was about to cry, yet she was still smiling and joking.

"Then let's treat this Fireworks Festival as a date. The two of us, one last time."

[Plot CG: Fireworks Are Cold, reading complete.]

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Second Ending: Phantom Dream

[Day 14: You can finally stop thinking about the confession plan that has troubled you for over a year. In truth, persisting in something day after day always requires a long accumulation of effort, but giving up only takes one slightly miserable day. When you dragged Ichinose Honami out of the fire yesterday, you realized you had left the birthday card you wrote in the room. At that moment, you didn't even think twice; you instinctively rushed back in. Unfortunately, before you were overcome by the thick, rolling smoke and lost consciousness, you never managed to find it.]

[By the time you woke up, it was already July 21st. Ichinose Honami's birthday had completely passed. Regrettably, you no longer have the chance to wait another year. Your mother intends to forcefully take you away ahead of schedule. If yesterday's events hadn't occurred, perhaps this deadline could have been pushed back by two days, but what has happened cannot be changed. The reality you face now is that at this time tomorrow, you will be boarding a flight out of Tokyo.]

[You stand up and pace to the window. The hospital room your mother prepared for you is even more spacious than the one you stayed in before, but it feels all the more empty when occupied by only one person. A neatly arranged, exquisite fruit platter sits on the bedside table; you pick at a few apple slices before losing your appetite.]

[A light, drizzling rain is still falling. According to the weather forecast, this rain will stop before noon, and the probability of precipitation will trend toward zero until tomorrow evening. This is one of the reasons why the Fireworks Festival was moved up to tonight.]

[Outside the window, there are large patches of greenery, the closest being the emerald-green bamboo. You open the window, and within moments, your cheeks are dampened by a breeze mixed with fine rain. You watch the raindrops pass through the treetops and bamboo leaves, as if they were growing from there—growing from transparent water into emerald rain.]

[You hear footsteps outside the ward, and soon, a light knock sounds at the door. You close the window and sit back down on the bed. There are only two people who would come to your room at this hour: your mother or Izaki. You speak up to signal they can enter, and the elderly butler pushes the door open. He seems to have just returned from outside, his clothes carrying the distinct, fishy scent and chill of a rainy day.]

["Young Master." He opens his mouth to address you respectfully first, then closes the door and teases with a hint of mischief:

"It seems you've been dumped."]

["...Even you care about such things, Izaki-san?" Compared to your mother, you are much more at ease in front of Izaki. You toss and turn on the bed for a good while before burying your face in the quilt and muttering.]

["I just feel that giving up so suddenly isn't your style, Young Master. A journey of a hundred miles is half over at ninety; perhaps you would have succeeded the next time."]

[You listen quietly to the old man's words. He is likely the person who knows best how much effort you have put in for Ichinose Honami. In his eyes, just a few days ago, you were pulling him aside to discuss whether the fireworks pattern for your confession should be "I like you" or "Be with me," and now, in the blink of an eye, you say the plan is being scrapped.]

["Isn't that what all those gamblers who lose everything at the table think? The higher the sunk cost, the more they think that stopping now would be a loss, so they keep going, losing more and more until there's nothing left."]

[He seems somewhat dissatisfied with your answer, frowning as he says:]

["Relationships are not sunk costs."]

["You know that, don't you?" You roll your eyes as a matter of course, finally understanding why your family's old butler is still single at sixty.]

["I don't think it's a pity that you are giving up on Ichinose Honami, Young Master. I truly believe the contradictions in your personalities are irreconcilable. Ichinose-san's personality is simply not suited to be a lover. Love is a process of two people adapting to each other, but she has never been able to change. There are dangerous parts within Ichinose-san's character."]

["However," his tone shifts.]

["I still think you should confess to Ichinose-san just as you planned."]

["Does Izaki-san want to see me get dumped by her again that badly?" You show an expression of complete disbelief.]

["Exactly so," Izaki-san says with a smile. He then adds:]

["To put it plainly, I hope you can be rejected by her one more time, openly and honestly. It would be best if you lost completely, cried a total mess—only then would it have meaning."]

["Whoa, why didn't I notice before that Izaki-san had such a heartless side when it comes to romance."]

["That's not it. Love was never a pure, fresh, or gentle thing to begin with. You should have realized that by now, Young Master."]

[Izaki-san refuses to let you off the hook, continuing:]

["Love is an emotion born from humanity's most primal desires, filled with deception, possessiveness, and betrayal; therefore, it is the most complex and dangerous thing of all."]

["That is why you kept weaving lies to pressure Ichinose-san's heart, forcing her to make a choice. You two have just been hurting each other endlessly."]

["But then again, love is just that kind of selfish, hateful, hopeless thing."]

[However, he moves closer to you, patting your head with the care unique to an elder, and urges:]

["Precisely because of that—precisely because it is such a cruel thing—people seek out the light that emerges from within it: the emotion of loving someone."]

["It is exactly because of the pain and sorrow that, after pushing through them, one can welcome happiness."]

You have long understood the logic he spoke of. To realize this romance, you have utilized many people and many things, to the point where, even now, you cannot determine exactly what kind of feelings you hold for Ichinose Honami. You trace your path all the way back to the source, recalling the winning popsicle stick you handed her when you were a child; it turns out you had already made a promise to her back then.

"That is why I cannot see her again, let alone confess my feelings," you replied.

"We are definitely leaving tomorrow morning, so I cannot see her." You turned over, lying on your back to stare at the snow-white ceiling. "I once said that seeing her makes me reluctant to leave, makes me unable to bear the thought of going away. But, but, yesterday I saw many burning paper cranes in the room where I stayed. She must have been preparing a farewell gift for me in advance. Look, it was she... who was willing to let me go first."

You took a paper crane out of your pocket. It was one Ichinose Honami had given you on your twelfth birthday, and now it is the only one left. Aside from the Buddhist prayer bead bracelet on your right wrist—which you never take off, not even to bathe or sleep—this is the only thing she gave you that you still carry on your person.

What Ichinose Honami never quite understood was that while folding a thousand paper cranes can grant a wish, and blowing out candles on a birthday can also grant a wish, as long as she stood before you, she could grant ten, a hundred, or a thousand wishes.

It is just a pity that summer is coming to an end, and for tonight's fireworks festival, you have an appointment with Karuizawa Kei.

Night fell, and you were already dressed in the yukata your mother had prepared for you in advance. The summer evening breeze was cool and comfortable. The weather forecast was accurate; there was not a single sign of rain tonight. The festive atmosphere was beginning to emerge bit by bit. You still had about half an hour before your meeting with Karuizawa Kei, but you chose to head to the rendezvous early anyway. As you passed by the small stalls set up along the way, you suddenly realized that you did not actually know Karuizawa Kei's preferences. Sweets or savory? Candied apples, cotton candy, or takoyaki?

Thinking this, you dialed Karuizawa Kei's phone to ask what she wanted to eat so you could bring it to her in advance. There seemed to be many people around her on the other end; the sound of laughter and chatter was a bit noisy. Karuizawa Kei whispered to you that she didn't have anything specific she wanted to eat, and that buying a candied apple would be fine.

After confirming her location, you bought two candied apples and turned off your phone. You did not want to see anyone else's calls or messages; you did not want to see Ichinose Honami, nor did you want to think about anything related to her. Tonight, your only task was to bid a final farewell to Karuizawa Kei, the girl you had been using all along, before you left. Carrying the candied apples, you walked toward your destination.

"No way, did Kitagawa-senpai really say he was going to propose to Karuizawa-san tonight?"

"I heard he even specially ordered fireworks for the proposal. I have a relative who works in logistics for this fireworks festival, and the Kitagawa family really did buy out an area to set off their own fireworks."

"Isn't sixteen a bit too young? And when it comes down to it, Karuizawa-san and Kitagawa-senpai have only been dating for a dozen days or so."

"They like each other, that's all. Isn't that how young masters from wealthy families always act—doing whatever they feel like?"

"Hey, hey, if he really uses fireworks to propose on an occasion like tonight, the girl's name will be in the news tomorrow."

"I'm super jealous, honestly. That Karuizawa, to have a boyfriend like that, and she even bragged and sent messages to all of us about it."