What They Longed For

Amasawa Ichika nodded, answering with apparent seriousness.

"So that's how it is."

Karuizawa Kei didn't think much of it. She had met Kitagawa Ryo when she was twelve years old, and she didn't know much about his life before he turned twelve. So she quickly changed the subject back to the script.

"Amasawa's role this time isn't difficult. Since he's a newcomer, he doesn't have many lines or scenes, but he still needs to work hard."

"Yes, I'll do my best."

Amasawa Ichika smiled sweetly, her fluorescent eyes reminding Karuizawa Kei of Kitagawa Ryo's younger sister, whom she had met before. This stirred a fondness in Karuizawa Megumi that extended to Amasawa Ichika's sister, and she said gently:

"Okay, let me first give you a summary of the original story of <The Human Chair>, that should help you understand it better."

"The story itself is actually very short. It tells the tale of an ugly, short craftsman who makes chairs. Because he has long suffered from oppression and discrimination, he suddenly has the idea to hide himself inside a luxurious, spacious chair that was custom-made for someone else and placed in a big hotel."

"He hid in the chair, experiencing the world he had never seen before. Eventually, the hotel went bankrupt, and the large chair where he was hiding was auctioned off to another family. There, he fell in love with the landlady, but his inferiority complex prevented him from making a move."

"This novel is full of suspense and thriller elements because the story begins from the perspective of the female writer Yoshiko. She is sitting in a chair and opens a reader's letter. The contents of the letter are the story of the Human Chair that I just mentioned. Only when she reads the end of the letter does she realize that the chair she is sitting on is the same chair in the story."

"And the woman he admires is herself."

Even after hearing only a brief written summary, Amasawa Ichika had to admit that it was indeed a story that made one sweat a little:

"And then what?"

"The novel ends with a second letter arriving later. It turns out the story about the Human Chair was just a submission written by one of her fans, hoping to get her feedback. However, due to a postal error, the second letter, which was supposed to be the manuscript, arrived on Yoshiko's desk first."

"The overall reading experience felt like being played a cruel joke."

"I think Edogawa Ranpo's writing skills are on full display in this piece."

Kitagawa Ryo, who had rolled back with a gurgling sound, suddenly spoke, startling the two who were still immersed in the afterglow of the story Karuizawa Kei, looking like she could no longer tolerate it, reached out and pulled Kitagawa Ryo up from the ground, dragging and scrambling him into a large container in the corner of the room.

"Liang should just stay inside and sleep peacefully; consider it a preview of the role."

"Great! The props team is pretty reliable; it's quite comfortable inside."

Kitagawa Ryo lay sprawled out, now hiding inside a giant chair specially made by the props department, just like the chair craftsman in the story. His voice sounded somewhat muffled.

To perfectly recreate the descriptions in the original work, the props team put in a lot of effort and basically achieved consistency with the original text:

The person inside the chair is also in a sitting posture, with the armrests corresponding to the person's outstretched hands, the seat cushion corresponding to the thighs together, and the backrest corresponding to the chest. Because it uses a box-like support and has no chair legs, there is no need to worry about support issues.

Kitagawa Ryo didn't feel stuffy sitting inside. The props team had thoughtfully arranged plenty of ventilation holes on the back of the chair, and the materials used were also quite high-end. Surrounded by these, Kitagawa Ryo felt quite comfortable, and he vaguely recalled a line that had particularly impressed him when he first watched "The Human Chair":

[After each chair is finished, I sit on it first. In the monotonous life of a craftsman, only at this moment do I feel an indescribable sense of pride and satisfaction. What noble gentleman or beautiful lady will one day sit in this chair?]

[Given the extravagance of commissioning such a custom-made chair, the family must possess a luxurious room befitting it. The walls must be adorned with paintings by renowned artists, the ceiling suspended by a magnificent, jewel-like crystal chandelier, and the floor covered with an expensive carpet. And on the table that matches the chair, fragrant and eye-catching Western flowers and plants must be in full bloom.]

[I indulged in this fantasy, feeling as if I were the owner of that luxurious room...]

[... But in the end, only my meticulously crafted chair stood alone in the same spot, like a fragment of a beautiful dream.]

"Speaking of which, although I know that Megumi plays Yoshiko, the female writer who narrates the story, who does Ichika play? There don't seem to be any other characters in <The Human Chair>, right?"

If these sentences from the past might have stirred some emotions in Kitagawa Ryo, he now simply revisited them with a leisurely mood, even having the leisure to ask the two people outside a question.

"She was the first girl to sit in the Human Chair during her stay at the hotel."

Karuizawa Kei casually replied that she became very focused once she got into character, and then turned back to Amasawa Ichika to continue discussing the scene.

"How about this, you go and give it a try first."

"Liang, go first..."

Before Karuizawa Kei could finish speaking, Amasawa Ichika had already swiftly sat down in a chair, startling Kitagawa Ryo was still resting with his eyes closed, unable to see what was happening outside.

Amasawa Ichika hummed a lullaby softly.

She sat in that huge chair, her legs and hands moving restlessly, and she occasionally giggled.

But Karuizawa Kei couldn't stop her, because everything she did was just lines from a script:

[Based on her voice, I imagined her to be a young foreign girl in her prime. There was no one else in the room at the time, and she seemed to have encountered something happy, humming a whimsical tune softly as she entered with light, cheerful steps. She walked to the armchair where I was hiding, and suddenly threw her full, soft body against me. For a good half hour, she Singing on my lap, sometimes moving slightly to the melody.]

Separated only by a thin layer of leather, it was almost no different from a normal hug, or rather, it was a more ambiguous posture.

If you ignore the chair, it's basically like Amasawa Ichika is sitting on Kitagawa Ryo's lap, her back pressed against his chest, her head resting on his shoulder, and her hands in his palms.

They could even feel each other's body temperature mingling.

But right now, Kitagawa Ryo can only sigh.

He recognized the tune that Amasawa Ichika had just hummed; it was a tune he often sang to her in the White Room when he was her Cloth Mother.

Although he had long suspected that the other party's feelings for him were not so simple, Kitagawa Ryo still chose to use his last corrective power to preserve her memories from the simulation. As a result, Amasawa Ichika, Kitagawa Ryo was already quite concerned about Ayanokoji Kiyotaka in reality, directly chose to betray him, changing his identity from the assassin in the White Room to Kitagawa Ryo's assistant.

So, under Kitagawa Ryo's reverie (mainly to distract himself) and Karuizawa Kei's watchful gaze, Amasawa Ichika played on the chair for a full half hour.

"Acting, huh?"

Amasawa Ichika winked playfully before getting up.

"Um... can I come out now? It's a bit stuffy."

"Don't come out, Liang! Give me a good performance!"

Karuizawa Kei sat down aggressively, flipping through the script in her hand, and said:

"The female author is the person the chair likes the most; the performance should capture the feel of the original work."

When she leans towards me, I always catch her as gently as possible. When she's tired, I'll quietly shift my knees to adjust her position. When she's dozing off, I'll gently rock my knees, acting as a cradle.

Kitagawa Ryo began to move his knees as he recalled the descriptions from the original work, which unexpectedly made Karuizawa Kei blush slightly.

"Slow down..."

"I really don't want to see our scandal in tomorrow's newspapers."

Kitagawa Ryo continued to sigh.

He had just come back from a simulation and all he wanted to do was rest.

"Although he won an award, it seems Liang didn't really like the story of 'The Human Chair'."

Karuizawa Kei suddenly spoke up like this.

"It's not that I don't like it, how should I put it..."

Kitagawa Ryo folded his hands behind his head and strode forward.

"Since you've decided to abandon certain ideas, you should do it completely."

"Reconciling with your past self is inherently a difficult and arduous process."

"Placing hope in fantasy, yet reality remains bleak; this is the case with the protagonist in 'The Human Chair.' Every time he ends his fantasy, the gray reality re-reveals its ugly form."

"This is a good story, but not the story people want to see."

Kitagawa Ryo noticed some reporters hiding behind him, so he suddenly leaned down towards Karuizawa Kei, as if feeling tired, and leaned his weight on her.

"Hey, Megumi."

He put his index finger to his lips, looked into Karuizawa Kei's eyes, and said softly:

"This is the kind of story everyone wants to see."

"And it's also a good story."

Chapter 126: What They Craved

Since it was already late, Mashima Tomonari, the instructor who had accompanied the Drama Club, decided that the group would rest at the hotel for another night and return to Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School the next morning.

In the past, the instructors who accompanied the clubs out of school were often not very nice and were very strict in their work.

Sudo had complained to Kitagawa Ryo more than once that their Basketball Club finally managed to go out of school for a practice match, but the whole process was like being a prisoner. They were just transported from one cell to another in a car, and not only were their belongings checked multiple times, but they also had almost no free time.

Aside from rest periods, they spend most of their time in the car, then walk into the competition venue under the guidance of their instructors, and return immediately after the competition.

But none of this applies to Kitagawa Ryo.

The clubs at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School are among the best in the country, so most of the instructors for the various sports clubs are former professional athletes. Their professional background and high level of expertise easily earn them the respect and admiration of the students.

Unlike these sports clubs, Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School did not have Drama Club in its previous history, making it difficult to find a teacher with expertise in drama.

These teachers, who knew nothing about the world of drama, found themselves in a predicament of "who am I, where am I, what should I do?" as soon as they left school. In no time, Kitagawa Ryo could easily take over the leadership of the entire team.

In the end, the Student Council could only appoint Mashima Tomonari, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-D, as the Drama Club's advisor, hoping that he could make the most of his position as the homeroom teacher of Class D.

Meanwhile, Mashima Tomonari, who was appointed, carefully observed Kitagawa Ryo's actions over the past few days and finally made up his mind.

"Mashima- sensei?"

As Karuizawa Kei walked into the lobby of the hotel with Kitagawa Ryo Kei, he immediately spotted the middle-aged man sitting on the sofa in the lobby and went up to greet him.

Of the four homeroom teachers in the First Year, after learning about the past of Chabashira Sae and Hoshinomiya Chie, Kitagawa Ryo had basically collected all the information about the four of them.

If he were to choose the most suitable homeroom teacher for most of the students right now, he would probably choose Mashima Tomonari without hesitation.

Chabashira Sae and Hoshinomiya Chie's hearts are not really in the teaching profession. The two of them are trapped in the past ten years ago, living in a morbid way. Rather than being homeroom teachers, they are competing with each other.

If we were to use the words of the fans who shipped Kitagawa Ryo with Arisu back in the day, it would be. "We suggest locking him up forever, and swallowing the key."

As for Class C's Sakagami Kazuma...

He is probably the kind of teacher that inevitably emerges from the distorted system of this school.

If Kitagawa Ryo were in Class C, he would probably like him a lot.

But unfortunately, it's not here.

"Kitagawa-san, and Karuizawa."

Mashima Tomonari is very muscular, and one would expect him to be very imposing when he stands up from his seat, but that's not the case.

"I have something I'd like to talk to Kitagawa-kun about alone, is that alright?"

As he spoke, he glanced at Karuizawa Kei standing next to Kitagawa Ryo. Mashima Tomonari's understanding of this class representative of Class 1-B came entirely from Hoshinomiya Chie's remarks in the office, but he never expected that she would have such a close relationship with Kitagawa Ryo.

"Good."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded in agreement, then turned to Karuizawa Kei and said:

"Hui, go back to your room and rest. You have to get up early to go back to school tomorrow."

"Um."

Karuizawa Kei obediently agreed, glanced at Mashima Tomonari, and then stepped onto the elevator.

If the homeroom teacher standing here wanting to speak with Kitagawa Ryo privately were Chabashira Sae or Hoshinomiya Chie, she probably wouldn't leave no matter what.

Especially Hoshinomiya Chie, Karuizawa Kei, as the class president of Class B, had already figured out her temperament over the past few months. Putting aside her resentment towards Chabashira Sae, Karuizawa Kei was already somewhat uncomfortable with the chaos in her personal love life.

From that moment on, Karuizawa Kei was determined never to let Kitagawa Ryo and Hoshinomiya Chie meet alone.

After all, it's Hoshinomiya Chie's biggest obsession is to keep Chabashira Sae in Class D forever, and her love life is quite chaotic. So, if a student like Ryo appears who can help her drag Chabashira Sae down from Class A and also fits her aesthetic...

Karuizawa Kei wouldn't let that happen, so she looked at Mashima Tomonari Tomoya's unshaven, middle-aged face with a bit more reassurance.

A homeroom teacher should be this kind of middle-aged man, right?

Mashima Tomonari was unaware of what Karuizawa Kei was thinking. After Karuizawa Kei got on the elevator, he pointed to the sofa next to him and said to Kitagawa Ryo:

"Please sit here."

"Um."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded and sat down quite naturally in front of Mashima Tomonari.

In fact, he had already made contact with the other party once during the Midterm Exam, Mashima Tomonari, secretly using points to buy points and save some people.

But Mashima Tomonari had no intention of bringing up the matter at all, and simply said:

"I used to think that teachers should maintain an appropriate distance from students in order to provide them with the best education."

"But I never expected that I would be the first to break this rule."

At this point, Mashima Tomonari paused, looking into Kitagawa Ryo's dark eyes, and said:

"Did you know? I used to be a student at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School."

"Like Chabashira and Hoshinomiya, I even knew them, but I was two grades above them back then."

Even now, Mashima Tomonari seems to be just looking for someone to chat with, his tone filled with nostalgia.