Kamuro Masumi: So Scary, So Scary! / Chapter 19: Headpats, a Bet, and Taking a Look at Her Legs

"En, want to go eat together?"

He glanced at the two people blocking the back door and asked Hoshino En.

It was perfectly normal for friends to arrange to eat together, right?

"I'd love to, but I'm being harassed by a nasty woman from another class, so I can't go with you."

Hoshino En pointed at Sakayanagi Arisu, who was standing off to the side, and said helplessly.

"I see. Then I'll go by myself."

"Okay."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka came quietly and left just as quietly, like a white bird soaring into the blue sky and gaining its freedom.

"All right, Miss Sakayanagi, let's go eat too. Kamuro's probably getting impatient."

Hoshino En held out his hand to Sakayanagi Arisu, but this time she didn't take it. Instead, she silently turned and walked away.

Seeing that, Kamuro Masumi and Hoshino En exchanged a glance, then hurried after her.

"What's wrong? Are you really jealous?"

On the way to the cafeteria, Hoshino En walked beside Sakayanagi Arisu and pestered her.

"I'm not..."

She protested, but there was a hint of confusion in her usually confident voice.

"Haha, and you were teasing me? She really is jealous!"

Hoshino En said to Kamuro Masumi, who was behind Sakayanagi Arisu, his amusement plain on his face.

Hearing this and seeing Sakayanagi Arisu's reaction, Kamuro Masumi couldn't help grinning too.

But when she noticed Sakayanagi Arisu turning around, she quickly suppressed her smile.

"Hoshino-kun, what you're doing is very rude, and besides..."

"You want to destroy Ayanokoji Kiyotaka?"

At that, Sakayanagi Arisu fell silent and stared straight at Hoshino En, her face giving nothing away.

"You saw it for yourself yesterday. Why were you so careless today?"

Hoshino En held out his right hand to her.

"If you want to hear the 'story,' let's go fill our stomachs first. I'm really hungry."

Sakayanagi Arisu said nothing, but her left hand obediently reached for his.

Just like yesterday, Hoshino En helped Sakayanagi Arisu to the cafeteria, with Kamuro Masumi following behind them like a [sneak].

Chapter 18: Kamuro Masumi: So Scary, So Scary!

At the cafeteria, Hoshino En and Sakayanagi Arisu went to find a seat, while Kamuro Masumi was sent to buy food.

"Can't you two get your own food if you want to eat? I need to eat too!"

Though she grumbled, she obediently got moving.

That girl was definitely a masochist. She and the sadistic Sakayanagi were a match made in heaven.

Hoshino En silently grumbled to himself.

He led Sakayanagi Arisu to a four-seat booth, where they sat opposite each other.

Neither said a word. A long silence settled over the already quiet corner.

"Sorry for being rude earlier."

At last, Sakayanagi Arisu spoke, having finally composed herself.

Despite what had happened yesterday, she'd still let her emotions get the better of her. He'd seen right through her, and she'd failed miserably!

"Now, tell me. How did you reach that conclusion?"

More than anything else, she wanted to know how he'd figured it out.

"Don't rush. Let's wait for Kamuro to bring the food, eat first, and then talk."

Her eagerness had no effect on Hoshino En. All he wanted was to eat—and besides, seeing Sakayanagi Arisu lose her composure again felt pretty good... no, it felt amazing!

Sakayanagi Arisu didn't get angry at his words. It was only natural for a loser to accept punishment.

When Kamuro Masumi brought the food over and they finished eating, Sakayanagi Arisu fixed Hoshino En with another piercing stare, as though she was about to deliver that classic line.

"How did you figure out that I wanted to destroy Ayanokoji Kiyotaka?"

"I'm curious."

Ah, she'd said it. She'd actually said it.

"I went over our earlier conversation again. My reaction seemed the same as it was when I met you yesterday. At most, it looked like I wanted to defeat him. Why did you think I wanted to destroy him?"

"True. But what about your reaction afterward?"

Guessing that she might not realize just how obvious her slip had been while she was losing her composure, Hoshino En kindly explained.

"Before I talked with Ayanokoji, your reaction did fit what you said. At the time, I thought the same as you: Ayanokoji Kiyotaka must be a 'genius' you recognized, just like me. But for some reason, you couldn't defeat him. No, you hadn't even faced each other, so you regretted it. That was why you reacted that way when you saw him."

"But the problem was how you reacted afterward. When you saw me and him getting along so well that we were even calling each other by name, you got angry. You were angry that I'd become friendly with him. That contradicted my first impression of you—because you wouldn't get angry when two opponents you recognized teamed up. You'd only get more excited. So I decided my first conclusion had to be wrong."

"But how can you be sure your analysis of me is right?"

Sakayanagi Arisu tried to wriggle out of it. She didn't want to admit that someone had seen through her.

Hoshino En replied, "You're clever, and you're also extremely proud and confident. People like that are easy to read. The ones who are hard to handle are the completely innocent, untainted airheads and the ultimate idiots whose minds bounce back and forth between people and things."

Sakayanagi Arisu: "..."

She didn't want to admit it, but she couldn't lie about her own personality. Nor did she want to admit she belonged to either of the other two types Hoshino En found difficult to deal with.

He'd seen right through her.

"Anyway, back to the point. Once I realized my earlier reasoning was wrong, I rejected the assumption that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was a 'genius' you recognized, just like me. But an ordinary person wouldn't catch your attention. So there was only one explanation for his existence: he had reached the level of a 'genius' in every respect, but he hadn't been born that way. He'd achieved it through training."

"But someone like that was given the same title as you, a born 'genius.' That must have infuriated you. So you wanted to destroy him to defend the dignity of 'geniuses.' Isn't that right?"

"...You're right."

"I don't acknowledge any such thing as an 'artificial genius,' so I'll absolutely bury Ayanokoji Kiyotaka!"

As she said those words, Sakayanagi Arisu's entire air changed. She went from "[a sadistic, cruel fake loli who looked frail on the outside]" to "[the mastermind villain in a hot-blooded battle manga]."

And what was with "burying" him...?

"Is she going through a chuuni phase?"

Hoshino En turned to Kamuro Masumi, who was sitting beside them, and asked with complete seriousness.

Kamuro Masumi wanted to make a comment, but she didn't dare. Sakayanagi Arisu's gaze was too intimidating.

"I'm serious, Hoshino-kun."

"But I think you'd lose to him."

Hoshino En was serious too.

"Your declaration just now was exactly like something the mastermind villain in a hot-blooded battle manga would say. They always start off going on about 'burying' people, but in the end, they get beaten until they admit defeat and tell the protagonist, 'I acknowledge that you're the true genius.' You've practically planted every flag of defeat."

Sakayanagi Arisu: "..."

"Besides, back in the classroom, you recognized him, but he clearly didn't recognize you. So you were the only one who knew who the other was."

"And someone like you, who was frail and sickly and rarely left home as a child, probably wouldn't have had the chance to meet ordinary people. But you had met him, so your father must have taken you to see him. Since he didn't see you, you must have been looking at him through one-way glass."

"If there was one-way glass, and he was a genius trained after birth, then you must have seen him at some institution that specialized in 'turning ordinary people into geniuses,' right?"

"With your personality now, if you'd seen such a 'fake genius,' you'd definitely have challenged him to a match—international chess, for example. But you never faced him, which means you were probably still a child when you saw him. Maybe you hadn't yet developed into the sadistic, genius-above-all kind of person you are now."

"Or maybe he was the direct reason you became so twisted."

Hoshino En stopped there.

Sakayanagi Arisu had nothing to say, and she'd clearly lost heart.

"You really are a genius. You got almost everything right."

"Indeed. I started playing international chess because I saw him defeat all his rivals back then. He was the White Room's Masterpiece, so I wanted to 'bury' him and prove my point."

"Were there many 'artificial geniuses' from that White Room?"

"No. I think he was the only one in his generation. The later generations were all considered inferior to him, which is why he was the Masterpiece."

"I see... Then, Sakayanagi, doesn't that mean you've already won?"

"...Huh?"

"Right. If the school's evaluation was fair, you were placed in Class A, while he was thrown into Class D. Doesn't that mean you beat him?"

Hoshino En's words left Sakayanagi Arisu stunned for quite a while. It seemed she hadn't considered that way of looking at it.

"But I want a fair, square match against him. Not this..."

"Why doesn't this count as a match?"

Hoshino En rubbed his forehead. He hadn't expected this girl, who seemed so sharp, to be so stubborn about something so strange.

"Tell me, Sakayanagi, what do you want? To defeat the fake genius, right?"

Sakayanagi Arisu nodded.

"Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is a 'genius' made by the White Room, right?"

"...Yes."

"He's been placed in Class D while you're in Class A. Doesn't that mean you've beaten him?"

"No! He must have been placed in Class D because he deliberately hid his abilities. I want to defeat him when he's giving it his all."

"But if he's hiding his abilities even here, then that's also a 'flaw' created by the White Room! Why aren't you taking advantage of it?"

"Huh? What... what do you mean?"

"I mean that this is the flaw of an 'artificial genius.' Why are you ignoring his weakness and insisting on competing against his strength?!"

"If you want to think that way, why not compete with him in sports? Race him, for example. Could you beat him? You can't even beat Kamuro!"

Hey! Don't drag me into your argument!

Kamuro Masumi, unfairly caught in the crossfire, was close to tears, but she didn't dare say anything.

One of them had dirt on her, and the other could figure out someone's behavior, personality, and past just by meeting them. She was scared.

Chapter 19: Headpats, a Bet, and Taking a Look at Her Legs

Sakayanagi Arisu was left dumbfounded.

Indeed, if they had to compete in every possible way, she could never beat Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, the "fake genius," in physical strength. But by the school's fair evaluation, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had already lost.

Deliberately hiding his abilities and blending into the crowd had been his own choice. Being placed in Class D could indeed count as the result he'd achieved in this "competition." He'd lost to Sakayanagi Arisu, who'd earned her place in Class A.

But then, what was to become of the obsession she'd held onto all this time?

"And besides, Sakayanagi..."

As her thoughts were thrown into turmoil by his explanation, Hoshino En added another point.

"If you want to beat him in an area where you excel, then your 'genius' competition is meaningless, because you'd only be using your own advantages to bully someone else. Besides, by that measure, you've already beaten Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. If you want to use your weakness to challenge his strength, then, as I said before, your body means you can't win."

"The same goes for him. You've already beaten his weakness, and his strength is something you can't overcome."

"No one is perfect. Even a gifted genius can't win forever, and even an ordinary person can't lose forever. You have to accept that."

At that, Sakayanagi Arisu said nothing. But from the way her cheeks puffed up, it was obvious she didn't accept it.

After a while, she coldly uttered a single sentence.

"You're saying I'll lose to him?"

"You've already lost at sports."

"That doesn't count!!"