Guilt, Aesthetics, and Dogs

Ichinose felt as though the person who had bowed and apologized to the victims at the scene today wasn't Sudo, but her.

The person who had made a serious mistake, tried to run away, and offered only a perfunctory apology to the victims from Class C wasn't Sudo, but her.

If Shiranami and Kanzaki hadn't been sitting beside her then, she might have been unable to restrain the guilt welling up inside her and gone to kneel before the victims from Class C to apologize.

This conflicted, complicated state of mind had tormented her, so she could only follow the choice her heart had made and send Sima Zhenglong a message seeking confirmation, hoping he might offer her some comfort to ease the guilt she carried.

"Zhenglong, your humble servant has already given you a reply."

If things had gone according to the original story, Ichinose would now be playing the summoned geisha in the Activity Room without knowing what was going on.

Unfortunately, the performance had gone off the rails from the very beginning.

Hiyori didn't want Ichinose interrupting the stage she and I shared, so when the message notification sounded on my phone, she beat me to it—or rather, I hadn't intended to pick up my phone at all.

Hiyori replied to Ichinose on my behalf. I didn't know what she said; I only knew that after she sent her reply, my phone never rang again.

"Zhenglong, if Komako had been a geisha in Shimamura's eyes from the very beginning, would he still have seen her as 'beautiful'?"

After today's performance ended, Hiyori spread her notes across the desk and scraped her pen against my collar.

"I think Shimamura would still have seen Komako as 'beautiful,' but he would have changed his definition of beauty.

"If we discuss human 'beauty' in its essence, the first kind people can recognize is the beauty of love at first sight, and that usually comes from being attracted to someone's appearance.

"In the scene from the book, Komako is the most outstanding of the geishas. Contrast is what makes beauty.

"Maybe if you placed Komako in a scene in Tokyo, she wouldn't count as beautiful. Only in the scene described in the book does Shimamura consider Komako a kind of beauty."

I told Hiyori how I understood that part.

"'You think'?"

Hiyori seemed a little puzzled by my answer.

"That's right. I think so, and it can only be what I think. Once a work is finished, the public's interpretations of it are no longer bound by the author's ideas.

"That applies even to the author. After rereading a story they wrote several times, they might discover things they unconsciously put into it while writing.

"In my country, the reading comprehension passages on language exams are such that even the original authors wouldn't get full marks if they answered the questions. Sometimes, the strange result is that the author gets zero.

"That's the special relationship between a creator and their work. Once a work is finished and published, it no longer belongs entirely to its author."

It was a very real phenomenon. Take the oranges in The Godfather, for example: they were originally just an incidental detail, but people ended up reading a deeper meaning into them.

I didn't even know I'd written this part so well. That was pretty much the idea.

Deliberate design could never compare to the natural brilliance of an inspired moment.

"Then can I take this explanation of yours as your opinion on beauty, Zhenglong? Like the part about being attracted to someone's appearance?"

Before I knew it, Hiyori had sat down beside me and placed her hand on my chest.

"Speaking from my own perspective, I won't deny it. A kindred spirit is so hard to find. Miss Hiyori is the first one I've found in my more than ten years of life.

"Other than that, the only things I can use to judge whether someone possesses 'beauty' are their appearance and temperament. They have to meet the standard before I'll be interested in discussing our souls."

"Actually, you didn't have to tell me all that, Zhenglong. Your heartbeat gave me the answer before you even spoke. I'm sure neither Classmate Sakayanagi nor Ichinose could do what I can."

Hiyori didn't take her hand off my chest. Instead, she gave it a gentle squeeze, then continued stroking me.

"Ahem, ahem. Hiyori, don't get too carried away with your role. At least Classmate Sakayanagi, whom you just mentioned, is still sitting right here. And your guest is about to arrive."

Seeing Hiyori grow more and more shameless, Sakayanagi spoke up to stop her from taking things any further.

She'd seen Hiyori message Ichinose, and by her estimate, Ichinose should be arriving soon. Sakayanagi didn't want her to see the Traditional Literature Club as some den of iniquity.

"It's fine~ Wouldn't it be even better if Ichinose saw? That way, she'd feel even more guilty~"

Hiyori now had a strange air about her. Her confidence and composure overwhelmed everything, and even Sakayanagi couldn't stand up to her in this state.

Just as Hiyori was about to take things further, there was a knock at the door.

"What a shame. Zhenglong, just stay seated here. I'll get the door, and don't you move~"

As Hiyori got up and headed for the Activity Room door, I took my phone back from Sakayanagi.

As I'd suspected, the reason my phone hadn't made a sound for so long was that Hiyori had simply turned it off.

"Come to the Traditional Literature Club in an hour. You'll get your answer."

After turning my phone on, I opened my messages. Hiyori had sent Ichinose just that one simple text.

She'd planned this out so she could set aside some time for the two of us first.

"All right~ Zhenglong, take Classmate Sakayanagi to the supermarket to buy some ingredients. The fridge is completely empty. Leave Ichinose's problem to me~"

Without giving Sakayanagi or me a chance to refuse, Hiyori—ever the woman of action—sat Ichinose down at the other side of the desk, then ushered us out of the Activity Room.

"Don't come back until I message you, Zhenglong~"

"I'll leave Ichinose in your hands, Miss Hiyori."

Under Hiyori's kindly smile, I could only go along with it and take Sakayanagi to the supermarket.

"So Sakayanagi caught you after all. You really never learn."

At the supermarket entrance, I saw Kamuro waiting there. She'd already become Sakayanagi's dog.

"It's you! Did you tell Sakayanagi about me?"

When Kamuro saw me standing beside Sakayanagi, she grew agitated.

"You're so foolish. You knew you'd get caught by me at the supermarket here, so you went to another one. But you never thought you'd still get caught by Sakayanagi. And you're in Class A, too—don't you know who owns this school?"

"Guh. Just kill me!"

Kamuro had a low attack and even lower defense. After being taunted, she crouched on the ground with the air of someone ready to go on strike.

"Good girl~ Get up and get to work."

"Okay."

But in front of Sakayanagi, her attempt to go on strike was futile.