(Kengo perspective)Chapter 29: A Failure's Redemption
By the time Game Five ended, it felt like the school had forgotten how to breathe.
Or maybe it was just me.
At 10:30 in the morning, every surviving student returned to the NIFL. The halls were quieter than usual. Some people had won. Others had survived. Those weren't always the same thing.
Class 1-C gathered inside our old homeroom from the first game.
The intercom crackled.
«"Game Six: The Scale Breaker..."»
I leaned against the wall while the rules played.
One representative from every class.
Five rounds.
Four Scale Breakers hidden across sixteen tablets.
A minor expulsion.
One million private points.
Class exemption from the final game.
One thousand five hundred class points.
The representatives could lie.
Bluff.
Steal.
Manipulate.
Whoever read people the best would walk away with everything.
Or nothing.
The announcement ended.
Silence filled the room.
"I'll do it."
Rika crossed her arms.
"I have the skills."
Shuto frowned.
"Are you sure? If another freshman gets fifteen hundred class points, everything changes. We need someone dependable."
Before anyone could answer, the classroom door slid open.
Ayame.
"What are you doing here?" Akari asked. "You got a Blessing Card. You're exempt."
"I wanted to help choose the representative."
She spoke normally...
Until her eyes drifted toward Kei.
For a split second...
There it was.
Hatred.
Akari noticed it.
So did Shuto.
So did Kei.
So did I.
Akari sighed.
"Don't tell me you're still angry because Kei helped get Mei expelled."
Ayame lowered her head.
"You took away my best friend's future."
Her voice shook.
I couldn't stay quiet.
"As if she had one."
Everyone turned toward me.
"She was a sadistic hypocrite who only cared about herself—"
"SHUT UP!"
Ayame's voice echoed through the room.
"You don't know the first thing about Mei!"
Kei answered before I could.
"Did you?"
The room froze.
"Did you even know that side of her?"
Ayame couldn't answer.
Jun stepped between everyone.
"Enough."
"We're just making things worse."
No one spoke.
Natsumi stared at the floor like always.
I rubbed my forehead.
This class...
This entire class...
It was hopeless.
Haruto had disappeared when everyone needed him.
Rika confused confidence with leadership.
Shuto wasn't ready.
Jun still let his emotions decide everything.
And Kei...
Kei never wanted to lead in the first place.
I walked out.
I couldn't stand another second inside that room.
---
The courtyard was quiet.
I sat beneath one of the trees.
At least the tree didn't expect anything from me.
A shadow appeared beside me.
"...It's always you."
Toma.
He sat beside me without asking.
"I hide here when I get tired of my class," he said.
He looked toward the school.
"So."
"How's life in Class 1-C?"
"Pointless."
That single word escaped before I even thought about it.
Toma looked at me.
"Is it pointless because you believe it?"
"...Or because Hina taught you to?"
My fists clenched.
"What the hell do you know about me?"
He didn't react.
"A lot more than you know about yourself."
His voice stayed lazy.
Almost bored.
"Six months ago, before your demotion..."
"You still had a spark."
"You weren't supposed to be in Class A."
"But you wanted to prove you deserved it."
He looked directly at me.
"Then Hina happened."
"And ever since..."
"You've convinced yourself trying is meaningless."
I stood.
"I hate that about you."
"You always act like some prophet."
"This is who I am."
"No."
He shook his head.
"I'm not a prophet."
"I just hate watching people mistake their scars for their identity."
Something inside me snapped.
I grabbed his collar.
"You want to know who I really am?"
"I'm nothing."
"I aimed for the stars..."
"And burned alive."
"I cheated."
"I lied."
"I faked my application."
"I got demoted because I'm exactly what everyone says."
"A failure."
"A worthless piece of garbage."
My grip loosened.
Toma simply adjusted his shirt.
"...Did Hina really mean that much to you?"
I couldn't answer.
"I thought..."
I stopped.
He already understood.
"You thought she'd love you."
His words hurt more because they were true.
"She didn't."
"She manipulated you."
"You confessed."
"She reported you."
"And you lost everything."
He sighed.
"I honestly don't know what anyone sees in that weirdo."
"Being trapped in a classroom with Naoki, Reina, Ichika, Kenji and the rest is exhausting enough."
He unwrapped the lollipop he'd been eating.
When he finished, he tossed the stick into the bushes.
"If you choose pessimism..."
"Fine."
"But make sure it's your choice."
"Not hers."
He stood.
"Who gives a damn what the world thinks?"
"Figure out who you want to become."
"Life isn't defined by what happens."
"It's defined by how you choose to interpret what happens."
He began walking away.
Without turning around, he gave a small wave.
"And Kengo..."
"Stop performing for everyone else."
"Live for yourself."
He disappeared beyond the trees.
...
For the first time in months...
My thoughts were quiet.
Maybe...
Just maybe...
I had spent so long calling myself a failure...
That I'd forgotten failures could still move forward.
I stood.
Then I ran.
As fast as I could.
Back toward Class 1-C.
The argument was still going when I burst through the classroom door.
Everyone turned.
I struggled to catch my breath.
"Let..."
I inhaled.
"LET ME BE THE REPRESENTATIVE."
For the first time since my demotion...
Those words didn't feel like I was trying to prove something to someone else.
They felt like something I wanted.