"Is that so?"
Manabu felt Saiki wasn't lying.
"Then you've worked harder than anyone—even me. It must've been tough."
*'I was born with powers, but in a way, it has been tough.'*
Saiki thought.
"Memorize these numbers: one's mine, the other's Akane's. If you have troubles after graduation, call me. Write them down if needed, but delete them later."
Manabu gave Saiki two phone numbers. Though Saiki didn't need to memorize them, he pretended to.
"Thanks."
Saiki said.
"I have a question for you, as a graduation keepsake."
Manabu's expression turned serious.
"Why do you hide your talents?"
*'If my powers were known, it'd cause global chaos. I couldn't live normally.'*
Saiki thought, then said,
"I just don't want attention. It'd disrupt my daily life."
It wasn't a lie.
"I've been thinking about what I've achieved here and what's left. You came here to leave something behind, right? If so, try your best. If not for the school, leave something for the students. Maybe they'll remember Saiki Kusuo."
Manabu said seriously.
*'Leave something behind?'*
Saiki thought.
"Is Suzune not coming?"
After a long pause, Manabu asked, hoping Saiki knew where Suzune was.
Though there was still time before he left, Manabu wanted to see his sister soon.
"She's probably nearby."
Saiki said slowly.
He'd used telepathy to find Suzune nearby when he arrived.
"Brother's leaving. What should I say...?"
Suzune had arrived earlier but was too nervous to approach.
"I saw a girl resembling you earlier but didn't confirm."
Saiki said.
"Really?"
Manabu's eyebrows relaxed.
"She's over there. Want to check?"
"Yeah."
Manabu quickly walked to where Saiki pointed and saw Suzune standing by the wall, looking conflicted.
"What should I say... Brother's leaving..."
"Suzune, what are you doing here?"
Manabu asked, confused.
"Huh? Brother!?"
His voice snapped Suzune back to reality.
"I... I... I wanted to say something since you're graduating, but I don't know what..."
Suzune was speechless. She'd prepared many words but forgot them all when she saw him.
"How did you find me?"
"Saiki said he saw someone like you, so I came over. It's you."
"Saiki?"
Suzune turned, but Saiki was already gone.
...
*'Let them spend time together. It's not my problem anymore.'*
Saiki thought, heading back to the dorm. But first, one more thing.
"Saiki, are you free?"
Chiaki appeared. Like Suzune, Saiki had heard her thoughts from afar. She'd been following him all day.
He'd planned to avoid her, but since she was persistent, he'd resolve it. Being followed daily was annoying.
"What's up?"
"Can we talk?"
"I'm busy later..."
"It won't take long."
Chiaki quickly said, not giving him a chance to refuse.
"Fine. What is it?"
"Are you close to the ex-student council president?"
Chiaki asked curiously. She'd noticed their interaction earlier.
"Just acquaintances."
Saiki replied.
"But you seemed familiar just now."
"Not really. He just asked about his sister. That's all."
Saiki shook his head.
"Saiki's lying, right? It can't be just that."
*'She doesn't believe me?'*
"I'll be direct. Saiki, you're amazing, right?"
Chiaki asked directly. Her questions had piled up.
"What do you mean?"
Saiki feigned confusion.
"At the sports festival, your athletic ability was beyond others..."
*'That was an accident...'*
"When Hirata was struggling, I saw you talk to him. The next day, he was like a new person..."
*'I did nothing. Believe me?'*
"In the class vote, Sakayanagi oddly gave you all his praise. That's strange. Add your connection to the ex-president, and it's too much to be coincidence. You're amazing, right?"
Chiaki said seriously.
"All this can't be coincidence. You're amazing, Saiki!"
Chiaki stared at him.
"I wanted to see his reaction, but he's calm. Of course, he's hidden his strength for almost a year."
*'Chiaki's not easy to fool.'*
Kusuo pondered in his mind, thinking about how to handle the current situation. If he didn't clarify things with Chiaki now, there would definitely be more trouble later. His mind raced, and he finally came up with a plan.
*'Since Ayanokōji caused me so much trouble earlier, I'll give him a little payback,'* he thought.
With that, Kusuo spoke up:
"In the end, you figured it out, didn't you?"
"You're admitting it outright?" Chiaki asked, surprised. He hadn't expected Kusuo to confess to hiding his abilities.
"Yeah, I did hide my abilities at first."
"Why?"
"Partly because I didn't want to draw too much attention—" Kusuo paused, then continued, "And partly because of Ayanokōji's advice."
"Ayanokōji?" Chiaki was taken aback. He hadn't expected that name.
"You didn't know?" Kusuo feigned surprise. "Looks like I slipped up."
*'Ayanokōji... Thinking back, he's someone worth paying attention to. There were a lot of suspicious things about him earlier, but I focused on Kusuo because of all the mysteries surrounding him. I overlooked Ayanokōji. But why did Kusuo bring him up? What does his hidden abilities have to do with Ayanokōji?'*
Chiaki's mind raced with questions. "I know the general idea, but I'm not clear on the details. Can you confirm?" he asked.
*'I can't let on that I know nothing. I need to keep the upper hand in this conversation.'*
"Sure, since you've figured out so much about me, you probably know most of it already," Kusuo said slowly. "I'll tell you everything."
Chiaki perked up at Kusuo's words.
"Honestly, my physical and academic abilities are among the top in class. I showed Ayanokōji at first, but he told me to hide them."
"Why hide them?"
"He said if I revealed them too soon, I'd become a target for other classes. He wanted to use me as a secret weapon when needed. It was all Ayanokōji's plan."
"What...?" Chiaki's mind raced, struggling to process this. After a long pause, he asked, "Why Ayanokōji? Why did you listen to him?"
"Because Ayanokōji is hiding his abilities too. He always scores mid-range in exams on purpose."
"And now that our class has grown from D to A, I can show my abilities to some extent. I became the commander in the last exam simply because I had protection points. It was all Ayanokōji's plan."
"Ayanokōji?" Chiaki recalled past events. Ayanokōji's actions had been strange, but her focus had been on Kusuo.
*'Was Ayanokōji controlling everything? Is that possible?'*
"Oh, and one more thing. Earlier, I saw you talking to Chairman Tsukishiro. What was that about?" Chiaki asked.
"Tsukishiro? Oh, that was a few days ago. He just asked about my thoughts on the new school environment. Before he talked to me, I saw him speaking with Ayanokōji, but I'm not sure what they discussed."
*'Tsukishiro and Ayanokōji were talking... After Kusuo finished with Tsukishiro, Ayanokōji showed up. So Tsukishiro was definitely talking to Ayanokōji earlier! Was his reaction because of Ayanokōji?'*
*'Looks like I've successfully shifted the focus to Ayanokōji. Can't blame me—he caused me enough trouble earlier.'*
Kusuo, seeing Chiaki deep in thought, deliberately asked, "What's wrong? Didn't you know about this?"
"I had an idea, thanks, Kusuo! I won't disturb you further!" Chiaki nodded and hurried away.
*'I've been focusing on the wrong person! Kusuo was hiding his abilities, but Ayanokōji was the one pulling the strings! I never saw that coming!'*
Her thoughts echoed loudly in her mind.
---