Classroom of The Elite: Revenge

[9th February, Tuesday]

[Kurushima Pov]

I woke up earlier than expected today.

Perhaps, I wanted to see first hand his facial expression, his troubled face, knowing what the implications of Kushida's statement and his act was, so I was excited to stand up sooner.

That might be it. 

But truthfully, there was still something he didn't quite understand and I was excited when he would come to realize it. 

He might think nothing will happen aside from his reputation, since this is not sufficient evidence to expel him.

But soon, he'll be meet with another quick surprise.

I'm basically "forcing" the school to expel him, because of my "case" as well. 

Well, spilling the fun at once is no fun at all, so I'll wait till he comes to the fruitful realization and tells his dear father everything about me. 

I'm not afraid of his father anymore, so why should I act like that, then?

I spent too much thoughts and time with that and what dangers would await me, but ever since my last conversation with her I was more resolved than ever.

Because I knew. . . It was over with us for good, I was able to confront him more confidently.

He'll pay for everything he has done.

And for that, I want to look at him, and tell everything I want to say to his face.

I won't hide myself any longer from him.

I did that far too long.

No more fear of Chairman Sakayanagi spilling the beans or anything else.

I will face him face-to-face.

"It's quite a long time since I felt this confident. . ."

I muttered deep beneath my breath knowing that I was doing things for the better or worse.

But even without my inheritance, I was not a pushover. 

I prepared myself years for this, so even without my soon-to-be entire wealth, I would not lack in comparison to a powerful, affluent foe. 

Aoki and I invested the rest amounts of the monthly allowance in stocks early on, which should be around 40-45 Billion Yens of a total worth. It was a custodial account he created under my name, as my legal guardian.

Although, I had no intention of touching that one, for now. Until I come out of age, I would not touch anything there. 

However, I had another huge account, with a huge amount of money, coming from the dividends once a year. But the access we were granted on that sum was relatively small and quickly invested. . .

Also. . . I had an enormously large debt not many people really knew of. I faced an inheritance tax of 55% when my parents died. . . So it was quite a struggle back then.

I didn't want to sell my shares, but realistically, I had to sell 16% immediately to cover the entire inheritance tax just for the shares I inherited. The longer it took the more of them would I lose in the end since the prices were falling down fast.

I hated that kind of solution no matter how long I thought until I thought of another one. The financial advisors and even Aoki were surprised back then, with most of the advisors against it, but it had been personally the best solution for me.

I knew the risks very well, but I didn't want to sell the shares no matter what would happen and see the company going down or affect my parents legacy, so I took a tremendously large loan!

In the end, only a loan of half my inheritance tax was granted, since nobody thought it's a good idea of a seven year old getting a loan of 16 Billion USD. 

But my position itself allowed it, since if I sold 16% of my shares, the company would break down, which was a no-go for Government as well.

It was after all the second largest company in Japan. Alongside the financial crisis, an unreasonable loan was granted for me. 

However, since just one half was covered, I was forced to sell 8% to meet the requirement of the 55% inheritance tax. 

I was forced to sell 8% out of my back then 28,04% Shares, 4% of it going to the bank, 3% going to the company, and 1% of it... going to Amasawa, that bastard. 

Because of the financial crisis, the bank couldn't spend much more than they already did on me.

At that time I was recommended to Amasawa from them, a known private investor, who has amassed several billions of dollars through investment.

Back then I didn't know him yet, so I accepted. No one else did back then and the more it took, the more I was at risk.

I tried to sell more to my parent's company, but they were already hugely struggling with buying just 3%.

If you take into consideration a month later they would have to pay its shareholders on dividends, happening each year on August, they were already strained.

The bank was as well, because many businesses in Japan were collapsing and struggling.

In the end, he was my only choice. But if I had known later who he was, I wouldn't have accepted it. . .

At the end of the day, I'm now in a huge debt.

Inheritance tax has to be paid within 10 months from the day on you inherited everything, so I couldn't delay it, which basically forced me to do all this. 

And even though I'm supposed to be the richest person in the country, I actually have a huge tremendous debt on my account. 

A remaining one of 900 Billion Yen which is equivalent to 6.002 Billion USD. 

Hahaha. . . Yeah. . . That's really quite much. 

My stubbornness didn't want to admit it back then, but I think, it could have been a huge mistake.

Although till now I paid already 25% of it in these past 8 years so I suppose it isn't that bad. . . I guess.

The dividends were covering the 0.5% interest rate easily even after the 20.315% tax on them, so I paid the remaining 90% of it then to my debt.

The 10% would be kept for emergency situations to the side, which has amassed quite much to this day. 

In 2007, 334 Billion Yen were paid out, from which I got 1/5, but even after tax and being left with a tremendous amount it was a long way until I could pay everything off. 

. . .

Just thinking about my personal finances brought me immense depression.

I kept that topic mostly off to myself, but if I don't find solutions to raise the market cap of the company even higher, I'll be paying the debt until I'm 29, perhaps even 30, if it decreases from its current path again.

I'm not even sure if I am willing to last that long. . .

I always thought after 25 or 26. . . everything would end. 

Anyway, now is not the time for that. 

Once I'm gone from this school I should find more efficient ways to pay it off faster. 

I ignored this problem far too long while I was here. 

Hopefully, the investments Aoki and I made will prove to be more useful in the future so I can pay this off fast. 

My Junior NISA account can't even cover a twentieth of a percentage from Amasawa's shares.

It's really depressing. . . 

Though it also had a maximal limitation of investing 5.500 USD Dollar per year, since I was a minor and not allowed to invest more than that in a Japan Junior NISA account.

Only once I come out of age. . . So it was kind of understandable. . .

But it was far more than enough to pay Nagumo off for my deal with him. Even if he ends up with 200 Million Private Points at the end of the contract and I have to pay a 1:1.5 private point to yen ratio it could cover that. 

I thought I wanted to drop this topic, no? 

Yeah . . . 

"Haha," I scuffed with a painful laugh as I arrived in front of my locker and saw a love letter in there.

I wasn't a lucrative opinion as a partner if some had known that information about me. Seeing a love letter gave me that ironic feeling strangely, right now. 

I tried to approach it with my hand until I felt a presence nearby me, seeing him trying to slam my locker and hand.

Crack

"Close call. . ."

I murmured as I retreated my fingers from my locker when a certain individual closed it immediately. 

Without even looking back, I knew right away who it was.

"You again?" I told him in an annoying tone. 

"Yeah, it's me. Did you expect someone else? Do you think I should be afraid of you?"

"Not really, I suppose."

Back then at the rooftop he was afraid of me, but his course of actions changed during that timespan by much. 

I welcomed that kind of change from him, truthfully. 

It's only. . . That he ends up annoying me as always, which I did not welcome.

But in the end, it's exactly as I already told him. He did not understand a single basic thing.

He thinks of me as nothing more than a coward for breaking up with her, avoiding her, hurting her, but he was not in my shoes.

If he could even narrowly see my perspective in all that, I'm sure he would think twice about portraying me like that. 

However. . . I never ended up outrightly denying his claims, because I knew very well that he was at a certain point of a view completely right with everything. 

"What do you want?"

"I want to talk. But let's talk somewhere else. I can speak here as well, but I might tell too much of what you consider to keep a 'secret'."

I could tell that he wanted to speak with me about yesterday's events.

It was evidently, honestly.

What happened to Ayanokoji is a huge topic after all.

But I knew it wasn't just that in the end. 

It was also about her. . . wasn't it?

"And why?"

He suddenly grinned, closing the contact between me and him.

"Because I want. Come with me if you don't want me to spill out the beans to her about what you wanted to do with us on the rooftop."

I looked at him straight in the eyes, but I followed along.

It shouldn't be a huge deal and not matter at all if he told her about me. And yet, I wanted to avoid at all costs that she looked at me with these kind of eyes during my last days in this school. 

It took the two of us a small while, but we arrived at an isolated location.

I looked at him, merely.

"Tell me what you want now."

"Nothing much. After the school is over, I want you to accompany me. I'll wait in front of the school for you."

"Is that all?"

"No. You did that with Ayanokoji, didn't you?"

"Do you think I did it?"

"Yes."

"Then what's the point of asking me whether I did it or not, if you're already convinced that it was me?"

"To ask you, if you think this is enough. You know that it's not enough to expel that guy, right? There's evidence you can fabricate as you like, but even so, it's not enough for an expulsion. You're only hurting his social life in this school."

"Are you worried about me?"

"Worried? No, not really. But false accusations can expel you. Just don't involve her if something goes wrong."

"Who do you think I am? I didn't plan on doing so. Besides. . . No, it doesn't matter."

He raised an eyebrow at my hesitation, clearly intrigued by the sudden halt in my sentence.

"Besides what?" he pressed, leaning slightly forward.

"It doesn't matter," I repeated firmly.

"Doesn't matter, huh?" he said, his grin returning. "I don't buy that. You don't strike me as the type to leave a thought unfinished unless it's something you're trying to hide."

"Believe what you want. You dragged me out here to play these games? If you're so certain about me being behind it, why not just report it and be done with it?"

"I could. But where's the fun. Besides, you're not stupid enough to let you be caught with evidence. However, you also clearly seem like you're not worried at all? What else have you planned?"

"Nothing much, really."

I expressed, smiling at him.

But he knew very well that he should not expect an answer from me.

"So you won't answer, huh? I'm curious, but what's your driving motivation behind expelling him? What happened that you seem to dislike him that much?"

". . ."

I paused a moment.

"He. . . No, his father did something unforgivable to me. That's all I'm telling."

"I didn't think you'd answer my question at all."

"I did not either. I suppose we're both surprised."

Even though I could have kept quiet on my part I ended up answering him. 

In the end, I guess I did not care as much if he knew this kind of information about me. 

I walked away, turning my back on him.

"After school. Be punctual, Kurushima."

The irony that something like this came from his mouth was something I did not need to point out.

It was as clear as hell that he would let me wait, deliberately. 

And yet, I smiled because I was a bit amused by it, strangely.

That's quite surprising. 

If things ended differently, a friendship with someone like him would have been not quite "impossible". 

But we're far too different for that. 

Besides, he's quite annoying. 

--

"Did he. . . really let me wait this long?"

I came a few minutes too late here. But regardless of that fact, he wasn't there by then. I expected it already from him, but it's nearly been ten minutes already. 

I got a message from him during the break where we should meet, once the school is over.

Although I'm quite surprised from where he has gotten my phone number. 

Well. . . Never mind, I was quite popular until not long ago. So it's not that surprising. 

"Did you wait long, Kurushima?"

"I just arrived here as well. Anyway, what is so urgent that you would want to meet me after school?"

"Come with me."

"You're really an annoying bastard, you know?"

"I can say the same thing about you. I would have beaten you to a plumb if it wasn't for her sake."

"You would have tried, you mean? There's no way you could have been actually able to pull it off."

"Do you really think you're that invincible? From what I heard of that guy, he beat you like me to a decent plumb."

". . ."

"He was lucky. That's all."

"You're really a petty loser, aren't you, Kurushima?"

"Shut up. Let's get to the point. Why did you bring me over here?"

"Why don't you guess? I thought you were smart. Maybe we were all wrong."

". . . "

"Because of her, it seems. What is your goal, anyway?"

"Just see it for yourself."

It was fairly easy to guess what he wanted to do. But I hoped it to be not the case. 

Because I was unsure how to face her. 

She was still that one person where I felt this strange—this vulnerable, when she was around me. 

The barrier I was putting on didn't work when she was there. 

Everything began to crumble to ashes when I looked at her.

It was incredibly hard to just maintain my indifferent attitude toward her when I stood opposite to her. 

Engaging in a conversation would be even worse. My heart was beginning to beat crazily right now, because of that. 

I truly am an emotional wreck right now. 

"Nervous, huh?"

"Shut up!"

That was the only thing I said to him.

I hated being teased, so I quickly had replied. To think I would become this nervous and uneasy again was not planned. 

Because this might be the last time I ever see her. . . I was even more nervous and uneasy.

There was the part of me that didn't want us to part ways.

But I know it's better for her. 

I suppose. . . It's something I will come to regret for my entire life. But I was prepared to hold onto these regrets. 

I don't think I'll be ever able to love someone else other than her. For me, she was the only one in my life. 

However. . . I'm now also letting her go.

Well. . . That's the kind of life I have chosen for myself, so I should be prepared for it. 

"Are you single? I thought for a while that you were quite fine, so how about you go out with me?" I heard from somewhere a bit away a familiar voice.

I looked Ryūen straight into the eyes, realizing it.

"What is this? Are you trying to make me jealous by having Hashimoto hit on her in front of me or something?"

He grinned, but did not answer. 

It was a pitiful attempt of him. But I felt deep inside me uncomfortable seeing her with someone else. 

If she was to flirt with someone in front of me—It would definitely hurt. That thought alone would make me jealous. 

I know. . . That this was the thing Ryūen was hoping for, but I would ignore it. 

I looked over a bit past the wall that separated us and where she and Hashimoto was.

She stood there awkwardly because of his question. While looking at her I also noticed something. . . a familiar cover. . . alongside the familiar title . . . of the book . . . That was written from my dead Mother. . .

I see. . . I get it. 

She asked Ryūen if he could arrange a meeting between us. . . Because she wanted to give me the book. . . back.

The book of my death mother, which has only four remaining examples in the world. One of the five examples burned in the car that day, while the other four—three I mean, are in my possession.

I gifted it to her back then. 

I can't believe. . . She is still holding onto that book still, despite the fact I hurt her so much in these past six weeks.

Why doesn't she burn it away, destroy it, to make me feel the same kind of pain I inflicted on her. . .? 

Why. . .? 

Just why, is she still holding onto that book . . .

"I'm sorry, but I already have someone that I like."

"Kurushima, eh? Didn't he break up with you? Why would you still like that guy? When he threw you away like that? I'm sure he has already found someone else. That's the kind of guy he seems like to me."

"Honestly, you're wasting your time on a guy like him. You're too sweet for your own good. He discarded you without a second thought. People like him don't look back. It's almost pitiful that you still like him and wait that he takes you back." 

". . ."

I was silent and quiet. But I felt the rage building inside me. I clenched my fists as hard as possible and tried my best to ignore this feeling. 

After all I knew it was Ryūen's exact plan.

Even so, it was hardly possible. I barely controlled myself. If he just talked bad about me I wouldn't have minded it at all. 

I was used to it, plenty of times. 

But he clearly did it to her. . . 

I knew what Ryūen was doing—he wanted to see if he could get under my skin, rile me up, make me react.

And damn it, it was working.

He truly stepped down as low as this. . .

But Hiyori… she didn't seem to waver in front of Hashimoto's pursuit. 

"You don't know anything, Hashimoto-kun."

Her voice was steady, but there was a sharpness there that I hadn't heard from her before.

"You try to act like you understand him, but you don't. Kaoru isn't like how you describe. He is not like that."

"Is that so? Then why did he break up with you? Does that not prove my point?"

"He has his own reasons."

"You're quite the delusional girl if you believe that. The impression I got from you a few days ago changed. Well. . . I'm all of a sudden not so interested in you anymore as I thought."

She merely nodded, wanting to move past him. There was no need for her to talk with him after this. 

But Hashimoto prevented her from doing so and talked again.

I didn't know how to react at all right now in spite of this. . .

I kept the obvious thing in mind—that Ryūen had told Hashimoto about all this.

She should have realized it immediately as well as soon as he approached her. 

And yet, despite knowing this. . . She refuted everything he said about me. 

She could have ignored it. It wasn't even her own problem. 

She could have agreed with everything he said. . .

So why, is she still protecting me? 

Why doesn't she just agree with him? 

I hurt her and did as he said. . . I threw her away, in the pursuit of my revenge.

She wasn't my first priority back then. . . And that's what I hate about me as well.

But I didn't want her to be involved in any of my problems.

Even when I told her. . . At the day we broke up that I would leave the school to skip high school and go immediately to college. . . She was fine waiting for me. 

If she knew everything about me. . . Would she have reacted the same way?

I was sure she would have looked at me with different kind of eyes. . .

After all, even I couldn't look at myself straight in the mirror anymore. 

"Is that also why you keep that book around you? Because it's the only way you can bring him talk to you? I wonder. . . How he would feel, if he sees its damaged?" 

The scene in front of my eyes played fast as he took the book from her. . . forcefully and threw it. . . backwards in the air. . .

"No!" she screamed loudly. . . and leapt forward. . . jumping frontwards to catch the book with her hands. . .

"Ouch," she expressed painfully, catching the book and harming herself in the . . . process. 

Before I could even process what happened next, my body moved on its own.

I gave Ryūen a death glare before stepping forward to Hashimoto. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Hashimoto?" I glared at him in fury, my expression as cold as ice, containing my rage barely, because she was looking at me in this moment as well. 

I didn't want her to experience me with these other eyes, full of rage. So I tried my best containing them in this very own moment. 

"Relax, Kurushima. I just tested her loyalty to you, you know? I'm not trying to get between you two."

But I felt how my patience immediately snapped.

So I slowly approached him.

He stepped back as soon as I stepped forward. But he noticed soon that his back was colliding with the wall behind him and nothing helped him to avoid me now. 

"Hashimoto," I murmured quietly, once I knew she was not able to see my face in this moment anymore. 

He had barely time to react because he was looking at me now straight in the eyes.

What he was met was this pitch-hole full of hatred I usually contained for myself. But for the first time since long did I feel this much anger boiling inside me again.

"I asked you something before, didn't I? What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I. . ." He was barely able to mutter a word out of his mouth as I stared at him in full fury, with all the hatred inside me. 

I closed the distance between us and moved my head towards his ear, muttering something to him. "You know, if it wasn't for her presence right now, things would turn out really ugly here."

"So let me tell you something, if you ever pull something like this again—No, if you ever even talk to her again with your filthy mouth, I promise you, I'll make sure you will regret being born."

"Do you understand me? I'm completely serious about it. Ruining your life is easy for me to do."

"Y-Yes. . ."

"Then go. Don't let me see your face today again."

I moved a step backwards and Hashimoto turned around and ran away without looking to his back. 

Now about her. . . 

I turned away and fixated my eyes on Hiyori, who was on the ground, looking at my direction, a bit unsure how to face me. 

I walked to her, but I couldn't contain my anger.

"You silly idiot. Why the hell would you jump after the book? Especially, after everything I did to you?" My words hung silently in the air as I scolded her.

"You shouldn't have jumped after it," I repeated firmly, my tone softer now, but my frustration still not completely gone. "What if you got hurt? It's just a book. It can be damaged. Replaced."

"But people cannot. . . You cannot."

"Let me see now if you're hurt."

I crouched down on the ground and inspected whether she was hurt or not. It felt frustrating that she did this. 

"I'm sorry. . . But I know how much your mother's book means to you, Kaoru. It's important to you. . ."

"Not more than you, you silly idiot. You know that as well. You're far more important to me than a mere book."

There was a brief silence, but I continued. 

"I just don't get you. I hurt you, abandoned you, pushed you away when you did nothing wrong and you still hold onto that book? Why didn't you just. . . you know. . . threw it away. . ."

She smiled slightly. "Now you're the silly idiot among us two. Isn't it clear? I love you, Kaoru. My feelings never changed in these six weeks, even once."

"I. . . love you too. . . That never changed for me either. I missed you a lot. . . so often. And I really want to be together with you as well, again. . ."

I knew that it might have been a mistake saying these words, but I didn't regret saying them nonetheless.

These have been always been my feelings for her.

"Then why, Kaoru? Why. . .?"

"Let's go to my room. I will explain you everything there. Why you probably won't want to be together with me once the truth is out. The actual reason I mean and not the half truth of what I told you back then."

"While I am it. . . I will tell you the remaining part about me I kept hidden from you. . ."

"You will see me differently, then. After that. . . Please make your choice. I never wanted to tell you the truth, because I was afraid how you'd react. But. . . You have the right to know that if you want to be together with me."

"I want to listen to my heart. For the first time again. But only after that." 

"And then you will also get automatically the 'why'. Before that, let's treat these injuries. I'll carry you to my room."

I crouched down on the ground and began to carry her. 

"Kaoru. . .?!"

"I'm sorry. . . It's selfish of me to do this, even though we are not together anymore. But once the truth is revealed. . . You will see me in a different light. This might be the last time you'll look at me with such soft, caring eyes."

There was a brief silence between us, but she began to talk.

"It doesn't matter what you tell me. I won't change how I see you, Kaoru. I know you better than you think."

I did a nod, unsure how to reply to her. 

--

"We're here. Sorry for the . . . uhm untidiness."

I closed the door behind me and looked at Hiyori, who was in front of me. I had released her before I opened the door. 

"It's okay. But it's been really long since I have been here. . ."

"Yeah. . . Do you feel pain anywhere, Hiyori?" I asked her in worry. 

"Everything is fine. It's not that bad of an injury, Kaoru. My knees bleed a bit, but that's all . . . I think. Nonetheless, you carried me all over here."

"Sorry. . . It was inappropriate, right? I suppose I wanted to be close to you, one more time, before you know of the truth. . ."

"I told you already, it won't change how I see you, Kaoru. So don't worry."

"Okay. . ." But it didn't change how hesitant I felt about the topic at all. 

"Please wait a moment, I'll get the first aid kit. You can sit on my bed in the meanwhile."

She nodded her head and I headed over to the bathroom. I took the first aid kit and then left and went to my room. 

There I saw her sitting on my bed. I approached her and crouched down in front of her. 

"Uhm. . . " I didn't know to phrase that well, but I just went along. "Your socks . . ."

I tried to prevent doing something like pulling her socks down. Especially, since I was planning on telling her everything. 

If she had second thoughts about me after that. . . I would accept it. So I didn't want to do something like that. 

"Oh, sorry. I'll pull them off right away. . ."

I tried to look away when she did so. Even though we were once pretty intimate with each other we weren't a couple right now. 

"I'm finished."

I turned around to her direction once she was done. I inspected her wound and gently cleaned it with a cotton swab soaked in disinfectant from the first aid kit.

"This might sting a little," I said softly, my voice quieter than usual.

She winced slightly but didn't pull away. "I'm okay," she reassured me, even though I could see the pain in her expression.

I worked carefully, not hurting her more than necessarily. I applied a bandage over her scraped knee once I was done disinfecting and I couldn't help but glance up at her.

Her eyes were focused on me, and despite everything, she wasn't mad, held resentment nor anger on her.

"A band-aid would have been enough, Kaoru."

Instead, she seemed to be more happy, with a warmth I felt when we were still together. 

I felt nervous and warm, but I didn't let that disrupt me from doing it on the other knee as well.

Once I was done disinfecting and bandaging it, she looked at me, with extreme soft, caring eyes.

"That should do it for now."

"Thank you, Kaoru."

"No worries. . ."

I replied, my voice a bit hesitant. I wasn't sure how to begin now at all. 

How should I even start? 

I didn't have a plan, so I just began speaking, without letting her wait longer.

"I wanted you to hate me, forget me. But even after everything. . . You don't hate me? Despise me? I really failed at doing so. . ."

"You did," she nodded, looking at me in the eyes.

"My feelings never. . . changed. I kept on wondering what you were up to, every single day in these past six weeks. I always wanted to talk with you, but I put a forced barrier around me that shut me off from it."

"I missed you every single day. To not be together with you was a curse to me. It was unimaginably hard to maintain even in front of you a indifferent behavior."

"I thought if you would forget me, hate me, despise me, it would be a better for you. I wanted to you to move on from me and find someone better—who could make you happy."

"Because I knew. . . I couldn't grant you the life you would desire."

"I'm too selfish for that, driven by my pursuit of revenge. This is also the actual reason I came to this school. I didn't want you to involve it in it. In all these complications, these burdens of mine. I wanted you to live. . . normal. " 

"Because I'm nothing more than a revenge seeking Monster, who will be hurting everyone around himself."

"Revenge. . . It has been my whole purpose in life for so long. In these past eight years I never thought about anything else other than that. . . until I met you."

"It all made it so complicated, because I suddenly had all these newfound desires and dreams about my future that I didn't know I could ever experience." 

"That's why I always felt so guilty. . . Because I knew from the very beginning when I confessed to you and asked you out to be together with me that this would undeniably happen one time."

"Back then. . . I thought. . . I could do both. That was before everything went downwards in December 18. . ."

"You don't know me as well as you thought. . . It's not fair of me to keep that away from you."

I did a deep breath before starting talking. 

"You know that my family died in a car incident, but that was not the complete truth. It wasn't a simple incident where the fault lied in the car company like the media portrays. . . It was more than that."

"They were. . . murdered because my father found out about a secret governmental project within the citizen party. It is a top-secret only selective people within the citizen party apparently know off."

"When my father found it out he wanted to make it public. . . Because it is so inhuman and cruel, but before he could do, the person in charge found out about it . . ."

"He likely was gathering evidence and tried his best to not have his intentions be clear, but when they saw a chance, they murdered him alongside the rest of my family, at a peaceful time."

"I just happened to be at home at that specific day while my entire family was somewhere else just waiting for their death to occur a few hours later. . ."

"For their target they were ready to kill my pregnant mother, my father, my six year old sister and three year old younger brother. . ."

"I recall that his behavior changed a month or two before they died back then. . . But I had no clue how much stress and pressure he had to be under."

"I was in the past heavily conflicted how to feel about my father, but he has no fault. He tried to do the right thing, change the country internally for the better. . ."

"He even became a politician for that in September 2005 and resigned from his position in the conglomerate they build together for the past 12 years at that time. . ."

"Two years later and they died in July 1, 2007. I was heavily affected by their deaths, was depressed all day long alongside experiencing countless of panic attacks day after day. . ."

"I remember still how I went to the police after their deaths because I knew the car was just used three times overall and had no mistake unlike it was pointed out by the official investigation of the police that was done in a few hours."

"I gave them a notice of that information but I was told I was being delusional and was met with corruption from the police director in Osaka. . ."

"Someone had the control of the police back then. I didn't know whom to trust even anymore. Aoki, my guardian, was back then the only one I could trust."

"I was met with a down falling company of which I owned the majority of the shares and the major voting rights. From then on everything I did negatively would affect their legacy as well. . ."

"Coupled with that, my severely bad mental condition, I was met with a 55% inheritance tax, media attention, people that suddenly called me, that gave them out as friends and far more. . ."

"I hated my life so often, back then. Those are the worst pieces of memories for me. I was forced to sell a piece of their legacy due to the inheritance tax but had sworn myself to get much of it back once I was out of age."

"I studied for that everything that I could do. I used full advantage of my talent and consumed knowledge faster than ever before. It wasn't long until I was with elementary and middle school curriculum finished."

"Only when I decided to open the office of my father three weeks after their death for the first time did I notice something. A safe in which he usually puts his diary into."

"I deciphered it within a couple of days and found parts of the truth there. That they were murdered because of a secret inhumane governmental project he did intend to tell the public. . ."

"But he never ended up elaborating the project at all in the diary, aside from describing it with the words "inhumane" and "cruel". I suppose he didn't want either of us to follow it after, if he died."

"My father also never thought they would kill all of them. He thought he was the only one in case. . ."

"It was a warning basically to us not to pursue it further in case we would read it. But I did not end up heeding his warning and analyzed the clues he left behind. . ."

"There was nothing much aside from a few names he mentioned that were affiliated and supported the project."

"That was the start of everything. The start of my Revenge."

"That was how it was supposed to be, but three out of the four names in there were untouchable for me. I could not approach three of them for their political affiliation or their strong ties to the business world and political world."

"It was also stupid letting my enemy know that I knew of them. Besides two of them acquired major shares within my parents company and I intended to buy them back in the foreseeable future so I didn't want to antagonize them as well. . ."

"I deduced these two out as their murders, but knew they had to be nonetheless still be affiliated with the project and supported it."

"In the end, neither of these three were approachable. So I went after the fourth name. But. . ."

"I had to wait eight whole years because he was a principal of a school you'd be only admitted when you're finished with middle school. I thought about skipping grades immediately, but Japan did not allow such things to that extent."

"It would also give me extreme public attention and I didn't know if he actually knew about the last person, the fifth one, my father referred as "he" throughout his diary."

"He was described as incredibly hostile towards him and was in charge of that project. So I figured it must have been him. . . The one that killed my family."

"I could deduce from the diary that it was a politician, someone he met within the House of Representatives. It could have been a person from every single party."

"Back then I didn't know anything about the project and who the people in charge of the project were, but since two people in that list were politicians in the citizen party, I investigated them primarily."

"One was a former member and later became the chairman of Japan's best high school, while the other person held the position of the secretary general of the citizen party." 

"It was not enough conformation but it was better than suspecting everyone in the House of Representatives as a suspect."

"So I looked from the moment my father became a politician in September 2005, till July 1, 2007, into the members of the citizens party."

"I got ahold of political ending scandals, articles, while also paying anonymously a few shady people for information that would be crucial on any of them."

"At the same time I kept on investing in all those years with Aoki the money in many major stocks, gathering much wealth in preparation for my unknown enemy. . ."

"While I did that, I also had searched for the two initials of the project back then but nobody had known it. Even people in the blackmarket did not."

"So I was forced to either wait till the information was available or approach the fourth name and respectively wait eight years till I get it from him."

"Since I knew what came ahead of me I prepared myself all those years in practically everything that came me in mind. Knowledge, Martial Arts, Wealth, Scandals and Articles."

"I also had a company to manage, the one my parents left me as one of the few things behind. It was their legacy I couldn't lose."

"So I was stressed out during the financial crisis of Japan between 2007 and late 2009 and struggled of keeping the company afloat. My fate was hugely tied to the company as well. . ."

"I have a huge debt the Media doesn't report at all. None of the Articles I read back then mentioned that as well. I guess it's easier to spin the narrative around by not mentioning it and portraying me how they like."

"In order for the second largest company in Japan at that time from collapsing and triggering a market panic—particularly during the middle of the financial crisis where investors were offloading shares I was forced practically to only sell half of them."

"The other half for my inheritance tax was met through a tremendous loan by the bank, a 1.24 Trillion Yen one. It wasn't really made public to avoid even further panic."

"In the end, I'm paying this huge loan off with a interest rate of 0.5% until I'm around 30, by my broad calculations."

"Not really a lucrative way of living, with such huge amount of debts, right?"

"If anything had gone wrong these past years. . . The assets in possession would be used as collateral and I would lose nearly everything."

"I guess I've been doing fine, since I paid in these eight years 25% of it off. But that's also something I don't want to burden you with even remotely."

"More importantly. . . I guess from what I mentioned previously, you should have figured out the individual I came in search for here. . ."

"Chairman Sakayanagi. . ."

"I approached him on December 18 and ended up . . . using the poisonous berries I acquired from the Island Exam on him."

"I used Ibuki as a cover up to retire early and manipulated your class through the Island Exam because I thought of it as convenient blackmail, since I had videos of Manabe and two other of your classmates bullying someone and could blackmail you all with it. . ."

"Everything I did from back then to then was for my goals."

"I . . . needed to know who the person behind the murder of my parents were. I wanted to know what kind of inhumane project it was that brought them their deaths. . ."

"I explained everything about my past to him and practically begged him for an answer regarding anything he could know and tried to appeal on his morals."

"I thought he might tell me as much as he knows. . . But he knew about everything and didn't want to tell me about it. . ."

"Maybe, he could tell me everything on his own accord without the fact I would need to force him. That was my sincerest hope when I entered that room back then. . ."

"I hoped for it so eagerly. . . But he gave me no choice. . ."

"He knew the person, closely, was one of his first sponsors and friends, knew of everything from that inhumane, cruel project and was not willing to tell me anything, even when I explained my reasoning to him."

"He supported the project, helped its creation, by founding since nearly 21 years a human torture and experimentation facility done on children for Japan's 'future' . . ."

"In the end, he wanted me to be gone from his office and threatened me with security, if I did not retaliate. I . . . had previously lured away the security elsewhere so nothing would have happened, even when he pressed the security button."

". . . I hoped I did not need to resort on doing this, on anything on this, but I had in case blackmailed him with his daughter."

"I told him that I had poisoned her and knew about her congenital heart disease. When he got a call from the nurse and I had him not accept the call he believed me when he got the message from her that his daughter collapsed. . ."

"Only then, was he willing to tell me about everything he knew off. . ."

"But prior to this I had exchanged my sleeping pills of the highest caliber with her congenital heart disease pills. They were both capsule pills on the same color, so it was easy to do so. . ."

"And then. . . Once I knew about everything, I gave him the actual . . . poison I collected and made. I knew that he would call "him", even when I hoped he wouldn't once I was gone, so I had. . . no other choice."

". . . And yet. . . I was too weak to pull it till the end off. I prolonged the conversation, changed my structured plan and was not able to successfully do it as I thought. . ."

"I thought I was prepared for all of this. . . I hated him to the bottom of my core."

"My hatred, my anger, everything I felt faded away once he asked me if his daughter was save and I began to question my decision in that very own moment. . ."

"I began to realize that I inflicted the same amount of pain I experienced. . . on someone else now. . ."

"I'm... nothing more than a revenge seeking Monster. That has been my whole purpose since they died. I have dedicated my life for it."

"Everything I've done ever since then was for that purpose. I'm selfish, egoistic. . . consumed by my need for revenge."

"I'm dragging people unaffiliated with me in my mess. I bring havoc and destruction wherever I go." 

"I'm not the person you thought you knew. I'm not the same person you fell in love with. I've lied to you about everything." 

"I've been hiding my true side from you ever since I have met you. The one that I didn't want you to know of—the one side that carries and contains all the hatred inside me."

"This is who I really am: a selfish individual who inflicts pain on others for his own selfish needs."

"This side of me—It's the one I never wanted you to know of. . ."

"I'm reckless and impulsive. I use people whenever I see it as fit. If I was able to ensure that my goal would be achieved I didn't mind it."

"I'm nothing more than a former shell of my previous self. . ."

"A cold, manipulative person, that would do everything for his own goals."

"I used you back then, your class, and everyone else, too. . ."

"But I really never wanted to become like this."

"I really hate myself."

"I hate looking at the reflection of myself in the mirror. I can't stand my mere appearance."

"I feel like. . . It would have been better sometimes, if I had never been born at all. . ."

"I'm sometimes just so tired. . ."

"I'm really not a good person, Hiyori. . ."

"That's why—"

. . .

The whole time I had not properly looked into her face. I was too afraid of doing so.

I didn't want her to look at me in disgust, fear, disappointment, anger or what else could have been on her expression. 

But only now did I see for the first time since I started talking her expression. 

She was. . . crying.

When she saw that I looked at her she enveloped me into a hug and I wasn't sure how to feel.

"Are you. . . serious? You still want to be together with a person like me?"

"I want. I always wanted it and it doesn't change now either, Kaoru. But this time I want to be the person you can speak about your troubles."

"I-I don't know what to say. I expected utter rejection from you. I thought you'd hate me, if you knew about all of this..."

"I could never hate you, Kaoru. I love you and know that you didn't want to do this. It must have been so difficult for you all this time..."

"I can't understand how you feel. I didn't lose my family, but please let me be there for you. I want to be a shoulder you can rely onto."

"I really don't understand you. I told you everything negative about me and yet, your soft, caring gaze toward me never changed. Why... do you want to be still together with me?"

"You are still quite the silly idiot, aren't you? It's not happening often to see you as clueless as this. I told you already, didn't I? That I love you, Kaoru. My feelings for you have never changed, ever."

"I see. . ."

My face transformed into a fragile expression, that I felt for some time not anymore. 

I didn't cry often, but right now I felt a tear sliding down across my face. 

"Don't end up having second thoughts. I won't let you go ever again from my life, Hiyori. Are you sure that's what you want? Will you not regret it?"

"I won't. I promise."

"Okay..." I said quietly, an emotional reply slipping out of my mouth. "I'll make sure you won't regret your decision. I'll never do something like this ever again..."

"I'll get justice for my family, but on the right way. I promise you that..."

"Because for the first time in my life I feel the desire to live again. I want to be happy with you, under any costs..." 

She nodded, happily. "Me too."

"I promise you that I will not to disappoint you, Hiyori. I'll make sure to treasure you."

--

A/N: And this concludes the chapter.

These two chapters came out rather late, but I was/am still busy with Exams. 

Anyway, how did you find the chapter?

Did you like it? 

Their reunion? How Kurushima admitted everything?

It was difficult but I managed to overcome it. It's now nearly ten months after they both were a couple. 

Really far too long. I hoped to write during valentine day, the valentine chapter, but yeah, didn't work out. 

Anyway, since I mentioned the most important things in the prior chapter and I have nothing to say now, I'll give for the sake of valentine some Hiyori AI Arts again.

[Hiyori AI Art:]

Yeah, I hope you liked these two chapters. 

Kurushima's plan is more political, than anything else. I don't want to mention anything about it, so I'll be quiet. 

Goodbye.

Have a great day.