C11

Chapter 11: Behind the Mask

The moment I stepped out into the hallway, the afternoon light streaming through the windows cast long shadows across the floor.

As the daytime hustle and bustle began to fade away, the footfalls of students heading home echoed through the school building. Passing by were students walking side by side, laughing, and cheerfully chatting about looking forward to the upcoming after-school hours, just like any other day.

Amidst that everyday routine, Reo Tachibana walked with his head cast downward.

Covering the lower half of his face with one hand, his clenched fingertips trembled slightly. Keeping his gaze quietly lowered, only his pace was slightly faster than usual. To anyone watching, it might have looked like he wanted nothing to do with anyone's eyes. Yet, those footsteps headed without a single hesitation straight toward the outside of the school grounds.

In the distance, the voices and preparation sounds of students heading off to club activities could be heard, and the usual after-school time flowed through the school buildings.

Through that unchanging scenery, only Reo quietly passed by, as if walking through a slightly different passage of time.

Before long, reaching the shoe lockers, Reo blended into the flow of people, changed his shoes, and stepped outside without making eye contact with a single soul.

Many students still remained on the path toward the school gates. Without resisting that current, simply blending right into it, Reo walked on with his head bowed. Without raising his face even once...

Eventually, passing through the gates and moving a little ways away from the school, human voices faded off into the distance little by little...

◇

I walked the road toward the station for a while.

Before I knew it, the figures of students returning from home had thinned out, and the voices that had echoed until moments ago melted away into the depths of the scenery. The engine sounds of cars, the rumble of distant trains, and the sound of my own footsteps remained on the quiet road.

I no longer needed to mind anyone else's gazes around me.

The exact moment.

Reo Tachibana slowly raised his face.

And—

(...It worked.)

He almost let slip the emotions he'd suppressed until now, so Reo immediately returned to his usual expressionless facade and cast his gaze downward.

He had achieved his objective.

There was only one thing he'd been thinking about from the start.

Creating a reason to skip school.

You can't take a long absence with a fake illness. Even if you use feeling unwell as an excuse, it's good for a few days at best. Beyond that, the question of "How long are you going to be out?" inevitably arises. To stay away for an extended period, you need a justification that legitimizes it.

Wanting to skip school to play games—such a reason wouldn't even make it to the discussion table, let alone get rejected.

That's why—

He needed a reason that felt more natural and made those around him nod in納得 (acceptance).

What Reo wanted more than anything else was time.

Time to devote to Asuon.

Time to dive even deeper into the world he's spent three years in.

Time to leverage the experience he's accumulated and aim even higher.

To Reo, that was worth more than anything else.

What was necessary for that was today's fake confession.

Of course, he did what he could, but not everything went according to plan. When would the truth about the fake confession be dropped? In what form would it end? Would the other party actually move as expected? Reo himself hadn't known what kind of outcome a scenario with so many uncertain variables would yield. Handled poorly, it could easily have ended as wasted effort that merely consumed extra time. In a sense, it was a gamble.

In gaming terms, a limited gacha you can only pull once. If you miss, you don't get much of a result. But by some stroke of luck if you pull a hard-to-acquire reward, it carries massive value.

And the result far exceeded Reo's expectations.

He never imagined it would escalate into such a massive event.

In the initial plan, he'd intended to leave behind records proving the fact that it was a fake confession—just to ensure he could grasp the situation no matter what happened.

Yet, the moment he sensed the atmosphere in that room, he felt that necessity vanish.

The board had likely already advanced to a stage where he didn't need to meddle any further.

The exposure of a fake confession involving the entire class, a commotion far larger than anticipated. With that many people watching, it wasn't a situation that could be hushed up.

Not every student in the class was just looking for cheap thrills and making a fuss. There were also students who watched the situation unfold in total silence. If so, leaving things to run their course was more than enough.

To Reo, the value of this fake confession lay entirely in the results from start to finish. Up until that point, who thought what and harbored what emotions—none of that was vital information to Reo.

He got what he wanted.

Now he had the prospect of being able to skip school for a while.

Being able to concentrate on Asuon at home—that alone was more than enough.

◇

I stepped off the train.

The evening station was bustling slightly with students heading home from school. As I walked, blending into the flow of people, the tension in my shoulders gradually unwound. The routine walk home felt strangely, quietly serene...

...And yet.

Today was just a little different. The acting I'd kept up at school for several days. Choosing words I'd normally never consider, behaving while reading the other person's reactions. Now that that time was over, the tightly wound tension slowly unspooled.

The recoil from continuing unfamiliar roleplay washed over me all at once. The moment my tightly strung nerves relaxed, I finally realized just how tired I actually was...

Walking the road from the station to his house, Reo let out a single, tiny breath.

And then—

Stopping his feet in front of the entryway, he pulled out eye drops from his pocket.

Perhaps due to the string of unfamiliar events, fatigue had accumulated far more than he'd expected. Ever since he started staring at screens for extended periods, his eyes invariably felt dry on days he felt tired.

Dropping a few drops, he closed his eyes slowly.

A cooling sensation spread, gradually soothing the stuck-on dryness. Pressing lightly around his eyes, he opened them and returned the eye drops to his pocket.

Stepping into the entryway, the sound of the door closing echoed through the quiet house.

"Welcome back."

Mom's voice carried from the living room.

"......I'm back."

Walking down the hallway, I passed by the living room.

At that moment, my mother's gaze lingered for just a fraction of a second.

"......Reo?"

Called out, Reo raised his face.

"......What?"

"N-Nothing..."

His mother hesitated for a split second. The skin around her eyes was slightly red, speaking with a small voice lacking its usual energy, she looked as though she'd been crying until just moments before.

Reo set down his bag as if nothing were wrong.

His mother asked nothing further.

Reo headed straight to his room.

Closing the door, the PC sat on the desk in the quiet room, just like always.

Days where he couldn't play as much as he wanted.

Finally, he could reclaim his usual pace.

Reo sat down in his chair and reached out toward the power button.

The moment his fingertips touched it, the time he'd been yearning for started moving once again.

The screen glowed.

Reflected there was his own world—the one he had continued for three years.

The time he'd waited for was finally beginning.

And.

From that night onward, a long night commenced.

Author's Note

Thank you so much for reading this far!

In this chapter, a lot went down... but as always, Reo-kun remained unfazed.

It seems you all saw right through everything by the previous chapter (lol).

Starting from the next chapter, it'll be a string of chapters from Reo's side for a while.

(Correction: Next chapter is actually about Kujo's side in that classroom on that day!)

I hope you'll enjoy seeing how he moves from here on out!

Thanks as always!

P.S. I posted an image of Reo looking at his smartphone in the classroom on the recent notes page. Check it out if you're curious!