Chapter 12 – Before the Final Match
Lunch ended. Noise returned.
The hallway outside the staff room was crowded again, packed with students leaning toward the bulletin board like they were waiting for lottery numbers. Some grumbled. Others cheered. The results had been posted.
Kotarō moved closer with Haruka and Watanabe at his side. One sheet listed the final results for Round 2. Another showed the Round 3 matchups.
Round 2 Result – Class 2-C (Opposition): Win
Round 3 – Class 2-C vs Class 3-C
Haruka read it, then stepped back, arms folded.
"Expected," she said.
Watanabe blinked. "3-C? That's the English club year, right?"
"Yep. Their leader's a national-level speaker."
Kotarō scanned the hall. "Ayumu Kurosawa?"
Haruka nodded slowly. "That's the one."
There was a tone in her voice. Not admiration. Not quite annoyance either. A subtle resistance, like she was talking about a ghost that kept reappearing.
"Ayumu Kurosawa. I've only heard the name once. But I remember it. It came up when I looked up national debate scores last year. He placed top three in two tournaments.
His speeches were described as 'controlled disruption.'"
At the end of the hall, Kotarō spotted him.
A tall boy in a clean blazer, sleeves rolled slightly. He was leaning casually against the faculty desk, chatting with one of the judges from earlier. His posture was lazy, but every word he spoke sounded deliberate—like nothing he said could ever be misquoted.
Then he looked over.
His gaze moved past Watanabe. Past Kotarō. Stopped on Haruka.
He raised a hand in lazy greeting and approached.
"Haruka-chan," he said, voice light. "So I finally get to hear you in competition."
She didn't smile.
"You could have come earlier," she replied. "We were in the same hallway."
"I like waiting for the main event."
"There it is again. The kind of sentence that sounds like a compliment until you re-read it."
Ayumu glanced sideways at Kotarō.
"You're the second speaker, right? Nozomi-kun."
Kotarō hesitated, then gave a shallow nod.
"You handled that misinformation round well," Ayumu said. "Nice line about structure versus fear."
"Compliment. But selective.
He watched. He knows what I said. But he didn't say anything about how I said it. Which means he noticed more than he's letting on."
Haruka cut in. "You're not doing that fake friendly thing again, are you?"
Ayumu smiled wider. "Is it fake if I mean it?"
She turned away. That was the end of it.
"She really doesn't like him. Not in the surface way. Something older.
He teases everyone, but with her—it's different.
She's sharper. Less patient. Which means... she takes him seriously."
They left the crowd and headed to their new prep room.
Watanabe hummed as he walked. "So this guy's, like, a big deal, huh?"
"He is," Haruka answered plainly.
"Then we beat him. Easy."
She didn't reply.
Kotarō fell into step beside her.
_"She hasn't said more than a few words since. Usually she maps ideas out loud. But not now.
This match is different. And she knows it."_
At the door, Haruka paused.
"Let's make this a good one."
Kotarō stepped in beside her.
_"No warm-up. No breathing space. We win this, we step on stage.
We lose it, and we become the warm-up act.
And I don't want to be forgotten."_
Chapter End