Chapter 16: A Favor

Chapter 16: Chapter 16: A Favor

Shion’s monologue, POV

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​"Parameters. You talk about yourself like you’re a piece of art or software," i chuckled softly.

Parameters. Routine. He views his restrictions not as a punishment, but as a set of fixed rules, his mindset hasn’t changed since Elemetary.

"But don’t you find it boring? The rest of the class is talking about going to that new arcade by the station after the rain stops. Even Inosuki said he might drop by if his afternoon plans clear up."

At the mention of Inosuki, Mataguchi’s eyes remained fixed on the shelf, his posture didn’t stiffen. "Inosuki has a high tolerance for noisy environments. I don’t."

Clearly this sly of a friend knows Oota close friends. Even though they hardly make any contacts.

​"Spoken like a true antisocial philosopher," i teased, stepping closer to hand him a final ledger that belonged on the top shelf, a height he could reach more easily.

"But you’re missing out. A little bit of mindless fun keeps people human. If you just go from the classroom to the library to your room every single day, your brain is going to turn into a hard drive."

Hahaha ’hard drive’ yeah cause he mention him processing. Is he a computer or something?

​"A hard drive is reliable," Mataguchi countered, taking the ledger from my hand. Their fingers didn’t touch, his grip was precise, lifting the weight effortlessly.

"It doesn’t make emotional errors based on environmental stimuli."

​"Maybe not," i said, my voice dropping into a slightly softer, more reflective register as i watched him slide the ledger into place.

"But hard drives can still crash if they take on too much data at once. You carry a lot of things around in that little head of yours, Prez. Sometimes it’s obvious, even if your face doesn’t show it."

Now, I don’t know why we are talking about this topic but as long as it’s a conversation and he seemed engaged, I guess it’s fine but I kind of find it weird though, the while drive debate thing.

​Mataguchi didn’t answer immediately. He stood before the completed shelf, his hands dropping to his sides.

Outside, a sudden crack of thunder rumbled in the distance, a low vibration that shook the glass panes of the locked windows. The grey light in the room dimmed further, leaving them in near-total shadow.

​"The rain isn’t going to stop anytime soon," Mataguchi observed, deftly changing the subject back to the immediate, undeniable reality of the weather.

"If we stay here discussing my data capacity, we’ll both be trapped by the downpour."

​"True enough," i sighed, stretching my arms slightly as if shaking off the tension of the day. "And I definitely don’t want to get my shoes soaked today. Let’s grab our bags."

The darkness in the room was almost absolute now, save for the pale, ghostly glow of the streetlamps flickering to life in the courtyard downstairs. The heavy rain began to lash against the glass in earnest, a frantic, chaotic tapping that stood in stark contrast to the quiet rhythm the two teenagers had established.

I walked back to my desk, picking up my school bag and slinging it over my shoulder. My movements were slow, deliberate. The casual conversation about curfews and hard drives had served its purpose. it had lowered the ambient tension, resetting Mataguchi’s defensive barriers to a baseline level.

Now, it was time to collect my debt.

​"So, about that favor," i said, my voice cutting through the sound of the rain. I zipped my bag with a sharp, definitive snap.

​Mataguchi, who was already hoisting his own unadorned black backpack onto his shoulder, stopped. He didn’t look annoyed. He looked like a banker watching a client present a promissory note, which is kinda funny cause I’m actually making a transaction now.

​"You already accepted it," i continued, finally turning to face him. I leaned back against the edge of a desk, crossing my ankles. The shadows hid the sharpest angles of my eyes, but my posture radiated a quiet, supreme confidence.

"I just want to establish the boundaries. I wouldn’t want you interpreting ’a favor’ in a way that lets you off the hook too easily." I added.

​"A favor implies an action within my capabilities that doesn’t violate my own fundamental boundaries," Mataguchi replied. He stood perfectly straight in the aisle, his backpack hanging from one shoulder.

"If you ask me to do something impossible, or something that directly compromises my standing, the agreement is void."

"So I can’t go anything lewd for you"

I blushed from hearing him say that, why will I want something like that from him?

​"Always looking for the escape clause," i said, letting out a soft, mocking hum. "Don’t worry. I’m not going to ask you to steal the exam answers from the faculty lounge, or help me commit a crime. It’s much simpler than that."

I took a step toward him, my shoes making a soft, damp sound on the floor.

​"When the time comes and it will come soon I want your absolute honesty. If I ask you a direct question about a specific event, you will answer me without filters, without omissions, and without your usual semantic games. That is the favor."

​Mataguchi’s eyes narrowed by a fraction of a millimeter. To anyone else, his expression would have seemed entirely unchanged. But everyone in this school eyes were trained to look for the microscopic tell, the slight tensing of the muscle right beneath his lower eyelid, the minuscule delay in his next breath.

"....."

He’s thinking of the risk,

He knows that ’absolute honesty’ is a blank check. For someone who relies on hiding in plain sight behind literal truths and cold logic, giving up the ability to omit details is a massive vulnerability...

It’s not like I didn’t trust him, but I just wanted to be sure of it. For now I’ll make it look like a normal conversation between two friends not to cause any unnecessary emotional distresses, well not like he could feel anything like that towards me.

Can he?

​"Honesty is subjective when information is incomplete," Mataguchi stated, his voice dropping into a slightly lower register. "If I give you an answer based on flawed data, it may be false, even if I believe it to be true."

"I’m not all knowing, Shiwogata-san"

​"Nice try," i countered

"I’m not asking you to be omniscient. I’m asking for ’your’ truth. Whatever you know, whatever you’ve observed, and whatever conclusions you’ve drawn in that ’processing’ unit of yours. No withholding information and no hiding behind ’I don’t remember.’ Do we have a deal?"

​The silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating, competing with the roar of the downpour outside.

Is the terms of the favor too much? Maybe I should have said something else.

​Mataguchi stared at me. In the dim light, his pupils were fully dilated, absorbing every photon of the dark room. He was reading me just as intensely as i was reading him. I think he knew exactly what i was trying to do. I wasn’t just asking for a favor i was testing the limits of his compliance, trying to find the point where his logical detachment turned into self-preservation.

Well apart from all the smart stuff I had just said I honestly want him to cooperate.

I don’t know but I think he has figure out what I’m doing.

​"An agreement based on future transparency," Mataguchi murmured, as if reviewing a contract in his mind. This guy can’t be serious, even reacts like a robot in this kind of situation. I’m starting to wonder if his even human.

Now that I think about it, he haven’t once been caught flustered or embarrassed. Loner much.

"Fine. But it only applies to a single topic of your choosing. Once I answer your questions regarding that specific event, the debt is cleared."

​"Deal," i said instantly, a bright, triumphant smile breaking across my face.

​The smile was perfectly executed the picture-perfect expression of a teenager who had successfully haggled her classmate into a corner. But beneath my smile I thought.

​He accepted it too quickly once the scope was limited to a single topic. Why? Because he already knows what topic I’m going to ask about. He’s already preparing the specific set of truth he’s willing to sacrifice to keep the rest of his secrets safe..

​"Well, now that the legalities are out of the way," i said, my tone snapping back to a cheerful, ordinary brightness, "we really should get out of here. If the hallway lights are already off, we’re going to have to navigate the stairs in the pitch black."

​"The backup generators keep the emergency exit signs illuminated," Mataguchi noted, his voice returning to its baseline easiness as he began walking toward the classroom door. "We won’t be in total darkness."

​"You really know how to take the romance out of a stormy evening, don’t you?" I laughed, following closely behind him.

The heavy classroom door slid shut behind them with a hollow, metallic click that echoed down the long, empty corridor.

​As Mataguchi had predicted, the school’s main lighting grid had been shut off for the evening, leaving the hallway plunged in a deep, atmospheric gloom. The only illumination came from the green, ghostly glow of the emergency exit signs at either end of the hall, casting long, distorted shadows across the polished linoleum floor.

We walked side-by-side toward the grand staircase, the rhythmic scuff of their indoor shoes perfectly synchronized. Outside, the storm had reached its peak, sheets of torrential rain slammed against the high corridor windows, punctuated by the occasional flash of distant lightning that briefly bleached the hallway in stark, skeletal white.

​"It’s almost creepy when it’s like this," i remarked, my voice bouncing softly off the rows of locked lockers. I pulled my blazer a little tighter around myself to ward off the draft.

"You’d think a school this prestigious would invest in a heating system that doesn’t die the second a cloud rolls in."

"Thermal regulation in older architectural layouts is notoriously inefficient, i guess" Mataguchi replied smoothly, his eyes scanning the green-lit stairs ahead.

"The administration prioritizes structural preservation over individual comfort. From an economic standpoint, it keeps the maintenance overhead predictable."

​"Spoken like a true budget analyst," i laughed, though my gaze remained subtly fixed on his profile every time a flash of lightning illuminated the stairwell.

​i watched the way he navigated the shadows. He didn’t hesitate, nor did he reach for the handrail. His steps were precisely measured, perfectly calibrated to the height of each riser. he was just an ordinary, slightly detached student walking home in bad weather.

We finally reached the shoe lockers in the main entrance lobby. The cold, damp air from outside rushed in through the gaps in the heavy glass doors, carrying with it the sharp, metallic scent of ozone and wet asphalt.

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"We all wear masks, and the time will come when we cannot remove them without removing some of our own skin."

"The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart."

"The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all."

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