Giselle eventually lowered her head.

“You’re going to knock me unconscious sooner or later. Why don’t we make a deal then, Sumire.”

For the first time I’d ever seen, Sumire showed a clearly unpleasant expression on her face.

“A deal… I actually can’t believe you, Giselle,” she laughed a little, but it was more out of disgust than amusement, “you really are a failure.”

Giselle smiled.

“Shut up Sumire, I’ve been a failure since the day I entered the project. Don’t act as if you’ve just said something profound.”

The white-haired girl looked over at me.

“And your little friend over there, I’m sure he’ll suffer the same fate as you and I,” she continued.

Sumire began to walk toward her again. Her gait was different, it seemed a little weaker than usual, a little more hesitant than usual.

I didn’t really know what the relationship between these two was, but I felt as if Sumire was showing… emotion.

That’s her flaw.

She kneeled down and grabbed Giselle’s chin.

“At least act like the Outcome you are, Giselle. What is this? You’ve changed, you’ve changed so much.”

The white-haired girl smiled—brightly; her hair swayed into her face as she looked up.

“That’s the thing about people, Sumire~! That’s the thing. People change, goddammit. I never wanted to be part of that fucking project in the first place.”

“You’re only saying that because you lost.”

Sumire lifted her head.

“Like I said before, confidence is something that we Third Gens need to survive. You’ve lost that completely,” she continued.

“Stop it. Stop acting like I’m completely the same as you. You’re some plastic bag, test-tube baby, I’m a real human, Sumire.”

Sumire sighed.

“You know, Giselle. I really thought that you were someone who could relate to me. Even Akira, the person I hang out with all the time; I don’t ever assume that we’re on the same wavelength. But you, I thought that you’d at least act the way I thought you would.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“What is that nonsense…? Just because I was in the same generation as you? I’m nothing like you, Sumire. Where did you get that from.”

I could see tears beginning to leak from Giselle’s eyes.

It was pretty obvious that she was an Outcome, but still, it was completely unexpected for her to cry. That was completely out of the ordinary for Outcomes of the project.

Her eyes swelled looking up at Sumire with despair. It was a sense of hopelessness that the Ideal Human Project specifically trained us to avoid.

Yet right here, right now, she was crying.

I couldn’t see Sumire’s face, however.

…

After a moment of silence, Giselle’s expression went back to normal. She stuck out her palm toward Sumire, showing her soft, open skin.

“You still… haven’t even heard the deal that I was going to make you.”

Sumire knocked away her hand.

“I don’t need to hear it. I know what it’s going to be. You’re going to offer me all your points in exchange for your life, isn’t that right? Maybe even add all your future points on top of that.”

“I guess you do know me better than I thought.”

Sumire grabbed her neck and pressed it against the ground.

“No, I don’t. I clearly don’t know you at all. I never thought that you’d stoop as low as that. Isn’t it unpleasant? Begging for your life?”

“It’s hardly begging for my life, it’s just another calculation, an exchange of services, is it not?”

“That’s not how we were trained. I don’t play with my tools, I use them. The biggest issue here is that you thought I’d spare you.”

“It’s not difficult maths, is it? You’d get more points by leaving me alive.”

Sumire sighed.

“If you think that points are the only things in my calculations, you’re truly worthless. Every single Outcome left in this academy is a link to my past that I don’t want.”

“Even the one behind you right now?”

She was talking about me.

“I’m not going to waste my time explaining it to you, Giselle.”

Giselle struggled to breathe as Sumire held her neck against the ground.

“Why haven’t you… knocked me unconscious yet, Sumire? Don’t… tell me you’re hesitating… someone like you?” she scoffed.

“This isn’t hesitation, I’m just analysing you one last time.”

She strengthened her grip even more.

“That’s a cute… way of saying that… you’re struggling to… make the decision…”

“Don’t act like you know me at all. As you said, we’re completely different people, Giselle.”

“But… still, you have feelings… don’t you?”

Anyone would hesitate, right, Sumire?

I slowly made my way forward and stood behind Sumire.

I leaned down a little.

“Aren’t you going to finish this? It’s pretty unsightly,” I sighed.

Sumire suddenly turned around. Her hair flashed by her face as she glanced up at my eyes. Only a moment later, she turned back around and pressed her full weight down on Giselle.

Eventually, she was completely unconscious.

…

Slowly, Sumire released her hands. I saw that the tips of her fingers were trembling ever so slightly. She still looked down at Giselle’s body.

A cool breeze brushed into the room. I guess the door slid open a little more.

“So, what are you going to do now, Sumire?”

“W-what. I’m simply going to continue with my day. This was just another errand, after all?”

“Are you sure?”

“Please don’t misunderstand my body language for hesitation, Akira. I take care of my tools as I see fit.”

“I’m not disagreeing with you.”

I began to make my way back toward the door.

“But did you really have to get rid of her, Sumire?” I continued.

“You wouldn’t understand. There was something about the Third Generation that’s different from yours.”

Soon enough, Giselle would be expelled from the school.

Sumire looked down at her phone.

“That idiot… she transferred me all her points…? What the hell,” she mumbled something under her breath.

“What was that?” I asked.

“Nothing.”