Thus, Ayanokōji and the fallen maiden were interrogated heavily...
•••
Enclosed by the sizeable facilitator's tent were two, tipsy, magnificent ladies who had just their third bottle, amidst the wind-quiet night.
"Hey, Sae-chan-"
"What?"
"Aw, don't be so cold~. I was just gonna ask you something~." Hoshinomiya Chie, Class 1-B's homeroom teacher. Some might say that she's a delightful lady, too delightful, in fact. The merry lady's intoxicated head felt constricted by the thorns of a rose whilst the wine-red flower bloomed new prurient desires.
"Well, if it's you, it's probably about something stupid again." Chabashira Sae, Class 1-D's cruel homeroom teacher. Being under the influence, her already harsh personality bloated like a balloon, using the residue of oxygen from her friend's babbling, as air.
"Nuh-uh! Your beautiful Chie-chan just wants to understand one•little•handsome•student of yours, Sae~," the childish woman corrected her friend by waving her small index finger before she poured herself another can of beer.
"... Ayanokōji?" Focusing her gaze on the enticing aura of the foaming booze, Chabashira muttered that out.
Hoshinomiya gasped in surprise, but so did her friend. "Hoo~! What's this, Sae? I never mentioned anything about Kiyotaka-kun~."
"... You said so yourself that there are only two students within my class with good looks, and that is Hirata and Ayanokōji. I doubt you wanted to know about Hirata since you labelled him as plain and 'the usual' guy. And don't refer to Ayanokōji with his given name, without his permission, Chie." A miniscule bead of sweat appeared on her forehead, trying her best to defend herself. As she struggled, she swiftly pulled out a cigarette.
"I didn't ask for an essay as an explanation, Sae-chan. Just admit that you find Kiyotaka-kun handsome. And regarding that Hirata kid, he does have good looks, and is pretty charismatic and famous, but~ having a partner like him can get quite bo~ring since everyone knows about him. That's why I wanted to get a good grasp about your mysterious student Sae-chan, he might just be my type, hiehiehie~."
'Good grasp?' Chabashira thought.
"Of course he is, you're a scarlet woman, after all. But don't think of having an affair with a student, Hoshinomiya. I think it's much harder to live without a job than to suppress your libido." She clarified whilst lighting up the smoke.
"SCARLET WOMAN!? What do you take me for, Sae-chan!? I have my morals~! It's their fault for being too handsome, and I've got nothing to be ashamed of. Hmph." The cutesy lady pouted and crossed her arms, oddly befitting her.
"You have twisted morals. There's a lot for you to be ashamed of, you know. Firstly, you always come to your class with a hangover; secondly, the amount of wardrobe malfunctions you get in a day and not bothering to fix it, is baffling; thirdly, you don't place a barrier for intimacy between you and your students; lastly, and most importantly, you don't place a barrier for intimacy between you and your students."
Her colleague reiterated that last bit with an even rougher tone than before.
Picking that up, the adorable woman stood, chaotically tipping over her chair and alcohol as she banged her hands on the table. "Wha- it's not that bad, Okaa-san~! Ugh, you always make the littlest of things as lectures! C'mon, there's no harm in wanting to get to know Kiyotaka-kun, no? Or perhaps you want him all to yourse- OWIE!"
Her fill-in mother stamped the lit cigar on her child's marshmallow wrist.
"Get a grip, Hoshinomiya..." Okaa-san warned. She placed her cigarette on the ash tray then observed her daughter charmingly smooch the mark on her wrist.
After shaking herself off, she whined, "B-But, Kiyotaka-kun~!" Giving her friend the most lethal look, the puppy eyes.
"Ugh... fine, but I don't know much about Ayanokōji." Chabashira couldn't handle that look, so she raised the white flag.
"Yippie~!"
"Don't get your hopes... and lust up."
•
Over to where Ayanokōji, his carriage of maidens, and his three jesters are... They pried, nonstop, for answers to their all too personal questions.
•
"So, what happened, Maya-chan?" Shinohara initiated the interrogation.
Everyone in the group was there, even Horikita who slightly got interested... because Ayanokōji is invloved. The group of girls encircled Satō, like a cackle of hyenas with their shriveling prey.
"... What do you mean, Satsuki?" Satō was not playing dumb, she couldn't comprehend why this is such a big deal to the girls.
'I went on a pretty cool double date, had fun, talked about eachother, and confessed... That's what you usually do right? Although I think I might've rushed it,' she wondered as she stole a look at one flaxen haired girl. 'I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it... But I guess she worked even harder.'
"What I mean is exactly that," Shinohara implied even heavily.
"That? Well, that was a case of a lack of luck, I guess. Don't worry about me, girls, and don't antagonize Ayanokōji-kun," she stated as she stared off to the man, her ocean eyes sparkled.
'Maya is surprisingly mature...' "'Lack of luck,' then does that mean Ayanokōji really is into-"
"No, Satsuki-chan, Ayanokōji-kun is, as I've said a while ago, 'straight as a ramrod'." Matsushita cut off her all too protective friend to correct her.
"... Really?" Shinohara tipped her head. "Well, I can't really hate him since he seems knowledgeable."
"Hmm. That or you're just too joyful to be angry because you just got an indirect confession from your Ike." Satō jumped in on the rails of their conversation to change the course of topic.
"If I were to rephrase it-"
"Ah! Don't." Shinohara slapped the phone off her friend before it plonked on the ground.
"Eh! My phone!"
Whilst the maidens were bickering, Horikita who was just beside them scrutinizing the girls, was pondering about one important detail. 'So Ayanokōji-kun is still without a partner... well, that is to be expected of a dull guy like him. But it seems that even though that is the case, a handful of them have fallen for him... I- no. I could use this information.'
She concluded her contemplation before muttering out, "So childish."
"... Oh, so that means that Ayanokōji-kun is still single, huh~? That's good- Ah! I mean that is good to know," Ichinose frantically restated herself for something no one criticized her for.
"Shh~. Girls, Kiyopon is about to speak, you wouldn't want to miss it, right~, Satō-san?" Hasebe whispered as she hunched behind the girth of the tree.
Fixing themselves up, the girls mimed Hasebe's actions.
The walls, or trees in this case, do have ears.
•
'Ayanokōji-kun rejected Satō-san, so that means he's still... available, right? But I need to know what he thinks of me first, before I do anything rash. Please, Kami-sama!' Shiina consulted with herself. She hid her glee upon knowing that her book-buddy is still on the shelf, but her faint grin could be seen by her companion.
"What's with that annoying smile? Are you thinking about that Ayanokōji again?" Ibuki uttered with a disgusted look.
"... I'm- just glad that Ayanokōji-kun proved himself to be not a womaniser, so you have no reason to fight him." She procured a decent excuse.
"Tch. Whatever. But if he's around me, I won't hesitate to," The gal said whilst she dug her drill-like nails on the steel bole of the tree.
•
"Ehh, why won't you tell us?" Ike whined.
'Personal matters are just what it states, personal. It is not a secret if it's known by three people. Why are they so persistent?' Ayanokōji complained in his mind.
"Bea-"
Crunch... Crunch...
The chomping of dead leaves went off In the wake of Ayanokōji's words.
Tap... Tap... Chomp...
"Who- Who's there!?" Frightened, Ike shouted. His legs felt like yarn, and his heart drummed.
"C-Calm down, Kanji. M-Maybe it's just- a bore! Yes, a w-wild bore." Yamauchi comforted Ike, but mostly himself. His mouse-pitched stuttering though, only aggravated his friend.
Thump... Crunch... Thump...
"Yup... that's definitely a bore, a wild one..., a wild bore." Sudō supported what Yamauchi believed, as he crept up to his sensei's back that he considers as a safe haven.
BRCK... CHOMP...
CRUNCH... TAP...
The spine-chilling being revealed itself to be...
"IT'S A WILD BOAR!" Ike blared whilst gathering up rough rocks.
"IT'S A WILD AND UGLY BOAR!" Shrieked Yamauchi, preparing himself to pounce... at the back of Sudō.
Hunter Ike drew back his arms, aiming to shoot the deadly bullets. "THROW SOME ROCKS AT THAT HIDEOUS THING!"
Ayanokōji peered closely at the boar who looked to be familiar... 'Ishizaki?'
"OY! Who you callin' boar, you dumbasses!" The wild Ishizaki shielded itself from the barrage of rocks.
"I-IT CAN T-TALK!"
"YOU CAN SPEAK BOAR, HARUKI!?"
"That's not such a surprise," said the nonchalant redhead who only glared at Ishizaki.
"You can stop throwing rocks, Ike."
Ike threw his last bullet which plunked the head of the wild Ishizaki. "OW! You fuc-"
"Eh? Ayanokōji? But, why?"
"That's Ishizaki," he could only point out the obvious to the oblivious.
He glanced one last time at Ishizaki who had a slight bump on his head. "... Ohh! I could've sworn I saw a wild boar. Hehe."
"You defective! I'm not a boar!" He hollered as he tapped the red lump.
'So he admits to being wild?' Ayanokōji reasoned. "And you wouldn't want Class D and C to engage in conflict, right?"
"Ahh- sorry, Sensei. I won't do it again." Ike apologised before he made a deep bow to his teacher.
"Sensei?" Ishizaki was confused by this. 'Did they fall twice in their birth?'
"What do you think you're doing here, bakayarō[1]?" Sudō gravely demanded an answer. He hoisted Yamauchi who he determined to have a skull as hard as a rock, readying to throw him at Ishizaki.
"O-Oy! Su—"
"HAAAAAH!? Do you want me to beat more ugliness into your face!?"
"HAA!? I'd rather kill myself than to look like you!" He raised Yamauchi over his head.
"HAAAAAH!? Y—"
"Ishizaki." A voice as sharp as a tachi[2], sliced in their squabbling.
Taking this in, Ishizaki's back straightened up like a plank. "A-Ah! Ayanokōji-san! How are you. Haha." He turned his full attention to the man after wiping off the sweat on his forehead.
Deciding that he can't do anything, Sudō dropped Yamauchi on the dry, and coarse, dirt.
"OMPFF."
"What are you doing here?" He interrogated with a flat voice, but his stare pressed for the truth and nothing else but.
'Aghh, Ryūen-san said that I'm supposed to keep quiet about this, but... Aghh! I don't want to get crushed by Ayanokōji-san either...' He puzzled over before coming to the right conclusion. "...Well, uh, Ryūen-san ordered me to check our surroundings, and so I came across this place... And I was also told to keep an eye on Shiina-san who went out for a walk with Ibuki." He shed light on their questions as he was timidly twirling his fingers.
"Shiina? She's not lost, is she?" He inquired with a hint of concern.
•
"That idiot Ishizaki. Tsk. Why'd he give them information, especially to that guy." Ibuki could only scowl at them.
Whilst Shiina focused on the more pressing matters. "I-Is Ayanokōji-kun worried about me? Ahh," she whispered, clutching her clothes.
•
'Wha~!? Kiyotaka, you're much more concerned of that Class C girl, than Ryūen spying on you!?' Karuizawa questioned him in her thoughts. Luckily, she didn't voice out that irony.
"Is Ayanokōji-kun close with Class C's Shiina-san?" Matsushita asked as a part of her investigation on Ayanokōji.
"...Yeah, I think I heard so," Kushida replied.
"Hm. What do you think about this Horikita-san?" Investigator Matsushita now turned to their class's leader.
Identifying what she implied, Horikita answered, "As long as he doesn't hinder our class, I have little to no qualms," she said with a sharp glare.
"...I see—."
•
"Shiina? She's not lost, is she?" He inquired with a hint of concern...
"Oh, no! Nah, nope... I think, I hope so. Ibuki is with her, so we can trust that she's in... good hands, I guess," Ishizaki nervously spoke in response.
Ayanokōji looked at him, a bit doubtful.
"Oy, oy! How long are you gonna stay here and spy on us, huh?" Sudō yelled because he was slightly uncomfortable of the presence of someone from another class.
"...Well, I kinda got interested in what you guys were talking about since I was listening in ways before..." He said whilst scratching his cheek with a finger.
"You! Get outta here before I kick your disgusting face!"
"Oy, oy. Calm down, I'm not gonna leak what I heard, to Ryūen-san. I'm really just interested in what you guys were talking about. You can chop off my left pinky if I tell any of this to Ryūen-san." Ishizaki pleaded. He sat down on another log just beside Ayanokōji.
"How about we cut one off now? To see if you're serious." Said Sudō as he picked up Yamauchi who seemed to be unconscious.
"Wh— No! I promise you guys. I'd run around the school with only Speedos and punch that Koenji in the gut if I ever broke my word."
"What a specific request," stated Aysnokōji. "But that is fine, right? You won't go back on your word, right, Ishizaki?" He verbalised alarmingly.
'Crap.' "Ahh, yeah, yeah! I'm a man of my word."
"What exactly are you interested about our conversation, Ishizaki?" Ike asked.
"...About that complimenting thing, y'know? When I heard what you say your part, I felt my heart throbbing as if—"
"Sorry, I'm only into one female uggo, not male uggo." Ike interrupted Ishizaki's spoken poetry.
"—I know that! Dumbass!"
Hnngrrkkkk... Hnngkk...
"What the hell is that? Do you actually speak boar, Ishizaki?"
"I'm gonna strangle you if you keep calling me a boa—"
HNNRGGRKKK... NFF... HNHNGKK...
"Where the—
"Ah, here it is," Sudō quelled their inner turmoil by showing where the horrid sound came from.
"...Is that Yamauchi?"
"Yeah... I thought he'd be a little more tolerable if he were asleep." He displayed Yamauchi lying on the grass, and snori—
HNGGKKKGKGKGK... FUU... HNGNGNKK...
•
"How can one guy be so obnoxious when awake or asleep?" Ibuki was dumbfounded.
•
"It's a skill to be this annoying." Shinohara muttered.
"I wonder how their village is doing without their village idiot." Horikita could only scoff.
"Tehehe~. I didn't know you could joke, Horikita-san." Ichinose added.
"That wasn't a joke."
•
HNGGKKKGKGKGK... FUU... HNGNGNKK...
"It looks like you were wrong, Ken."
"Yep. Should I knock him up?"
"Knock? No, just keep him dead for a while... Oh, yeah, about Satō-san, Sensei."
HNGKR...
"Well Satō...—"
Thus, Ayanokōji, the maidens, wild Ishizaki, and Sudō and Ike were thankful that the dead weight is unconcious, but their gratitude was soon ruin—
HNGKGNHNGG! HO... HGNGNKRKRKTK!
•••
[A/N]
I apologize if there wasn't much of a progression on the 'complimentation' part of the story because I wanted to add some characters.
If you noticed, I toned down on my overly pretentious wording a bit.
•••
[1] bakayarō 馬鹿野郎 (Which is equivalent to "You idiot!".
To be precise, "馬鹿 baka" means idiot alone and the following "野郎 yarō"(=guy) emphasizes it.)
[2] tachi 太刀 (a type of traditionally made Japanese sword (nihonto) worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan.)
•••