It all began at 6:00 P.M. on a certain day. A text message from the school informed us that the entire dormitory wouldn't have water for quite a while, due to trouble with the water department. I turned the faucet to confirm, and nothing came out.
"Huh?" Hashimoto said.
"When was this?" Sato asked confused.
"I don't remember this." Hirata muttered.
Students and teachers stared and looked around confused. This never happened. The teachers don't remember the school having trouble with the water department. Before anyone can comment more, the screen went blank for a few seconds and then lighting up with words across the screen.
"This scene will be showing you the future. Please rest assure that everything that is shown and will be shown is accurate and true. This scene will serve as a break between two major viewing that you already watched. After this, the viewing will resume."
"The hell?" Ibuki eyed the screen.
"This projector is giving me the creepy vibes." Karuizawa shivered.
The teachers looked at each other, exchanging uneasy expression.
" This projector appeared to have a mind on its own." Ayanokoji muttered to himself. He eyed the projector, carefully observing its structure and the wires connected to it.
Sakayanagi looked lost in thought. "This seemed to be turning more interesting. Fufufu." She laughed quietly.
It sounded as though the repair work wouldn't finish until the early morning. In the meantime, the school was taking the necessary steps to provide for its students. It would hand out two liters or more of water in the cafeteria as needed, although the text warned us that the cafeteria was expected to be crowded as a result.
The convenience stores were temporarily unavailable, but the Keyaki Mall would provide free drinking water. However, we were prohibited from bottling the water and taking it home. That really wasn't an issue for me, though.
"Looks like a pain in the ass." Komiya said.
"No water?!" Yume asked shocked.
"What will happen if the drinking water runs out?" Shinohara asked.
" Looks like even a water problem is not an issue to you." Sudo said to Ayanokoji.
"I may have extra water or I'm concern about another thing." Ayanokoji answered.
"This probably be more of a problem for the girls though. With all of their business in the bathroom and all." Hashimoto said.
The girls made a face of grimaced, already imagining the scenario.
No, my big problem would be the toilet. Even though there was water in the tank, we had to be cautious, since we could only flush once.
"And you happened to be having-" Kondo never finished his sentence when Ibuki kicked him.
"Don't finish that sentence. You're disgusting." Ibuki glared at him.
"You don't need to kick him, Ibuki-san." Hiyori smiled.
"Would all of ya shut it?!" Ryuuen scowled at the noise they are making.
The tea in the refrigerator should have been enough for one cup, which could get me through the day. As for dinner, I'd cook something without using any water. I'd just started prepping dinner when my phone suddenly rang. The moment I went to answer it, it stopped after two rings.
"I didn't know that you could cook, Ayanokoji-kun." Ichinose said.
"Just the basic things. I'm not that good of a cook." Ayanokoji said.
"Nevermind that. Who calls someone then ends it after a couple of rings?" Ike asked annoyed.
"Wrong number, maybe?" Shibata said.
I saw that Horikita Suzune had called. It was unusual for her to reach out. Even if Horikita had some business with me, she generally texted. Curious, I decided to call her back. However, no matter how many times the phone rang, Horikita didn't answer.
"Huh?" Horikita stared in surprised.
"Horikita-san?" Sato asked.
"Why did you called, Ayanokoji?" Sudo asked a bit jealous.
Horikita sighed, "How would I know? This is in the future."
"Suspicious." Ike rubbed his nonexistent chin hair.
Yamauchi nodded, "Highly suspicious."
Horikita's eye visibly twitched in irritation. "Can you stop it?"
"No."
I did think it was strange, but I decided to give up. I placed my phone on the table and went back to making dinner. Since I already had rice on hand, I settled on fried rice as a simple option. Once I added the egg, the finishing touches were all that remained.
Suddenly, my phone rang again.
By the time I turned off the burner and went to my phone, the ringing stopped. Another call from Horikita. I tried calling back again, but she didn't answer. This was getting suspicious.
"Again?" Tachibana said.
"Something's definitely wrong." Hirata furrowed his brows worried.
"Maybe she's in big trouble?!" Ike gasped. He looked around dramatically. Suddenly he let out a big oof, rubbing his side. Horikita glared at him.
"Why would Horikita called me two times and end it abruptly?" Ayanokoji appears to be having a funny and weird vibe.
Maybe Horikita just happened to become busy right after she tried calling? Considering her personality, it was hard to imagine that was the case. She was the type of person who called only when calm.
Even if something had happened, ending the call twice in a row, and not picking up afterward, was strange. I concluded that Horikita had probably been caught off guard by something unexpected.
"But she called two times." Ichinose frowned.
"That has to mean something." Kanzaki agreed.
"And it's 6 p.m. where could she be if she was caught off guard?" Katsuragi added.
"I wonder." Sakayanagi giggled.
Hashimoto stared at her, "Don't tell me you already know?"
Sakayanagi looked at him confused. "Whatever do you mean?"
"Why are you laughing?"
"Is it bad for me to laughed?"
"You know what? Forget I asked."
"Yeah, right," I muttered.
Exasperated at myself for reading too deeply into Horikita's call, I decided to stop cooking for a bit and send her a text.
Hey, looks like you tried calling me twice. Did you want something?
The read receipt instantly popped up, but no reply came. I waited for quite a while, but there was nothing.
"Why am I not responding?" Horikita asked to herself. She's getting more and more confused about her future self's situation.
"Maybe your phone was not functioning properly?" Matsushita tried to guessed.
"Even Ayanokoji-kun is getting worried." Haruka said.
Manabu looked deep in thought.
I'm cooking right now, so I might not respond right away. Just text me, and I'll get back to you.
Once again, the read receipt popped up, but she didn't reply. I went back to my dinner.
By the time I finished eating, I still hadn't heard from Horikita. As I drank the last of my barley tea, I started feeling like something was wrong.
"She couldn't be... She's not really in danger, is she?"
"But she's in her dorm?" Shibata said puzzled.
"You don't know that." Amikura countered.
"Then in the school?" Shibata throw in another comment.
"Ryuuen-kun is here." Amikura said.
"Stop countering me!" Shibata glowered at her.
"I'm not!" Amikura defended herself. Ichinose and Kanzaki sighed in unison.
Could she have collapsed somewhere? This whole thing was atypical of Horikita, without a doubt. Was her phone malfunctioning? If so, she could just have contacted the school.
"If her phone was not functioning properly then how can she contact the school?" Yahiko asked.
"You said something logical and decent for once." Kamuro said.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Yahiko glared at her. Katsuragi sighed and sent a look at him.
If I knew someone close enough to Horikita to go to her room and check on her, this would have been over quickly. Sadly, I couldn't think of anyone who fit the bill.
Are you okay? I texted.
I had to find out what was going on.
"Oh..."
The read notification didn't appear. The situation had changed. Maybe her phone's battery had run out, or her phone had automatically shut off.
What other possibilities existed, though? The fact that Horikita called in the first place still weighed on me. Why? It was also strange that she hadn't said what was going on.
"She's pranking you?" Inogashira suggested.
Horikita gave her a sharp look. "Why would I waste my time pranking him?"
"Uh...because you're bored?" Inogashira asked nervously.
"If I'm bored, Inogashira-san, I can review and study my notes. There's no need to prank Ayanokoji-kun." Horikita said.
"Somehow, that hurt my feelings." Ayanokoji mumbled.
"I never peg you to be sensitive." Miyake said to him.
Ayanokoji looked at him surprised, "I never knew either."
Logically, my first thought was that Horikita had some business with me, but had been interrupted by something else. A teacher might've called her, or a classmate.
But that theory was very shaky. It was hard to imagine someone from the school calling Horikita in the middle of the summer, especially at night. She didn't have any friends who'd contact her that way.
"Pfft." Ike concealed his laugh.
"Are you-"
"No. I just stated a fact." Ayanokoji cut her off before she could finish her sentence.
Maybe some accident had stopped the call. Or she just fell asleep and forgot to call me back. That might have been it.
"That doesn't fit."
Horikita was a gifted and focused student. I couldn't see her forgetting to reply.
"I'm worried."
In the end, my options were limited, but I was too concerned to just let things be. For the time being, I decided to try calling Horikita again. I dialed her number. On the fourth try, I finally managed to connect.
"Hello?" Horikita didn't seem surprised. If anything, she actually sounded tired.
"Tired?" Sudo whispered.
"I wonder what's she's doing." Shinohara looked confused.
"Somehow, I found the situation to be hilarious." Ike snickered.
"Are you serious?" Shinohara stared at him in disgust.
"Yeah. What's it to you, ugly?" Ike said.
"What did you call me?!" Shinohara glared at him angrily.
"Ugly. You deaf?"
"Why you!"
"Stop!" Hirata went between them and stop them before a fight start.
"Hey. Sorry for calling a bunch of times. I was worried, since you tried calling me. Were you sleeping?" I asked.
"No, I wasn't. I'm sorry for not replying."
I didn't hear any hint of panic, nor did I get the feeling she'd had an accident.
"I'm kind of in the middle of something right now," she continued.
I heard a metallic thunk over the phone.
"What was that?" Yahiko asked.
"It sound like a metal." Ichinose said.
"Is Horikita-san murdering someone?!" Ike looked over to her in panic.
"What? Do you want me to punch you?" Horikita's icy gaze made him almost wet his pants.
"S-sorry." Ike mumbled.
Sudo snickered, "Stupid". Ike glared at him.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Nothing to worry about. Goodbye."
She abruptly ended the call. Well, at least I managed to get in touch with her, and she said that everything was fine. I decided to forget about this for the time being.
I thought that was that, but around 9:00 P.M., my phone lit up. A new message.
Are you awake? read Horikita's text.
"Seriously?" Even Ryuuen look exasperated.
"What the hell is happening to her?" Ibuki asked.
"If I were you I'd ignore her." Ishizaki said.
"It's 9 p.m. ya know? Someone's sleeping." Komiya added.
"Stop lecturing me as if this already happened." Horikita gritted her teeth in annoyance.
I'm awake.
I'd like to talk to you. Do you have time?
It was roughly two hours after we'd last talked.
I'll call you.
Horikita picked up on the first ring.
"What's up?" I asked.
"There's something I wanted to ask you."
As before, Horikita sounded tired. She paused before speaking again.
"Let's say that there was a turtle," she began.
"A turtle?"
"Isn't that a bit random?"
"Huh?"
Horikita launched into a completely crazy story.
"It's an extremely smart and talented turtle. If I accidentally hit it, and flipped it onto its back, that would be terrible, wouldn't you agree? It couldn't right itself under its own steam."
"Describing yourself? Could you please add narcissist in that description?" Sakayanagi snickered.
"Who would hit a turtle?" Ichinose frowned. "That's cruel."
"If it's smart and talented why not flip back on its own?" Ryuuen sarcastically said.
"That's... A surprisingly roundabout way to ask for help." Matsushita said.
"Huh? Horikita's asking for help?" Yamauchi dumbly asked. "I didn't hear that apart from asking about the turtle."
Matsushita ignored him.
"I suppose. But actually, in most cases, turtles can extend their necks and use their legs to flip over. The only turtles that absolutely can't right themselves are giant tortoises and sea turtles," I explained.
"..."
Horikita fell silent at my unnecessary explanation.
"This would have been easier if you'd just assumed that turtles can't get up on their own and listened to me," she said after a moment.
"It would have been easier if you were honest and asked for his help." Sakayanagi retorted.
"Who's she picking fights with?" Hashimoto asked Kamuro.
"Don't talk to me, Reptile-kun." Kamuro rolled her eyes.
"What? Reptile-kun?" Hashimoto asked. "What's up with that?"
"Oh, I just called you that because of your snakering." Kamuro said.
"Snake? Snakering? Is that even a word?" Hashimoto asked confused.
"Didn't I told you to stop talking to me?"
"You're the one who's replying and replying."
Yeah. That made sense.
"Okay. So, they can't get up on their own. Is something wrong with that?"
"In such a situation, what would you do?"
"I'd probably flip the turtle over. It's not that much trouble."
I wouldn't have any reason to save the turtle, but I wouldn't have any reason to abandon it, either. I thought I might as well extend a helping hand. However, I wondered what exactly Horikita was getting at. Maybe she was in trouble, like the turtle that couldn't get up on its own?
"Don't have any reason to save the turtle? And to abandon it?" Kanzaki asked. "You sure are weird, Ayanokoji-kun."
"Both of them are." Shibata whispered to him. Kanzaki and Shibata both wince when someone hit their head.
"Ow." Shibata groaned.
"What's that for?" Kanzaki looked at Ichinose who's shaking her head to them.
"Stop saying rude things." Ichinose said.
"I didn't even said anything rude." Shibata defended himself.
"More like stated a fact." Kanzaki nodded.
"Stop it." Ichinose hissed.
"You know we could hear the three of you, right?" Ayanokoji said.
I didn't get the impression that she was panicking, though. She seemed calm. That probably meant this wasn't a pressing issue.
"So, what's wrong?" I asked.
"Well, I'm not upset or anything," she replied.
"Well, it sure sounds like that's where this is headed."
"I was just talking about a turtle on its back. It had nothing to do with me."
"Okay. Then why are we talking about a turtle?"
"I just...wanted to talk to you about a turtle that flipped over," she insisted.
"O...kay?" Haruka said. "Not weird at all. Totally."
"Who would call someone in 9 p.m. just to talked about a turtle?" Nene whispered to Kushida who ignored her but listened nonetheless.
"This is getting boring." Ryuuen said. "Can we proceed to the next scene?"
Mashima shook his head, "We can't. The order is already fixed and it can't skip an entire scene." He said.
"Yet this projector is giving me weird vibes." Chabashira muttered to herself. Hoshinomiya who heard her, nodded. Despite the rivalry between them.
"Why don't we checked in with the schools' high ups after this?" Sakagami suggested.
"That's probably a good idea." Mashima agreed.
Okay, this was getting weird.
"This isn't like you," I said. "Well, I guess asking for help isn't like you, either, but... You called me because you don't have anyone else to go to, right? If that's the case, then just come out and say why."
Horikita paused.
"If you say that you can't prevent wanting to help people, then perhaps I can't go to you for advice," she said.
"Huh? It's fine. Talk to me," I told her.
"I'm just having a little trouble."
At least she'd finally admitted it. "Where are you now?"
"I'm in my room."
"Wait. Are there bugs?"
"Bugs?!" Sato and the other girls freaked out.
"There's bugs in the school?!" Yume asked frantically.
"There's no bugs in the school." Hoshinomiya assured her. "We checked the school twice a year to prevent something like that."
"Oh thank God." Shinohara sighed in relief.
"What? Can't take a few bugs, Ugly?" Ike mocked her.
"What did you say?!" Shinohara glared at him.
"I said—" Ike was cut off when Chabashira sent a warning look to him. "Whatever."
If that were the case, I understood why Horikita didn't want to talk about it. I was probably right on the money, although the dormitories were generally kept clean, and Horikita lived on an upper floor-actually, that made the likelihood of bugs rather low.
"See?" Hoshinomiya-sensei giggled.
"That's not it. I could deal with a bug myself."
"How would you deal with it?Detergent? Hot water? Slippers?"
"You can kill a bug with a detergent and hot water?" Kaneda asked.
"The slippers may do the job, but the other two? Unlikely." Ichinose said.
"You're not afraid of bugs, Honami-chan?" Amikura asked. Ichinose shook her head.
No matter how good my powers of deductive reasoning were, I couldn't imagine Horikita's current situation.
"Well, I'm in trouble because... No, it's fine after all. I'll take care of it."
"You say you'll take care of it yourself, but it's been more than two hours, and you haven't done anything yet, right?" I shot back. If she'd called with this problem earlier, then she'd been struggling for quite some time.
"Well. Well... It's true that I'm just about at my physical limit. I'll tell you everything."
Finally.
Instead of explaining, however, Horikita suddenly made a request.
"Could you come to my room?"
Ike, Yamauchi and Sudo dramatically gasped.
"Y-you scoundrel!" Ike points his finger at Ayanokoji.
Ayanokoji sighed, "What did I do now?"
"You bastard." Sudo said, he looked at Horikita longingly before turning and glaring at him.
"How dare you take advantage of the maidens', Horikita's vulnerable heart?!" Ike said angry.
"Yeah! Yeah!" Yamauchi supported the two.
"Vulnerable heart? Where? And more importantly, maiden? Where? As far as I can't see, I don't see one." Ayanokoji said in a monotone voice.
"Fufufu, can't you see me, Ayanokoji-kun?" Sakayanagi asked.
"No. You're too small for me to see." Ayanokoji said.
Sakayanagi's smile froze on her face. Kamuro and Hashimoto let out a loud laugh before trying their best to conceal it but failing.
She sounded both embarrassed and disgusted.
"Now? But it's already past nine," I protested.
"I understand, but...to deal with this, you need to be here." Horikita spoke as though she was frustrated or in pain.
"Well, I might get in trouble for going to the girls' floor at this time of night," I said.
"I know, but I can't do this unless you're here," she replied.
With that, Horikita abruptly hung up.
"This is kinda scary. But I guess I have to go," I muttered.
Grabbing only my phone and room key, I hurried out. Wouldn't want to keep her waiting.
I didn't want to run into any other girls, so I waited until no one else was using the elevator. Sneaking around like that was pathetic, but hey. That was me. I managed to reach the thirteenth floor undetected. When I got to Horikita's room, I rang the doorbell. After waiting a while, I tried to slowly open the door myself. It wasn't locked.
"Forbidden garden." Professor mysteriously said. Yukimura and Miyake who's sitting a few seats to him glanced at him confused.
"Please excused my muttering, Yukimura-dono, Miyake-dono. I'm simply getting excited for the upcoming scene." Satomura said.
"Dono?" Yukimura and Miyake stared at him.
"Why is your door not locked, Horikita-san?" Sato asked curiously.
"As you can see, I was expecting Ayanokoji-kun. And it seems something is keeping me preoccupied to answer the door in case it was locked." Horikita answered.
"First Sakura-chan and then Horikita." Yamauchi said jealous.
"Dude, I want to be you." Ike stared at the girls longingly.
"Horikita?"
Horikita's place was a one-bedroom and kitchen model, but I couldn't see into the bedroom area. It was hidden behind a closed door. There was no sign of Horikita in the kitchen or hallway. Like me, she'd barely decorated since moving in.
"You're alone, right?" I heard her voice from behind the bedroom door.
"You're being way too loud," I told her.
"It's okay. Even if someone came in right now, I'd conk them with my right hand," she replied.
"Conk them with your right hand? What's that supposed to mean?" Hirata asked confused.
"You and me, bro. You and me." Hashimoto said.
"Your sister is being weird." Nagumo said to Manabu who continued to watched.
"You're always weird." Tachibana replied back. Nagumo's brow twitched, Tachibana only smiled sweetly at him.
What in the world was that supposed to mean? Cautiously, I entered Horikita's bedroom. She had her back to me, so I couldn't see her expression. The room was decorated simply. Nothing seemed particularly strange.
"Okay, I'm here. What's the problem?" I asked.
"Once you see, you'll understand."
Horikita slowly stood and turned to face me. Two radically different emotions coursed through me at the exact same time.
"Wha..." Hirata gaped at the screen.
"What the hell, hahahahaha." Ike and Yamauchi laughed loudly.
"Horikita," Sudo muttered worried.
Horikita can only watched, face red. 'What the hell? Why is this keep happening to me? This is so embarrassing.'
Ayanokoji uncharacteristically let out a snort. He quickly hid it before anyone heard him. Lucky for him, everyone's too busy laughing to noticed. Well, maybe except for a small student tht has lilac hair and violet eyes.
Sakayanagi watched him fondly. Watching Ayanokoji these past few days felt like watching a baby take in the world for the first time.
"A water bottle?" Shibata stared in disbelief.
"I see. So. That's it, huh?"
"That's it, yes."
I felt some secondhand embarrassment as I looked at her right hand, which was completely stuck inside a small water bottle.
"How do I say this? This is completely unlike you. Don't tell me you were just playing around."
Horikita glared at him. Ayanokoji averted his eyes.
"Don't be ridiculous." She snapped.
"Then how can you explain that?" Ayanokoji pointed at her right hand that is stuck in a water bottle.
"Suspicious." Ike whispered.
Yamauchi snickered, "Highly suspicious."
"What the hell are you doing to that bottle that got your hand stuck inside?" Ryuuen asked.
"I don't know. This never happened to me." Horikita said.
"Yet." Ibuki smirked at her.
"What's that?" Horikita looked over to her.
"Stop is, Ibuki-san." Hiyori chastised Ibuki who huffed, crossing her arms.
"Don't be dumb."
"This is like when you challenge yourself to use your fingers to pick up a single piece of corn, right?"
That must've irritated her, because she swung her right arm at me.
"I-It's just a joke."
"There's no point telling an unfunny joke. You failed."
"It wasn't funny because I was teasing you, right?"
"This water bottle got stuck because I tried to wash my hand. Can you help me get it off?"
"Inside the bottle?" Chihiro asked confused.
"Why would you wash your hand inside the water bottle? No matter how I look at it, it seems suspicious." Karuizawa said.
"You can tilt the water bottle, Horikita-san." Hirata advised her.
Horikita feels her patient snapping. "I don't know what my future self is thinking, alright?!"
"The problem with the water must have gone to your head." Ike said. Then he suddenly scream bloody murder. Ike stood up from his seat trying to get away from the furious woman who's chasing him.
So, that was what happened. I grabbed the water bottle and pulled, but only ended up pulling Horikita toward me.
"Come on. If you don't pull back yourself, you're gonna stay stuck. At least give it a little elbow grease," I said.
"I already know that. It's just that I'm tired. Let's get this over with quickly," she replied.
After trying to free herself on her own for more than two hours, Horikita was exhausted. I grabbed the water bottle again, put a little more strength into it, and pulled. Horikita pulled back as I did so, enduring the pain. However, her arm remained stuck.
"It's no use. At this rate, the bottle will never come off," I told her.
"I see. I suppose I expected as much."
Horikita appeared to have resigned herself to being trapped.
"Guess we have to rub your arm down with soap and slowly pull the bottle off. Let's head to the kitchen," I said.
"Uh... There's no water, remember? That's what got her in that mess in the first place." Matsushita said.
"More like, it was Horikita fault for not being smart about the water bottle." Ike who was stopped being chased by Horikita muttered. He flinched when he thought that Horikita heard him. Ike let his eyes wonder over to Horikita's seat and found her sitting. He sighed in relief.
"Did you forget that there's a water outage right now?"
That was right. We wouldn't have water until twelve. The only usable water was in the toilet, but Horikita probably wouldn't like that.
"I'll go to the cafeteria."
We were low on options, but as long as I could get some water, we could remove the bottle. I left Horikita's room and headed straight for the cafeteria. However, an unfortunate surprise awaited me there.
"I'm very sorry. So many students came that we're all out," said the cafeteria lady.
"What luck you got there." Shibata joked.
"It's bound to run out." Katsuragi said. "All students from different year levels are affected after all."
"Still, imagine your hand being stuck in a water bottle when there's a problem with the water." Shibata said, then he paused. "How do you even fit your hand inside?"
"Now that you mentioned it." Students who heard him looked at Horikita who notice their gaze.
"What?" She asked.
Apparently, those who'd needed water for dinner had taken all of it. Well then, I'd just go buy some at the vending machine. I didn't need a lot of water to free someone's arm from a bottle. About two drinking glasses' worth would be enough.
I walked toward the vending machines, and discovered that our misfortune was just beginning. All the water, tea, and juice were sold out.
"I've never seen a completely sold-out vending machine before," I muttered.
"Desperate people, man." Yamauchi said.
"Gotta used the available substitute." Hashimoto said.
"Wait. If the water bottle is free, are the items in the vending machine free too?" Komiya asked.
"Stop asking dumb questions." Ryuuen hissed.
"But I'm curious too." Hiyori said.
"You're empty-handed?"
Horikita, the water-bottle woman, glared at me, but it didn't matter. This tragedy was born of multiple misfortunes.
"So, what are we going to do now?"
"If you're okay with it, we could ask Ike or Sudou for water."
"Pass," she replied.
Sudo felt his heart break.
"That gotta hurt." Ike muttered.
"I can hear you, Kanji" Sudo glared at him.
"It was on purposed, Ken." Ike replied back.
I'd thought that was how she'd reply.
"I could lie and say it's for me."
"I'm opposed to using any water they might have. Who knows what they've put in it?" she muttered.
She was treating them like harmful germs or something. I wanted to disagree, but lacked the confidence. Those guys did tend to leave uncovered tea and water lying around.
They'd probably try to rustle up clean water for Horikita's sake, but they might be a lot less considerate if I said I wanted water. Friendly malice was a diabolical thing.
"What?!" Yamauchi exclaimed.
"No we won't!" Sudo said.
"Well...okay," Ike said but paused, "Maybe we will."
"Kanji!" Yamauchi complained.
"What? Don't tell me you won't do that?" Ike said.
"You don't need to broadcast it!" Yamauchi hissed.
"Disgusting." The girls glared at them.
"Can you please stay away from me?" Shinohara said to Ike who's sitting near her.
"Okay. Want to try one more time?"
"Yes. Even if it hurts," she replied.
Horikita offered her right arm, bracing herself. She wanted her freedom as soon as possible. I saw sweat trickle down her arm.
"Okay, I'm going to get a really good grip on it."
I wanted to free Horikita and return to my own room, so I grabbed the water bottle tightly, putting myself in a ridiculous pose. I pulled twice as hard as I had the last time. Horikita looked as though she was in agony, but endured it without complaint. However, the bottle didn't budge.
"I guess we really do need water," I said.
The bottle probably wasn't going to come off unless we made Horikita's arm slippery. If it was stuck after that, we might need to contact emergency services.
"No way." Horikita muttered to herself. She refused to let someone, even a staff of the school see her situation. Just thinking about it make her face burn, especially if the incident reached her brothers' ears. Which is too late by the way as he's watching the screen himself in person.
"You're telling me to wait until twelve? Like this?"
"Well, the only reliable guy left is Hirata," I said.
"I wouldn't have any concerns about the quality of Hirata's water, but...I dislike the idea of owing him a debt," replied Horikita.
"Well, I'll say I'm the one who needs water, for appearance's sake. It won't be your problem," I told her.
"I suppose that's true," she answered.
Horikita still sounded somewhat dissatisfied, but appeared to accept the fact that you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs. I tried to call
Hirata. No matter how many times the phone rang, however, he didn't pick up. Even when I tried to send him a chat message, it went unread.
"Maybe he's asleep. I'm not getting a response."
"I'm sorry?" Hirata looked confused whether to apologize about his future self not responding or not.
"You don't need to apologize, Hirata. It was in the middle of the night. It's only common sense that you're already asleep." Ayanokoji said.
"Why not try the other girls in your class?" Hiyori suggested knowing that Horikita didn't have any friend outside her class. But maybe, just maybe, she have one in Class D?
"Not possible." Ike snickered. "She doesn't have any friends aside from Ayanokoji."
Horikita glared at him, "You re truly testing my patience, Ike-kun." Ike shivered in fear.
Sato and the girls frowned. Maybe if they can get Kushida and Horikita from befriending one another by interfering, they can settle their differences and become friends. Horikita and Kushida are a valuable classmates and friends after all.
"Well, now we are her friends!" Sato exclaimed. Mei-Yu quietly shouted with the girls.
"I see. My emotions are a mixture of joy and despair," she replied.
"Well, we probably don't have any other options. I think we can only rely on Kushida or Sakura."
"Please ask Sakura-san," replied Horikita immediately.
"Are you still on bad terms with Kushida?"
"There's no reason for us to get along. Besides, there are still quite a few things about her that I can't accept," she said.
"What do you mean, 'can't accept'?"
"The test on the ship. She abandoned the idea of trying to win right from the start. She wanted the Dragon group to end with a draw."
Class D, especially the girls glanced at Kushida who remained unfazed.
"Kushida is a pacifist, remember?" Sato tried to calm the atmosphere.
"Yeah. Just thinking of being in the same room with the other class leaders makes me cry." Matsushita joked.
"Ha? Then you're even more pathetic than you seemed. Crying just being in the same room with us." Ryuuen sneered.
"They must be glad that I'm not there." Sakayanagi said.
"Huh? What are you saying?" Matsushita tried to hide the irrigation of her voice.
"No more importantly, I heard you commenting and talking since this viewing begun but who even are you?" Ike asked bluntly.
Hashimoto, Kamuro and basically everyone inside the gymnasium laughed.
Sakayanagi's smiled frozen on her face. "Oh my. Have I forgotten to introduced myself, or you're deaf? My name is Sakayanagi Arisu, Class A's leader." Sakayanagi narrowed her eyes.
"Oh really? Two leaders? Cool." Ike said brushed her off.
"This—" Sakayanagi gritted her teeth.
Horikita crossed her arms as she recalled the events of the previous test. Unfortunately, she still had her hand stuck in the bottle, so her declaration lacked impact.
"That's because she's a pacifist. She was probably choosing the option where everyone ended up happy," I reasoned.
"I had no intention of completely rejecting Outcome #1. But it was something entirely different for the VIP herself to steer us toward it,"
Horikita answered sharply.
During the test, students had been separated into twelve groups. We'd played a game where we had to discover the hidden identity of a chosen VIP within each group, with four possible outcomes in total.
The most difficult outcome to achieve was Outcome #1, which required everyone in the group to discover the VIP's identity and wait till the assigned time to submit their answers, without anyone betraying the group by turning in an answer early. The group that achieved Outcome #1 would have 500,000 private points awarded to each member, and a million private points awarded to its VIP.
"You sound like a narrator, Ayanokoji-kun." Ichinose commented.
"Yeah, who even say that in their mind?" Yume said.
"Apparently I do." Ayanokoji sarcastically said.
Yume flushed when Ayanokoji talked to her.
Ichinose laughed a bit awkwardly. "You're funny, Ayanokoji-kun."
"I wasn't even joking."
The only drawback to Outcome #1 was that the VIP's class wasn't awarded any class points.
"Kushida being our group's VIP gave Class D the advantage. All we had to do was keep the VIP's identity hidden, but everyone found out that Kushida-san was the VIP. I think that Kushida herself had something to do with that."
"But that's just speculation on your part."
"Yes. The possibility remains, though. Therefore, I assume she's guilty."
"You said it was a possibility, then you're assuming she's guilty?" Yukimura asked. "That's a bit, uh... How should I say this?"
"Biased? unfair? Uh... Oh I don't know." Miyake shrugged.
Horikita's words grew forceful. I understood how she felt, but the seriousness was lessened, since Horikita's arm was still stuck in that water bottle. I needed to tread carefully.
"I understand how you feel, but that won't do," I said.
"You mean, me saying all this without any evidence?"
"I'm saying that situation was your responsibility, too. Let's assume that, yes, Kushida betrayed us. If so, then you're at fault for allowing her to betray us. You have to win at all costs. Am I wrong?"
Horikita seemed to understand what I meant. Nevertheless, she objected. "Don't be absurd. Don't you understand how unrealistic that is?"
"It's not unrealistic." Katsuragi said.
"You're the leader. You have to anticipate your classmates moves, especially ones that are a threat in your class even if it's a classmate." Sakayanagi said somewhat forcefully.
"Are you that bored of your school life that you teach your rivals how to rule their own class." Ryuuen sarcastically said.
"Oh, yes I am. This school can't even provide me a good, somewhat above average to compete with. Only failures." Sakayanagi said.
"Failures, huh?" Ryuuen's eyes gleamed.
"Unrealistic? I can't imagine why it would be. If Kushida did manipulate you all into Outcome #1, that's honestly amazing. In other words, she completely outdid you in the exam."
Of course, this was all assuming that Kushida had truly betrayed the Dragon group. Honestly, it'd probably been Ryuuen or Katsuragi. I didn't know which. Either way, someone with more power had forced everyone in the Dragon group into a certain outcome. Still, the fact remained that Horikita had been outsmarted.
"It's either Katsuragi-san is dumb or Ryuuen-san forcibly made him agree to another contract after he was betrayed and played with in the island." Matsushita said.
"Since when did you become smart?" Sato looked at her suspiciously.
Matsushita froze before calmly answering, "It's only natural to assume that, am I right, Ayanokoji-kun?" Matsushita diverted the suspicious and pulled Ayanokoji in the conversation.
Ayanokoji looked at her for a few seconds before responding. "Yeah."
"She just insulted you, ya know?" Hashimoto whispered to Katsuragi who ignored him.
"The VIP was in your class. If you didn't act because you were confident in your victory, then the responsibility lies with the people on your team. If you're aiming for Class A, you need to be able to manage people better," I added.
"You're talking about very complicated things," Horikita countered.
"Complicated?" Sakayanagi asked disbelief about the girls' dumb mindset. 'I can't even—how did even Ayanokoji-kun have the time to mentor this... This rubbish girl?'
"Uh... You okay?" Hashimoto hesitantly asked the frozen little girl.
Sakayanagi managed to collect herself before staring at the screen.
"I understand that you're frustrated. But this is the path you chose. Besides, you're maturing. If I'd said the same thing to you when we first met, you wouldn't have listened to me at all."
That was true. Slowly, Horikita was beginning to think like an adult. She was no longer a girl who rejected everything around her on instinct.
"I understand. I accept the test results. Perhaps I was too optimistic. But, right now, my main objective is getting my arm free," she huffed.
"I suppose I'll see if Sakura can help."
Since it was getting late, I decided to reach out to Sakura using chat.
Sakura, my room is out of drinking water. The vending machine is sold out, too. Would you mind sharing with me?
I waited for a while after sending the message, but saw no indication that Sakura had read it.
"Oh. I'm sorry, Ayanokoji-kun, Horikita-san." Airi apologized. Same with Hirata, Ayanokoji brushed her apologies off.
"No good. I don't know if she's asleep or what."
"Honestly, today is just not my day," Horikita sighed.
"I take it you want the bottle off right now?"
"If I planned to wait, I wouldn't have called you."
"Then you have to take a risk, too," I said.
"Risk?" Horikita was instantly wary.
"We'll head to Keyaki Mall for water. There's no other way."
"Watch as that plan fail." Shibata whispered chuckling.
"You're enjoying this too much." Kanzaki eyed the male beside him.
"It's not like I have other things to do." Shibata shrugged. He took his phone out and played with it for a moment before tucking it in his pants.
"So, that's our final option." Horikita put her hand to her forehead.
Honestly, no matter what tragic pose she assumed, she still looked ridiculous.
"Most people are eating right now, so this is our chance." As a matter of fact, I hadn't bumped into any of our classmates this evening.
"I can't take the risk. Can't you ask one of your friends?" she urged.
"But isn't it your problem in the first place." Tachibana frowned. She may not liked the boy but watching him get bossed around tug her heart.
"She's not like her brother who's more mature and great." Nagumo added.
"Comparing the two of us won't change her. Stop it." Manabu reprimanded the two.
"It's hard to believe that the two of you are related." Nagumo sneaked in a comment.
Horikita who heard the conversation looked down. When will she stop being am embarrassment to her brother?
"Unfortunately, I can't. I think they made plans to go out for karaoke. They're not here."
"This is not my day," she sighed.
"Let's get this over with, then."
"W-wait. I really can't go outside like this," said Horikita.
"In that case, do you want to hide your hand? I guess it's already hidden in a water bottle," I joked.
"That was completely unnecessary," she snapped, and raised her hand as if to strike.
"It was funny though." Kondo and Ibuki laughed to themselves.
"You have a weird sense of humor, Ayanokoji-kun." Ichinose giggled.
"Plus with that poker face and monotone voice of his? It's even more hilarious." Amikura said.
'Huh, I seemed to be befriending people from other class.' Ayanokoji thought happy. 'My goal is finally achieved. Well, more like one of my goal. My peaceful life is ruined.'
"O-okay, I get it. Please put your hand down. Do you have a cloth or something?"
"Cloth? If a handkerchief counts, I have one." Horikita pulled a white handkerchief off the shelf. I placed it over the water bottle.
"This looks painfully suspicious. It's not large enough to cover everything."
"Don't you have anything bigger?" I asked.
"Will a bath towel do?"
I placed the towel over her arm. "Well, I guess this works."
Honestly, I suspected the bath towel might make her stand out even more.
"If the towel's even a little lopsided, it'll fall off," said Horikita.
"Well, can't you hold it with your free hand?"
Horikita folded the bath towel and held it to her body, giving the impression that she was about to take a bath. Yeah, that looked way better.
"If someone were to see me, what kind of impression would they get?" she asked.
"That you're about to bathe in Ayanokoji's room?" Yamauchi guessed.
Sudo punched him in the arm. "Ow! What the hell, Ken?" Yamauchi complained.
"Don't even joked something like that." Sudo hissed at him angry.
"Fine, I won't. Chill."
"Hmm..."
No one would normally walk around the dorms with a bath towel, nor take one outside. People would be suspicious.
"Depending on the situation, I suppose they might think you were going to use my bathtub," I suggested. That might have been a leap of logic, but that was the way I saw it.
"Why don't you remain it as it is?" Hiyori asked confused. "It's even more suspicious covering something like that."
"A bag might have been better. You could hide it inside and all." Karuizawa said.
"Hoe about asking other classmates? I'm sure one of us have a spare." Sato said.
"Rejected."
Horikita took the towel off. I supposed that I didn't really want anyone to think that about us, either.
"How about putting your hand inside your bag?"
"Rejected. Can't you think of anything better?" She was peerless when it came to complaining.
"Why don't we just go there as we are? We'll avoid worrying about a towel or handkerchief falling down."
"I suppose so."
All that was left for us was to act. I peeked into the hallway, taking a slightly hesitant Horikita with me.
"Okay, no sign of anyone. Let's go," I said.
"W-wait a minute. I still haven't put my shoes on."
Because Horikita could only use one hand, putting on her shoes took quite a bit of time. Finally, the two of us stepped out into the hallway.
"Wait. There's a faucet on the path to school, right? If we make it there, we'll be okay."
"Is the water in the dorms the problem? I thought it was the entire school." Hoshinomiya asked confused.
"It must have been the dorms." Mashima said.
If we walked at a normal pace, we'd arrive at the faucet in about five minutes. We'd be fine under the cover of darkness, as long as we got out of the dormitory. We reached the elevators, but-
"It's no use, Ayanokouji-kun. We can't use them," Horikita said.
"What?"
"There's a surveillance monitor in the first-floor lobby, right? I don't know who can see us on that."
"You're paranoid." Manabu bluntly said to his sister. "Is the people who's gonna see you more important or your hand stuck in the bottle? Learn your priorities."
"Oh." Yamauchi and Ike glanced between the two siblings. While Sudo glared at the president, ready to defend her when Horikita looked at him sharply.
A monitor on the first floor did display whatever the elevator cameras captured. Horikita was concerned about being seen. Even if she managed to hide her arm, she couldn't avoid looking mysterious.
"Should we take the stairs?"
That would probably take quite a bit of time. Also, the fact that Horikita couldn't use one hand made it a little riskier.
"I'd rather take the stairs than let someone see me," she confessed.
Horikita chose pride over safety. Two emergency stairwells were each located an equal distance from the elevators. No matter which we took, we'd have to pass students' rooms again. There was no getting around that.
"Watch as someone spots them in the hallway." Ishizaki said.
"Who is even outside of their room in that hour?" Kaneda looked confused. He rather study in his room all night than hang out with his classmates. Especially at that time.
"Class D?" Komiya suggested.
"Hey! Why is it always us?" Miyamoto complained.
"Because your class is dumb?" Ishizaki said to him boredly.
"And if it's not us?" Miyamoto challenged him.
"Just watch shorty." Kondo smirked.
"Shorty?! You're talking as if you are tall!"
I brought Horikita toward the stairwell. She stayed behind me, as if hiding herself from view. I was starting to agree with her words earlier. "This is not my day," indeed.
I heard a door open about three rooms behind us.
"Th-this is bad. That's Maezono-san's room."
Maezono from Class D, huh? There was no way for us to escape. However, Maezono didn't leave the room. Instead, her friend Kushida stepped out. Another piece of bad luck for Horikita.
Kondo and the others sent Miyamoto a smug grin who only grumbled at them.
"See?!"
"Whatever."
"Thank you, Kushida-san. I'll return the favor next time!"
"Oh no, it's okay. Don't worry about it. Good night, Maezono-san."
I didn't see Maezono's face. As the door closed with a ka-chak ,
Kushida headed toward the elevator without noticing me or Horikita.
"That was close," Horikita said.
"Yeah."
If Kushida had looked back, she would've noticed us. I was sweating an uncomfortable amount. We were far too conspicuous like this.
We headed to the emergency exit as quickly as possible, but I heard Maezono's door open once again.
"Kushida-san, you forgot something!" Maezono shouted as she stepped outside. Kushida turned.
"Busted."
"What luck you both have that day."
"I'd die if I was in your shoes."
"Hey, why not ask Kushida-san? She may have extra."
"Idiot. The two of them are not in good terms, remember?"
"Oh right. Sorry."
"Ah, Ayanokouji-kun. Horikita-san. Good evening."
"Y-yeah."
Our exchange was brief. It seemed as though Kushida wanted to checkon what she forgot. She headed back toward Maezono, and Maezono inevitably noticed us as well. Horikita froze.
"You forgot your phone!"
"It's always the phone."
"What trying to find another victim like Ayanokoji-kun?"
Kushida glared at them, the two froze before looking away. Bit of sweats decorating their faces.
"Ah, sorry. Thanks! You're a lifesaver."
"Let's get going, Ayanokouji-kun. There's no need for us to linger," said Horikita. She pushed the water bottle against my back, emphasizing that this was our chance.
If Horikita were seen in this state, her pride would be utterly demolished. We reached the emergency exit, and I tried to open the door.
"It won't open."
"You're joking, right? There's no way an emergency exit door wouldn't open, is there?"
"I'm serious. It won't open." Locking an emergency exit was normally prohibited, which meant...
"Where are you going?"
Oh no. Kushida approached us.
"Oh, uh. We were just thinking of taking the stairs."
That was the best answer I could give.
"Oh? But the power's out in the east emergency stairwell right now. I'm pretty sure it isn't usable. It'd be really dangerous to go downstairs in pitch darkness. I think the west stairs are okay, though."
"So, that's why it's locked. Huh," I said. Horikita said nothing, continuing to hide behind my back.
"Horikita seems to be acting differently than usual. Is something the matter?" asked Kushida.
Horikita raised her voice. "Nothing's wrong!" she replied curtly. Her bluntness worked. Kushida stopped.
'Horikita's attitude towards Kushida must have made her start despising her. Kushida might have hate her for knowing her past but it grew after being humiliated in front of the class after countless rejections.' Ayanokoji thought.
"Oh my lord, just ask for her help!"
"I see. Well, if something's troubling you, please tell me. Okay? Maezono-san was in trouble earlier because she had no water. I have more than enough," said Kushida.
Kushida had what we wanted most of all. If Horikita could only ask for her help, she'd get water quite easily. However, Horikita pushed the water bottle into my back like the muzzle of a gun. She didn't want Kushida's help.
"Well then, good night to you both," Kushida said sweetly.
"Yeah, 'night."
I t took us quite a while to get to the first floor from the thirteenth. We were worried that the lobby might be crowded, but fortunately, no one was
around.
"We can go right now," I said.
"Okay."
I made my way toward the exit, Horikita trailing closely behind me. Then, several male and female students emerged from the darkness, chatting as they walked.
They didn't appear to be Class D students, but from Horikita's perspective, it didn't make any difference who they were. We couldn't get out of the dormitory in time. Horikita turned on her heel and started to head back, as if returning to her room.
"If I were you, I will go back to my room and just wait for the water to comeback. That is just impossible." Haruka said.
"Then stuck your hand inside a water bottle." Miyake said smirking.
"Huh? You saying something, Miyachii?" Haruka narrowed her eyes playfully.
"As a matter of fact, I am."
"At this rate, they're going to see us," she said.
The students drew nearer, their presence hard to ignore. Flustered, Horikita and I opened the door to the west emergency stairs. How unlucky could we be? I heard a voice directly above us. It sounded like a male student on the third or fourth floor, heading downstairs. Students who lived on the lower levels often didn't use the elevators.
No longer able to go upstairs, Horikita and I were forced to return to the lobby.
"We have no choice now but to use the elevator!" Horikita said.
"Is that okay? You'll be seen on the monitors," I said.
"I'll have to use you as cover. Since we know the camera's position, we should be able to do that," replied Horikita.
That suggestion was bizarre, but not impossible. I would rather have avoided it, but since we lacked an escape route, there was no other choice. We hurried to the left elevator and got on.
I positioned myself directly in front of the camera, and Horikita stood behind me, making sure to hide her arm. She was like a ghost clinging to my back.
"Your positions are funny."Shibata said
"It even looks like something naughty." Komiya said grinning.
"You're disgusting." Horikita glared at him.
I hoped observers wouldn't notice anything. At any rate, we needed to get away from the first floor. I pushed a button at random.
"Well, we're safe for now, but...this is just the beginning," I muttered.
"Let's give up. I can't go outside like this. I'll just endure this bottle until the water comes back," said Horikita.
That had to be a tough pill for her to swallow, but if it was what she wanted, we just needed to return to the thirteenth floor. I cancelled the request for a random floor, and pushed the button for the thirteenth. Hopefully our trials were over for tonight.
Then, just as we relaxed, the elevator suddenly slowed. I was having terrible luck with elevators lately. At least it wasn't breaking down, and I hadn't pressed the wrong button.
"Imagine if they got stuck inside the elevator." Ike snickered.
"That is just not their day."
We had stopped on the fifth floor. That meant that someone had pressed the call button. No matter who got on, they'd see Horikita in this bizarre state. She might've gone undetected in a big crowd of people, but fate continued to be cruel, and the elevator doors opened to reveal a single male student.
"Oh wow."
"You have got to be kidding me."
"Him?"
"What luck."
"More like bad luck."
"Hmm? Well look at that." Koenji sent a kiss to his on screen self. "A handsome and perfect being. I look perfect in every possible angle."
"Narcissist."
Unbelievable. Of all the people we could have encountered...
Kouenji Rokusuke, a Class D student, waltzed into the elevator with his usual haughty air. He went straight to the mirrored wall, not even giving us a passing glance. As he gazed at his reflection, he pulled out a comb he always carried, and started to style his hair.
"Elevator boy. Top floor," he said.
"Elevator boy?" Ayanokoji said.
"As you heard, elevator boy." Koenji smirked.
"What's up with you giving people unpleasant nicknames?" Ayanokoji asked.
Koenji ignored him and mirrored his screen self by combing his hair back.
Horikita appeared stunned by Kouenji's incredible display of narcissism. I wanted to say a bunch of things right back at him, but it was probably best to just stay quiet. I pressed the button for the top floor, the elevator doors closed, and we started our ascent once again.
Kouenji showed no sign of paying attention to us. I would've thought that he'd spare us a glance, considering that we were his classmates, but at least that meant he probably wouldn't notice the water bottle.
While Horikita hovered in the camera's blind spot, the elevator passed the tenth floor. I wondered what business Kouenji had on the top floor, but couldn't ask. Maybe he had no real reason for going.
When the elevator doors slowly opened, Horikita and I stepped out simultaneously. Kouenji never once moved his eyes from the mirror. Things
had ended without incident.
Horikita rushed straight to her room.
"It's impossible. Walking around outside is completely out of the question," she muttered as she went inside.
I was about to follow her when my phone vibrated.
Sorry for the late reply. I was researching something, so I didn't notice your text, read the message from Sakura.
"Oh, Airi-chan!" Haruka cheered. "She must have enough water."
"We don't know that, Haruka-chan." Airi protested.
"Then we are about to find out." Haruka winked at her.
"Sakura-san?" asked Horikita.
"Yeah." I texted Sakura back.
You wanted water, right? Of course that's okay. Would one bottle be enough? said her message.
"Yey! She have enough."
"See? I told you." Haruka grinned at Airi.
"Okay, okay! You were right." Airi pushed her playfully.
"I'm always right."
That's plenty, thank you. Can I come get it now?
Sure. I'll wait for you, Sakura replied.
It was difficult to hold a conversation with Sakura in person, but when we texted, it went smoothly.
"Good news, Horikita. Apparently, Sakura has water. She just gave me the okay to borrow some, so I'll be going now."
"Thank you. However, please don't tell Sakura-san about me," Horikita replied.
"Well, since you won't be stuck like this anymore, how about we take a commemorative photo?" I joked.
"I already burned the imaged in my mind." Ike and the others laughed. Horikita glared at them.
"Hey, at least it's over."
Horikita seemed to be about to start swinging the water bottle at me, so I ran into the hall.
"What a terrifying woman. Considering her physical prowess, if she hit me on the head with that bottle, I'd probably die," I muttered.
"You're overreacting, Ayanokoji-kun." Ichinose giggled.
"You would have been dizzy at best." Hiyori said. "This scene was funny." She added.
"More like boring." Ryuuen mocked under his breath.
"Hopefully, things resume tomorrow." Hashimoto said.
If a high school girl with her arm stuck in a water bottle killed me, my name would live on in infamy.
"T here-it's off," I said.
After a long, arduous struggle, we'd finally succeeded in freeing Horikita from the water bottle.
"Honestly, this day was a complete disaster," she muttered. If my hand had been trapped in a water bottle, I would've felt the same. "Ayanokouji-kun. Please don't speak a word of this to anyone."
"Too late."
"We watched it all."
"Laughed and made fun of it."
"I know! Stop talking!" Horikita almost growled in anger.
"Before you go issuing warnings, isn't there something else you'd like to say first?"
"Thank you."
It wasn't sincere, but at least it sounded like an approximation of gratitude.
"I have to say, getting trapped in a water bottle? That's just so unlike you, Horikita."
"Shut up," she snapped.
I decided that I'd outstayed my welcome, so I headed back to my own room.
Really, though, was it even possible for someone's arm to get stuck in a water bottle? I took a bottle out of a box, rinsed it, and then inserted my hand as a test. It was an exact fit. The bottle felt surprisingly snug.
Students face palmed.
"Why would you even do that?" Horikita stared at disbelief in Ayanokoji.
"I was really curious?" He asked unsure.
"You're an idiot." Ibuki said.
"How are you going to remove your hand?"
"Wait for the water to comeback, I assume."
"Rocket punch! Eh, just kidding."
I gave in to silliness for a moment. When I tried to get my hand out of the water bottle, though...
"I-I think I'm trapped!"
"Whose fault is it, I wonder?" Horikita sarcastically said.
-x-
Previous Chapter: Only One Solution.
Word Count: 9716