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Disclaimer: I don't own Classroom of the Elite but if I did, there will be MAJOR CHANGES.


Kiyotaka returned to the swimming pool just as their teacher finally arrived. Miyajima-sensei had short hair, a bit bulky in physique, and looked like he was in his late 30s. He quickly gathered everyone who was participating at the end of the swimming pool, separating the boys from the girls.

"It makes me sad that not everyone will be participating today, but there's still a lot of you here! Now tell me, is there anyone here who doesn't know the basics of swimming?"

Miyajima-sensei waited a few seconds, but nobody raised their hands.

The teacher smiled. "All of you know how, that's good! However, my role here is to teach you anyway, but we'll work that out later. I'll let you do some warm-ups and practice with your swimming. You'll be having a race against each other fifteen minutes from now. That way, we'll know which of you needs more help above everyone else."

Kiyotaka chose to do his warm-ups with Sudo, who looked pissed at him for some reason, as shown by the angry looks he's been sending here and there. The young man could already guess why, but he felt like asking anyway just for the fun of it.

"If I did something wrong in your eyes, then say it already."

Sudo grumbled. "Did you really have to leave me behind earlier?"

Knowing that he was referring to his little conversation with Kayano, Kiyotaka only shrugged. "I didn't want to interrupt your conversation with Onodera. Would you like it if someone interrupted you while you're talking with someone else?"

That made the angry expression on Ken's face disappear right away. "N-No, but-"

"Then I did nothing wrong, and you're only embarrassed about talking to a girl. Were Yamauchi and Ike perhaps right about something going on between you and Onodera?"

"Argh! You heard that?" the red-haired teen groaned as his face turned into the same color of his hair.

"It's hard not to listen when those two were practically screaming about it," Kiyotaka pointed out.

"Damn it…"

If he could, then Kiyotaka would have smirked as this was the perfect time for it. Having this little banter with his friend was a nice break after what he went through with Suzune, Chiaki, and Kikyo, and then followed immediately by that little incident at the restroom.

"So, is there something going on between you and Onodera?" he asked again.

In typical tsundere fashion, Sudo scoffed and looked away, though his face never lost its red hue. "No. Don't be an idiot. There's nothing happening between me and her."

"If you say so," Kiyotaka shrugged, not believing him one bit.

While Ken was grumbling about two perverts being unable to keep their mouths shut, Kiyotaka snuck a glance towards the girls, looking for a certain redhead in particular. Airi was performing her warmups with Karuizawa's group, but it was clear that she wasn't feeling herself. Her head was low, hiding her face from everyone else, and she had her hands close to her chest, as though she was bracing herself for another incident involving her clothes…

"At least she's not embarrassed enough to the point that she doesn't want to participate anymore," he thought to himself, trying to find some kind of light in this situation. No, he absolutely wasn't referring to what he saw in the restroom earlier. He was actually glad that he didn't scare her off or anything, and it's even more of a good thing that she hasn't told anyone about it, at least that's what he thought.

When he looked at Airi, she met his gaze for a brief moment before turning her gaze away, a deep red blush taking over her features. Even though she was the one who walked into the wrong restroom, he couldn't really blame her for acting like this. It's not everyday that a guy accidentally walks into a girl while she's in the middle of changing her clothes.

Speaking of which, he had left her uniform at the restroom. There's no way he was giving that to her in the middle of class where everyone can see him. To ensure that nobody would think of going inside and by extension, see a girl's uniform by the sink and do whatever they want with it, he put up an 'out of order' sign on the door. Hopefully, no janitor gets there before their swimming class ends.

Also, now might be a really good time to apologize to his three heroines, all of whom he had inadvertently embarrassed earlier when he made that comment about them while they were wearing their swimsuits. He really didn't need both that issue along with his current predicament with Airi bothering him from all sides, so it's better if he apologizes now, and deal with their anger afterwards should they be mad at him.

"I'll be right back. I need to talk to someone," Kiyotaka told his friend as he looked at Suzune, who was doing her stretches on her own without anyone else. She would be the easiest to talk to because of that and at the same time, she would be the hardest to reason with because of her personality. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if she slaps him the moment he shows his face to her again.

But… he's been through worse in the White Room. And that broken skill hasn't been activated yet, so he's still in the clear, right?

"Heh. Is that 'someone' Horikita? Is there something going on between you two?" Sudo asked, taking this as a chance for some payback by teasing Kiyotaka about the girl that he normally hangs out with.

Kiyotaka ignored him and started walking towards Suzune, who immediately noticed his presence once he was nearby. She frowned at him for a few moments, before raising an eyebrow curiously.

"Where have you been? You said that you were only going to talk to Sudo-kun, but I didn't see you with him earlier."

Kiyotaka was a bit surprised that she asked him about that instead of getting angry about his earlier words, but chose to answer her nonetheless. "I went to the restroom for a bit. When I came back, Miyajima-sensei was already here."

"I see…" she nodded in acknowledgement, before continuing with her stretches like it was nothing, which surprised the young man even further. She wasn't going to complain, or be mad, or even slap him for that perverted comment earlier

Seeing that she wasn't going to bring up the matter, Kiyotaka decided that he would do it himself. Oh, he could only imagine how she would react…

"Uh, about what I said earlier…" he spoke, making Suzune turn her head to look at him. "I apologize for it. It wasn't my intention to make you mad. It was completely uncalled for, and I regret saying it."

"...why would I be mad?" she asked, looking at him as he had grown a second head.

"Because it's an inappropriate comment that I made?" he answered as though it was the most obvious answer in the world. "Don't girls get angry when boys say things like that to them?"

However, Suzune didn't look affected by it. If anything, she felt more offended that Kiyotaka thought she would be offended by a harmless compliment. "I know you didn't mean it in a perverted way. I'm not mad. Do you honestly think I'm that shallow?" she frowned at him.

"That's not what I'm saying at all. I was only worried about my words having a different impact towards you."

"There is no need for you to worry, unless you actually meant it in a perverted way," her frown turned into a smirk. "Wouldn't that be a sight to see? I thought you would be different, but it turns out you're nothing different compared to those two boys who would rather use their lower regions to think instead of their brains."

"Oi, oi, don't compare me to those two…" he deadpanned. "What about Kushida and Matsushita then?

"I can't speak for the two of them, but I don't believe they're angry with you, either. After you left earlier, they left as well. Of course, you can talk to them and find out for yourself. Now," she folded her arms and went back to looking serious. "Is there anything else you wish to talk about, Ayanokouji-kun?"

"I could just talk to them later. Our fifteen minutes are almost up, anyway. I don't have any reason to doubt Horikita as well, so… if what she says is true, then I really have nothing to worry about," he thought, before shaking his head. "Not really. Thanks for not being angry with me, Horikita."

Unsure if what he had in mind was the right thing, Kiyotaka still felt the need to do it. He reached out with his hand and patted the girl on the head a few times, making her freeze and blush in embarrassment. Deep down, though, the girl felt happy that she was experiencing the soothing feeling of his touch once more.

[You have gained 5 Affection Points with Horikita Suzune!]

"Er… yes…" she mumbled, terribly flustered but too weak to do anything to stop him. And honestly, Suzune didn't feel like she wanted him to stop.

Unfortunately, Kiyotaka did stop patting her head a few moments later, not wanting to let anyone else see him do such a thing. This made Suzune let out a displeased grunt, which the young man didn't notice, thankfully. The girl herself was surprised at what she was feeling right now, as well as her reaction to him suddenly stopping in his actions.

"W-Why did I want him to keep on patting my head…?" she asked herself. "What is going on with me? Am I sick? Or is this all natural?"

At that same moment, their teacher blew his whistle, signaling everyone to gather around him so he could explain what would happen.

The boys and the girls will have their own races; two for the girls, and four for the boys. They will be ranked according to the time that it takes them to finish swimming through the whole 50-meter pool. Since the number of female participants were cut down in today's class, there wouldn't be many swimmers to keep track of and they can finish their races without any problems.

In the boys' case, the first three races would be a preliminary round of sorts, with the two top swimmers from each race competing in the final round. There, they will finally be ranked on who is the fastest. Either way, the final eight male participants along with the four top placers among the girls will be exempted from the supplementary lessons and will instead help teach their classmates the proper form and how to swim more effectively. Miyajima-sensei even sweetened the deal, saying that the top three winners from the boys and girls will receive some points from him as a reward.

"Good luck," Kiyotaka told Suzune while walking past her, as he and the rest of the boys moved towards another side of the pool to give the girls some space.

In response, the black-haired girl blushed, but nodded regardless. She didn't know why, but she felt strangely motivated to win this race!

The first race between the girls then began. Suzune and Kikyo were both part of it, with the former ending up as the winner with 28.22 seconds. Kushida came in second, ending up with a time of 30.12 seconds. The difference in speed was clear and bright as day.

Most of the boys cheered for Kikyo, their eyes glued towards her wet body that was only hiding behind a swimsuit. However, instead of responding to their praises like she usually does, she turned her attention towards one particular person and bounced over to where he was.

"How did I do, Ayanokouji-kun?" she asked, smiling brightly at him.

Kiyotaka didn't answer her right away, because he had to take a quick look at the people around them. He didn't expect the girl to do this in front of their other classmates, but maybe she just did it at the spur of the moment. However, that didn't help his case one bit, because a lot of their classmates (the boys, mostly) had just turned their attention towards him, mainly because Kikyo was talking to him.

"I-I never knew Kushida-chan was close with Ayanokouji…"

"Maybe they're just friends?"

"Are you kidding me?! He already has Horikita, now he's going to take away Kushida too?!"

"Kushida-chan is mine! I won't let Ayanokouji have her! You hear me, Ayanokouji?!"

Thankfully, it was only those boys who were watching him, which included Minami, Hondo, Yamauchi, and Ike. Everyone else had their attention elsewhere but still, did it really have to be a couple of guys who can't keep their mouths shut? At this rate, the day won't end without them blurting out to the whole class that he had a little talk with Kushida. If only the system had a skill that can mute people entirely and prevent their voices from being heard.

Kiyotaka rolled his eyes. It's not like this was never going to happen. There will always be the inevitable scenario where everyone else finds out what's going with him. Well, at the very least, they don't know that he lives on the same floor as Kikyo, right? That would garner a worse reaction.

He turned back towards Kikyo and gave her a nod. "You did great, Kushida. Second place is no easy feat."

[You have gained 1 Affection Point with Kushida Kikyo!]

The smile on the girl's face widened, to the point that she could kill a person with sheer cuteness. Even Kiyotaka couldn't stop himself from feeling a little heat in his cheeks when he saw her smile, and he knew it.

"Thanks, Ayanokouji-kun! Good luck on your race, by the way! I hope you win!" she cheered him on, before heading back to her friends.

"Why does she have to be a horrible person under that mask? Anyone would be lucky to have her as a girlfriend, but she's not what she seems to be," the young man said to himself in disappointment as he stared at the girl. "I hope the system can do something about it. Surely it doesn't expect me to handle a crazy girl who's hellbent on expelling one of her classmates just because she's from her old school."

The second girls' race was the next one that took place. Kayano won the race by a landslide, finishing with a record time of 26.34 seconds. Interestingly, Airi was part of this race but barely lost to Satsuki, finishing with 36.32 seconds and 36.25 seconds respectively. As a result, Airi ended up getting last place, much to the redhead's complete disappointment.

Kiyotaka observed her closely. "So she's not good at swimming… I suppose that can also apply to any other physical activity that you give her. She looked like she was struggling the entire time, even."

The brown-haired teen wondered if he should do something about her. She's one of his heroines, right? What's the harm in helping her out? It would be a waste if Airi is this horrible in physical activities, especially in the possible case of their class fighting against other classes in some kind of competition.

While Kiyotaka thought of a way to help the girl (after he talks to her regarding the incident earlier), Miyajima-sensei smiled at the whole class and pointed to the overall winners.

"And there you have it for the girls' races! Our top three swimmers are none other than Onodera, Horikita, and Kushida. Great job, you three! Keep up the good work, and I hope you can help your classmates become better swimmers."

Onodera and Kushida smiled and showed their eagerness by shouting their response, while Horikita was the opposite, only nodding her head in acknowledgement.

The boys' race was what followed. Ayanokouji and Koenji were part of the first one, as they both joined their fellow competitors at the starting line. Kiyotaka could see Kikyo and Chiaki cheering for him quietly. Hell, even Suzune was sending him a nod as if she was telling him to do his best.

For a moment, he thought about winning this race for the sake of making them happy, but he quickly threw that idea out of the window.

Kiyotaka shook his head. "I'm already dealing with four girls right now, I'm not about to draw even more attention to myself by going all out and causing my classmates to acknowledge my existence. That would also ignite questions in the girls' minds, and that's the last thing that I want to happen."

On the other hand, Koenji was brimming with confidence and the desire to prove he was perfect. Nothing else was on his mind right now except victory… and maybe girls who are charmed by his presence.

Wearing a red speedo compared to the rest of the boys who were wearing trunks, a lot of the girls felt uncomfortable looking at him. It was mainly due to the bulge he had down there which barely left enough to be imagined because of the speedo he was wearing. Regardless, the young man himself had a better build than anyone else in the class, even more than Sudo.

Crossing his arms, he smirked and closed his eyes. "Hmph! This competition is pointless, because it is already written that I will be the victor in the end. But if you insist, then I will show everyone that I am nothing but the perfect existence!"

The first race of the boys then began with the next whistle. Koenji finished in first place with a record time of 23.54 seconds, the fastest time today. Ayanokouji took the second place spot, ending up with 28.15 seconds which was a time that he was satisfied with. He would advance to the next round at least, and that's what mattered.

"Not even enough to make me exert more effort," Koenji laughed while getting out of the pool. Many of his classmates stared at him in wonder and amazement, because even they had to admit that his speed was remarkable and can be compared to an Olympic athlete.

As he climbed out of the pool and walked to the side in order to dry himself, Kiyotaka was then approached by two of his heroines, which were the two girls he had yet to apologize to.

"You still did great, Ayanokouji-kun! Don't be discouraged by this!"

"Yeah, at least you made it to the second round, right? You can still turn this around."

Hm. If only they knew that he was holding back willingly.

He then cleared his throat. "By the way… uh, I'm sorry for… that comment I made earlier about you two and Horikita. I wasn't trying to be a pervert or anything, but I understand if you think that way."

Both girls looked surprised by his sudden apology and didn't respond for a few seconds before Kikyo began to giggle in amusement.

"You don't need to worry, Ayanokouji-kun. We know you didn't mean it like that!"

Knowing that there was a chance these girls weren't really angry with him like what Suzune told him, it didn't surprise him much. That being said, he was curious why they weren't.

"Really?"

"Well, it's not like you're friends with our two resident perverts, are you?" Chiaki asked rhetorically while shaking her head in amusement. "It was a simple compliment, there's no need to get mad at you for that."

Huh. It looks like Horikita was right. There really was no need for him to worry. Maybe it's because they like him enough to accept a compliment, or just the fact that they're his heroines makes it fine.

"I see."

Kikyo smiled at him again. "Good luck in the final race, Ayanokouji-kun."

With that, the two girls left him alone to his thoughts. They were clearly rooting for him to win, which was honestly flattering even though he could just tell them that he was only average when it came to physical activities like this.

"Should I go faster so I don't disappoint them?" he asked himself, before shaking his head. "No, no. Doing that will only make things worse. They don't have to know. I'd prefer it if things remain this way for as long as I can help it."

The second race was a one-sided affair in every aspect, simply because Hirata was competing in it. His fangirls were loudly cheering for him and the young man himself was well-built too, being a soccer player and one who's into sports. With that, he easily beat every other competitor and got a time of 26.87 seconds.

The third race between the boys was dominated by Sudo, who finished with 24.19 seconds, the second-fastest time for everyone involved. Yamauchi and Ike, who were part of the race as well, wanted to humiliate him by beating his time as payback for earlier, but couldn't do anything against Sudo's record.

Therefore, all they could do was sulk in a corner while Ken was quickly approached by an excited Kayano.

"Ne, ne, you should join me in the Swimming Club, Sudo-kun! Everyone will welcome you with open arms!" the girl told him with an eager grin on her face.

Sudo stared at her for a moment, before he shook his head sadly. "I can't. I'm already with the Basketball Club. Sorry."

The girl blinked owlishly. "Wait, didn't you know? You can join up to the three clubs if you want!"

"Wait, really?" he asked, caught off guard by that revelation. In truth, he was so focused on joining the Basketball Club that he didn't even know the option for students to join up to three clubs.

Kayano nodded. "Yep! That means you can be in the Swimming Club and the Basketball Club! Come on, what do you say?!"

The surprise on his face morphed into doubt. In the hypothetical scenario that he does join both clubs, what would it mean for him? "I don't know… even if I join, can I handle doing both at once?"

"I'll talk to our captain about it! You won't have to show up everyday, only when we absolutely need you to. I know how much you love basketball, so I'm not going to stop you from doing what you want!"

Ken blushed at her declaration and looked like he was seriously considering it for a moment, only to be hit by another wave of doubt. Fortunately for the red-haired teen, he had the best wingman by his side supporting him.

"You should take the opportunity, Sudo. In the chance that your basketball career might not go as well as you hoped, you at least have swimming as an alternative choice."

Both Ken and Kayano turned their heads to the one who spoke, only to see Kiyotaka walking towards his friend, giving him a pat on the back before walking away like a pedestrian passing by.

Ken was immediately tempted to fire back against Kiyotaka for that jab about him failing as a basketball player, but thought about what he said instead.

Finally, he let out a deep sigh and scratched the back of his head, unable to look at the girl in front of him directly out of embarrassment.

"I'll think about it, I guess…"

"Really?!" The smile on Onodera's face widened even more, making Sudo blush even harder in response. "Yatta!"

"He's completely whipped for her. The system actually made the right decision in making her Sudo's neighbor. I can't imagine what he'd be like if Onodera's not around to keep him calm," Kiyotaka commented, watching their interaction from afar. "It also feels nice to see someone else struggling with this, and not just me."

Kiyotaka couldn't help but think about how things would be like if he was in the same situation. If only the system limited him to having only one 'heroine' among many, then it would have been infinitely better. Choosing one can't be as bad as dealing with many, right?

But no, he was cursed to have multiple lovers whom he would have to satisfy whenever they needed it. It was quite ironic, the masterpiece who can turn any situation around to his favor can't do anything against divine intervention itself.

After letting his students take a break for a few minutes, Miyajima-sensei blew his whistle, calling the final six competitors from the boys to gather at the starting line. They were Koenji, Sudo, Hirata, Ayanokouji, Miyake, and Minami.

Koenji never lost his smirk, still oozing with confidence until now. "Hmph! As I said, this competition is pointless. It has been written that I will be the one to win it all, because I am a perfect existence."

Sudo glared at him, annoyed at the blonde's arrogance. "Say that again for when I beat you, Koenji."

Kiyotaka took another glance at the girls who were standing at the side of the pool. Kikyo and Chiaki were cheering for him again, while Suzune was just staring at him with a serious look. Maybe she also wants him to win this or something? Who knows.

For a moment, only a moment though, he also saw Airi turn to him a few seconds before looking away. Well, at least he can be assured that she didn't outright hate him or worse.

With the final whistle of the day, the fourth race between the boys started. It was over almost as quick as it began, with Koenji surpassing his previous record and getting 22.92 seconds this time. Sudo also beat his previous time, achieving 23.75 seconds. Hirata ended up at 3rd place, Ayanokouji at 4th, Miyake at 5th, and Minami at 6th.

"And we have our winners! Koenji is your first place from the boys, followed by Sudo, and then Hirata! These three along with the three winners from the girls will be receiving some points from me as a prize for winning, but that doesn't detract one bit from everyone's efforts today! Again, all of the top placers are safe from the supplementary lessons, but they will help in teaching everyone else instead," Miyajima-sensei announced, pointing to the final 6 competitors as they stood at the edge of the pool after everyone was done.

With that, the races were over. Koenji went back to admiring himself with his beloved mirror, Hirata was flooded by praises from his fangirls, Sudo was hounded by an eager Onodera who kept him from going anywhere, and the two other boys headed for the locker room to dry themselves.

Meanwhile, Ayanokouji was simply taking a rest at the bleachers. He was then approached by two particular girls, one of whom looked worried while the other had an impassive expression on her face.

"Are you okay, Ayanokouji-kun? Even though you lost, it's okay. You can just do better next time!" Kikyo tried to cheer him up, thinking that Kiyotaka felt sad from failing to win the competition.

"I'm fine, Kushida. It doesn't really bother me," he waved off her concern nonchalantly. "Actually, I could have won it if I wanted to, but I just didn't want the extra attention that it would have gotten me. That being said, the extra points from Miyajima-sensei would have been a nice prize…"

"Well, it should bother you. The time it took you to complete both races was 28 seconds, the same as mine. You barely beat my record by a few milliseconds," Suzune smirked, folding her arms across her chest. "If you don't improve yourself, then I might just rob you of your victory in the future."

"I'll keep that in mind," he muttered, remembering just now that this girl wanted to compete with him at any chance they got. This was more of his fault though, a clear sign of how much he screwed up his first interaction with her. Thanks to that, Suzune now thinks of him as a worthy adversary., which means he would have to take her seriously… a little bit, at least. Just to give her what she wants.

"What are you talking about, Horikita-san?" asked Kikyo, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"Nothing that concerns you," replied Suzune, not even batting an eye towards the beige-haired girl.

"She just keeps on provoking Kushida without noticing it, huh?" he sighed to himself. "I really hope there's some way that I can deal with her mental issues, because this girl can't be right in the head. I still wonder what caused her to be like this, though. And I also wonder why her parents have no idea that their daughter's like this."

More importantly, Kiyotaka also wondered if the system would do something about the problem with these two girls. They didn't like each other for completely different reasons, which was honestly more complicated than hating the other for the same reason.

He could already see that they aren't going to get along anytime soon, but surely the system won't allow that, right?


Sakura Airi sighed to herself.

She was never a talented person and she knew it. She was hopeless when it came to interacting with other people and she knew it. It's the reason why she has always kept to herself and never went out of her way to make friends or socialize with others. Airi knew that she never fit in with any social group because of her defects, and simply accepted things as they are.

She wasn't supposed to participate today as well. She didn't want to at first, but eventually gave in because swimming was too much of a fun activity for her to pass up on. She didn't expect Miyajima-sensei to hold a race that included everyone, though… but it was too late for her to back out at that point.

Airi decided to see how she measured compared to her classmates. Just like what she expected, she was at the bottom when the race ended, though it didn't make it any less painful. It didn't matter that she was only a few milliseconds short of beating the next slowest swimmer, she still lost.

In the end, the only person she could blame was herself. She wasn't talented in anything. She sucked at physical activities and she sucked in academics. The only thing she had was her interest in photography and maybe a bit of singing, but those things weren't going to help her graduate from high school.

She shook her head to get her mind back on track. She wasn't going to sulk now, of all times. She needed to go somewhere in order to get something that belonged to her.

Walking towards the restroom where her earlier 'encounter' with Ayanokouji took place, she could only hope that her uniform was still there. Yes, the same uniform that she threw at him when he caught her changing clothes… and even had a peek at her… assets.

Airi wanted to bury her head in the ground like an ostrich to escape this embarrassment. Ugh, what the hell was she thinking?! She shouldn't have thrown her uniform at him, because now she had to go back in order to get it. She could have used something else to throw at him, like the towel she had at the time, or she could have sprayed water from the sink at him.

Airi immediately realized what she was thinking and shook her head furiously to get rid of it.

"Wait, no, that would mean that I wanted to hurt him! I-It's not like that at all! I'm just saying that there could have been a better way to resolve what happened…!"

The girl blamed herself above everything else. After the embarrassment she felt from being caught in the middle of changing her clothes died down, Airi realized that she was in the wrong restroom the whole time. She didn't want to change into her swimsuit at the locker room with the other girls of the class, and simply went to the restroom where she could do it alone.

She should have looked at the sign of the restroom that she walked into.

Maybe she should go apologize to him… but that would mean that she would need to walk up to him and talk! The idea alone made the girl nervous about doing it, but if it means making up for her mistake, then it's a sacrifice she would have to make.

As she reached the men's restroom where she went earlier, she noticed the 'out of order' sign hanging at the doorknob, making her pale in fear.

What if someone else was already inside?! What if they saw her uniform?! What if it's already gone?! What if she came here for nothing?!

"The restroom isn't out of order," said a voice from behind her, making the girl jump in surprise at someone's presence behind her, before freezing in place out of fear.

Airi wanted to turn around to see who it was, but she was too nervous! What if it was a teacher? Or worse, what if it was a student?! He'd think that she was weird for trying to go into the men's restroom!

The girl didn't move for a few seconds, too afraid of what's going to happen next until she heard the voice again.

"You don't have to be so nervous. It's me," the voice spoke again and this time, Airi realized that he was trying to calm her down instead. Well, at least he wasn't there to make fun of her or anything.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly turned around to see who it was, only to be met with someone whom she had already encountered before.

"A-A-A-Ayanakouji-kun…?" she stuttered, her face becoming redder. This was the same person who walked in on her earlier, the same person who saw her… ugh, it's too embarrassing to think about. "W-W-What is he doing here? O-Oh dear, he is still in his swimming clothes! W-W-Wait, I'm the same…! I'm still in my swimsuit!"

Unaware of the girl having a crisis inside of her mind, Kiyotaka observed Airi for a moment with his usual impassive look, until he saw the 'heroine screen' appear on top of her head.

[Sakura Airi: 'Embarrassed Shy Classmate']

[Relationship Status: An Accidental Misunderstanding]

[Affection Points: 0/100]

[Heroine Summary: Airi is a very shy and nervous girl who always gets nervous whenever she interacts with other people. However, she possesses an exceptional ability of reading other people, especially their true intentions behind their eyes. She loves to take pictures, sometimes of herself which started her career of being a gravure idol online. She uses the name 'Shizuku' and wears fake glasses to hide her identity from her internet followers. She feels very embarrassed about you seeing her in the midst of changing clothes, but knows that it was her fault in the first place.]

"A girl who's actually worse at social interactions than me… who would have known?" Kiyotaka commented. "She's not good at physical activities, so it's safe to assume that she isn't good at academics, either. All in all, she's someone who desperately needs help, but too much of a nervous wreck to actually ask."

He turned his attention back to the girl herself, who looked like she was about to faint at any moment.

"I assume you're here to get your uniform?" he asked her bluntly.

Unable to trust her mouth to say something, Airi simply nodded her head furiously as her answer. This was the same person who walked in on her, but why did he seem so calm?

"Then move aside," he told her. "It's in there. I kept it safe when you left and placed that sign there to keep other students out."

Panicking, the girl quickly moved to the side, allowing Kiyotaka to remove the 'out of order' sign from the door before opening it. He led Airi inside the restroom, before pointing to the girls' uniform that was folded neatly by the sink.

Almost immediately, Airi rushed to the sink and grabbed her clothes. She was about to change into her uniform, only for the realization that she wasn't alone kicked in.

Kiyotaka was still inside with her, and he was just behind her. He was only wearing a pair of trunks, while she was about to change clothes. It felt like the exact same scenario that they were in earlier… she could just run out and leave him here, but Airi quickly threw that out of her mind.

What's important was that Ayanokouji helped her out even though she was the one who made a mistake. She had to thank him for this.

"T-T-Thank you for… k-keeping my clothes s-s-safe… Ayanokouji-kun…" she stuttered, keeping her back turned towards him.

Kiyotaka only stared at her for a few moments before she froze, as the three choices appeared in front of him. "The system actually had perfect timing this time," he remarked. At least he would be saved from the agony of figuring out what to say to a girl like Airi. With how socially awkward the two of them are, he may end up doing more harm than good.

A. [Next time, don't make the mistake of walking into the men's restroom, will you? This was all on you.]

B. [I'm sorry if you thought that I was peeking on you. That was never my intention. I only came to the restroom to wash my face. It never occurred to me that you were here too.]

C. [I enjoyed the view, by the way. You just might have the biggest pair that I have ever seen, Airi-chan… and yours are the only I've seen so far~]

"Not going to choose Option C this time. If I said that, Sakura would likely never talk to me again," he sighed. The first choice was also out of the question. The girl's feeling embarrassed as hell already, it would only make her feel worse than she already is. And yeah, she did change her clothes in the men's restroom, but there has to be a reason for that, right?

And with that, Option B was the best choice to go with this time.

"I'm sorry if you thought that I was peeking on you. That was never my intention. I only came to the restroom to wash my face. It never occurred to me that you were here too," he said in a sad tone while putting on a sad look. It immediately got the girl to turn towards him so she could reassure him that he did nothing wrong.

"N-No…! No… it… it wasn't your fault at all… it's mine…" she admitted, her face completely red out of embarrassment. "I didn't want to change clothes with the others in the girls' locker room, so… I chose to do it in the restroom instead. B-But… I never really noticed that I was in the wrong restroom the whole time…"

"She was too shy to change clothes with her classmates, huh? Now that I know what she's like, that's not surprising to think about at all," he thought, observing the girl's flustered look closely. "Like with Kushida, I hope there's some way to deal with this flaw of hers, maybe even help her improve her abilities."

He may have accepted and surrendered to his fate of being the 'protagonist' of the system, but it would leave a sour taste in his mouth if his supposed 'heroines' are incompetent and unable to stand on their own. Horikita and Kushida have a major flaw each, but those were attitude problems. Airi, on the other hand, was not only a nervous wreck around other people, her abilities are significantly worse than the other females of their classroom.

Well, he could think about this some other time. He still had to respond to Sakura's words.

He waved her apology off. "It's fine. Just make sure you wander into the correct restroom next time. I'd say you're lucky that it was me who walked into you instead of someone like Yamauchi, not that I'm saying you're lucky that I walked into you, of course."

Argh, what the hell was he saying? He's basically telling her that she should be thankful that he got an eyeful of her breasts earlier! He actually wouldn't even be surprised nor blame her if Airi decides to never talk to him again after this. So much for being a heroine, huh? The system should have helped him that time!

He was very lucky that Airi didn't outright run away this time, though. While her face became redder to the point that it matched her hair and after remembering that Ayanokouji did, in fact, walk in on her and saw her assets, she understood that the situation could have been worse. She was already lucky that the young man with her was thoughtful enough to leave her uniform here and even made sure that nobody else would go inside this room until she retrieved it.

"Yes, I… I understand…" she replied while bowing slightly, the lens of her glasses becoming foggy due to the steam that came out of her head. "Uhm… t-thank you again… Ayanokouji-kun…"

[You have gained 40 Affection Points with Sakura Airi!]

"That's a lot of points for the first time that we've talked," he thought, a bit surprised at the amount of points that he received from this. It was way more than anything he had gained with his other heroines thus far. "I thought it'd be way harder to gain Affection Points with her because of what happened earlier too..."

In any case, Kiyotaka was glad that he had resolved this issue right away. He initially thought it would be hard considering how he and Airi met, but it's a good thing that the system helped him in the nick of time. A good way of making it up to him too, because the young man was completely sure that the earlier fiasco with Airi was simply a product of the system making more complicated situations for him to deal with.

And secretly, Kiyotaka feared that this wouldn't be the only time something like this happens.


After all their classes for the day had ended, Kiyotaka was fully prepared to head back to the dorms and get some rest. With how his life had changed from possessing a crazy superpower, the young man started treating sleep and proper rest as a bigger necessity than what they already are. It was the only way he could escape his current reality, even for only a few hours. And besides, he could already tell that there will be a scarcity of sleep hours for him in the future…

However, he wouldn't get to have his due date with Bed-chan just yet.

After they got back to the classroom for their final period, Kikyo had asked him to meet her at the cafe below the school building as she needed to talk to him. When he asked what it would be about, the girl only said that it's something important.

And so, here he was, waiting at the cafe for his beige-haired classmate to arrive. He deduced that she would be late for a bit, so he went on and ordered a couple of drinks for the two of them. Having an ice-cold coffee should help soothe his nerves after the craziness he went through today.

Kushida finally arrived about two minutes later. She had a worried look on her face as she approached the table where he was. "Sorry I'm late, Ayanokouji-kun. I had to say goodbye to my friends first. Did I make you wait too long?" she asked, feeling nervous that she made the young man wait despite being the one to invite him.

"Not really. I just got here about ten minutes ago," he shrugged before pointing to the frappuccino that stood at the opposite side of the table. "I bought you a frappuccino while waiting for you."

The nervous look on her face then gave way to a big smile that only made her look cuter than before. "Wow… thank you so much, Ayanokouji-kun! I really appreciate it!" she said happily, taking her seat before digging in.

[You have gained 1 Affection Point with Kushida Kikyo!]

"Only one? Surely something like this would have gotten at least five or ten Affection Points from her," he thought, raising an eyebrow at the notification before he shook his head. Best to focus on what's important right now. "So why did you want to talk to me? Just to be clear, this isn't your attempt in asking me out on a date, right?"

"N-No, not really…" Kikyo blushed at his question because it was completely out of nowhere, before she cleared her throat. "I need your help with something, Ayanokouji-kun."

He raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"I've noticed ever since the first day of school that Horikita-san doesn't have many friends except for you, and now I know why she's always angry and cold towards everyone else. It's because she's lonely and she needs someone to be her friend!"

"Yep, she summed her up pretty well," he thought to himself. "And what does this have to do with me?"

"Please help me become friends with her, Ayanokouji-kun!" she exclaimed, sending the young man a pleading look. "I didn't realize it before and I just left her alone because she doesn't want to be bothered, but now I realized that I can't leave her on her own!"

"Why do you want to be friends with her?"

"Because I want to be friends with everyone! I was willing to respect Horikita-san's decision at first, but now I know that I have to get through to her!"

"You mean you want to get close to her in order to catch her off guard," he said in his thoughts. "I'm not sure that I'm the best person to help you with that. As I have said before, I don't really have many friends, and the way I speak doesn't help, either."

"But you're the only one who can help me, Ayanokouji-kun. You're friends with Horikita-san, right? If anyone can help me, then it's you."

"Well, we are friends, but I'm not sure if the same thing will happen to you. I honestly have no idea how I even managed to befriend her in the first place. Maybe it was luck on my part," he shrugged.

Well, he was definitely lucky that he had a broken superpower that can make any girl fall for him if it wanted to.

"That's fine! I'll be the one to talk to her, Ayanokouji-kun. You don't exactly have to do anything, I just… I want to know what you did to gain Horikita-san's trust. A lot of our classmates think she's unapproachable because of what she's like, but if you can be friends, then I can as well!" she said with a voice filled with determination.

The young man stared at her for a moment.

So, Kushida wants information from him. Once he gives her what she wants, she'll try it out on her own and work to befriend Horikita, which has a big chance of failing because of her personality. He honestly attributed his success to the system because he could tell that without it, Horikita wouldn't have accepted his friendship. He doubted that Kushida will succeed on this because they're like polar opposites in personality (Kikyo's mask, at least).

He'll give her credit, though. Befriending Suzune only to stab her in the back eventually is a solid plan on its own, he just didn't believe that Kikyo could pull it off. And there's Suzune herself as well. That girl may be a bit dense to the things that happen around her, but she can definitely sense trouble when it happens.

"Alright, I'll help you," he conceded. Kiyotaka had no reason not to help her and he didn't really believe that Kikyo could expel Suzune. The system wouldn't allow such a thing to happen in the first place. The best thing he can do is simply see where this will go.

"You will?!" she gasped.

He nodded.

Kikyo smiled brightly once more, which was actually enough to spark a blush on his cheeks. "Thank you, Ayanokouji-kun! I promise to repay you in the future! You won't regret this at all!"

[You have gained 1 Affection Point with Kushida Kikyo!]

He raised an eyebrow at the new notification, finding it completely peculiar. Before, the Affection Points he would gain from interacting with Kushida would be somewhere between 5 and 10. Sometimes, even higher than that. But for some reason, there was a decrease in it and he found it strange.

"Strange… the same thing also happened a while ago, even during swimming class," he thought, frowning in confusion. "Does this mean the system is preventing me from maxing out the 'Affection Points' with her? Or perhaps Kushida herself is the one preventing it?"

"When do you think you could help me with Horikita-san?" the girl asked as she sipped on her frappuccino, which snapped the young man out of his thoughts.

"Why not tomorrow? Let's get this over with as soon as possible," he suggested. "I suppose I can tell you what I know about Horikita today, but I have to warn you. I may be friends with her, but I don't know everything about her. It's been only a week since we met each other and Horikita isn't the type of person to tell stories of herself to other people. She isn't much of a talker, either."

Kiyotaka decided to humor this girl in what she wants. He wasn't going to mention Suzune's brother, of course. That's a one-way ticket to destroying their relationship and possibly causing the full might of the eroge system to rain down on him for making his heroine sad. He'll only tell her what his perception of Suzune is, and what he personally thought of her. He had no idea if it would help her in being friends with Suzune, but that's not his problem.

"That's fine with me! Let's do this!" Kikyo nodded eagerly.

"There is no need to wait. Let's discuss this right now."

Caught off guard by the sudden voice nearby, the two teenagers turned their heads to see who was eavesdropping on them, only for both to be surprised when they saw the unmistakable figure of Horikita Suzune standing next to the table, her usual stone-faced look on full display.

Kikyo was more surprised than Kiyotaka. Yes, she wanted to talk to Suzune, but not this soon! She wanted to know more about her first, so that she could come up with a plan in order to gain Suzune's trust herself. Once she does that, she'll then pretend to be Suzune's friend in order to gain more information about her and so she could work in the shadows for her plan to expel the black-haired girl from this school.

She was unprepared for this. If this had taken place some other time, maybe she could have found an excuse to leave. But, she had no way out of this one, especially when Suzune directed her gaze towards her.

"You want to talk, Kushida-san? Let's talk."


MINASAN, YONDE KURETE ARIGATŌ! AISHITEMAAAAASUUUUU! *starts playing air guitar*

-Lance