Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]

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

Kiyotaka stared at the two girls alternately, while thinking of what he should do at the moment. Currently, he was caught in the middle of two girls who didn't like each other for different reasons, and he couldn't think of anything he could do that would work out for both sides.

Kikyo hated Suzune because of the possibility that she knew about her past, while Suzune disliked Kikyo for another reason entirely. He was unsure what it was, but it's probably because she didn't like the other's lively and energetic personality. Either way, these two can't see eye-to-eye and to make matters worse, the system saw them both as his heroines.

This clearly spelled 'bad news' in all capital letters.

Suzune stared at Kikyo for a moment before turning towards Kiyotaka, pointing to the empty chair beside him. "Do you two mind if I sit here?" she asked.

The young man only shrugged, while Kikyo shook her head and smiled. "N-Not at all, Horikita-san!"

As Suzune sat on the chair beside him, Kiyotaka figured that he should keep his mouth shut starting now. With these two together, one could say that it's a straight-up recipe for disaster. The system wasn't even doing anything right now, meaning he was completely on his own. Maybe it's for the best if he leaves too, but he should ask them before he does such a thing.

"How long have you been listening?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl beside him.

"Ever since Kushida-san asked you for help," she replied.

"Then she knows that Kushida wants to be friends with her. If she's not outright rejecting it now, then Horikita's open to talking about it, at least… will she agree to it, though?" Kiyotaka thought, trying to get a read on the girl based on her demeanor at the moment. "I see. Should I leave then?"

Suzune shook her head, folding her arms across her chest. "No, your presence won't be a bother."

Kiyotaka then took notice of the fact that he and Kikyo had drinks of their own, while their other companion had nothing. Not wanting to make her feel that she was being left out, he decided to offer the same to her. "Want me to buy you something to drink?"

She shook her head again, keeping her gaze locked towards Kikyo, as if she was trapping the girl in place. "There is no need. I don't feel hungry, but thank you for the offer."

Kiyotaka nodded, choosing to back out of this conversation now. Will these two be friends or not? He honestly had no idea. The only thing he could do right now is watch and hope that this won't end badly. Whatever happens from here on out, it'll be up to these two…

"Now then, Kushida-san. Why should I even hear you out? Is there a good reason why?"

Kikyo didn't say anything for a while. She only stared at Suzune as if she was contemplating something but behind that mask she had, Kikyo was fuming. This wasn't how she wanted things to go! She wanted Kiyotaka to help her befriend Horikita since those two were obviously friends, but now that plan is up in smokes with the girl's unexpected arrival while she was still talking to him. Now she's left with no other choice but to talk to Horikita herself, without even a moment of preparation to figure out her next move.

She wanted to curse Horikita in her mind for ruining her plans without even knowing it, but shook that thought off. This was just an unforeseen circumstance that she was unprepared for, something that she should have prepared for ever since she came up with this plan. Kikyo only blamed herself for not thinking about this possibility and preparing for it ahead of time.

"That's because…" she finally spoke after a minute of staying silent, flashing her usual smile and showing no hint of her annoyance. "That's because I want to be friends with you, Horikita-san."

Suzune remained impassive. "Why?"

"Because I want to be friends with everyone in the class! I want to get to know them and I want to make new memories with them, which includes you, Horikita-san!"

"Unfortunately, that's not a good enough reason, Kushida-san. I do not know if Ayanokouji-kun has told you already, but if he hasn't, then you must know that I did not want to befriend anyone in the past. While I am now friends with him, that does not mean that I will be someone like you who befriends everyone she comes across with."

That made Kikyo halt. If that was truly the case, then her chances of accomplishing her plan had just diminished greatly. She started to wonder even more about what Kiyotaka did to gain her trust because as far as she knew, Suzune would never befriend another person because of her personality.

Yes, that sounded a bit hypocritical on her part because she planned to gain Suzune's trust by befriending her, but Kiyotaka had done it almost effortlessly. The guy doesn't even show emotions most of the time, yet he managed to get through that cold shell of hers.

And now, while Kikyo wanted the same, Horikita didn't seem like she was willing to hear her out.

However, she wasn't going to give up. There has to be a way that she can convince Horikita to give her what she wants!

"I want to be friends with you because you need it, Horikita-san! Ever since I first saw you in this school, I knew that you need friends of your own because you're always so lonely…" she exclaimed, before putting on a sad look. "Ayanokouji-kun is your friend, right? Why can't I be your friend too? What exactly did he do to make you trust him?"

Now that made Suzune freeze for a moment, as her impassive look fell. It was then replaced by a look of realization, as the girl remembered that she and Kiyotaka only became friends when he comforted her after seeing her brother again. From there, she trusted him enough to tell him about her older brother, something that she would never tell to a stranger whom she had only been with for about an hour.

But Kiyotaka wasn't a stranger at that point, and she would never forget what he did for her.

Despite that, it was quite clear that she couldn't expect the same from Kikyo. It wouldn't be fair to her as well.

"If you don't want to tell me, that's okay. I'm fine with waiting for the time that you can trust me enough with something like that. If it means being your friend, then I can wait, Horikita-san!" she continued, even bowing her head to show her 'sincerity'.

Suzune stared at the girl opposite to her, this time with less intensity than before. In truth, she didn't care about Kikyo at first and actually disliked her, especially when she was trying to ask Kiyotaka out for some ice cream.

However, now that she was done with that, there was no reason for her to think badly of the beige-haired girl. She could still reject Kikyo's offer of friendship but again, it puts Kiyotaka into perspective with how she thought of him as a friend now.

"Very well. I accept," Suzune sighed in defeat.

Kikyo opened her eyes as she looked at Suzune curiously. She definitely heard her say something, but she didn't exactly hear what it was.

"What?"

The black-haired girl massaged her forehead as a sudden wave of stress hit her. "You want to be friends, correct? I suppose we can work this out."

Kikyo gasped in complete surprise. Even Kiyotaka was taken aback. He didn't expect Suzune to actually accept. Knowing her personality, he expected her to decline the offer of friendship because she didn't want to have friends (he was an exception), in a polite manner at least.

Was the system really influencing her to change, or was it just a coincidence?

"Really?!"

Suzune sighed again. "Don't make me repeat myself."

"Yatta!" Kikyo smiled brightly, though there was a hint of smugness behind that mask she was putting up. "Thank you so much, Horikita-san! I promise you that I'll be the bestest friend you've ever had!"

"Sure you will," the young man who was with them thought sarcastically. "I feel bad for Horikita. She's just being manipulated into being her friend but then again, I don't believe Kushida can actually expel her. If anything, this might actually make them genuine friends in the future. If the system can make Horikita, of all people, accept me as a friend then anything is possible."

These two being friends, when Kushida wants to expel her while Horikita doesn't really care about her… what a sight that would be.

"I have an idea! Let's get each other's contact info, Horikita-san. We haven't done this yet, right? Let's do this as a token of remembrance!" Kikyo giggled, as she opened her phone, before handing it over to her newfound 'friend'.

Suzune stared at the phone before her while raising an eyebrow. "Is that really necessary? We live almost next to each other, with Ayanokouji-kun's dorm unit the only thing keeping us from being neighbors."

"Of course it is! We won't always be in the same place at the same time, and the same goes for Ayanokouji-kun. This way, we can talk to each other whenever we want! You already have his contact info, right? Why not me too?"

Suzune shifted her gaze alternately between Kikyo's phone and the girl herself several times, before sighing in defeat. For some reason, she was being hit with a headache at the moment and it was making this harder than what it's supposed to be.

"Very well."

Kikyo cheered again as Suzune brought out her own phone and exchanged devices with her new friend, the two typing down their contact information.

"I wonder if I'm doing the right thing…" The raven-haired girl thought to herself, feeling that there's something off about all this.

Meanwhile, the brown-haired 'masterpiece' watched the interaction with curious eyes. Nothing bad has happened so far and for the most part, these two girls were being civil with each other. Their conversation actually went well despite his worries that it'll be a disaster.

Well, it's either that or Kushida was just good at hiding her mask from other people.

In any case, Kiyotaka had no idea if this was a good move on Kikyo's part but one thing's for sure, these two are still going to be at odds with each other, just for a different reason…

Him.

Three weeks passed since school started, and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was as vigilant as ever, as though he was expecting the worst to happen at any time, in any place. He was already prepared for something to happen, even though everything around him was peaceful. They were going through a usual class, his classmates were being their usual friends, and nothing.

What's the reason behind his behavior?

It's because the system has been quiet lately.

Too quiet, even.

For several weeks now, his crazy superpower hasn't done anything that would make any regular person bang their head against a wall until they pass out or die. And if he learned anything in that place, it's that the worst is always yet to come during a time of peace. He could tell that the system was planning something behind his back… and Kiyotaka knew that he should be prepared for such an instance when it happens.

There's a bit of good news about all this, though.

He hasn't 'unlocked' any new heroine route ever since Airi, but the reason behind that was because he didn't interact with any other girls throughout the weeks. Aside from the usual interactions he has with Horikita, Kushida, and sometimes Matsushita, nothing else happened other than raising his Affection Points with them as well as his 'dating stats'.

He was also able to enjoy a lot of nights because nothing bothered him in his sleep and relaxing by himself always felt comfortable.

If Bed-chan was a heroine, he would spend the most time with her. At least she gives comfort and not stress.

Oh, and speaking of which, his neighbor across the hallway hasn't shown her face to him at all within the past several weeks. Not once did they see each other when it's time to go to school or when it's time to go home. He never saw her during the weekends, either.

It made him wonder if his way of teasing Sakayanagi was too much to the point that she can no longer be around him, but that would be ridiculous. If that really happened, then the system would have said something or it would have activated the reality-altering skill to make things right.

Still, it would be nice to know what that girl has been up to for the past weeks. She knew about him and the White Room, after all. While he didn't think that she would rat him out, some kind of update on Arisu would be nice.

Too bad the system doesn't give him the luxury of knowing. The 'heroine summary' could be the perfect way of knowing what they're up to, but it doesn't work that way.

"Ayanokouji-kun," a familiar voice called out, snapping him out of his thoughts.

The young man turned to the person who spoke and raised an eyebrow at her. "What is it, Kushida?" he asked.

Kikyo stood in front of his desk with a big smile on her face, obviously in a good mood today. She always is, especially when she's around him because of a certain reason.

"Me and a few of my friends are planning to go to the mall after class. Do… Do you want to come with us? I already asked Horikita-san, but she didn't want to…" she asked, smiling nervously.

Kiyotaka thought about it for a moment. Hm, if he went with them, he would have to make Bed-chan wait for him a lot longer. But that would be bad, because sleep was an important thing to him now and—

Ah, what the hell? It's been weeks since the last time he felt mentally drained. A little trip to the mall wouldn't hurt… unless the system does something, of course. Plus, it's been a very long while since he's gone out and explored more of this school.

"Sure, why not?" he told her. Kiyotaka had no idea who she was talking about when she mentioned her 'friends', but that's only a minor issue in his eyes.

It can't be worse than walking in on one of your heroines while they're changing clothes, right? At this point, he'd rather take 'unlocking' another heroine's route instead.

"Okay! I'll tell everyone else that you're coming with us!" Kikyo nodded excitedly.

Kiyotaka stared at her as she walked away, particularly at the pink screen floating atop her head that bore strange information.

[Kushida Kikyo: 'Happy Energetic Friend']

[Relationship Status: A Rocky Relationship]

[Affection Points: 99/100]

It's hard to believe, but it's been that way for almost three weeks now. Ever since their first swimming class, the Affection Points he's been getting with her have decreased significantly and remained that way for some reason.

It completely confused him, because at her previous pace, Kushida would have reached a hundred 'Affection Points' even before Sakayanagi. And then, all of a sudden, her pace slowed and now that it's at the 99 mark, it refused to go one step further.

This situation only caused him to grow even more curious. What exactly will happen when he maxes out the AP (Affection Point) meter? Will it give him a reward? Does he get an achievement? Will he finally be able to see the 'Aura' dating stat? Hell, maybe it might even have him lose his virginity to a particular heroine since sex scenes normally happen in an eroge!

All of these were questions that he wanted answers to, and the wait was killing him. Kiyotaka considered himself a patient person but since this eroge system has done nothing other than be straightforward with what it's about, as well as the fact that it had a mind of its own then he had a right to feel frustrated.

Kiyotaka also wondered why it wouldn't go up any further, which must be a reason that has something to do with Kikyo herself. It's unlikely for the system to be behind it, because isn't it supposed to be helping him?

He didn't really understand how, but Kiyotaka was about 100% sure that Kikyo herself was keeping him from maxing out her 'Affection Points'.

"Menu," he whispered to himself.

As the world around him froze, Kiyotaka chose the [Dating Stats] sub-menu and observed his progress in the eyes of the system.

[Dating Stats]

Charm: 97

Wisdom: 118

Aura: ?

He wanted to laugh. The fact that one of these 'dating stats' actually got to 100 before 'Affection Points' was almost hard to believe, especially with how fast he's been gaining those with Kikyo. Even Arisu was near the hundred mark but because he hasn't seen her since the first day of school, it hasn't gone up in any way.

The world returned to normal as soon as he closed the menu. From there, Kiyotaka spent the last remaining minutes of their free time thinking of how to deal with this dilemma.

"I don't think the same will happen to Horikita, Matsushita, and Sakura. However, I don't get that many 'Affection Points' with Horikita. The other two give more, but I interact with them even less than Horikita and Kushida. That being said, I could approach them on my own but it's risky. Matsushita's with her friends most of the time, while Sakura is out of the question. What to do…"

Kiyotaka could have continued thinking of a solution but unfortunately, he wouldn't get the chance to because Chabashira-sensei walked inside the room with her usual serious look, shutting everyone up immediately with her presence. She was carrying a stack of papers with her, and some of the students wondered what it was.

"Everyone, prepare your pens. We'll be having a test today."

Various reactions erupted from the class right away, and almost all of them weren't positive.

"A test?! Sae-chan-sensei, you can't be serious!"

"Aw, how am I supposed to answer this? I wasn't listening!"

"This is bad… how do I get through this?!"

"Calm down, all of you. This exam won't be counted in your academic report. No punishment will come to you if you fail this. However, should I catch any of you cheating, then you will be expelled from this school, effective immediately."

That explanation calmed most of them… somehow. It still didn't stop them from becoming nervous when Chabashira-sensei handed out the papers to the students in the front row, who passed it to the next, and so on until it reached the last row.

As soon as the test began, Kiyotaka wasted no time scanning the test questions. It involved all five main subjects with only a few questions that were equivalent to five points each.

"These questions aren't even that hard… I fail to see why they're struggling," the young man thought as he looked at most of the questions. However, upon reaching the final three questions, Kiyotaka blinked in surprise at the problems. The sheer complexity of the questions were honestly more suited for a college student more than a high school student. "Ah. I see now… though, it does make me wonder why would the school give its students this type of test? They couldn't have been joking around when they made these…"

"No way… these questions are just so hard…"

"How the hell do you answer these things?"

While some of the students expressed their nervousness upon seeing the questions, there were also those who remained perfectly calm and looked like they could ace this 'test' without breaking a sweat. Horikita, Koenji, and Hirata were a few of them. Of course, being who he is, Kiyotaka could answer those last three questions if he wanted to, but his usual mindset was different.

"I guess I'll do the same as I did on the entrance exam, but I'm sure that Horikita will treat this as another competition between us, even though this isn't going to affect our grades. I also don't want to attract attention by getting a perfect score, though… fine, I'll put in a bit of effort just so I don't disappoint Horikita."

In about fifteen minutes, Kiyotaka was already done with the test and chose to take a nap until the end of their session. Chabashira-sensei monitored everyone closely by walking around, keeping a watchful eye on her students and to those who would dare to cheat.

During lunch later on, Kiyotaka enjoyed a quiet lunch with Suzune while they talked about the test that Sae gave them earlier. Kikyo wasn't with them today, as she had chosen to sit with her other friends instead.

Suzune asked her seatmate if he had any difficulty in answering the test, to which Kiyotaka replied by saying he was confused in some parts but managed to pull through in the end. When the girl asked him why he slept after he was done, he only replied by saying he wanted to get some rest while he had the chance.

When he left to buy some bottled coffee from the vending machine, the young man then found himself being surrounded by Sudo, Ike, and Yamauchi. While Sudo didn't seem like he was going to say anything, the other two were sending him angry looks for some reason.

"Can I help you three with anything?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at them curiously.

Ike was the first to speak as he pointed towards Kiyotaka accusingly. "Alright, spill the beans, Ayanokouji! Tell us already!"

"Tell you what?"

"You're going out with Horikita, aren't you?" Ike asked angrily.

Of course, Kiyotaka's reaction was to shake his head. "No, I'm not. Where did you even get such a thing?"

Yamauchi was the next to speak, standing beside his friend with the same angry look on his face. "Don't lie! Even Sudo says that something's going on between the two of you! You were even having lunch with her earlier!"

So, they finally noticed that he was eating lunch with a girl all this time. Wow. It only took them about a whole month to figure it out.

It did beg the question of how they finally noticed him, though. The reason why he had been safe from everyone's eyes so far was that nobody paid attention to him but now, it seems like that's over… but again, how did they notice him?

Kiyotaka glanced at the red-haired teen, who was hiding a smile to himself while watching this unfold. It was very subtle, but Kiyotaka caught it just in time, and it was enough to tell him that Ken told them this on purpose.

"Sudo, I'm shocked. I tried to help you with Onodera, and this is how you repay me? You're going down," he thought to himself.

Oh, he was going to make Sudo pay. But first, he needed to deal with these two idiots.

"I have nothing else to say to you other than what you're insinuating is only a product of your imagination. Nothing's going on between me and Horikita. We had lunch together because it's convenient to sit with people you know."

Yamauchi didn't look convinced. "Really? But you're with each other all the time! Don't think we weren't seeing you staring at each other like an old married couple! Urgh, I'm so jealous!"

"That's because we're seatmates. Do you expect me not to talk to her simply because she's a girl?" he retorted. "And look at Horikita. Do you think she's the dating type? Let's assume that I did ask her out on a date or something. I'm absolutely certain that she wouldn't even give me the time of day."

Well actually, if he did ask out Suzune for a date, the system would likely manipulate things to go his way. However, these three guys didn't know that.

Ike shrugged. "I don't know. We never really talk to her. If Kushida-chan hadn't brought it up while we were talking to her, we probably wouldn't even know her name."

"Yeah, she disappears into the background, like a shadow."

"Are they joking? They literally interrogated me all because Kushida said her name?" Kiyotaka deadpanned. "You don't even know her name prior to this? That's harsh."

"A-Anyway, if you're not involved with Horikita, then you must have something with Kushida! Admit it already!" Ike accused, now switching his focus from Suzune to Kikyo.

Kiyotaka wondered what Ike's problem was. First, it was Suzune. Now he was bringing up Kikyo. Kiyotaka wasn't really worried about being caught now that he knows it's only these two guys who are being loud about it. He thought of denying the claims like always, but he thought about something different this time.

"So what if I did? Why does it matter to you?"

Both Ike and Yamauchi gasped.

"You bastard! You already got Horikita's attention, now you're gonna take away Kushida-chan too?! You're just as bad as Hirata who's got a harem of beautiful girls!"

"Calm down, Ike. I never said Kushida and I were together. I was only being hypothetical," he said in an attempt to defuse the situation. Are these two really that desperate over girls that they'll get jealous of who gets attention from them?

"You should be! I like Kushida-chan, and I'm planning to ask her out when the time comes!

"Come on, Ike. Do you really think you're the fitting one for Kushida-chan? I mean, look at me. I'm the type of guy that Kushida-chan would be into," Yamauchi bragged, flexing his bicep before kissing it.

"You moron! Like hell you can date Kushida-chan with me around! She won't even bat an eye towards you because of those fantasies you have about her!"

"Oh, look who's talking! You fantasize about Kushida-chan too, Ike!"

Kiyotaka could only stare at them blankly. First, they were accusing him of being close to two girls and now they were butting heads over one of them.

Sudo let out a deep sigh at their behavior. "You two never learn, do you?"

Both perverts turned to him with angry looks.

"You're no better, Sudo!"

"Yeah, you're just bragging about what you have with Onodera at this point!"

"Again with this?" the red-haired teen groaned. He wasn't even angry, just tired at this point. It was likely that he was receiving these accusations on a regular basis. "I told you before, me and Onodera are just friends!"

Kiyotaka saw this as his chance for some sweet revenge, so he was quick to capitalize on it.

"Actually, Sudo… these two make a good point. You and Onodera have been getting closer and closer to each other. Are we seeing you developing a crush on her?" he asked innocently.

"You too, Ayanokouji?" he looked at his friend with a gobsmacked expression, feeling shocked that he would even think of such a thing. "Seriously, why does everyone keep saying that? Nothing's going on between us, I swear!"

"You say nothing is going on between you two, but let's take a look at what happened these past few weeks," Kiyotaka started to explain. "During our first swimming class, Onodera asked if you could join her in the Swimming Club. A few days later, you told her that you signed up for it and got accepted. From there, you two always leave the classroom together when a school day ends. While I can understand you two are dorm neighbors, it's likely because you go to your club together, or she accompanies you to watch you play basketball. I think I've also seen you two racing each other at the swimming pool area while I was passing by that place, and you two were having fun. Oh, and do I have to mention that you look particularly happier when you're around her compared to your usual demeanor?"

Sudo looked like a deer in headlights after everything that Kiyotaka said, while the duo of perverts simply looked on with great surprise.

"If nothing else, then all that I just said is only proof that you treat Onodera differently compared to our other classmates. I'm not going to assume anything, but all the signs are pointing to you being happier when you're around Onodera. Now, I'm not an expert in this field, so you can deny my claim… but do you have a crush on Onodera, Sudo?"

The red-haired teen did his best to keep himself from blushing, but failed horribly. If anything, he felt like a criminal being caught in the act because it was all true. He couldn't deny it, because he was never good at being convincing.

Sudo gritted his teeth and looked away, too embarrassed to meet his classmates' gaze.

"Alright, alright! You bastards win…" he scoffed. "I guess I like her… maybe."

"Maybe?" Kiyotaka pressed on.

"Alright, a lot! I like her a lot. Happy now?" the red-haired teen growled.

Kiyotaka wanted to smirk to show his amusement but unfortunately, he couldn't. He still treated this as sweet revenge for him, though. If Ken was going to sell him out to the two perverts regarding Horikita or Kushida, then he'll pay him back tenfold.

"Why, yes. Yes, I am."

"If you like her that much, then shouldn't you tell her?" asked Ike, showing genuine concern for Sudo this time.

Sudo looked at him as if he had grown a second head. "Are you kidding me? There's no way I could tell her that!"

Ike shook his head. "That's not the right thing to do, man. If you like a girl, then you should confess to her! You won't end up together if you don't."

"You idiot, I'm already friends with her. Close friends, even. I don't want to ruin what we have by running my mouth," he then looked at Ike suspiciously. "And why are you suddenly being supportive? Shouldn't you be yelling at me for 'taking away' one of the girls in our class?"

"Hey dude, if you like her that much, then go for her. I might want a girlfriend, but I ain't gonna steal someone who's already taken. That's a violation of the bro code," Ike shrugged.

Both Ken and Kiyotaka were caught off guard. That was… surprisingly mature for Ike. Most of the time, he loved hanging out with Yamauchi as the perverted duo of the class. They never knew he could be like this.

Maybe there was hope for the guy, in spite of it all.

On the other hand, Yamauchi only grinned mischievously. "Well, if you won't confess to her, then I will. Onodera-chan's pretty cute too, you know?"

Sudo didn't hesitate to grab him by the collar before lifting him up slightly. "Touch her and you're a dead man," he threatened with a dangerous look in his eyes.

"O-Okay, man! I-I-It was just a joke…"

"I'm not going to tell you to do anything, but Onodera won't wait for you forever, Sudo. Since you're pretty close to each other already, I'm sure she would hear you out," Kiyotaka suggested.

Sudo let go of Yamauchi before turning back to his friend with a frustrated look. "But what if she doesn't like me that way? It would just make things awkward between us. Especially now that we're in the same club and we go there once every few days."

"With how close the two of you seem to be, I don't think Onodera would reject so easily. She'd give you a chance first. Who knows? Maybe Onodera actually likes you back," Kiyotaka added, facing the vending machine and ordering a bottle of iced coffee after paying the points needed.

There's no other reason why the system would make those two neighbors. It wouldn't have done it if they weren't going to be together, and Kiyotaka knew it from experience.

"Oh, can you get me some soda, Ayanokouji? I'm feeling thirsty," asked Yamauchi, recovering from Sudo's threat rather quickly.

"Buy it yourself, then."

Yamauchi laughed nervously. "Can't. I've already used up most of my points. I only have 2,000 points left… come on, I'll pay you back when we get our allowance next month."

"I'm not even going to question how he almost spent the entirety of 100,000 points in the span of three weeks," he said in his mind. "I don't care. There's some bottled water available, though. It's actually free."

Yamauchi rolled his eyes. "Fine, cheapskate. Give me the water. At least it's better than the vegetable set…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you didn't know? The cafeteria actually offers some free food on the menu. But it's full of vegetables and there's no way I'm ordering that."

Sudo blinked a few times, before he then remembered something important. "Now that you mention it, I've been seeing some upperclassmen having only vegetables as their lunch these past few weeks. I thought they were just vegans or something…"

"I don't think it's because they're like that. It's most likely because they can't order anything else," Kiyotaka concluded. If those upperclassmen simply had no points or they were trying to save some, then it's understandable why they would choose to order the free meal.

"What, so these students lost all of their points so they have to resort to the free cafeteria food? Ha! Sucks to be them!"

…and Ike was back to being Ike. Not surprising.

"You never know, it might happen to you too. With how you two keep on spending your points, you might just find yourselves ordering vegetables in the future."

"In your dreams, Sudo! I have about 7,000 points left, and it's almost the end of the month! We'll be getting our 100,000 point allowance soon."

"Yeah," Yamauchi agreed. "Why can't next month come any faster too? I still have so many things I want to buy!"

As the two talked about the many things that they thought of purchasing in the future, Kiyotaka left them and went back to his table quietly, while being in deep thought.

"So, the school gives out free food in the case that students don't have any more points to spend. I wonder if that's intentional because if it is, then there must be more things that the school gives for free."

After class was over, Kiyotaka went to Keyaki Mall just like Kikyo told him to and waited by the entrance. He was honestly looking forward to this, because all he had been doing for the past weeks was talking to one or two of three people, which included Kikyo herself.

It would be nice to hang around with some of his other classmates… as long as the system doesn't plan on doing anything crazy. He could handle 'unlocking' a new route, but nothing more than that.

Kiyotaka took a sip from the iced matcha tea that he bought from the cafe, when he saw the duo of Ike and Yamauchi approaching in the distance.

"Yo, Ayanokouji! What'cha doing here?"

The young man thought about it for a moment. Should he tell them the real reason why he was here? They'll surely react in a negative manner if they find out that Kushida invited him here… should he lie and tell them that he was just here to chill and stand around?

Eh. It's not like they can threaten him or anything.

"Kushida invited me here to hang out with a bunch of her friends," he answered honestly. "And before you even ask, she asked me because we are friends."

Ike narrowed his eyes the moment Kiyotaka mentioned Kushida, but was immediately silenced when he explained his situation further. "Hmm… I've got my eye on you, though…" he muttered.

Oh, if Ike only knew just who he was talking to.

"We were actually invited here by Kushida-chan too!" Yamauchi said eagerly. "This just means that she likes me! I mean, she wouldn't invite me if she didn't, right?"

Ike then turned his attention to Yamauchi. "In your dreams, Yamauchi! She obviously invited us because she was interested in me. You're just included because we're together most of the time."

Kiyotaka had no idea why, but he suddenly felt like punching these two in the face as they argued about why Kikyo invited them. He had never felt like this earlier when they did the same, but now he was and it was bothering him.

"If you two don't mind me asking, what exactly do you two find attractive in her?" asked Kiyotaka.

The two suddenly stopped in their arguing, as they looked back at their classmate in confusion.

"Eh? What's not there to like? She's cute, she has a nice chest, and she's really nice!"

"Yeah! She'd be the perfect girlfriend for anyone! Especially for me."

"For you? You mean me!"

Just when it looked like they were about to start another argument regarding who was the better fit for Kikyo, the very girl who was the subject of the conversation had finally arrived.

"Sorry we're late, but thanks for waiting!"

"Oh, no worries, Kushida-chan! We were only just- hey, why is that guy here?!"

To the complete shock of the two boys, the beige-haired girl brought Hirata with her. There were three other girls with them, Matsushita, Mori, and Karuizawa. Kiyotaka was surprised to see Matsushita with them, but then he felt a bit of relief that he wouldn't be a complete stranger here. He figured that Kushida would be busy being friendly towards everyone, which would leave him in an awkward position of being the odd one out. Therefore, it's a good thing that Matsushita was here with them.

"I just happened to see Hirata-kun along the way, and I thought of inviting him! Will that be a problem?" said Kikyo, smiling brightly at the two boys.

Ike stared at her for a few moments, before he approached Kiyotaka and led him away from the scene as if he was a coach that was telling his men about an important play.

"Hey! Do you have something that can make Hirata go away?!" he whispered.

"I see no reason to get rid of him," Kiyotaka replied, taking Ike's arm off his shoulder.

"Can't you see it? That bastard will completely overshadow us! Don't you know that he has an army of fangirls praising him all the time? If he's here, then he'll hog all of the girls' attention and leave nothing for us!"

Kiyotaka rolled his eyes. "I still don't see the problem."

Ike glared at him. "You traitor! You're on Hirata's side, aren't you?"

"I can't even understand where you got that idea from."

"Yamauchi, help me out here! How do we get rid of Hirata?"

"Don't ask me! I'm not good with this sort of thing."

"Just give me an idea, man!"

Yamauchi thought about it for a moment while scratching his head. "...maybe we could lead him somewhere where he can get lost?"

"That's a good one, but we could easily get caught if we do that!"

"If my presence is a bother, then maybe I should just go on ahead?" asked Hirata, overhearing the conversation between the three.

Realizing that they were caught red-handed, the two quickly put on innocent looks and faced everyone else.

"W-We don't really mind at all…! Right, Yamauchi?!"

"Yeah, yeah! L-Let's just get a move on! The more, the merrier, right?

Kiyotaka only sighed at their behavior. Moments ago, they had no problem talking about how they would get rid of Yosuke. Now they're pretending that they have no ulterior motive, most likely so that Kikyo wouldn't be upset with them and lose their chance at being with her.

Well, not like they had a chance in the first place, anyway.

"The hell were you three whispering about, anyway?" asked Karuizawa, narrowing her eyes at the three boys.

"Don't lump me in with these two," said Kiyotaka as he felt offended that the girl would even associate him with Ike and Yamauchi.

Being the genuinely nice guy that he is, Hirata didn't hesitate to get between Karuizawa and the other boys. "Okay, okay, let's all calm down. We're here to spend time together as classmates and get to know more about each other. Kushida-san, where are we heading to?" he spoke before looking at Kushida, who organized this whole get-together in the first place.

"R-Right!" she shook her head and put on her usual smile. "Let's go inside the mall, first. Let's decide where to go next from there."

Everyone nodded in response, as they walked into the mall. Kiyotaka opted to be behind everyone else so he could be at peace. Sure, he wanted to hang out with his classmates, but he also wasn't going to place himself in the center of attention.

Chiaki slowly broke away from the others and deliberately slowed her pace, allowing her to walk alongside Kiyotaka. "So, Kushida-san invited you too, Ayanokouji-kun?" she asked in amusement.

The young man looked at her in confusion. "I thought that would be obvious."

She shrugged. "I just didn't expect to see you here. You normally head back to your dorm room immediately after class because you want to rest as soon as possible. I don't think I've ever seen you go somewhere else first, other than the club fair."

"That may be, but I don't want to spend three years in this school as a shut-in."

"You want to talk for a bit then? It's been a while since we last talked and you always stick with either Horikita-san or Kushida-san. I'm getting kind of jealous," she said half-jokingly.

"Aren't we talking now?" he retorted in a sarcastic manner.

While the two teens were left in their own world, the rest of the group had their attention directed towards Ike, who approached Hirata with a look of suspicion on his face. "I'm going to be straightforward with you, Hirata. Are you going out with Karuizawa?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Uhm… no. But where did you hear such a thing?" Yosuke asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"That's not important. Are you going out with Karuizawa or not?!" Ike pressed on, even raising his voice slightly.

All Hirata could do was smile gently and shake his head. "We aren't."

"Oi, stop bothering him already, will you?" said Kei, sending an annoyed look at the two that immediately caused them to back off. "We're not dating at all."

This time, after hearing Kei's statement, Ike had no choice but to take it as the truth.

"Seriously? But the rumors were pointing to you two being a couple!" Yamauchi exclaimed, which caught everyone in the group off guard, especially Kiyotaka.

The young man looked at Karuizawa in slight interest. "Did the system make a mistake?" he thought, although he didn't look convinced. His eroge superpower had the freaking ability to alter reality itself. Moreover, it had a mind of its own, so it couldn't have made the mistake of having her live on the fourth floor if it wasn't going to make her a heroine.

"Is it true, Karuizawa-san?" asked Kikyo, genuinely curious about this matter.

"Hell no!" Kei folded her arms across her chest and took in a deep breath to calm herself. "No offense to Hirata-kun. He's a nice guy, but I don't really want to be with anyone right now. Especially because of this annoying dorm arrangement."

Hirata only flashed a smile, not even offended by that remark. "I completely understand why you feel that way, Karuizawa-san."

"Karuizawa-san, it's been three weeks since that happened. Don't you think it's time to move on?" asked Mori out of concern.

The blonde gyaru had never really moved on from the chairman's announcement several weeks ago and hated how the girls and boys can now be neighbors instead of living on completely separate floors. She was still angry until now to the point that it was getting ridiculous, because almost all of the girls pretty much accepted how things work now. Even Shinohara, who was as vocal as Karuizawa about her annoyance regarding the co-ed dorm arrangements, has been quiet lately.

"Hell no! I can't trust almost any other boy in our class! They might have hidden intentions behind their eyes, especially these two!" replied Kei.

"W-Well, what about you, Kushida-san? Do you have a boyfriend?" asked Ike in an attempt to steer the conversation somewhere else.

Kikyo blinked a few times in surprise. "Oh, uh… no. But it would be nice to have one, though!" she giggled.

And then, upon hearing those words, Ike and Yamauchi felt like they died and went to heaven out of joy. The two had massive grins on their faces, their growing happiness on full display for everyone to see. Although they would never even get a chance at being with her, just hearing Kushida say that she didn't have a boyfriend was enough to make them cry tears of joy.

"Oh, no… I think I'm crying…"

"It's okay, Yamauchi! Let it out! Let it all out! We both have a chance, so let's make the most of it!"

The rest of the group watched them with varied reactions. Hirata and Kushida chuckled nervously, Matsushita and Mori stared at them weirdly, while Karuizawa looked away in disgust.

"Ugh, there they go…"

Kiyotaka shook his head in slight disappointment. These two find out that the girl was available, and they immediately treat it as if Jesus himself descended down from Heaven. Oh well, maybe it might amuse him to see their reactions when they find out that Kikyo will have a boyfriend in the future, and it won't be them.

After letting the two perverts have their moment of bliss, they continued on their way. Their first stop in their little journey to the mall was, of course, the clothing store. The girls wouldn't pass up the opportunity for new apparel, obviously.

Kiyotaka opted to stay outside while waiting for them to finish, while the other boys went with the girls to help them carry their bags once they were done. Of course, Yosuke accompanied them with the genuine desire to help while Ike and Yamauchi treated it as a way to score points with the girls.

The young man passed the time by observing the mall from where he was and listing down the most interesting places in his mind, until he noticed one of his companions was heading out of the store.

To his surprise, it was Kei who was done with shopping first. She only carried a small bag with her as she walked out of the store and headed to where he was. That was when Kiyotaka noticed the familiar 'heroine screen' above her head, and he was a bit surprised with what he saw.

[Karuizawa Kei: 'Frustrated but Vigilant Classmate']

[Relationship Status: ?]

[Affection Points: 0/100]

[Heroine Summary: Kei is a typical gyaru that loves fashion and hanging out with friends, but her past is a complicated one. She has a long history of being bullied in her old school. She has been beaten, pushed around, had her hair pulled, experienced her shoes being filled with different things, and more. In this new school, she wants someone who can pretend to be her boyfriend so that that person can protect her from being bullied this time around. However, because of the change in living arrangements for the freshmen, she doesn't want to talk to any boy yet.]

"She's been bullied for that long? She does a good job of hiding it, so I'll commend her for that. I wouldn't have known if it wasn't for the system, but I'm sure I could put it together if I saw the slightest hint of it," he thought. "She's looking for a fake boyfriend, but wasn't able to put her plan into motion because of the chairman's announcement. And from the things that she experienced in her old school, I don't blame her for being wary of guys… she must be thinking that someone with the same intentions might be lurking around the corner."

Kiyotaka wondered who she was going to ask if she had the chance. His first thought was Hirata, and it makes sense why. According to Yamauchi, there were rumors about Karuizawa and Hirata being a couple and even if he was wrong, he must have gotten the idea from someone. It could be that Karuizawa was planning on asking Hirata to be her pretend-boyfriend, but didn't get the chance to because of the change in living arrangements, which took over her state of mind. To add to that, she didn't seem like she disliked Hirata at all and even defended him from Ike's accusations earlier.

"How would she fall in love with me, then? If she doesn't want to talk to any guy right now, then we wouldn't even be able to have a conservation. Although, the system can just make it happen if it wanted to…"

"Is there something on my face? Why are you staring at me?" asked the girl whom he was thinking about, as she sent a scowl at him.

Kiyotaka snapped out of his thoughts and quickly realized that Kei was right in front of him. Fortunately, he already had a reasonable answer in his mind. "No, there isn't. And I wasn't staring at you," he lied.

"Yes, you are. And don't even try denying it, Ayanokouji. I saw you staring! Are you some kind of pervert?!" she accused, pointing her finger towards him.

Before he could continue on with his lie, Kei froze in place as the world lost its color. Kiyotaka already knew where this was heading, so he quickly read through the available choices as soon as they showed up. The correct answer will most likely be Option C, anyway, since it had a guaranteed rise in Affection Points most of the time…

A. [We have a very different perception of what is staring, Karuizawa-san. I only merely looked at you.]

B. [Sorry. I just thought you were cute, is all…]

C. [Do you want to hang out at that cafe while we're waiting for the others? I'll treat you to some coffee if you want.]

*WARNING: Choosing the Wrong Choice will forever block this Heroine's Route.

"That's the same warning that showed up when I first met Horikita at the bus," the young man muttered, realizing that this wasn't the usual set of choices that he had gotten used to by now.

Okay, it was time to make a decision. And it looks like he would have to think about this deeply, because this was different from Tsubasa, Kikyo, and Chiaki's 'routes'.

For the first time, the first option wasn't an aggressive one and he was tempted to pick it at first, but the warning below the choices kept him from pushing through with it. While it wouldn't be offensive in any way, it would most likely close off her 'heroine route' because it's a simple and logical response. The second was a response that would make him act embarrassed because of her appearance, which could potentially be the right choice. The last option was a clear attempt to ask Karuizawa out on an impromptu date, which would more than likely earn him a flat-out 'no' from the girl or worse, cause her to slap him across the face for flirting with her out of nowhere.

Kiyotaka shrugged and picked the option that he felt comfortable with. "Option B it is, then."

As the world returned to normal, Kiyotaka began scratching the back of his head as his cheeks started to turn red in embarrassment. This reaction caused Kei, who was still scowling at him, to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Sorry. I just thought you were cute, is all…" he mumbled softly to himself, but it was still enough for Kei to hear.

Upon realizing what he said, her eyes slowly widened.

[Kei Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with Karuizawa Kei!]

[Your current status with Kei has changed to 'Out of Darkness'!]

[You have gained 15 Affection Points with Karuizawa Kei!]

The girl couldn't say anything for the next seconds that followed, completely silenced by what he heard. It was something that she didn't expect, and it caused her face to turn red like him, even though she was internally trying to prevent herself from doing so.

"I…" Kei withdrew her finger and stood beside him so they could wait for their classmates to be done shopping. If she continued to point at him any longer, then it would have been awkward. "Sorry for… assuming…"

"It's alright. I'm aware that staring is rude, so I'm at fault as well," he apologized, before turning his attention to the bag that she held in her free hand. He was honestly curious about why she only had one. As far as his knowledge goes regarding girls, they are normally dedicated to fashion, and Karuizawa fitted that description perfectly. He expected her to take longer shopping for clothes. "How much did you pay for those?"

"Uh, just… 10,000 points, I think? It's just a couple of shirts and some pants," she said, still affected by his earlier response that the girl couldn't help but answer his question. It was nothing serious, anyway.

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow in genuine interest. "I mean no offense with this, but I had thought that girls normally spend a lot more time picking out clothes, so I expected you'd be in there for a lot longer."

Kei sighed, before shrugging. "I could have, but I didn't want to carry too much stuff."

"Then why not let someone else carry what you bought? You could have asked Hirata, either one of the perverts, or even me."

"Please," she groaned, rolling her eyes in annoyance. Some of the earlier fire in her eyes was already back at the mention of the two idiots. "I don't trust any of the guys in the classroom. Ever since this stupid co-ed dorm arrangements began, I was scared. Sure, there's several girls in our class who live on the 4th floor like me, even Chabashira-sensei… but what if there's a guy who lives there?"

"I live there…" he deadpanned in his mind.

Kiyotaka could only imagine how this girl would react when she eventually finds out that he also lived on the same floor as her. Kei's reaction obviously wouldn't be anything scary, but he could tell that she would be very vocal about it.

"Chabashira-sensei and the chairman himself already mentioned that there'd be harsh punishment for boys who even think of barging into a girls' room," he told her in response to her question, even though it was rhetorical.

Kei crossed her arms and looked away stubbornly. "That's not enough to calm my nerves. It just isn't…"

"I guess it's because of her history of being bullied. She doesn't feel safe around other guys whom she doesn't know," he concluded in his thoughts. "Fair enough. But don't you think that you're being harsh to our class? Some of the boys won't even think of disrespecting the girls, like Hirata."

"Like I said, Hirata-kun's a nice guy, but I can't really trust any of the boys—" she immediately cut herself off upon realizing what she had been doing this whole time. She looked at the young man in shock as her face quickly turned red. "Hang on, why am I saying these things to you again? Stop talking to me already, you pervert!"

"Okay, okay…" he raised his arms in surrender, as Kiyotaka felt a bit amused at the sudden realization that the girl went through. All this time, she had no idea she was talking to a boy in a civil manner, despite her claims of not trusting any of her male classmates at the moment.

Sure, it was likely because of the system doing its thing, but it was still quite amusing to see the quick change in Karuizawa's expression.

"We're back!" a familiar voice said from the clothing store, gaining the two teens' attention. "Sorry to keep you two waiting."

Kikyo stood at the entrance while waving her arm at them. Her two shopping bags that contained the clothes she purchased were being carried by Ike and Yamauchi, who were pretty content with being used as bag holders. Mori was with Hirata, who was carrying her shopping bag, while Matsushita was on her own.

"Oh? Did something happen between you two? You're standing pretty close to each other there…" Chiaki pointed out, noticing the closeness between Kiyotaka and Kei. Curiously, she felt a twinge of jealousy as well but ignored the feeling.

"H-Hell no! We were just waiting for all of you, that's all!" The blonde girl instantly denied the claim, but her face only grew hotter as a result. "What the hell took you all so long, anyway?!"

"What the hell…"

"Are you kidding me?! First, Horikita, then Kushida-chan, and now, Karuizawa too?! You're just as bad as Hirata, Ayanokouji!"

Yamauchi and Ike were the next to speak, immediately expressing their frustration towards Ayanokouji. They even wanted to cry at this unfairness. While they were stuck with Kushida and the other two girls in the clothing store, Kiyotaka was out here making moves on yet another one of their classmates! And to make matters worse, it was also the one who was saying that she didn't like any of the boys!

It should have been them, damn it! It wasn't fair!

"I told you, nothing happened! Stop assuming things already!" Kei continued to deny the accusations by everyone else, while Kiyotaka remained quiet and stayed out of it, not wanting to anger the girl any further. The fact that they were able to have a normal conversation earlier (before Kei realized it) was already enough proof that she'll lose her current distrust for boys eventually.

Although, it seems that he would have to take another detour before going home, because there's no way he can let Karuizawa know that he lives on the same floor as her… at least not now.

"A detour to an ice cream shop should be good, then."

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

-Lance