A Liquid Inspiration
Summary: (A re-telling of Classroom of the Elite sparked by a certain conversation between Masterpiece and Professor.)
One day, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka receives a surprising invitation from his father, Ayanokouji Atsuomi, to join him for a drink. It was unusual for Kiyotaka, who normally wouldn't be summoned by his father without a hidden agenda.
That's why even the emotionless Kiyotaka was surprised when his father began to open up about his own experiences with love and relationships.
For the emotionally distant "masterpiece," this conversation is a rare moment of connection with his father, and it sparked a curiosity within him to explore the world of human relationships, to be more specific: romance and intimacy.
It was that spark that pushed Kiyotaka to demand something from his father:
"Father, teach me everything about human relationships."
This then begins a ripple that changes how Ayanokouji Kiyotaka would approach the world in the foreseeable future.
Do check out this fic on Wattpad. It has the same title and content, but we do have illustrations there to increase immersion for the fic. Thanks, and here's the chapter!
Vol 1. Chapter 11 - Study Groups, New Friends, Headaches
Ayanokōji Kiyotaka
After Yuki and I finished our business with the Student Council, we immediately headed back to our classroom. As usual, the classes went by without a hitch, and before we knew it, it was lunchtime.
"Kushida, can I talk with you for a moment?" I called out to the beige-haired girl, who was preparing to leave the room for lunch.
"A-ah. That's fine with me, Ayanokōji-kun," she replied. "But before that, can I tell Onodera-san and the others that I'll be a little late?"
"Of course. We don't want to be rude, after all."
The beige-haired girl smiled at me before she headed in the direction of her clique and began explaining the situation. Thankfully, it seemed like they were fine with the arrangement and even offered to buy Kushida's food for her so she could just eat when she caught up to them.
They were very considerate.
As her clique began walking to the hallway leading to the cafeteria, Kushida turned her head to me and sent me a smile. With that, I stepped out of the classroom with the beige-haired girl following close behind.
As I leaned my back against a wall in the corner of the corridor, I noticed an expectant look on Kushida's face, obviously waiting for what I was going to talk about.
"Before anything else, you are free to say no to my proposal," I began.
Upon noticing the look on Kushida's face, I noticed my mistake.
I inwardly sighed. I suppose that could have been taken that way.
"E-eh?" Kushida sounded confused, unsure of what to make of my words.
"Ah, I'm sorry for that. I could have phrased my words better," I said in an apologetic tone. "Do you mind if I put Yamauchi and Ike in your study group? They were rather adamant in telling me that they wouldn't join a study group unless it were yours."
Kushida smiled sheepishly. "If they're fine with me, then I'll be glad to be their tutor," she said, not even betraying the slightest hint of unwillingness with my proposal.
"Are you sure about this, Kushida? I don't want you to feel like you didn't have any choice in this matter. And well... I know the two of them are among the most troublesome boys in the class, so you'll undoubtedly have a harder time with your study group," I said.
With their obvious lust and attraction to Kushida, there was no doubt in my mind that Yamauchi and Ike would take this as an opportunity to get closer to Kushida rather than focus on studying, and there was no doubt that Kushida was aware of this too.
After all, Kushida's extremely skilled at social engineering, which implies some knowledge of human psychology. And with Horikita's warning about Kushida's more hidden traits, it would be foolish to think otherwise.
To her credit, the bright expression did not disappear on Kushida's face. She did seem to be contemplative, however.
A few seconds later, she spoke, smiling as she did. "That may be true, but I would willingly help out a classmate if they needed it. Yamauchi-kun and Ike-kun have been struggling academically, and well, if they wanted to be tutored by me, I would accept."
"This school really is cruel, you know? To think getting one failing grade would mean you'd immediately get expelled from the school," she added, a sad look appearing on her face. "I think we've built a great atmosphere in our class, so if I can do something to help keep everyone together, I would not hesitate to lend my help!" At this point, a smile returned to the beige-haired girl's face as if telling me that everything would be alright.
"If you're fine with the arrangement, I won't say anything more. But, if problems do arise, feel free to reach out, alright?"
Kushida chuckled at my words. "Onodera-san was right. You're really like the father of this class, Ayanokōji-kun."
I raised an eyebrow at her words.
"She said you asked her to help out in supporting Sudo-kun with his academics as he had been obviously struggling with it," she explained. "Then, during the studying sessions, she said that it was adorable watching you guide Sudo-kun like you're his father. It's really cool, you know?"
"If I were to have a son, I'd rather not have him be as troublesome as Sudo," I replied in a dry tone.
Kushida chuckled. "Don't be like that, Ayanokōji-kun! He's showing progress, hasn't he?"
I nodded my head in agreement. "That, he has. But I suppose I've kept you from Onodera and the others long enough. Thank you for agreeing to help, Kushida."
"No problem, Ayanokōji-kun! Anything for the class, right?" Kushida replied, smiling.
"More of, you're like a saint, Kushida."
"You think so? Hehe, thanks, Ayanokōji-kun! Well, I should go catch up with Onodera-san and the others. See you, Ayanokōji-kun!"
Having said that, Kushida sent me a wave before she headed down to the cafeteria.
Blessed be Kushida for making things a little easier, and contrary to what Yuki had said, she still has her uses.
11.1
The following day, Yuki, Hirata, and I announced the study groups to the class and set up a group chat for each of the eight groups. Fortunately, everyone seemed content with their respective groups, so there were no complaints or issues to address.
Well... aside from Yamauchi complaining about why Kōenji wasn't in any study group. He quickly retracted his complaint upon realizing that he was in Kushida's group and began boasting about how much fun he would have hanging out with Kushida, to which he and Ike got into an argument as to who Kushida would pick between the two of them.
With that settled, I sat on my desk, waiting for homeroom to start. But with nothing much to do and plenty of time to waste, I decided to turn my attention to my seatmate.
"Your brother and I are best friends now," I said to Horikita, whose eyes were glued to a book.
The dark-haired girl didn't respond, still engrossed in what she was reading. With that in mind, I decided to play a prank on her.
Taking out my phone, I deftly navigated my phone's screen, and upon seeing the file I was looking for, I let out a shadow of a smile appear on my face— I knew it'd be useful eventually.
"If you do end up having an interest in Suzune, you have my approval to pursue her."
Horikita froze, momentarily dropping her book upon hearing the voice of her older brother from the recording that I had taken.
If Kōenji didn't point out that I had a creepy-sounding laugh, I would have laughed in Horikita's face. But since that wasn't the case, I decided to laugh inwardly.
The dark-haired girl looked at me with an unreadable expression on her face. "How rude of you to show me a fabricated recording, Ayanokōji-kun," she said, clearly not pleased with the prank I pulled.
"Why would I waste my time fabricating a recording just to play a joke on you?" I raised an eyebrow. "You sure are delusional, Horikita."
"How did your conversation with nii-san even get to that point?" Horikita sighed, resigning to the fact that the recording was legitimate.
"Who knows," I shrugged, noting that Horikita wasn't amused by my ambiguous response. "The important thing is, I got the reaction I wanted," I said, smiling as the image of Horikita's shocked face flashed in my mind.
Horikita glared at me, clearly still annoyed. "You always seem to enjoy making people uncomfortable, don't you?"
"Uncomfortable?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're blushing, Horikita. If anything, you must be happy your nii-san wants me to pursue you," I joked, attempting to elicit a reaction from Horikita.
Horikita shook her head, looking back down at her book. "You're impossible," she muttered under her breath.
I chuckled, watching as Horikita returned to her reading. "You know, Horikita, I might actually take your brother up on his offer," I said with a sly grin.
Horikita's eyes widened in shock. "What? You're not serious, are you?"
"You sounded a little too happy there, Horikita," I teased. "You better be careful. Your mask is dropping."
Horikita looked up from her book, her expression unreadable. "My mask?"
I smirked. "You know, the one you wear to hide your true feelings."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Horikita replied, her tone icy.
I leaned closer, my voice dropping to a whisper. "Oh, I think you do."
Horikita's cheeks flushed, and she looked away from me. "Get away from me," she whispered back.
"Ah, sure thing. Yuki's glaring at me already," I shrugged before pulling back from Horikita and turning my head in the direction of the glaring blonde.
At least she wasn't blaming Horikita this time. That's character growth, right?
"I don't understand why you continue playing these games with me, Ayanokōji-kun," Horikita said, flipping a page of the book she was reading.
"Two reasons," I said, showing Horikita my index and middle finger. "First, it's fun. Second, it's fun."
Horikita sighed. "Let's just cut to the chase. What do you want to talk about, Ayanokōji-kun?"
"About the study groups. I'd like to ask if you're good with the students that Yuki, Hirata, and I had assigned to you," I answered. "We don't want our tutors to be uncomfortable with their study group, after all."
Horikita had a contemplative look on her face before she answered. "I suppose I can work with them. While they may not be as academically competent as I would have liked, I believe that they're easy to work with," she replied.
Horikita was assigned with rather inconspicuous, low-key students such as Okitani, Nishimura, Sonoda, and Makita, which worked well with Horikita's own reserved nature. The four students assigned to her would probably just follow her lead and not complain.
"Have you thought about what approach you'll take in tutoring them?" I asked Horikita, curious about her teaching methods.
Horikita gave a small sigh. "I've already prepared some materials for them, but I haven't decided on the best way to deliver the lessons yet," she answered.
"If you'd like, I'll e-mail you the outline that I'll be using for my study group. You might get something out of it," I offered.
Horikita looked at me for a moment before nodding. "That would be helpful. Thank you, Ayanokōji-kun," she said.
"That said, if any problems arise, please don't hesitate to reach out, alright?" I said, giving Horikita a smile.
The dark-haired girl turned away from me, hiding her flushed cheeks from me. "I-I'll keep that in mind, Ayanokōji-kun."
Well, I suppose that's enough of me trying to get a reaction out of Horikita.
On my end, my study group consisted of Sudo, Miyake, Hasebe, and Sakura. Yuki was displeased when Hirata assigned the two busty girls to my group but held her tongue, conceding that they fit most in my group.
That said, I probably have the easiest group to work with in terms of personalities. Sudo's already my friend, Miyake's the type to just go with the flow, Hasebe's rather calm, and Sakura's a harmless wallflower, from what little I've seen of her.
All in all, I'd imagine that the four of them would simply go along with my suggestions.
Or maybe, I'll borrow Onodera from Yuki's group to help Sudo out should he decide to doze off during sessions. He had done it before, and there's no doubt that musclehead would do it again.
I nodded my head at the thought. Yeah, that's a good idea.
11.2
After class had ended, Sudo approached my seat, a wide grin on his face.
"Yo, Ayanokōji! It's time, huh?" He said in a rather upbeat tone.
I decided to poke fun at him. "Are you sure you could survive without Onodera around?" I teased the redhead, who flushed at my insinuation.
"Wha? The hell are you talking about, man? I ain't excited because of Onodera. I'm just looking forward to spendin' time with my buddy," he replied, taking in a more defensive tone.
I snorted in response. "Whatever you say, Sudo. That said, did you finish everything I assigned to you?" I asked.
Sudo had a smug look on his face. "Of course I did! You promised to play me 1-on-1, after all. HAHAHA! It's time for me to take revenge on you," he declared.
Well, I did promise to play basketball with him. That's just how to incentivize Sudo to do something—appealing to his interests. Unluckily for him, he'd probably get embarrassed as I've become adept at playing the sport.
But I'll let him live in his bubble for a little while longer.
Sudo then tapped the boy who was seated in front of me, Miyake Akito, another member of our study group. "Oi, Miyake! Say something, dude," he encouraged.
Miyake turned his head to Sudo, his face showing a little annoyance, but the magenta-haired boy didn't act out on his annoyance and decided to just sigh. "Not everyone can be as loud as you, Sudo."
Sudo sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh yeah. Sorry about that. Hope ya ain't uncomfortable or somethin'," he apologized.
Miyake shrugged. "It's fine. I just got startled," he replied, fixing his bag.
As the two other boys in my study group engaged in light conversation, I spotted the two other members of the group looking in our direction, hesitant to approach.
Having noticed them, I sent a wave in their direction. "Sakura, Hasebe," I called out to the two.
"We're probably better off just heading out of the classroom. I'm sure they'll follow us," Miyake suggested, his eyes darting across the room.
Ah, that's right. Hasebe and Sakura tend to minimize their own presence, finding themselves uncomfortable with most of the boys in the class.
After all, they were two of the bustiest girls in class and had found themselves being the topic of many perverted conversations between some of the boys. And by boys, I meant Yamauchi and Ike.
In fact, Hirata and I seemed to be the only boys that they'd willingly talk to, and that's probably just because we're leading the class, and well, I did score a lot of brownie points from the girls when I stopped Yamauchi and Ike's perverted plan during swim class.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go," I said as I stood up from my seat and headed to the outside, the two other boys following behind me.
The moment the three of us made our way out of the classroom, Sakura and Hasebe followed suit, with the blue-haired girl, Hasebe, letting out a sigh of relief as she saw us heading out of the classroom.
"Ne, Hasebe, do you think our exit would have been flashier if I had punched Yamauchi on the way out?" I asked in an attempt to make a joke.
Hasebe let out a giggle. "I'm sure the rest of the class wouldn't care, but are you sure you want to get infected with the Yama-germs, Ayanokōji-kun?"
Yama-germs? Ah, that's right. Yuki did say that Hasebe has a penchant for making nicknames.
I just hope that when she comes up with a nickname for me, it wouldn't be as unflattering as Yamauchi's nickname.
"T-That's a little rude, Hasebe-san," Sakura's timid voice made itself known, chiding Hasebe for the nickname she made for Yamauchi.
I shook my head in amusement. "Considering the things that come out of that guy's mouth, Hasebe's nickname for him might as well be his actual name," I joked.
Hasebe beamed. "See? See? If Ayanokōji-kun thinks the nickname fits, then it must have been awesome!"
"All things considered, I'd say Hasebe's nickname for him is polite," Miyake said, joining the conversation.
Sakura let out a small smile, but it quickly faded as she adjusted her bag strap. "Um, Ayanokōji-kun, where are we going?" she asked.
"Let's go to the library. You guys probably want some peace and quiet, right?" I suggested.
"Mhm!" Hasebe nodded.
"I'm up for it," Miyake said.
"Eh, sure," Sudo shrugged.
"You sound bored, Sudo. Want me to call Onodera to make you more energized?" I said, teasing the redhead.
"Wha? Hey! Don't throw me to the wolves, man!" Sudo complained as he noticed Hasebe having a certain glint in her eye.
"Are you and Yano-chan dating, Sudo-kun?" Hasebe asked, aiming to extract every bit of information she could get.
Sudo raised an eyebrow. "Yano-chan? Who the fuck is Yano-chan?"
"Booo. You have a crush on a girl but don't even know her name," Hasebe teased. "Onodera Kayano, does that ring a bell?"
"Don't treat me like a dumbass," Sudo grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.
"She might as well be right, seeing as you're the only one out of the five of us who failed, Sudo," I chimed in.
"Hey, don't knock me down! My failure is a reflection of your skill as a teacher, ya bastard!"
"If I didn't teach you stuff, you'd be lucky to score 15," I countered.
"Fuck off!"
I shook my head at Sudo's reaction while the others looked amused at our banter.
"No swearing, Sudo-kun!" Hasebe jokingly chided Sudo, acting as if she were his mother.
Sudo clicked his tongue in annoyance but did not say anything to aggravate the situation. I'm a little proud of him. He truly was growing up right before my eyes.
"Ne, ne, Miyacchi," Hasebe called out to Miyake, who turned his head in her direction. "I'm surprised that you turned up. Didn't you have club or something?"
"Ayanokōji talked to me about it during lunch. I was convinced to take time off, seeing as the Archery Club's a bit lenient about attendance," the magenta-haired boy replied, shrugging.
"Heh, straight to the point as usual, hm?"
"I see no point in delaying the conversation," Miyake then turned his head to Sudo. "How about you, Sudo? You took time off, too, right?"
"It's not like I have a choice, and Ayanokōji isn't that bad of a teacher," Sudo replied.
"Not that bad of a teacher?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I got you from the level of an elementary schooler to almost passing a high school test in less than a month."
"H-Hey! Stop reminding me about that!"
"Yeah, yeah. Enough about you," I said, dismissing Sudo and turning my head to Sakura, who was walking behind us. "Sakura, are you a part of the photography club or something?" I asked, attempting to include her in the conversation.
"E-eh? N-no, not really. Why do you ask, Ayanokōji-kun?"
I shrugged. "Yuki and I saw you buy a camera last month. I just thought you were part of the photography club or something. I'm sorry for that assumption," I replied.
"A-ah. I don't really mind, Ayanokōji-kun. I just... like taking pictures, I guess," she revealed in a low tone.
"That reminds me!" Hasebe exclaimed, and then pointed a finger at me. "It's been bothering me for quite some time now, but are you and Yukicchi dating? You guys are on a first-name basis and hang out all the time."
Yukicchi? Why would you even add more letters to her name? Yuki's a rather short name, you know?
Sudo snorted. "More like dating her and Matsushita at the same time," he chimed in.
That's just far from the truth, you dumb musclehead.
And with that, I slapped the back of Sudo's head, leading him to wince in pain.
Hasebe had a rather disgusted look on her face as she heard that. "Is that true, Ayanokōji-kun? Boo! You're worse than scum if that's true," she said teasingly.
Upon looking at the face of the blue-haired girl, it seemed like she wasn't actually mad at me, which made me let out a sigh of relief. I'd rather not have the dynamics of our study group be ruined by a misunderstanding, after all.
"Cut me some slack."
Hasebe simply giggled, and with that, our group continued walking in the direction of the library.
Haaah... for someone who's normally reserved, Hasebe sure does feel quite chatty.
11.3
Much to our collective relief, we found a good spot in the library, one located at the corner most part of the library, which would make it easier for us to go around our business undisturbed. After everyone had settled into their seat, I took out some papers from my bag and began to distribute them to the rest of the group.
"Ne, Ayanokōji-kun," Hasebe said, her eyes showing a mischievous glint to them. "Are you really sure you and Yukicchi aren't dating?"
"Drop it already, Hasebe. You've asked that question like ten times before we got here already," Miyake said, sighing.
... It seemed like Hasebe just wouldn't drop a topic when high school romance was involved.
"No, we're not. We're simply close friends," I replied for the nth time.
"You sure?"
"Why are you so invested in my relationship status? Do you want to see if you have a shot or something?" I replied, turning the tables on the blue-haired girl, who flushed at my insinuation.
"Wha-wha?! N-no! Not at all!" Hasebe replied, waving her hands in front of her.
"You sure don't miss, Ayanokōji," Miyake shook his head and turned his head to Hasebe. "Guess you got what you deserved," he said to the blue-haired girl.
I decided to end this intermission, and with a single clap, I easily captured the attention of the four.
"Enough about that. Now that we're here, we should make the most of our time and begin our session," I said before pulling out my phone and opening the clock app. "The papers in front of you serve as a preliminary indicator of where your academic levels are as of the moment, and it covers pretty much all the important stuff from the lectures. I'll give you guys twenty minutes to answer this test, and we'll have a ten-minute break after that," I explained.
"These are way harder than the last time, man," Sudo pointed out.
"You should be happy that it's harder," I said, shrugging. "That simply meant I'd acknowledged your improvements academically because I would have given you a different paper if you were significantly lagging behind," I said, earning a sheepish smile from the redhead.
"YOSH!" Sudo cheered before picking up a pen.
"Not too loud, you idiot. We're in a library," I chided him.
With that, silence engulfed our group, the only sound emanating from our table being the movement of their pens. As for me, I decided to use my time looking through my phone and checking the e-mail Horikita-senpai had sent me.
Student Council work sure was hard.
Before I knew it, 20 minutes had passed, and with that, I collected the papers of the four and immediately began marking their answers.
It didn't take me long to mark their papers, having memorized the answers to my memory, and with that, I faced the study group, who were waiting for my words.
"This... is interesting. Hasebe, Miyake, if I didn't see both of you answering at the same time, I would have thought the same person answered these papers," I said, noting the nearly identical scores from the two. "Both of you did well in science and math, but both of you did almost as bad as the other in Japanese language and history."
Miyake shrugged. "We've noticed that too. But that's just a coincidence," he replied.
"That reminds me. I haven't really seen either of you hang out in class, yet Hasebe already has a nickname for you, so I assumed you guys are close. What's with that?"
I suppose I should have asked more from Yuki about the relationships between the rest of our classmates, as that would be beneficial in figuring out which people mesh best with.
"Miyacchi and I are on the loner side of things, so it would be awkward for us to talk in class, you see?" Hasebe replied.
"What she said," Miyake replied in agreement. "Well, the two of us coincidentally met up sometime after class about a couple of weeks ago, and before I knew it, we got along."
"I see. I'm glad you two found friendship in each other," I said, nodding my head. "But now, let's get back to the topic."
As my eyes once again darted to Miyake and Hasebe's answer sheet, I couldn't help but mentally pump my fists—which would be out of character for me to do outwardly, so I'll just do it mentally— because the near-similarity between Hasebe and Miyake's academic abilities would provide me with an easier time calibrating a study plan for them.
"Let's move on to Sakura," I said, turning my head to the... I haven't noticed this before, but Sakura has pink hair. Thankfully, dealing with Ichinose had stopped my prejudice against pink-haired girls, so I could pretty much talk normally to Sakura now.
"D-Did I do bad?" Sakura curiously asked, probably because I paused in the middle of my talk. Sorry, Sakura.
"Ah, not really. I just noticed how your scores are balanced all throughout," I replied. "You're not bad at any subject, but you're also not particularly good at any subject too. Well, it's not like you're at any risk of being expelled, so you can rest easy in that regard."
"T-Thank you, Ayanokōji-kun."
"But that being said, I'm also not allowing you to stagnate, so let's work together in improving yourself, alright?"
Upon seeing Sakura nod, I turned my head to Sudo. "As for you... I have nothing left to say."
"Oi! What do you mean by that?!" The redhead complained, not liking the tone I took with him.
"You didn't study the math worksheets I sent you, Sudo."
"A-ah. I'm sorry about that," Sudo replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "But c'mon, man. Tell me about how I did in general," he urged.
"If this were a real test, you'd be expelled by just a point," I bluntly replied.
The redhead sighed. "Yeah, I get it. I'm still not good at academics," he admitted.
"But who said anything about you staying at this level?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm more than certain that you'll easily pass the midterms once we're done with the study group."
A grin found its way onto Sudo's face. "You mean that?"
I nodded my head. "Yep. I'm not letting any of you fail the test, so you guys better remember that I'll be doing my best to teach you. But I also expect you guys to work on the things you need to work on, got it?"
The four of them nodded.
"But before anything else, we should first discuss how we'll go about with the study group moving forward. I'm thinking of having us gather every school day before the midterms so that we can make use of all the time we have till then. Are you guys fine with that?"
Sudo nodded his head. "Yeah. I'm willing to sacrifice some club time if that means I could get to stay in this school."
Miyake shrugged. "As I said, the club isn't that strict with attendance, so I'm in. But I'll have to consult with our club adviser first," the magenta-haired boy then sighed. "Ah, who am I kidding? He'd probably not care either way."
"I-I really don't have anything to do after school... so I'm fine with it," Sakura answered timidly.
As for Hasebe, the blue-haired girl seemed like she was weighing her options as she didn't immediately give an answer.
"Can I ask for one thing before I answer?" Hasebe finally spoke up, her earlier cheery demeanor not present on her face. "Are we just going to study normally? I don't really like studying, but I can pretty much pass exams with no problems. Of course, I understand the value of being in a study group, but I'm honestly just here because Miyacchi said it'd be worth my time."
I sent a thankful nod to Miyake before thinking over Hasebe's words.
It seemed like she was a less-repulsive Horikita in terms of attitude, as she preferred to be alone rather than mingle with a lot of people. In fact, she had just said that the only reason she even turned up was because of her one friend in the class, Miyake.
"Unfortunately, I still don't have the ability to instantly transfer information to another person, so we'll have to study normally, but with some new mnemonics to make stuff easier to digest."
Hasebe giggled. "Yukicchi is right. You really suck at jokes, Ayanokōji-kun."
Now, that's just rude.
That said, if Hasebe decides she doesn't want to take part in the study group, I would willingly let her go. It wasn't like she was doing horrible academically like Sudo. Even in her weaker subjects, Hasebe was able to pass, so that's not much of a problem.
"But, I suppose there's no harm in joining a study group. You guys seem cool, anyway," Hasebe said, smiling. "Miyacchi's here too!"
Upon hearing her words, Miyake raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd back out since you're not exactly eager to get involved with guys. Kind of weird coming from you, isn't it?"
"Eh, Ayanokōji-kun is cool. He's the one guy who stopped Yama-germs and Hickey from trying to do perverted stuff. Sudo-kun helped him out too, so they're both good in my book. Sakura-chan and I could relate to a lot of stuff, so there's that," Hasebe replied, shrugging.
Did she just use Hickey as a nickname for Ike?
I definitely do not want to mess with her. Who knows what nickname she'd come up with for me if I ever pissed her off.
Sudo guffawed after hearing Hasebe's nickname for Ike. "Hi-Hickey?! Alright, that's actually pretty good. You're a cool girl, Hasebe!"
Hasebe beamed. "Naturally! I'm a prodigy at giving nicknames, you know?"
"I don't think you'd be laughing once Hasebe figures out a nickname for you, Sudo," I replied in a dry voice. "Who knows? She might call you Su-chan or something."
Upon hearing my words, a certain glint appeared in the eye of the blue-haired girl.
Oh, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry, Sudo.
"It seems like you also have some talent in giving nicknames, Ayanokōji-kun!" Hasebe praised. "Hm, but that's not the perfect nickname for Sudo-kun. Ah, I'll think about it in a couple of days."
Sudo glared at me. "Try calling me Su-chan, and I'll really kick your ass," he threatened, although I could see that he wasn't mad at me, just embarrassed.
"Kick my ass, and Yuki will book you in a meet and greet with God himself," I joked.
Sudo's face visibly paled at that. "I-I'll pass on that. Tsubaki's really scary."
I chuckled at Sudo's words.
The redhead, after all, developed a certain wariness for Yuki after the one time I tasked the blonde-haired girl to keep an eye on Sudo during one of our tutoring sessions.
"Eh? What do you mean by that, Sudo-kun? Yukicchi's really nice!" Hasebe said in defense of Yuki.
"She is, but that one time when I dozed off during studying, I heard her reciting about how to boil a person alive. It's the scariest shit I've heard, I tell you!"
So that's the reason why. You sure are something, Yuki.
Hasebe giggled. "Shouldn't have dozed off then," she replied.
"Enough about that," I said before standing up and picking up more papers. "Before we formally start our study group sessions, I'd like you guys to answer these sets. They're not too difficult, but they should still be useful in helping you guys remember stuff."
After handing them some more papers, the study session continued for about two more hours before we decided to call it a day.
11.4
About a week or so had passed since the study groups had been formed and begun operating, and as for my study group, I was happy since they were able to do quite well in our sessions. While Miyake and Hasebe still struggled with Humanities subjects, they were gradually improving. Sakura was improving bit by bit, and Sudo... Sudo's actually gotten to the point where he was able to pass some of the easier sample tests.
We also crafted an efficient and flexible schedule for our group. Instead of the usual 3-5 session, we were able to agree on stretching it to 3:45-5:45 to allow Sudo and Miyake to participate in their club while also keeping up the study group.
Aside from that, we've also agreed that if we were able to finish everything in less than the allotted time, we would be able to dismiss the session earlier. Quite frankly, this was just designed as an incentivizing tool, as people generally are more motivated to do things if there's an incentive to them for doing so.
But of course, I made sure that they remembered that I'd only allow it if I saw that they were doing their best and not just finishing up earlier so that they could go early.
That said, our study group has one more member for today, as I had decided to borrow Onodera from Yuki's group.
Onodera was more than happy to join my study group for today, as she did get along with the people in my group. As for Yuki, she was willing to let her charge go so long as I told her about the progress between Onodera and Sudo.
Women and their fixation on brewing romances...
"Is Su-chan blushing?" Hasebe spoke up, teasing Sudo, who was flustered upon my announcement that Onodera was accompanying us for today's session.
"Su-chan?" Onodera asked, tilting her head.
Ah, that's right.
Aside from our group's commendable progress in terms of academics, the five of us had gotten more comfortable with each other.
Of course, Sakura, Miyake, and I were still more reserved, but the five of us had gotten used to each other.
And one of the consequences, at least for Sudo, was the fact that the nickname "Su-chan" caught on, with Hasebe now referring to him as such.
Again, I'm really sorry for your misfortune, Sudo.
"Just a cute nickname that Ayanokōji-kun came up with, Yano-chan!" Hasebe chirped. "Su-chan always gets flustered and annoyed when he's called Su-chan, so I kept calling him Su-chan," she explained.
"You're such a pest, Hasebe," Miyake said, sighing.
"Hey! That's just rude, Miyacchi!"
Onodera giggled. "You guys sure are getting along well, but I think I'll stick with calling him Sudo-kun," she replied. "I think he might just die out of embarrassment if I called him Su-chan too."
"You annoying fuckers should really drop that stupid nickname," Sudo grumbled, his message directed at Hasebe and me. "It's not manly!"
Don't lump me in with Hasebe. I simply came up with the name, but she's the one abusing it.
"Is that so?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I think men who are accepting of more quirky names are cool, though. What do you think, Onodera?"
"Yep! Men who don't take themselves too seriously really are the coolest guys," Onodera replied in an honest tone that made me inclined to believe that she did not pick up on my teasing.
Sudo looked at the swimmer with a surprisingly bashful look. "I-is that so?" He asked.
"Totally!"
Hasebe and I shared a look, one that said: Sudo's definitely crushing on Onodera.
"It's not that I mind the nickname, but couldn't you at least come up with something cooler? My granny's been calling me Ken-chan ever since I was little, and I do kind of want a more mature nickname," he admitted.
Hasebe giggled. "I'll think of one! But that'll have to wait for later. Ayanokōji-kun really fried my brain with all the humanities worksheets he gave me. He's a sadist," she said, pouting.
"I-I'm pretty sure Ayanokōji-kun simply wants you to improve, Hasebe-san. H-He doesn't seem to be the type to torture people," Sakura replied in my defense.
You're such a sweetheart, Sakura.
"I know that Sakura-chan," Hasebe replied, patting the bespectacled girl's head. "But seriously, Ayanokōji-kun is such a taskmaster sometimes. I couldn't deny the results, though."
"How much of a taskmaster is Ayanokōji-kun?" Onodera asked.
Hasebe replied with fake grimace, "He's a massive one! I remember he gave me this many stacks of papers to go over," she extended her hands in an exaggerated manner to emphasize the amount. "But I can't deny it helped out a lot. He also included mnemonics on the material to make memorization easier."
Onodera chuckled. "So he's pretty much like Yuki-chan in that regard, then. Yuki-chan would give us a lot of material to go over, but most of those are study tips, so they've been really helpful," she replied.
"E-eh? Yukicchi's like that as well?" Hasebe asked, raising an eyebrow before turning her head to me. "The two of you definitely are meant for each other," the blue-haired girl said, staring at me.
Since when does a similar teaching style constitute romantic compatibility, Hasebe? That doesn't make sense.
"You're not the first to say that," I replied, sighing.
Hasebe nudged me. "Then what are you waiting for? Date her already!"
"Just for that, Hasebe, I'll be giving you more worksheets today," I replied, leading to Hasebe's eyes widening.
"Wha-what?! Have some mercy, Ayanokōji-kun!"
I decided to ignore Hasebe's pleas and continued walking. Soon, we found ourselves in front of the library, and after opening the doors, I noticed that there were more students present now compared to when we started with the study group. There were some familiar faces, like the second-year students in Hirata's soccer club, as well as some of the third-year allies of Horikita-senpai.
As we passed through the crowd, some of them even greeted me, owing to my now elevated status as the Student Council Vice President, which, I suppose, put me third in the student hierarchy, just behind Horikita-senpai and Nagumo-senpai.
"Walking with the Student Council Vice President sure does have its downsides," Hasebe muttered, clearly uncomfortable with all the attention.
"Don't be like that. It's beneficial to have friends in high places," I joked.
"Fufu! Don't mind if I take advantage of you then," Hasebe replied, smirking.
"That just sounded inappropriate," I replied in a dry tone.
"Wha-what?!"
As I scanned the room for empty seats, I spotted Kushida with her study group. Well, they've begun studying here as well since about five days ago, having grown tired of studying inside one of the cafes in Keyaki Mall, so it wasn't a surprise to see them here.
Kushida immediately noticed my eyes on her group and promptly sent us a wave, which I returned with a nod.
"Look, it's Kyō-chan!" Hasebe said, pointing in Kushida's direction.
"We know, Hasebe. We have eyes," Miyake replied.
I shook my head at their interaction and continued scanning the library. To my relief, there was still a spot for us to sit in.
The six of us then settled at our table, with Hasebe and Sakura sitting on each of my sides, and on the other side sat Miyake, Sudo, and Onodera.
Miyake seemed to have gotten the message as he sat at the leftmost edge of their side, leading to Sudo and Onodera sitting next to each other.
"Ne, Ayanokōji-kun, do you think it's about time for us to change locations? The library is starting to get stuffed, you know? And didn't you say we could, like.. study anywhere?" Hasebe asked, her eyes scanning the room.
Miyake nodded his head. "To be honest, I'd like a change of scenery too. It's getting too quiet and tense here," he said.
"Ah, I apologize about that. But I do hope you'd be able to bear with the setup a little longer," I said apologetically. "The reason I kept our sessions here in the library is that Kushida's study group had decided to hold theirs in the library too."
"If you don't mind me asking, what does that have to do with us being here?" Miyake asked.
"Well, I kind of owe Kushida for agreeing to tutor Yamauchi and Ike, so I decided to keep an eye on them if ever they try to cause trouble," I explained. "You guys know just how unrestrained those two idiots are."
Hasebe's eyes widened in realization. "That's right! Poor Kyō-chan has to deal with those dirty boys."
"I suppose I could understand that reasoning," Miyake replied, turning his head to the table of Kushida's study group. "Those two guys don't have any semblance of social decency whatsoever."
Sudo let out a sigh. "I might get along with them, but I also don't trust them to not do stupid shit. If it weren't for Ayanokōji, they'd probably be worse than what they currently are."
"They could get even worse than what they are?" Hasebe asked, scrunching up her nose in disgust. "They're disgusting enough as they are."
Sakura, ever the sweetheart, spoke up to calm Hasebe down. "W-well, at least they're not harming anyone," she replied.
"For now, that is. I don't even understand why Sudo-kun is bothering to get along with them when he's one of the cool guys now," Hasebe replied, sighing.
Sudo sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, before Ayanokōji and I became buddies, those two didn't hesitate to befriend me, so even if they're like that, I'd like to think of their good sides. But I do hope I'd be able to make them see their wrongs," he said.
"You sure do have your moments, don't you, baka Su-chan?" Hasebe teased the redhead, who glared at her in annoyance.
"Fuck off, Hasebe."
"H-Hasebe-san, stop teasing Sudo-kun like that," Sakura chided the blue-haired girl.
Hasebe smiled at Sakura. "It's fine, Sakura-chan! Su-chan and I are just getting along, you know?"
"I t-think you should try to be a little nicer to him."
"Waaah! I love you so much, Sakura-chan! Your pureness really reenergizes me whenever I see it," Hasebe exclaimed, standing up from her seat and hugging Sakura from behind.
Speaking of the pink-haired girl, she was flushed at the sudden contact initiated by Hasebe.
"You sound like a perverted uncle, Hasebe," I said teasingly.
"I didn't hear anything!" Hasebe countered childishly, rubbing her cheeks with Sakura's own.
Well, it's not like I disprove their friendship.
Hasebe's growing comfort towards Sakura led to her dragging the reserved pink-haired girl into our group discussions, which eventually led to Sakura growing a little more comfortable in speaking with the rest of the group.
I supposed being placed in a group where people basically just go along with anything helped her gradually come out of her shell.
"Your study group really is fun, huh, Sudo-kun?" I heard Onodera ask Sudo, who was slightly flushed at the tomboy-ish girl initiating a conversation with him.
After a couple of minutes, I cleared my throat to grab their attention. That's enough pleasantries already, and well, I've gotten enough material to share with Yuki since Sudo and Onodera seemed to have a lot of fun talking.
Heh, to think Sudo had it in him to ask Onodera for a friendly swimming race, reasoning out that swimming was a good way to increase his gas tank, which would help him out in basketball.
Those sports science books that I've been summarizing for him sure did come in handy.
Good going, Sudo!
"Well, since everyone seemed to already be settled in, let's start with our session. I'm going to change up the routine for today, as you've already answered enough worksheets already. For today, I'll be giving you condensed notes that cover all of the stuff that you've gotten wrong in our previous exercises. That way, you guys would be able to realize where you went wrong," I said before giving four sets of notes to the four.
Having said that, I turned my head to Onodera, who was looking at me expectantly. "Yuki had told me a rough estimate of your academic skills, but it'd be best for me to evaluate you myself. Here's a worksheet for you to answer. You have 40 minutes to answer all of them," I said, picking up another bundle of paper that had been stapled, which I handed to Onodera.
"Can our sessions be like this all the time, Ayanokōji-kun? These seemed way more fun than worksheets! You even used cute colors to make the notes easier to understand," Hasebe gushed as she observed the notes I gave her.
Thanks for the compliment, Hasebe.
I did work hard on figuring out another way of going around this study group setup. With that, I decided that for today, I'll be giving them some refresher sets with detailed, but easily digestible tips.
I also went out of my way to craft it in a way that would rouse their motivation. For example, in Sudo's set, I made the explanation easier to digest by presenting basketball-related analogies to make him more interested in reading.
It was similar to how I summarized the sports science book I gave Sudo, and as you can see, Sudo actually learned something from it, having already used his learnings to ask out Onodera.
"That's just for today, so you guys can be motivated in studying stuff since you'd realize that you're able to actually understand the topics. We'll be back to answering worksheets tomorrow. I hope you'll be ready for more humanities questions, Hasebe," I replied.
"Boo!"
I shook my head in amusement.
While Hasebe seemed to complain at every turn, the girl actually did her best to keep up with the study group, and at this point, her complaints were more of attempts to lighten up the mood.
11.5
After about ninety minutes of studying, the six of us decided to head out early since they were done with the materials that I had given them.
This gave us a thirty-minute allowance, which we used to basically just waste time.
"Su-chan seemed too focused on studying earlier, didn't he?"
As expected, Hasebe did not let go of the chance to tease Sudo.
The brash redhead, with Onodera's presence, was more focused on studying compared to how he had performed since we started the study group. It really seemed like Sudo wanted to send a message to Onodera that he was a guy who was willing to better himself despite his limitations.
It was pretty admirable, to be honest.
"I just don't want to fail anymore, that's all," Sudo muttered.
Onodera patted Sudo's back. "That's really cool of you, Sudo-kun! I remember when I first saw you studying with Ayanokōji-kun... you had a hard time answering basic algebra, but now? You're able to answer some of the intermediate problems."
Upon hearing Onodera's praise, the redhead flushed.
"W-well, that's just normal for athletes, right? If we don't have the desire to improve, we'd be left in the dust," he replied.
Onodera nodded. "Mhm! I really admire you for that, Sudo-kun."
And as expected, Onodera was oblivious to the impact her words had on Sudo. After all, Onodera Kayano is your textbook kind and friendly girl, a stark contrast to her tomboyish appearance.
"Well, I suppose I can't knock on you for wanting to improve yourself, Su-chan. Good job!" Hasebe said, smiling.
Hasebe sure does have her moments.
While she's normally reserved, or in the case of our study group, a bit too bubbly and sometimes pesky, Hasebe is capable of reading the room.
"Thanks, Hasebe. You're alright when not trying to be a pest," Sudo replied, throwing a veiled insult at Hasebe.
"H-Hey! I have my moments, too, you know? Baka Su-chan!"
"Can you just drop the Su-chan? I'm fine with you giving nicknames, but just not that one."
"Hmm... fine! But you better thank me for my benevolence, fufu! What to call you... what to call you..." Hasebe put a finger up to her chin, probably thinking of a new nickname for Sudo.
"Oh! Since I already have nicknames for Yano-chan and Miyacchi... I should think of nicknames not for you but for Sakura-chan and Ayanokōji-kun as well!" Hasebe exclaimed, clapping her hands.
Please don't call me anything embarrassing, Hasebe.
"What's up with the nicknames anyways?" Sudo grumbled.
"Well... I like making nicknames for people that I'm comfortable with, and I'm comfortable with you guys! That's all there is to it," Hasebe replied.
"And well," Hasebe trailed off, looking down. "This is actually the first time I'm comfortable hanging out with a group, so I wanted to give everyone nicknames to feel more familiar with you guys."
"U-Un," Sakura said, nodding. "This is a-also the first time that I'm this open with s-speaking up, so I-I'd like to get even closer with everyone too."
"Oh, you're so cuteee! That's it! You're Saku-chan now!"
I didn't know how to feel about that nickname since the other person I knew, that was called Saku-chan, was an aloof, mischievous girl.
Think of another nickname for her, Hasebe.
"A-ano. I'd prefer it if you were to call me by my first name, H-Hasebe-san. It's A-Airi."
Hasebe smiled widely. "I love you even more now! Okay, since your name is Airi, I will be calling you Ai-chan! What do you think? Oh, and call me Haruka too!"
"I l-like it, Haruka-san."
Hasebe pouted. "Waaah! That's too cold, Ai-chan! Call me Haruka-chan instead," the blue-haired girl demanded.
"Okay... Haruka-chan."
Hasebe then captured Sakura in a hug that led to a mini-earthquake of their mounds.
"AAAAA! You're the best, Ai-chan!"
Thankfully, I was genetically coded to have a blank face, so my troubled reaction to the situation did not show itself.
Sudo and Miyake, however, weren't as fortunate.
"Sudo, I feel like punching Ayanokōji right now. He's not even bothered at all," Miyake said to Sudo, who nodded his head.
"O-oi. Why are you so calm?" Sudo asked me.
Onodera chuckled. "He's with Yuki-chan and Chiaki-chan a lot. How would something like this bother him?" She rhetorically asked.
For all her obliviousness about Sudo's attraction to her, she sure does pick up on interesting things.
"That aside, are you guys cool with calling each other by our first names?" I asked the other boys in the group.
Miyake shrugged. "Sure. Mine's Akito. And well... you guys are Ken and Kiyotaka, right?"
"You know my name?" Sudo asked.
"It's hard to forget when you almost caused a scene during class introductions," Miyake replied in a dry tone.
"A-ah. My bad. But yeah, I'm cool with first names. Akito and Kiyotaka, huh?"
"Akito and Ken," I replied.
The redhead turned his head to me, grinning. "Oi, Kiyotaka. Do you think Hirata would get jealous now that we're calling each other by our first names?"
I shrugged. "Let's just call him Yōsuke, then. He said it was alright."
"I almost forgot, you two are also friends with Hirata," Miyake... err, Akito said.
"Yeah. The guy's pretty cool. Too bad he's basically trapped by his bossy girlfriend now," Sudo... I mean Ken, replied.
At that moment, Hasebe was done glomping the very embarrassed Sakura and faced the four of us.
"It seemed like you guys have decided on something," she pointed out.
"Yep. We're all calling each other by first names now."
"Good! Good! Now, for your nicknames," Hasebe paused, grinning.
Why do I feel something ominous from this?
"Since you're Ken, I'll call you Kenchin!" Hasebe declared, pointing a finger at Ken.
Ken sighed. "Beats being called Su-chan, I guess."
"I knew you'd come around, fufu!" Hasebe replied, seemingly pleased with herself.
"As for you," Hasebe looked at me, a thoughtful look making its way to her face. "Kiyotaka, huh? Kiyo-chan? No, that's not it. Kiyo-tan? No... not that either."
Please don't call me Kiyo-chan. I'd willingly bury myself alive if someone called me that.
"Ah, I got it!" Hasebe exclaimed, grinning. "Kiyopon! You're Kiyopon from now on!"
Kiyo... pon? That's offensive.
"Do I even have a say here?" I asked, sighing.
"Nope! Kiyopon is Kiyopon!"
"Haaah. Whatever."
"And you guys should call me Haruka-chan and Ai-chan as Ai-chan," Hasebe demanded.
"No thanks. I'll stick with Haruka and Airi," I replied.
Haruka pouted. "You're no fun, Kiyopon!"
"Where do I fit in this?" Onodera chimed in.
I suppose she's been ignored long enough.
"Well, you're Yano-chan already, so there's that! But hmm... you do have a point," Haruka then placed a finger on her chin before smiling. "Ah, I got it! You're going to be an honorary member of the Ayanokōji Group!"
Ayanokōji Group? Where the hell did that even come from?
"Don't go making names out of nowhere, Hasebe... I mean Haruka," I corrected myself upon seeing Haruka glare at me.
"It's a fitting name! We're in a study group, and you're our group leader. So, Ayanokōji Group, it is," Haruka explained as if it were obvious.
"Honorary member, huh? Then you guys are free to call me Kayano then," Onodera quipped.
Hasebe and I turned our heads to Ken, who was right behind the tomboyish girl.
The redhead was blushing, probably at the thought of getting to call his crush by her first name.
"Alright, Kayano," Ken replied, turning away lest Onodera... I mean, Kayano sees his blushing face.
"You pick up quick, Ken!" Kayano said, grinning.
"Well, to make our new group official, let's reintroduce ourselves!" Haruka suggested. "And since Kiyopon here is the leader of the group, he'll start."
I let out a sigh at Haruka's insistence. "Hello, Haruka, Airi, Ken, Akito, Kayano. Except for Haruka, who seemed deadset on calling me by that nickname," I paused, hearing a distinct "You know it!" from the blue-haired girl. "I'd prefer if you guys just call me Kiyotaka with or without suffixes."
Akito then stepped up next. "You guys are free to call me whatever you want, but I'd prefer if you guys just call me Akito. Haruka's nickname... is weird to hear from anyone else," he said.
"I'd die before I call you Miyacchi," Ken replied, leading Akito to chuckle.
"Oh yeah, about that. Why am I the only one with a nickname related to my last name?" Akito asked.
"Akicchi just sounds too weird. Miyacchi is miles better," Haruka explained.
I do agree with her. Akicchi sounds weird.
After a few minutes that were marred with bantering, all six of us finished reintroducing ourselves to one another, and with that, I somehow found myself making four new friends.
If someone were to tell me two years ago that I'd end up leading this life, I would have ignored them and thought of them as stupid and delusional.
And yet, here we are.
The future can truly be volatile and unpredictable.
11.6
After I separated from the newly-christened Ayanokōji Group, I made my way back to my dorm. Upon opening the door, I was greeted by the sound of someone cleaning. It took me a moment to register that it was Yuki who was scrubbing the bathroom tiles.
"Oh, hey, Yuki," I said, taking off my shoes and placing them by the door.
She looked up at me, a small smile lighting up her face. "Welcome back. You took a while, didn't you?"
I checked my watch. "Yeah, I guess I did. Sorry about that."
Yuki waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. I had some free time, so I thought I'd help you out by cleaning your room."
I leaned against the doorframe, watching as she rinsed the sponge and wrung it out. "But why the bathroom? I don't think it's that dirty."
Yuki's cheeks turned a faint shade of pink. "Oh, um... well, you never know when you might want to, uh... get intimate in there. And it's always better when it's clean, right?"
I raised an eyebrow, amused. "Is that so? You have quite the imagination, Yuki."
"What can I say? I like to be prepared." She shrugged, still blushing. "So, how did the study group go? Got any spicy scoops for me?"
I then proceeded to tell Yuki about everything that had transpired. It took a while, but I was able to tell Yuki everything from Ken somehow using his learnings from a book in picking up Kayano to the creation of the newly-christened Ayanokōji Group.
"I don't know whether to be proud of you for making new friends or be pissed that there's something called an Ayanokōji Group, and I'm not in it," she pointed out.
"That's your first comment? I thought you were just interested if there's a development between Ken and Kayano," I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Everything changed when the group was called Ayanokōji Group, okay?" Yuki replied, pouting.
I shook my head in amusement. "Since Kayano's an honorary member of the group, I guess I could induct you as an honorary member as well."
"Honorary member? I want to be the first lady," Yuki whined childishly.
With that, I flicked her on the forehead. "You sure do get worked up on the smallest things, Yuki."
"Well, you're calling Haruka-chan and Sakura-san by their first names, so I'd like some sort of distinction, you know?"
I sighed. "Fine, you can call yourself whatever title you want," I replied, seeing as I'd rather not deal with a jealous Yuki tonight.
Yuki giggled. "First lady, it is!" She declared before kissing me on the cheeks.
"You're just too much," I said, sighing. "I'll be cooking dinner now, Yuki. Make sure to finish up so you can get time to relax."
I made my way to the kitchen and opened the pantry to get the ingredients for dinner. With what was inside the pantry and the refrigerator, I decided to cook a simple meal of stir-fried vegetables and teriyaki chicken.
"Okaaay! Oh, and make enough for Chiaki-chan too! I asked her to come over for dinner," Yuki said from inside the bathroom.
"That's surprising. I thought you'd relish having me all to yourself," I said, a little louder so that Yuki could hear me.
"Oh, tonight's different! I tasked Chiaki with a rather interesting mission, after all," Yuki replied cryptically.
"A what now?"
"A mission. That's a surprise for now, so shoo-shoo, let me finish up with my cleaning in peace."
I sighed in exasperation at Yuki's words but did not protest. After all, it wasn't like she wasn't going to tell me about what the plan was.
But I'll pinch her cheeks later for being cheeky.
As I noticed the skillet heating up, I immediately added the onions that I had just chopped, stirring them until they turned translucent. Then I added the sliced chicken, allowing it to cook until it turned golden brown. I added the teriyaki sauce, letting it simmer for a few minutes until it thickened.
In another pan, I stir-fried the vegetables until they were tender-crisp. I seasoned them with salt and pepper, adding a dash of soy sauce for extra flavor.
Finally, I plated the chicken and vegetables on separate dishes and set them on the table. The savory aroma filled the room, and I felt like I was ready to devour an entire house.
"That smells so good, Kiyotaka!" Yuki exclaimed, hugging me from behind.
The blonde then leaned in closer to my ear and breathed into it, making me shiver slightly. "But I think I'd taste better."
"No doubt, but I have no interest in eating you, Yuki," I replied, turning my head to the pouting girl. "That said, get off of me. I need to wash my hands."
Yuki let out a playful groan before finally letting go of me. I made my way to the sink, turned on the faucet, and lathered my hands with soap. As I rinsed them off, I turned to see Yuki already seated at the table, eagerly awaiting the meal.
Just as I was about to join her, there was a knock on the door.
"I'll get it," Yuki said, getting up from her seat and heading toward the door.
I could hear muffled voices from where I stood, but I couldn't make out who it was. A few moments later, Yuki came back, with Chiaki following closely behind.
"Kiyotaka-kun!" Chiaki exclaimed, running up to me and capturing my lips in a kiss. As we parted, I saw a mischievous smile making its way to her face. "It's a nice greeting, isn't it?"
I nodded my head. "Yes, but you just brought me trouble," I replied, sighing at the sight of a pouting Yuki pointing to her lips.
Chiaki giggled. "Go on, kiss her too!"
"Fine," I said, walking up to Yuki and planting a quick kiss on her lips. "Are you satisfied now?"
Yuki shook her head, still pouting. "That was too quick. You have to do it again."
I rolled my eyes but leaned in for another kiss, this time lingering a little longer. As we pulled apart, I saw a satisfied smile on Yuki's face.
"That's another kiss that I have over you, Chiaki-chan," Yuki said smugly.
Chiaki rolled her eyes. "I can never win with you, Yuki-chan," she replied sarcastically.
"Of course not. I always come out on top," Yuki replied, giggling.
Except in bed because, apparently, Yuki had fantasized about me dominating her in many ways and for many reasons, including punishing her for being too jealous or whatever weird stuff that came out of her mind.
I shook my head in amusement. "Well, now that we've settled that, let's eat dinner. It's getting cold."
We all took our seats and started eating. The food was delicious, for obvious reasons, and we chatted amiably about various topics, from Student Council work to our respective study groups.
As we finished up the meal, Yuki cleared her throat. "So, Chiaki-chan, how was your mission?"
Chiaki glared at Yuki. "I really wouldn't have accepted had I known how risky it actually was," she replied, sighing.
"Well, you got results, didn't you? That's all that matters," Yuki nonchalantly replied.
Chiaki nodded but maintained her glare at Yuki. "I'm just lucky she's not as adept at sensing others like you and Kiyotaka-kun."
I raised an eyebrow at that. "What did you have her do?"
A wide smile slowly crept its way up Yuki's face. "I had her trail Kushida, of course. It's time I stomp my foot down on that two-faced bitch."
That certainly was the last thing that I would have imagined. Since when did Yuki even think up her plan?
"That's... surprising. Can I ask for the reason why you decided to make a move now?" I asked.
"Nothing much. I just wanted dirt on her," Yuki replied, shrugging.
"And judging from Chiaki's face, it seemed like she had gotten plenty of dirt," I pointed out.
Chiaki sighed. "I can't say you're wrong about that. But Yuki-chan, are you sure you want to see everything in full?"
Yuki nodded her head. "It's just a bunch of swear words. I don't care if a lot of them are directed at me."
Swear words directed at Yuki? Just what was going on with their mission?
"I suppose we should explain ourselves," Yuki began, her violet orbs staring at me. "When you told me about what Horikita-san shared with you about Kushida, I felt like it would be the best move for me to immediately act, unlike you, who decided to be roundabout and craft a scheme between both Horikita-san and Kushida."
I didn't say anything, so Yuki continued. "But I also didn't have anything to go by aside from my instincts and the stuff I heard, so I told Chiaki about it, and we agreed on a plan to observe Kushida. We covered a lot of things from her relationships in the school to her tendencies, to the places she frequents, and how long she spends time in them."
"And as a professional stalker, Chiaki is the perfect agent for the mission?" I said, teasing Chiaki, who was pouting.
"I'm not a stalker! I'm just... trained in espionage. Keiji-san was really helpful, you know?"
That's news to me. Keiji-san helped Chiaki with training her espionage skills? That should explain why I'm having a more difficult time sensing her now.
You sure are a great teacher, Keiji-san.
"Yeah, that," Yuki said, shrugging. "So, long story short, Chiaki had pinpointed that Kushida would frequent the rooftop door at around 6 PM, a rather good time if you want to be alone, considering only people with club stuff hang around school that late... and well, when we decided it was time to make a move, Chiaki had found out that Kushida had a tendency to say... very interesting things when alone in front of the rooftop door."
Yuki then sent a look at Chiaki, who took out her phone. After a couple of seconds, she laid down the phone on the table, and from my side, I could see a 15-minute recording playing from the screen.
"This was the recording from tonight," Chiaki said.
Chiaki adjusted the recording, and a few seconds later, a rather different-sounding voice that was still distinctively familiar to Kushida emanated through the phone speaker.
"Ahhh, so annoying!"
Her voice was so low that it didn't sound like Kushida at first, but I still recognized that it was her.
"She's seriously annoying! God, how irritating. It'd be better if she just died..."
"I hate how you're so popular. I hate how people still accept you despite your clear craziness, and I hate just about everything about you! Why the fuck would people sing your praises as if you weren't an insane bitch?"
"You're the worst, just the worst! Even worse than that other bitch, Horikita!"
"Yuki-chan," Kushida's voice from the recording spoke Yuki's name with such venom. "Blergh! It makes me disgusted to even play nice with you!"
I turned my head to Yuki, who seemed unfazed at what she had just heard. In fact, Yuki was actually grinning at Kushida's words, no doubt a byproduct of finding the resolve to make sure Kushida regretted crossing her.
"And then there are those limp-dick virgins! Getting full of yourselves just because I'm being nice. You're short, bad at about everything, and horrendous at talking to girls! Who on Earth would even go out with losers like the two of you? It makes me want to vomit whenever I hear you fucktards fight over me."
The three of us let out a chuckle at the obvious dig at Yamauchi and Ike.
"So gross, so gross, so gross! And why aren't you idiots drooling over that bitch Yuki instead?" Kushida sighed deeply before speaking again. "Ah, right. Everyone's just fucking scared of Ayanokōji-kun. I have half a mind to take him for myself because it's obvious he's never going to date Tsubaki. But, fuck him too!"
"Do you mind if I put Yamauchi and Ike in your study group? Of course, I mind, you dipshit! Your fake concern isn't going to fool me. Every girl, aside from me, who was assigned to lead a study group, is your close friend, so, of course, you decided to assign those useless fucks to me!"
After that, there was nothing worth noting from the recording, and about 3 minutes later, the recording ended.
"You know what? I don't feel bad for her handling Yamauchi and Ike now," Yuki said in a cold tone, probably angry over the fact that Kushida had off-handedly mentioned how she thought I was never going to date Yuki.
"Are you alright, Yuki?" I asked, unsure of how the girl actually felt.
Over the past month, Yuki was more vocal about her jealousy and other negative feelings, but after our conversation when we were about to be interviewed for the Student Council, Yuki had begun to be more subdued and, dare I say, trying to be more mature and rational.
While it wasn't perfect, I could see the slight development in Yuki, and her answer to my question will provide me with a hint of just how much she had grown.
"Of course not," Yuki replied, clicking her tongue. "But what am I going to do? Lash out? I don't want to remain an unstable girl who's unable to do things without clinging to someone else. While I'm still not there, progress is progress, right?"
Chiaki smiled at Yuki. "You sure are growing up, Yuki-chan," the brown-haired girl said with a chuckle.
"That being said, I'd like to ask for your help with this one, Kiyotaka. I need another card that would cinch in what I had in store for Kushida," Yuki said.
"What would you want me to do?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Tomorrow, I want you to trail Kushida yourself, but at the last moment, reveal yourself to her," Yuki answered, a shadow of a smile making its way to her face.
"Why?"
"You'll know when you're there."
"That's not helping at all, Yuki."
Yuki stood up from her seat and gave me a peck on the lips. As the blonde-haired girl pulled away, she stared straight into my eyes and gave me a smile. "Don't worry, Kiyotaka. I'll be backing you up from the shadows."
I let out a deep sigh. "Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in where this would lead. I'll do it."
"Thank you, Kiyotaka," Yuki replied, smiling. "But I suppose Chiaki-chan and I should leave now. Curfew's in a few minutes, after all."
I nodded in agreement. "Right. Take care on your way back."
"But before that," Yuki paused and took another kiss. "Hehe! See you tomorrow, Kiyotaka!" Yuki said before exiting the room.
Now, it was down to Chiaki and me.
"Heavy stuff, wasn't it?" Chiaki rhetorically asked.
"You don't say?"
Chiaki giggled before kissing me on the lips. As she pulled away, a smile crept up on her face. "This is our little secret, okay? Don't tell Yuki-chan."
I shook my head in amusement as I watched Chiaki leave the room as well.
As I sat alone in my room, I couldn't help but think about the task that Yuki had assigned to me. I was both curious and apprehensive about it. What could Yuki possibly have in store for Kushida that required me to trail her? And what was the significance of revealing myself at the last moment?
What a headache this was turning out to be.
Well, if worst comes to worst, I think I can bail myself out.
End of Chapter
A/N: Thank you for reading Chapter 22 of Shokugeki no Kiyotaka! (JK, but the whole cooking scene was fun for me to write)
That said, this was quite literally the hardest chapter for me to write thus far because of how many plot points I had changed when making this chapter. I admit I'm a little anxious because of how the tone of the chapter suddenly changed near the end.
Well, it started off very wholesome, and well... the end was... something.
Two scenes are being set up next chapter:
1. The implied conclusion to the Kushida Problem - Well, I'd like to spoil everyone here that Yuki's plan isn't to expel Kushida. She has more sinister plans than that. With how Kushida practically assassinated her character, you know damn well that Yuki's making her pay for it.
This plan showed a fun twist (for me) where everything turned out to be Yuki's machinations. I decided to go this route to give everyone a glimpse of how Yuki actually is when she's independent of Kiyo.
Unlike Kiyo, who would draw out his plans if he saw no urgency in doing it, Yuki's much more proactive in her approach. Kiyo is still the better schemer of the two, but Yuki's a wildcard that, in time, would provide a fitting complement to Kiyo's machinations.
But... I might be lying (jk).
2. The Horikita Confrontation - This was supposed to happen in this chapter, but I'm afraid that the scene might end up forgotten along the way as this chapter has tallied 11K words, so I decided to push it to the next chapter.
I hope you guys look forward to this because the dynamics have drastically changed from canon. Here, Suzune looks up to Kiyo and, in a way, is interested in him. Manabu, on the other hand, all but anointed Kiyo to be his successor as SCP. So the dialogue, the mood, and the aftermath would diverge from the material.
But well... the more things change, the more they stay the same, or so they say.
Now onto the other key points.
What do you guys think of my version of the Ayanokōji Group?
I decided to advance the Sudo-Onodera subplot as I saw Onodera as an effective way of realistically advancing Sudo, and well, I actually want Sudo to grow up earlier in this fic.
To clarify, Onodera isn't part of the Ayanokōji Group. Haruka had just whimsically declared her an honorary member since she took part in one of the study sessions, and she got along with her.
What do you guys think about Yuki's development?
I decided to expand upon Yuki and Kiyo's conversation in chapter 8 (roughly 3 weeks in series time), where Kiyo had explicitly told Yuki he would never fall in love with her unless she straightened up.
The explanation in this chapter is pretty much why Yuki was more subdued in Chapters 9 and 10. So yes, Yuki's still a freaking yandere, but she's lucid yandere, if you may.
Chiaki's a freaking ninja now?
When you learn shit from a high-ranked military man (which Matsuo is, in this story), who's also a good teacher, you pick up on things. And let's face it, Kushida isn't Kiyo. There's no way for her to detect Chiaki when she's in the zone.
It's just my head running wild, but hey, I'm hoping you guys liked that development. Chiaki's been pretty neglected in this volume compared to the earlier ones, so we'll give her some use.
That said, I do hope you guys appreciated the humor I sprinkled into this chapter. I had loads of fun writing the fluff and the insults.
Yama-germs? Hickey?
See you in the next chapter!