Classroom of the Elite: The Eroge

by LanceSennin

When Ayanokouji Kiyotaka wished for something that can interest him in his new school, he didn't think it would be something like this. After waking up with some weird texts appearing around him and finding out that he is some kind of 'Protagonist' with the power of raising 'Flags', will he be able to survive what's about to come his way? Inspired by SaintInfernalNeos' fic.

17. Sidequests Lead to More Flags!

500 followers? Hell yeah, let's breathe more life into this archive one step at a time. Next stop, 500 favorites!

Do yourselves a favor and follow this link. Just remove the dashes and you'll get it. It's crucial for this fanfic, trust me.

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

---

Sakura Airi never considered herself as a person who loved reading books, even though her glasses could sometimes give the impression of it to other people. However, ever since she began to study with Kiyotaka and Kei weeks ago, reading books has become somewhat akin to a habit by now. Not that she liked to open a book and read its contents, but it was clear to her now that in order to keep up with everyone else, she had to study.

And despite her most recent success in passing her midterms (it still felt so surreal to her), Airi knew that she would have to work even harder for the upcoming finals. The old her would have been discouraged at the thought because studying was just tiring to do but now that she had a taste of how things would be like if she worked hard to prepare for an exam, there was no question that she needed to do this.

That's why, even on a Sunday where she could be doing anything else, the red-haired girl was heading to the library instead. She was actually going to return a couple of books that she borrowed the past week, which were all stuff that Kiyotaka recommended her to read so she could prepare ahead of their study sessions in the future. Afterwards, she would then read a few reference books in order to pass the time and to study in advance.

If Airi had to be honest with herself, she didn't think that she improved much; her academic ability was still below-average that it's almost a miracle that she even passed, and Mathematics was as hard as ever for her. She doubted that she would ever be good in that subject.

Feeling a short burst of confidence from within her, Airi donned a serious look that one would never see from her.

"Everyone is working hard to get good grades…" she thought to herself while hugging the books she borrowed close to her chest. "It only means that I have to do the same…! I don't want to drag my classmates down with my own shortcomings. I want to be better than before!"

While she was on her way to the library, the girl passed by the bathhouse that opened in the school a few weeks ago, which was apparently named, "Heaven on Earth".

Ever since the first time that she tried out the public bath, there have been two other instances where she went back to the place to experience the onsen again. Honestly, she couldn't focus much on the first time that was here because of Kiyotaka's presence and the fact that he… washed her back.

Airi blushed deeply upon remembering that memory. She honestly had no idea what compelled her to agree to such an embarrassing arrangement. Looking back on it now, she definitely should have refused politely!

Maybe she was just too overwhelmed by everyone else saying 'yes' that she couldn't say otherwise?

Anyway, what's done is done and there's no use in wondering what could have been. In the end, it wasn't even a bad thing. Ayanokouji-kun was really good in the whole thing and thankfully, his hands didn't wander anywhere inappropriate.

"No! I'm only making it worse…!"

Airi shook her head to get the memory out of her mind right now. The more she thinks about it, the more it'll bother her and at worse, she'll continue avoiding him out of embarrassment.

Speaking of which, she'll have to apologize to Kiyotaka soon! Every time he tried to talk to her ever since that day at the Heaven on Earth bathhouse, she ended up staying away from him as much as she could. Mostly out of embarrassment, though.

"Haaauughhhh, I have to apologize to Ayanokouji-kun tomorrow! We have to study together again soon, and I don't want to keep avoiding him…"

She'll apologize tomorrow, perhaps during class and hope that Kiyotaka forgives her for being cruel to him…

With that out of the way, Airi continued on her way to the library. Before she could fully walk past the bathhouse though, she saw a person being led away by three other individuals to what seems like the back of the establishment.

Just from a single glance, it's clear that there were no good intentions behind the act because the two of them were grabbing the other student by his arms, preventing any means of escape. Their other comrade, who was seemingly the leader of their little band of misfits, pulled on their victim's collar as they headed for the space behind the Heaven on Earth sentō.

The three students were facing away from her, so she couldn't identify who they were. However, the other one, who was their victim, wasn't. Because of that, she was able to see the face of the person who was getting dragged away without a fight. Yes, despite wearing glasses, they weren't actually real which also meant that Airi had no problems with her eyesight.

"That's… Miyake-kun?"

Being someone who gets nervous and stutters in the presence of other people, Airi didn't have the luxury of having many friends. In fact, the only people she would consider as 'friends' were Kei and Kiyotaka. Sure, she had been around Horikita, Kushida, and even Matsushita a few times, but she wouldn't say that they were her friends… she wasn't even sure if they liked having her around or simply tolerated her presence.

Nonetheless, it didn't mean that she had no idea who her classmates were. Airi had a decent knowledge of the people whom she spends time with as a student of Class D everyday. While she wouldn't say that she could name every single person off the top of her head, she can recognize them when she sees their face.

Because of that, she was able to recognize the individual as her classmate, which immediately caught her concern.

Of course, she couldn't just shout out her classmate's name to get their attention and there's no way she was going to run up to the three and stop them in their tracks. Instead, what she did was run quietly to the entrance of the bathhouse, hiding behind the wall so that she wouldn't be seen.

"What are they doing to him?" Airi thought with a look of worry on her face as she took a little peek at the group of young men who had unknown but surely bad intentions in mind for her classmate.

Meanwhile, the magenta-haired student of Class D bore a frustrated look on his face. He didn't think that his morning would end up like this. A few minutes ago, he was just enjoying a morning jog around the campus in peace with nothing bothering him. And then, out of nowhere, three guys who introduced themselves as students from Class C blocked his path and refused to move even after telling them to.

He was completely caught off guard when one of them kneed him in the gut, causing him to fall over on his knees in pain. He then felt two of them grab each of his arms while the other grabbed his collar from behind, before dragging him with them.

Akito had no idea why these guys were even doing this and what they wanted with him but one thing was for sure…

His day won't end without a trip to the clinic.

After recovering from the pain in his gut, Akito took a quick look at his surroundings in an effort to figure out where he's being taken to, and he was very fortunate that the nearby building was a place where he had been to before.

However, he wasn't being taken there for a trip to the onsen or anything. Instead, he was dragged to the back of the bathhouse where he was slammed to the wall and received another knee to his midsection, earning a loud groan from him.

"Get him up," the 'leader' barked at his classmates, as they grabbed the fallen Akito and forced him to stand back up. "That's better."

"Why don't you just tell me what you want instead of doing this?" Akito asked his captors as he struggled to regain his bearings.

"What we want? We want you to shut up and not say anything," the one holding his right arm said.

"I regret a lot of things, but I don't remember doing anything to you. The hell are you three even angry about?"

"You don't need to know anything. Just stay where you are and take your punishment like a man," the one on his left added.

"Smart. Doing this in a place where you can't be seen by anyone else," Akito remarked, noticing the lack of security cameras around him. "You can still stop this, you know? Just let me go and I'll let this slide. I'll even forget that it ever happened."

"You're right. You'll forget this ever happened… because we'll make you forget!"

The leader reared his fist back for a punch, only for him to get kicked away when Akito raised his leg.

"I warned you."

While his two other captors were caught off guard for a moment, Akito took advantage and broke free from their hold. He didn't waste time and pushed one of them to the ground, before engaging the other one in a fistfight.

Surprisingly, Akito looked like he was capable of defending himself by landing some good punches on his adversary's chest, before kicking him away. He did this in the nick of time, because their 'leader' had quickly recovered and tried surprising him from behind, but Akito dodged it.

Before he could take advantage of his opportunity, he was struck in the neck by a massive chop by the Class C student whom he had pushed to the ground a while ago. Left in a vulnerable state, he received a solid punch to the gut followed by two more body shots, causing him to fall to the ground.

In his current state, Akito couldn't do anything against the Class C students when they began to stomp on him and kick at his fallen body. All that he was capable of doing right now was staying where he was, and taking every hit that these guys were inflicting upon him.

Hiding behind the nearby wall was Airi, who couldn't believe that things had escalated into this. Seeing her classmate get dragged back here was one thing, seeing him get beaten up and left completely outnumbered was another.

She was wondering why those other students were even doing this in the first place. Did Miyake-kun do something bad to them? Did he do something unpleasant? Or were those people just trying to hurt him for the sake of hurting him?

The girl covered her mouth to stifle a gasp when she saw him get kicked in the face.

Oh, how badly she wanted to jump out from where she was and help, but she couldn't. One, she was too nervous and afraid about doing such a thing and the consequences that it would lead. Two, even if she wanted to come out of her hiding place and catch them in the act, Airi couldn't feel her legs at the moment… as if she was paralyzed.

"I… I can't stand here and watch…!"

Left with no other choice, the redhead pulled out the camera that she brings with her everywhere, before hitting the record button.

If she can't help him by stopping those other students, then she'll do this to ensure that they won't get away with harming her classmate!

Back with Akito and the Class C delinquents, they continued to kick and stomp at the magenta-haired boy for about ten full seconds before stopping for a moment to look at their work.

Low groans were the only things that came out of Miyake's mouth afterwards. He could still move, but the pain was still too much for him at the moment so he remained in his place. Oh, and he could already tell that one of his eyes is going to be swollen after this, because one of their kicks got him good in the face.

"Hehe. Did you really think that you had a chance, Miyake?" one of his adversaries said arrogantly.

Despite the agonizing pain that he felt everywhere, Akito still managed to flash a little grin. "H-Hardly. It's three-on-one… you three can't even take me one-on-one."

That quickly got under the skin of the other Class C student. He grabbed Akito by his collar and dragged him back up, forcing him to support himself on his feet.

"The hell are you saying, punk?" he grabbed the beaten boy's collar, and brought him closer.

Airi continued to record the scene that was happening before her, but that didn't stop her from praying for Miyake's safety. The state he was in was already bad enough. Miyake was eye-to-eye with his enemy now, only a few centimeters apart. The other student looked as though he was going for the kill, but Akito looked back at him with a defiant glare.

"You three… are cowards."

The Class C student was furious, but "I'd choose my words carefully if I was you, Miyake. You might not be able to say anything at all when we're—"

He was cut off from his words when Akito reared his back and delivered a massive headbutt to his jaw, causing the teen to let go of the beaten boy as he quickly nursed his jaw.

"You talk too much," Akito snorted, putting up his fists in a sloppy stance before punching the other two students who were concerned for their classmate after that headbutt.

"Please run away, Miyake-kun!" Airi shouted in her mind out of worry. She didn't know how, but her classmate managed to sneak a decisive blow that gave him an opportunity to retaliate. But instead of running away as he should have, he stayed right where he was and prepared to fight.

"You've done it now!"

Akito was unable to react in time to defend himself against a joint attack that targeted his stomach, forcing him to cough uncontrollably while kneeling over in pain. He was then kicked away, sending him rolling a few meters.

And so began another barrage of stomps and kicks from the Class C students who were now angrier than ever. They put in a lot more strength in their legs, completely eliminating any possibility of Akito fighting back with how relentless they were this time. They even added some punches to the mix, kneeling down and slugging the poor boy in the face a few times.

About a minute later, they finally stopped their assault.

"That's enough," the 'leader' told his classmates after getting a good look at the state that Miyake was in. "I'm sure he learned his lesson by now."

The magenta-haired boy couldn't move at all for a few moments, because his body was hurting all over. Bruises appeared all over his skin, and some parts even began to swell. His lip started bleeding as well, but he was still conscious and aware of his surroundings..

Despite that, Akito was still able to say something, although it came out in a low and raspy voice as a result of the beatdown he received.

"Is… that what you all think? I… did something wrong? Remind me… who dragged me all the way here again… and beat me up for no reason?" he asked, managing to assume a sitting position despite the pain in his upper body. Akito also began to laugh, as if he was amused with how these people conducted their train of thought, like the bunch of idiots that they were.

One of his adversaries didn't like the sound of what he said and prepared to give the poor boy another beating, but was stopped by his classmate.

"No, don't fall for it. That's all he can do right now, anyway," the 'leader' told his classmates before looking around if someone saw them. Fortunately for them, nobody was around and it didn't seem like no one was coming out of the building's back door. Still, it didn't mean that they should remain in this place. "We better get out of here."

The two other students with him nodded. After taking one last look at Akito's pitiful state, the three hurried out of there before they could be seen. The magenta-haired student of Class D couldn't do anything but watch them run away, and it's not like he could even do something in the first place.

From her hiding spot, Airi heaved a huge sigh of relief. She was just about to panic when those other students said that they were leaving, fearing that they would notice her and realize that she had been recording them the whole time. Luckily, they ran away in the opposite direction, which brought a great sense of relief to the girl.

Now that they were gone, Airi stopped recording and turned her attention towards Miyake, who managed to drag himself to the wall of the establishment, leaning against it while groaning in pain.

She could come out of her hiding spot right now and help her classmate, perhaps by wiping the blood from his mouth and nursing a bit of his injuries.. Or she could leave now and continue on her way to the library. She already recorded what just transpired, so her job was finished. She could just walk away and not look back, leaving Akito here…

Between leaving and helping her classmate, Airi chose to do the latter.

The girl emerged from her hiding spot and quickly approached Akito, kneeling down to his level. The boy seemed to have recognized who she was and looked relieved upon seeing her. Airi quickly brought out a hanky that she brought with her and wiped the blood off his lips. She turned her attention to the bruises on his body, but didn't have an idea on how to deal with injuries… so all she could do was kneel there, completely unable to help her injured classmate.

"I'm so useless…! I can't even help one classmate out of his misery!" the girl cried in her thoughts, feeling displeased with herself and how she couldn't do anything while Miyake was in pain.

However, she wouldn't have to stare at him helplessly for very long.

"Is someone there?"

The back door of the building then opened as a man walked out, looking confused. The man was sure that he heard various voices back here and wanted to check if there was something going on outside.

At first glance, Airi quickly recognized him as the person who owned the establishment from her past visits to this place, and she was quickly filled with immense joy. She would be able to help Miyake-kun after all!

Tomose, who was the owner of the Heaven on Earth sentō, then turned his head to see Airi and her classmate who was leaning against the wall in a pretty bad state. "Woah, what the hell happened to him? Is he alright?" he asked out of concern.

"P-Please… Please help him," Airi pleaded with teary eyes.

---

It was the start of the month, and the start of many things for Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. It's the start of a new month of school, a new month full of headaches, a new month of exams, but most importantly, a new month of receiving their designated point allowance from the school administration.

He was currently walking to class with the girl who recently became his roommate last Friday, Amasawa Ichika. Unlike him who was wearing the official school uniform, Ichika wore a purple hooded jacket over a simple pink shirt, along with pants and white sneakers. All in all, she had a casual appearance compared to the students of the school, which was fitting for her status as a 'guest'.

"Senpai, are you excited for today?" Ichika asked the young man walking beside her.

"It depends on what you mean by 'excited'," he answered in his typical monotone voice.

No. He was not excited. He could never be excited for another day of headaches, but it's not like he could do anything about it.

This day was also gonna be worse than many other days, for sure… considering the revelation that came into light last week that involved his 'growing' relationship with three of his classmates. Kushida, Matsushita, and Karuizawa all took turns kissing him in front of their classmates, not caring even if they were caught in the act.

It only showed that those girls were romantically interested in him, not that he didn't know that already, but their classmates were a completely different story.

Actually, he wouldn't be surprised if the whole school now knew of what happened. With how talkative his classmates can be, they might as well announce it through the intercom that Kushida, Matsushita, and Karuizawa kissed him and let the whole school hear of it.

"Excited to see your girlfriends again after the weekend, I mean~" Ichika teased.

"They're not my girlfriends. We see each other practically everyday, so there is no need to get excited about anything," he sighed.

Well, they weren't his girlfriends yet, that's for sure. But they will be, eventually. It was still a question how would he be able to convince his heroines of a harem ending, especially when Kushida is so possessive of him, but it's what the system wanted, right?

"Come to think of it, none of them have sent me a message or called me since last week… not that it bothers me, but I wonder what they're up to. They've been strangely quiet since Amasawa arrived…" he thought.

Yeah, now that he thought about it… it is weird that none of the girls have contacted him at all ever since the past Friday.

Ever since he started high school here, there has never been a day where one of his heroines didn't contact him through a simple message or a call. The girls who did so the most were Kushida, Horikita, and Karuizawa. But none of them did either of those things throughout the weekend.

He had no concrete reason as to why that was the case. The most likely one though would be that they are planning something and they were keeping it a secret from him. Another would be that they are suspicious of Ichika because of her… actions towards him last week and now they want to investigate her.

Of course, in the end, he might just be worrying for no reason. It's not like it was a requirement for those girls to call or text him everyday. The situation simply made him curious, is all.

"If you see them everyday, then why don't you date one of them, senpai? You spend most of your time with them, and most of them have kissed you already like Kushida-senpai, Karuizawa-senpai, and Matsushita-senpai~"

"I can't and don't want to go out with one of them," Kiyotaka shot down Ichika's suggestion as quickly as it came out.

Ichika's smile widened out of interest. "Oh? Is it because you don't want to hurt one of them?"

"Think what you want," he deadpanned, although he knew full well that what his kouhai said was true.

"Senpai, there's an easy solution for that, you know?" the girl giggled for a few moments before sending him a wink. "Instead of dating one of them, why don't you just date all of them? That would solve your problems, wouldn't it?"

"If only it were that easy," he sighed.

Although his knowledge about dating simulators and visual novels wasn't that vast, Kiyotaka knew that a 'harem route', or an ending wherein every girl wins and no one gets rejected, was possible. He was completely sure that the system itself wanted that harem ending, simply because of its overpowered skill that activates whenever his heroines are sad.

The only thing is, how exactly would he be able to pull that off in real life, with his own heroines. Not to mention, Kushida would immediately reject that notion because she's possessive and wants him to herself. Karuizawa also has a possessive streak but thankfully, she's not crazy like Kushida.

He can't say the same for the other girls, but it's clear that they also wouldn't accept him going out with multiple girls at the same time. While cases of romancing multiple girls in real life could happen, it was looked down on generally.

At the moment, he had no way of working towards that end goal.

After they reached the classroom a few minutes later, both Kiyotaka and Ichika became the victims of everyone's attention. The young man expected this, and could only hope that it's not as bad as the whole school knowing… but it still sucked that he was now the center of attention.

His heroines were already there as well… Horikita, Kushida, Matsushita, Karuizawa, and Sakura were all staring at him. He was never one to get nervous from other people, but when you have four girls (Airi is still pure of heart, thank God) who are all staring at you with unknown intent in their eyes, it was hard not to.

Despite that, Kiyotaka still knew that he had to go to his seat because he didn't want to stay here and stick out like a fish out of water. Maybe if he sits down, his classmates would just ignore him and go about their business… at least he hoped so.

At the same time, his four heroines stood up from their seats and began to walk towards him. He was already preparing to be interrogated by them because they must have lots of questions. Plus, they were surely waiting for the whole weekend to be over for this to happen, right?

"Well, so much for hoping. This is gonna be a long conversa— huh?"

Much to his surprise however, the girls ignored him completely and went straight towards his roommate instead, who was sitting right next to the door.

They all surrounded Ichika, possibly with the intention of asking his roommate about who she is and her… actions last Friday.

While he was confused at his heroines' behavior since they just ignored his presence as if he wasn't there, Kiyotaka wasn't going to comment on it. This was a clear chance for him to be left in peace for as much as he can before another shitstorm takes place…

However, he wasn't going to be left alone so easily.

"Ayanokouji! What the hell was with that girl last Friday?!"

Rolling his eyes to himself, Kiyotaka turned his head to see that his least favorite classmate was stomping over towards him with a look of anger and pure jealousy on his face.

If Kiyotaka was an impatient man, Yamauchi would have had his face caved in long ago.

"Girl? You're gonna have to be specific, Yamauchi," Kiyotaka replied in the calmest tone that he could muster at the moment.

"Don't play dumb with me! I'm talking about that cute girl who hugged you last week! There! By the door!" he yelled, pointing towards Amasawa before donning a look of confusion. "What was her name again?"

A heavy fist then came to smack Yamauchi in the head, causing a massive bump to appear and causing the poor guy to begin nursing his little injury while letting out a few tears of pain.

"Her name's Amasawa, dumbass. You can't even remember a girl's name because your attention changes almost every second," Sudo scowled at him dangerously.

Kiyotaka turned his attention to his red-haired friend. "Is there something you need from me, Sudo?" he asked, wondering if their resident basketball player was just here to save him from Yamauchi… or was he here for something else?

Sudo immediately turned his attention to his friend. "Ah, I just wanted to ask you something, man."

"I wonder what it could be…" Kiyotaka thought to himself sarcastically. "What is it, then?"

"Are you really not dating one of those three girls? I was really surprised when Kushida kissed you, but then those other two girls did the same. And I don't know, but for some reason, I really expected Horikita to do the same…" asked Ken, genuinely curious about the whole situation unlike Yamauchi who demanded answers. "I always thought you two were the closest, you know?"

Kiyotaka stared at him for a moment, before realizing that his friend was just curious and wondered if he could have an answer.

"That's because Horikita isn't like Kushida and the other girls," Kiyotaka said in his thoughts. He honestly felt bad for her, if he had to be honest. "She only found out that it's normal for friends to hug each other a few weeks ago."

"Oh no, not Horikita too! I'll die if Ayanokouji keeps on stealing girls from us!" cried Yamauchi as he held his head in despair.

Ken sent him a look of disgust. "You're pathetic."

"At least it's just these two…" the young man sighed in relief as he stared at his two classmates.

"Ayanokouji-kun! I have a question for you!"

*THUD!*

Kiyotaka let his head hit his desk hard, knowing that yet another wave of headaches was about to take its hold on him.

"It was too good to be true…"

Several of his classmates then began to form a little crowd around him with curious looks on their faces. It's clear that the question that was in all of their minds was related to last week's events.

"Hey, no fair! I wanted to ask him first!

"Ask him later! I want to know what's his relationship with Kushida-san, Karuizawa-san, and Matsushita-san!"

"Well, I wanted to ask him about Amasawa-san! He seems close with her and they even arrived together!"

"You're forgetting about Horikita-san! He's always around her, isn't he?"

"We can just ask him together!"

"Uh, girls? I think you're making Ayanokouji-kun uncomfortable…" Hirata said as he approached the females and tried to stop them from bothering

Well, at least he was trying to play peacemaker.

Meanwhile, right next to the door, the roommate of Kiyotaka found herself surrounded by four of her senpai's classmates, and all of them didn't look like they were going to introduce themselves or anything.

In fact, they didn't look happy at all. Kushida, Horikita, Matsushita, and Karuizawa all looked pretty serious about something, and the scarlet-haired girl knew exactly what it was. She hid her knowledge behind an innocent-looking smile, of course.

After all, she knew exactly how her actions from last week affected these girls.

"Is there something you need from me, senpais?" she asked, feigning innocence.

Suzune was the first to speak, putting on her usual cold expression. "Nothing big. We simply have some questions that we want you to answer, Amasawa-san."

Ichika smiled and bowed her head politely. "Then by all means, ask away, senpais. We don't have much time until sensei arrives, do we?"

Kei didn't waste any time and decided to go straight to the point. "What's your relationship with Kiyotaka?!" she asked, sending a fierce glare towards Ichika.

Despite being entirely on the same side, the girl's classmates can't help but look at the blonde girl in complete surprise. Did she really just refer to Ayanokouji using his first name…?

"Wow, Karuizawa-senpai. I didn't know you call senpai by his name now~" Ichika teased.

Kei continued to glare at the younger girl. "How I call him is none of your business. Now answer me!"

"My relationship with senpai?" Ichika mused as she thought of what to say to them. "Well, you can say that I know him very well… but what happened last Friday, that was actually the first time I've met him."

"First time you met him?" the blonde asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "What, does that mean you've just been following him around?"

"Hmm… I guess you can say that? I've only heard of him at first, but it developed into an interest that only grew bigger as I learned more about senpai. I was really pleased when I got sent to this school, because I heard it's where senpai is! I'm happy now that I'm finally here and that I got to meet senpai for myself."

"What exactly do you know about Ayanokouji-kun?"

"Ah, ah, ah, Horikita-senpai~" Ichika wiggled her finger in front of Suzune. "What I know about senpai is strictly confidential. If you want to know more about him, then you'll have to ask him yourself."

"I have a question for you, Amasawa-san. If you don't mind?" asked Kushida, a blank look present on her face.

If she had to be honest, Kikyo wanted nothing more than to grab the younger girl by the hair right now and demand answers regarding her connection to Kiyotaka, but still remained calm… at least as calm as she can be. It was taking every ounce of her to not drop her mask and lose her cool.

"What do you want to know, Kushida-senpai?"

"Why did you hug Ayanokouji-kun last week?"

"I suppose that's the only question that matters, isn't it?" Ichika remarked, earning frowns from all four girls which caused her to chuckle. "Hmm, I wonder though… is hugging my senpai a bad thing? I was just so happy about finally meeting him and I wanted to express my joy by hugging him."

"Did it really have to involve tackling Ayanokouji-kun to the ground as if you are claiming him for yourself?" asked Chiaki, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Can you really blame me for feeling happy to see him, Shameless-senpai? I was just so excited that I couldn't help myself…"

Chiaki blinked several times in confusion. "Shameless?"

"Don't think I don't know, Shameless-senpai," Ichika smirked, sending a cheeky wink towards the brunette. "I know that you were Ayanokouji-senpai's first kiss."

"W-What about it?" asked the brown-haired girl, feeling a wave of nervousness wash over her because her instincts were telling her that this girl was bad news…

"I also know how you kissed him the first time~ I have to say, just thinking about it makes me really envious of you because I want to do something like it!"

Chiaki was unable to prevent a blush from taking over her features, which was something that has never happened before. She was always so calm and composed that nobody could catch her off guard but this time, Chiaki couldn't stop herself from feeling embarrassed.

She had no idea how Amasawa found out about that, but she wasn't going to comment on it… otherwise she might get caught red-handed if she slips up.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Amasawa-san."

Ichika giggled, finding it funny how Chiaki could still deny the truth. "If you wish to keep lying to yourself, Shameless-senpai, then I won't try to convince you."

Matsushita couldn't do anything but look away, completely left silent because she didn't want to be embarrassed any more.

Kikyo clenched her fists, finding it even harder to stay calm and keep her mask up in front of this girl… she didn't know why, but Amasawa was just pissing her off with that smug look she had on her face.

"Still… you didn't have to hug him like what you did. Ayanokouji-kun was hurt when you pretty much tackled him to the floor!" Kikyo cried.

"If you were worried about that, then I apologize. I didn't mean to hurt senpai, you know~?"

Kei's frown deepened, her suspicion regarding Ichika growing more and more. "Why are you really here, huh?" she asked.

"Whatever do you mean, Karuizawa-senpai?"

"Like, why were you sent here in the first place? Why aren't you a student instead? Why do you have to be some kind of 'VIP guest' here?"

"Not even I can answer that, Karuizawa-senpai. I was just told that I'll be sent here one day and that's it. It wasn't my choice that I'm not a student here, either. The chairman and the administration makes that decision, right? I was just told that I'll be a 'guest', and nothing more."

Kei let out a "Tsk!" before looking to the side. She was completely sure that there's some kind of special reason why Amasawa was here which would explain why she was here, but she was wrong. The younger girl made some pretty good points, especially about having no knowledge regarding the reason she was here.

After all, she did arrive with the school chairman himself last week… when Chairman Sakayanagi invited Kiyotaka to his office to talk about why Amasawa knew him but then again, it was only because she apparently knew him and wanted to know why.

Of course, Amasawa could be lying about being here without any clue as to why, but Kei had no proof of that.

"Why did you walk to class with Ayanokouji-kun? It seems like your relationship with him is more than just a kouhai and senpai," asked Kikyo, finally letting go of her calm look to narrow her eyes at the younger girl.

"Oh my… I think I can see where this is going…" Ichika said in mock realization, before giggling in amusement. "You are all jealous of me, aren't you?"

Kei narrowed her eyes at Ichika as well. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You four all approached me with questions about senpai. They were all about my relationship with him and what I did last week. I think that's enough to say that you're jealous and curious about me~" Ichika continued to laugh, before shaking her head. "Don't worry, though… it's not like I'm planning to take senpai away~"

Matsushita kept her gaze elsewhere out of embarrassment, while Karuizawa and Kushida continued to glare at Amasawa. The only one who remained unphased was Horikita, who only stared at the scarlet-haired girl with her usual cold look.

"And what makes you so sure about your claim?" asked Suzune, speaking up for the first time in several minutes.

"Horikita-senpai, I know that the three girls with you have kissed Ayanokouji-senpai last week," Ichika remarked. "I saw it with my own eyes and it was amusing. I'm honestly confused why you didn't kiss him too, Horikita-senpai."

For what seemed like the first time, the expression on Suzune's face changed and was replaced with a look of uneasiness, as if she wasn't expecting such a thing to come out of Ichika's mouth.

"W-Why would I do such a thing?"

"Don't tell me you haven't realized it yourself, Horikita-senpai. It's quite obvious that you also harbor feelings for Ayanokouji-senpai."

Upon hearing that, Suzune immediately folded her arms and looked away with a blush in traditional tsundere style.

"Ridiculous. Do not assume such things, Amasawa-san. It would cause misunderstanding with other people," she huffed as Kushida, Karuizawa, and Matsushita stared at her in confusion.

"You can be as stubborn as you want, Horikita-senpai~" Ichika chuckled. "But I can see and notice things a lot better than a normal person could."

"Your words are preposterous," Suzune said stubbornly, continuing to deny Ichika's words, causing both Chiaki and Kei to send her a deadpan look.

If Kikyo had to be honest, despite hating Suzune's guts for being a thorn in her side, she couldn't help but shake her head in disappointment.

"I wonder why she's even hanging out with Ayanokouji-kun if she's like this…"

The world may never know.

---

The bell would ring several minutes later, and everyone immediately went back to their designated seats. Chabashira-sensei walked into the classroom with her usual aura of seriousness that always intimidated most of her students.

And intimidate them, it did.

Today was the first day of the month, after all… the day where they'll be receiving their monthly point allowance. While everyone had a feeling that there would be an increase in their point allowance, that didn't mean there couldn't be a decrease if they do anything to make their teacher mad.

"Good morning, everyone. You all look nervous. Any reason why?" Chabashira-sensei asked her students, noticing how almost all of them looked restless for some reason.

Believe it or not, the woman had begun to act like a proper teacher to her class ever since they proved themselves to her after the success of their first midterm examination.

When someone was misbehaving in her class, Sae would now go out of her way to scold that person and give him/her a proper lecture to ensure it doesn't happen again.

One could say that she was doing it for her own sake, by ensuring that their class points would not go down at all… however, since it's her students who were also benefiting from being scolded by learning from their mistakes, it could be said that it's a win-win situation for both parties.

"Sae-chan-sensei! Did we increase the points that we'd have for this month?!" asked Yamauchi, wanting to know if their efforts bore fruit or if it was all for nothing.

"Oh, so that's why you all look nervous?"

"We worked hard this past month, sensei. We passed the midterm too! No one's been late or absent, and I don't think we've created that much noise in the classroom during classes… or have we?"

"Don't just jump to conclusions, you idiots…" Chabashira sighed while shaking her head. Her class may have improved, but they still had moments of idiocy most of the time. "But you're correct, Ike. You have all worked hard in the past month, and I recognize that. The school shares the same sentiment."

After being reassured by their teacher, a lot of the Class D students let out a collective sigh of relief upon learning that their efforts weren't put to waste. Although now, they were wondering just how many points they received from the past month alone…

"Well then, without further ado, here are the classes' point totals heading into June."

Similar to last month, Chabashira-sensei brought out a rolled-up poster and put it up on the board for everyone to see.

Class A - 982

Class B - 726

Class C - 532

Class D - 212

All of the classes had nearly 100 more points than last month, except for Class D apparently. Every other class received a good amount of points and while Class D remained at the bottom of the class hierarchy, it had the most significant change… adding 115 points to their already-established 97 points from last month.

"Strange… all the other classes earned less than 100 points but in our case, we exceeded that…"

Strangely, Horikita Suzune's attention wasn't directed to their total points and how they were faring in their quest to reach Class A. Instead, she was more focused on the difference between the four classes of their year in terms of how much they received. Something just wasn't adding up in terms of how much they got…

On the other hand, Ike and most of the other Class D students didn't care about the other classes' points. What mattered for them was the question of how many points they had now, and this was it.

"212?! That's a big leap from the points we got last month!" Ike excitedly jumped up and down the instant he saw our score.

"Then this means we get 21,200 points for this month!"

"That's already a hundred times better than just getting 9,700 points! I'm glad I studied for the midterms!"

"You said it! I can survive the month a lot easier now instead of having to eat the damn vegetable set!"

"It's too early to celebrate, everyone. All the other classes had an increase in their points too. We're not the only ones who benefited from passing the midterm examination. It's more than likely that the other classes did so too."

"But we still got a lot of points. Last month, we're not even close to Class C but now, we're getting closer!"

"If being 300 points away is what you meant by 'closer', then yeah… we're definitely closer…"

Kiyotaka watched his classmates' reactions quietly. A lot of them were just happy that their total points had increased, while there were also some who were happy that they were catching up to the rest of the classes. There were even some who looked dissatisfied that Class D is still at the bottom of the barrel.

But among all of his classmates, one reaction stood out the most in his eyes.

The young man also noticed that Suzune, who was currently striving to reach Class A with his help, didn't look pleased with what they've gotten this month. In fact, there's not even a hint of a smile or a look of satisfaction on her face. All that she did was clasp her hands together and stare at the poster on the board, even narrowing her eyes in deep thought.

Granted, it would be a completely rare moment if the girl ever smiled and getting her to do so is as easy as getting her brother to acknowledge her, but Kiyotaka had a feeling that she would at least react to the positive change in their class points. And yet, there was no reaction on her face… no positive reaction, that is.

"Horikita. Are you disappointed because the gap between the classes has widened?" he asked her.

"No, that's not it. I'm curious how we received more than 100 points for this month."

The black-haired girl had all but forgotten about her earlier encounter with Amasawa along with her other classmates, and was now back to focusing on their class's welfare for their ongoing goal to reach Class A. However, she wasn't expecting an occurrence like this to happen, much less on the day where they are supposed to receive their monthly allowance.

It's not as if she wasn't happy with how much they've received this time. It was certainly a welcome change for their class, but the fact that every other class got at least 90 more points in their total class points and they received more than 100 was a strange occurrence. She didn't even need someone else to tell her that her class wasn't the most well-behaved out of them all, even though they've definitely improved from their first month.

Despite that… they received more points than any of the other classes.

Truly, a curious occurrence.

"Received more than 100 points?" asked Sudo, having heard Horikita's statement and now becoming curious about it.

Because of his louder-than-average voice, Horikita's statement had reached everyone's ears and right after it registered in their minds, they quickly took another look at the class point totals and some of them widened their eyes upon realizing something strange.

"Eh? Is it really that weird? Who cares if our class got more than 100 points? That just means we're better than other classes, obviously!"

"Better with someone like you around? You're even worse than Ike-kun."

"Oi, Ike's just as bad as me!"

"I am? Huh… maybe I am…"

"Don't agree with him, idiot!"

Suzune, right after seeing that she had attracted everyone's attention with her astute observation, simply ignored everyone's looks and continued to think about this strange outcome. Instead, someone else answered for her.

"I believe that Horikita-san is referring to how every other class received less than a hundred points for their class points for this month. If anyone here remembers the different class points that were unveiled last month, you would notice that every other class received an increase in points that are less than a hundred. In our case, however, we received more than that. We originally had 97 points but for some reason, we had an increase of 115 points, which led to us having a total of 212 points now. Am I right, Horikita-san?" Hirata explained, as he looked towards Horikita for a confirmation.

"That's correct," the girl nodded in agreement. "Just from looking at the increase in class points for the other classes, it can be inferred that the highest amount of points that a class can receive after a successful exam is 100 points. However, in our case, we indeed gained 115 class points, which is significantly more than what the other classes received."

Many pairs of eyes among her classmates widened in shock as they realized that strange occurrence, and it was indeed interesting. They began to understand how it was possible and that Suzune's words may have merit to them…

Suzune continued to narrow her eyes at the poster on the board. "No matter how you look at it, it's strange for us to receive more than a hundred points, let alone a hundred apiece. I haven't seen how the other classes work to say something like this but regardless, I don't believe our performance as a class could possibly be better than Class C, B, or A."

"Oi! Are you saying that we're worse than other classes?!" Yamauchi complained, feeling insulted by that remark because he worked hard just for their class points to increase. How dare Horikita imply that everything he contributed for the class meant nothing?!

Ken sent him a deadpan look. "You're definitely worse than them for sure, dumbass."

"I don't believe Horikita-san meant anything bad by it. I think she's simply saying that despite all of the things we accomplished by working together in the past month, we still had faults and we weren't perfect in everything we did for us to be given 100 points," Kikyo spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "Honestly, I believe her. There really is something strange about us getting more than 100 points for this month."

Actually, Suzune's explanation was already enough to convince some minds that the strange phenomenon regarding their class points makes sense. Meanwhile, Kikyo's added words regarding the matter worked on the rest of their classmates who had doubts about Horikita's little theory and didn't believe her right away.

Upon seeing Kushida speak up in Horikita's defense, Yamauchi made the wise decision to shut his mouth… as he had not forgotten the threat that the girl gave him last week… sure, that threat may be about Ayanokouji, but who's to say that it didn't apply to Horikita too?

To put it simply, Kushida could get rid of the very thing that makes him a man if he goes against her…

Anyway, since nobody cares about Yamauchi…

"Chabashira-sensei, is there a reason for this?" Suzune asked, turning to the one person who could confirm if her theory was correct.

Sae only shrugged, looking quite confused herself. "Beats me. You hit the mark right on with your explanation though, Horikita. Your performance as a class, while commendable and is a vast improvement from the previous month, I don't believe you are worthy of a hundred points being added to your total class points. It is also weird that you were given an extra 15 points for some reason but alas, I'm not one of the people who's evaluating you. I merely give my own reports regarding your behavior and performance to the administration. They are the ones judging you as a class."

"So… you have no idea why we got some extra points, Chabashira-sensei?" asked Karuizawa.

The older woman shook her head.

Seriously, it didn't make sense. Horikita was spot-on with her deduction and was correct about the highest number of points that a class can get for a successful midterm examination was 100. She was also sure of her assessment that her class didn't deserve a hundred-point increase in their class points. And yet, not only did they get a massive increase in class points, but they also got an extra 15 points for some reason…

"Well… that's actually because of Amasawa's presence," Kiyotaka said in his thoughts, as if he was answering the question in everyone's minds.

When the revelation about the class points and how everyone gets evaluated based on their behavior and performance was revealed to them by Chabashira-sensei, Kiyotaka was quick to deduce that each student was equivalent to a certain portion of the total points that a class receives.

At the start of the year, each class had 1000 points and there were 40 students in a class. Through simple Mathematics, the equivalent number of class points that one student brings is 25.

When he had that private meeting with the chairman last week, not only did Kiyotaka ask for Ichika to be given a 100,000 point allowance like every other student here, because she obviously can't live without any money to spend on. It's also obvious that a student like him who doesn't even receive a guaranteed 100,000 point balance every month can't be someone whom Amasawa can rely on.

Apparently, this was also the first time that the school accepted the instance of a 'guest' living within its premises, because outsiders are generally not allowed inside at all. But even so, Kiyotaka was fortunate that his request to the chairman was granted, and Ichika was given an ID card that's not for a student, but for a 'VIP Guest'.

But that wasn't the end of it.

Because Ichika was living with him, it also meant that she was under his care. Kiyotaka had explained to the chairman that by way of association, it effectively meant that she was also a part of Class D, despite not being a student. The main criteria being that she receives a point allowance like everyone else!

After hearing out his whole request and the proceeding explanation last week, Sakayanagi-sensei could only chuckle in amusement before commenting about how Kiyotaka was truly the 'Masterpiece' of the White Room for thinking of such a plan… before agreeing to give his plan a try.

Truth be told, his 'plan' was more of a gamble because of some unknown factors… the first being the fact that Amasawa wasn't a student. The administration might have given her the 100,000 points which was the same for any student starting here, but he had no idea if they would actually consider making her a 'part' of Class D. Another factor was that he was only a mere student making an insane request to the higher-ups, with only the chairman to vouch for him. There was no guarantee that the school administration would agree to what he wanted.

But seeing their current class points? There's no doubt that his gamble paid off. That or the system was secretly helping him in his endeavor by manipulating how things will play out. Either way, it was a victory for him.

Last month's class points + This month's increase from the midterms + Ichika's addition = 212 class points

Through this, Kiyotaka was able to kill three birds with one stone. One was the issue of handling Ichika's finances because there's no way he would go out of his way to spend his own money in taking care of someone younger than him. Another was to add a further increase to their class points in order to get closer in fulfilling Suzune's goal. That way, if she ever finds out that he had something to do with this strange phenomenon, then she can't complain about him not doing anything despite them being partners in this situation. It also leads to the third outcome, which was to gain a headstart in his 'bet' with Sae. The sooner that their class becomes the new Class A, then the sooner he wins their wager and right now, Kiyotaka was sure that he won't be losing that bet no matter what.

"Eh, so what if it's strange?" Ike asked while shrugging, earning his classmates' attention. "If anything, this could mean that the higher-ups just like us more than any other class!"

While no one really bothered to give Ike's idea some merit (except for some people like Okitani and Yamauchi), no one dared to speak up against him either. If he wanted to believe that ridiculous conclusion, then he was free to do so… but Horikita's words were more plausible and plus, their teacher herself said that the girl was right.

"Chabashira-sensei, what time will we receive our points then? Will it be in the afternoon?" asked Hirata, which was the other important question in everyone's minds that hasn't been brought up until now.

That question made everyone stop and think for a moment. Now that they knew how many points their class had, they were now thinking that it was indeed strange that they haven't gotten their allowance yet. Did something go wrong?

"Well, this time there was a little trouble. The first-year students' point distribution has been delayed. I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait a bit longer," Chabashira-sensei said while shaking her head.

The students grumbled in discontent. After finding out that their points have increased for this month, they were ecstatic. The difference between 212 points and 97 points was night and day.

"Don't blame me. This was the school's decision, there's nothing I can do about it. Once the trouble has been resolved, you'll receive your points. If there are still points left, that is."

Her last statement was enough to reassure some of her students but for a select few like Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, they could tell that there was a deeper meaning behind her words… they just didn't know what it could be.

---

Once lunchtime came around, everyone headed to the cafeteria to eat. For Kiyotaka, it was a small break from the hectic day that he was going through… especially now that he was in a place that's not only occupied by his classmates, but also students from other classes.

He was only grateful that everyone else who was in the cafeteria with them were too focused on their respective lunches or their friends to notice him. It seems that despite last week's events that transpired with his heroines, he was still safe from the attention of the entire school… although, it's not like this would last. Sooner or later, the school will turn its attention to him and when that happens, all he can do is be prepared to live with it.

That being said, his lunchtime was far from being peaceful… thanks to Ichika, Suzune, and Kikyo being at the same table as him. Kei was with her other friends, Airi sat alone, and Chiaki… was nowhere to be found. Now, he had already spent lunch breaks eating with his two classmates in the past, but Ichika wasn't anything like them.

If he had to make a quick guess, either Ichika would behave herself and eat lunch with them in peace, or she would annoy the hell out of him in some way just because.

"Senpai, you're not very popular around here, are you?" the scarlet-haired girl asked her dear roommate as she sat down at their chosen table with her tray of food.

Kiyotaka sighed to himself, knowing that even when he was being ignored by everyone else, he still wasn't going to have a moment of peace.

Yep, it's definitely the second guess he made.

Standing behind him were Suzune and Kikyo and just like in the classroom, both were frowning at the younger girl. Out of annoyance this time instead of suspicion, though. Their classmate wasn't the only one who's bothered by Ichika's presence.

"On the contrary, I definitely think it's the opposite. If you were paying attention earlier, then you'd see that I was uncomfortable with a lot of our classmates demanding answers regarding last week's events," Kiyotaka answered her as he sat down with his tray of food.

"Eh? I thought everyone was just your friend and they were asking you harmless questions," Ichika asked, feigning innocence.

Suzune shook her head in disappointment as she sat down and began to shift her focus to eating her lunch. "And here I thought you were someone who has good observation skills, Amasawa-san."

Ichika laughed to herself at the reaction that she got from Suzune. "What do you mean, Horikita-senpai?"

"What Horikita-san is trying to say is that Ayanokouji-kun is only friends with a select few people in the classroom," Kikyo sighed while shaking her head. At this point, she didn't think it was even worth it to get angry at Amasawa… she just wanted to be done with the issue and have a relaxing meal because she was hungry.

Ayanokouji just watched the ongoing interaction between the three girls with a blank look on his face. Even until now, his classmates were still at odds with his roommate. He didn't know whether to be disappointed at Kushida and Horikita for letting themselves fall for the obvious trap, or to be annoyed at Amasawa for instigating this in the first place.

Furthermore, Kikyo's words just now also caused him to wince, because it felt like an attack to his own self-esteem. Harsh as they were, but it's not like they weren't true.

"Compared to me, Kushida is popular because of how she looks in front of other people, even if she's only putting on a mask. She has an array of admirers and friends who are ready to hang out with her whenever she wants," the young man thought to himself. "On the other hand, there's me who didn't become popular because I'm kind or angelic like Kushida. It's because of everything that's happening to me that I'm now popular."

Yeah, it's truly because of everything around him that he's even 'popular'... most notably because of his heroines. No, he wasn't blaming them for his misfortunes, but they're indeed the very reason why he's a prevalent topic within their own classroom. Seriously, his other classmates couldn't stop interrogating him earlier for answers regarding his heroine's actions last week despite Hirata's attempts to help him out of his situation. They only stopped when they heard the bell ring, which caused them to return to their seats.

Right now, Kiyotaka knew that this was only a brief period of peace before his woes would continue… which is what will happen once lunch break is over and they'd have to return to the classroom afterwards.

"But if you're popular, senpai… then why isn't anyone talking to you or anything?" asked Ichika, turning her attention back to Kiyotaka as she took a bite of her club sandwich.

"Why the many questions towards Ayanokouji-kun, Amasawa-san?" Suzune asked her in return, feeling her patience growing thinner every time Ichika opened her mouth.

Amasawa shrugged. "I'm just really curious about senpai because, you know, this is the first time I'm learning about him that's not information from other people. I'm seeing him with my own eyes."

"If I were you, Horikita, I would just ignore Amasawa because you are falling for the obvious bait," Kiyotaka sighed mentally.

"That reminds me. Ayanokouji-kun," Kikyo spoke up, turning towards the young man.

Hearing his name being called, Kiyotaka watched with curious eyes as the girl blushed and thought of what she should say. He wondered what she was planning to tell him, but it was probably something regarding the class or an invitation to accompany her somewhere, knowing her…"

"Uhm… I'm sorry that our classmates kept on asking you unwanted questions earlier. It's because of me, Karuizawa-san, and Matsushita-san that everyone else didn't want to leave you alone…"

He blinked a few times in surprise, as he wasn't expecting a sudden apology from the girl. Was she regretting kissing him then? Nah, it couldn't be. Knowing Kushida, she wouldn't regret doing such a thing and she didn't even mind giving their classmates a show but why is she apologizing then?

Kiyotaka shook his head. "It's fine. I'm not angry at you, if that's what you're worried about. I do have to wonder why you chose to do what you did last week in front of everyone, though."

"Ehehe… honestly, I just felt like doing it," she laughed nervously while doing a 'teehee' pose.

Suzune frowned. "That's not a good answer, Kushida-san. It's because of you that Matsushita-san and Karuizawa-san approached Ayanokouji-kun with the same intent in mind and caused the issue to blow up even further."

"Ugh, don't remind me…" Kikyo groaned in her mind.

Of course, she didn't regret kissing him in front of everyone like she was marking her territory. It was the only way of telling her classmates to stay away from her and Kiyotaka without outright saying it. What made her feel angry is that Chiaki and Kei did the exact same thing afterwards and caused their classmates to bother Kiyotaka endlessly with their pointless questions.

"I know that, Horikita-san. But I just wanted to make a statement after what you said," she answered honestly.

Horikita raised an eyebrow. Her friend was obviously referring to when she said that neither she, Kushida, Matsushita, nor Karuizawa were dating Ayanokouji. Yet it didn't make sense at all.

"But what I said last week has nothing to do with what you did. I told Hirata-kun that none of us were dating Ayanokouji-kun. That statement applies to me, you, Matsushita-san, and Karuizawa-san. Unless, of course, you are actually dating Ayanokouji-kun?"

"W-We're not dating…" Kikyo laughed nervously. "Not yet, at least…"

Oh, how Kikyo would love it if they were dating for real… because then, she would laugh and gloat about it to Horikita. Bonus points if the bitch even cries about it, because she could smell the jealousy off of her.

It would just make expelling her all the more sweeter.

"So you're saying that you kissed Ayanokouji-kun simply because you wanted to? Or was it a way to convey what you actually feel for him?"

The beige-haired couldn't say anything more after those questions and simply remained quiet, not wanting to answer Suzune with Kiyotaka around. Those things were to be saved for when she's alone with him. Kikyo simply averted her gaze to the side, refusing to say anything else.

Fortunately for Kikyo, Kiyotaka noticed her growing discomfort and quickly spoke up to save her. "Horikita, would you lay off with the questions? First you ask Amasawa to knock it off but then you switch your target to Kushida."

"Ayanokouji-kun, aren't you curious about—"

Kiyotaka cut her off right away. "What Kushida did last week is an issue between the two of us and trust me, I've already talked to her about it. You don't have to involve yourself in it."

"Eh? But I want to know more, senpai!" Ichika interjected, looking disappointed that she won't be able to learn more.

"That goes for you as well," he turned his attention to Amasawa and sent her a blank look. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with her games as he just wanted to eat. "Whatever Kushida's reason is, it's none of your business. Stop trying to get yourself involved."

Ichika pouted, but relented in the end. From there, she remained quiet and focused on her lunch instead. She may like to tease her senpai and mess with him when she can, but Ichika knew when to stop. Pissing off the 'Masterpiece' of the White Room wasn't something she wanted to do.

Unfortunately for Kiyotaka, he wouldn't get the peace that he desired just yet. Right after he told Ichika to put a sock in it, he noticed his black-haired neighbor giving him a cold look.

He raised an eyebrow slightly. "What?"

"You seem like you've grown closer to Kushida-san and some of our other classmates," she noted through narrowed eyes.

"So what if I was?"

For a moment, he noticed Suzune narrowing her eyes even further as if she was angry about something. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared, however, and the girl went back to her usual cold expression.

"It's nothing."

"It almost seemed like she's jealous…" Kiyotaka said in his thoughts, but choosing not to comment on it any further.

---

After their afternoon homeroom was over, everyone was getting ready to leave. Another day had passed and while the students of Class D were still waiting for their monthly allowance to be sent to their accounts, they didn't ask about it again after their homeroom teacher made her statement clear regarding the issue earlier this morning.

But before anyone could step out of the room (except for Koenji, the guy was already out of the place as soon as the bell rang), Chabashira-sensei's voice boomed throughout the whole classroom.

"Miyake. I have to talk to you about something. Come with me to the faculty room," she called out to Akito, causing everyone else to turn towards the person she mentioned.

The magenta-haired teen was just finished checking his stuff when Sae called out his name. "For what reason, sensei?" Akito asked their teacher, looking confused on why he was being summoned to the faculty lounge.

"You'll know when you get there. Now, if you don't want to come with me, that's fine. However, you will face the consequences later." Chabashira-sensei folded her arms and sent a dead-serious expression to the young man, which sent him a little on edge for a moment.

"I'll go," he quickly said as he followed Chabashira-sensei out of the classroom. Before he could truly leave though, Miyake sent a quick nod in Hasebe's direction, as if he was silently telling her that he'll be fine and she should go on ahead.

"I thought Miyake was cool, but I guess he's just going to drag the class down. Wonder what he did to land himself a suspension?"

"That's kinda harsh. Maybe Sae-chan-sensei just wanted to talk to him. Plus, she didn't say anything about suspending him."

"Of course she wouldn't tell us that he got suspended! That would just be humiliating Miyake."

"Chabashira-sensei wouldn't hold back if she's just going to humiliate one of us, you know. Remember how she chewed us out last month when we almost lost all our points?"

"Oh yeah, she did… but what exactly did Miyake do, then?"

"Let's just wait until either he or sensei say something. Hasebe-san, you two are friends, right? I always see you two hanging out together."

"Yeah, why?"

"Would you mind telling us what happened with Miyake-kun if he tells you what's happening to him right now?

"I'll try, but if it's something private, I'm not going to say anything."

Kiyotaka watched the interaction between some of his classmates who were concerned with Akito's sudden departure with their homeroom teacher. At this point, they had no idea what could be the reason why he was summoned to the faculty lounge, but it wouldn't be crazy to say that he's being punished for something he did wrong. In fact, it was the most likely conclusion that everyone else was thinking.

"Do you think Miyake-kun did something wrong, Ayanokouji-kun?" Suzune asked, gaining Kiyotaka's attention as she placed her textbooks into her bag.

The young man shrugged. "I have no idea. I'm not even close to him to know what he does in his free time. But what about you, Horikita? This will require your concern if Miyake really did do something wrong and is in danger of being suspended."

"Hmm. I suppose it will." she replied, now thinking of that possible outcome and what they can do to handle it. "However, I'm a little more worried about what Chabashira-sensei said this morning."

"About our points being delayed?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. She said that there was trouble, but what exactly did she mean by it? Was she saying that there's a problem with the application that the school uses to send our points? Or did she mean that there's a problem with us, the students? If it's the latter…"

Kiyotaka shook his head. "You're overthinking things. Chabashira-sensei even said so herself, didn't she? We all worked hard to earn points for our class and even the school thinks the same. I doubt our class would be the only ones not to get any points. It's definitely the school having an issue."

"I hope you're right. Trouble directly affects our points. However, it still doesn't explain why we were given more than 100 points to our total class points for this month. "

"She can't get it out of her mind, huh? Well, I suppose the more you hide the answer from her, the more she gets curious about the issue," Kiyotaka thought to himself. "I do wonder if Horikita can figure it out on her own, though… if not, I suppose she would need a hint of sorts that can point her in the right direction."

Suzune eyed her neighbor up and down, like she was inspecting him for something. "You know, you've been quite talkative lately, Ayanokouji-kun."

"What are you talking about?" he replied, snapping out of his thoughts to look at the girl in confusion.

"You've changed. You're not the same as you were in the past."

"Would you mind elaborating?"

"When we first met, I could tell that you were quite unnerved whenever we talked, as if you were nervous about something I don't know. Even during our first weeks in this school, you were the same. However, you started to change after that. You no longer look unnerved when we talk, and you're even more talkative around other people now, whether it's our classmates or people from other classes," she explained, before a blush appeared across her face. "You've even gone as far as to… flirt with girls and kiss them…"

"Oi, in case you didn't hear it, I'll say it again. Everyone else has been kissing me, not the other way around," he deadpanned, as his thoughts shifted to a different direction. "Taking those into account, maybe I really have changed. But it's not because I wanted to. It's because of the system that I had to get used to all the crazy stuff that it can do, even if it meant wooing my supposed heroines. Then again, I can't say I regret all of this… as frustrating as this can be most of the time, I've come too far to give up on what I have. What better thing to do than to see through this until the end?"

Kiyotaka then thought about the start of his high school life, when he wished for something that could interest him in this school. Somehow, this was that 'something' and looking back on everything that has happened to him, it did make his life here interesting, even if it was at the cost of his sleep hours and his sanity… that last one was just an exaggeration, by the way.

"Did something make you change?" asked Suzune, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Well, if I had to think of a reason, I guess it's because I got used to attending this school while making some friends along the way. Before, I thought I would have a hard time making friends but so far, I think I'm managing well," he said, quickly fabricating an answer that doesn't involve what he was thinking just now.

"Your friends are mostly girls, though. I wonder why you don't have any more male friends other than Sudo-kun."

"It's not my fault that only girls have been approaching me. And it's not my fault that my dorm's located on a floor whose residents are mostly girls," he argued calmly before letting out a deep sigh. "And I can't tell you how much I wish to be friends with another guy. I can't talk to Sudo all the time, you know."

"Then maybe you possess some kind of magnet, Ayanokouji-kun. A magnet that attracts girls to you," she remarked sarcastically. "Perhaps I should warn Kushida-san and our other classmates about the possibility of you becoming a player who only plays with the feelings of the females around him."

Kiyotaka flashed her a smirk. "That includes you, right? Does this mean you actually like me, Horikita? I never would have guessed, considering how serious you are about pursuing your goal of reaching Class A."

Instead of getting angry with him as she usually would have, Suzune only blushed and hid her face from the young man, which was beginning to grow red.

"Never mind," the girl muttered, all while she was fighting an internal battle from within her mind. She thought about what Amasawa told her earlier in the morning before their homeroom began.

"Don't tell me you haven't realized it yourself, Horikita-senpai. It's quite obvious that you also harbor feelings for Ayanokouji-senpai."

"I cannot be having feelings for Ayanokouji-kun… no, I have to focus on my goal! I have to reach Class A, no matter what. These things cannot take priority! Ayanokouji-kun is a friend to me, my first friend even, but that's it! I do not have feelings for him. I do not… even if it felt wrong to see Kushida-san and the others kiss him…!" Suzune thought in an attempt to convince herself that she did not have any romantic feelings for Kiyotaka.

Meanwhile, all the way over to the office of the student council, Horikita Manabu felt the urge to smirk victoriously while he was signing some papers.

"I have a feeling that things are going well between Suzune and Ayanokouji-kun," he thought to himself in satisfaction.

---

For some reason, Horikita didn't want to go back to the dorms with him, so Ayanokouji had to go home without his black-haired neighbor by his side. That didn't mean he was alone, though. There were two other girls who were accompanying him on their way home to their respective dorm rooms.

"I wonder why Horikita-san didn't want to walk with us back to the dorms. She usually walks with us, right? Kinda strange not to see her around this time..."

"Maybe Horikita-san was just busy with something, Karuizawa-san. Or maybe she needed to go somewhere important. It's not like it's a requirement for Horikita-san to be with us all the time," Kikyo pointed out with a giggle. "Heh. I honestly like it better when that bitch isn't around. Now, if only Karuizawa wasn't here too, then I'd be all alone with Ayanokouji-kun~"

Kei chuckled in embarrassment. "Yeah, good point. It just felt a bit off for me because I was getting used to walking together with you three."

Kiyotaka thought of a possible answer to the question of why Suzune didn't walk with them as she always did but in the end, he simply shrugged it off. Kikyo had a good point about it not being a requirement for their neighbor to walk home with them. It's just that when they were about to leave the classroom earlier and Suzune told him to go on ahead without her, the girl looked completely flustered for some reason and seemed eager to get away from him as soon as possible.

Who knows what she could be thinking at that time? One thing's for sure though, he was certain that it had something to do with him… most likely what she thought of him and their relationship. Last he checked, he was halfway through the second level of Affection Points when it came to her….

"Oh, that reminds me!" Kei exclaimed, getting Kiyotaka and Kikyo's attention almost immediately. "Have you two gotten your monthly point allowance yet? I checked my balance a while ago, but I still haven't gotten it!"

"Same here, Karuizawa-san. I have no idea why, but none of us still have our points. Right, Ayanokouji-kun?"

"Yeah… the school's taking a long time to fix this issue, honestly. You would think that a school as prestigious as this would be able to deal with a simple technical issue easily, right?" Kiyotaka asked them both in a half-joking, half-serious manner.

"I agree," Kikyo nodded.

It really was strange, because a simple problem with either the point system or the service that's handling their point balance should have been dealt with by now. Plus, they were promised by the administration that they would be receiving their allowance on the first of every month! They were in the right to feel frustrated and angry about this issue.

"You think there's something wrong with the school which is why it's taking so long for them to give us our points?"

"Well, what else could be the reason? It's not like we've done anything wrong, have we? Our class points for this month says so," Kiyotaka explained to her.

"Good point," Kei nodded in agreement, but it didn't stop her from feeling impatient with this whole thing.

The three continued to walk to the dorms in peace but as they reached the entrance of the building, Kiyotaka felt his phone vibrating and quickly checked if it was a text message or a call. He was surprised to see that it was a text, and he was even more surprised to see that it was from Hasebe Haruka, a classmate whom he has not interacted with up until now.

Karuizawa and Kushida were about to step inside, when they noticed that the young man with them suddenly stopped in his tracks and was just staring at his phone for some unknown reason.

"Ayanokouji-kun, what's wrong?" asked Kikyo, raising an eyebrow at him in confusion.

"Wait a moment."

His curiosity growing more and more, the young man opened the message that his blue-haired classmate sent him and read what it had to say.

(Hasebe): Are you with someone right now, Ayanokouji-kun?

Kiyotaka raised an eyebrow at the strange question, but answered her nonetheless.

(Ayanokouji): I'm heading back to the dorms with Karuizawa and Kushida. Is there a reason why you are texting me, Hasebe-san?

…

…

(Hasebe): Bring them with you here at Miyacchi's dorm unit. We're on the 8th floor, unit 814. We really need your help, Ayanokouji-kun.

"Huh…" the young man muttered as he considered what Hasebe wanted him to do.

It looks like Akito's little meeting with Chabashira-sensei was over now and just from how Haruka wanted him to meet with them, there's no doubt that it didn't go well, even though he had no idea why she would ask him out of all their classmates. Someone like Hirata would be more fitting, honestly.

Still, it was already enough for him to decide to go up to the 8th floor just like what the girl wanted so he could find out what happened for himself. However, Hasebe also wanted to bring his companions with him…

"Would you two mind it if we take a little detour to the 8th floor?" he asked the two girls that were standing before him.

Both Kikyo and Kei raised an eyebrow at him for the sudden question.

"What for?" asked Kei.

"Hasebe sent me a message just now. She told me to head up to the 8th floor of the dorms with whoever I'm with. It seemed urgent, because we're being invited to Miyake's dorm unit," he stated, giving a brief explanation of what Hasebe wanted him to do.

"Miyake-kun?" Kikyo spoke up in surprise, not expecting the reason to be their classmate who was confronted by their homeroom teacher out of nowhere. "Did Hasebe-san say anything about what happened to him when Chabashira-sensei invited him to the teacher's office?"

Kiyotaka shook his head. "No. But I have a feeling that we'll find out when we get to Miyake's dorm room."

The blonde gyaru shrugged, before nudging her head in the direction of the elevator. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go see what's up."

After a quick trip through the elevator, the trio of Class D students walked out into the hallway of the 8th floor, and Kiyotaka immediately led the way to Miyake's dorm, following the unit number that Hasebe mentioned in their conversation.

As the three stood outside of unit 814, Kiyotaka rang the doorbell and waited patiently for someone to answer. At the same time though, his eyes widened slightly in surprise upon seeing a familiar notification pop up in front of him.

[A Special Event Has Been Triggered!]

"The system's making this a 'special event'? Wonder what it'll be about this time…" Kiyotaka asked himself while dismissing the notification.

The door was then opened by a young girl with long, blue hair that reached her waist, orange eyes, and had a well-endowed body that can be compared to the likes of Airi and Honami. She wore the same uniform as them and there was a mole visible beneath her left eye.

"Yes?" the girl asked as she looked up to face him.

"You wanted me to come here, Hasebe?"

As Kiyotaka came face-to-face with the girl whom he was speaking to just a few minutes ago, he saw another familiar sight on top of Haruka's head, which he quickly understood the moment it appeared.

[Hasebe Haruka: 'Curious yet Hesitant Classmate']

[Relationship Status: ?]

[Affection Points: 0/100]

[Heroine Summary: Haruka is a highly attractive girl in your class who is also a childhood friend of Miyake Akito, ending up in the same elementary and junior high schools together and remaining in the same classes with him ever since. She isn't very open to other people but once she befriends someone, she will go out of her way to give that person a nickname to show how much she cares for him/her. She thinks you are an interesting person and wants to know more about you but at the same time, she is hesitant about approaching you because of the possibility of you being a guy who plays with girls' feelings. However, she is now depending on you to help her friend avoid the possibility of being expelled.]

"So… she and Miyake have a history together. That explains why she's in his dorm room right now," the brown-haired teen concluded in his thoughts. "I didn't know Hasebe was curious about me, but it makes sense that she would avoid me at the same time, especially after what happened last week when Kushida, Matsushita, and Karuizawa kissed me… that would be uncomfortable to watch if I was watching myself."

"Oh, Ayanokouji-kun. You actually came," Haruka smiled as she exhaled a big sigh of relief.

"Is there any reason for me not to?"

Haruka scratched the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Hehe… to tell you the truth, I honestly wasn't expecting you to come since… well, since we've never actually talked to each other before. That text I sent was literally the first time I talked to you, and it's not even face-to-face. I feel so embarrassed…"

After she said those words, the world around Kiyotaka stopped and was void of any color. He was then given the three possible choices to choose from by the system, all of which he quickly thought about with regards to the possible effects that it might have. This thing was basically second nature to him now, and he saw it coming right after Haruka's 'heroine summary' appeared.

A. [Let's just get this over with, Hasebe.]

B. [As far as I'm concerned, classmates are supposed to look out for each other.]

C. [I always make time for a beautiful damsel who needs my help in some way~]

The first option was immediately out of the window. He didn't even need to say it to realize how it would have a tone of annoyance if he chose it. The third one, as surprising as it may be, was also out of the question. There's no way he would flirt with his newest heroine right in front of Karuizawa and Kushida, especially when the two of them had a possessive streak to them… which also begs the question of how they could get along with each other right now.

And so, by process of elimination, Kiyotaka pushed Option B as the world returned to normal.

"Hasebe. As far as I'm concerned, classmates are supposed to look out for each other. We're classmates, and we don't need to have a close relationship for you to ask help from me," he said in the most sincere tone that he could muster.

"Yeah, Ayanokouji-kun's right! We don't need to be close friends for you to ask for help, Hasebe-san," Kikyo agreed as Kei nodded happily.

The blue-haired girl stared at him in surprise, as she wasn't expecting a response like that for Ayanokouji considering what she first thought of him, before snapping out of her little trance moments later.

"Thanks, Ayanokouji-kun. I owe you one for this," Haruka chuckled to herself as she smiled at the young man.

[You gained 10 Affection Points with Hasebe Haruka!]

[Haruka Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with Hasebe Haruka!]

[Your current status with Haruka has changed to 'A Clingy Classmate'!]

After reading through those new notifications, the young man hid a deadpanned look to himself as he noticed that particular 'relationship status' that he had with Haruka.

"Clingy? Hasebe is clingy?" he thought to himself, before sighing in defeat. He was already dealing with two girls who liked to hug him every morning for literally no reason other than to hug him, and now there's a chance for Hasebe to end up doing the same as them. "Does this mean she'll hug me out of nowhere just like what Karuizawa and Kushida do?"

Well, never mind… he can sulk about it later.

For now, he should just see what this little rendezvous between classmates was about and why exactly was he called here.

---

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

-Lance