One of the mistakes I've made in Volume 2 is making almost every chapter soooooo long that it's ridiculous to even think about. So I'm going to try this volume out with a new strategy. Post chapters that are less than 15k words but more than 5k. If I ever think that the pace is much more horrendous using this strategy, then I'll just compile those that I can compile in one big chapter again. Who knows? I might be able to update quicker this way. Anyways, welcome to Volume 3, everyone!

COTE: The Eroge Playlist: h-t-t-p-s-:-/-/-you-tube-.-com-/-playlist-?-list=PLzapQr6Br4elz3lo7fOkE34DjcBEnJB87

Discord link: [discord . gg / 4y5QVPj]

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

It was the 30th of July, and Class D was as ecstatic and excited as ever. Part of it came from their joy in being given an early dismissal by their last teacher for the day, but they were mostly happy about a certain event that was due to happen in less than 24 hours.

Tomorrow morning, the freshmen students of ANHS would be sent off on their luxury vacation to a beautiful island, and the entirety of Class D was sure that they would enjoy every second of it. Chabashira-sensei brought it up weeks ago before they took their midterm examination and since then, it never left their minds.

After Miyake's case was resolved, their focus shifted back to academic affairs while using the luxury vacation as a form of motivation. They were elated when Chabashira-sensei told them that their class managed to earn over 144 points from the results of the hearing, which put them within arm's reach of becoming the new Class C, but were quickly reminded that they could lose all those points in one sitting if they're not careful.

For the next few weeks, Class D worked on maintaining an acceptable behavior in their classes. Those who felt bored and unmotivated to study did their best to do just that, because the reward that they'd receive is worth it. Tutoring sessions were still held regularly and even though no one was required to attend them because no one was in danger of having poor grades, there were some who wished to learn some additional pointers from Hirata, Horikita, and Wang.

It was pretty crazy to think about given the context of this class being the worst out of the four freshman classes.

Regardless, they waited almost a whole month for this day, and they were so close to it. Many of the students already began coming up with their own plans for the trip, which were mainly about what they're going to do once they get there, and who they'll be sticking with while they're enjoying themselves.

"We've waited for this day for many weeks everyone, and now we've been rewarded for our patience." Yosuke announced as he stood in front of his classmates, who all nodded eagerly. "We may have been given an early dismissal, but I advise everyone to not waste the time given to us. Use this time to buy everything you'll need for tomorrow's trip and to get a full night's sleep so we can all be fully prepared for what's to come."

"YEAH!"

As Yosuke returned to his seat to organize his things, his classmates began their move. Most of them went to their own social circles to discuss what they'll do, a few left the classroom to head to the mall already, and there were those who were on their way back to their homes.

For a certain blonde gyaru, she quickly grabbed her bag and went to her friend on the other side of the room, who was busy organizing her own belongings. Hmm, maybe she was planning to go home already?

"Airi-chan, want to go to the mall together?" she asked the redhead with a smile, who almost jumped up in surprise when she heard someone call out to her from behind.

"Oh, uhm… sure, Kei-chan," Airi nodded after recovering from her initial surprise. She should have known that it was just her best friend messing around with her. "I was planning to go there anyway, but what is this about? Going shopping?"

Kei rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "I haven't actually bought a swimsuit yet for the trip tomorrow, so I'm going to check out what the mall has to offer. I don't really like shopping ahead of time, it's much more fun to do this when it's only a day or two away from what you're supposed to use it for."

"Wow, that's a pretty big coincidence. I was planning to go there to pick out a swimsuit too. None of my old swimsuits fit me anymore when I tried them again earlier this week, which is weird. It's been only a month since I last wore them…" Airi rubbed her chin while being in deep thought.

"I'm going to believe that Airi-chan isn't actually bragging about what she has over me," the blonde thought to herself as her self-esteem took a hit from those words. She quickly shook her head to get her mind back on track, flashing a big smile once again. "I guess that is a coincidence, but who cares? We can talk about what we want and what to actually buy once we're there."

It didn't even take a few seconds for Airi to respond. "That sounds fun, Kei-chan. Let's do it!" she exclaimed, nodding eagerly.

As the two friends rejoiced over their shared idea, they were interrupted out of nowhere by a familiar voice.

"If you two don't mind me asking, neither of you have a swimsuit yet?"

The two of them turned their heads and saw Chiaki sending them a curious look while waiting for their response. Both Kei and Airi returned her look with the same expression on their faces, wondering what their classmate was planning with this information she just learned about.

"Yeah, why?" Kei asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Chiaki nodded slowly. "I see. If you two don't mind, can I tag along?"

"You don't have something to wear yet too, Matsushita-san?" the red-haired girl asked.

"No, mine is already packed in my luggage for tomorrow. But it can't hurt to check out what the mall's offering right now and do a bit of window shopping, right? I don't feel like going home right now too. Killing time with you guys at the mall sounds fun."

"Eh, why not?" Kei shrugged. "Sure, you can come with us."

"Awesome."

"Hey, hey, you can't leave without me, Karuizawa-san!"

A girl with blue eyes, long brown hair, and bangs swept to the side walked up to them with a warm smile on her face. Sato Maya made sure to look at the three of them before speaking up again, just to make it clear that she wasn't only talking with one individual.

"I need to pick out a good swimsuit too, so can I join you four? Maybe we can also eat something after we buy everything we need. It's gonna be our last day in this school for two weeks, after all, so let's make it count. Sound good with you guys?"

Kei didn't even need to think about her answer. "Hey, that's not a bad idea! We'll be gone for a few weeks and then come back when this month ends, which is the same time that we get our point allowance. I have no problem eating something delicious from the mall today. What about you, Airi-chan?"

Airi shook her head. "I have no problems with it. I wouldn't mind grabbing a bite after shopping too. I rarely spend points anyway."

"Matsushita-san?"

"I'm just tagging along with you, I'm not even planning to buy anything like you three. My opinion doesn't matter," she reiterated, before smirking slightly. "Food is a different story, though. Count me in on that."

"Guess that settles it," Kei chuckled. "Let's get going—"

"Oh! Oh! Me too! Let me join you guys! I haven't bought a swimsuit yet."

The beige-haired 'angel' of the class walked up to them with a look of excitement, the prospect of swimsuit shopping with her classmates was definitely better than doing it on her own. Plus, she could use their opinion on what she could buy, because she was actually searching for a certain kind of swimsuit…

"The more opinions, the better."

…one that can catch Kiyotaka's attention at a single glance and make him turn solely towards her.

Ever since Sakura made her feelings known to the rest of the class (which included her), it became clear to Kikyo that she had to step up her game. Her number of rivals were increasing and they were becoming bolder than ever, which meant that Kiyotaka's attention would be even more divided.

It's bad enough that she had to compete with Horikita for his attention. Now it almost feels like an all-out war with an attack from every side.

Not this time, though.

This vacation will be her opportunity to seal the deal and make Kiyotaka hers, for sure!

"That's surprising. I think you've gone to the mall several times by now so I thought you'd be done sorting out everything you need for the trip, Kushida-san."

"Well, that's because I didn't want to think about this vacation until classes were completely over. These things can be a bit distracting, especially when you want to pick the right swimsuit," she pointed out, which was something that her classmates could agree with. "Besides, I was only hanging out with my friends during those times. We didn't go shopping or anything, hehe."

Kei and Airi looked at each other for a few moments before the blonde shrugged.

"Fair enough."

"Wait! Us too!"

Immediately after giving Kikyo an appropriate response, someone called out to them once more, interrupting their ongoing conversation.

They all turned their heads to see Wang, Mori, and Inogashira standing there with awkward smiles on their faces, as though they had been caught eavesdropping in a conversation that didn't involve them.

"Me, Mori-san, and Inogashira-san still don't have a swimsuit, so we were planning to go to the mall together to buy one… then we heard all of you talking about going there together," the Chinese girl revealed to them, fidgeting her fingers nervously.

"I think it would be easier if we all go shopping for swimsuits as one big group," Nene suggested, bringing up some of the benefits that they'd have if all of them worked together on this. "We can help each other pick out the right swimsuit more effectively."

Kokoro nodded, smiling shyly at them. "We could bounce ideas off of each other too, and maybe talk about what we're planning to do during the trip."

"W-Wait a moment, you three. You don't have to say anything else. We'll be glad to have you come along."

"Really? Thanks, Sakura-san!" Nene smiled brightly at the answer that they received, while her two companions were surprised, to say the least. "We were nervous about asking because we noticed that you were all about to leave

"Please don't think that way, Mori-san. In the end, we all want to do the same thing, and there's nothing wrong with doing that as one big group," Airi explained with a smile, which eventually caused the three newcomers to bear the same expression.

"Wow. I can't believe we're all the same in that we still don't have a swimsuit yet," Kei remarked at this hefty coincidence as she placed her hands on her hips. She then took a glance at Chiaki and remembered the girl's words earlier, which caused her to giggle. "Well, most of us, anyway."

Chiaki couldn't help but laugh at that remark, knowing it was about her. This made the whole group let out a chuckle of amusement before one of them snapped their eyes open, a moment of realization hitting her hard.

"Wait, we forgot to ask someone!"

"Who are you—"

"Horikita-san," Kokoro approached their raven-haired classmate who was busy arranging her things in her bag at the back of the classroom quietly.

Hearing her name being called, Horikita looked up and saw one of her classmates walking up to her. She frowned slightly in confusion, wondering if Inogashira was going to ask her something that's related to the tutoring sessions that she normally held after class, which would be strange. As far as she knew, Inogashira isn't in any danger of having low grades… or perhaps she needs assistance with a lesson that she's having slight trouble with.

"Is there something you need from me, Inogashira-san?"

"Horikita-san, would you like to join us? We're planning to go to the mall to shop for swimsuits," Kokoro showed her a kind smile as she spoke.

Suzune blinked a few times in surprise. She opened her mouth to say something, only to close it right away. She was completely taken aback at the kind invitation from Kokoro as she wasn't expecting her classmate to ask such a thing.

After a few moments though, the girl mentally groaned at her inability to realize it sooner. Not her invitation per se, but the fact that it wasn't a class-related issue. She should have known that it would be something like this, because it already happened several times before. And yet, Suzune was a victim to it every time.

As a matter of fact, things have been different for some time now.

In Horikita's case, her efforts to save her classmate during the hearing several weeks ago had earned her an even more positive reception among the other students in their class, which was already improving beforehand.

During their early weeks in this school, they mainly steered clear of her because of her personality. However, as her abilities in tutoring her classmates came to light and produced results, her reputation improved slowly but surely. And now that it's a known fact that Suzune was one of the main reasons why Class D won the case against Class C, almost all of her classmates had nothing bad to say about her anymore.

Even those who didn't like her attitude at first have warmed up to her. There were a few instances in the past weeks where she was invited by her female classmates to hang out and have fun either at the mall or Pallet Cafe. Most of the time, Suzune turned down their offers but there were two particular instances where she conceded and went with them. It's mostly because of Kikyo's insistence that a little bit of socializing wouldn't hurt, though.

Now, during all the times that she gave in and joined her classmates, Suzune was mostly quiet and didn't talk with anyone unless she was asked a question. Not much of an improvement but considering how she didn't like interacting with anyone other than Kiyotaka and Kikyo at first, it was a massive change.

After a while, Suzune was finally able to blurt out an answer. "I have to decline. I wish to have an early rest for tomorrow's trip."

"You're not going to swim at all?" asked Kei as she and the other girls approached her. While she wouldn't say anything if their classmate had no intention of swimming, Kei thought that it would be a pretty big waste of a good vacation if she doesn't even take a step in the water.

Suzune shook her head. "I already have my own swimsuit. I am in no need of another."

…cue the sounds of realization from everyone else. Of course someone like Horikita would already be done preparing for their island trip. The girl values being organized and prepared above other things, so it would definitely be unlike her if she didn't deal with this matter ahead of time.

"It sounds like you're already finished packing your stuff, Horikita-san," Kikyo smiled.

"I handled all of it yesterday. I simply want to rest so I can wake up tomorrow and prepare for the trip without any problems."

"Well, if that's the case, we won't bother you about it anymore. Have a good night's rest, Horikita-san!" Inogashira continued to smile despite her mistake.

"I appreciate your concern," Suzune bowed her head politely.

"Well, you all heard her. It'll just be the eight of us, then," Chiaki shrugged.

Kei nodded before turning her attention to the people who'll be joining her and Airi in their little shopping trip. It's a wonder that they managed to amass this big of a group when they're not even planning anything big.

"Right. Come on everyone, we better get going. Keyaki Mall might get flooded with a lot of students later since the trip is tomorrow… I don't really want to bump into other people's shoulders while we're looking for swimsuits."

"I don't want that happening too… it'll be harder to find a good swimsuit to wear then," Kikyo added.

As the group of Class D girls left the classroom, Suzune turned her attention back to ensuring that her things were well-organized in her bag. This made her unaware of Kiyotaka's gaze; he had been watching her interaction with their other classmates and he was quite intrigued, to say the least. For him, the answer that his neighbor gave their classmates was too interesting to be brushed off like it was nothing.

"You also plan on going swimming?"

Suzune stopped for a moment and turned to look at her seatmate, who was ready to leave the room as his bag was slung over his shoulder. She raised an eyebrow at Kiyotaka's strange question and wondered if he meant something else with it. She noticed that he can be rather cryptic if he's not being blunt with what he wants to say.

"Swimming is the best form of exercise. Why wouldn't I go swimming to improve my physical condition?" she asked rhetorically.

Kiyotaka tilted his head, a bit surprised with the answer she gave him. It was not what he expected. "Oh. For a moment, I thought that you were actually planning to go swimming with our classmates, Suzune."

In response, the girl threw him a weird look. "Why would I do that?"

"It's just something that I've noticed from you lately. You talk to our classmates more often now, and you even help them out when they need assistance from someone like you."

"It's only natural that I would do those things when I'm aiming to make our class the new Class A, Ayanokouji-kun."

But Kiyotaka wasn't done yet. "There were two instances where you went with some of our female classmates to hang out at the cafe near the school entrance. Granted, it's likely because Kikyo convinced you into going with them., but I still find it surprising."

The raven-haired girl didn't have any kind of response to those words, because she knew to herself that it was true. Even if she denied it, Kiyotaka was there when it happened. He was sitting next to her when a few of their classmates would approach her with the intention of asking her to hang out with them in mind. If anything, lying would only make her look like she's in denial.

"You don't have to say anything, don't worry. Like I said, I just thought that you were actually planning to have fun with our classmates when you mentioned that your swimsuit was already prepared."

"I wonder if that's only an excuse you made to mask your true intention, which is to see what my swimsuit looks like," she folded her arms and turned away with a huff. "Pervertkouji-kun."

"It's not, but the thought of it is now in my mind thanks to you…" Kiyotaka deadpanned in his mind. At that moment, his innermost thoughts betrayed him by creating a mental image of how Suzune would look in a swimsuit. He had already seen her wearing the school swimsuit, and she looked almost perfect in that one-piece garment. What about a two-piece— woah, hold on! Nope. No, no, no, no, no. He wasn't going to be a victim of his own imagination this time. He can think about this later when he's alone, maybe!

Kiyotaka took a deep breath to calm himself from that dangerous line of thought. "No, I wasn't thinking about that. I genuinely thought you were planning to have fun with our classmates and bond with them over the course of the trip."

"I would stick out like a sore thumb if I went along with them. Not only would it be a waste of my time, but also a waste of theirs," Suzune dismissed the thought like it didn't matter before she slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Not just a waste of your time, but also a waste of their time… sometimes I wonder if I'm even talking to the real Suzune because this one feels like an impostor," Kiyotaka shook his head in amusement at her stubbornness.

Suzune was just about to walk off and leave the classroom, when she heard those words from his mouth. She turned around to face him while frowning in confusion, unsure if he was speaking with sarcasm or if he said it with something else in mind.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know, I guess I just feel a bit proud of you for how far you've come since the day we met. I think about you a lot to the point that I sometimes feel like I'm your brother who's taking care of you."

That made the girl's eyes widen slowly, particularly at the last statement that left his mouth. She was completely unaware of a huge blush taking over her face because her mind was more focused on the words that he breathed out.

"You… think about me?"

"Before you get mad, I don't mean that in a teasing way or in any other demeaning way that you might think of. I'm simply pointing out that you've changed, Suzune. I still remember when we first met, you made a bold statement about wanting to compete with me because you doubted my abilities. But for some reason, even though I was expecting you to, you never brought it up again. I wonder if you forgot about it or if it's because you don't doubt me anymore."

Kiyotaka fully expected her to be mad or affected after mentioning her brother but surprisingly, she didn't feel either of those emotions. She listened to every word that came out of his mouth, but not once did she feel angry. Instead, the only thing she felt was an epiphany regarding her perception of him.

"That's because of what Chabashira-sensei said about you," Suzune admitted with a flustered look. She even averted her gaze because she didn't feel like she could face him properly. "And… because of how you handled yourself against Nii-san. I don't doubt you anymore but if I had to be honest, I never doubted you at all. I couldn't doubt the friend who helped me on our first day here…"

A smile managed to find its way on his face as he felt delighted from her words. "Well, I'm glad that Suzune acknowledges me. It feels more significant that it's coming from you. It's not only because it's rare to hear you praise someone, but it's also because I value your friendship."

"I see…" she muttered while at the same time, hiding her inner thoughts from him. Suzune wanted to get these words out but for some reason, she felt too embarrassed to get it out of her chest. "I value our friendship too, Ayanokouji-kun."

"For that, it's only fair if I returned the compliment," Kiyotaka stepped forward and placed his hand on her head. "You should be proud of yourself too, Suzune. Changing yourself isn't an easy thing, but you're pulling it off somehow. As your friend, it makes me happy that you're making massive strides to improve yourself. It's one thing to declare your intentions, but it's an entirely different matter to put your words into action. You were a different case, though. Again, be proud of yourself, Suzune."

The poor girl's face turned redder as the seconds passed, to the point that it seemed like she was doing her best Airi impression. She still couldn't raise her head to face him, nor was she able to look at him. It was even worse now because he was patting her head like this!

The comforting feeling of his hand patting her head affectionately along with his kind words made the girl feel all giddy inside, as if her chest was about to burst in happiness. Suzune had no idea why she was feeling this way when Kiyotaka had already done this several times in the past, and she never reacted like in any of those instances. This was the first time that she felt this embarrassed in his presence, and she had no idea how long she could remain calm under this much pressure…

Unfortunately, Suzune was unable to keep herself composed for very long when she pushed his hand off her head all of a sudden, leaving the young man surprised. Before he could say anything in response, the girl turned her back on him in order to hide her flustered look. She grabbed her bag tightly before speaking up.

"I-I'll see you tomorrow, Ayanokouji-kun."

[You gained 5 Affection Points with Horikita Suzune!]

[You gained +30 in Charm!]

Kiyotaka didn't even pay any attention to the notification that showed up before him, because his gaze was locked on Suzune instead. He watched her leave the classroom without another word, doing nothing to stop the girl from her tracks to explain her actions just now.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure I didn't say anything that was meant to tease or upset her this time. I even raised Affection Points with her, so why does it feel like I did something wrong?"

The young man rubbed his chin while in deep thought, completely confused with the sudden shift in her attitude. He was completely sure that he didn't even do anything that could warrant a negative reaction from Suzune, yet she brushed him off and left without another word. Is she mad at him? If not, then why did she look like she was late for something important?

"I guess I'll deal with this tomorrow during the trip… just like what always happens when I don't resolve a problem in time," he sighed to himself, deciding to think about this tomorrow so he can focus on another matter.

For now, he should focus on a little meeting that he was due to have in about thirty minutes, with someone who may seem like a shock to most, but Ayanokouji Kiyotaka isn't someone who gets surprised easily (unless you're a cosmic power that has a mind of its own). The person he was going to meet may be a little eccentric, but given that he's the heir to a whole conglomerate, he must be someone who takes meetings seriously no matter what.

Besides, the guy willingly gave him his number several weeks back, saying that Kiyotaka should contact him if he ever so desired. Knowing the personality of the other person, this isn't something that can be taken as a joke right off the bat.

Anyway, after this meeting, Kiyotaka would head home immediately so he can retire for the day. The young man had already dealt with everything that he needed to bring for the trip tomorrow, so he was completely free for the rest of the day. This leaves the door open for him to have an early rest once he gets home, because tomorrow is gonna be a long day, for sure. He'll have to get up early to cook breakfast and prepare for the trip with everyone.

And second, you can never have too much sleep. While he didn't have problems with his sleeping patterns recently, he also knew that it's only a matter of time before the system decides to put him in another outlandish situation that involves one of his heroines, so Kiyotaka was enjoying this for as long as he could.

After checking the time on his phone, Kiyotaka began heading for the door to head to the meeting place. But before he could leave the classroom, a familiar voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Ayanokouji. Mind if we talk? Just the two of us."

Kiyotaka turned his head to see Akito walking up to him with a serious look on his face. He quickly noticed that Haruka wasn't with him, which meant that his classmate wished to have a private conversation instead of a casual talk. But what could it be about, though?

He raised an eyebrow at Akito's question, but nodded nonetheless. He followed his friend out of the classroom as the two stood in the middle of the hallway. There were no students around at the moment, so they could have a conversation without being interrupted or distracted by anyone else.

"I don't think there's anyone else here other than us, so let's just do this here," Akito spoke after taking a moment to observe their surroundings and check if someone was nearby.

As he stood there face to face with his magenta-haired classmate, Kiyotaka wondered if this had something to do with their supposed vacation tomorrow. But if that was the case, then there would be no need to do this where nobody was around. Hmm… it's something that's definitely worth thinking of, but Akito might tell him what he wanted to know anyway.

"What did you want to discuss, Miyake?"

"You don't have to play dumb. I know what happened between you and Haruka," Akito finally spoke after remaining silent for a while. His words made Kiyotaka raise an eyebrow in confusion, "A few weeks ago, after the trial was over, I saw you two outside of the restaurant. I know what happened."

Naturally, Kiyotaka's first thought was to lie and tell him that he was only seeing things that time, but stopped himself from doing so. If he did that, it could very well end up in something catastrophic happening and he definitely wasn't looking forward to instigating any kind of conflict with his classmate, especially now.

"Before you say anything, she's the one who kissed me and not the other way around," Kiyotaka spoke in defense of himself before any kind of misunderstanding could take place. He knew of Akito's feelings for the girl and didn't want to paint himself as someone who had malicious intentions regarding Haruka.

Akito raised his arm to stop the brown-haired teen from speaking any further. "You don't have to tell me that. I already know what happened, and I'm not stupid. I want to talk about something else."

With those words, Kiyotaka felt even more confused on what his classmate wanted to talk about. He was relieved that there's no need for him to explain things to Akito, though. The latter understood that it wasn't him who made a move.

"We're friends, right? I just want you to be honest with me. What exactly are your intentions with Haruka?"

"My intentions? What do you mean by that?" asked Kiyotaka, tilting his head curiously.

This time, the expression on Miyake's face changed and turned into a frown. "I told you not to play dumb with me, Ayanokouji. You know exactly what I mean."

Even with those words, Kiyotaka still felt confused. He had no idea what Akito was trying to bring up in this discussion, but he was waiting for an answer nonetheless. And so, despite being clueless about what this was all about, he quickly fabricated an answer.

"I'm not planning to do anything with Hasebe."

"Oh, really? You're the one who's surrounded by a lot of girls everyday. You're always with either Karuizawa, Sakura, Kushida, Matsushita, or Horikita. Sometimes even all of them at once. Is Haruka gonna end up like them too?" Akito scowled, believing that his statement was nothing more than a half-baked excuse.

"I won't deny the first part of your statement, but I can't say the same for what you said next. I disagree with that wholeheartedly."

"Oh, so you're saying that you're going to play with her feelings just like those other girls?"

Kiyotaka tilted his head in confusion. "Where did you even get the notion that I am 'playing' with their feelings, Miyake?"

"Are you or are you not? It's a simple question, Ayanokouji."

"I am not playing around with any—"

All of a sudden, Miyake grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close in a threatening manner. He gritted his teeth as he glared at the brown-haired teen, but Ayanokouji didn't react nor did he do anything in return. Even when Miyake began shaking him rather violently, the 'Masterpiece' showed no kind of reaction whatsoever on his face.

"Stop fooling around and tell me what you're planning to do with her, Ayanokouji! You may not realize it yet, but Haruka is interested in you, dumbass. Just like Kushida, Karuizawa, Matsushita, and even Sakura. Now I'm asking you as her friend, what do you plan on doing with her? Are you going to accept her feelings? Are you going to reject her? Or are you going to ignore her just like how you're ignoring the other girls who all have their eyes on you?"

Akito continued to glare at Kiyotaka while the latter only stared at him in response. Eventually though, Kiyotaka took a deep breath and finally spoke.

"Let go of my collar, Miyake."

Those words only seemed to make the magenta-haired teen angrier and caused him to tighten his grip on his classmate's clothes. Still, Kiyotaka showed no reaction to it and didn't say anything else apart from his earlier words. This continued on for a few more moments until Akito finally calmed down and slowly let go of his uniform. This allowed Kiyotaka to take deep breath before uttering a proper verbal response.

"I don't mind you criticizing me for my lack of initiative, Miyake. But assuming that I'm ignoring Kikyo, Kei, Chiaki, Airi and their obvious feelings towards me? I'm going to tell you to back off now, because you don't know anything. You don't understand a thing."

Calming down from his moment of anger, Akito stood back and folded his arms across his chest. "Then make me."

Kiyotaka took a moment to observe his classmate closely, before continuing on with his words."Do you know what it's like to have a lot of attention on you?"

Akito raised an eyebrow at where this conversation was heading to, but he nodded nonetheless. As long as it would get him the answer that he wanted. "Of course I do. I'm sure Haruka already told you all about what I used to be like."

"What Hasebe told me equated to attention in a negative light. I was referring to the opposite," the young man clarified as he walked past Akito and stood in front of the window. He stared down at the students who were leaving school for the day before turning around to face his classmate. "Do you know what it's like to get the attention of several females, and all of them have romantic feelings for you?"

"I don't."

"Then you can't even begin to imagine what I have to deal with, Miyake. You want to talk about how I'm supposedly ignoring the feelings of the girls around me? Fine, you can think that way. I'm sure that's how I look in the eyes of a spectator."

Akito frowned again. "So you're admitting it?"

"But if I was, then I wouldn't care about those girls. If I didn't care about Kei and Airi, then I wouldn't have become their tutor. I would have let them be on their own. If I didn't care about Kikyo and Chiaki, then I would ignore them completely. I wouldn't even give them a minute of my time. In the same way, if I didn't care about Hasebe, then I would have ignored her plea for help. Or at the very least, I wouldn't have been ready to lend her a hand. I can only wonder how that would have affected everything else."

The magenta-haired teen continued to stare at him through narrowed eyes but at the same time, he listened to every single word that came out of Kiyotaka's mouth. As much as he didn't like it, there was some sense behind his friend's words and he'd be an idiot to deny it, especially his point about Haruka herself.

That day, there was no guarantee that Ayanokouji would help them out. It was just a suggestion from Sudo that he and Haruka should bring him into the conversation, and they did just that. They were never going to force him or anything and he was free to stay out of the issue, but Ayanokouji stayed and helped them, especially him. He was there until the day of the hearing, helping him out and making sure that their side would come out on top.

Ayanokouji didn't just help him, he also helped Haruka. He helped her by making sure that her friend wouldn't be expelled, because Akito was well aware of how she would have reacted if he was. While he can handle being kicked out of this school, it was obvious that Haruka wasn't the same and Ayanokouji was one of the people who kept it from happening.

"I acknowledge their feelings, which is the farthest thing from ignoring them. If you were in my place, maybe you'd understand. But you're not. You can't understand what I'm going through," Kiyotaka pointed out.

"You're right. I don't," Akito finally sighed in defeat after coming to an epiphany of sorts regarding this whole thing. "But I don't think that you're someone who doesn't care either, Ayanokouji. I was wrong to think of you that way."

Kiyotaka observed him for a moment, taking note of the defeated expression on Akito's face. In the end, he couldn't really fault Akito for acting how he did just now, when his only concern was the person whom he treasured the most. His reasons were just as well, and Kiyotaka believed that Akito was only right to be suspicious of him.

"You're worried about Hasebe, right? No need. I would never dream of ignoring her. I'm actually surprised when you said that she's interested in me like how Chiaki and the other two are," he said, feigning ignorance to the blue-haired girl's growing feelings for him. "Right now, I'm still trying to process this information, but one thing is certain. You can be assured that I'm not going to play with her feelings at all. If I was playing with someone's feelings, then shouldn't the girls be staying away from me by now?"

Akito let out another deep sigh as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. He began to walk away, prompting Kiyotaka to do the same and follow him. "All right. I guess I can believe you."

The 'Masterpiece' nodded in acknowledgement, before he began fixing his shirt a bit. With all that being said and done, Akito could have definitely been a lot gentler with grabbing his clothes. It's just a good thing that they had no more classes for the day, otherwise he'd have to explain to their teacher why his uniform was slightly ruined.

"Now did you really have to grab my collar like that, Miyake? You ruined my uniform."

Akito scratched his cheek awkwardly as he looked away in embarrassment. "Sorry about that. I let myself get emotional. Just the thought of Haruka's feelings being ignored like nothing made my blood boil and I couldn't hold myself back."

"I'm not blaming you. That said, I'm surprised you didn't go into a jealous fit, Miyake. From what I know, boys can give in to their emotions quite easily, so it's a wonder why you're not cursing my existence right now. I wouldn't have blamed you for that too," he explained.

The magenta-haired teen frowned, though it was out of confusion this time. "What are you talking about?"

"I just remember you saying that you liked her not as a friend, but as something more."

Akito's eyes widened slowly in realization, before he regained his composure. It didn't even take him a few seconds before he formulated a response of his own. "It doesn't matter what I feel, because Haruka is the most important person in my life. Her happiness is more important than mine and if she's happy with you, then I can accept it. As long as you don't betray my trust in you, Ayanokouji."

"I don't plan on going against my word," Kiyotaka reaffirmed.

"But to be honest, I'm surprised with myself too. Maybe that's how I should have reacted, but I don't really feel like it. I don't think I could do it to one of the people that helped save me from being expelled. You're right. There's no telling what could have happened if you didn't choose to help us out when we asked for your help, but I can tell that it wouldn't have ended well for us either way."

Kiyotaka listened on before giving his friend a slow nod. "I appreciate that you chose not to make a bigger mess out of this, but there's one thing I don't understand. Why did you wait until now to tell me about this? It's been weeks since that happened."

This was the one thing that he couldn't understand. He understood why Miyake felt angry and pissed with him and he understood, and he also acknowledged his feelings for his blue-haired friend. What Ayanokouji could not understand was why he was only bringing this up now, when it's been weeks since it happened and all of the class had moved on from that day in general.

Akito began to shake his head in amusement. "That's on me. I completely forgot about the whole thing until today. I wanted to talk to you about it the day after it happened, but then Sakura got everyone's attention when she apologized to everyone about everything. And then she kissed you out of nowhere, which took me out of it, honestly."

"Yeah, that's an understandable reason…" Kiyotaka agreed with him in his thoughts.

"I decided to just do it the next day, because I didn't want to add another problem to the new one that you have to deal with. And then the next day, I forgot about it until classes ended, when I remembered it entirely. I… guess I just stopped thinking about it as a whole, until it hit me again today. It's a good thing that we were dismissed early, or I might have forgotten again."

"Is your short-term memory one of the things that Hasebe teases you about?" Kiyotaka said in an amused tone. He almost couldn't believe that the reason why Akito only talked about this now is because he forgot about it and because of that, Kiyotaka was almost tempted to laugh. "I'm feeling a strong urge to tease you using it as ammunition."

Akito turned to face him and scoffed playfully as the two continued to walk down the hallway. "Ah, shut up, jerk. I don't need another Haruka telling me that I suck at remembering stuff."

Oh, and speaking of Airi, that girl was currently swimsuit shopping with Kei and many of their girl classmates. The group that she and Kei amassed earlier while they were still in the classroom was pretty big, with all of them having the same goal in mind.

"Shopping for a swimsuit, huh? I wonder how that would turn out."

Though it was unintentional on Suzune's part and even though his mind was screaming at him not to, her remark about her own swimsuit earlier had caused Kiyotaka to imagine it. Now, he was doing it again but this time, his thoughts were involving his other heroines. It would be one of the battles where his rational mind loses against his own curiosity, because the mystery of it was too tempting not to look into.

"Greaaattt, now it's in my mind again," he rolled his eyes in annoyance at his own impulsive thoughts taking over.

As much as he wanted to deny it, there was a small part of him that couldn't help but imagine what his heroines would look like in their swimsuits…

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

-Lance