After finishing their ice cream, the two Class-D students headed straight to the school building, and to their classroom. But to their surprise, someone was waiting for them outside. When she noticed their arrival, Kikyo bore a sad look on her face. However, even from a distance, Kiyotaka could notice the brief look of anger on her face before it quickly morphed back into a sad expression.
"Where were you two, Ayanokouji-kun? I was really lonely, because you two left without me..." she asked them as they stopped right in front of her.
One look at Kikyo's current 'status' was enough to convince the young man that Suzune's decision to leave without telling her was wrong, even if she did it for a good reason.
[Kushida Kikyo: 'Sad and Angry Friend']
[Relationship Status: A Rocky Relationship]
[Affection Points: 61/100]
Kiyotaka took a quick glance at Suzune to remind her of what she has to do. Fortunately, the black-haired girl noticed it and cleared her throat before speaking.
"I must apologize, Kushida-san. I wanted Ayanokouji-kun to accompany me for something important and it would be wrong to have someone else there with us. I asked him to wake up earlier than usual so that we could leave for our destination and make it to class on time," she said in an almost-robotic voice.
"At least she's honest," the young man thought, a bit unsure about that tone she used.
"O-Oh, is that so? It's just that... when we were about to go to school together, you wanted to go with us, Horikita-san... and after that, we always waited for you..." she mumbled, although her thoughts were different from what she's showing them. "You no-good bitch! You're really trying to be a thorn in my plans, aren't you?! Oh, just wait... once I get Ayanokouji-kun on my side completely, you're out of here!"
Suzune sighed. "Again, it would have defeated the purpose of why I wanted him to accompany me if you were there, Kushida-san. All I can do is apologize for my actions and reassure you that it will not happen again."
"That's not really a good way of explaining things, Horikita..." Kiyotaka deadpanned.
"It would have been fun to hang out with you both, though..." Kikyo smiled sadly, as she let out a little sniffle.
Kiyotaka's eyes widened in panic the moment he heard that. If she becomes sad, then his broken skill will activate once again and who knows what it will do? With its power to alter reality itself, then he wouldn't be surprised if it teleports him and these two girls to an amusement park in order to make them both happy.
Not wanting to stick around and find out if that would be the case, he quickly thought of a solution. After remembering a certain action he did earlier, Kiyotaka was hit with an idea. He could only hope that this would work. Never mind how embarrassing it is.
"Don't worry, Kushida," he quickly said, which gained him her attention. "If you want, we can also hang out together as well, just the two of us."
Kikyo blinked a few times, as if she was trying to process what he just said. "What...?"
Kiyotaka grimaced. It's times like this that the system taking over his actions would be the better option, but he was on his own with this. Hopefully, his charm was already high enough so that he wouldn't sound like an idiot with his next words.
"Like me and Horikita, we can also hang out together, just the two of us. That is, if you want to. I won't force you if you don't want it," he then reached out with his arm and patted Kikyo's head the same way he did for Suzune.
"W-What is this? It feels so good..." Kikyo's eyes widened as she felt him touch her head, but relaxed right away and even surrendered to the warmth and comfort that it gave her. For a moment, she didn't seem like a person with mental issues but rather, a normal one. "It feels good when he touches my hair like that...! I don't know why, but I want him to do it more!"
[You have gained 15 Affection Points with Kushida Kikyo!]
Taking that as a confirmation that he averted the potential crisis, Kiyotaka stopped patting her head. In response, Kikyo actually let out a little whine because he stopped, having liked the feeling of his hand going through her hair. The girl quickly realized what came out of her mouth and blushed, before covering it up with her usual smile.
"Okay! I'll hold you to that, Ayanokouji-kun!" she smiled brightly.
Kiyotaka nodded. It seems that every interaction he has with Kikyo will result in gaining Affection Points with her. At this rate, she'll be the first to reach a hundred Affection Points among his heroines, and who knows what will happen when that time comes?
Meanwhile, a certain black-haired girl watched the interaction between them with a certain glint in her eye, one that was saying she didn't like what she just saw.
"It feels wrong to see Ayanokouji-kun doing that to another girl..." she thought to herself, frowning at the scene before her. She then redirected her gaze solely towards Kushida. "He did it to me first, only I should be the one receiving those pats."
"Thank you, Kushida. We'll be going inside now, if you don't mind."
Realizing that the two were still outside of the classroom, Kikyo chuckled nervously before stepping aside to let them enter. "O-Oh, right! Come inside!" she told them.
Kiyotaka let Suzune enter the classroom first and remained where he was until he saw her taking her seat at her desk. There was no way he'd go inside with her, lest he risk one of their classmates seeing them together and start asking questions.
He finally went inside a few moments later and headed for his seat. Thankfully, no one was paying attention to him, so he was able to get to his desk without any troubles.
The young man let out a sigh of relief as he leaned back against his chair. "Finally here... but the problem now is that there's still about half an hour before class starts. I could take a nap until the bell rings but unfortunately, I don't really feel sleepy. I had a cup of coffee earlier because Horikita wanted me to wake up early... what to do..."
While Kiyotaka was thinking of what he could do to pass the time, two particular boys on the other side of the room were laughing together in glee and excitement.
"Oh, boy. I was so excited for today that I barely got any sleep! I sure hope I don't fall asleep later, hehehe!" Ike laughed.
Yamauchi grinned. "Yeah, this school is just the best, isn't it? First, there's the monthly allowance of points and now we get to have swimming classes with the girls! It's like I'm in heaven!"
Kiyotaka blinked as he heard what they were discussing. That's right, they'll have a swimming class today (it must have slipped his mind because of earlier events), which makes sense for Yamauchi and Ike to be more excited than usual since those two are perverts. They're usually lazy and unmotivated during lessons, so it was a bit weird to see them looking forward to their classes.
pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ Swimming classes were generally rare in high schools, despite the high demand for it. Not every school in the country had access to a swimming pool within their premises. With its reputation, it's not surprising for this school to have a swimming pool for teachers to conduct swimming classes in.
Plus, there's the girls themselves. Horikita, Kushida, Matsushita, and all of the other girls in the class were gonna be showing a lot of skin later on. It's expected behavior for the boys to be excited, including Kiyotaka himself.
"Horikita, Kushida, and Matsushita in swimsuits..." the young man thought to himself as his imagination began to go places, before quickly shaking it off. What was he doing? He's not supposed to think like this! Or is the system doing it for him? He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.
He turned his attention towards the two perverts instead. He could go over to where they were and ask what they were doing, instead of keeping these thoughts to himself. It's not like he had anything else to do, right? At least this way, he wouldn't be as embarrassed because there's two other guys who are into this subject more than him.
Sighing to himself, Kiyotaka walked over towards the two boys, but they were too engaged in their discussion to hear him. "What are you two talking about?" he asked.
The two jumped in surprise when they heard someone cutting into their conversation, as though they were caught red-handed. They slowly turned their heads to face him, looking nervous.
"A-Ayanokouji! W-W-What do you want?" asked Yamauchi.
"What were you two talking about?" he repeated.
"W-We're not talking about anything!"
"You two look more excited than usual, and you're not normally the type to get excited over class," he pointed out. Before either of them could even think of making up an excuse, he quickly spoke again. "Is it about swimming class today?"
The two boys blanched, knowing that they had no way out of this one.
"W-Why should we tell you that? You just might snitch on us!" Yamauchi exclaimed, practically admitting that Kiyotaka was right by getting defensive all of a sudden.
Kiyotaka shrugged. "If you're not going to tell me, then that's fine. I'm just curious, that's all."
"Well, I suppose we could tell ya. It's not like hiding it is gonna do any good at this point," Ike sighed, causing his friend to look at him in shock.
"Wait, seriously? Why should we trust him? He's close to the girls, isn't he? He'll just snitch on us!"
"I'm not close to any girl."
"Oh yeah? Then how do you explain Horikita? She's always with you when you get to class! Did you think we wouldn't notice?!" Yamauchi accused him.
"I almost thought that they had figured me out, but it looks like we're still safe," Kiyotaka said in his thoughts. He was worried that they would start bombarding him with questions about "He only mentioned Horikita, but not Kushida. I can still turn this around."
He calmly rejected the accusation by waving his hand. "You always see Horikita and I together because we are seatmates, as you can see." To prove his point, he pointed towards his desk near the window, where Suzune was calmly reading through a book next to it.
Yamauchi didn't look convinced. "Yeah, so?! That doesn't prove anything!"
"Calm down, Yamauchi. There's nothing wrong with relaying our plan to a fellow curious mind! If Ayanokouji decides to join us, then that's even better, right? Another pair of hands to help us if we need it!" Ike placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down, before explaining the benefits if they do include Kiyotaka in their little escapade.
Yamauchi's mood changed instantly, going from skeptical to eager within a fraction of a second. "Ah, I getcha! Let's go for it, then!"
"Join them? What exactly are they planning?" the young man thought to himself. For sure, it would be something perverted because it's Yamauchi and Ike. It's all they talk about ever since classes began, girls and their fantasies.
"Come closer, Ayanokouji. We can't risk anyone else knowing about our plan!" Ike whispered loud enough that only Kiyotaka could hear him.
Kiyotaka raised an eyebrow, but followed what Ike said anyway and walked closer to the two boys. He had a feeling that this would be a big issue considering that they didn't want anyone else hearing what they had in mind...
"Professor's gonna be helping us record the chest sizes of the girls. He'll pretend to be sick and watch everything from the sidelines, while recording the sizes of the girls' boobs!"
Kiyotaka could only stare blankly at them. The worst part was that both boys looked so sure and confident about themselves that they didn't think something would go wrong. There was one part of their 'plan' that did catch his attention, though. "Professor?" he asked, wondering who that could be.
"That would be me," spoke a new voice.
The young man turned slightly to see another boy approaching them who was of average height with spiky black hair and green eyes. He was also a bit chubby in terms of body shape and wore a pair of glasses like any average otaku.
"Ah, so it's you. Sotomura, was it?" asked Kiyotaka, trying to remember his classmate's name during the class introductions.
"That's me," the teen known as 'Professor' chuckled, before turning to the two boys who were part of the 'plan'. "I believe there will be a few miscalculations like the number of girls participating in swimming class, but that's only a slight mishap. I'm quite certain that there will still be participants who'll give me plenty of data to work with."
"Awesome!"
"Oh man, I can't wait!"
"I get why they're excited but I really don't see why they're acting like this," Kiyotaka thought, observing the two boys' behavior closely. "Have they been completely alone for their whole lives that this is the first time they're seeing girls in swimsuits? Hmm... who knows? I'm not an expert in these things, even though I have a dating simulator superpower that's helping me win girls over."
"Who do you think has the biggest boobs in our class?" asked Ike, a trail of blood coming out of his nose as his imagination began to run wild.
"Hah, I don't know about you, but my money is on Sakura! Damn it, I wish she could have been my neighbor instead of that damn Koenji..."
Kiyotaka felt tempted to laugh at the mere fact that Yamauchi was neighbors with Koenji, of all people, while he was the one who lived close to Sakura. He just didn't know what unit she belonged to on the 4th floor, but he had a feeling that he would know very soon.
"Really? I'm putting my bet on Kushida-chan!" Ike then turned towards Kiyotaka with an eager grin. "Wanna join us, Ayanokouji? We'll have a bigger chance of success that way!"
