"I hope everyone is doing a great job with their studies, because our midterm exams are taking place next week. We must all do our best in order to pass our tests for our class to rise again."
After their classes for the day ended and their last teacher had left, Hirata went in front and wasted no time in giving his classmates some words of encouragement. He had to make sure that everyone was still giving their all in their studying, because he didn't want any of them to fail and be expelled.
In response, almost everyone in the class nodded in determination. They weren't going to lose more of their points this time.
With that, he bowed his head and went back to his seat, as everyone prepared to leave.
Kiyotaka turned his attention towards Kei and Airi, both of whom met his gaze and nodded.
Satisfied with their response, he prepared to leave as well. He had told the two girls that they wouldn't be having a study session today, and instead gave another small test for them to answer. The next day would be another study session at the library and the day after that, it would be another short test.
It would continue until the end of the week to make sure that Kei and Airi wouldn't forget everything that they have learned from him.
Plus, with this strategy, he'd be able to get more hours of rest. The last few weeks were hectic, with most of his time spent figuring out how to teach them properly and making hand-written tests for the two. There were a lot of times where he felt the urge to sleep in class but kept himself from doing so because of the consequences if he did.
In fact, he was already planning on sleeping very early tonight, because it was surely going to be another busy day tomorrow.
"Ayanokouji-kun."
...and of course, he wouldn't be able to get what he wanted. There was bound to be some way that the system would screw with him, and this was it... in the form of Suzune approaching him with a serious look on her face.
He sighed to himself, knowing that it was too good to be true. "What is it?" he asked the girl.
"Walk with me."
That was all she said before leaving without turning back, as if she was expecting him to follow her.
"Was that a question or is she demanding me to accompany her?" Kiyotaka asked in his thoughts.
He honestly had no idea what she meant but nonetheless, he picked up his bag and followed after her. He didn't want to risk her getting angry at him or worse.
The two teens walked together silently until they were out of the school building. Kiyotaka treated the silence as part of something that Suzune might be planning in her mind, because things were starting to get too quiet. No, she's definitely planning something but there's no telling what it could be.
He decided to give it a shot in order to satisfy his inner curiosity.
"So what's on your mind? You wouldn't ask me to walk with you if you weren't planning anything," he asked her.
Suzune shook her head. "How rude. Can't I ask you to walk with me without having an ulterior motive?"
"I didn't say that. I simply got the feeling that you have something in mind because you demanded me to accompany you out of nowhere."
"You make a sound argument, but no. I simply want to talk."
"Talk about what?"
"You are currently tutoring Sakura-san and Karuizawa-san, correct?"
Kiyotaka nodded.
"How are they faring so far?"
The young man hummed softly. That's what this is about then. Horikita wanted an update on the girls' progress.
She knew that he was tutoring Sakura and Karuizawa, but didn't bother him about it until now. Suzune left him alone and focused on the students that she was supposed to teach, most likely because she trusted him enough on how to handle two of their classmates.
However, now that there was only a week left before the exams, she needed to know if they made progress. In order for them to advance to Class A, all of them have to be better in their academics.
"Sakura struggled at first, especially in Mathematics, but she's slowly making progress in the three mock tests I have given them. Karuizawa's not really in danger of anything, but I believe that she has the potential to be better. All she needs is a little more effort in her studies. Although, in the end, only their performance during the actual tests will tell if they have really improved."
"That is good to hear."
"How are things on your side?" he asked her in return.
"To my surprise, Sudo-kun has made significant progress in the span of two weeks. I have noticed that he does work better when Onodera-san is with him. When he experiences difficulty in understanding what I teach, Onodera-san explains it to him in a simple manner, before asking me to elaborate again. Of course, Onodera-san herself gets confused at times as well and whenever it happens, they resolve it by bouncing ideas off of each other."
Kiyotaka wasn't surprised that Ken would improve. It was almost like Kayano's mere presence became somewhat of a miracle in his student life. The two have become inseparable since the first day of classes that it wouldn't be a stretch to say they were a couple, but they weren't... yet.
"What about the others?"
"Azuma-san, Nishimura-san, and Minami-san are fine. Okitani-kun is the only one struggling with his studies, but I assume that it's because he easily gets distracted by... inappropriate videos."
...okay, he didn't need to know that and Suzune definitely didn't have to say it. It's like she forced herself to... for some reason. Whatever Okitani decides to do in his free time is up to him but then again, he was doing it while they were studying... so it wasn't exactly 'free time'.
Although, that did bring up one particular question.
Did she mean that Okitani was watching those 'videos' while he was studying with girls around him? And to make things crazier, there was no other boy around him.
What a madlad. To think that only Suzune noticed him.
Kiyotaka quickly noticed that she didn't say anything else after that last statement. When he turned his head to look at her, Suzune was blushing while also trying her hardest to keep her stone-faced look.
"Wow. Looks like you're becoming more popular with our classmates," he coughed, steering their conversation elsewhere.
"Shut up," she snapped. "As I was saying, Okitani-kun is the only one who struggles in his performance. However, one good lecture about doing something else when we're supposed to be studying was all it took for him to stop."
"Good thing you stopped him, then. It would have been a lot more disastrous if the other girls in your group saw him instead," Kiyotaka remarked.
She glared at him. "Don't misunderstand. The kind of attitude that he exhibited was disgusting and I would have stopped tutoring him if it weren't for our current circumstances."
From her cold tone, it's clear that she wasn't playing around. "Fair enough. I hope he doesn't do it again, for his own sake."
Suzune massaged her forehead to try and alleviate herself of the sudden wave of stress that hit her. "It would have been more manageable if you were there. You could keep an eye on Okitani-kun and make sure that he's focusing on his studies instead of senseless debauchery."
Kiyotaka didn't say anything in return, but he internally agreed with her. "Trust me, things would have been easier if that's what happened instead."
The two continued on in silence until they reached the campus library. Upon getting there, Suzune faced him while bowing her head slightly.
"Thank you for accompanying me. It's been a while since we have spoke to one another, Ayanokouji-kun. I mostly blame our current circumstances for that but nonetheless, it feels enlightening to speak with you again."
Kiyotaka understood why she felt this way, but he wasn't any less surprised at the fact that Suzune practically admitted that she missed talking to him. At first, he thought it was because of the system and her Affection Points, but then he remembered that he and Kushida were the only friends she had.
pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ Basically, Suzune had no one else to talk to.
"I feel the same way," Kiyotaka nodded in agreement. He would be lying if he said that he didn't.
"Perhaps this is what it feels like to have a friend..." The girl muttered, allowing a small smile to appear on her face. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ayanokouji-kun."
"Same to you."
As he watched Suzune enter the library, he turned around and headed the other way, in the direction of the student dorms.
Kiyotaka began to walk faster. Perhaps now, he would be able to get that early rest he wanted. It was still early in the afternoon, so he had plenty of time to sleep and relax without anything else bothering him.
[A Special Event has been Triggered!]
...never mind.
"Another? Am I not going through one already?" he palmed his face while trying his best to calm his growing frustration at the new notification that popped up in front of him.
That's right, the 'special event' that was triggered several weeks ago still wasn't done. He was completely sure that it was about tutoring Karuizawa and Sakura, so it would likely go on until the end of the week or right after their midterm exams.
And now, a new 'special event' was now happening
