Kiyotaka knew that he shouldn't be surprised by now since he saw this coming but still, it felt a bit weird that Kikyo asked if they could lunch together with no one else around. It felt even weirder now that it actually happened.
They were currently at one of the tables, going through their respective food with no one else around. Fortunately, no one was paying attention to them because everyone else seemed too busy with their food or studying for the upcoming midterms. It's strange, though... nobody seems to notice it when he's eating with girls... probably the work of the system.
And as far as he knew, Kikyo liked sitting with other people, most likely to spread her influence by putting on her best 'angel' act and making everyone believe in her kindness. But here she was, willingly spending lunch with him alone.
"There's gotta be a catch to this," Kiyotaka thought, before turning his attention to his companion. "I'm surprised. Don't you hate Horikita? You seemed happy when you helped her out earlier."
"Don't tell me you were fooled by that," she snapped, dropping her mask as an annoyed expression took over her features. "Ugh, as if I would be happy helping out that bitch. I just wanted her to leave already."
The young man was a bit surprised at her answer, but quickly understood why she said those words. Since he was now aware of who she was under her fake mask, Kushida must have realized that there's no reason for her to continue with the act in front of him. Still, it was bold of her to just switch into her real self while they were here in a public place... did she not care about being caught by other people?
"It's not like you could have made her leave as well. We're seatmates, remember?" He pointed out the flaw in her argument.
Kikyo rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright, can we just move on from that bitch already? I didn't invite you to eat lunch with me just to talk about her the entire time."
"Okay, okay..." Finally, he would get some answers. Whatever this was about, it's surely connected to events of the previous day. Who knows? Kikyo might tell him the reason why she hated Suzune, even though he already knew due to the system. "Why did you want to eat with me then?"
"Do you like Horikita, Ayanokouji-kun?"
"I thought we weren't going to talk about her?" he deadpanned, giving the girl a blank stare as though he was expecting this to be a joke question. However, Kikyo only stared right back at him and patiently waited for an answer from his mouth.
Kiyotaka sighed to himself. The moment Kikyo asked him if he liked Suzune, he already had a feeling on where this conversation would lead to, and it wasn't a good one. From how their 'relationship status' changed after he maxed out her route yesterday, it was quite clear that she had fallen for him even more now.
It's just how dating simulators worked.
And now, Kushida asking him this question only means that she had taken notice of his relationship with Horikita and didn't like it. It's likely that she'll want him to choose between the two of them on who he likes more, and he could only hope that it doesn't reach that point because he doesn't know what to answer her, unless the system provides him with the three choices to choose from.
He needed to be careful from here on out. One wrong answer could likely end up spelling trouble in all capital letters for him...
"Of course I do. She's my friend, so that automatically means I like her," Kiyotaka nodded.
Kikyo giggled at his response before shaking her head in amusement. "Come on, Ayanokouji-kun. You know that's not what I mean."
"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about, Kushida," he replied, feigning ignorance.
"Do you really think you're fooling anyone, Ayanokouji-kun?" she smirked. "I'm not like Horikita, you know. I've seen the signs that you keep on showing, and you're not subtle at all with them."
"Enlighten me?" the young man asked, continuing to play dumb.
Kikyo felt a little annoyed that he was insisting on acting dense, but she couldn't exactly get him to talk. Plus, she didn't want to make a scene in the cafeteria. However, she quickly figured that it would be more amusing to see Kiyotaka's reaction to being caught red-handed. His expression may not change, but it'll still be funny when he no longer has any excuse to give. And so, she continued on.
"For one, she's the person who you're with literally all the time. I don't think I've seen a day where you two aren't together."
"Isn't it natural for friends to spend time with each other?"
"Aren't we friends too? Is Matsushita-san not your friend? Karuizawa-san? Sakura-san?"
"Why are you bringing them up?"
"I'm just pointing out how you treat Horikita-san better than the rest of us," she shrugged. "From what I've seen, she gets special treatment compared to me or any other girl. It honestly makes me mad."
Kiyotaka knew that he was on thin ice now, after Kikyo practically admitted that she's jealous of Suzune. "Elaborate how exactly I treat her better."
She gave him a deadpan look. "Ayanokouji-kun, don't tell me that you're really dense? You literally do everything that she asks you to do and she treats you better than how she treats other people. I've also seen you tease her from time to time."
Hearing all these things from a third party caused the 'Masterpiece' to think about this more deeply. His mind went back to all the times that he and Suzune were together, as he wondered if he really does follow her every order. Obviously he didn't, but there were also times where he simply gave in to what she wanted. It was already a given that she treated him differently compared to other people, but he wasn't aware of his own actions towards her.
Does he really treat Suzune better than all the other heroines he has met so far?
"From the moment I saw the both of you for the first time, I was surprised that you seemed close because I have never seen Horikita being friendly to other people."
"Those are good points, but I fail to see how—"
"Do you want me to remind you of what you said to us during our first swimming class? I remembered that you were complimenting our—"
"Okay, stop. You don't need to bring that up," he cut her off. Kiyotaka didn't want to relive that embarrassing memory and wished he could forget it. Of course, that was only directed towards the moment when he complimented them. Deep down, as much as he wanted to hide it, he didn't want to forget the sight of those girls wearing the school swimsuits...
Kikyo gave him a smug smile, knowing that she had won.
"I thought you're supposed to help me in situations like this, so why aren't you helping me?" Kiyotaka complained about the system in his mind, as he sighed in defeat. He had run out of excuses, so it's not like he could deny the girl's claims any further.
So much for having a broken superpower, when it can't even help him handle a girl.
"I suppose I am interested in her, but so what? I'm not really planning on asking her out, and Horikita doesn't even look like she's interested in romantic relationships. She's more fixated on her goal to reach Class A."
"There we go," Kikyo smiled in satisfaction. She rested her elbows on the table and cupped her cheeks with both hands in a cute pose. "At the very least, Ayanokouji-kun knows that Horikita-san isn't interested in things like those... because all she cares about is herself."
He raised an eyebrow in confusion. Up until now, Kushida wanted to make him admit that he liked Horikita, only to insult her after all of that by saying she was self-centered? What exactly was she planning?
"What point are you trying to make here, anyway?" he asked.
"Because, Ayanokouji-kun..." the girl smiled eerily. "I want you to choose."
"Choose?"
"Between me and Horikita. Who do you like more?"
Well, it looked like his suspicion was right. Kushida does want him to choose between Horikita and her. A classic scenario that one could find in any anime or dating simulator out there.
Yep, gotta be careful of what he says. This girl is like a ticking time bomb that could go off at any second, especially if he says the wrong thing and end up making her mad.
Kiyotaka groaned internally. What a shame that things had to turn out this way.
"I'm sorry, but if you're expecting an answer from me, then you aren't going to get any."
"Is that so? Is it because you don't like me?" asked Kikyo, her smile becoming strained.
He quickly made up an answer before the girl could blow up in rage. "Don't assume things. If I didn't like you, then I wouldn't have gone as far as to help you befriend Horikita, even though you hate her for some reason."
pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ "Then why can't you—"
"I simply can't choose, so please stop asking me to, Kushida."
"What do you even like about that bitch, anyway? You said it yourself, she's not interested in things like romance," she scoffed.
"Tell that to the system. I'm sure it'll get her to care somehow," he said in his mind. "I believe I've already revealed enough of my secrets to you, Kushida. You haven't even told me why you hate Horikita, you know."
"Tch," she clicked her tongue in annoyance. "What's wrong with my question? I was just asking what you liked about Horikita. It wasn't anything serious. All she's got is that brain of hers and being good at a lot of things. She doesn't care about other people and she thinks that she's the best. That's what pisses me off about her. Of course, you wouldn't know about that since she treats you differently..."
"I know that she's like that," he told her, surprising the girl. "She didn't treat me 'differently' from the start, you know. We didn't start off as friends right off the bat."
It's true, though. Horikita was rather cold to him at first, and only lightened up when he made the right choice on what to say to her during their first interaction. From there, he had no idea how he did it, but he continued their conversation and even managed to gain her interest. However, it wasn't until that impromptu not-a-date he had with the girl that she truly started treating him differently.
"Then why can't you choose me? I'm way—" Kikyo gritted her teeth in frustration, before a sudden idea struck her mind. "Don't tell me... you actually have your eyes set on someone else this whole time? Which one is it? Sakura? Karuizawa? Matsushita?"
"None of them," he deadpanned, wondering where she even got that idea.
"Is it someone outside of this school then?"
He sighed and shook his head. Kushida was just making things up at this point. "I don't know any other female outside of this school other than Nanase."
It was right after he said those words that Ayanokouji realized he just made a terrible mistake and quickly thought of something to follow up his words. However, he was too late as the name had already registered inside Kushida's mind.
"Who is this 'Nanase'?" she asked him, a dark look looming over her face.
