Chapter 65 Act 12: Scene 3

Before, it used to be only him, Horikita, and Kushida who walked to the dorms together when going to school and back home after classes were over. Ever since the midterms were over though, Karuizawa seemingly added herself to the mix. This was the second day that she walked together with them on the way to the dorm buildings, and it's obvious that this won't be the last time.

Well, it's not like they made some kind of rule wherein it would only be the three of them who'll be doing this routine on a regular basis. If Karuizawa wanted to go to class and head back to her dorm unit with them, then she could.

At the moment, Kei and Kikyo were talking to each other about today's events. It's funny, the two girls acted like they were never angry with each other and the events from earlier in the morning never happened. Meanwhile Suzune was silent like always, since nobody was speaking to her and she's not the type to involve herself in a conversation unless it's important.

All three girls walked ahead of him and for a moment, Kiyotaka thought that he would be able to end the day without any kind of insane shenanigan happening to him. For a moment, he thought that he would be able to get an early rest today and sleep for ten or maybe twelve hours straight...

...but he was wrong.

"Kushida-san! Karuizawa-san! Horikita-san!"

A voice that belonged to one of their classmates suddenly got their attention, and caused them to turn around to see Matsushita running towards them. The girl who was normally calm and collected had a look of disbelief etched across her face, which was enough of a sign to tell them that whatever Matsushita wanted to say, it was something important.

"What is it, Matsushita-san?" asked Kikyo as the brunette approached them.

"You may not believe me, but..." she took a moment to recompose herself, having run all this way just to catch up to them.

Her reason for doing so was worth it, though, because the next words that would come out of her mouth will be something that'll shake the others to their very core.

"...the school just opened a bathhouse for the students and staff!"

Almost immediately, Kei and Kikyo's jaws dropped in complete shock. Even Suzune couldn't help but widen her eyes slightly at what she heard.

"What...?" the black-haired girl muttered.

"Wait, seriously?!" Both Kei and Kikyo shouted at the same time.

Kiyotaka kept silent, but he was just as shocked as his companions, before his surprise quickly turned to dread. Whatever hope he had left of ending this day on a peaceful note was already gone, because he was completely sure that the system had everything to do with what Chiaki just said.

Why wouldn't it be involved? These girls were talking about bathhouses earlier and now, magically, one just appears inside of the campus as if it was a building that just finished its construction.

"Yep," Chiaki nodded. "It's located near the gymnasium, actually. I just happened to come across it when I was searching for the nearest restroom."

"B-But we were just talking about that earlier...!" Kei exclaimed. Even she knew that it was too much of a coincidence for a public bath to open right after the conversation they had at the classroom this morning.



The universe couldn't have been listening to them... or could it?

"I know, right? I felt the same way as you when I saw it a few minutes ago, Karuizawa-san."

"Hold on a moment. If what you said is true, then why isn't there any announcement about such a place? Something that concerns both the teachers and students should have been announced by now," Suzune explained in a calmer tone. She was caught off guard by their classmate's sudden announcement as well, but was able to regain her composure quicker than Kikyo and Kei.

Chiaki shrugged. She expected that Suzune wouldn't be convinced that easily. "I have no idea but if you don't believe me, you can come and see for yourself. Words are simply words until there is evidence to show, after all.""

"Sure, count me in. I have nothing else to do for the rest of the day, anyway."

Of course, Karuizawa wanted to see this bathhouse for herself. She didn't really doubt Matsushita since her classmate had nothing to gain from lying, and the brown-haired girl's expression a while ago said everything. Plus, if it was real and that a bathhouse really opened inside their campus, then she'll make sure to go there as much as she wants!

"Come on, Horikita-san! I don't think you believe Matsushita-san, so don't you think you should see it for yourself? What's the harm in going to the gymnasium where it's supposed to be?" Kikyo told her friend in an attempt to convince the other girl about checking said location out.

"Very well," Suzune answered after a few moments of thinking. "I have to warn you, Matsushita-san. I do not like having my time wasted. If this is building up to be a joke on your part, you won't like the outcome."

Despite the little threat that Suzune sent towards her, Chiaki didn't look phased and only chuckled in response. "I wouldn't do such a thing, Horikita-san. You can be assured that I'm not lying at all."

"We'll see about that."

As the girls discussed what to do with this newfound information that they acquired from Chiaki, the young man who was with them was already taking a few steps back in an effort to get away from the scene.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Kiyotaka didn't like where this was going and decided to leave before his day could be ruined. "I'm just gonna go straight back to my dorm and ignore whatever this is. Hopefully, I can make it before I trigger a 'special event' or something."

While the girls were busy talking, the brown-haired teen turned around and prepared to leave like a ninja fading with the wind, only for him to be stopped by Karuizawa's voice.

"Oi," Kei called out, noticing that their other companion was about to leave just in the nick of time. She made sure her voice could be noticed by the three other girls with her so they could see him for themselves. "Where do you think you're going?"

Kiyotaka knew that he could just take this opportunity to run away, but he also knew that doing so would result in the girls giving him a worse punishment than the last time he left them out of nowhere. And, well, he also knew that what he's doing was wrong in their eyes and it made him look like a jerk... but he had a good reason for it!

"Going back to the dorms?" he replied.

Hey, at least he was being honest about it.

Kei gave him a flat stare. "Seriously? You're going home already? Even after finding out that a bathhouse just opened in the school, you're just going to ignore it?"

"No thanks. You four carry on without me," he told her as he tried to continue walking away, only to be halted by two pink screens appearing in front of him.

[A Special Event Has Been Triggered!]

[Now Playing Bonus Scene#1!]

The abrupt appearance of those two notifications caught him off guard, especially that second one. He was already used to seeing the first notification by now, but that second one...

"What the hell...?" he mumbled, before remembering a certain notification that he received the other day, about a bonus scene for helping Karuizawa and Sakura pass their midterm exams.

"Oh no, you don't! You're coming with us, baka! I'm not letting you ditch us again."

As he was brought back to reality by Kei's voice, the young man noticed that she had grabbed onto his arm, hugging it between her chest which prevented him from getting away lest he risk hurting her.

"Let go of me, Karuizawa."

The blonde girl frowned at him, before she turned towards their other classmates.

"Help me, you three! He's leaving again!" she called out and tightened her hold on Kiyotaka's arm to prevent him from leaving.

Both Chiaki and Kikyo stared at them, taking in what they were seeing for a moment before they moved.





Kikyo hugged his other arm while Chiaki went behind him and grabbed his uniform. Kiyotaka sweat-dropped at his current situation, but also felt a hint of embarrassment. He was still a healthy teenage boy, after all, and being glomped on all sides by a bunch of girls was doing... things to him.

"Are they really that desperate to keep me from leaving?" he asked himself. Despite these girls surrounding him on all sides, he could easily break out of the hold and escape, but didn't do anything for now.

"Horikita-san, come on! Ayanokouji-kun will leave us again if we don't bring him with us!" Kikyo called out to the black-haired girl who was standing nearby.

Suzune only stared at what was happening before her, as if she was thinking about what to do.

Kiyotaka remained calm. There's no need to panic. After all, Suzune would just tell them to stop and leave him alone. Out of all his 'heroines', she was the one who looked out for him the most, at least from his point of view.

"Horikita wouldn't join them at all. She's always been there for me, making sure I'm not uncomfortable from anything that Kushida does. She'll tell them to stop—"

He stopped his train of thought when Suzune ran towards him and grabbed him by his tie.

...she didn't stop the three girls.

"You're not going anywhere this time," she said coldly, as the three other girls cheered.

Kiyotaka wanted to think that Suzune betrayed him and sold him to the other girls but in the end, all he could do was sigh in defeat and let himself get dragged away by his classmates.

"I shouldn't be surprised... of course something like this would happen if I try to fight back against what the system wants," he thought.

And with that, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka received a reminder of what could happen if he tried to go against his broken superpower.