Would You Stand By Me?

Chapter 13: Salvaged Hope

As Kiyotaka and Karuizawa left the cafe with their hands still interlocked, Karuizawa took a deep breath and mumbled next to Kiyotaka.

"Hey Kiyotaka... Thank you for getting us out of that situation... I feel like I would have lost something important if we stayed for a few moments longer."

Kiyotaka simply stopped and gave Kei a headpat. "Do you remember our promise? As long as you need me, I'll be there to protect you."

Karuizawa was surprised from Kiyotaka's actions. She blushes slightly and quickly looks down to hide her embarrassment.

"H-hey... You really do know how to play with a lady's heart after all..." Karuizawa softly mumble and pouts.

Kiyotaka tilts his head confused, but as he was about to ask what she meant by that. Karuizawa took the opportunity to hug him tightly causing Kiyotaka to sigh and hug her back.

It was only for a moment but Karuizawa felt fully rejuvenated and thanked Kiyotaka for letting him spoil her so much today.

"It's fine. I really didn't do much." Kiyotaka monotonously replied.

"No. No. You did! Tell you what, let me spoil you for once. I'll get you anything you want." Karuizawa smiles.

Kiyotaka pondered for a moment and asked for some ice cream to which Karuizawa obliged.

During Karuizawa's absence, Kiyotaka took the time to text Arisu to clarify why he had to leave.

Eventually Karuizawa came back with the ice creams.

"You know I noticed you're finally giving me more lengthy responses." Karuizawa noted.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was deep in thought trying to analyze what Arisu was planning in advance and what it could mean for class D." Kiyotaka responded.

Karuizawa having been stressed out on whether she was a good date partner pouted and gave Kiyotaka gentle small punches on his arm like a child with a huge pout on her face.

"Mou! Do you know who worried I was? I thought you didn't like spending time with me!"

Kiyotaka took the opportunity to snap a picture and sent it to Arisu before patting Karuizawa again.

Eventually she calms down and reprimands Kiyotaka. Specifically giving him advice if he ever had any future dates.

Seeing Karuizawa reprimand him like that and her mannerisms caused a small spark to develop inside Kiyotaka's chest.

"She's like the sister I never had." He thought to himself. Causing him to instinctively pat Karuizawa on the head once.

"Mou... What are you doing?! Are you even listening?" Karuizawa looks down.

Kiyotaka gave a simple nod and stopped patting Kei. This allowed Kei to calm down but at the same time regret her actions a little.

The two of them eventually found a place to rest and sat at a peaceful park bench under the shade of an aged oak tree.

"Hey Kiyotaka.... I been meaning to ask you..." Karuizawa seemed reluctant to ask.

"Hm..? What is it?" Kiyotaka looks at Karuizawa.

"We don't really have much in common apart from our past huh... Even then... I feel like we have drastic differences there." Karuizawa looks down.

Kiyotaka silently nods and looks at Karuizawa blankly.

"Why don't we pick up a new hobby together? That way we can both enjoy the learning process together as a bonding experience? If you're not busy why don't we try it on the weekends" Karuizawa nervously looks at Kiyotaka.

"That does sound like an interesting proposition however could I trouble you by postponing it to next week." Kiyotaka responded.

Karuizawa surprised by his acceptance nods and excitedly jumps up causing her ice cream to land on Kiyotaka's cheek.

Kiyotaka face remained emotionlessly, as a lifeless "Ah" was heard from his mouth. The response and his expression was bizzare that Karuizawa could not help but laugh a little.

Karuizawa eventually stopped laughing and helped Kiyotaka clean his dirty cheek with a piece of cloth.

"Before I forget, why do you want to postpone our... you know...?" Karuizawa said in a flustered response.

Kiyotaka replies with one word, "Arisu".

Bonus Story: Ishizaki's prank sequel

Albert and Ishizaki was staring at Ryuen's phone. As cautious as he was, there were times he made mistakes as humans do.

Ishizaki smirks and decides to take the opportunity to get into Ryuen's phone by using its face ID and a photo of Ryuen his has on his phone.

Albert asked, "what do you think you're doing? Do you want to be stuck in a hole again? The last time you did this, you almost died being stuck in that ditch Ryuen buried you in."

However Albert's Japanese was not that fluent. As a result, he ended up asking in English causing Ishizaki to assume the wrong message.

"Yeah I know right this prank is going to be sick." Ishigami smirks as he replaces Ryuen's notification sound with an inappropriate sound effect.

This caused Albert to sigh and walk back to his seat as he did not want to be associated with such a suicidal act.

"The repercussions of the prank will be shared another day, but for now we can safely say-" As the British narrator was finishing his statement, a new rocket ship was launched in the school itself.

It had a percuilur green tip. "Hold on that's not a ship... that's Ishizaki?!"

"Needless to say in today's story sequel... it was Ishizaki's lost" The narrator concludes.

Author's note:

Sorry for taking so long to update this. No it was not to me being busy, well not entirely.

It was just because I have gotten myself addicted to Honkai Star Rail and played it non stop for three weeks.

I am also losing motivation to continue writing this story but at the same time I do not want to end the story abruptly. Expect updates to slow down unless motivation picks back up.

Finally, next chapter is going to be Arisu's turn again. Kiyotaka decided to keep an entire weekend open to her. I wonder why and what they will do together~.

Image source: https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/111364745