Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Self-Test

Vol. 2: Chapter 11.2 - Shizuku

"Well, you can slowly work towards it. You're already used to how I'm acting, right? You'll be fine," Haruka said while waving her hand.

"You can practice with us if you want. Ken's pretty good at intimidating people, so if you get used to him, you won't be afraid of anyone anymore." Akito suggested with a smile.

"Wha-?! Tch... I hate to admit it, but Akito's probably right..." Ken reluctantly agreed.

"There's nothing wrong with the current you, but if you want to change, then there's no need to rush. Take things slowly if you need to," I said.

Those words came from the bottom of my heart. Airi and I were on the same boat. I wish to change as well, but like I said, taking things slowly is probably the best approach. She wore a warm smile the whole time, but she suddenly looked very nervous.

"U-Uhm..." Airi muttered as if there was something else bothering her mind.

"Is there a problem, Airi?" I asked.

"Ah, n-nothing... It's just that... I'm really thankful to have friends like you, Kiyotaka-kun, Akito-kun, Ken-kun, and Haruka-chan..." she replied with a simper.

"I'm sure everyone's glad to be your friend, too, Airi," said Akito.

"That's right! I've never even had female friends that are as nice as you and Haruka. So I'm the one who should be really thankful." Ken grinned happily.

"I love you, Airi~!" Haruka continued snuggling up to Airi.

Friendship, huh? It's quite a pleasant thing...

"Eh-?" Airi had a surprised expression.

"What's wrong, Airi?" asked Haruka.

"A-Ah... It's nothing. I just thought I saw Kiyotaka-kun smile..." said Airi.

"Eh?! He smiled?!" Of course, Ken's overreaction was top-notch.

"Did I?" I asked with a genuinely curious expression.

"Seriously?! Isn't that, like, the first time?!" If Ken wasn't here, Haruka's exaggerated response would've taken the prize.

"Hey, even I can smile," I replied.

"Well, I can imagine you smiling bitterly, but it's hard to picture the Ayanokouji Kiyotaka smiling warmly like how Hirata does..." Akito pondered.

At that time, I saw Haruka absentmindedly staring at me with a slightly flushed face.

We hung out a bit more before finally saying goodbye to Airi. She seemed really happy about being able to share something with us. Well, while the other three were very vocal about themselves, I haven't really told anything about myself. Maybe I'll do that one day.

When I got to my room, I got a call from Akito.

"Hello, Kiyotaka?"

"Akito? What's up?"

"You've noticed it too, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Airi, of course. It seemed like she wanted to tell us one more thing but held back in the end."

"Oh... That's true. I noticed that, too."

"I'm pretty sure Ken's the only one who didn't notice, but that's fine, I guess."

"What do you think about it?"

"Hmm... Well, we can't really force her to say anything, right?"