All or Nothing

Volume 1: Chapter 3 Part 6

"You know. It's kind of unusual for us to get together alone like this, isn't it? We haven't done so since... The cruise ship."

As she sat down on the bed next to Hirata, Kei made this observation. It was true that they had never really gotten together alone like this as all the times they were together, there was always another companion. For example, Horikita when they were discussing class matters. Satou when they were out on a Christmas double date.

And like Kei had mentioned, the only time they had gotten together like this was when they had inexplicably and unintentionally met together during a night on the cruise ship. Although, for the three of them, it was not exactly a good memory to have, especially in Kei's case.

"Maybe so."

"We should go out together like this more often. Just the three of us. Me, Kiyotaka and Yousuke-kun. It would be a blast to go together."

Surprisingly, it was Kei who made this suggestion. Both Kiyotaka and Hirata were surprised, and it was especially so for Hirata whose next point made sense to everyone.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't be disrupting any chances of you two being together and having your dates, right? Plus, there's the fact that everyone else in the school still believes that we dated before you two got together. It would be slightly problematic for us, right?"

Kiyotaka agreed with Hirata. The students of ANHS really enjoyed talking about rumours. If one rumour spread, it would be the main topic for a while. Since he, Kei and Hirata had high reputations now, there was no doubt that rumours were going to spread. Plus, there was no doubt that Hirata was looking out for Kei since this very thing was what brought her to fake-date him in the first place.

"Who cares what they think now. Kiyotaka and I hid from everyone that we were dating and as soon as we revealed it all, rumours about us went around. It was quite similar when everyone thought you and I were dating Yousuke-kun. Rumours about us are already going round and may increase, but they are soon to die. Why should they stop us? As for you disrupting us, Kiyotaka and I have all the time in the world, especially in the late evenings. And we hang out with Satou-san, Shinohara-san, Nene-chan and even Kiyotaka's friends."

"Well... You're right. I'm not opposed to it. I would like to hang out with you guys a lot more."

After being convinced by Kei's reasons, Hirata pledged his support for the idea of hanging out as a trio more often. Kiyotaka wanted it to happen anyway but he was on Hirata's side specifically because he wasn't sure. Seeing that the two of them were onboard, he too felt onboard with hanging out often. It would allow them to deepen the relationship they had as close beings too.

"But we should probably get to why we're here. It's not everyday that you call us out of nowhere to meet up with you in your room, Kiyotaka-kun. I'm guessing that it must be quite important, right?"

Kiyotaka had called them earlier on during the day to meet him here, but he hadn't told them the reason why. Even though Hirata asked such a question, it was likely he already guessed what it was for and he would only be partly correct.

"You are correct, Yousuke. I wanted to discuss tomorrow's special exam with you two. I thought I'd prepare some measures."

"Measures? Kiyotaka-kun. You're trying to make the test unanimous, aren't you?"

"Just from the outline, and before we got any more explanations, it certainly didn't sound like a very difficult exam, did it? The special exams that have been held in the past have had much more difficult rules."

"Well... At that point in time I wasn't too sure what to make of it. But now, with all the information we have now, this special exam will not be straightforward. The issue is ensuring our class is united to make unanimous decisions on each vote. We still aren't that well united."