Classroom of the Elite: Checkmate

Chapter 29 - Fool's Mate

Just as surmised, we weren't alone.

Chiaki, Hirata and Satou already waited for us when we arrived at the bar area. The location was stuffed with the other first-year students, similar to the Palate back at school, which was why I stayed clear of this area most of the time. It wasn't as bad since only our grade level was on this ship, but I appreciated the peace that came with being alone much more.

Depending on the company I could make do, of course, but I wouldn't have chosen this place for our meeting if it had been up to me. Fortunately, there was no sight of Ryuuen and his henchmen because he would have certainly walked up to us in order to annoy our class leaders with his usual shenanigans.

"Kiyotaka! How's your leg? Do you need help?"

A bright smile surfaced on my girlfriend's face as she spotted Karuizawa and me walking towards them. She turned and stood up, ready to support me in case I was still struggling, since I had mentioned that my leg was acting up before.

"No, it's fine, thank you. It got better after I massaged it a bit."

It was still difficult to believe that people cared about my well-being and were worried about my health because of such a minimal, almost laughable 'injury'. I had made a habit of limping after my accident, but I wasn't used to their concern since no one had ever cared about my feelings or the pain I might have had to endure.

She beamed and tapped on the empty seat to her left.

Chiaki grabbed my fingers after I sat down beside her and caressed the back of my hand with her gentle, affectionate touch. Karuizawa didn't want to lose out in the boyfriend department and clutched onto Hirata's whole arm.

I was fascinated by her ability to feign such a close relationship and impressed by his talent to ignore the comfortable, soft feeling that must have been embracing his whole limb now that she had pulled it into her cleavage.

Both girls were similar in cup size to Suzune, which left little to complain about. Despite my large sample size of breasts, I didn't have any preferences, as everything between small and large felt comfortable and brought their own pros and cons to the table. Other departments, just as the thighs were easier to arrange. Here, I favored —

Damn you, Ike!

This might sound presumptuous after such an insolent, superficial analysis of women's secondary sex characteristics and similar enticing body features, but I believed that the inner qualities of a person were equally important to their physical aspects. Neither boys nor girls could deny that they attached great importance to an appealing appearance when they selected their potential partner.

Some were one-dimensional, only interested in good looks and the popularity of their companion. They didn't care whether their boyfriend or girlfriend was kind or made them happy, as they valued the envy of others and their newly attained social status more than anything else.

Most people who didn't know her would have sorted Karuizawa into this category.

I counted myself to the other group.

One could say a lot of things about the brother complex Suzune was dealing with, her difficult character or many other negative things, but very few people could deny that she had a pleasing physical appearance. If a batch of random test subjects was ordered to rate her and the rest of our classmates, she would be higher valued than someone like Shinohara.

Yet, I would have rejected her if she had asked me out.

The banter and our silly talks were nice, and I enjoyed the time I spent with her, but she hadn't been the person I was looking for back then. Fuka had the same problem besides my uncertainty about her motives, which was why I never took her advances seriously and downplayed her sexual actions towards me.