Ayanokouji's POV
"Ayanokouji-kun, why haven't you studied, yet?"
"Who says I haven't?"
Himeno and I were relaxing in my room. She was taking a moment's respite away from studying, but she didn't want to stay in her room to relax. I invited her to my room, which she accepted. She lounged on my bed, laying on her stomach and kicking her feet up behind her, fiddling on her phone. I had finished making some snacks for both of us to enjoy, two yogurt parfaits with strawberries, blueberries, and granola. I handed her one of the parfaits and both of us dug in. Her eyes widened upon tasting the dessert I gave her.
"Wow, this is actually really good!" she complimented, "I can say this is even better than the parfaits served at the Pallet Cafe in the mall,"
"And cheaper, too. You know they charge extra for the service aspect. I don't blame them, because the baristas have to be paid somehow,"
"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. What do you mean that you've studied? From what I've heard and seen, you've just been spending time in the Tea Ceremony club or wandering the school grounds. Hoshinomiya-sensei told us about the change of topics to review. Are you telling the truth? Can I see the review sheets Ichinose printed out for everyone?"
"Yeah, sure, go ahead," I replied. I walked over to my desk and took out several of my notebooks and threw them all at her like shuriken.
"Ow! Piss! Damnit Kiyotakaaaa!"
I couldn't help but let out a snort when I saw her pout. She's cute when she's indignant, that's for sure. Since this was the first time she used my given name, I guess it's fine for me to call her by hers? Whatever, I'll think about it later. I walked over to her and unceremoniously dropped the review sheets in front of her. She flipped through my notebook for the sciences and reviewed my unfinished work.
"See, you've barely star—" she paused and her eyes bugged out before she trailed off, "—ted..."
"How exactly do you know this? Ichinose has been wracking her brains trying to figure out these questions,"
I yawned and sat next to her on my bed before sleepily replying, "Don't worry about it. Sensei hasn't taught us this content. We're not really expected to know this stuff yet. You don't have to aim to get everything right, just focus on reviewing and understanding the majority of the content. Every question is worth the same amount of points, anyway."
"Well, it's not like it's my problem that you're not trying that hard in class. I understand why you'd rather keep low rather than show off your talent. It honestly would be a hassle to tutor the others, given the amount of stress they seem to be under. I guess for these three weeks you have been relaxation personified."
"Well, if you need any help with anything, you can just ask. I don't have any problems with any arrangements if it doesn't involve me doing something like tutoring a bunch of people,"
"Alright, so can you help me with math? I think I have everything in English and Japanese down, but I'm having trouble with math in general."
"Alright, I have some blank sheets somewhere. We'll first check your foundation before we start getting into it."
We both left the bed and sat at my coffee table, bringing over the materials for me to teach her.
"First, we'll start off with the basics," I started, "I'll write some problems down for you to solve. After—"
"Can I record the tutoring session?" Himeno asked, which I agreed to. I believe it definitely will be helpful if she listens to my explanations more than once if my tutoring isn't solid for better comprehension. It could also help serve as a guide if she forgets the proper steps written on her paper. She laid her phone against my coffee table decor on its side and we got to work.
"Oh yeah, why did you call me Kiyotaka?" I suddenly asked.
Her face tinted pink in embarrassment, "I—"
Timeskip
I couldn't sleep, and Himeno was already slumbering in her room. It was past curfew, so most students had already returned to their dorms. I decided to leave my room and bought a can of green tea from the lobby's vending machine. I'd normally buy some juice instead, but Ikari-senpai has a sixth sense for knowing whether or not I'm drinking tea or water. That was a joke. I could make the conjecture that she had access to some of the cameras on campus. I guess private points really can buy nearly everything on campus. ...I honestly hope that she doesn't have access to the cameras in my dorm room. There are blind spots on campus, right? I wonder if I could find some if I tried looking for them. I went up several flights of stairs to reach the rooftop of the dormitory. The night sky was illuminated by neon lights from the many nightclubs, karaoke bars, restaurants, and many more that our senpais had dropped by to enjoy the campus nightlife. Even though I couldn't see the stars and the moon, I decided to climb the mechanical penthouse on top of the roof for a higher vantage point to observe the campus. It really was beautiful.
I heard some footsteps coming from the stairwell, so I concealed my presence and retreated into the shadows, intent on observing whoever came up the stairs. A rather familiar figure had appeared through the doorway. It was Kushida. I was surprised that she came alone, as she was usually found in the company of some of her friends. I was honestly envious of her— to think she was able to be friends with a majority of the students on campus! She was renown even amongst our upperclassmen, easily getting along with others. Having such a friendly demeanor no matter the person seemed almost unnatural, but it was rather impressive being able to hold on to that demeanor for so long. My eyes had locked onto her form as she steadily walked to the edge of the rooftop, slowly setting her bag down on the ground.
"Ahh, so annoying!"
Her voice was shrill and irritated, completely different from the usual Kushida. I hurriedly turned on my phone to record what was happening.
"She's seriously annoying! God, how irritating. It'd be better if she just died..." Kushida grumbled.
Oho, now this is interesting. I knew that ever-cheerful demeanor was a facade. Ikari-senpai is better at hiding it than you, and I could easily tell something was wrong with her.
"Ugh, I loathe her, trying to be kind and helping those idiotic monkeys study,"
Was she talking about... Ichinose? I wonder...
"Ah, she's the worst! She's just the worst, the worst, the worst! Horikita, you're so damn annoying!"
Ah, someone I don't know. If I recall correctly, the only Horikita on campus I have heard of is the incumbent student council president. Perhaps... Horikita-senpai is secretly a woman? Or he has a sister in the second year or from my generation.
An odd question arose. Why did she hold up a facade for so long? Why does she find it necessary to be friends with everyone if you genuinely don't like some of them? Was she secretly a narcissist that finds it necessary to have everyone like her? While still hiding, I attempted to leave.
Thump!
An audible thump could be heard by all those on the rooftop. Kushida had tensed and stopped breathing. She set her sights in a direction across from where I hid. I blended within the shadows once more, taking very shallow inaudible breaths, starting a second recording just in case. It would not do for my location to be compromised in the case I would have to stay there for a long time. No matter what, I was still human. With the proper procedure, I could hold my breath for an extended period of time, but I had no such prep time. I had to make do with this technique, silently and slowly taking in breaths so I wouldn't have to gasp for air.
"What...are you doing here?"
It looked like another student had spied on her venting on the rooftop.
"I got lost. My bad, I'll be going," a male voice said.
Kushida had stalked towards him briskly to confront him. I got a clearer picture of who it was. I believe he's a student from Class D that's also in the archery club, a rather skilled archer, in fact.
"Did you hear?" Kushida asked.
"Hear what? I just came to return your phone,"
"I don't believe you." Kushida placed her forearm against the boy's throat and pushed him up against the wall. It was unfortunate he couldn't retaliate because then she could easily use that as an excuse for him assaulting her.
"If you tell anyone what you just heard, I will ruin you," her icy voice declared. It definitely wasn't an idle threat. I smiled. People sure are interesting, huh.
"And if I did tell?" What a fool. To be honest, I would do that too. I'd probably want to antagonize her as much as possible if I was going down anyway.
"In that case, I would tell everyone that you raped me."
"It wouldn't be true. That's a false accusation,"
"It doesn't matter if it's true or not. I can fabricate evidence just like this," she took hold of his wrist, opened the boy's hand in an almost loving manner, and quickly placed it on her breast. Hoho, how evil.
"S-Stop!"
"Your fingerprints are on my clothes. This is happening. There is nothing you can do about it. If you betray me and tell anyone, your life is over. I'll hand this evidence over to the authorities. The justice system naturally favors me. So does the court of public opinion. You wouldn't have anywhere to go. Your parents would be ashamed to be related to you, and will completely abandon you. You'd either live on as a wanderer or be sent to jail. Do you understand me?"
"I understand. Now let go of my hand."
"I'm going to leave this uniform in my room without washing it. If you betray me, you know what I had said."
"It's a promise."
And that was that. The two had left the rooftop, leaving me alone by myself. My smile contorted into a wicked grin. Wouldn't it be funny if I posted this video on the forum when you gained more trust from everyone? It would be fun to see her explode. While I was inclined to tell Himeno, I decided not to so she could focus on her studies. Perhaps after the midterms. I wouldn't tell Kanzaki because he might accidentally let it slip. Ichinose wouldn't be a good choice either, as she would likely try to confront Kushida almost immediately. Her sense of justice is too strong and would take precedence over all reason.
After thirty minutes, I left the rooftop, descending down the stairs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyway, another quick chapter. I might churn out another one later today. Goodbye for now.