Ayanokouji Kiyone P.O.V.
"—Thank you for being my second friend, Kikyou-san."
Kikyou-san was a big help to me. Learning, chatting, and interacting with others— I'm understanding more and more what friendship meant. Growing up in a place where positive relationship is fiction, I grew up being curious about these things I have read.
Companionship?
Camaraderie?
Friendship?
What are those? Are they edible? Do they taste good? Countless philosophers orated their soliloquies in written form, reading them all, I still couldn't fathom the idea of the existence and necessity of friendship.
Lewis said that friendship is a lot like the need or pleasure for basic human needs such as food and water, but in an intangible form. Instead of prolonging survival, friendship gives value to survival.
Another great philosopher, Thoreau, claims that friendship constantly challenges those who enter into it to be the best that they can be, and I'm pretty sure that I'm not friends with that man.
Maybe it was the fact that I had to actually interact with people in order to test their theories about friendship. Hearing Kikyou's words granted a clear definition of the concept of friendship, much clearer than what I got through reading books written by established geniuses in the field of Philosophy.
"Today, at 17:00 in the gymnasium number 1, there will be a club fair. For those of you with an interest in clubs, please come to gymnasium number 1"
A girl with a cute voice made an announcement over the speaker.
Repeating the announcement a number of times, a chime sounded through the speakers of the school, indicating that the PA was over. Hearing the sound, we turned our attention to our table and focused back on eating our lunches.
Maya, Chiaki, and Kei talked and asked me some questions as they continued to eat their food. Satsuki, Mei-Yu, and Yousuke just listened. Glancing at Kikyou, I noticed that she was silent.
Noticing that she hasn't touched her food, I concluded that she was in a daze due to hunger. Kikyou hasn't taken a bite out of her food since the beginning of lunch, to the time the announcement rang out.
Not wanting her to remain hungry, I shake her shoulders and call out to her.
"Kikyou-san? You should start eating now. We only have a set amount of time every lunch."
"A-Ah... Kiyone-san, ye-yeah... You're right, I should eat now."
Kushida replied rather dejectedly? As if trying to placate my worries, she threw in a forced smile and began to eat, sighing from time to time.
Wow, was this how I also looked whenever I tried to smile? No wonder the reactions of people was silence. It's kind of hard to form words to say. Unable to think of a good ending for the conversation, I simply stayed quiet and ate my salad.
A few minutes passed, another bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. Picking up our trays and throwing away our disposables, we make our way out of the cafeteria and headed back to class.
—
Entering the classroom, all of us went to our respective seats and waited for the teacher to arrive. As soon as I sat on my seat, Suzune talked to me.
"How was it?"
That was kind of unexpected. She looked so engrossed in her book that I didn't really want to bother her. Still, I was happy that she talked to me.
"It was fun, I got to meet new friends. How was your lunch, Suzune-san?"
"Su-Suzune?! W-what's with you today?!", she exclaimed loudly.
What is this reaction? Kikyou told me that since we're friends, I should call her by her given name. Using this logic, does that mean I am not Suzune's friend since she doesn't seem to like me calling her name?
"Kikyou told me to call her by her given name since we're friends... Does this mean that you and I are not friends?"
Everything I thought I understood about friendship came crashing down. I thought Horikita and I were friends, but apparently we're not? What about Maya's and I? Satsuki? Kei? What about Yousuke?
Horikita Suzune P.O.V.
"It was fun, I got to meet new friends. How was your lunch, Suzune-san?"
Fuuu~ It's good that she—Huh? Did I hear wrong?
'It was fun, I got to meet new friends. How was your lunch, Suzune-san?'
'—friends. How was your lunch, Suzune-san?'
'—your lunch, Suzune-san?'
'—Suzune-san?'
"Su-Suzune?! W-what's with you today?!"
W-what's with this sudden development?! I haven't even made my move yet, but we're already in this stage?! Was this the result of me putting a thousand yen in that shrine the day before going to this school?!
"Kikyou told me to her by her given name since we're friends... Does this mean that you and I are not friends?"
Fuwaaa~ She looks so cute like this... but I can't let her feel like this! Even though her face is straight, her eyes looks like a kicked puppy!
"Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~"
I can feel the intense stare of my classmates boring a hole through my head. There was also a dark aura coming from the front of the room. Quickly composing myself, I try to cheer Ayanokouji up.
"It's not like that, Ayanokouji-san. Just because you call other people with their surnames doesn't mean you're not friends."
"Then why—"
"I think you just misunderstood her words. Two people usually use each other's given name if they're close... At least that's what I think."
I interrupted her and muttered my uncertainties at the end. Though she looks cute looking all dejected, I didn't want her to feel such negative emotions.
"I see."
Although the sadness in her eyes lessened, I didn't like the fact that they were still there. Thinking about it, isn't this good for me? I could correct her misconceptions (and monopolize this privilege) and be closer to her at the same time.
"Fortunately, I do want to get closer to you, so I'll allow it. You can call me Suzune, no honorifics. In exchange, let me call you Kiyone. Deal?"
"Un. Anyways, there was a public announcement for the club fair at 17:00 during lunch. Did you hear it, Suzune?"
"Yes, Kiyone. What about it, Kiyone?"
Her name just rolls off the tongue. It sounds satisfying too.
"I was wondering if you would like to join me later?"
"Gladly.", I say with a smile.
I was just about to ask her too. I missed my chance to hang out with her, like normal friends do, during lunch. I had to make up for it by going with her to the club fair. She did say that she was homeschooled, she'd obviously be interested about clubs.
<Shuuuuuuuschk>
Hearing the door slide open, Chiyabashira-sensei entered the classroom. Telling us to go back to our seats, she started the lesson. For once, I couldn't pay focused on the lesson. My eyes darted back and forth to the clock in the board.
'Haah... Looks like I have to review the material for Japanese History later...'
Horikita is one of my top favorites in Classroom of the Elite. She's like right there below Arisu. If you tell me that Sakayanagi Arisu is not #1 best girl, I will not fight you. I will respect your opinion, but also shit on your opinion on my mind.
I researched about philosophy shtick for this chapter. Needless to say, I feel like I'm at the very peak of Dunning Kruger's graph. Just sharing, I knew about David Thoreau before all of this. It surprised me when his name came up on my search about different philosopher's thoughts about friendship, since I only knew him on topics regarding civil disobedience.
Lastly, I feel like I put weird onomatopoeias that only I can accurately audibly recreate when I proofread my story. Hopefully that's not the case, and you can create good imagery when you read.
Anyways, thanks for reading this chapter.