A/N: I got a picture from Reddit since it kind of embodies what I imagine Kiyo would look like at the moment. Messaged the original poster and got permission to use it for the story.
My afternoon with Matsuo-kun wasn't what I was expecting. Normally he's goofy and funny but not today. Today he sort of just brushed me off and then apologized saying he wanted to be alone.
I didn't notice it before but Matsuo-kun reminds me a lot about him. They have a lot of similarities. I normally put boys in a box, they'll always be friends. After all, my first love was both unrequited and impossible. I wouldn't even see him until I left this school and in that time, he very well could have met someone already. Maybe that was the blessing of this place, out of sight out of mind. If I saw him with another girl, it would tear my heart to pieces.
That's why I like hanging out with Matsuo-kun. For some reason, whenever I hang out with him it's just different. I notice things about the boys around me whenever we hang out and I can't help myself. I nitpick certain things. Not that I don't like them, they're my friends. I just can't help the thoughts of comparing the boys around me to him and they always fall short. Even now, I can't even bring myself to say his name because it hurts. I end up thinking about that time back in middle school when I'd agonize over my feelings that would never be returned.
For some reason, whenever I'm with Matsuo-kun that doesn't happen. I don't know, it's strange. I never compared the two of them. He never comes to mind when I'm with Matsuo-kun, I don't know why. Perhaps it's because they're just so similar as people. They have similar mannerisms, they even have similar features. The only main difference is that Matsuo-kun is taller. Much taller...
No Mako-chan, no! Stop it! They're wrong. You do NOT like Matsuo-kun, stop that.
This thing with Ayanokouji-kun is really tough though. I don't understand why people are like this. Ayanokouji-kun's never done anything to anyone. No scratch that, Ayanokouji-kun doesn't do anything. Sloth's around the world are taking notes of that lazy bum. So why are people calling him a monster?
It's mean and cruel. Ayanokouji-kun is not a monster. He may be lazy and a little rude but he treats Honami-chan really well. Not just that but he's hot as hell. Especially with that bulking diet that Honami-chan researched and had been secretly forcing him to eat. If monsters are built like that... someone sign me up with a ticket to the demonic realm.
Hold on, I'll see if I can find one. You'll see what I'm talking about...
...Hmm, where is it. I'm sure I had it here somewhere...
I mean, come on look at this. LOOK AT THIS!
Look, I'm no homewrecker or anything. He's Honami-chan's boyfriend and everything, but I'm a girl. It's not my fault, I'm not the one taking the photos. The 'Ayanokouji Kiyotaka Appreciation Society' or whatever they're calling themselves now are the ones who are to blame. They're the ones uploading the photos, I just look. On a couple of them, my finger just happened to slide over to the download button by accident.
...By the way, don't tell anyone I showed you that. I'm not supposed to be sharing my best friend's boyfriend's photos. I only showed you to prove a point.
...Yeah, let's go with that 👍
Honami-chan really has him wrapped around her finger, just thinking about it makes me laugh. She predicted this, apparently Ayanokouji-kun always falls for it. She has a certain way she looks at him when she asks him to do something and he just sighs and does what she wants. It's so cute.
He's just a lazy introvert that wants to be left alone, what's wrong with that? Sure he has some weird tastes that Honami-chan is starting to get into as well. I swear I've never been able to eat an ice cream ever since I agreed to watch that stupid anime with Honami-chan. I can't even walk past the freezer at the grocery without my face turning into a ripe tomato.
I just don't know what to do, don't know what to say. It's hard to read that one of your friends was tortured and abused endlessly as a child. His abilities don't matter to me. He's a good person who's had a terrible upbringing, who's seen some truly heinous things. I can't even imagine how traumatic it would be to see people die right in front of you, let alone when you're still a kid. I'm afraid to even talk about it or bring it up, I don't know how to ask him if he's okay.
One thing's for certain, I hate Nagumo-senpai so much. What he did was cruel, how could he do something like that? I could see everyone avoid Ayanokouji-kun when he left classes and I wanted to say something but I couldn't muster the courage.
I've grown to respect Ayanokouji-kun so much, he looks normal. None of this is affecting him. The mental strength... to be able to come into classes the day after everything about your life is exposed and not even looking hurt as the people whisper around him is something I could never do.
All I can do now is sit while Honami-chan continues to chew at her fingernails worriedly. A part of me really wants Ayanokouji-kun to take her away from Class B. It wasn't fair, all of them ganged up on her. I felt like I was alone, I fought desperately as Shibata-kun, Kanzaki-kun, Himeno-chan and the rest all pushed Honami-chan to tell Ayanokouji-kun not to use his exchange ticket on her. Honami-chan tried to tell them that this was what he'd do but I think even she was surprised with how mean and angry he'd reacted. Perhaps I was wrong, maybe all of this really was effecting Ayanokouji-kun. I've never seen him talk to her like that, I've never seen Honami-chan cry. Not even when they stripped her of her leadership.
"Stop eating your nails, leave some for tomorrow," I said.
Honami frowned and looked down at her nails before changing tactics and drumming her fingers on the table in front of her. The drumming was getting faster and louder, I was going to go insane.
"What did the table do to you?"
"I can't chew my nails, I can't drum on the table. What do you want me to do?"
"Go to Ayanokouji-kun, say whatever sappy thing you've been thinking over in your mind a thousand times and I don't know. Put your tongue down his throat or sleep with him, do something. Sitting here with me won't do anything,"
It was one of the few times that Honami-chan hadn't turned into a blushing mess when I'd suggested she'd sleep with Ayanokouji-kun already. I didn't think she was getting used to it, she was really worried. I hope they do it soon though, mama needs to win that betting pool.
Honami-chan didn't say anything, she sat staring at her desk. I could see why Ayanokouji-kun loved being lazy in their office, this couch was comfortable as hell. I literally groaned as I sat up from my lying position as I watched and waited for her to say something. As if this couch was trying to pull me back down onto its heavenly cloud.
"You there, Honami-chan? Anybody home?"
"What if he breaks up with me?" Honami-chan said warily.
I could see her starting to cry again, I didn't like seeing my friend like this. Even if I wanted to get to Class A just like any other student, Honami-chan's already suffered enough for us. She really cares about the class, willingly stepping down when everyone except for Chihiro-chan and I suggested she take a break.
Well, it was framed as a break. I didn't realize that it would be permanent until the Rabbit Group meeting. Shibata-kun, Kanzaki-kun, Beppu-kun and just about every boy in Class B. All of them had fallen to varying degrees for Ichinose Honami, even a few girls. Some harder than others but the feelings were there. Every single one of them felt a little bit of resentment in their hearts that Honami-chan was prioritizing Student Council duties and Ayanokouji-kun over other things.
While at the beginning of the year Honami-chan had emphasized team building get togethers and hanging out with the class during lunch and after school, that changed when she joined the Student Council. After that, social gatherings took a back seat. While most of the girls were understanding and encouraged her at first, even they seemed to think it was excessive. Honami-chan wasn't able to see it festering, too lovestruck by cupid's arrow and wanting to spend every available moment with Ayanokouji-kun. Unable or uncaring to see that there should be a balance.
"Then he's an idiot who doesn't deserve you," I huffed dismissively. "It won't happen though, Ayanokouji-kun loves you."
"Does he?" Honami-chan asked. "He hasn't said he loves me. Not once since I confessed,"
"Ayanokouji-kun doesn't seem like the romantic type who says 'I love you' very often," I rolled my eyes.
"He does to his sister,"
Honami hugged herself as she brought her knees into her chest, sitting hunched over on the roller chair. I felt bad for her, all of this was Kanzaki-kun's fault.
If you asked me yesterday whether I thought it was strange that Ayanokouji-kun was so creepily close to his sister, I would have said yes before you even finished the question. Now it all makes sense, Sakayanagi-san was probably his first and closest connection. I don't think there was anything Honami-chan could do that would change that.
Honami-chan would never win that war, Sakayanagi-san would always come first for Ayanokouji-kun. A fact that I was certain Honami-chan knew.
"Maybe this is a good thing," I said offhandedly, trying to steer the conversation to something else.
Honami-chan gave me a dirty look as she finally peeked her head out from inside of her knees.
How the hell does she manage to sit like that with a chest that size?
"How is it a good thing that Kiyotaka never says he loves me?"
"No, not that. I meant changing to Ayanokouji-kun's class,"
Honami-chan tilted her head in confusion and stared at me perplexed, waiting for me to elaborate.
"Think about it, when will you get a chance like this? Why would you even choose us over your boyfriend? The opportunity to change classes doesn't come around very often,"
"I promised the class that I'd do my best to get us to Class A," Honami frowned.
"No one can blame you if he swaps you against your will," I said, waving her off.
"This way you can spend more time with Ayanokouji-kun. Hell, you'll probably have a better chance reaching Class A there then you would with us. God knows you're the only one in the school who can get that lazy shit to do anything."
"Don't call him that," Honami-chan scolded me with a frown.
At least she was somewhat back to normal. I watched as she contemplated what I'd said, wrestling with herself as she weighed the gravity of it. For someone like Honami-chan who always prioritizes others over herself, the thought of being selfish like that would have weighed heavily on her conscience.
"But what about you? What about Chihiro-chan? What about the rest of Class B? I can't just leave them like that..."
"Think about yourself, don't worry about any of that. We'll still see each other all the time, it won't change that you're still my best friend."
"It isn't that simple, Mako-chan," Honami-chan sighed, shaking her head.
Honami-chan stood from her seat and grabbed the remote for the monstrous TV that was mounted on the opposite wall. Ayanokouji-kun's such a spoiled brat, being the chairman's son has it's perks I guess. None of the other offices had toys like Ayanokouji-kun had stashed around this damn office. He even had a hidden video game set that Matsuo-kun kept eyeing like a toddler every time we passed the electronic store. I'm pretty sure there's a bunch of other hidden expensive gem's around this office that I hadn't even managed to find.
Hell, Honami-chan's chair was more expensive than anything I owned either in my dorm or back home. The thing looked like some kind of movie prop for an evil villain. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if that thing gave massages too.
While I was distracted, Honami-chan had mirrored her phone to the screen with a list of every member of every class in the first year. Honami-chan sat heavily on the coffee table before pointing at the screen.
"If you look at all of the OAA scores of every student of every class, you'll notice a pattern. The classes follow a certain theme. Every class has some people with high Academic scores, others have high in Adaptability and others in their Physical scores.
"If you look at Class A, all of them are balanced. On the whole, most have high scores in Academia, some have above average scores in Physical but none of them stand out. They don't have someone who excels particularly in one field and if they do, they have incredibly low scores in other areas.
"Our class is very much the same, we have varying scores in Academic Ability, Physical Ability and Adaptability. The one thing that our Class excels at compared to the rest is Social Contribution. We're perfectly matched in that regard. If you look closely though, we don't have anyone that excels greatly over the other classes in the other three categories.
"Ryuen's class is probably the most mismatched. They have almost no one that greatly excels in any of the categories. However, they have Ryuen. He's the lynchpin that holds them all together.
"With Kiyotaka's class, they have many people that excel greatly in multiple categories. In many ways, their class is the most talented of the year. Regardless, they have deep personality flaws that prevent them from reaching that potential. From what I can see, almost all of them have very deep psychological scars that hinder them. They also have some people who have the lowest scores across all categories."
Honami-chan stopped speaking, staring at the screen while she gathered her thoughts. I was grateful that the conversation had turned like this, at least while she was distracted she wasn't upset. We'd really made a huge mistake, Honami-chan was a far more capable leader than people gave her credit. She held our class together so much more than we realized, now that we'd lost her, we were already feeling the pain.
"So..." I urged her to continue.
"So if you remove one key component, the Class will fail. I don't mean to be conceited, but I'm one of the students in our class with a higher than average Academic Ability score. If Kiyotaka insists on moving me, you'll have a far more difficult time reaching Class A. Hoshinomiya-sensei knew, it's why she invited Kiyotaka to Karaoke..."
Honami-chan let out a heavy sigh as she stared at the screen. I wanted to ask her why any of that even mattered to her. There are times when I get frustrated with Honami-chan, I often think she's too good and pure for this school. This place... it's cutthroat. Ayanokouji-kun had made progress, Honami-chan was thinking more and more selfishly for herself. In other ways... Well a leopard can't change its spots. In other ways, Honami-chan would always put others first.
She didn't have to be so selflessly loyal to a class that wasn't loyal to her. Her future wasn't set in stone just because she was placed into Class B from the beginning.
The selfish part of me, however, was grateful that she was so fiercely loyal. If she wasn't, we'd already been doomed the moment Class B removed her from her representative position.
"It's why a Class transfer is so expensive," Honami-chan continued. "That balance shouldn't be upset so easily. It's why I can't believe that a reward like this was so carelessly given."
"Why do you think they made the transfer ticket then?"
"Who knows," Honami-chan shrugged. "It could be anything really. My guess though, Chairman Sakayanagi approved it to incentivise Kiyotaka. To guarantee that he'd do his best during the Sport's Festival with everyone watching."
"Your boyfriend is a huge pain in the ass," I huffed in annoyance. "So, what are you going to do? I hate to say it but there's no chance in hell that Shibata-kun can beat him. I don't think anyone is beating him at all."
"I have a plan," Honami-chan said hesitantly. "It probably won't do much, two weeks isn't enough time to make a meaningful difference. However, it'll slow him down a little bit."
Honami-chan switched off the television before getting up from the coffee table. She walked to the front door to the Student Council office before cracking it open and peaking her head out the door. Maybe she was worried about Ayanokouji-kun eavesdropping but she checked outside before coming back after she locked the door. As if the thought never occurred to her, she scanned the room as if the walls had ears or something before sitting back on the coffee table and motioning me closer.
"Alright," Honami-chan whispered.
"Why are we whispering?" I hissed in frustration.
We were alone in the Student Council office. What, did she think that Ayanokouji-kun had a secret room where he was watching us through the air conditioning vent? Honestly, ever since his secret came out everyone thinks he's some kind of boogeyman or something.
"I wouldn't put it past Kiyotaka to have a recording device in here or something,"
"You're being ridiculous," I scoffed, speaking normally again.
"Just," Honami-chan started in frustration. "Humor me,"
Honami-chan was normally always so composed. This situation was really stressing her out, stressing everyone out.
"Kiyotaka has one big weakness. It'll probably be the only one I can exploit," Honami-chan started whispering again. "Kiyotaka is incredibly confident,"
"That's a rather nice way of saying he's an arrogant shi-"
The look that Honami-chan gave me, I'd never seen her make that face before. Her eyes turned cold, it was bone chilling. I'd already noticed that Ayanokouji-kun had influenced her behavior over time. She'd become more relaxed, more free spirited, less serious. This was the first time that I'd ever seen her glare at anyone, it looked so foreign on the normally kind face of Ichinose Honami.
"Mako-chan. This is the last time I will tell you to stop insulting him in front of me," Honami-chan said coldly.
This was not the Honami-chan I'd grown to know and love. It was times like this that drastic times called for drastic measures. So I did what any reasonable and sane person would do.
I stood up from the couch and bonked her on the top of her head as hard as I could. Honami-chan winced before clutching at the top of her head with both hands in shock.
That's what you get for underestimating the power of Mako-chan.
"What the hell is wrong with you!? Ayanokouji-kun's my friend, I always call him that! To his face! Damn that lazy bastard, you're reading too many of his stupid mangas and acting like some kind of edgelord!"
Honami-chan looked away sheepishly, still clutching at her head as I stood there looking down on her absolutely fuming.
"I'm sorry," Honami-chan mumbled. "It's just... I hear everyone too. People are afraid of him now. Some people are outright insulting him behind his back. I guess I got carried away."
"Well come back down to earth! Why the hell would Ayanokouji-kun have a listening device in his own office? You think he's some kind of chess master that predicted we'd talk about this in your office!?"
"Well... he is a chess master," Honami-chan smiled proudly, apparently gearing up for another round of telling me how amazing Ayanokouji-kun is at everything.
"Argh!!" I shouted in frustration pulling my hair. "Can you stop being a fangirl and finish telling me your plan? Like a normal Honami-chan and not... whatever the hell this is?"
Even my outburst did nothing, she had that stupid grin on her face.
God, couples or people who were in a relationship were so annoying. Whenever Ayanokouji-kun becomes the topic of conversation she always makes that stupid face. A cross between an old lecher and someone with brain damage while they stared into space, blegh.
Realizing I'd need to break her out of her trance with another bonk, the moment I raised my fist she snapped out of it before shaking her hands in front of her in surrender.
"Okay, okay!" Honami-chan said frantically.
"Well, the first stage is to stop him from training. I'll need to break his morning routine and convince him to take it easy,"
"That's not going to be hard," I snorted. "Convincing Ayanokouji-kun not to do anything is like convincing water to be wet,"
"Not as easy as you think," Honami-chan frowned.
"Kiyotaka has a set routine. Anything that breaks that routine annoys him. I'll have to stop him from leaving tomorrow morning and convince him to sleep in,"
"After that, I'll feed him a big breakfast. It'll make him lethargic. If I give him a huge lunch with lots of fried food, by the time we finish student council duties hopefully he'll be too tired to train in the evening,"
"Even then, he probably won't go. Kiyotaka hates going in the evenings, the gym is too crowded at that time." Honami-chan finished.
Bless this girl's heart. Her underhanded tactics sucked. Even now when she was trying to sabotage him, it was through feeding him and making him sleep in.
"That's your genius plan? To feed him until he bursts? Are you planning to follow him with a spoon for two weeks?"
"No, that wouldn't work," Honami-chan shook her head.
Don't tell me she took my sarcasm seriously...
"Kiyotaka will see through it immediately. He'll notice what I'm up to right away. Even if I manage to stop him from training tomorrow morning, he'll know what's up and call me out on it the next day at the latest," Honami-chan continued.
"Great, so you'll stop him for one day. I don't see how that's going to make much of a difference," I frowned.
"Well that's where his confidence comes into play," Honami-chan explained.
"Kiyotaka will notice but he'll play along in the beginning. He'll call me out and he'll probably laugh at the ridiculousness of the plan. Knowing Kiyotaka, he'll probably say something along the lines of being able to win easily without even training at all. If I call his bluff and challenge him to do it, his pride won't let him back down,"
"If I can stop him from training for those two weeks, there's a slim chance that maybe Horikita-senpai or one of the others may be able to sneak a few wins and get the Exchange Ticket that way. That's the only way I can think of sabotaging him at this stage," Honami-chan finished.
I hate to say it but while this plan would have been alright for someone else, I didn't think this plan was going to do much. It was probably our best course of action without poisoning him or hiring someone to try to injure him but it was still... I don't know. This plan was so Honami-chan.
I was hoping for some kind of big brain play here, something that made me go 'Eureka! That's it, Honami-chan! Ayanokouji-kun won't stand a chance now!'. Instead, I just felt kind of 'Meh, I guess we could do that'. It was kind of like being chased by a cheetah and throwing a banana peel over your shoulder and hoping it slipped. Hell, I don't think we'd be able to hire someone to injure him either unless we got some kind of assassin. Judging by what I'd seen of Ayanokouji-kun's capabilities though, I'd probably read in the news that Ayanokouji-kun managed to fight off an assassination attempt and apprehended him with the assassin's own shoelaces or something like that.
Even if he managed to break his own leg, I wouldn't put it past him to be able to hop faster than anyone could run.
Eh, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. Ayanokouji-kun's not a God. The rules of physics still applied to him, no one was invincible. If he was a God, he'd be the God of laying down or the God of avoiding responsibilities or something like that.
Damn it Mako-chan, stop getting distracted.
"So, are you planning to wait outside of his dorm at 5:00am or something?"
"No, I have a spare key to his room," Honami-chan said off handedly, turning the TV back on and scrolling through movies.
'Oh, hello Ichinose Honami... You never told me that...' I thought to myself as I felt my subconscious grinning.
Maybe I'd won that pool after all and I'd never even known...
"So you've done this before? Sneaking into his room while he's asleep?" I asked, trying and failing to keep the teasing tone from my voice.
It was the first time that Honami-chan blushed, her hand on the remote trembling slightly as she continued searching through the list of titles. While they hadn't been going out for long, Honami-chan used to get so flustered and cute whenever the topic of physical intimacy came up. After a while she'd just shrug off my teasing.
It was only when I brought up things like asking if she'd christened their office yet or the time Ayanokouji-kun walked past her in the hall and smacked her on the butt that she'd start blushing and sputtering again.
He really went for it too, I don't think I'd ever seen Honami-chan jump that high. She didn't even tell him off for it either, just stood there blushing and staring at the ground while holding her butt.
There was still the smallest bit of innocence still in there though. I burst out laughing when Sakayanagi-san gave Honami-chan one of her cane's for her birthday. Honami-chan looked so confused but Sakayanagi-san just smiled and said she'll need it one day.
"N-not the way you're thinking," Honami-chan stuttered. "I-It's not what you think. It's just for convenience sake. Sometimes I put his laundry there for him or wait for him to come back or cook. Sometimes he does some shopping for me and puts it in my room,"
Oh Mako-chan, you're the best. To think you'd stumble on two gems in one night.
"So he has a spare key for your room too?" I asked with wide eyed surprise.
I watched as Honami-chan started to turn a deeper shade of red, realizing she'd revealed even more than she wanted to. As she struggled to speak, I really wanted to take a break from all the serious talk. All of this stuff with the Sports Festival and Exchange tickets and Ayanokouji-kun's secret was so heavy.
How long had it been since Honami-chan and I could just laugh and tease each other? When was the last time we could just gossip and joke while not caring about where the time went? I needed a break from all of these wars, it was getting to be so draining.
Even still, we needed to keep planning. Procrastination wasn't going to help us, we needed this plan to be solid. That didn't mean that I couldn't do two things at once. I could tease Honami-chan while we continued to plan.
"Alright then," I said casually. "Let's go through this plan of yours. I'll help you plan out your dirty tactics."
"I don't like how you emphasized the word dirty," Honami-chan noted while fanning her face, mimicking how I spoke.
"What? I'm just telling it how it is. Since you're giving your best and bending over backwards, I just want to help you get your desired results so you can end up on top,"
"Stop it, I know what you're doing," Honami-chan sputtered incredibly flustered.
"Well? How are you going to... do it?"
"Mako-chan..."
"What were you planning to feed him for breakfast? Strawberries? Whip-cream with a side of a naked apron?"
"Mako-chan!"