Hollow and vacant thoughts were being emanated in the atmosphere as their inability to grasp my personality left them unsettled and in fact fearful after all, fear is uncertainty. But for some, it's been an exciting moment, having a peek at my thoughts revealed many details about me.Will these details be used against me after we leave? If so,do I have break myself entirely and rebuild from scratch? I suppose, it wouldn't be too difficult given that I shed my skin quite a bit, akin to snakes.
As I left the classroom, Kushida followed me with a face seemingly wanting to make a request.She then hurried infront of me and pulled her hands together in a cute manner," Ayanokouji, I saw you talking to horikita, are you friends?"How did she know horikita who didn't introduce herself, did they know each other before?I replied with a slight annoyance," Oh no, sorry kushida I am not at all well acquainted with her"
Yagami had a comment, "It's quite interesting how your annoyance is quite similar to your happiness."
"Yagami-kun, please stop being rude to senpai.Have you forgotten your manners?"Nanase seemed to be rebuking him but I didn't particularly mind, after all, it was true at the end of the day.
"Hai Hai, fine I apologise for my impudence." His voice was dripping with sarcasm hence I decided to remain silent. Kushida on the other hand seemed to be looking at me with amusement and shock. Perhaps she realised that if I actually cared to look into her when she first talked to me, her entire life would be exposed from the get-go. However, I didn't involve myself in something clearly that troublesome.I noticed Suzune's eyes narrow slightly as she whispered under her breath,"The intuition is unfathomable"
She then pleaded," Ayanokouji, I saw that she didn't talk to anyone but you the whole time, could you please help me be friends with her."Alright, something is wrong here, she is forcing herself to be friends with her, not just that I feel a desperation seeping through those friendly eyes.This girl is hiding something but I don't know what,nor do i have enough evidence.For now the best action is to stay away from this threat but i have to be nice, since her social pull has increased exponentially with that amazing introduction.I have to plan this out carefully.
"Hoh! Look at Mr schemer here, is that fear I sense?Are you scared of your cute classmate?" Nagumo egged me on with a teasing smirk.
I sighed in contemplation and responded,"I suppose, I was simply worried about my social points dropping below zero.I hope you can relate."
An interlaced threat seemed to have shut him up but his eyes still kept hovering over me in annoyance. I wonder, how someone so petty became the student council president, perhaps Manabu senpai does lose his IQ points at times.
"Were you thinking something rude Ayanokouji?" Manabu senpai's glare struck me as I avoided the blame.
"Not at all President. " Both the Horikitas are mindreaders, that's a certainty I was willing to bet on.
Thinking so, I replied,"Kushida, I would love to help you out once I get to know horikita well, why don't we both try to be friends with her!"
Kushida smiled,"Alright but could you tell me how to make my move?"
I appeared to be thinking deeply,"Hmm, I suppose you could ask her for coffee?"
Kushida clapped her hands together," Oh that's a wonderful idea, so umm..ayanokouji could you please bring her along to come to pallet cafe at 6 pm today?"
I said with a tone of disappointment, "Kushida as you know, I am not well acquainted with her, hence I am certain she will reject the idea. So why don't you,oh..i don't know...maybe...change the situation to your favour which might force her to come to pallet cafe?"
"Ayanokouji-kun, looking past the ethics of this, you seem to be well-versed in social cues and motions. Kinda odd that you are somewhat socially inept given your decent enough knowledge in this." A simple query asked by Honami did send question marks on top of many heads.
"Maybe it's more from books? I have tried reading self help books before. It does point out his thoughts quite eloquently as well. Meeting up with friends often does form good connections as it shares a common ground and leaves room for future discussion." Hiyori suggested adding onto it.
"Well I suppose so, however in our reality, Horikita-san refused me I hope this reality things are different!" A hopeful smile plastered on Kushida's face as she grinned trying to appease everyone.
I pondered regarding my extremely proactive nature. What was motive? I didn't realise a day would come where I would have to do self reflection in such an extreme degree. Perhaps it's to use Kushida early on? But that would go against my ideals hence what was my agenda that caused this action?
My reasoning for asking her to do so, would affirm her skills of manipulating the environment, hence acertaining her acting skills which might be enough proof to confirm my hypothesis.Kushida appeared to be thinking,"Hmm, I will have to give some thought to that, anyways can I have your number?" She said while smiling.I don't want to be in contact with a ice devil and a masked clown.I looked at my watch," Oh, did you say something, I wasn't paying attention.Anyways I have to go pick up groceries, bye!"
I briskly walked away from that precarious situation before she said anything else.
"Isn't that something fufu, trying to gather skills even in normal conversations. Isn't the other Ayanokouji extremely paranoid, as if everyone is a future competitor. How fascinating! Usually us high schoolers barely have such refined thoughts and onto that, this constant fight or flight response...my bad, not flight, only fight...is extremely entertaining."
She laughed a bit at the end trying to air off her superiority in order to instigate other classes especially my class against her. She knows very well, her attacks will sooner or later, affect my class to the point where I will have to step in to protect my own security of a normal life.
"Uhh, I think we can understand it another way, it's more as if he simply tried to understand his future classmates for the betterment of everyone as a whole, we all know he is very mature as an individual and he has played his role in the class perfectly. At least as a friend to me, he simply tries to look out for everyone"
Yousuke defended me bravely even while knowing the confrontation would cause a hit if not handled carefully. The earlier Hirata I knew, would never do such a thing, for him the only priority was protecting the class regardless of right or wrong but now, it seems Yousuke's priorities changed. I suppose that effort put on him, did help him grow as an individual.
"Perhaps your way of thinking holds some merit, however who is speaking the truth, only shall be revealed later. I take back my opinion momentarily." She ended off with a widening smile.
"Calling me an ice devil, truly you don't stop being dramatic once do you, Edgykouji?"A sneer was sent towards me by Suzune, which ended at that thankfully. She seems to be letting me off easy, given her guilt for destroying my friend group mixed in with the fact that I myself hadn't done it.
"I agree Horikita-san, but it seems it was light hearted! I was called a masked clown, hopefully Ayanokouji-kun meant it as a compliment like I spread happiness! Yup , right Ayanokouji-kun??" A slurty sweet voice doused the flames that were arised towards me by the boys of other classes, who thought she was adorable and an angel with the cutest heart.
"Mhm, that's exactly what he might have thought, having said that. The old me used to be paranoid as I was mostly home-schooled, so I might have become suspicious of your kindness Kushida."
I tried reasoning things out which was accepted quite easily given that it had an emotional side to it. The same was used by movies and such to invoke a sense of empathy and strike the audience helping it earn more popularity even if it's not an objectively good film.
While I was here thinking of my own charecterization and analayzing the situation my girlfriend was thinking other thoughts.
'Kiyotaka's hand...that watch...that sleek black mettalic watch with a navy blue centre....looks so hot.Maybe he will wear one if I give him a gift the next Valentine's day?Mou, please all angels and devils help me save my points. I will have to give up on buying clothes for the next 3 months to save enough...but....Kiyotaka...watch...I want to see...it's fine Kei! you can do it! Yesh, I will gift it to him!Hmph, who needs good clothes anyways? Totally not me.'
I could see Kei's eyebrows creasing deep down to an onholy level with her chin cupped on her hands and wrinkled forehead as if she was contemplating the socio economic condition of the world.
I looked at my watch," Oh, did you say something, I wasn't paying attention.Anyways I have to go pick up groceries, bye!" I briskly walked away from that precarious situation before she said anything else.
As I entered the convenince store I noticed horikita picking up essentials, I decided to ignore her and carry out my intended purpose.While selecting groceries, she came upto me and said," You know right, that cup noodles aren't healthy. Yet you are buying them and here I thought you were mature, guess I was wrong." while smirking.
"There is delusional and then there is Ayanokouji. Man, smirking ain't that hard alright! Just copy me." Ike started his wikihow on how to smirk and make sure, every girl in his vicinity changed seats immediately.
"Uh, thanks. I shall fix that, on a later date."
"No problem man! Trust me, with your vibes you definately fit a couple of girl's interest! I will definately make you a playboy like me~!" Ike said with his chest huffed and he thumped it with a bright smile and kept his hand on Shinohara's shoulder.
"Ugh stop embarrasing us! Just wait until this is over Ike-kun." She nudged him at his ribs as he seered in pain.
"Oww Satsuki-chan, be gentle...learn something from Kushi-I mean nothing." But it was too late as he soon had his ear red from Shinohara pulling on it hard enough and twisting it an inhumane angle.
"It's quite interesting though, how senpai looks like he never had cup noodles to slurp on. Hey senpai, you and I...want to go on a noodles date~My treat!It will be super delicious~" It seems Amasawa isn't tired of her relentless teasing. However I felt as if the dynamic changed, from just simply trying to get my attention to getting a reaction out of Kei. Perhaps she finds excitement in having our relationship in jeopardy.
I rebuked,"Oh my, horikita I didn't know you were a mom, where are your dead children?"
She had a visible irking," Ugh!! Is this how you respond to your only aquaintance?"
I apologised,"I am sorry I didn't realise The Horikita was my aquaintance."We bantered back and forth for a while while i noticed something from the corner of my eye,"Is that free?" I exclaimed.
She turned around,"It seems so, Do you think it's for the people who squander their 100k points?Way too generous but I suppose it's the only means of survival for people such as yourself."
"I wonder, from whome did you buy your jokes book Mr Ayanokouji! There is a limit to jokes, even as your kind classmate you do love having intimate contact with my compass huh?" A small smile formed on Suzune's face as she looked at me slightly annoyed and twirled the compass in her hand.
"Kuku, monster mind sharing the jokes book with me, you definately know how to swoon the ladies. You have Trex plus shit jokes rizz" Ryuuen guffawed laughing at my misery.
"It's not my fault Suzune, you can't stop being condescending to me." I shrugged my shoulders snatching the compass away from her and poking her wrist in return.
She snatched it back and nursed her hand, "You dare...wow...it seems a lot has changed." She complimented me while giving an eerie pat on my shoulder while digging her nails deep inside my coat.
I ignored her comment and focused on the details,so free goods-100k points/student-30 students-4 classes/standard-3 standards- 36 million yen/month...huh, doesn't add up, unless my hypothesis was right...still I am not 100% sure.Now I could inform her on my hopefully accurate hypothesis but I would rather not, I want the idiots to suffer and learn.
I said in a monotone,"I don't know, I am not as smart as you horikita" and I walked past her to the checkout where I saw the muscle guy arguing with the cashier.
"Your thoughts, seemed quite like a calculator, perhaps you had mental calcuations in your curriculum?"Kanzaki asked out of curiousity as I merely nodded hoping it ended his question.
"Quite nice, if possible do share your curriculum until you reached this school, it will be a great value to me." He bowed his head slightly while requesting it maintaining a very formal tone, showing that he still didnt trust me but respected my skillset.
Looks like I can try something interesting here. I threw my voice( ventriloquism) and spoke in a female tone,"Ugh! This dude can't even remember to bring his phone, What a Muscle head."
The boy turned around and started shouting," Who said that??"I then went infront of him," Hey buddy, there were a few girls here who were shaming you, but I made lied to them saying that I just borrowed your card and forgot mine at home."
The boy looked at me for a while and exclaimed,"Oh you are that boy who wanted to kill himself.Thanks man!! You saved me from embarrasing myself in front of those cute girls by the way I am Sudo Ken."Those girls don't even exist..how does he know if they are cute.....Nevermind.
I replied in an mimicked energy filled voice," Hi I am Ayanokouji Kiyotaka" as I shook his hand.
Sudo then said with a bit of emabarressment,"Hey, could you help me out here I forgot my phone in my room."
I replied," Alright sudo, but remember to pay me back as soon as you reach your room, along with a 100 point interest. Is it a deal....I had you back didn't I and we will get so many points next month too."
Sudo looked with a bit of panic," Alright fine! It's a deal pay quickly, please."
I payed for his item and followed him to his room. It was super messy and what are those tissues for....
"I want to die...argh why was I so embarrasing! Fuck this shit" Sudo couldn't control himself and kicked the seat infront of him and had curses yelled at him but given that he had changed a bit, he simply apologised.
"It's okay man chill, you are a normal high schooler." Ike patted Sudou's back comforting him.
"Sudo-kun, what matters now is that you have changed, please maintain it moving forward, the past is immaterial." A strict voice trying to be nice came from Horikita as she spoke her mind.
"Yes Sudou it's fine, it's just who most of us guys generally are.It's just our hormones, we all understand." Yousuke spoke up boldly not afraid of tainting girls' expectations of him as a knight in shining armour.
"Yah, it's just hella embarrasing cause ugh this is private thoughts and stuff. Watching myself like this, makes me cringe back." A slight shiver went through Sudou's spine as he finally calmed down.
He then took his phone and paid me with interest.I left quickly and as soon as the elevator door opened I came face to face with Horikita.She was suprised and was blushing,"Ugh..creep were you stalking me?"I asked in apathy," How is going in an elevator stalking?"
I then zoned out her nonsense talks and walked out of the elevator towards my room.I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to find 2 senpais they asked," Hey kouhai, don't you know that walking in the hallway so late is not permitted, so if you don't want trouble, give us 1000 points each, now."If they get 100k points each month, why would they need more..
I made a apologetic tone," I am so very sorry senpais, but are you fron class D?"
They moved a step back and grimaced, one asked" Ya! SO WHAT?"I bowed,"Oh nothing at all, i just wondered what would happen if the camera behind you got you both expelled? It would be unfortunate if I reported....don't you think so?"
They panicked," What do you need to keep your mouth shut?"
I made a grin I learnt from Joker,when i had to watched clips of famous movies before entering the school to stay up to date and said with a cold voice" Oh maybe, all of your points and 1 favour each?"
They looked at me in dismay, " You will pay dearly for this if Nagumo finds out."as they accepted the deal.I then went back to my dorms and revised the things i read in the white room, since even if I memorised everything, it's still at the risk of being forgotten as I have a brain not a hard drive. Took a few minutes to brush my teeth while closing my eyes.Then I went to bed waiting in silence for the next day
The theatre was silent as they processed the information dump they had just gotten. But the first to completely understand it was Manabu-senpai as he asked
"If I am not wrong, then from what I have just seen you possessed the potential to figure out the S system on day 1. It took me about a week and a half to peice things together but given the way you are connecting the dots. It wouldn't be a suprise to assume my hypothesis, quite splendid."
Chattering spread around the room but I spoke up stopping it,"I simply observed everything given my quiet nature but arranging them in an order, it seems I simply hit the bull's mark on accident even if I did figure it out senpai. You are giving me too much credit."
"While I don't doubt my ability to judge people I have been wrong in the past" He shot a look at Nagumo for a second and continued, "However I hope I am right in your case."
"You are still quiet rude kouhai" It seems Tachibana-senpai hasn't forgiven me for being insolent, quite unfortunate.
"Why wasn't any monitoring done there? Isn't the school responsible for such acts?" Honami asked out of concern but the Director stayed silent as he simply viewed the happenings on the screen.
"What's with that acting though? It remind me of-" Ishizaki's mouth was quickly shut by Ibuki as she hammered her sole onto his feet making him yelp in pain.
"Shut it big mouth." Ibuki huffed and stayed glued to her seat.
"Kouhai-kun, you even know ventriloquism and now even friendly backmailing. Quite a naughty set of skills you have there. You can even use it to impress me~! Isn't that quite a benifit? Having a beauty like me compliment you?" Kiryuuin senpai decided to butt in after a light yawn but it seems after another attack at her pride by not just her kouhai but senpai as well she just bowed her head in shame. Objectively she perhaps felt there was some substance in their words, these individuals were extremely beautiful to a naked eye.
However I felt a slight urge to end it there after all it was bothersome and it insulted one of my close associates, "While I appreciate it, I think Kei's compliments would stir my mind much more. Thank you for your thoughts senpai." I ended that with having Kei's 5th squeeze on my hands for the day. While everyone was talking about me,Kei simply concentrated on using this time to spend with me rather than watching me on the screen.
Every time a monologue of a scene ended with me doing something even remotely out of the ordinary she looked at me endearingly giving me gentle squeezes on my hand as if trying to reassure me. Perhaps she felt that she should do so, as she would react quite scared and vulnerable if her life was on display.She barely asked questions to me or and almost none out loud. These small actions spoke volumes towards her empathy for me.
Having such a support, perhaps this was love.
Acceptance was love.
(Note: there is a glitch after this, which made extra ton of white space. so this is the end of the chapter.)