Chapter 14 - King's Rook
[07:32:58 AM][Fumei] If an injury has to be done to a man, it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.
This was the first message I had received from Horikita-senpai after he warned me about Nagumo-senpai. The text itself read like a quote or some such, but I hadn't heard of it before.
Fumei wasn't the type of person to send a message without reason, so I had to wonder if something had happened. I was unaware of anything noteworthy that such a quote would apply to, but I still felt uneasy.
Yet again, I checked my point balance.
The fleeting hope I still harbored vanished without a trace.
Today was Monday, June 3rd.
We hadn't received our points on June 1st, so my classmates and I wished dearly that the reason was the fact that the first fell on the weekend. It was a stupid and pointless prayer, since the payout was more than likely automated, yet we still held onto such a futile hope.
There hadn't been a single logical reason to be hopeful, but I still couldn't help but feel frustrated after my balance hadn't changed.
"We didn't get any points for the exam after all..."
Hirata, the others and I all believed that we might see an increase in points according to our scores during the midterms, but as of now, it looked like we were sorely mistaken. Aside from important class matters which I now had to attend to, there was another problem I had to deal with during this week.
His name was Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.
The handsome boy himself wasn't the problem, but my thoughts and feelings concerning him were. I couldn't keep behaving like an idiot in front of him, so I calmed my jumbled up anxieties and made some plans going forward.
Since I was aware of the irrefutable fact that I liked him, I had to figure out just how much.
Judging by my silly and embarrassing behavior that evening, it was bad.
Seriously bad.
I was relieved that Kiyotaka had trouble with some common concepts, which is why he probably hadn't noticed that I was behaving in such a weird way. Even if he did, he should have had trouble understanding my feelings according to my impressions of him.
As a part of Class D's leadership, I had to better myself.
I scanned over my reflection in the mirror and nodded happily after adjusting my hair and bow tie. My complexion changed into a light, healthy pink as my palm caressed over the bracelet he had gifted me. Clapping my cheeks twice, I encouraged myself before heading out of the room.
"Yosha!"
Our classroom was as lively as usual before the first period began.
I wouldn't have been surprised in the least if the other classes heard Ike's annoying and somewhat disrespectful shouts, which must have carried quite far due to the opened windows.
This time, more so than usual, the class was disorganized, to a frightening degree. The reason, however, wasn't hard to figure out, since it likely had to do with the state of our current balance, which hadn't changed from last month.
After two days, most students would have lost hope for any rewards.
I unlocked my phone and checked the point balance of our class.
Currently, the display showed 0 CP, meaning class points.
After dropping all the way to zero in May, we had yet to see a positive development in our situation. The only upside to this unfortunate position was that we couldn't drop any lower, since we were already considered the worst of the worst.
Below the zero class points was yet another number, which read 6.135 PR, for private points.
Slowly but surely, I kept grinding down on my reserves, which would soon run out. I could just ask Fuka for a cash injection, of course, but I didn't see myself asking with her dropping to Class C and all the things that happened during that time. She had more than enough points to lend me some, but as long as I didn't overspend my allowance, I would be fine with such a low balance.
"Good morning, everyone."
Chabashira-sensei strode into the classroom with her head held high as the second bell rang. The atmosphere in the room changed drastically as everyone began to quiet down. Only one person in our class couldn't hold himself back from blurting out the questions that were weighing on his mind.
"Sae-chan-sensei! Why do we still have zero points? Didn't we all pass the exam? No one was expelled either, and we've been behaving much better than before as well!"
Ignoring the inappropriate way he had addressed her, Ike was right.
Because of Chiaki's intervention and Horikita's low score, which still went unnoticed by most of our class, even Sudou barely passed the exam. Our past behavior hadn't influenced our points this time around, since it was only used to deduct points that were already in existence.
I assumed that point rewards would only be given during or rather, after special exams, as well as certain written tests. If we had received points for the midterms, for example, Class D would have received not only points but also an urgently needed confidence boost.
"So that's what this turmoil is about. Then let me explain the current situation." Chabashira-sensei rolled out the poster she brought with her into the classroom and pinned it on the blackboard as she continued her exposition. "You've all worked hard the past month. I recognize that, and so does the school. With that in mind, these are the new point totals for each class."
She stepped aside and revealed the white sheet of paper, which was similar to the one we had received a month prior. Different to back then, however, the amount of points for each class had increased.
Class A 1037
Class B 0729
Class C 0540
Class D 0093
I analyzed the numbers and compared them to the old ones.
It was quite easy to figure out the pattern using Class D as an example, since we started out with zero points last month. Due to the old test papers, each topic had seen a high increase in points, which was why we received much better scores. English was, understandably, the subject that most people tanked, due to the different characters that we had to use, as well as other grammatical intricacies.
Social studies, Japanese, Maths and Chemistry were easier to memorize in that regard. Even if none of them understood how to solve the difficult problems, they still got full marks if they just managed to copy the solutions from the test papers.
The average scores for each topic were 97.0, 96.1, 92.5, 92.1 and 87.3 respectively, creating a combined average of 93 points for Class D, which was the exact number of class points we had received this month.
The same calculation applied to the other classes as well.
Class A 1037 (+97 | -0)
Class B 0709 (+59 | -40 or -39)
Class C 0520 (+30 | = -62)
Class D 0093 (+93 | -0)
These results were a clear sign that something was going on between Class B and C.
Even if Class B hadn't used the old papers I've sent them, they should have scored in the 90s. In case they had used them, even an average of 99 wouldn't be weird. Additionally, we knew the class rankings of the exam results, which wer C, even if the total amount was obfuscated.
This meant that Class B must have scored 98 or 99 points, since I doubted that none of them made even a tiny mistake during one of the tests. There was a slight chance, of course, but it was so miniscule that the possibility could be ruled out almost entirely.
With this hypothesis in mind, they had lost around 40 class points throughout this month. Class B was, in theory, only slightly short of Class A in behavior, and they had a far better climate in their class, which would make it easier and more comfortable to behave.
Since Ichinose would never initiate a fight with someone, this whole mess should have been Ryuuen's handiwork. As things are right now, he tanked Class C's points more so than he did Class B's, but morale was an important hidden factor which he must have set his sights on from the beginning.
"Wait! 93? We got points guys! Yahoo!"
Ike's joyful scream echoed through the room in such a volume that the windows began to vibrate.
Probably.
The rest of the class was just as elated as him, since we had finally received points for our efforts.
"Doesn't that mean that we made points with the midterms just like Hirata-kun and Matsushita-san said?" Karuizawa turned around to Chiaki for a high-five with a cheerful smile on her face. "Yay!"
"But it seems like we lost a few points through behavior, right?" Yukimura's stern gaze focused on the red-haired delinquent in our class. "How else could we explain the 93 points that we received?"
"Tch! Look, I'm sorry, alright? Gimme a break."
Sudou made a lot of progress after he had been saved by Chiaki, and even felt guilty for the points she had to spend because of him, while Yukimura still seemed dissatisfied with his previous behavior.
He was stuck in the past, lost in his own negative thoughts about his classmates, which once again reminded me of a certain someone who sat beside me.
"I don't think we lost points due to our behavior this time, Yukimura-kun." Chiaki shook her head and turned around to face him directly. "Ninety-three is the combined average of our scores in the exam. With that in mind, it is safe to assume that this applies to the other classes as well."
The curious students listened and nodded in understanding.
It seemed like Chiaki's reveal had garnered her some respect and recognition in the class, which was an immense asset for a leader. Even these defects had realized that without her interference, Sudou would have been expelled and the class might not have gotten those 93 points this month.
"Sudou! Look at those Class C morons! Saying that they are so much better than us Class D defects and scoring this low in the midterms." Ike burst out into a hail of laughter and ridicule.
"I think that's an incorrect assumption as well, Ike-kun. Even if we scored relatively high because of the old test papers that Kushida-san provided us with, Class B shouldn't have had an average of 59. We also know that they had scored even better than Class A, who received 97 points this month. From these four classes, only Class B and C march to a different drummer. From my perspective, their two classes should have some kind of feud, which cost them a good chunk of their points."
Chiaki's analysis was spot on.
No one but her seemed to have noticed this simple and obvious fact, as everyone mouthed a silent 'ah', in realization. Even Horikita narrowed her eyes, only having noticed this inconsistency after it was spelled out to her.
This was the difference between the two of them.
Horikita was so incredibly full of herself that she didn't consider observing and analyzing the problem from multiple points of view. Chiaki, however, took all the information she possessed into account and formulated a hypothesis which she could back up with multiple facts until she arrived at a sound conclusion.
I hoped that her thought process could lead Horikita to see the wrongs in her own so that she could improve upon them. They didn't need to become friends, but they could learn a lot from each other during their time here.
"Let's let them duke it out then. Isn't this good for us?"
Sudou shrugged without a care in the world and leaned back into his chair.
It looked like he tried to take part in class discussions to show Chiaki that she hadn't wasted her 100.000 points on him. His development was slow, but gradual, and that was all I could ask from my pieces. As long as they attempted to improve upon their mistakes, I would support them to the best of my abilities.
"But there is still a problem, right? Chabashira-sensei, why didn't we receive any private points this month if we have 93 class points now?"
"That's an excellent question, Hirata. There was some trouble and the point distribution for the first-year students has been delayed for the time being."
"Wait! So it's the school's fault? We demand more points as compensation!"
Ike hammered on his desk, trying to rile up our other classmates to follow his example until Sudou threw him a quick but purposeful glare, which silenced him immediately.
"Don't blame me. The school decided that they would wait with the allocation of points. You'll get them soon enough, if there are any left, that is."
Her words left a bad taste in my mouth, but no one mentioned anything.
I was sure that Chiaki took the hint as well, but she had apparently decided that it wasn't worth asking right now. It was a good and admirable quality for a leader if she knew when to act and when to keep quiet.
After she revealed herself, the hopes I had for Chiaki soared, even if I was still uncertain about a few things regarding her.
Once lunch break began, the students stormed out of the classroom.
The typical groups formed before they went out to eat together.
Ike, Sudou, Hondou and Okitani walked out collectively while discussing something about an upcoming game, as they debated if they should pool their points together in order to purchase it. Chiaki left alone because she wanted to speak to Chabashira-sensei about her remarks, or at least that's what I thought she would do.
It was a refreshing feeling to be out of the loop for once.
Hirata went on a lunch date with Karuizawa, which only left Satou and a few others from our usual group.
I wasn't that close to them, and I finally understood what Horikita meant when she talked about me just being a friend of friends. For example, I could still hang out with Satou alone, but I didn't know what to talk about with her. If I hung out with Mii-chan or Mori, I'd be totally stumped as well.
Shinohara, who had gotten closer to Karuizawa, joined us as well from time to time, but she would have been even worse to deal with. I didn't know why, but she didn't seem to like me very much.
If either Chiaki, Hirata or Karuizawa joined us, I wouldn't have any qualms about hanging out with either of them, though.
In Chiaki's case, I could just talk with her and she'd include the others when she saw fit. Hirata and Karuizawa would take care of circling through the different topics even better.
I supported my head and gazed over to another girl in class.
Her name was Sakura Airi, also known as Shizuku.
At first, Kushida's information package revealed little about her. Sakura kept to herself and was into photography, but that was about as much as she could find out. Once I've informed my queen that her glasses were fake, she came up with tons of information about a former gravure idol who resembled Sakura.
She also supplied me with a link to Shizuku's online blog, which answered the question what she was doing whenever she walked off on her own with no one noticing. She's been rather active even now and uploads new pictures frequently.
I didn't know what a gravure idol was, but after Kushida had explained it to me, I was rather surprised since most of the girls here could easily do the same. My repeated contacts with Ike really rubbed me the wrong way, as I began to fantasize about Chiaki, Horikita, Kushida, Karuizawa, Chabashira, Fuka, Hoshinomiya and Ichinose in similar clothing I had seen Sakura in.
This was awful...
As luck would have it, my neighbor, one of the girls I mentally disrespected, pulled out a bento from her bag and neatly placed it on her desk, which was a perfect distraction from these misguided thoughts.
"Don't tell me you can cook."
"Then I won't."
She eyed me with confusion and unpacked her meal.
"Are you sure this is edible, then?"
"I don't know. Do you want to try some?"
Horikita leaned into her hand and glanced at me with a beautiful smile on her face. She took out her chopsticks and picked up some rice and meat before holding it steady above her bento-box.
"What? Really? Sure!"
I hadn't expected that she would let me try some of her food so willingly.
As far as I was concerned, this wasn't a big deal, but from the few shoujo manga I've skimmed during my time here, I came to realize that giving someone a bento is a pretty overt expression of affection or even love, especially with highschool couples.
Had I made so much progress with her during our two-month acquaintanceship?
The two sticks, which still rested in her smooth hand, made their way over to her smirking, somehow captivating mouth before they vanished inside. Her faint smile grew brighter as she began to chew her meal in clear enjoyment.
"Oh, that's surprising. It tastes even better now."
Ouch...
This was brutal, even for her.
"Wow. You are cruel..."
"And yet, you are still here talking to me. Might you be what they call a masochist, Ayanokouji-kun?"
Looking back on my life, I really had to wonder about that.
"Not really. Despite your best efforts, I'm just enjoying your company, you know?"
Horikita was terrible at processing remarks like this one, so it was an easy way to one-up her. She kept quiet afterwards, as the cogs in her head kept turning.
I assumed that she could only think of comebacks that were too nice or too mean upon hearing such a heartfelt comment, which caught her in a moral dilemma.
She wasn't mean in order to hurt people; she was just being too truthful for most to handle.
I kept observing her as she averted her gaze and ate her bento in silence with a somewhat annoyed expression.
Receiving a homemade meal from a girl would probably feel pretty nice.
Hirata was out of luck in that regard. I'd be surprised if his fake girlfriend decided to prepare a bento for him. Apart from that, his 'sweetheart' was Karuizawa, of all people.
I doubted that she could cook.
It was a shame that Kushida knew nothing about Karuizawa's past.
I hadn't asked her specifically, since that would reveal my knowledge, but she wasn't one to hide information from me. Not anymore, at least. Hirata probably knew more than anyone else did, but he would only talk if it somehow helped Karuizawa when he alone couldn't handle a problem, so asking him was out of the question as well.
It was easy to force Karuizawa to spill the beans, but she wasn't needed in any capacity at the moment. Taking care of her could wait a little longer, as her allegiance wouldn't be as useful as Kushida's.
On the other end of the spectrum was Chiaki, whose intelligence and willingness to stand in the spotlight was a huge boon for the class. With the assistance of Hirata, Kushida and the others, she could be trusted to handle most things.
Maybe I could use this brief respite and relax? If she struggled, I could still lend her a hand...
As I was thinking about such things, my phone vibrated.
[12:51:12 PM][Chiaki] Want to grab a bite?
A light smile crept up my face as I replied.
I grabbed my bag, said my goodbye to Horikita, and made my way out of the classroom. After a short walk to the cafeteria, I caught sight of my charming friend, who sat at a table with two expensive meal sets aligned next to each other.
Upon noticing me, she waved me over.
"I'm honored that miss class leader found the time for me."
"You're such a dork."
Her alluring giggle was the only sound that my ears captured at that moment, even though the cafeteria was rather loud, as usual. Chiaki moved to the side and tapped the seat to her right.
I couldn't help but feel bad now that I sat in front of one of these two meal sets.
"You didn't have to pay for mine, you know? You are already in debt because of Sudou's test point. I don't want to burden you any further than that."
She finished chewing the salad she had just picked up and peeked at me.
"It's fine. If you are paying the next time we met, we'll balance things out again."
There'll be a next time with just the two of us, huh?
I couldn't help but feel happy about that.
"Or don't you want there to be a next time?"
Her rose-colored face sported a snappy grin as she leaned to the side and watched me.
"No, on the contrary. I'd like that a lot, actually."
She seemed happy, yet pouted after hearing my matter-of-fact response.
I wasn't sure if she tried to coax a certain reaction out of me, but she should know this would be rather hard to accomplish. Even though I had learned a lot thanks to her and my other friends, I was still unable to show much emotion.
"How did you know that I wasn't already eating, anyway?"
"Oh, come on... I know you pretty well by now, Kiyotaka."
"Am I that easily seen through?"
I tilted my head and put a few pieces of egg and vegetables in my mouth.
"Any more and people could walk right through you."
Her cute snicker drowned the surrounding noises once again, and I couldn't help but marvel at this fascinating girl to my left. Chiaki seemed to have grasped my inner thoughts to a certain degree and threw me a teasing smile.
"Hoo? Are you happy sitting beside such a cute girl like me?"
She was obviously cracking a joke, but hit the nail on the head.
Women were scary good in those things.
"Wouldn't anyone be happy to sit beside such a cute girl like you?"
With this remark, our conversation essentially stopped since Chiaki was unable to form another coherent sentence for the rest of our lunch break. I was concerned about her health since her face was red and really warm to the touch after I checked it for myself.
Leading the class was a hard job, but I didn't want her to overwork herself.
After classes ended for the day, Chabashira-sensei strolled into the classroom for a short announcement.
"Sudou, I have to talk to you about something. Come to the faculty room."
The boy in question clicked his tongue, as if annoyed.
"Yeah, sure. I'm coming. Can I first talk to the club advisor and tell him that I'll be late?"
My classmates were surprised by Sudou's docile behavior and glanced at Chiaki in awe. Chabashira-sensei wasn't impressed by his change of heart and turned around to walk out of the room.
"I already took care of that. Follow me."
Sudou peered at Chiaki, who nodded as if to cheer him on.
They had a private chat after we all came back from lunch, so I assumed that she knew what was going on. Not only had she gathered information, she also managed to rein him in without trouble, likely because he still felt guilty about everything she had to put up with because of him.
I was positively surprised by Sudou's change, as he had neither lashed out nor thrown a tantrum, even though he would miss some of his basketball training.
Had Chiaki already taken care of what happened?
She hadn't told me anything about her meeting with Chabashira-sensei, but to her defense, I hadn't asked.
Would she have told me if I inquired about it?
After I was done packing my bags, I went to the dorms with Horikita.
I didn't really know when we started, but if we both walked back to the dorms after school, we made a habit of walking together. Sometimes I waited while she grabbed her materials, sometimes she waited while I stashed mine. We never really talked about it, but it felt somewhat natural now.
"I'm a little worried about what Chabashira-sensei said this morning."
"This morning? You mean our points being delayed?"
We ambled towards the dorm side by side. Neither facing each other, nor doing anything else people would usually do while conversing with a close friend.
"Yes. She mentioned there was trouble. If it was a problem for us students, things could end badly."
"Mhh, you might be right. I had a bad feeling as well, I guess. Chiaki can probably handle it though, so I'm not worried."
She peeked at me before averting her gaze.
"Matsushita-san, huh? Her decision to buy a point for Sudou's test was indeed impressive. What do you know about her, Ayanokouji-kun? The two of you are friends, right?"
"Chiaki? Mh, she's just a normal girl, I guess. If you want to know more, why not ask her yourself?" The two of you might become friends.
"I don't feel the need to talk to her since you know her well. You are like a bridge between me and these people, Ayanokouji-kun. I'm counting on you."
This didn't sound like a compliment, or anything even remotely nice, but I chose not to dwell on it.
"Why not join Class D's group chat? You wouldn't even need to text with them if you don't want to. Don't you think it's weird that you are the only one that's missing? Even Kouenji joined..."
She shook her head and faced me with a serious expression.
"I'm not interested. Not even remotely. Aside from that, I keep my notifications turned off as to not get distracted."
A few seconds later, her phone vibrated.
The ice queen stopped in her tracks and turned towards me with a threatening yet somewhat endearing gaze.
"Ayanokouji-kun."
"What? I was just checking facts, you know?"
"Fact is, my notifications are always turned off. My phone must have bugged out just now."
And who's going to believe that?
"Ouch!"
Did I say that out loud just now?
I kept teasing Horikita until the elevator reached the fourth floor. She didn't let me leave, so we kept bantering until we reached hers. As she was about to get off, I grabbed her arm and pulled her back in before pressing the button for the fourth floor again.
She was pretty mad, but I won this exchange, at least in my book.
We said our farewells before I disembarked this death trap and ambled towards my room.
A pleasant smell floated through my nostrils, which informed me that Fuka was already inside and started cooking for us. We've been taking turns with preparing the food, so I wasn't surprised that she was here.
"I'm home."
"Welcome back."
Ahh, yes...
My simulations weren't off. This truly felt nice.
After I shut the door, she walked out of the kitchen area with a devious grin on her face.
"Would you like to eat dinner? Or take a bath? Or would you like... me?"
I really thought something like this would only happen in one of the Professor's manga, but I seemed to be mistaken. Aside from the fact that it wasn't dinner time yet, I didn't mind her joke, though.
As long as she was happy, it was alright.
"Dinner sounds good."
"Buuuuuh!"
She pouted before serving the dish.
We began to enjoy our meals while she informed me of her day.
Nagumo had apparently made another announcement after Class B's downgrade to Class C. A large majority of his followers began to doubt his abilities, since he could do nothing to save the expelled students. The voices that spoke out for him had lessened as well, since everyone realized that this had to have been an attack on him and not their class.
The students who supported him didn't feel safe doing so, since nobody knew who might be next.
She asked about my day as well, but there weren't any interesting developments, so there wasn't much to talk about.
Afterwards, we cleaned the dishes and made our way to the bed to relax.
This was how we spent most of our quiet days. We laid down and talked about random stuff or played games together. Other times we decided to watch a show, or read something when nothing interesting aired. I had a lot to talk about with her, and it felt comfortable showing parts of myself without hiding too much of my thoughts.
Some might find such a way of living boring, but I enjoyed the idle time I could spend with her.
I checked a message on my phone on my way to the bed when Fuka spun around to face me, a teasing smile etched into her beautiful face.
"So, do you want me now?"
Both her voice and scent were incredibly alluring. Paired with my bed to our right and the fact that I had seen quite a lot of her skin before, I couldn't really fault myself for thinking about doing certain things with her.
I was about to play it off when the door to my room swung open.
My reflexes, which I had honed to the human limits back in the White Room, immediately kicked in as my body took action on its own.
I placed my foot behind her heel and pulled it towards me while pushing her upper body away from me. The sensation on my hand was phenomenally soft, as I noted that she wasn't wearing a bra.
But I really had no time to dwell on this information any longer.
While she was falling backwards with widened eyes, I dove after her and wrapped my right arm around her back, supporting her head. My left caught our fall as the two of us crashed into the ground with neither of us getting hurt.
"Finally, you're making a move. I was already growing restless."
A charming giggle escaped her enchanting lips, as she returned to her usual self after a short scare. She still panted, since my actions took her by surprise, but this made her even more captivating than usual.
"Save me, Ayanokouji!"
I ignored her advances and left her lying on the floor as I stood back up to face my uninvited guest, who must have marched straight through the wall to get in here, since I had locked the door as per usual.
"Why are you here? No — first, how did you get in here?"
While I was surprised to see one of my classmates standing in front of the opened door, Fuka rolled around on the ground and chuckled into the hem of my blanket.
"This is the room where our group meets, isn't it? Ike and the rest of us made duplicate keys. Didn't you know that? Everyone else in the group has a key as well."
What did he mean by 'everyone'?
Fuka died laughing as she listened to Sudou's explanation and tried her best to stay quiet, while the latter spun the key around in his hand without a care in the world.
I really needed to have a chat about privacy with the nice lady on the ground floor.
"Are you serious?"
"Forget about that. I'm in a shit ton of trouble, seriously. You have to help me!"
His desperate pleas fell onto deaf ears.
"If you hand me the key, I'll help you."
He stared at me, as if he was unable to believe what blasphemous words had just left my mouth.
"No. I bought the key with my points. It's mine."
Are you serious? How did that guy even have enough points for that? Is a key to my room that cheap?
"Alright, just... didn't you talk to Chiaki already? She'll take care of it, right? If it's something she can't know because you were doing something perverted or illegal, then tell Ike or one of the others."
Sudou walked into my room, not even closing the door.
"I can't ask Ike or the others. They're stupid. And Matsushita-san has already helped me once. I can't disappoint her again like that after she saved my ass. Please Ayanokouji, we have to take care of this before she has to do anything."
The boy slid down on the floor and nervously fidgeted around.
I took a deep breath and walked towards him, before sitting down on the door side of the bed. "Fine, I'll listen. But let me make a cup of tea first." On my way up from the bed, I pulled the blanket down, which made it impossible for him to see my other visitor if he didn't walk past or crawl under the bed.
Fuka would notice if someone were to walk towards the bathroom, and could slip under the bed before she was seen.
As I was about to trudge to the kitchen area, the doorbell rang and another one of my classmates poked her head through the entrance. Her smile was incredibly cute and lit up even more when she caught sight of Sudou, who already sat on the floor.
"Oh, Sudou-kun is already here."
She clasped her hands and sat down beside him.
"Hey Kushida, do you also have a key to my room?"
She glanced at me with a confused expression that soon turned into one of genuine surprise.
"Yeah. Wait... didn't you know Ayanokouji-kun?"
Seriously...?
I wasn't certain whether I should laugh or cry.
It was weird that Kushida, of all people, had a key to my room. She could have at least mentioned something like, 'thanks for allowing us to make duplicate keys' to inform me about this serious breach of privacy that had occurred behind my back.
"Should I return it to you?"
She played with her fingers, uncertain of what she should do. Since Kushida knew what I was capable of, she realized that she had messed up by not notifying me about this.
"No, it's fine. Just keep it."
I heaved a sigh and turned away from the kitchen area with a pained heart.
"Can we move to the topic at hand now?"
From his reactions and overall behavior, it was indisputable that he had a serious problem this time. He was relaxed before Chabashira-sensei wanted to talk to him and now he was freaked out. Don't tell me...
Did he also slap her butt with one of those clipboards?
"Fine. What do you need to talk about?"
While sitting down, I sent a message to one of my contacts.
[15:48:18 PM] This is a weird question, but do you have a key to my room, by any chance?
The notification I received after merely five seconds wasn't a very nice one.
[Horikita] What kind of pervert are you?
At least I wasn't the only one out of the loop.
While I was occupied with these thoughts, Sudou began to explain in what kind of trouble he had maneuvered himself in. I didn't understand half of his rumblings, but the gist of it was that he may be suspended for a while.
"Don't tell me you really slapped Chabashira-sensei's butt with a clipboard?"
"What? How the hell did you get that idea?"
Sudou denied this accusation with an appalled expression, while Kushida had a worried look on her face.
"Ike mentioned something along those lines a few times, I think?"
I threw this pervert under the bus without hesitation.
"Did you grab her by the collar and threaten her to shut up or else...?"
"What? No!"
"Oh, I know! Sudou-kun viciously beat Chabashira-sensei and threatened her with lewd pictures!"
Kushida seemed to have adopted my line of thinking and went with examples that were eerie similar to the things I had done to people in the past.
Wait... did she know what I did to Sae?
"That's horrible! Of course, I wouldn't do something like that."
Kushida's esper abilities were getting scary, so I stopped this charade and focused on the important question.
"So what happened?"
Sudou heaved a deep sigh and lowered his head.
"I beat up some kids from Class C. The suspension is probably my punishment for that."
Kushida covered her mouth, shocked by this sudden revelation. She shot me a quick glance and saw that I was as calm as always, so she relaxed as well, thinking that I had everything figured out.
Didn't she know that my emotional responses were next to null, no matter what happened?
"Alright... So why did you beat them up?"
"It wasn't my fault, I swear. Those Class C jerks picked a fight with me. I just retaliated to defend myself. Now they say that I started the fight. But they're lying. I didn't do shit!"
He had revealed little, but I got the gist of the general situation.
Despite this, I saw no indication that Chiaki wouldn't be able to handle this. According to her behavior, she must have already known something since she talked to both Chabashira and Sudou.
He already inconvenienced her a second time by beating them up, so there was no use in asking us for help.
"Sudou-kun, can you please start over and explain slowly?"
Kushida wanted more information, but I wasn't that interested. This would be a great chance to see what Chiaki was capable of, as I had no intention of intruding in Sudou's business at the moment.
"Ah, shit. Sorry. You're right." Sudou took a deep breath. "I was talking with the club advisor about being a regular for the summer tournament. I was the only first-year nominated to be a regular player, and the senpai's were cheering me on. Anyway, those Class C guys, Kondo, Komiya and Kimura called me over to the special building as I was on my way home after training. They said that they wanted to talk to me about something and I agreed. We conversed a few times during training before and they weren't that bad, actually. When we reached the special building, however, they told me they couldn't bear seeing a Class D defective as regular and threatened me to quit basketball or they'd rain pain on me or some shit. I refused, obviously. Afterwards, they ganged up on me, so I beat them up. Now I'm here."
I still couldn't see anything that Chiaki wouldn't be able to handle.
Sure, it might be uncomfortable for him since he messed up just a few days after he received a second chance from her, but there was nothing I could do to change that.
"So they painted you as the bad guy, Sudou-kun." Kushida stared at the floor, troubled by his circumstances. "You already told the school what you told us, right? What did they say?"
"They said that I have until next Tuesday to come up with proof, otherwise I'll be suspended until summer. To top it all off, our class will lose points because of this."
Since the offense wasn't as serious as in Kushida's case, they gave him some time to clear his name.
"But why didn't the teacher believe you when you said you were innocent?"
"It's not that simple, Kushida. First, everyone knows how short-tempered Sudou is. They wouldn't think that anything was amiss if he really beat them up and tried to hide it in fear of losing points. Additionally, look at him. Do you see any wounds? Even if he claimed self-defense, it wouldn't hold up since there aren't even scratches on his skin, let alone bruises. Since Class C had no trouble framing Sudou, they have to be seriously injured."
She looked at me with a pleading gaze.
"But what do we do now?"
Kushida seemed genuine in her attempts to help her friend, but there was no easy way out for him.
Sudou's hands were trembling as he cursed himself for being so shortsighted and quick to anger.
All of this could have been easily avoided.
Class C's plan was quite simple, but in this case, highly effective. Even if Sudou was only suspended for a short amount of time, he would be hard pressed to regain his spot as a regular. This was likely how they had planned to damage both him and Class D as a whole.
There was also an equally high chance that they had tried similar tactics with Class B, which would explain how they had only received such a low amount of points this month.
Sudou ran blindly into their trap and got caught in its bloody maw.
"Let's just ask those Class C guys to be honest with the teachers. They surely feel bad about wrongfully accusing you, right?"
This was one of her typical nice persona answers. The real and honest Kushida would know that this was an incredibly naïve idea that would never work out.
"They'll never be honest. Damn it, I won't forgive them."
Sudou was furious, yet earnestly reflecting on the mistakes he had made.
"The only thing that's left is finding proof that Sudou is telling the truth. But that could be quite difficult to accomplish."
Sudou's eyes opened wide as if he was remembering a helpful detail.
"There was something, I think. It felt like someone was watching when I fought those guys, but I can't say for certain... Maybe I was just imagining things in the heat of the moment."
This hypothetical eyewitness, if it existed, was a double-edged sword.
If they only saw the aftermath of the fight that took place and not the confrontation leading up to it, their testimony would bury Sudou for good. If said person saw the whole thing, however, things might change for the better.
"So, how should we go about finding them? Ask each class? Or every person one on one?"
Kushida glanced at me with a curious gaze.
She was seriously expecting me to help him, didn't she?
"I know it sounds shameless, but... can you guys not tell anyone about this?"
"Huh?"
Kushida's surprised gasp rang through the room.
I could somewhat understand his sentiments, but since Chiaki must have already known about this, it wouldn't take long until others would find out as well. In the worst case, the Class C guys would spread the story when they were asked about their wounds.
There was no way to keep this quiet.
"I don't want the basketball team to know. What if they kick me off the team?"
It was heartwarming to hear how much he cared for basketball. I never had such strong feelings for anything in my life, but it must be nice to love something to such a degree. Due to his earnest, yearning eyes, I chose to refrain from informing him that keeping this under wraps was a pipe dream.
There was no need to break his delusions at the moment.
"What about Chiaki? She knows as well, right?"
"Yeah, but she also said to keep things a secret, or else the class might get irritated with me again. She's trying to help, and I feel awful about putting her in this position after she saved me."
Chiaki must have also figured that it's better to keep a low profile as long as possible. She knew that she couldn't hide it forever, but this short delay might have bought some time to figure things out or prepare countermeasures.
These actions showed that she had a plan in mind, and it wouldn't hurt to wait and see where things were going. Sudou also felt bad and regretted his actions, which demonstrated once again that he was reflecting upon his mistakes.
"Sudou-kun, I think it would be better if you kept your distance from all of this for now."
"I agree. You should keep your head down for the time being."
He lowered and shook his head.
"You're right... Thank you guys. I'm really sorry that you have to clean up my mess now."
"We'll try our best. Don't worry, Sudou-kun!"
Kushida grabbed him by the shoulders and gifted him with one of her brightest smiles. Her bubbly feel-good attitude was an excellent tool to strengthen his spirit and keep him hopeful during this difficult time.
"I should head back to my room. Sorry for barging in so suddenly, Ayanokouji."
If you really feel bad, give me that duplicate key you had made.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it."
"Thanks again, guys. See you tomorrow, Ayanokouji, Kushida."
"See you tomorrow, Sudou-kun!"
"See you."
With this quick goodbye, only three people were left in my room.
I was glad that none of them wanted to use my bathroom, because Fuka's generous assets would make it somewhat difficult to get under the bed. It was possible, of course, but might be uncomfortable for a moment.
"You didn't seem very willing to help."
Kushida glanced at me while voicing her thoughts.
She sounded relaxed, and with that, I meant not cutesy at all. It must be difficult wearing that mask all the time. Even now, she had to conceal her instinctive fear of me and acted amicably.
"That's because I wasn't."
"Huh? Isn't he one of your little figurines?"
Kushida looked over to my chessboards with a surprised expression and tilted her head.
Took her long enough...
"Chess pieces, but yes."
"Then shouldn't you like... do your thing? Like you did with me?"
"I already told you that this wasn't planned. You forced my hand by threatening me. That aside, do you really wish that onto someone else? You sure are cruel, huh?"
There was no reason to let her know that everything had been planned from the very beginning. If she faulted herself for the position she found herself in, her negative sentiments towards me would diminish, albeit a little.
Kushida's face turned grim.
"As long as I don't have to go through that shit again, I couldn't care less, honestly."
I closed in on her with a sigh and began to caress over her soft and warm cheek.
"You have to understand that every piece has its own role..." Kushida pulled back somewhat, but not enough for my fingers to lose the sensation of her smooth skin. "... just like every person behaves or reacts differently to the circumstances they are confronted with. Some people fold under pressure, others get stronger. Similarly, there are multiple ways to turn someone into submission depending on the individual." As I rubbed over her lips, a pleasant, wet sensation spread over my fingertips. "There's the efficient way and then there is the inefficient one. Repeating 'my thing', as you called it, for every person, would be rather inefficient. Don't you agree?"
"Whatever."
My cute classmate pulled back and averted her gaze.
"I never wanted to punish you, Kushida. You are my queen. You are important to me. I understand that I did something horrible to you. This wasn't by choice, however, but necessity. I'm really sorry that I had to hurt you so much."
My lips drew a slight smile as I hugged the adorable, trembling girl in front of me to convey my feelings, not only by words but also action. This embrace, which felt warm and comfortable to me, should have been terrifying and bone-chilling for her.
I loosened my grip and sat down on the bed.
Our relationship would never be normal, not after what I had done to her. It would be a miracle if she could live her life without being constantly reminded of what I did. Even far in the future, when she might find a good guy and wanted to get intimate with him, she would remember everything she had to go through because of me.
That's how cruel one's own mind was.
I would never deny that I did something wicked and inhuman to this young girl, as she would never escape me and the shadow I cast over her as long as she lived. Being sexually assaulted and almost raped wasn't something a person could shrug off without receiving permanent mental damages in the process.
"So what am I going to do about Sudou's problem?"
"Do as you please. I'll let Chiaki handle things for now. I'm sure she can manage."
Someone must have helped her with the private points. There was no way around it. Kushida shouldn't have believed what Chiaki told everyone about this upperclassman, or she would have likely known about this beforehand. But she couldn't see the flaw in her own reasoning due to a small misconception.
Kushida seemed to have realized this as well, as she turned to me with a quizzical look.
"She is also one of your pieces, right?"
"No, but I don't mind handing her the reins if she is trying her best to reach Class A."
My classmates' expression turned into one of surprise and disbelief.
"Wait, wait a minute. She didn't reveal herself because you commanded her to?"
"I had nothing to do with her actions. I was just as surprised as everyone else when she suddenly paid for Sudou's points. There was no way that she asked a senpai for points either. This was an obvious lie."
"You are telling me that she figured out something that you didn't? And how else would she have gotten those points?"
"It's not like I didn't figure out a way to save Sudou, but I would have only interfered if necessary. Chiaki's actions made mine obsolete, so why bother? About how she received these points... I have a hunch, but that's all for now."
Kushida was taken aback by this sudden revelation.
"How smart do you think she is?"
I faced her with my usual deadpan expression.
"Do you want to jump ship?"
Her face lost all color as these words left my mouth.
Before she could open her lips to deny this sudden accusation, I stopped her.
"Just joking. I know you wouldn't do something that stupid."
According to her expression, she didn't enjoy it at all. The glare I received was more informative than multiple reference books about human psychology.
"What about Kiryuin? Any news?"
The two of us continued our sham-conversation, or the real, life-threatening one in her case.
I made sure that every detail aligned with what I'd talked over with Fuka and gave her a new set of instructions. We've done this almost every day since she was coerced by her, and so far, my queen hadn't disappointed me even once.
After we were done with our planning, I had one last task for her before she could leave my room.
"Before you go..."
I stood and walked towards the kitchen to prepare tea for myself.
"Yes?"
"I need you to steal the duplicate key Ike made and give it back to me. I don't care how, just get it done."
"Sure, I can do that. But won't he just ask for a new one if he lost it?"
She really was adorable sometimes...
"I'll handle the key lady downstairs. Don't worry about it."
"Well, if you say so. Grabbing the key won't be a problem. I'll be on my way then. See you tomorrow, Ayanokouji-kun."
Her cheerful, positive voice rang through my room as she pulled the door open with a wide smile on her face.
"Sleep tight, Kushida."
With a thud, the door closed, and only two people were left.
"My back hurts."
"Sorry about that."
"I really can't believe that they did something like this without you knowing." Fuka began to ridicule me the second everyone was gone. "You reacted the same way when I barged into your room with a spare."
I walked over to this troublesome senpai and reached out my hand. Her comfortable fingers grasped mine, whereupon I pulled her up. As I let go to turn around towards my tea, she wrung her arms around me and locked eyes.
"Are we continuing where we left off after you pushed me to the ground?"
"You wish. Go home, it's late."
She pouted, as I freed myself from her gentle imprisonment and took care of my fresh tea.
"Someday I'll get you, Kiyotaka."
"I'll be cheering you on, Fuka."
During homeroom the following morning, Chabashira-sensei nodded towards Chiaki after she was done taking attendance and stood to the side. She observed the class in silence as my classmate stood and walked up to the teacher's desk.
Some students looked at their weird behavior in confusion, while others already had a bad feeling. One of the latter individuals was Sudou, who ducked his head into his arms before folding his hands.
"Excuse me everyone, I have an announcement to make. As you are already aware, we still have received no points due to the complication Chabashira-sensei mentioned yesterday. Said problem was an incident between three Class C students and ... Sudou-kun."
The whole class turned to glare at the red-haired delinquent in question. After everything that had been mentioned so far, they knew where this was going, even without Chiaki explicitly describing everything. She must've seen the mood swing in the people's gazes, as her charming voice once again attracted the attention of her classmates.
"Before you say anything, please listen for a moment. This incident wasn't entirely Sudou-kun's fault. Yes, he could have handled the situation better, but let me explain first and try to put yourself in his position."
Afterwards, Chiaki began to describe the entire situation in a much better way than Sudou did.
I assumed that she had received her information straight from our wonderful teacher and asked her to break the news herself. Chabashira-sensei's cold and apathetic nature was pretty stimulating, but not really helpful in this situation, hence it was a good decision on her part to take the lead.
She also tried to ease her classmates' anger by asking them to put themselves in his shoes. Even the girls would understand retaliating when they were being attacked.
"So in short, those three Class C students threatened Sudou, and they got into a fight. Sudou defended himself and was later accused of beating those three up. Correct so far, Matsushita-san?"
Chiaki must have asked Hirata to pose this question.
This would show the others that the two of them believed in Sudou's innocence.
"Yes, Hirata-kun. The school put the decision on hold until next Tuesday, which gives us some time to find the witness Sudou told us about. If we find them, it might be possible to prove Sudou-kun's innocence. If anyone here witnessed the fight, please raise your hand or let me know privately at a later time."
Unfortunately, no hands went up, but that didn't mean that all hope was lost.
Chiaki had predicted that some people might have problems with raising their hand and included the second option for shy people like Sakura or others who didn't like to stand out much.
The previous gravure idol's reaction differed to every other student as well. Instead of glancing around like the other students, to check if someone had raised their hand, she peered downwards at her knees with clenched fists.
This was both an indication of guilt and prior knowledge.
She didn't need to keep an eye out for the witness, if it was herself, after all.
I wasn't the only one who might have picked up on the changes in her behavior. Kouenji did so as well, at least if he had noticed anything else beside his own reflection in the mirror.
Well, this was a pretty big if...
Even with Kouenji out of the equation, there was still Chiaki who had also caught Sakura's weird performance. This was one of the reasons that she held her speech near the teacher's desk.
From her position, she could see everyone's reaction without missing the smallest movements.
"In order to check for witnesses, every teacher will inform their respective classes of the details of this incident."
Sudou's reaction to Chabashira-sensei's announcement was rather tame, which showed that he had already known that the other classes would be notified as well. Since he had said nothing yesterday, Chiaki must have updated him of the new plans this morning when she talked to him.
"Thank you, Matsushita. Let's end homeroom for today."
Chabashira-sensei strode out of the classroom and left us students to our own accord.
The next girl who stood was Kushida. Since she sat near the front, she turned around to face most our class with her sunshine and rainbows smile.
"I also believe that Sudou-kun was dragged into the fight against his will."
She then conveyed yesterday's conversation to everyone in the classroom, to give them all an additional understanding of the circumstances. Her words also filled some holes for other students, who had still felt sceptic about Sudou's innocence.
Even Chiaki's eyes widened in surprise as Kushida mentioned that the basketball team's coach wanted Sudou as a regular, which proved my assumption that she had received her information from Chabashira-sensei as opposed to Sudou himself.
"If you know anything that could help, please tell Matsushita-san, Hirata-kun, or me. We'll be doing our best to clear Sudou-kun's name and prove his innocence."
"Yes, we will do anything in our power to clear our friend's name."
Hirata stood as well and nodded in Kushida's support. This also prompted his girlfriend, Karuizawa, to shake her head with a sigh.
"We should do our best for the class, I guess. So let's ask around at least. I can kind of understand being bothered by their disgusting behavior as well, so..."
Chiaki's ability to rally her classmates was impressive.
Even though she was uncomfortable in front of all these people, it didn't stop her from doing her best for the class. She must have had a lot of time to figure out the best approach for today and contacted everyone she needed beforehand, otherwise this announcement wouldn't have been so smooth.
Our lessons passed as usual, and it was soon time for lunch break.
Both Chiaki and Kushida asked me to join them for a meal, but I declined, saying that I had something to take care of. This wasn't entirely true, but also not a lie. In either case, I would have joined one of the large groups the two of them were part of, which I didn't feel like doing today.
I just wanted some peace. To relax in the sun, nothing more.
After they had left, I grabbed my bag and ambled towards the roof, all on my lonesome. There wouldn't be any students around during this time, so I knew that I could be alone or would be in rather pleasant company for a short while.
The warm midday sun caressed and warmed my face the moment I stepped out of the building.
I took a deep, refreshing breath of clean, somewhat salty air and strolled towards the center before dropping my bag. I stretched my arms and sat down before unwrapping the bento I had prepared this morning and began to eat.
Would Horikita's have tasted like this?
A sense of peace spread through my hollow being as I watched the chirping birds and rustling trees on the school grounds. One of the swallows dived towards the roofs railing and stared at me. Its two orbs entwined with mine as it jumped down the fencing and cocked its head to the side.
I couldn't talk with animals, so I didn't know what it wanted. The only assumption I could establish was that it might have been hungry and wanted some of my food. With little choice, I decided to spoil the cute bird and threw a chunk of rice towards it.
The swallow jumped back in surprise and fluttered with its wings before it took a mouthful of my cooking and flew off.
"No need to thank me or anything..."
After this interesting meeting with an unfriendly animal, I finished my meal and placed the bento box back inside my bag before resting my head atop it. The sun was too bright, so I closed my eyes and relaxed the muscles in my body.
While the pleasant warmth spread through the empty husk I called home, I listened to the different sounds that reached my ears from around the school.
Students ran, screamed and yelled around, talking to their friends. Doors opened and closed as they were pushed back and forth by the fresh breeze. The birds kept chirping and playing with each other while flying all around the campus.
Such tranquil moments truly felt nice.
My days were numbered. I had already made peace with this cruel fact. But as long as I still had time, I wanted to explore and learn as much as I could about this alien world that stretched out in front of me.
Even something as trivial as lying on a rooftop was an unthinkable wish in the White Room.
Just as unthinkable as sensing the sun on one's body.
'Please... help me. I don't want to disappear...'
I shook my head, dispelling these thoughts that had been triggered due to the door opening.
"I'm surprised. You are the second student that has visited me up here."
"The second? Really? I thought we shared something special, Chabashira-sensei."
She must have been hinting at Chiaki, but it would be a waste of points to inquire more about this.
My far too attractive homeroom teacher chuckled and ambled beside me. Fortunately, the smoke she was exhaling in specific intervals didn't reach my nose, or else I might have had to switch spots.
"I can see your underwear, sensei."
"Then move away."
"What? No. I was here first."
I couldn't really see anything because of the difference in brightness between outside and inside her skirt as well as the stockings, which obstructed my view even further. Due to her relaxed attitude, I figured that she must have been aware that it was impossible for me to see anything indecent.
"Stop staring."
She tapped on her cigarette and dispersed the ashes on my head.
"Hey! Stop cleansing my soul."
"Mh? You really are an interesting student, aren't you? Is there something you don't know?"
I wiped the ashes off my face and turned back to her.
"There's a lot I don't know. For example, why are you wearing black underwear when red would look good as well?"
"Messing with me won't work, you know?"
She kept smoking but took two steps away in a rather pitiful attempt at disguising her reaction. Afterwards, she let out a light chuckle and attacked me with ashes once again.
"You are a horrible teacher, being so cruel to one of your students."
"I guess that some might think of me as horrible."
These words were different to our previous banter, as they contained a deep-seated regret. I didn't know if she intended to supply me with this information or if she had made a genuine mistake, but she kept her usual poker face.
"You should stop smoking, Chabashira-sensei."
"I'll take your words into consideration."
She stood there and kept polluting the air, as if nothing happened.
Chabashira-sensei didn't even glance at me as she moved nothing but her hand, which was holding onto the cigarette, as well as her supple lips, when she put this poison between them.
"Why are you hiding your abilities?"
"That's a great question. What do you think, sensei?"
I averted my gaze from the clear blue sky and observed her legs, since I probably wouldn't have such a chance again anytime soon. Even though she was a teacher and a lot older than me, I couldn't help but be captivated by her.
In the White Room, I was never interested in such things, because they were impossible to accomplish. I grew up in a sterile and cold environment, which promoted my physical and academical growth to the limit. There was no time to think about sexual relationships.
But it was different now.
Ike might have had a hand in the increase of such thoughts, but he wasn't the reason these notions existed. My behavior often indicated that I was operating and thinking like an adult, despite my age, but I was still a teenager.
Of course, I was interested in such things, especially now, in the prime of my life, so to speak.
These short three years could be all that's left for the rest of my pitiful existence.
"I think only you can answer this question satisfactorily. Maybe you'll tell me sometime?"
"I wonder about that."
A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she snapped away the cigarette.
"What are you planning to do about Sudou's case?"
"Nothing, I believe Chiaki can handle it just fine."
"And if she can't?"
"Then I might lend a hand. I made a promise, didn't I? You don't need to worry, Sae."
"I see." She turned and ambled towards the door, step by step. "Don't stay too long."
With this short farewell, she left the rooftop, leaving me alone.
Chabashira-sensei had her flaws, but I preferred her over Hoshinomiya-sensei as our homeroom teacher. Being one of her students must be tiring. Maybe someone like Ichinose would thrive and have a superb relationship with such an instructor, but I could never be such a person.
After classes were over, I went home and watched a movie to kill some time.
Everyone was busy looking for Sudou's alleged witness, so I couldn't meet up with anyone throughout the day. Once evening arrived, Kushida stormed into my room and threw her bag into a corner in a fit of rage.
She rambled and complained about Horikita, who was 'fucking annoying' and Ike, who couldn't stop drooling after her. Once the two of them were adequately insulted, she switched over to some other students in our class until she branched out to Class B and Ichinose.
It seemed like her day had been rather busy.
From what I could gleam from this rant, Horikita had decided to let Sudou drown in his own mistakes and told him that she wouldn't help, no matter what happened. This put an immense damper on his newfound feelings for her.
Kushida then asked her again, for Sudou's sake, and was denied a second time.
Ike was a perverted piece of shit, or so she said. Apparently, he was stalking her through the school's GPS, which she had turned on again and dreamed about cuddling with her.
Naked.
I didn't know how she managed to uncover such sensitive information, but she got the key, so that's a plus.
After receiving such harrowing reports, I was glad that she left her phone in her room or turned off her location whenever she came over to visit me. If Ike saw how often she came by, he would definitely try to kill me. And if he knew that she was naked in my bed, he would probably kill himself...
Her disgusted and spiteful insults stopped somewhere down the line, and I found her sleeping on the floor. Her head rested on a cushion while her shallow, uneven breaths rang through the room.
I was quite amazed by her ability to change from being angry with every single person she had met today to falling asleep in a matter of seconds, especially after considering in whose room she had become dormant. She must have been quite exhausted from running around all day in order to help Sudou.
This conclusion for the day wasn't entirely bad, so I left her alone for the moment. After informing Fuka that she couldn't come by today, I spent my time with a book and began to prepare dinner for the two of us after I finished the chapter.
Since she was already here, it would have been cruel to eat alone and send her away.
I observed her throughout the evening and concluded that she still had nightmares. Sometimes, her whole body shivered, other times she pleaded me to stop torturing her while tears dripped onto my pillow. Not everyone would have been able to sleep through those ordeals and terrors without waking up.
Kushida, however, had realized that they became normal for her and worked around the problem.
About an hour later, the meal was ready.
I prepared the table and arranged everything before making my way over to her sleeping place.
"Kushida, wake up."
I began with a soft whisper, because I didn't want to scare her.
If my neighbors heard a girl screaming out of my room, I would be doomed.
To my misfortune, the cute girl didn't move a single muscle in response.
Since talking wasn't working, I decided to try uncomfortable stimuli and took a deep breath before blowing into her ear.
She made a cute, 'mhm' sound before turning away.
Should I just punch her in the gut? She would definitely wake up due to the pain.
I should probably cover her mouth first...
"Kushida?"
With a shrug, I put my palm over her mouth and increased the pressure on my grip before pushing her head into the pillow. Before I could strike out, her eyes shot open in horror.
The first thing her irises focused at, were my two lifeless orbs that were devouring her sanity. The first touch she felt was my palm against her mouth, hindering her to scream for help. Kushida's pupils constricted in pure dread as her heart began to smash against her ribcage.
At least that's what it sounded like.
"Dinner is ready."
With those three words, I let go of her smooth lips and stood up.
Her eyes widened in surprise and fear as soon as she recognized where she had fallen asleep. According to her perplexed expression, she had deemed this as one of her nightmares at first.
Kushida swallowed audibly as I walked over to the table and sat down. Since she wasn't following, I glanced at her, which prompted my classmate to stand up as well.
Her gaze grew confused as she joined me on the laid table.
""Itadakimasu!""
We said in unison before devouring our meals.