Vol. 3: Chapter 2 - Atop the Cruiser

A lot of the students were enjoying their time around the ship's bow.

"Shit, Ayanokouji, this is awesome!" Ike, along with Yamauchi and their other friends howled in excitement as they called me.

"It's a great scenery," I commented.

After hanging out with them for a few minutes, I reunited with my friends.

"Wow! This is so great~!" Haruka was also acting like a little kid.

"Let's take a lot of pictures, Haruka-chan," Airi asked all of us to join in for a brief photoshoot with her camera in hand.

"Isn't it great, Ken? You wouldn't have been here if you got expelled," Akito commented with a smirk.

"Heh, it's a piece of cake if I get serious. And besides, I got Kiyotaka teaching me. Every exam was a hundred times easier." Ken responded with a snort.

His average in the finals was a lot lower than his midterms, but at least he passed. 

"Oho~? Then why not compete with us again, Kencchin? Those private points from the midterm bet were amazing. It would've been nice to get some from you again. Right, Miyacchi~?" Haruka teased him with a smug expression.

"S-Shut up! We don't need to spend private points on this ship, anyway!" Ken was visibly shaken by that memory.

Because we were first years, we naturally had the lowest number of private points among all students. It would be hard to enjoy our time here if we're required to pay. This might've been the school's way of rewarding us.

I split up with them a few minutes after to check up on my other classmates. It seemed like everyone was having fun. Finally, I got to talk with my quote-unquote best friend, Kushida Kikyou.

"Yo, Kikyou," I greeted.

"Kiyotaka-kun, I was looking for you!" she replied with a smile.

"Yeah, same here. How are you finding this trip so far?" I asked.

"You sound like an employee who's trying to coax me into answering a survey," she chuckled teasingly. "I think it's incredible. I'm really glad I came to this school!"

Curse this monotone voice of mine, I guess. I'm glad I was wearing my school uniform. It would've been bad if people mistook me as a staff or employee.

"Where are your friends?" I asked after a depressed sigh.

"They're all over the place. Kokoro-chan and the others headed back inside the cabin earlier. They said they wanted to check out some of the restaurants."

We ate our breakfast in the lounge before we were able to roam around. It's natural for many students to be curious about the different types of cuisines on the ship after having tasted them.

"I see," I replied, resting my forearms on the railings alongside her.

"Doesn't this give you a romantic vibe?" asked Kikyou.

"I get what you mean."

Somehow, the atmosphere got a lot warmer with her question. My heart started racing...

"I'll ask this again, Kiyotaka-kun... but I'm being serious this time," Kikyou spoke without looking at me, adorning a gentle smile. "Do you want a girlfriend?"

"Why are you asking me now?"

"I just got curious again."

"I see. Well, it would be nice if I get a girlfriend, but I'm not desperately looking for one or anything like that."

For now, I'll take back the curses I hurled towards my monotone voice. It's really good when situations like these arise because I would never come off as nervous or shaken. But then again, it's not like I was nervous or shaken, to be honest.

At this point, I turned to Kikyou and saw that she was subtly biting her bottom lip. She was the nervous one. It all made sense after she asked her next question.

"Would you like it if I became your girlfriend then?" She turned to me and asked with a very serious expression. There was no hint of any teasing or deception this time.

"Of course, I would. You're cute, smart, and easy to get along with," I answered briefly. 

Kikyou slightly twitched after hearing my response, but I spoke before she could utter a single word of reply.

"But that's not what this is about, isn't it?"

Kikyou smiled bitterly in defeat.

"You really do understand me, Kiyotaka-kun."

"It's unfortunate, but it is what it is. It was quite rude of you to lead me on with that question, though."

"Haha~! I was just confident that you would know where I'm getting at." Kikyou gently struck my arm with her small and feminine fist.

"Well? Did my answer satisfy you?"

"If you didn't lie, then I am satisfied. At least I know that you think of me as girlfriend material." Kikyou grinned before drawing closer to me.

"No one in this world would think that Kushida Kikyou isn't girlfriend material," I explained. "Well, if we put aside the folks who held a grudge against you back in your middle school, then my statement would be true."

"Is that your way of making me feel better about myself?" she chuckled.

"You know how bad I am with these small talks. I don't know what I'm trying to say half the time," I joked in response.

"Well, whatever. If you do get a girlfriend, be sure to tell me, okay?" Kikyou smiled bitterly despite her obvious goal of teasing me. "Bye-bye for now, Kiyotaka-kun. I'll be going on ahead."

"Tell Nishimura and the rest that I said hi." I raised my hand and waved back slightly.

"'Will do~!"

And with that, I've become all alone in this weird part of the ship near the stern.

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Kikyou asked me that question to confirm my feelings for her. I was honest and admitted that I thought of her as a girl. She didn't say anything about what she thought of me, but that didn't really matter. I understood Kikyou well enough to see through her intentions.

It was virtually impossible for Kushida Kikyou to be in a relationship with someone. It wasn't really a matter of feelings or anything. For her, that concept was out of the question due to the nature of her way of living.

Being loved by everyone was her everything. If she were to enter a relationship with someone, the number of guys who would love her and follow her blindly would definitely plummet. That might also be the same for the girls if the guy they enter a relationship with is admired by a lot of females.

I understood that fact, so I wasn't really fooled by Kikyou's honey-laced framing. If I didn't, I would've immediately thought that she was confessing her feelings to me.

And with that, I tread towards the fourth deck aka the girls' area. I arrived in front of a room that was supposed to be where Horikita was staying. Since I didn't see her anywhere earlier, it wouldn't be weird if she was actually inside their room right now.

"Horikita?" And so I knocked.

Surprisingly, there was no response. According to her roommates, they didn't feel like Horikita had any plans to go out. Is she perhaps...

Before I could complete my thought, I heard a bunch of footsteps arriving towards me from the inside of the room. The hallway was empty and silent at the moment, so it was fairly audible.

"Ayanokouji-kun?" As I expected, Horikita was inside the room. She opened the door and looked at me with a slightly confused expression.

"What were you doing?" I asked.

"I was reading a book," she replied.

"You were sleeping, weren't you?"

"Do you have any evidence?"

"Yeah, that fact that you were lying about reading a book was the evidence."

"How can you say that I was lying?" Horikita asked with a glare.

"You didn't even bother fixing your hair, specifically, your bangs. It's messed up and crooked, telling me that you were lying on your side."

Horikita reflexively fixed her bangs. Her brief but noticeably surprised reaction told me that I was right on the money.

"I guess you found me out," she pouted. "So, what of it?"

"Why were you sleeping?"

"Because I was sleepy."

"You're lying again, Horikita."

"What?"

I tried to touch her forehead with my right hand, but she slapped it away. I tried to do it again with my left hand, but she slapped it away all the same. If that's how this is going to be...

"What are you doing-?!" Her panicked reaction was justified.

I raised both of my hands which alerted Horikita. She tried to keep them away as she did half a second ago, but I moved to grab her wrists instead. I pinned her against the wall and touched her forehead with mine.

"Don't try to do something stupid like kicking me. It won't work. Just sit there for one second and let me check your temperature," I said.

This was the closest that my own face had been in contact with a girl's. I would be lying if I said that it's not making my heart beat faster. After all, Horikita was a very attractive girl. But right now, I need to complete my diagnosis.

"You have a fever," I concluded before moving my face away from hers.

"So what?"

"Don't be dumb, Horikita. We've talked about this last night. If something happens, you'll be a vital part of the class. I can't have you getting sick on my watch," I said, looking at her straight in the eyes. "We'll head to the pharmacy and get you some medicine. I know where it is."

At this point, Horikita understood my point. She meekly nodded in agreement.

After I let go of her, the two of us realized that we were outside the room, right on the fourth deck's open hallway. When Horikita and I looked to the side, we saw our classmate, Ichihashi Ruri, and her shocked expression a few meters away from us.

"Ah, I'm sorry if I disturbed you." She ran away, not even giving us the chance to explain.

"This is going to be a pain..." Horikita held the sides of her forehead as she shook them lightly.

I think it would've been fine if it was a girl from another class, but it just had to be one of ours... It was unfortunate, to say the least.