Act 18: Scene 5

After taking a pleasing bath with his annoying but helpful roommate, Kiyotaka stepped out of the bathroom with Ichika behind him. He quickly grabbed his clothes and stepped back into the bathroom so he could change into his school uniform, but not before his kouhai offered to him that he could stay with her, pointing out that people who've taken a bath with each other have nothing more to hide about their bodies.

Of course, he ignored her and continued on to dress himself without anyone bothering him.

After bidding farewell to Ichika, Kiyotaka left his room and went to the one that was next to his. He knocked on the door several times, before it was opened by his raven-haired classmate whom he was with earlier.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting for long, Horikita."

"You didn't. I only finished getting ready earlier than usual like you said," she shook her head and grabbed her bag that was nearby. "Though I suppose you're finished as well, am I correct?"

Kiyotaka nodded in response and with that, Suzune left her room and stepped outside, locking the door behind her. The two shared a little nod and proceeded to walk side–by-side as they have always done. Before they could leave though, a familiar voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun! Good morning, Horikita-san!"

Both teenagers turned their heads to see their beige-haired classmate walking up to them with her usual smile, while also waving her arm in greeting.

The young man gave her a nod of acknowledgement. "Good morning, Kushida."

Meanwhile, his companion only tilted her head curiously. "Is there anything you need, Kushida-san? We were just about to leave for school."

"I wanted to walk with you two today!" Kikyo exclaimed, making her intentions clear as she ran up towards them.

"That's a surprise. You've stopped going with us lately because you'd rather surprise me in class by hugging me in front of everyone," Kiyotaka pointed out.

Kikyo blushed, knowing how true his statement was. Especially on the day when she kissed him in front of everyone in the class. She quickly shook her head to snap herself out of it, before continuing with her words. "W-Well, I've missed walking with you and Horikita-san, that's all. While it's fun to hug you in front of everyone, it doesn't beat being able to walk to school with the two of you."

"All right," he shrugged, not really minding it either way. "What do you think, Horikita?"

Horikita felt conflicted, so she wasn't able to give an answer right away. On one hand, Kushida was her friend and she used to walk with them to school everyday, until she stopped in favor of giving Ayanokouji surprise hugs in the classroom. She didn't want to deny her friend the chance of being able to walk with them again for any reason.

On the other hand, she was starting to get used to walking with just the young man around and no one else. What's more is that she liked being alone with him, especially when they would engage in conversations on their way to class. Because of Miyake's ongoing case, it was the only instance where she would be able to spend time with Ayanokouji because they were both doing different things in order to help their classmate with his dilemma.

In the end, all Suzune could do was shake her head.

"I don't see why you need my permission on this, Ayanokouji-kun. It's not like I get to decide who gets to walk with you to school," she folded her arms and huffed, hiding her inner turmoil just now.

Kiyotaka raised an eyebrow at that response, wondering what caused her to respond that way before shrugging. Meanwhile, upon hearing Suzune's answer, Kikyo's smile grew bigger as she grabbed Kiyotakas arm and hugged it close to her chest, before giggling like a schoolgirl in love.

"Hehe! It feels good to do this again..."

"Why am I suddenly regretting my decision?" Suzune thought to herself while she watched Kikyo embracing Kiyotaka's arm as though she can't live without it. She also felt some kind of innate desire from within her that's telling her to do the same thing, but the girl brushed that thought off.

Well, she did do something in the past but she always held his wrist and nothing else. Hugging Kiyotaka's arm was a completely different thing, embarrassing as well!

"Okay, we better get going now—"

"Hey, wait! I want to tag along too!"

The three students turned their heads to see another one of their classmates running towards them; a blonde girl whose hair was done in a ponytail and had a smile on her face.

Fortunately for Karuizawa, her three classmates only stared at her as she approached them instead of leaving, so she was able to catch up to them.

"Phew... thanks for waiting for me," she sighed in relief.

Kiyotaka raised an eyebrow at her. "You too? I'm surprised you're not gonna surprise me with another hug in class, Kei."

The last word that came out of his mouth rang in Kikyo and Suzune's ears as if the young man shouted it. Both pairs of eyes widened for a brief moment, before directing their attention towards Kiyotaka, like they were trying to drill several holes into the back of his skull with their gazes alone.

There's only one person who can answer the questions that are starting to form in their minds...

Unlike Kikyo, Kei didn't look embarrassed at all, save for the little blush across her cheeks. If anything, she looked amused. "That's pretty tempting to do, but I realized that there hasn't been a time where we've gone to school together yet. Even though we live on the same floor, it's a missed opportunity that we don't walk to class together. I mean, I can tag along with you three, right?"

"Kei truly has forgotten about her issues regarding the dorm arrangement by now, hasn't she? She hasn't even complained for a month and a half, and even after learning that I lived on the same floor as her," the young man noted in his thoughts, feeling a little proud of the development that this girl has shown in a matter of weeks. "Since Kushida is already accompanying us, I don't see any problem with you coming along. What about you two?"

When he turned to face his two other heroines, he expected them to give him an answer right away, but that wasn't what he got at all.

Instead, Suzune was giving him a cold glare. One that's almost as cold as a glacier that you would in the Arctic regions. On the other hand, Kikyo was smiling at him, but it wasn't any normal smile. Her expression was clearly hiding a venomous look underneath that was directed not only towards him, but towards Kei as well.

"Horikita. Kushida. Something wrong?"

"Did you just call Karuizawa-san by her first name, Ayanokouji-kun?" Kikyo asked in a sweet tone that hid a lot of malice behind it.

Kiyotaka stared at her for a moment, confused by what she meant with that question, only for him to be hit with a massive wave of realization.

Yep, he messed up big time. This was a mistake on his part. Embarrassing. Shameful.

If he perishes today at the hands of bloodthirsty yanderes who are all obsessed with him, then let it be known that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka died defying that man until the end!

"...yes, I did," he answered while resisting the urge to facepalm at his own lack of awareness just now.

"And why is that?"

He took a deep breath and began to explain, internally hoping that it would be enough to quell their growing anger. "Long story short, she asked me to start calling her by her first name and I saw no problem with that. After all, it's normal for friends to call each other by their first names, isn't it?"

By some miracle, even after that explanation, he was still alive and wasn't being ripped to bits by several yanderes, so Kiyotaka was able to sigh in relief. It was weird, though. He was expecting some kind of violent reaction from Kushida who was more or less obsessed with him and a cold reception from Horikita.

Either the system wasn't going to let him die, or it just wanted him to suffer more.

Speaking of Kushida, the girl wasn't really calm by any means, though she kept it well-hidden underneath her mask. She wasn't pleased with this revelation at all, and it made her think for a moment that her greatest rival when it came to Kiyotaka's affections may not be Horikita at all.

"I'm so dumb! Why didn't I think of that before?!"

"When exactly did this happen yesterday? I don't recall her asking you that question," Suzune asked, looking considerably calmer though she kept on glaring at the young man which kept him on edge.

"It was when you and Kushida went out to enact your plan regarding Class C," he shrugged.

"Fucking bitch!" Kikyo ranted in her mind, now having thoughts of possibly expelling the blonde gyaru but for completely different reasons compared to Suzune. She sent a quick glare at Kei before hiding her expression behind her mask again. "This cow has been really getting on my nerves lately... I better do something about this..."

The brown-haired teen then felt someone tugging on his shoulder, making him turn to that person with a curious expression on his face.

"Ayanokouji-kun, do you mind if I get the same privilege as well?" Kikyo asked, sending him a cute and innocent look that could probably melt anyone's heart if they saw it. "If you're gonna call Karuizawa-san by her name from now on, I think it's only fair that I get the same treatment, don't you think? We've known each other for a longer time, after all..."

He shrugged. Well, at least he was safe from the danger of yanderes for now. He still would have to remain careful with his words and actions from here on out, though.

"Very well, Kikyo. I'll start calling you by your first name."

Kikyo blushed almost immediately, as all traces of anger in her seemed to vanish completely just from hearing him call her by her name.

[You gained 10 Affection Points with Kushida Kikyo!]

"Thank you, K-Kiyotaka-kun!"

Kiyotaka gave her a nod before he noticed that Suzune was still giving him an angry look. Surprisingly, when their gazes met, it was the girl who broke eye contact first and quickly looked away. She looked to be embarrassed at being caught staring, while Kiyotaka quickly realized what she wanted in her mind.

"Do you want me to start calling you by your given name as well, Horikita?"

A massive blush took over her features as a result. Her embarrassment even rendered her unable to speak for a while, but mainly because she had no idea what to say. Horikita was simply too flustered at the thought of Kiyotaka referring to her in such an intimate manner that she can't think properly! This was a situation that she had never faced before, due to the fact that there had been no one else whom she considered to be close with outside of her family... except for Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

"...d-do whatever you want," the girl stammered as soon as she felt that she could speak again.

Kiyotaka felt amused at that particular response. "There's nothing wrong with being honest, Suzune. Remember when you were frustrated about being unable to invite me for ice cream to the point that you dragged me along with you just to make sure you won't get interrupted anymore?" he teased,

[You gained 10 Affection Points with Horikita Suzune!]

"S-Shut up...!" she snapped at him, although it was hard to take her seriously with the blush on her face. "You don't have to bring it up again... I learned my lesson from that time."

"What are you two talking about?" asked Kei.

"It's nothing. Let's just go, Ayanokouji-kun."

Letting out a huff, the black-haired girl began to walk while her three classmates followed behind her. She kept her gaze ahead and refused to look anywhere else, hiding her face from her three companions even though her embarrassment was quite evident.

"You know, you can call me by my first name as well, Suzune."

Suzune stopped in her tracks for a moment, realizing that she didn't call him by his given name and continued to refer to him by his family name as she had always done. "P-Perhaps in the future. I am still trying to get used to this new arrangement between us..." she muttered, before continuing on.

"If that's what you want, then it's fine," he shrugged, seeing nothing wrong with what she wanted. It made him realize something important about her as well. "This is most likely the first time that she's dealt with a situation like this."

As the four students stood outside of the elevator and waited for it to arrive, yet another voice would catch their attention but this time, it wasn't familiar to any of them... except for one Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

"What the hell? You live on this floor, Ayanokouji?" asked the violet-haired student from Class B who also happened to be one of Kiyotaka's heroines.