Chapter 19 - Our Electives

My face twitched visibly while looking at the scene in front of me. I just got back home from training with the boys.

Hana sat on the sofa looking at her phone while sweat trickled down her face; she was trying hard to ignore everything around her.

Dad had a cramped smile on his face while sweating profusely, he stiffly waved at me when I came in from the dining table.

Mitsuo was pretending to be sleeping on the sofa next to Hana but I could see him shaking ever so slightly, he, as well, was sweating.

Mom has a calm smile on her face, but the air around her was nothing but calm. She radiated an imposing aura like any housewife has when you try to impose on their authority in their house.

'What the hell happened?'

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Let's go back to the time after lunch.

After our little interaction, Mika didn't try to interrupt my reading. So, I read through every page thoroughly at a brisk pace while she lay on Monoa's desk, scrolling through her phone.

I felt the presence of Monoa, Akirou, Miyako, and Alice coming closer to the classroom when I was about three fourth of the way through it. I guess they ran into each other at the stairs, that's the only possible conclusion as the infirmary is on the first floor.

There are 16 minutes left till the electives start so I decided to leave the rest for later.

Here at Kurimo Academy, there's an optional class three times a week excluding the week before anything big like final exams, the Cultural Festival, the Sports Festival, or any other events. These classes are, well, optional; you don't have to take them if you don't want to though you do have to go to the study hall and show your attendance to the teacher there, but after that, you're free to doing whatever on the 5 square kilometers campus.

Oh yeah, the school ground is huge though about half of it is just filled with trees. The giant sakura tree that I saw yesterday is actually smack dab in the middle of the campus.

Anyway, elective classes are on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday right after lunch break; on other days, we have normal classes. Since it's the first week, excluding the entrance ceremony day, the next four days, including today, will have elective classes right after lunch.

You can also drop out of anyway class if you don't feel like it's working for you and join a new one in the next semester, but you will have to play catch up for the first few weeks or so.

Putting the book aside, I stretched my arms and back before laying down to rest for a bit.

Students have been shuffling in and out for a while now and it looked less crowded than before as they return to their respective classes.

The door slid open and Mika turned to see her dearly beloved with two beautiful girls, she completely tuned out Akirou's existent as jealousy slowly welled up within her.

Before she could stand up and rush over to him, I decided to call out to them drawing their eyes.

"Monoa-kun, did you find your bag?" I said loud enough for them to hear, their eyes landed on me then Monoa and Miyako's eyes shifted to the one behind me. Monoa hastened his steps followed by Akirou while Miyako and Alice slowly trailed behind.

I noticed Alice's expression had softened by a tiny bit that is barely noticeable. I doubt even Hina would notice it at first glance.

Miyako's face was tinged with amusement with a crooked smile. Akirou seemed to be holding something in with his face lightly twitching.

"Yeah, I found it" Monoa held up his bag.

"But, when I checked…" He put it on my desk then opened it to reveal, not one single book, just a laptop.

"Yeah, I accidentally brought my laptop bag" He turned to me with a blank expression and continued "You can laugh now"

"Pfff…" I let out a hearty chuckle, Akirou was also silently laughing, and the girls giggled lightly. Our classmate nearby that heard what he said gave some laughter as well.

"So…"

"I'll send you my notes later, don't worry" I reined in my laughs and offered to send nud- I mean notes before he even asked.

"Thanks, man"

"That's what friends are for. Also, you should probably deal with her now before she explodes" I gestured to the girl who's furiously burning a hole through my skull with her eyes.

"Haha, good to see you'r-" Monoa smiled towards Mika but before he could finish talking she jumped at him and began to suffocate like last time… is what it looked like, but Mika was holding Monoa's head more gently.

"Oh Niji-kun, I missed you so~" Mika ignored the stares of the other students and started soft muttering sweet words into Monoa's ear.

"Ah misfed wuo tuu, Madsu-mee(I missed you too, Natsu-nee)" Monoa spouted out some words in Franch or something because he was still in between Mika's arms and assets.

"Hehehe, that tickles, Niji-kun~" Mika giggled while having a silly smile plastered on her face.

"Geez, get a room you two"

"I'm so jealous…"

"I wonder how soft those are"

"Wa-wa-w-aw-wa-wa, h-how indecent a-and bold"

"I wish I could be this upfront with my crush"

"I'm sure he'd love if you do"

"Any pureblooded man would love to experience that"

""Shut up, pervert""

"Oh so when girls talk about it, it's fine; but when I-"

Our other classmates were having fun talking about the two's interactions. But I need to move this situation forward; we got 13 minutes left.

"Alright you two, there are people watching. Plus, Mika-senpai, don't you have electives or Student Council works after lunch break?" I clapped to get their attention before turning to Mika for confirmation. Student Council members who don't have electives are to finish their daily works before being given permission by the Student Council President to roam free.

Of course, most if not all members of the Student Council would take electives, because why would anyone want to be restricted like that? That logic would apply to Mika as well.

"Ah right, it's the first week so we have electives on Tuesday. I need to prepare to guide my kohais for this week" Mika lets go of Monoa, who was blushing slightly from their public display of affection.

"I need to run now, Niji-kun. Else sensei might get mad at me" Mika smiled sweetly at him, before turning to Akirou and ignore the girls' existent.

"You must be Niji-kun's new friend; my name is Mika Natsumi, Class 2-A. Nice to meet you!" Mika tilted her head and beamed a smile so bright it struck the heart of the few guys in that general direction.

"Ah… Nice to meet you, Mika-senpai, my name is Akirou Hiro, Class 1-B" Akirou froze for a second before introducing himself with a blush.

"Hmm… I'll call you Aki-kun then; Aki-kun, Kohai-kun, please continue to take care of Niji-kun for me" Mika bowed gracefully, still having that smile plastered on her face.

"Why is he Aki-kun and I'm Kohai-kun? This is double standards, I demand equal rights!" I gently slammed my hand on the desk and pretended to be serious.

"Hehe, I'm sorry but your demands are strictly impossible to fulfill" Mika countered back with a smirk.

"Yeah, you can't convince her to change her mind, she's super stubborn about these things" Monoa donned a helpless smile while shaking his head.

"Yeah, I guessed as much. Anyway, shouldn't you get going Mika-senpai? We have 11 minutes before electives" I leaned on my desk with my hand while closing my eyes.

"Ah right, almost forgot about that. See you next time, Niji-kun, Aki-kun, Kohai-kun"

"Bye, Natsu-nee"

"Goodbye, Mika-senpai"

"Godspeed"

We said our goodbyes and Mika hastily walked out the door, still ignoring the existent of the two girls. Miyako and Alice came over to us when they had the opportunity.

"Well… I've never been ignored like that in my life"

"Neither have I, this is a new experience"

"Please don't mind her, Natsu-nee is quite childish at times"

"Anyway, what electives are you guys taking? I'm going with Computer Programming 'cause it looks interesting and quite possibly useful" I changed the subject and picked up the book I was reading to show them.

"Computer Programming, huh? It is pretty useful to learn it nowadays; I think I'll go with Nutrition Study, what about you Alicia-san?" Miyako turned to Alice with curious eyes.

"I haven't really thought much about it; though I am kind of interested in learning how to cook and bake stuff" Alice tilted her head with a finger on her cheek.

"Home Economics or Culinary Study then, if you join the Culinary class you'll be with Namaii-san" I blurted out.

"Namaii-san?" Miyako showed a puzzled expression.

"Yeah, she's a big culinary nerd. If you mention anything about cooking, she'll go off on a tangent for hours" I showed a helpless smile to accentuate my point.

"That…sounds surreal and interesting, I wanna see it with my own eyes" Miyako's eyes lit up like a child who just found a new toy.

'Hehe, hook, line, and sinker' I smirked inwardly at my plan working; now there will another victim of Namaii's Endless Lecture on Culinary Art. It's been like a year since the last one which was that poor sensei, I wonder how she's doing, she was scared of Namaii even till graduation.

"*I'll pray for your fast recovery*" I muttered as quietly as I could while clasping my hand together and prayed to no god in particular for two seconds flat.

"Anyway, what about you two?" I turned to Akirou, who was intently looking through his handbook, and Monoa, who has a brilliant light in his blue eyes, and even his pale blond hair seemed to be shining.

"I guess we'll be seeing each other a lot because I'm going for Game Development. If you ever need any help with codes just ask me, I learned how to code from my dad" Monoa spoke in a chipper tone with eyes still shining like a Star Crystal; it's a whitish blue crystal that's said to have been created from starlight but in truth, it's just a mixture of space and time attributed mana in crystal form.

"Well duh, we're in the same class, of course we'll be seeing each other a lot" I retorted, looking at him with a blank stare.

"Haha…I didn't think of that" Monoa sported an awkward smile while scratching his cheek.

"Well, thanks for the offer; if you're as experienced as you say you are I might take you up on that offer someday" I thanked Monoa before turning to Akirou, who was still silently scrutinizing his handbook; the others also turned to him.

We all stared at him in silence for a good two minutes before he finally noticed; has he gotten used to our stares or…is this just because of him being absorbed in his own thoughts? The world will never know…

"Hmm? Ah, sorry sorry, I was lost in my own thought" Akirou blushed in embarrassment while closing his student handbook and putting it away.

"Nah, no sweat" Monoa patted Akirou on the shoulder with a grin.

"Yeah, it's fine, ease up a bit" I rested my hand on my arm.

The girls just nodded without saying anything.

*Inhale* *Exhale*

Taking a deep breath, Akirou's face and body seemed more relaxed.

"Okay… You guys were talking about electives, right?" Akirou swept his gaze through us, looking for confirmations.

"Yep, which one do you want to join? Do any of them catch your eyes?" I straightened myself up a bit, waiting for his answer. The others were curious as well, even Alice seemed curious about his choice.

"Well…I've looked through the list of subjects and I honestly don't know which one I'm good at" Akirou looked downcast, anxiousness flashing in his eyes. He's probably eating at himself on the inside for not being able to make a decision.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. We've all been indecisive before, right?" My eyes turned to Monoa.

"Yeah, just give it some time, you'll work it out soon" Monoa looked up into Akirou's eyes with certainty oozing out.

"Plus, you don't need to be good at it, as long as you have fun learning and like doing it that's all that matters" I shifted over to the girls.

"Mhm, that's the most important part of these electives. To have fun doing what you like and learning useful skills at the same time" Miyako supported my statement and gave a reassuring smile to Akirou.

"You don't need to think too hard about it, even I just want to learn about cooking and baking, being good at it is just an afterthought" Alice pushed it further by using herself as an example.

Where did she start learning how to care for others from? Well, it's a good thing so I won't get into it.

"Well, there's not really a need to rush things. You still got the whole week to decide and if that's not enough you could always just join in the next semester, or don't join one at all, that's still a pretty good option, with all the free time you'll have" I finished it off with a pretty killer selling point and an award-winning smile; who doesn't like to have free time?

Well, except some but let's not get into that now.

"…" Akirou had his head down while going into deep thoughts, though this time it only lasted several seconds.

"You're right, I don't need to rush things. Thanks for the words of encouragement, guys" Akirou raised his head and along came a smile full of brilliance, warmth, innocence, and joy. The contrast from his usual barely contained gloominess and anxiety-driven self instantly struck the soft spots of the two ladies, especially Miyako, it tickled her natural Onee-san instinct.

This little detail didn't escape my nor Monoa's watchful eyes, we turned to look at each other and a toothy grin flashed on our face for an instant before it reverted back to our own unique smile.

"No problem man, that's what friends are" I stated while putting away the book I was holding.

"You got that right, friends are supposed to help each other. So don't ever hesitate to ask us for help" Monoa stepped closer to Akirou and lightly thumped his chest with his fist.

"…R-right, even if Akirou-kun isn't in Class 1-A, you can come to me if you have any problem" Miyako snapped out of her daze and declared passionately.

'Kun?' This slight change in how she addressed Akirou didn't go unnoticed by me and I can see that Monoa also noticed this as well.

Though it doesn't seem like Akirou, Alice, nor Miyako herself noticed it; however, Miyako will notice later and probably freak out a little.

Since we've met yesterday, Miyako had come off as a very formal person if you ignored some of her "quirks". The way she addressed people with the -san suffix regardless of gender just shows how formal her way of speaking is, and with just this slight change you can discern that she's becoming fonder with him.

Here in Japan, the way you address someone reflects upon your fondness of them, and how you treat it reflects on you as a person. For example, I address people by how they address me and my closeness to them. I call Hina by a nickname and without suffix because we're close and she doesn't use honorifics with me; the same goes for Keirou too, but Namaii…that's a topic for another time.

My point is, you can usually discern how close people are by how they address each other even if it's just the suffix part.

Akirou though, will think back on it later and be smart enough to pick between the lines but would probably brush it off as him overthinking it.

'Hehehe, this will be interesting. I'd like to see how their relationship will develop; Akirou-kun is still afraid of messing up his relationships with others again and Miyako has a few skeletons in her closet, things between them could easily get out of control but as long as I'm here there shouldn't be anything to worry about'

I sagely looked over their interaction with a gentle smile.

Alice had started being more "expressive" if you could even call it that; case in point, she's showing a bit more emotion, just a bit though.

Akirou seemed to be a bit more open too, though there are some times that he hesitated in speaking his mind.

Miyako got a bit less formal with her way of speaking…with Akirou, yeah just him.

Finally, Monoa just ties the whole group together, being positive and cheerful and all that.

Suddenly, I picked up Namaii's and Hina's presences in the hallway. The two had stopped just outside of the classroom door. I guess Hina recovered from the shock I gave her, I should make it up to her sometime this week.

Of course, that's the excuse I'm using so I could take her out on a date but she doesn't need to know that.

"Oh, by the way, guys, we have like three minutes left. I think we should get going now" I grabbed my bag before standing up from my seat. My announcement was quite loud so our other classmates started checking their phones for the time and surprise-surprise, I'm right.

Some started packing up their things, like Miyako, before they started funneling out the classroom while others, like Alice, just grabbed a notebook and a pencil before heading out. The two girls walked out together.

"Monoa-kun, let's go. See you after class, Akirou-kun"

"See ya, Akirou-kun"

"Mhm, I'll use this hour to think about what elective I want to join" Akirou nodded while waving us goodbye.

Monoa and I walked out the door, I didn't forget to turn to Hina, who's beside the door with Namaii, give her a smile and a wink before passing them. I saw Hina's flushed face for a brief moment before she was out of my view, seeing that brought a bright smile to my face.

"What are you smiling about?" Monoa, with his laptop bag in hand, raised an eyebrow at me.

"Nothing, just thinking how nice it is to be in love" I looked out toward the school entrance as we were passing by the shoe lockers.

"Wa?" Monoa let out a confused grunt before…

"Ohh, hehe, it is nice to witness love blooming" Monoa seemed to get what I was putting down.

Like this, we continued on our way to the Computer Room. Chatting about the Great Sage series and tossing out jokes along the way.