6 Senpai

I'm leaning on a wall next to Kiyotaka's door as I wait for him to come outside. I check the time and it reads 8:30 AM. Class was going to start in 15 minutes so I would like to get there early. Just as I was about to knock on the door, the door opens and Kiyotaka walks out. I raise my hand and wave to him.

"Yo." He waves back to me and we walk to school. We were both pretty tired so we didn't really talk much as we walked to school.

We arrived ten minutes early before the class meeting began. There weren't many students but something was off. Horikita wasn't in the classroom. We both take our seats and I look to the front of the classroom to see Kushida walking in.

"Good morning everyone." The gloomy classroom suddenly became cheerful and bright.

Before I knew it, the class bell rang and the class meeting had started. There were no signs of Horikita yet.

I wasn't sure if Chabashira-sensei noticed or not that Horikita wasn't here but she didn't touch on the subject since she left the classroom after she finished roll call. I was starting to get a little concerned, maybe she's enduring the particular day of the month.

"It's strange. I don't think Horikita has ever been late to class." It seems like Kiyotaka is concerned also.

"Yeah, I'm a little worried-"

"Good morning you guys!"

"Waah!?"

While I was talking to Kiyotaka, Kushida stealthily walked up to me and practically screamed into my ear.

"I'm sorry, did I scare you two?"

"Not at all. Anyway, did you need something?" I regain my composure and look at Kushida. I didn't want Kushida to think that I was a skittish person.

"Yeah. Actually, I'm concerned about Horikita, she hasn't come to school yet right?"

She looked towards the chair beside me.

"Looks like it. If she was here, she would probably be telling us to leave her alone."

Kushida had a worried expression on her face. It seems like she knows something that I don't.

"Kushida did you see her earlier this morning?"

"Yeah, I actually did see Horikita-san leaving her room this morning. I'm a little worried so I was wondering, could you maybe contact her and see if she's alright?"

Oh, so that's why you wanted to talk to me.

"I mean I guess I can."

"Great thank you!"

I call Horikita three times but she didn't pick up any of those times.

"Hmm. She won't pick up."

I was starting to get a little worried. Horikita is a model student that never arrives late nor is absent. She's the type of person that would come to class even if she had a cold or even a fever. Something serious must have happened.

"I'm very worried about Horikita-san, what should we do?"

"I'll go check on her. She might have overslept or something like that. What's her room number?"

"I think its room 1201."

She thanked me with a smile. Since I was thanked, hopefully, I scored some points in her heart.

There were approximately 8 minutes until the first class started so I ran like the wind back to the dorms. I soon arrived back at the dorms and I immediately hopped into one of the elevators. I couldn't help but feel nervous so I kept pressing the 12th-floor button.

"The upper floors are the girl's area..."

As soon as the elevator door opened I immediately began my search for room 1201. Just the thought of being in the place where girls live made my heart beat faster. It would be pretty awkward if I ran into another girl.

I let out a sigh of relief when I arrived at her room. As soon as I calmed down, I pushed the doorbell.

"..."

I didn't hear a response from the room.

Has Horikita already left for school?

No, there is only one path that leads to the school so I would have run into her. She also didn't take the other elevator.

I knocked on the door again except this time I called out her name.

"Horikita are you in there?"

I was starting to panic. I didn't see her on the way to school so she definitely was inside the room. She probably would have answered if she was conscious.

Did she collapse? Was meeting her brother yesterday too much for her and because of that, she passed out?! Did she even...

"Horikita are you alright?!"

I thought about knocking again but I already tried that twice. Instead, I turned the doorknob but it was locked. I then examined the door. The doorknob is on the right side of the door so the hinges are on the left side. If I kick the portion of the door that is right next to the doorknob, I should be able to kick the door in.

This is probably a very bad idea... ah whatever, let's do it.

I back up and with all my might, I kicked the door. The door flew open and I let out a smile. I felt like a badass in the movies where the main character kicks the door open but I shouldn't be thinking about that.

"Horikita are you here?" I say with a shaky voice.

I take a couple of steps and I then stopped dead in my tracks.

"Oh..."

Horikita was inside.

She wasn't unconscious, nor was in pain.

She was actually in the process of changing her clothes.

She didn't scream because of the unexpected visitor, she instead looked at me with a sharp glance.

"...What are you doing? And what did you do to my door?" Horikita stopped her movements and asked me.

What is she doing?! Has she not processed the fact that she is practically naked?! She should be frantically putting her clothes on or calling me a pervert and telling me to look away!

I wasn't able to answer the question because of how peculiar the situation was. I didn't even know where I should look. All I could do was stare at her glossy and breathtaking skin. I realized what I was doing would result in me getting a restraining order so I pried my eyes off of her body and looked at Horikita. Her death glare sent shivers down my spine.

I am so fucking dead.

My life was hanging by a thin thread so I did the only thing that I could think of. I got on my knees and kowtowed.

"Please forgive me! I didn't mean to peep or spy on you! You are usually at school early so I thought something was off! Kushida thought the same way since she said she saw you this morning leaving the room! We were worried that something had happened to you so I rushed over to check on you! I swear that was my intention!"

God that was such a pathetic excuse.

"Only this?"

"...Only this."

This resembles the final words of a death row prisoner.

I kept my head against the floor, prepared for the punishment that I knew I was coming.

"I see..."

It seems like she has sorted out the things inside her heart. She put on her skirt and buttoned the blouse that she usually wears for school.

"In other words, you came here to check up on me because you were worried?"

"Yes, I swear. I thought you were depressed about the situation with your brother yesterday so I got really worried... please don't kill me."

I lift my head to look at her. When she looks back at me, she glares at me.

"What are you doing? I don't think I gave you permission to lift your head."

I practically slammed my head back to the ground in fear. After my pathetic display, she looked back at her spare uniform.

"Something happened to my uniform, It got caught on a nail and it ripped. Because of that, I had to return to my room to change into the spare one."

I then heard her walk over to her bed and open a drawer.

Welp, this is it. She's probably grabbing a knife so that she can castrate then kill me. Goodbye cruel world. At the very least, I was able to see her in her white underwear. Not a bad last thing to see before death.

I could hear her walking around until she stopped in front of me. In my peripheral, I could see her dress shoes. I was awaiting the strike that would rid me of my life force but it never came. The trepidation was killing me.

"Baka." A classic tsundere response.

I received three chops to the head. They hurt like hell but they weren't nearly as bad as I thought they were going to be.

I look at her hand to see that she was holding a book, not a knife or pair of scissors. I lift my head and look at her in disbelief. From my position, she looked like a goddess. She had a scowl on her face but I could see her slightly blushing.

"The fact that you came all the way here to check up on me is noted, but you should have taken the hint. I locked the door to my room because I didn't want anyone coming into my room."

My cheeks heated up after she said this. Yeah, that was a blunder on my part.

Horikita looked at her door and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Ugh, judging from the door, the lock is completely broken so it's going to need to be repaired. On the way to school, I'll have to notify the clerk downstairs that my door needs to be fixed. The expenses are definitely coming out of your pocket."

"Y-yes!"

"Because you agreed to help me reach class A, I'll let this slide. However, if you do this again I won't hesitate to strike you down. Do I make myself clear?"

Don't worry Horikita I'm fine with that, I already stored the image of you in your underwear into my long term memory.

Saying this would most likely end with my demise at Horikita's hands so instead, I said: "y-yes senpai!" I look of amusement ran across Horikita's face when I said this.

"Good. Now get up, we're gonna be late to class."

I hastily get up from my kowtow and walk out of her room. She closes her door and we walk towards the elevator. I nervously look at Horikita, who appears to be thinking deeply about something. After a minute, she looks at me. The sinister smile on her face made me very nervous.

"Senpai has a nice ring to it... as for your punishment, your going to call me senpai for the rest of the week."

"W-what?! Are you serious!?"

"I'm dead serious. Or do you want a worse punishment?"

"No... senpai," I said this in defeat. A small but pleasant smirk on Horikita's face when I gave in.

"You're still going to do the study group again, right?"

"Yes, it was one of your conditions, besides what you two said yesterday made sense."

"That's good to hear."

"Still there's one problem, there's no way they are going to join the study group again. If I ask them to join, they will definitely refuse."

"Yeah, now that you mention it. You should ask Kushida."

"Why me? You should ask her to do it."

"Horikita, remember what I said yesterday? Don't ask me for help with a minor problem. You asking Kushida for help is not only a small task, but it's more meaningful if your the one that does it. It will show that you care and you want to make amends."

"I don't want to 'make amends,' I still think I'm right. Besides she might say no."

"There's no way she's going to say no. She said she wants to be friends with you."

Horikita still had a look of skepticism.

"Senpai please." Horikita gave in.

"Ugh... fine. I want you there with me though."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because I am having lunch with someone."

"I'm assuming Ayanokoji-kun?"

"Yeah him... and a girl."

Horikita twitches violently and stopped in her tracks. I give her a confused look but then she starts walking at a faster pace. I sped up my pace to catch up to her.

"Is she someone from our class?"

"No, she's from class C."

"So you're colluding with the enemy?" Horikita said this with a harsh tone.

"N-no! She just likes reading books so we have something in common. She wanted someone to talk to so she invited me out for lunch."

Horikita has a scowl on her face. I expected her to bombard me with another vicious statement but she didn't say anything else. She didn't even look at me as we walked to class, essentially giving me the cold shoulder. What's her problem? Maybe she's having that time of the month.

I opened the classroom door for her and she walked in. As we walked to our desks, all the students once again glared at us. Horikita paid no attention to them while I kept my head down.

~~~~~~~~

After hours of lectures, lunch has finally arrived. I look at Horikita who is already making her way to Kushida. I let out a sigh of relief. I feel someone tap on my shoulder, I turned around to see Kiyotaka.

"Akira are we heading to the cafeteria or the convenience store?"

"Hm? Oh the cafeteria but first, we're meeting someone." Kiyotaka raised an eyebrow.

"Meeting someone? And who may that be?"

"You'll see. We gotta meet up with her first." I lead Kiyotaka to the library. After about a minute or two of searching, we found Shiina. We started walking up to her but she didn't notice us because of how invested she is in her book. We both sit down at the table but she didn't acknowledge our presence. I found this humorous and sweet so I stayed silent and watched her to see how long it would take for her to notice us.

After about five minutes, she puts her bookmark in her book and closes it. Right after she did that she looked up to see Kiyotaka and me.

"Eep! I didn't notice you Akira. How long have you been there?" I let out a chuckle.

"We've been sitting here for five or ten minutes."

"O-oh I'm sorry I should have noticed." Shiina bowed her head as she said this. So cute.

"There's no need to apologize, I didn't want to interrupt." Shiina smiled then looked at Kiyotaka.

"Who is this? Is this the friend you are talking about?"

"Yes, this is my friend Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. And Kiyotaka this is Shiina Hiyori."

"Nice to meet you Ayanokoji-kun."

"Likewise Shiina-kun."

They shake hands and I smile.

"Well let's go."

The three of us head to the cafeteria. It was already 20 minutes into lunch break so it was already crowded with students but thankfully we were able to get in line quickly.

Kiyotaka and I chose the daily special but Shiina appears to be indecisive, her fingers waving about in the front of the buttons.

"Please wait."

After about a minute or two, she made up her mind and chose the same meal as I did.

"I got a bit indecisive."

"You're fine, the line just started to fill up." I pointed to the slowly increasing lunch line.

Seconds later, three meals were set onto the counter. Shiina was having trouble holding the tray with the meal on it since, for some reason, she decided to bring her school bag to the cafeteria.

"Isn't that bag getting in the way? I can carry it for you." Kiyotaka, seeing this as a good icebreaker and opportunity, seized this.

"No it's fine, I can't possibly ask you to do something that troublesome."

"Tripping while holding that tray would be far more troublesome."

"Sorry," Shinna said while handing over her bag to Kiyotaka. The bag must have been heavy because Kiyotaka's grip wavered for a second.

"Thank you very much."

We soon found seats that were away from the crowd and we began eating our lunch slowly. She seemed hesitant with trying the cafeteria food. After she took a small bite, her eyes lit up and she picks up a bigger piece with her chopsticks. I observed her movements in admiration. Her use of chopsticks was simply elegant.

"It's your first time eating here, isn't it?"

"Cats out of the bag?"

"Yeah, I started to suspect when you were indecisive at the ticket machine."

"True, I just never had the courage to come."

"I don't blame you. We were nervous at first too, right Kiyo?"

I look at Kiyotaka and playfully smacked him on the shoulder. He then looked at Shiina.

"We understand how you feel. It takes quite a lot of courage to go to a place that you don't normally go to. Your feelings of not wanting to show the people who come here regularly how out of your comfort zone you are ends up stopping you. However, once you finally try it out, you'll realize it's not as difficult as you imagined it to be."

Both Shiina and I look at Kiyotaka in amazement.

"Wow Kiyo, that was surprisingly deep."

"I already like you Ayanokoji-kun."

We talked about random trivia things until there were ten minutes until class. I was about to thank Shiina for inviting us out for lunch until she said something that piqued my interest.

Oh, I almost forgot! Nishida-kun I want to show you something."

Shiina was pulling down the zipper of her school bag but she stopped midway.

"Ayanokoji-kun, what kind of books do you like to read?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm not particularly picky but I am a fan of the mystery genre."

"Well, that's good because I have some books that you two will find interesting."

Thump! Four massive books were placed onto the table.

"Have you two read any of these books before?"

I look over the four books that she placed in front of us. Ellery Queen, William Irish, Lawrence Block, and Isaac Asimov. She's amazing.

"You've got good taste."

"I see. I'm assuming you're a fan of the mystery genre?"

I nod my head and Shiina happily laughs while bringing her hands together.

"These aren't from the library, are they?"

Shiina happily shakes her head.

"Nope. They are all mine. I've been carrying them around just in case I meet someone who shares my interest in them one day so I can lend it to them. I lucked out since I found not one person, but two people! In the beginning, it was only one book but they just kept piling up."

"Wow."

This girl definitely has some screws loose, but I don't mind it at all.

"Please don't hold back, take whichever one you like," Shiina said this while giggling with a smile. So adorable!

"I'll go with Ellery Queen since I haven't read that one yet," Kiyotaka said as he reached for said book. Shiina flashed him a bright smile then turned her attention to me.

I was the indecisive one this time. I've read all of them, but I wouldn't mind rereading one again.

"I'll read William Irish." Shiina was delighted that we were willing to read the masterpieces that she provided us.

The bell rang and we thanked Shiina and made a promise that we will hang out again.

Kiyotaka and I made it back to the classroom with about five minutes to spare before class starts. We sit in our seats and I look at Horikita who is reading a book. I tap her desk lightly to get her attention. She looks up and put her book down.

"What is it?"

"Horikita, I need to ask you something."

"I believe 'Horikita' should be replaced with something else, Nishida-kun."

Does she really expect me to... ugh.

"Senpai, I need to ask you something." Kiyotaka gives me a weird look and I avert my gaze in embarrassment. I hear a snort of amusement come from Horikita before her usual serious expression formed.

"What do you need to ask me?"

"Did you talk to Kushida? What did she say?"

"She agreed to help us. She texted all of three of them and they plan on meeting her at the library two hours after school ends. Sudou has practice so it couldn't be helped."

"That's good to hear."

"I want you and Ayanokoji-kun to be there too. I don't think I'll be able to stand being alone with those fools."

I look at Kiyotaka and he nods his head.

"Alright, we'll be there."

It seems like everything hasn't gone to shit just yet.

"Pfft... senpai." I look at Kiyotaka who has a hand over his mouth, obviously trying not to laugh.

I punch Kiyotaka's shoulder and he lets out a quiet "ow."

~~~~~~~~~~

Classes have finally ended and we had two hours of free time before the study session. It was still weird though because every once in awhile I noticed that Hirata of all people, kept looking at me. I thought nothing of it and as Kiyotaka and I were about to walk out of the classroom, we were stopped by a surprising person.

"Nishida-kun can I talk to you?"

We turned around to see Hirata of all people.

"Oh were you gonna do something with Ayanokoji-kun? Sorry for bothering-"

"No, it's fine." I looked at Kiyotaka and he got the message. He pats me on the shoulder before walking out of the classroom. I turned around to face Hirata.

"Did you need something?"

"Sorry to ask you this, but I was wondering if you could help me with the study session."

Huh?

I stared at Hirata with a confused look. This was the last thing I expected Hirata to say to me.

"I know this is unexpected but I kind of need your help. I'm trying to help everyone with math and chemistry but I'm struggling to teach them. I'm able to teach them everything else but math and chemistry are not my strong suits."

"But you got an 85% on that portion of the test, why are you asking me for help?"

"Well you see beside you and a select few others, nearly everyone in the class scored below 50 points on those portions of the test. I remember that you got a 65 on that portion of the test and that's above average. I would have asked Yukmura or Horikita but I wasn't able to ask Yukimura and I think Horikita is going to tutor Ike, Sudou, and Yamauchi. If you don't want to, I won't hold it against you but I would really appreciate it." Hirata said this with pleading eyes.

Despite him being a guy, those puppy eyes were hard to resist. I look at our classmates who are rearranging the tables to be closer to each other.

"I guess I'll help you, but don't expect much."

"Thank you!" Although Hirata seemed ecstatic that I was willing to help, I could tell there was another motive.

We both walked to the group of classmates that were eagerly waiting for Hirata. When they saw me, I got a mixture of responses.

I could hear them whispering, 'what's he doing here' or 'why is he with Hirata?" Hirata stood in front of the group with a smile while I stood to the side. When he realized I wasn't at his side, he grabbed my arm and dragged me into the spotlight.

"I'd like to make an announcement. Since you guys are struggling with math and chemistry, I have sought out additional help. This is Nishida Akira. If you guys need help and I'm not available, don't hesitate to ask him."

All my classmates just stared at me with skepticism. I felt embarrassed and averted my gaze.

"Alright, let's get started," Hirata said this and when he took a seat, the girls immediately started asking him questions, completely ignoring what he just said. I let out a sigh and take a seat. After about five minutes, I was starting to get bored so I decided to do what I was supposed to do. I take a seat next to Shinohara who gives me a weird look before going back to the problem that she was working on. I try to be discreet and look at the problem.

This question was one of the examples Chabashira-sensei used in class. This problem is pretty easy, it's an example of calculating an upper bound and lower bound.

I look at Shinohara's work, or more accurately, lack of work. She looks like she has no idea how to solve the problem since she's just staring at the problem not doing anything. The lights on but nobodies home.

"Do you need help?" She looked at me as if my presence disgusted her.

"If I wanted your help, I would have asked for it," she said this with a harsh tone.

"O-ok," I say this quietly as I got up from my seat. I go to the next girl I see which is Matsushita, who is working on the same problem as Shinohara. I look at her work to see that she solved it flawlessly. I was about to congratulate her until she did something weird.

She erased her work, the correct answer, and circled an answer that was obviously wrong.

"Why did you erase your work? The answer you circled was correct," I say this in a gentle voice as I point to the correct answer.

Matsushita looked at me as if I caught her red-handed.

"O-oh I did? I didn't realize," she said this quietly as she erased and bubbled the correct answer. This action surprised me, I'll have to make sure to remember this for the future.

"N-Nishida-kun, I actually need some help," Shinohara said this with her right arm raised into the air. It seems like she swallowed her pride when she realized she had no idea how to solve the problem. I sit next to her and grab a pencil.

"Sure this is how you solve it. Let's first write the problem as x equals the log of 3 to the base of two. Now, by the rules of logarithm..." I explain how to solve the problem and I practically see a lightbulb flash above her head.

"Oh, I get it now. T-Thanks Nishida-kun," Shinohara averts her eyes when she says this.

"Hey, Nishida-kun come over here." Hirata is looking at me, motioning with his hand for me to come over. I walk over to him and he presents me with a problem.

"Everyone is struggling to solve this problem, even I can't solve this, could you help us?"

I look at the problem and give Hirata a confused look. He should easily be able to solve this. I turn to the other students who are looking at me with interest. I let out a tired sigh.

"Well, this is how you do it..."

I explained the problem and the girls looked at me in amazement. I could hear them saying stuff such as 'I never knew Nishida-kun was so smart' or 'I thought he was an airhead.' They seemed to reach a consensus because they got up from their seats.

And proceeded to crowd around me.

"Nishida-kun could you help me with this?"

"I don't really understand this part of the problem, could you walk me through on how to solve it?"

"Nishida-kun could you check my work? I'm not sure if I did this right."

"Nishida-kun..."

Before I knew it, girls were tugging my arm and dragging me to their seats for help.

~~~~~~~

"Thanks again Nishida-kun!"

"I-it was no big deal..."

This was like the seventh girl that has thanked me and I could feel myself blushing.

So this is how it feels to be popular. I kind of like it but at the same time, it's overwhelming and exhausting.

Once all of the students left the room, it was just Hirata and me.

"You did well Nishida-kun." I look at Hirata who has a big smile on his face.

"I appreciate the praise but what's the real reason you invited me to the study session?"

"I invited you because I needed help with the study session."

"Come on Hirata, we both know that's a lie. You didn't need my help with that question. You were easily smart enough to solve it."

Knowing that I saw through his lie, Hirata gave up.

"Alright, guilty as charged, the main reason I did it was ever since the first day of school I knew you wanted more friends so I thought this would be a good way to do that. Plus I actually needed help with the study session."

That's... surprisingly touching. Although I still think there was an ulterior motive, I could tell he was genuinely a nice guy. He still seemed hesitant, as if he wanted to ask me a question. I was going to ask him but I checked the time on my phone and...

Shit! I was supposed to go to the library 15 minutes ago! Horikita is going to kill me!

"Sorry Hirata but I gotta go!" I grab my backpack and run to the library. When I get to the library, I frantically look around until I spotted our study group. Everyone else is seated beside Sudou, who is looking at Horikita with skepticism.

"Sudou, you have to understand... you're late," Horikita practically hissed at me and I stopped dead in my tracks.

"S-sorry senpai!" I say this as I sit down. Everyone at the table has a confused look on their face as they look back and forth between Horikita and I. Horikita has a satisfied look on her face before it morphs back to her normal stoic expression.

"You're here and that's all that matters. Anyway, Sudou just try it out. You can give it a run before you refuse."

I lightly tap Kiyotaka's shoulder and he looks at me.

"What's she talking about?" Kiyotaka then proceeded to explain to me the study plan Horikita has for the three idiots. I gotta admit the plan is pretty smart. Her plan doesn't take up any time after school and Sudou would be able to go to basketball practice. Despite this, the three idiots are still hesitant.

"... I'm still going to decline. I appreciate you for being more civil, but I still can't agree."

Sudou was about to leave and this wasn't good. If Horikita let this chance go, there probably wouldn't be another opportunity to form a study group. Because of this, I decided to lend her a hand.

"Kikyo Kushida." I gently grab her hand that was placed on the table with both of my hands.

"N-Nishida-kun w-what are you doing?" Kushida's cheeks were heating up while she was looking at me.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Eh? Ehhh? I don't have one, why are you asking me this out of the blue?"

"Well in that case if I get 50 points on the next test, would you date me?"

"NANI!?"

"Come on Kushida it'll be fun," I say this with a smile which caused Kushida to blush even more.

"Screw that talk! Date me! I'll get 51 points!"

"No date me! I'll get 52 points! Let go of her hand!" Yamauchi in a fit of jealousy separates my hold on Kushida's hand.

Kushida quickly recognized what I was trying to do.

"I don't judge people based on scores you know."

"Come on Kushida give them some motivation. If there's a reward, they'll work overtime to get it." I motion to Ike and Yamauchi, who were on the verge of drooling.

Disgusting.

Sudou was the only one that was behaving normally.

Kushida was silent before finally giving in.

"W-well how about this? Because I like people who work hard to achieve something, I'll go on a date with the person that gets the highest score."

"Woahhhhh! I'll do it! I'll do it!"

Dumb and Dumber were breathing heavily in excitement. I called out to Sudou.

"Sudou, this is your chance. Are you going to take your shot?"

"... A date huh. Not too bad if I say so myself. Sure, I'll take my shot.

And just like that, the study group was saved. Human males can be simple creatures.