Act 16: Scene 6

After sticking around for another discussion with his classmates (this time about the possible ways that they have in winning this case), Akito stood up from his seat and walked out onto the balcony, under the excuse of needing some fresh air.

The moment they noticed him walking away, Kokoro and Nene were quick to show their worry for him, but Akito reassured them that he was fine and that he simply needed to be alone for a while.

As he stood outside, Akito took in the warm breeze of the open air and looked at the entirety of the school campus before him. Including today, he only had five days left before the trial where he would have to prove his innocence and so far, they weren't making any significant breakthroughs.

For some reason though, this knowledge didn't really bother him. While other people would most likely be in a state of panic because of the helplessness they'd feel, Akito felt calm about it all.

No, he wasn't giving up. By no means was he thinking of letting all of their progress be put to waste. It's more like, whatever the outcome would be, Akito felt like he could accept it. If he gets judged as 'guilty', he would simply accept it and a possible expulsion without any complaint. If he gets deemed 'innocent', then he would be grateful and accept his victory and nothing more.

The magenta-haired teen was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice a foreign presence from behind him, and it caused him to almost jump in surprise when someone else spoke.

"Do you really think it's wise for you to be out here?"

Akito turned around in an instant with a look of alarm on his face, only to see that it was only Kiyotaka, who had also stepped out to join him at the balcony.

"Ayanokouji."

The 'Masterpiece' of the White Room gave a little wave in response, as he leaned against the railing. He sent a curious look towards his classmate, as though he was trying to read Miyake's mind. "Are you blaming yourself or something?" he asked.

Akito raised an eyebrow at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Two of our classmates are worried about you inside, thinking that you're wallowing in anger and self-pity," Kiyotaka explained while pointing to two particular girls inside the unit who were in the midst of a discussion with the others.

"Where the hell did that come from? I just went here to get some fresh air, what's wrong with that?"

Kiyotaka shrugged. "I don't think there's anything wrong with that. It's Inogashira and Mori who are worried about you. In fact, Hasebe is currently giving them reassurance that you're fine."

Akito shifted his gaze towards the two aforementioned girls and saw that they were indeed worried from the looks on their faces, and Haruka was trying to make them feel better. He then leaned against the railing behind him and sighed.

"I have no idea why those two feel that way. In fact, I have no idea why they're so worked up about this. They could be doing something else instead of worrying about me."

"That's a bit rude, don't you think? Those two are willing to help you to the point that they willingly dedicate the time of their day into helping you, when they could indeed be doing something else. Instead, they choose to do the former. The least you could do is be grateful to them instead of wondering why they're helping you."

Akito was silent for a few moments, as he considered those words in his mind. Almost immediately, he felt regret at saying such words because Kiyotaka was right. He never asked for Mori and Inogashira's help in this matter yet all of a sudden, they showed an overwhelming amount of support for him when the incident was made public knowledge for his classmates. He also didn't ask for them to sacrifice their time to help him when they could be doing literally anything else instead of helping him, but here they were, lending their assistance in the matter.

And it wasn't only those two. Even Ayanokouji himself, along with Kushida, Horikita, Karuizawa, Sudo, and Onodera, all of them lent their assistance in this matter.

"...you're right," he sighed once again, turning his gaze to the ground. "Thanks for helping out, Ayanokouji. You and... everyone else. It really means a lot that I have people supporting me, not just Haruka. All of you didn't have to do this for my sake, but you still did."

"You don't need to thank me. Like what I told Hasebe, we're classmates. That's enough of a reason for me to help out with this," Kiyotaka told him before folding his arms across his chest. "I find it more interesting that you seem used to Hasebe being like this, being determined and all. From what you told me, Sudo, and Onodera during lunch earlier, she's going so far as to help in solving this case."

"I guess you can say that," Akito shrugged. "She's always been like this, willing to go far for the people she cares about. The people she's close to, and she's not even the type of person to make friends with just anyone."

Kiyotaka turned to his classmate with genuine interest in his eyes. Even though it couldn't be seen on his face, the young man was surprised at what he just heard. "You gotta be joking. The first time I saw Hasebe, I thought of her as someone like Kushida, someone who likes to be friends with everyone."

"I'm not. Have you even noticed her hanging out with our classmates?"

The brown-haired teen considered that question for a few moments, as he tried to think of an instance in the past where Haruka talked or hung out with anyone in the classroom. Unfortunately, Kiyotaka was unable to recall one moment where such a thing happened because of two reasons. One, he barely paid any attention to her in the past and two, it didn't seem like she was close to their other classmates when she spoke up on behalf of Akito when Chabashira-sensei revealed his incident to everyone else.

Haruka also stated that she gives other people nicknames if she's comfortable with them and so far, she has only called so few of them with a particular nickname, including him. If she was close to a lot of their classmates, she would have nicknames ready for them, but she didn't.

Kiyotaka shook his head. "I still find it hard to believe."

"Well, believe it or not, she's not like Kushida. She's not the social type to go out and befriend everyone. Even in our old schools, she'd only have about two or three people she'd call friends and that's it."

"I wonder why."

"She doesn't like being around a lot of people. I know that much," Akito revealed as he stared at Haruka, who was still talking with the rest of the girls inside the unit.

"How did you end up being friends with her then?"

Akito gave him a look of confusion. "Huh. I'm surprised Haruka hasn't told you yet, since you two were together in searching for the person who saw what happened that day. Didn't she tell you anything yesterday?"

"She hasn't told me anything about your relationship with her. All she told me is how you got yourself into a lot of fights in the past because people seem to misunderstand you most of the time," Kiyotaka explained.

The magenta-haired teen stared at him for a moment, before shrugging in defeat. "There's not much to tell, honestly. Both of us weren't sociable people even back then, so while everyone else was busy making friends with everyone, we were on our own. And since we were both loners, we were around each other for most of our time as classmates, and it didn't take long before we became actual friends. I guess you can say we stuck together like glue after that."

Kiyotaka gave a nod of acknowledgement. "You're lucky to have a friend like her, Miyake. Not many people would go so far for another person like she does."

"You're right. I'm lucky to have her by my side," Akito let a tiny smile grace his lips upon thinking about his friend. "When I woke up at the clinic after I got beaten up, she was sitting by my bed, looking terribly worried about me. I think she was also about to cry that time, and I remember being angry with myself for making her feel that way."

"What happened to you wasn't your fault," Kiyotaka asserted.

"I know, but I still made her worry about me. After all the times I got into a fight when we were in middle school, Haruka would always take care of me and treat my injuries even though she didn't have to. I promised myself that I wouldn't get into any fights anymore because I'm done making her worry about me. I didn't want her to see me get in trouble again, but I still did."

"And like I said, it wasn't your fault. Hasebe knows it's not your fault either, and that's what's important. Has she ever blamed you for starting a fight throughout the years you've known each other?"

Akito shook his head.

"So she hasn't," Kiyotaka gave his classmate another nod of acknowledgement. "Do you know why? Because she knows you would never start a fight willingly. It's all we talked about yesterday and if I had to be honest, you have something a lot of people lack. A friend like Hasebe."

"Thanks..." Akito muttered, releasing a deep sigh to himself. He even sent a grateful look towards Kiyotaka, feeling reassured by those words because it came from someone who has helped him ever since he was simply asked to. "It's just that... Haruka's important to me, and every time I see her pushing herself like this for my sake, it makes me frustrated that I can't do anything to repay her for it."

"I may have just known her very recently, but I'm sure she's not the type of person to accept something in return for all the good things that she's done," the 'Masterpiece' commented. He could actually see Haruka yelling in anger if Akito even tries to give her something in return for what she's done for him.

"Yeah... she'll probably give me a scolding if I even try giving her something." Akito shook his head in amusement and let out a little chuckle afterwards, definitely seeing that scenario within the range of possibility given the girl's personality.

As things gradually became more quiet between them, both boys shifted their attention to the girls inside the dorm, and it seemed like everyone was still engaged in a serious discussion until now.

While Akito's gaze was glued towards Haruka, Kiyotaka stared at the two girls who have been a welcome addition so far to their investigation in this case.

Two girls who were also interested in Miyake for some reason and after spending months living with a superpower that turned his life into a dating simulator, it was quite obvious what that reason was.

Kind of ironic for someone who was trained in a facility that robbed him of his ability to show emotions, isn't it?

"I wonder... is the system making them interested in Miyake because Hasebe is one of my heroines? Or are they just naturally sttracted to him?" he asked himself, shifting his attention from Nene and Kokoro to Akito alternately. "I mean, it would explain why they're so determined to help him and why they keep on clinging to him. If it's just the system, then this whole thing is just showing off what it's capable of doing. If they're naturally attracted to him, then it just means that Miyake's popular with the girls. Sounds more believable than the first, honestly."

Looking back at it, Miyake was indeed a fairly popular boy within their class. He could remember the time when they were having their first swimming class, he had also garnered some cheers from the girls and about two of them were even squealing in excitement at seeing him compete with the other boys.

It wouldn't be crazy to think that Akito was just that charismatic and handsome in the eyes of their female classmates.

"However, if this dating sim superpower is indeed behind this, then it also implies that Miyake has feelings for Hasebe. If this is truly what's happening, then the system must be making these girls attracted to him because Hasebe is my heroine, and there'd be no chance of her developing feelings for him."

On the other hand, it could just be that his superpower was letting Miyake have Mori and Inogashira as some sort of consolation prize because Hasebe was one of his heroines.

A bit of a cruel move on the system's part, but it's not like he could do anything about it.

"There's a high possibility that Miyake likes Hasebe and the system is giving him two of our classmates as his own 'heroines', but would he even admit it? Perhaps I could ask him, but is that even wise?"

After a minute of thinking it over in his mind, Kiyotaka shrugged to himself and decided to get this over with.

What's the worst that could happen?

"I'm sorry if I'm assuming things, but are you perhaps interested in Hasebe as more than a friend, Miyake?" he asked.

Snapping out of his inner thoughts, Akito turned to his classmate in confusion.

"Huh?"

"You like Hasebe, don't you? That would explain why you seem to think highly of her and why you're beating yourself up for a mistake that you weren't even responsible for."

To Kiyotaka's surprise, it took Akito a good while to properly formulate a response, which was strange. If he was going to deny it and be annoyed with Kiyotaka for asking such a 'ridiculous' question, then he should have answered right away, but he didn't.

It only made the answer even more obvious at this point.

"...I don't know what you're talking about," Akito tried to deny, but failed to conceal the red hue that was starting to cover his face.

"I didn't hear a 'no'. Am I perhaps correct?" Kiyotaka continued while observing his classmate's reactions closely. "It makes sense, now that I think about it..."

"Shut it..."

"...she's the only girl in our class that you're close with, and you've also known her for years. You're comfortable with her around, you're thankful that she's there to help you, and you said that you didn't want her to see you in trouble. If I could give my opinion on your relationship with her, I wouldn't be surprised if you two started dating because it's entirely within the realm of possi—"

"Alright, shut up!" Akito snapped, sending a deep frown at Kiyotaka which caused the latter to stop in his rambling. After a few moments of glaring at his classmate, Akito let out a huge sigh of defeat and palmed his face in both frustration and embarrassment. "Fine. I do like her. Satisfied?"

Kiyotaka quirked an eyebrow. "If you like her, then why haven't you told her? You two have been friends for years, haven't you? I'd assume you two would be a couple by now."

Akito looked at him as if he was crazy. "Are you kidding? If I tell her that, then things will just be awkward between us. We practically grew up together since we ended up in the same schools every time."

"I'm not saying you should. It was only a question because I'm curious."

"Well, I'm telling you right now. I have no plans of telling her. I don't even want to think of what might happen if I do," he groaned. "But how the hell did you know that I liked her, though? I never thought you're the type of guy to pay attention to other people's relationships, Ayanokouji..."

"I had a lucky guess," Kiyotaka shrugged, feigning innocence. "And it's just a classic scenario that I've seen many times in anime and games."

"Huh...?" Akito frowned in confusion.

"You know, the trope where two people, a boy and a girl, who are childhood friends and grow up together end up as a couple in the end. It's actually present in a lot of fictional works," the young man explained, remembering several of the fictional works introduced to him by Eiichiro when he was still living with him and his father. "You and Hasebe are close to being prime examples of that."

"Of course I know that stereotype," Akito rolled his eyes and shook his head. "But our relationship is completely far from what you just said. We aren't even childhood friends, man. We just happened to end up in the same schools, that's it."

Kiyotaka nodded. "True, but it's close enough."

Akito gave him a weird look again, as he began to think of what his classmate was thinking right now. Seriously, why does it seem like Kiyotaka was pushing for him to confess to Haruka?

"I don't know where you're getting this from, but things aren't like that between me and Haruka. And honestly, I'm pretty fine with what our relationship is right now. I'm not that crazy over her to think of asking her out all of a sudden."

"Of course, it's your decision if you don't want to do anything, Miyake. I was merely commenting on what I think of your relationship with her."

Akito stared blankly at him.

"If I didn't know any better, I'm gonna say you were trying to bring us together, which won't work. Relationships don't work that way. Just because I confess to her, it doesn't mean we'll start dating right away."

The magenta-haired teen brought his gaze back towards the girls inside the dorm unit, particularly at his blue-haired friend whom he secretly harbored feelings for.

"Plus, a confession from me is the last thing she needs right now... when she's already doing her best to help me with my problem..." he mumbled.

While Akito descended into a mindless ramble of why confessing to Haruka would be a bad move, Kiyotaka only shook his head silently.

"He's gonna be so disappointed when Hasebe falls for me instead," he thought to himself.

Kiyotaka knew that it was only a matter of time before he gained even more Affection Points with Haruka and eventually, she would end up just like Kei, Kikyo, Chiaki, and Arisu who were all very open regarding their feelings towards him. Even if she's not the type of person to open up to everyone, he could still get the feeling that she would be really clingy and overly affectionate like most of his heroines.

He could only imagine what would be Akito's reaction to that, and it's obvious that it wouldn't be anything pretty.

"You'll have to forgive me for what will happen in the future, Miyake. But hey, it's not like it's the end of the world for you..."

The young man turned his attention back to the two girls who were still inside with the others, the two girls who were undoubtedly harboring feelings for him without his knowledge.

At least, it's what he was showing. Kiyotaka had no real idea if Akito knew that Nene and Kokoro are romantically interested in him or if he was dense but regardless, there is one truth in all this.

"There are two girls who are obviously into you, Miyake. You just haven't noticed it, yet. You're gonna have a harem of your own as well..."