Act 18: Scene 1

Kiyotaka had no idea if he should be grateful that their class was going through a complicated time right or not. On one hand, this whole issue made everyone busy trying their best to help Miyake through his dilemma, including his heroines. This, in turn, also caused his heroines to be busy enough that they weren't around him all the time. Sure, they can still be attached and clingy while they were in school but apart from that place, they were more focused on helping their classmate with his case. Because of that, he had not been subjected to any headache-inducing moments for the past few days.

Then again, a couple of 'Special Events' had been triggered within that time. A new heroine route had also been 'unlocked' for him in Himeno Yuki as well. And if that's not enough, the system's overpowered skill had activated yesterday when he caught a glimpse of Airi crying while she was outside the classroom.

But somehow, despite those things, he didn't feel as overwhelmed as he used to be a month ago. The system was actually pushing him into a dark place back then and made him contemplate the suicide route but miraculously, he didn't feel that way recently. At least after Amasawa came into this school and became his roommate through the system's intervention.

Maybe he was actually starting to adapt to the craziness that his dating sim power brought into his life?

On the other hand, because of this ongoing issue, they weren't given their allotted points for this month. While he had plenty of private points for himself, it would still be reassuring to have their points for this month to be delivered properly. Not just for him, but for his classmates too. They were also at risk of having one of their classmates expelled, which will obviously end badly for their class should it happen.

"Rise and shine, senpai~ You don't wanna miss school for the day, do you?" the familiar voice of Amasawa Ichika filled his ears, causing him to stir awake.

"I wish I could," he let out a sigh as he opened his eyes, where he was met by the mischievous look on his roommate's face. She was hovering over him, their faces only inches away from each other.

It took some effort for Kiyotaka not to push the girl away from him. Thankfully though, it's only her head that's above him and not the rest of her body. She wasn't lying on top of him like what he first thought. Instead, she was kneeling beside the bed while leaning over to make it look like she was right above him.

If it had been the other position, then it would be quite the dangerous scenario for both parties involved. It's also a good thing that they were both fully clothed. Anyway...

"Good morning, senpai!" Ichika greeted him happily, not even minding the close proximity between them.

"Why are you so close to me?" he asked in his usual deadpan tone.

"I just wanted to see you up close when you wake up, hehe~" she chuckled before moving away from him, which was probably a wise choice to make because Kiyotaka didn't seem pleased with her action just now.

"If you've been watching me sleep for an hour or so, then I'm adding 'respecting personal space' to the list of rules that you have to follow," he shook his head before sitting up on the mattress.

"How rude, senpai. I'm not that bad to disrespect your personal boundaries, you know? You already told me how important it is to you, and I respect that." Ichika pouted at him momentarily, before letting out another chuckle. "But if you must know, I woke up approximately two minutes ago when your alarm clock went off. I wanted to wake you up myself since I woke up before you did, senpai."

"Fine, but don't do it again. I don't appreciate you being so close to my face like that," he scolded her. At least Amasawa still has some basic decency to not act like an unhinged stalker who watches his every move.

"Roger that, senpai~"

As he got off the bed to stretch his limbs about, he caught Ichika walking up to the sink through the corner of his eye, before she began to wash her face. This girl was certainly a handful and because of her presence in not just his room but his life in general, he truly didn't have a moment of peace wherein he could be alone without anyone bothering him anymore.

Despite the fact that his roommate can be very annoying most of the time however, Kiyotaka was honestly starting to consider Ichika as a normal part of his life in this school.

Of course, it's not like he couldn't. The girl was living with him as his roommate and he couldn't do anything about that. At the very least, the girl was obedient and has yet to break any of the rules that he gave her while she's here. Whenever it's time to sleep, she would stop bothering him and let him sleep in peace like what he wanted. She also seemed to have no problem following his orders when he told her to spy on Class C.

The most initiative he had seen out of her was when she asked him to brush her hair in exchange for telling him who was the person that witnessed the attack on Akito by those Class C students. She could have chosen something outrageous, but she only wanted him to brush her hair and that's it.

For those reasons, he could tolerate this girl whenever she's being annoying. She was too valuable as an ally and if that's not enough, she was trained in the White Room like him. While she isn't on his level, that fact alone already makes her more competent than many of the students in this school. It also gave him a person whom he can talk to about that place without worrying about anything else and no, Sakayanagi doesn't count.

And if every single one of those things still isn't enough, Ichika was one of his heroines. He has no choice but to make her happy as well, just like the rest of the heroines whose routes he had unlocked. No matter how annoying she could be, he had to live with it because he had no other choice. So far, he was doing good in the aspect of keeping her happy... at least he hoped so. She was a completely different variable compared to the other girls.

Despite his rather... cold and unapproachable demeanor when it came to this girl, she doesn't seem to be affected by it. If anything, she found amusement in it and teased him as much as she could whenever he was like that. She knew when to stop her teasing streak and back off, which Kiyotaka appreciated at least.

Plus, there hasn't been a moment where Amasawa got sad to the point that the system activated the certain skill that unnerved him with how overpowered it was. That was enough to reassure him that he hasn't done anything wrong when it came to Ichika. Though he couldn't help but be curious about what it would take to make her sad...

Kiyotaka shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking about such a thing. Screw his curiosity, letting one of his heroines be sad is unacceptable. He had been through enough bullshit with this system to know that screwing up with one of his 'heroines' is not an option.

"What do you want for breakfast?" he asked his roommate, shifting his focus to something else entirely.

Ichika turned around and began wiping her face with a towel. "I'm fine with anything you come up with. Your skills in cooking are exceptional, anyway."

"I don't feel like making that choice right now. You choose, Amasawa."

"Hmm... then how about tamagoyaki and rice, senpai?" she answered after a few moments of thinking about it. Admittedly, she had a bit of trouble choosing because she was used to Kiyotaka coming up with what they'll eat, even though she hasn't been here for long.

"All right."

After getting the needed ingredients from the fridge, Kiyotaka focused on the rice before everything else. While he was working on their food, Ichika made herself comfortable by the table and proceeded to do one of her favorite things of the day: watch her senpai cook a meal. He was just so good in the culinary arts that he could be a chef if he wanted to.

"You know, senpai... I saw Sakura-senpai crying outside of your classroom yesterday during lunch break. She was a complete mess, if you ask me."

"I know," he replied, not taking his eyes off his work. "That's why I made sure to cheer her up after classes ended."

"Hehe, I also saw that! You were really trying to convince Sakura-senpai that she can stand on her own feet, it was adorable to watch!" Ichika giggled. "Though, I'm curious. Do you still believe that she'll step forward and tell everyone what she knows, senpai? She had the perfect opportunity to come clean yesterday when you were having a strategy meeting with Kushida-senpai and Horikita-senpai, but she didn't."

"Sakura may be a nervous wreck most of the time, but she has good intentions. I believe she'll come around," he spoke in a nonchalant tone, sounding completely sure that Airi will be able to realize the gravity of the situation in time and help them out as a result.

"Even if there's only a few days before the trial? What if it's too late and she doesn't get to tell everyone that she knows what happened?"

"It won't come to that. I believe Sakura will be able to get herself together in time before the day of the hearing."

The smile on the girl's face grew wider. "I don't doubt you at all, senpai. But I'm amazed that you have that much trust in her. Back in that place, the instructors told us a lot of stories about how you saw other people as nothing but tools who'll lead you to victory. But now that I'm here, I'm seeing the complete opposite of what I'm told the Masterpiece was like."

"Is that so?" he muttered, letting the rice boil while turning his attention to making the egg rolls next. "What makes you think I don't see the people around me as tools for my own benefit, Amasawa? Even if I hate that man with a passion, I can't deny what the White Room taught me in my time there."

"Well, if you're saying that you don't care about Horikita-senpai and the others at all, then you're definitely like the Masterpiece that I've heard so much about, senpai." Ichika leaned back against her seat and stretched out her limbs, looking confident in her words. "But from what I've seen so far from you? You care about all of them. I'm jealous you don't treat me with the same love and care that you do for everyone else, though."

"So that's what you think? I'm curious, Amasawa." After turning on the stove and drizzling some oil into a pan, Kiyotaka turned to his kouhai while tilting his head. "What is it like that the person you've heard so much about turned out to be completely different than what you thought he was?"

"Even if you're not what I thought you were, it doesn't make you any less interesting, senpai~" she chuckled once again. "In fact, I think you're even more interesting now."

"Am I?"

"I don't think anyone from that place could have seen its Masterpiece caring about other people, not even you-know-who," she remarked. Kiyotaka knew who she was referring to, and he could only agree. Knowing what his father only cared about, he'd be surprised if he doesn't rip off his hair at least out of fury. "I wonder when you will be more caring towards me, though~? I'm your roommate, after all~"

"Tell me something, Amasawa..." he turned back to his work, ignoring her question again. "When my father sent you here to keep an eye on me, what was he expecting from me? What did he think I was doing?"

"He didn't say anything specific, but I believe he was thinking that you're testing yourself against the other talented people here in this school, senpai. He was informed about what this school was before I was sent here."

Kiyotaka wanted to laugh at that. The old man couldn't be any further from the truth. If only he knew what was really happening, but that would be wishful thinking. Unless...

"You said that you're supposed to keep an eye on my progress?" he asked, earning a nod from the scarlet-haired girl. "How do you plan on reporting your findings to my father, when none of the people here can contact anyone from outside the school?"

"He didn't tell me anything, senpai. He just told me to keep an eye on your progress and be ready to tell him when the time comes."

"Okay then," he shrugged. Those words likely meant that the old man was going to pay this school a visit sometime in the future, because Amasawa's words could only imply that his father would check up on him personally. That... certainly is a day to look forward to, because he would finally get to see the man's reaction to seeing him getting involved in outrageous situations with his heroines.

He had nothing to worry about, though. Not when his dating sim superpower exists. If that man even tries to take him away from this school, the system's overpowered skill would activate and warp things in his favor because leaving ANHS would mean leaving his heroines and making them sad... which is what the system doesn't want to happen.

"Food's ready, prepare the table," Kiyotaka told his roommate as he turned off the stove.

"Aye, aye~"

Ichika prepared two sets of plates and utensils on the table for herself and her senpai, while Kiyotaka carried the pot of steaming hot rice there. It was then followed by the plate of tamagoyaki that he placed beside the pot before he took his seat, opposite to where Ichika was. After giving thanks, the pair began to dig into their breakfast.

"Your cooking is always exceptional, senpai~" Ichika commented as soon as the food landed into her mouth. Her eyes sparkled in delight while she smiled at Kiyotaka. "It makes me want to brag to Horikita-senpai, Kushida-senpai, and the rest of your harem that I get to experience it everyday."

"Don't even think about it, or I'll stop cooking for you entirely," he sighed and rolled his eyes, doing his best to keep his attention directed to his food. "And I don't have a harem, whatever that is."

That was a lie. Of course he knew what it meant, but there's no way he'll actually admit such a thing to Ichika, of all people. The last thing he needed was this girl having more teasing material that she can use against him.

"Oh, you don't have to worry, senpai. I would never tell any of them about this, otherwise they're going to want the same thing," she reassured him. "And how could you not know what a harem is, senpai? You already have one of your own, you know~"

"What does that even mean?"

"Oh, come on... I don't believe you're that dense, senpai. Not when you know that there are a number of girls who are all interested in you. You've been taking steps to be closer to them too," she reminded him, not even believing the obvious lie that Kiyotaka was trying to push as the truth.

"Why don't we talk about something that actually has something to do with either the school or Miyake's case instead of wasting valuable time?" Kiyotaka sighed again.

Darn it, he thought he would be able to deny the fact that he basically had a growing harem by now, but no. Amasawa wasn't even fooled one bit and called him out on it right away.

"As expected from someone who's a product of that place, I guess," he thought to himself.