Chapter 38 - Stargaze

We silently went inside the elevator and pressed 'Five'. A feint drowsiness took over as the elevator began ascending above. The music that was playing inside was mismatched, making the awkward environment even more awkward.

"Penny for your thoughts, Levent?" letting out a gloomy sigh, Ayanokouji suddenly asked.

I slightly tilted my head over the shoulder and glanced at him. He was apathetically staring at the display, or anything that was remotely more interesting (which was everything).

"About what?"

"Karuizawa Kei."

I guess it was something that was bound to happen sooner or later.

"Any specific reason why you're asking me this?" I inquired.

"Just wanted to confirm a few speculations." he answered.

"Perhaps you suspect her to be the VIP?"

"No, it's not like that. I just need to know about how she operates."

Karuizawa Kei, the subject in question, was much like the queen of class C. She was one of the people sitting on top of the social hierarchy. She could assume control over the girls like a tyrant. Her ability to take the initiative was admirable. She wouldn't hesitate to bang heads against anyone who went against her ideals Her position in the class was unshakable

Again, within the boundaries of our class, of course.

"She usually relies on her lackeys to operate. If I remember correctly, Shinohara, Meazono, and Ichihashi. But I assume none of them happened to be in her group, correct?" I narrated.

"That's right." Ayanokouji affirmed. "Yukimura and the professor are the other two people on our group. Karuizawa didn't take that too kindly though."

"I can imagine how rough it must be. Also..." I sighed and turned toward him, "...You're asking me because you've noticed something, haven't you?"

For a moment, Ayanokouji stared at me silently in a pause before he explained, "Lately she has been acting unusual. Her behavior is quite different, as if she's always on the edge."

I raised my eyebrows. "Did something happen?"

"I guess you can say that." he replied. "Manabe and a few other girls approached her regarding something today, but she was being rather dismissive about it."

"Sounds trouble. Did you overhear their conversation?"

"I didn't get to hear everything from their exchange." Ayanokouji half shrugged his shoulder, which was the same as spitting horse decrement. I narrowed my gaze.

"Nevermind, I just remembered." Ayanokouji instantly changed his narrative. "Apparently, Karuizawa pushed someone in the cafeteria, who happened to be one of their friend. They demanded Karuizawa's apology, but she kept denying her involvement in that matter."

"People like Karuizawa tends to care more about public image than what's actually right." I mused.

"Not only that. When Manabe was trying to take a picture of her, Karuizawa slapped her phone away and stormed off." he continued.

"How abrasive." I dryly commented while sighing.

In terms of behavior, Manabe and the others were better than Karuizawa. They weren't demanding anything grand from her; just a simple apology to the girl she had done wrong. But Karuizawa not only shrugged it off, she had also made things much worse. This had brought more animosity to herself.

No wonder why she was on the edge.

"Do you think she's afraid of Manabe and the others?" Ayanokouji inquired.

"If your words are indeed correct, then there's no doubt about it. Karuizawa Kei, is afraid of Manabe and her group... Or at least she's afraid of what they could possibly do to her." I narrated

Karuizawa was unknowingly becoming the person she despised. She used to be the one who got bullied, but now she was doing her best to be the bully.

That's why we must point her where she originally came from.

While pondering, my eyes hovered over Ayanokouji's reflection on the steel walls. He had his eyes turned toward me, silently pondering about my previous words.

"It's a simple deduction, isn't it?" I added.

Here's the logic:

Why would she be flustered if they tried to take a simple picture of her? They probably wanted to snap one to confirm the accusations. No matter what excuse Karuizawa gave, she actually knew what she did. And the fact her deeds would be exposed, made her afraid. That's why she slapped Manabe's phone away and stormed out before they could snap.

"I guess that does make sense." Ayanokouji noddeld.

"You know what this means, Ayanokouji."

Honestly, I could never sympathize with her, even before I got into this world. Just like Horikita, and Kikyou, we would sew the strings through her skin, and use her for our cause.

Karuizawa Kei, the leader of class C girls, was our next target.

"What's the plan, Levent?"

I pointed at him, which resulted in him raising his eyebrows in confusion. "You, you're the plan."

"Me?" he asked, pointing at himself.

"You're in a group with her, so it'll be easy for you to monitor her behavior more closely."

"...That's not a problem. But how are we supposed to approach her." questioned Ayanokouji.

"We'll get to that later. Firstly, we need more solid information on her." I rubbed my chin for a moment, pretending to brainstorm for an idea.

As a reader, I had read about Karuizawa in the fourth volume of the novel. But in the current situation, it was all secret stuff that, technically, shouldn't be possible for me to know about. If I mindlessly gave the wrong answers, it would raise suspicion, no matter how close Ayanokouji and I pretended to be.

That's when a light bulb hit me.

"Ask Hirata about her. You're guaranteed to get more clues from him." I added with a finger click.

"Wouldn't it be awkward to ask someone about their girlfriend?" asked Ayanokouji with a flat deadpan tone.

"Don't worry about it." I assured.

In the original novel, it was actually Hirata who exposed Karuizawa's dark past to him. I'm sure he had the same amount of trust in us to do the same again. If not, then I will personally interject like I've been doing for the last few months.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Ayanokouji deadpanned.

"It feels weird to ask someone about their girlfriend." I shrugged.

"...Oi."

"You've got this one, mate." I gave him a thumbs up, which resulted in him narrowing his glare even more.

"'Don't worry about it', he says." Ayanokouji grumbled under his breath.

The elevator quickly reached the top level. The door suddenly opened with a thin 'ting!' sound. We stepped out of the elevator.

A gust of cold wind immediately clashed against our bodies. A scene of couples holding hands and stargazing together shoulder-to-shoulder immediately came to our view.

"...."

Ayanokouji looked at me. Knowing that we would part ways here, he seemed a bit sad. 'Don't leave me here to suffer alone, Levent!' is what his droopy eyes were saying.

"I'm going this way. Horikita's waiting for me there. Enjoy~." I sped out of there without wasting a second.

Ayanokouji stared silently at my back, betrayal sketched in his hazel eyes. As much as I felt sorry about that loner bastard, it was still too weird for two dudes wandering around together in a situation like this.

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The starry sky stretched out before me as far as the eye could see. The view was more beautiful than anything I had seen in a movie, or envisioned in a book.

Couples were spread across the deck, enjoying the romantic atmosphere. Because there was no light, I couldn't make out their faces, but it didn't matter anyway.

I didn't want to be a third wheel in someone else's romance, after all.

I wandered around the deck, searching for a familiar face. Few moments later, I noticed a student looking up at the starry skies alone at a distance. It was a female student, judging by her physique.

Without thinking, I silently approached her.

"Mind if we look at the stars together?" I murmured.

Honestly, I don't know why I bothered. It took my everything to not kill myself on the spot because of how corny the line sounded.

"That voice... Levent-kun?" Horikita, clad in her gym uniform, stared at me with an astonished expression.

I simply nodded, and looked around us.

Couples, everywhere. The air had a weird romantic vibe to it. If our classmates saw Horikita and I, in a situation like this, I honestly wouldn't blame them if they mistook us for a couple.

"Let's go somewhere else. I don't want people to mistake us for a couple." I ordered.

"That's understandable."

That wasn't the actual reason why I moved out of there though.

Kikyou would be meeting a certain dragon boy later on. If Horikita were to witness that scene, I could only imagine the bloodbath that's going to take place.

I couldn't let her get suspicious of our ploys just yet. The contents of our words were a bit sensitive anyway.

'Huff~' Near one of the restaurants, we down in a bench. Horikita ordered a black coffee, while I absentmindedly stared at her in confusion.

Why was she drinking coffee in the middle of the night? And not just any regular coffee. It was black coffee!

Horikita without wasting a second began her interrogation. "Why did the Monkey Group's test end so abruptly?"

I closed my eyes and flatly replied, "Kouenji betrayed his group. That's why.."

"You're joking, right?" Horikita's voice grew rough as soon as she heard my response. "Why didn't you try to stop him? You're roommates with him, aren't you?"

"It's Kouenji we're talking about." I deadpanned. "That person is impossible to deal with. He does whatever he wants, and it's unlikely that we'd ever be able to stop him. It's pointless."

Horikita unintentionally growled. She was probably glaring at an imaginary Kouenji Rokuske, who would probably be laughing at us with his usual 'Elegance'. She seemed like a person who could kill someone without winching.

"Next time I see him, I will reprimand him myself. I will have him beg for mercy." she threatened.

"Don't do that. Provocations will only further motivate him to do more damage." I warned.

I wonder how she'd react when she learns that it was actually me who persuaded him into doing that~

"By the way, there's a good chance he had sent the correct answer." I added.

"I hardly think a man like him who acts solely on his impulses would do something like that."

"Kouenji may be an impulsive one. But his intelligence is not to be reckoned with." I corrected.

Horikita eyed me curiously as I said that. "If you're saying this, then that must mean you have quite a lot of faith in him."

"Don't misunderstand, Horikita. He's like the 'Fool' in tarot reading, completely unpredictable, but strong. I don't trust that guy's whimsical nature. However, I do have faith in him whenever he's on our side." I replied.

"Is that really the case this time though?" Horikita raised her eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"Yes."

A brief silence ensued after that.

"Here's your black coffee ma'am." In the midst of that silence, a waitress appeared and handed Horikita her cup of coffee and a glass of cold water for me.

"What makes you so sure of him?" Horikita questioned while sipping her black coffee.

"Aside from Yukimura, he's got the second best score in terms of academics." I explained while staring at her sipping the black coffee.

She really was going for it, huh?

"But his behavior is very troublesome. He has little to no concern about class C." Horikita argued.

"I'm not denying that." I replied. "Kouenji is whimsical to a fault. However, he does not do anything that holds us back during class time. Rather, he's contributing to the class more than students like Yamauchi and Sakura." I added matter-of-factly.

"You have a point there." Horikita replied as she sips another big one.

"...."

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Horikita asked with narrowed eyes.

Maybe she was conscious about the weird glances I've been giving her ever since she ordered the black coffee. I decided to share my honest opinion.

"...You sure it's a good time to get coffee?"

"You're concerned about that?" Horikita raised an eyebrow.

"Not really concerned, I'm more 'astounded' if anything." I replied. "Are you perhaps trying to pull an all nighter?" I asked.

"Don't worry. If it's only this much, it shouldn't have any effect on me." she replied calmly, almost bragging.

"Alright." I shrugged off, and decided not to comment further on that subject. "The main question is, which class would be impacted by this if his answer was indeed correct?"

"Now that you mention it." Horikita began pondering about it deeply. "Fifty points are reduced if a VIP is correctly guessed by a traitor, huh..."

"Of course, it wouldn't matter if it's class A, or D. The problem would arise when it steps into the boundaries of class B." I mused.

Horikita slowly nodded in agreement. "Haven't you asked Kouenji-kun about the name when he sent it." she asked.

"I was just as taken aback by this as you are. Without saying anything, he just sent the email, and went inside the bathroom. I didn't really get to ask anything."

Technically, it wasn't a complete lie. The part where he went inside the bathroom was true.

"Seriously, that man!" Horikita gnashed her teeth, and clutched the handle of the coffee mug hard, as if strangling a mug version of Kouenji.

Don't put out your anger on that poor coffee mug!

It took a moment for her to regain composure. She sighed, "Do you have any clues regarding which class it could be?"

"I haven't the slightest." I replied almost reflexively. "Why don't you try talking about this on your next group meeting tomorrow?"

"Why my group, specifically?"

"It goes without saying that I'd ask my group members too. However, the 'Dragon' group has Katsuragi, Kanzaki, and Ryuen; all of whom are prominent figures from the other three classes. With a little bit of cold reading, you can get some information." I replied.

"I can see your point there. But what do we accomplish by doing that?" Horikita asked.

"We can get clues regarding how the VIPs were selected, don't you think?"

It wasn't like I had completely abandoned her or anything. I was still providing help (just the bare minimum though). If she was sharp enough to catch it, I wouldn't stop her from doing whatever she wanted. She would've earned it if that's the case.

"Weren't the VIPs randomly assigned by the school? Do you think there's a pattern to that?" Horikita questioned.

I sighed.

"Perhaps." I looked her in her eyes. "We can only speculate, until we gain new information on this exam. That's all we can do for now."

"I understand where you're coming from." Horikita replied.

Holding the glass, I sank my lips in it. Cold water poured down my throat, cooling my body in the process. I leaned back against the cold steel bench.

I closed my eyes.

Placing my thumb and two fingers on forehead, I gently pressed against the spot repeatedly. It was a light headache; not painful enough to make my life miserable; just about enough to know that it's there.

I touched the spot where the scar used to be. The exact spot where it hurt every single time, every single day in my previous life. Miraculously, it wasn't there anymore. However, rather than irking, it strangely felt a bit nostalgic for some reason.

In any case, the headache wasn't the reason why I closed my eyes. It was a rather pathetic reason.

"Hah~" I took a deep breath and exhaled.

We were sitting at near a window of the cafe where I could see the view of the sky clearly. When I opened my eyes, the stars came in full view. There were no moon in the sky; yet it was far from being dark.

"Mind if I ask something odd, Horikita?" I spoke, two steps from whispering.

"Hm?" Horikita turned toward me, either because she didn't hear me properly, or she was confused. "What is it?"

Without turning away from  the stars I asked, "When you look at the stars, what do you feel?"

She then turned toward the window, still confused.

"Hmm? Well.. I find them interesting. But there's no special affection towards them. They're not alive, they're basically just balls of gas burning away in the sky..."

My eyes reflexively turned toward Horikita. It seemed like she wanted to say something more, "..But?"

The lights of the stars reflected on her round azure eyes. Blue night sky illuminated by these celestial objects. Hundreds and thousands of them resting in the sky, each emanating their own glow in the wide dark canvas. Beautiful beyond words. Something so dazzling that the emotions couldn't be captured no matter how what. Something that could only be understood by experiencing it first hand.

"...There's something about them that makes you want to look back over and over again. You get this nostalgic, fuzzy feeling while looking at them...."

I turned toward the stars again.

"Why do you think they make people feel good?" she asked.

Why indeed...

"Personally, I think it mostly has something to do with the psychology of color."

"Psychology?" Horikita reiterated in curiosity.

The whiteness resembles purity, while the blueness resembled cold and peace. These small bluish white dots in the dark sky generally paints a peaceful and serene picture in our mind, thus making us relaxed.

"That's just a realistic analogy." I commented. "Normally, different people have different philosophies regarding the stars. I, for example, like to compare the stars with our memories."

"Why memories specifically?" questioned Horikita.

"The stars can perfectly resemble our memories. They're beautiful, they shine forever, and even if we can see them with our eyes, they're far away from us. There's no way of reaching them, just like our past."

"That's... certainly an interesting way of putting it." she commented.

We were going absolutely nowhere with this conversation. It was an utterly unproductive discussion. But ultimately, it didn't feel bad to have discussions like that.

"...Do you often miss the old days, Levent-kun?" Horikita suddenly asked.

"...Hm? Do I now?"

Do I miss them?

Of course. Not the days by themselves. I miss the memories of a normal childhood that was filled with love and affection.

I missed the carefree days I used to sneak out of our house and play around the town side hills. I missed the adventurous days visiting the bazaar with my annoyingly smug, but sweet little sister. I missed helping my uncle in his tailor shop. I missed the times our mother scolded us when got caught snacking in the middle of the night. I miss... everything before the eternal winter came in my life.

"...I don't know." That's what I decided to reply.

Memories, in their simplest form, are like curses; especially the good ones associated with someone dear to you.

Being with them every day, seeing them smile, having meals together, going on outings together, gazing at the stars together, hugging as you sleep... You take everything for granted when they're closest to you.

But what happens when you see them in their burial robe?

Well, it becomes a matter of how you cope. Some become emotional like a normal person, others turn out to be cold. Doesn't matter how you do it, the pain of losing people dear to you is still the same.

It's like an unshakable wound that will come back and tear you apart every once in a while, as long you're alive.

"...."

Everything went silent again. We both watched the stars silently.

Tszt! Tszt!

The sounds of currents crashing against the ship as it cut through formed into a melodic rhythm. Add that to this pleasant nostalgic scenery, and it almost put me to sleep.

I checked the phone. It was already 12 'O clock midnight.

"Time to split." I announced.

"Agreed. It has become quite late as well."

"Sleep tight." I pressed the screen off and placed the phone back on my pocket. "Though I doubt you'd be getting any."

"I think I've already made myself clear." she grumbled.

"Of course, you did." I turned my back on her and walked off. "Night, Horikita. Sweet dreams."

All I could hear from behind was a long sigh.

Maybe it's better go back and rest my head on the pillow as fast as I can, unless I want to see the world spinning tomorrow.

[Idiot.] muttered someone under their breath.

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Day 2, 01:00 PM.

Meeting #3:

"Guys, why don't we play a few games together? Like a group?" Amikura suggested as soon as the meeting started, her voice filled with the usual frivolousness.

"Why?" a simple, reasonable response came from Shimizu.

"We don't really have anything to do here. Might as well kill time together. What do you say?"

I'm sure this was the result of her consulting with Ichinose, who used the exact same idea. Perhaps Amikura didn't really give up on securing the VIP'S identity. I wasn't sure how good of a cold reader she was. But surely it wouldn't have been wise if I had underestimated her.

"I don't see any problem with that." Mori raised her hand and remarked.

"Yeah, it gets hella boring to just sit here, y'know?" Satou nodded her head in agreement.

Boredom, was currently the bane of everyone's existence. Psychologically, boredom has proven to be much more tiring that doing physical labour. Amikura's suggesting the game idea seemed at least a little bit more interesting compared to doing nothing. That's why everyone was down for it.

"Guys, isn't it fine? Seems harmless enough." Class D's Kinoshita looked at Albert for what seemed to be approval. For a good few seconds, Albert didn't say anything, or show any reaction. But that doesn't mean he stopped them either.

"We'll pass. Do whatever you want." Shimizu stated.

There were people abstained too. Class A students, Hiyori Shiina, even Himeno Yuki from their own class didn't seem to be sold on that topic.

Needless to say, I was also a member of this minority.

"Are you sure? Everyone else are joining us." Amikura cooed.

Shimizu didn't even reply vocally; rather the silence itself was the answer.

Ultimately, the group had divided between into two factions. One was the majority where everyone was playing games and having fun together. And the other was the minority where everyone was minding their own business.

"Alright, I've brought some cards with me today. What shall we play?" said Asaka.

"How about old maid?" Satou suggested.

"Ah! Old maid sounds neat! Let's shuffle the cards!" Amikura replied.

The sounds of cards rubbing against each other accompanied by chattering and laughter filled the house. It was a day and night contrast to how silent the environment was only moments ago.

I silently observed everyone. Amikura didn't seem like she had any specific plans in mind. Rather, she seemed to be genuinely having fun with others. Satou and the others were socialites themselves, so they naturally got along as well. Seeing everyone having fun like that was... a bit depressing for me.

Maybe I should've joined them after all?

"You." someone tugged me by the sidelines. I didn't need to look because I knew who they were.

Yamamura Miki stared at me with expectant eyes. There was no need for her to exchange words as well; I understood what she wanted to say.

"Yes, I've brought the book." I pulled the book from my lap and showed it to her. "Do you want to read from where we left off?"

"Mhm.." Her expression was apathetic, but I could see feint hints of excitement building up on her face. The arc were we left kept us in great suspense, so I could understand her urge to read more.

We assumed the same reading position like yesterday, reading together from the part where we parted together. I hadn't touched the book since yesterday, so I was curious myself. Also, given how interesting the experience was when we read together, I'd decided to try finishing the book together.

Contrast to how things were in our surrounding, we were silently eyeing the letters of the book and changing pages. The noises weren't distracting us because we were deeply immersed in the book.

By the way...

"This part's awkward to read, don't you agree?"

The current part of the novel was... brutal, not because of grotesque/graphic the content was (of course, that was there too). To keep it somewhat interesting, let's just say a brief description of sexual violence was covered in that part of the arc.

"Just a bit extreme, but nothing painfully out of place." Yamamura mused.

"That's not exactly what I'm concerned about though."

I had no problems with it, unlike a few people on the internet who get easily triggered. What I was concerned about was the fact that I was reading it beside her, a female student. Emphasis on the 'female' part.

"You don't have to worry about it. After reading the first few chapters, I was expecting things to get dark at some parts."

"Is that so?"

"Mhm"

Perhaps it was just me being self conscious. Maybe she'd read books like this before, maybe that's why she wasn't flustered.

Or maybe she was just built different.

We silently continued reading again, with a tiny hint of discomfort lingering around my throat. However, even that dissolved soon after.

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Let's skip to the end of the fourth and final discussion for the second day. The next (third) day was announced as a rest day ahead of time. All discussions were halted, and we were free to spend a day however we wanted.

I was thinking about this while reading a paragraph from a novel inside the library. The population was as you'd expect. It was already late at night, so there only three people inside the vast library. Thankfully, there was no closing time for the facilities inside the cruise ship. They were always open, twenty-four hours a day.

I did feel kind of bad for the librarian though. She had eye bags under her eyes too.

"Lately, I've been curious about something." Yamamura suddenly called me out mid session. I looked at her with tilted head. She was actually talking while reading the book. Multi-tasking!

"Something story-related?"

She nodded in negative. What was it then?

Yamamura didn't seem like she had anything bold in mind. She was a bit difficult to read though. Like, she could either talk about the book we're reading, or reveal the methods she used to kill 'X' number of people in the past.

"There's something different about you." said Yamamura.

....Oh.

"Is that so?" I remarked.

"You don't seem like the other boys." Yamamura flipped another page of the novel.

There were this brief pause between our conversation.

I pressed the newly turned page and began reading from the first paragraph. "On which aspects does Yamamura-san find me different?"

"Hmm... Where do I begin?" Yamamura brushed her pointer finger against her chin. "For starters, you act nonchalant about everything."

"....Excuse me?"

Yamamura didn't seem to mind my confusion as she continued letting out her observations.

"It's as if you're watching everything from behind a screen. You almost act like you don't really care about what's going on around you."

"I'm not entirely sure how to respond to that." I responded.

First of all, why did she think like that? It didn't feel like 'just a random thought' that crossed her mind. I couldn't help but wonder what her thought process was during that time.

Secondly, what an accusation! What exactly did I do to make her think that specifically?

And lastly, what was the point in her telling me that?

"Also, there's this mature and mysterious air about you." Yamamura added.

Well, I'm flattered.

"Thanks for the compliment... I'm still curious to know why you think like that though."

"It's because of the way you act. The way you behave is odd."

This woman...

"You seem to have reached that conclusion rather quickly, even though we've only met for two days?" I replied.

"Two days are enough to form a bond with someone. Besides, I have a very keen sense of people." she replied.

"Then in that case what kind of person am I in your eyes?"

I genuinely interested in this topic. Yamamura didn't appear in the novel I knew, but she was slowly proving to be much more interesting than a cute face.

"Even though I act nonchalant about it, I'm actually aware of what the boys think about me." For the first time in a while, Yamamura took her eyes off the letters and looked me in the eyes.

"'Cute', 'Adorable', 'Silent Beauty'. They call me many things. But I generally don't mind any of them."

For once, I actually agree with the boys, given that all those comments practically suit her. But it was a completely different matter whether she liked it or not.

"Do you hate it?" I asked.

"It's not as though I dislike it, but I can't say I like it either. The feeling is more like apathy. I honestly don't care what they think about me. Besides, those are all comments about my physical appearance, not my individuality."

So, she hates it. Noted.

"What makes you think that I'm not thinking the same thing as them?" I replied.

"That's true, I can't read your mind after all." Yamamura replied. "But I guess you're just that good at hiding them."

"What do you mean?"

"When reading the book with you, I was also keeping an eye on you."

"..." Interesting.

"If you were like any other boy, you would've kept staring at me, or at least thrown a few glances at my direction. But you did none of that. Instead, you were genuinely interested in sharing the book with me. Whenever we shared a conversation about the story, you answered with passion." she added.

That's a rather biased opinion, if anything.

"So, you're astounded by the fact I love reading books, and that I ignored you because of it?" I asked.

"Mayhaps."

Alright, this girl is making me dizzy.

"Some boys even confessed to me, you know?"

"Let me guess, you rejected them."

Yamamura nodded in affirmative. It was obvious actually. A cute high school girl like her were bound to have at least two or three male admirers.

"I didn't reject them because of their look, or grades or reasons like that. Can you guess why I did that?"

Judging by the conversations we've had for the last forty-eight hours, and what little common sense I had, there was only one answer.

"None of them shared anything in common with you."

"That's correct."

"Such a heartbreaker, aren't you?" I mused.

"Hmh." Yamamura's lips twitched up a little. "You can make jokes too it seems."

"Just because I'm quite most of the time doesn't make me a robot."

"Of course." Yamamura smiled.

Okay, let's make a few revisions in my earlier assessment. I initially thought Yamamura Miki wasn't capable of being bold, just because she was good at suppressing her emotions. It goes without saying that I'd judged a book by it's cover. Not only was she bolder than a diamond, she could express her emotions just fine. And the way she's hinting things...

"...Let's just get back to Salander,  shall we?" I sighed.

"If you say so."

Maybe I ended up forming a weird bond with her.

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After returning from the library, I found the cabin all for myself. Lying down on my bed, I released a relaxing sigh. I was finally at peace.

Placing the novel on my nightstand, I reached for my pocket. After pulling the smartphone, I began typing a few digits on the dial pad. I pressed the call button when it was over. The phone rang a few times before hearing a beep sound, which meant that the call had connected.

"Hello?" the voice called out from the receiver of my phone. I pressed the screen against my cheek and responded.

"Kikyou. Avoid saying my name if anyone's nearby."

"Oh, it's you! What's up?" Kikyou responded with a cutesy voice.

"I didn't get to ask you before. Did the negotiations go as planned? Say something in affirmative if yes."

"Yes. I was at the spa with Kokoro-chan yesterday. She was so eager to go there."

"Did you get him to sign a memorandum?"

"Of course. They even gave us a free memo on how to take good care of our skin. It was such a nice place~."

"Well done, Kikyou. I'm proud of you."

"Ehehe... Thank you."

It seems Ryuen had agreed to cooperate with Kikyou who was acting as my proxy. This was a very good news as it'd practically relieved sixty percent of my overall stress.

"Ah! Maybe you should join us the next time. Then we'll get to be real close together, what'd you say~?" cooed Kikyou.

"That sultry tone wasn't necessary. Stop acting suspicious." I deadpanned.

"Mou, what's with the boring reaction?" she grumbled from the other side.

"In any case, I have another small favour to ask."

"Favor? What's that?"

Honestly, it was something I could've done without Kikyou's help. I could've simply go to them and ask for their numbers. I'm sure they would've happily given it to me too. But it was too much work, so I ought to slack off a little bit.

"Send me the phone numbers of Satou and Mori."

"Sure. I'll do that. But why do you need them?" she asked.

"I think they're cute. Maybe I should try dating one, or both of them?"

"Eh?"

"...What is it?"

"A-ah, I.. I mean... Y-you can't be serious, right? D-date–" Kikyou stuttered.

"...Obviously." I deadpanned.

I could Kikyou sighing loudly on the other side of the receiver.

"Ah, mou! Stop messing around! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Stupid questions lead to stupid answers." I replied. "You don't need to know what I do with them. Just give me their contacts."

"Fine. Keep your secrets."

The call disconnected. She cut the call on me.

Just as I was about to call back, I received an email with all their details. The subject of the email was 'You owe me a parfait when we go back' with an emoticon that looked like it was sticking it's tongue out. I sighed while staring at the email.

In case, I ended up getting not only their numbers, but the emails too. It wasn't necessary, but it didn't hurt to have them. This made a significant stride toward our plans of securing a victory for our group.

The next forty-eight hours would be the most important few hours of this entire trip. It would be the deciding factor of which direction the exam will head into.

To be continued...

[E: Well, that was...a disappointment.

Yes, I'm still alive. And yes, college life is hell. I got sick the day before the history exam, so... I had to sit through and write with a burning 104 degrees.

Am I alright? I had a fucking 104 degrees, my head was spinning like a clock, and I still aced the exam. Of course, I'm not alright! I'm fucking amazing!

Now, about the story. Honestly I'm a bit disappointed at what I wrote. I feel like I'd done a better job at writing back in the days when I was genuinely invested in the YouZitsu fanfiction community. But now, life is getting a bit too real for me. I'm obviously off my prime now, huh?

Welp, sorry about that, Yamamura-chan. Wish I could've given you a better development. You're clearly too precious for a dummy like me to write. Maybe I'll edit some parts in the future, to hopefully give you some justice.

Whatever, now that this chapter is over, I shall move on to the next chapter. Yes... I'm still writing, don't worry. I'm a man of my word. Funny how this all began with me writing 1.5k words per day, to 5.5k words per month haha...

Sorry if this one's a bit boring, but the next one will hopefully be more intense.

To be frank, I have a lot of things I wanted to let off... But it's getting a bit too long, so I'll just leave it at that.

Those, who are reading this from high school. Enjoy life while you can.

E... Out.]