After classes ended that afternoon, there was another announcement over the intercom that reminded students of the club fair at the gymnasium for the first-year students. Most of the class were interested in going there, and they went in groups. Kiyotaka was as well, but he didn't really want to go there alone.
"Horikita, are you going to the club fair?" he asked his seatmate.
"No, why?" she asked him in return, about to leave the classroom before Kiyotaka had spoken.
"I'm planning to check it out to see if there are any interesting clubs around here and if there are, I might join one. But I'd like to have a companion at least... that way, it wouldn't be boring."
Well actually, that was one of two reasons. The other was that he would have someone to talk to instead of accidentally looking at a potential 'heroine' and activating her route. Yes, it's true that he was accepting his fate, but it's not like he can't be careful, right? Otherwise he might as well activate every heroine route that the system wanted for him...
"I have no intention of going to that fair, Ayanokouji-kun," she replied coolly before walking away.
Truth be told, the main reason why she didn't want to go there was because she would most likely see her older brother again during the fair. Even though it would be nice to see him, Suzune felt that she wasn't ready for a proper reunion just yet.
He shrugged. It was worth a shot at least. "Well, I'm not forcing you to come with me. I suppose I'll just ask Kushida, but she seems too busy with her friends and they have already left."
That made Suzune stop for a brief moment.
"Kushida-san won't be around, which means no one will be able to interrupt me this time," the girl thought to herself. "I can finally repay him for helping me yesterday by buying him ice cream. I can do it once we're done with the club fair, before we go back to the dorms."
Almost immediately, Suzune turned back to face him. "Never mind. I'll go with you," she said as if nothing happened.
"That was quick," he mentally noted.
pαndα`noν?1--сoМ [Your heroine is taking advantage of a chance to be alone with you! You gained +1 in Aura!]
[You have gained 2 Affection Points with Horikita Suzune!]
"...okay?" he raised an eyebrow at the sudden notifications. "Does this mean she's beginning to like me? Hmm... unlikely. She hasn't even reached a high number yet, which reminds me... Sakayanagi is close to getting 100 in those 'Affection Points'... I wonder what would happen once it reaches 100... do they fall in love with me? Will I feel the same as them? Or will something happen because of the system?"
Kiyotaka shook his head. He could think about these things later.
"Then let's go," he told her while grabbing his own bag.
And with that, the two left the classroom and headed for the gymnasium, where it was already flooded by many freshmen students.
Many clubs have put up stalls of their own all over the place while the members of each one were doing their best to gain the attention of the students passing by. Several of their classmates were present, with Sudo hanging by the Basketball Club, Onodera at the Swimming Club, and Hirata at the Soccer Club.
"I wonder if I should join a club as well..."
While Kiyotaka was having a look around and thinking about whether he should join a club or not, Suzune followed him closely and kept her gaze fixed on him.
"This is my chance. Kushida-san doesn't seem to be around here, she won't interrupt me this time," the girl thought to herself, a sense of determination filling her up. Being interrupted during her attempt to return Kiyotaka's act of kindness with her own only made Suzune driven to accomplish what she wanted to do because she owed him.
Unknown to her, Kiyotaka had noticed a familiar screen appear by the nearby club booth and quickly began to read it.
[Matsushita Chiaki: 'Mysterious Weird Classmate']
[Relationship Status: ?]
[Affection Points: 0/100]
[Heroine Summary: Chiaki is the only daughter to wealthy parents and is a very capable student in her own right. However, she chooses to hide her true abilities from everyone as she prefers not to be in the limelight. At first glance, she found you interesting and believes that there is more to you than meets the eye. She was planning to watch you from afar and see for herself just what is interesting about you, but you managed to catch her presence before she could do so.]
"Matsushita? She was following me?" he thought, ignoring the first part of her 'heroine summary' in favor of the last section. It made him curious why his classmate was spying on him. He looked at the Tennis Club booth, but the girl was nowhere to be found even though her 'heroine screen' was there. "She must be hiding behind that stall, but why exactly is she following me?"
Meanwhile, her mind all made up, Suzune turned towards her companion who suddenly stopped walking out of nowhere.
"Ayanokouji-kun," she called out to him. "Do you want to—"
"What exactly are you doing there?" Kiyotaka spoke, unknowingly interrupting Suzune from what she was about to say. "Don't you think it's rude to spy on your fellow classmates?"
"Who is he talking to...?" Horikita herself frowned in confusion as she turned to where he was looking. freeweb(n)ovel.co(m)
Behind the nearby booth of the Tennis Club, a girl with long brown hair and blue eyes stepped out into the open and smiled at them.
"Fancy meeting you here, Ayanokouji-kun."
"Is there any reason why you would spy on me, Matsushita?" he asked bluntly, causing Suzune to look at him and Chiaki in confusion.
"Spying on him? What is going on?" the girl thought as she observed the two closely, ignoring her growing frustration for now.
"That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think? I wasn't spying on you. I only saw you and Horikita-san coming here and I was actually about to say hi when you called me out," she chuckled nervously. "How did you know I was here, by the way?"
He didn't believe her one bit. She was definitely spying on him, even her 'summary' said so.
"A stalker, huh... I think I've seen this before in a few of Eiichiro's games," he thought deeply as he tried to remember what this situation was called. "What was it called again? Ya-something... Yandere? I think it had a 'dere' at the end of the word... is that it, then? She's a yandere? No, it couldn't be. I doubt Matsushita is the type of person to kill someone else because of her feelings."
Before he could think about it even further, the world around him froze and the three choices appeared in front of him.
A. [You're fortunate that I didn't take a picture of you. Just like how boys can be easily blamed by girls for being perverts, I can point you out for being a stalker. Now leave me alone.]
B. [It's surprising to meet you here as well. Matsushita, was it? I'm still trying to memorize everyone's names.]
C. [You know, if you really wanted to follow me around, you should have said so. I'll show you what exactly is interesting about me, Chiaki.] freewebnove(l)
"At this point, I'm just going to assume that the first option is the rude response, the second is the most normal one, and the third is plain flirting," he concluded.
It's always been the same order of choices ever since yesterday, and he doubted that it would change anytime soon.
Almost immediately, Kiyotaka's eyes flew towards Option C. While the first choice was appropriate and would warn the girl not to do it again, it could also scare her and he would rather not find out what it would be like if the system said it for him. On the other hand, the third choice will accomplish the same but instead of scaring her, it would embarrass her because of the hidden innuendo between the words.
And so, he pushed Option C as the world returned to normal.
Kiyotaka smirked, which caught Chiaki off guard and caused her to blink in confusion. From the moment she laid eyes on him, it seemed like the apathetic expression on his face would never change. It didn't help that her first impression of him was a weird boy who genuinely wanted to make some friends because he was alone.
"You know, if you really wanted to follow me around, you should have said so. I'll show what exactly is interesting about me, Chiaki."
Kiyotaka spoke in a seductive voice and as an exclamation point, he loosened his tie and walked closer towards Chiaki almost alluringly. His words and actions immediately brought out a reaction from the brown-haired girl; her eyes went wide in shock, a deep blush on her face out of embarrassment, and her head turned away to hide her shame.
[Chiaki Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with Matsushita Chiaki!]
[You gained 20 Affection Points with Matsushita Chiaki!]
[Your current status with Chiaki has changed to 'I've Got A Stalker'!]
"I-I'm sorry, I... I didn't mean to make it seem like I was following you around..." was all that she could say at the moment, too overwhelmed to come up with anything else.
The moment Kiyotaka felt he could control his body again, he shook his head and fixed his tie as if nothing happened. "Don't worry. I was only messing with you," he told her.
"Uhm... sure..." she mumbled, now feeling utter confusion because the young man had switched to his usual bored expression once more. It made her think if this whole 'apathetic' demeanor he had was only an act that he puts up so that he wouldn't attract attention, because there is no way for him to fake his earlier words. Unless he was somehow a very good actor who can look uncaring as much as he wants, then his current demeanor was only a sham.
He was definitely talking to her with the intention of flirting, and she knew it. This only made him more interesting in her eyes, and she could now tell that there's more to him than what he shows everyone.
"Just don't make a habit of following people, Matsushita. Some don't appreciate being watched by others," he warned her.
Chiaki, deciding to play along, only nodded her head but kept herself from facing him. She still felt embarrassed from being dirty-talked by Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, of all people.
Feeling amused at the sight of the girl completely silenced by his actions, Kiyotaka turned back towards his companion, only to be met by the sight of Suzune sending him a cold glare. If he was any ordinary person, then he might have felt a drop in the temperature of the air around him.
"Uh, is there any reason why you look angry?" he asked her.
Suzune glared at him for a few more seconds, before turning away with her arms folded. "Nothing," she huffed.
[Congratulations! You unlocked the Achievement: 'Jealousy Sucks'! You gained +3 in Wisdom!]
"Oh, she's jealous... although, I don't see how this can be considered an 'achievement', because it only means that I'm doing things wrong," he thought, scratching the back of his head in confusion. "This system is so confusing. I might not be able to figure this out after all."
Before he could think about it any further, a girl with purple hair tied into twin buns stood at the stage overseeing everything, before speaking through a microphone.
"Thank you all for waiting, first-year students. My name is Tachibana Akane, the student council secretary and the organizer of this event. For the students who came today, we appreciate your willingness to spare a bit of time for this event."
Her voice caught the students' attention right away and caused them to gather at the bottom of the stage while applauding for the girl. Kiyotaka immediately recognized who she was.
"That's the girl who was with Horikita's brother yesterday. I wonder if the system is also gonna see her as a heroine..."
"And now, without any further ado, a representative will give a speech about their respective clubs and what they are all about."
A young man with short gray hair and violet eyes wearing glasses then stepped up and took Tachibana's place, a person whom Kiyotaka and Suzune knew well.
Horikita Manabu didn't speak for a while and only chose to stare at the crowd of students that gathered below the stage. Some began to laugh at him and even threw some insults here and there, thinking that he had forgotten what to say, but Manabu remained calm in spite of it all and remained that way until the laughter died down eventually.
"My name is Horikita Manabu. I am the Student Council President," he finally spoke after a full minute of staying quiet.
Kiyotaka quickly turned towards Suzune and noticed that the cold expression on her face had disappeared, and was replaced by a look of insecurity.
"Horikita? Is that person related to you, Horikita-san?" asked Chiaki, noticing the similar family names of her classmate and the man on stage.
Suzune looked at Chiaki for a moment, as if she was thinking twice about telling her classmate. In the end, she decided that it wouldn't really be a bad thing if she did, since it wouldn't hurt anyone.
"Yes. He's my older brother."
Follow current novels on (f)reew𝒆bnovel