Ayanokouji POV
After that brief chat with Kazuki, I went to my dorm to take a break, but that didn't last too long. I quickly went down to the convenience store to buy essentials.
Obviously, I was alone. I knew no one else, after all.
Except Kazuki... But he's not here right now.
And I can't expect him to be there for me all the time either.
"...What an unpleasant coincidence."
It seems I ran into Horikita again... A truly unpleasant coincidence.
"Don't be so hostile. Rather, did you also have stuff to buy ?"
"Yes, just a bit. I was buying some necessities." Horikita answered while examining the shampoo she just took from the shelf.
Not true. Dormitory life starts today. You need more than just "a bit"... Girls also need various products.
Horikita looked at the shampoo one more time before putting it into her basket, along with the other essentials. I was expecting her to be more careful about the products she buy, but she seemingly went for the cheapest ones.
"I thought girls paid more attention to what kind of shampoo they need."
"That depends on the type of person, no ? The type of person who doesn't know where they should be spending their money." She replied quickly, her snark was ever present.
She then sent me a look that said, "Also don't look at other people's stuff without their permission."
"I also didn't expect you to stay in class for the self-introductions. You don't look like the type of person who would be in that group of classmates."
"I was trying to be in that group quietly precisely because I try to avoid trouble. And besides, after that incredible performance from Kazuki, how could I not stay behind ?"
I am aware that my self-introduction was sub-par at best, if not downright awkward. But I had to go along with it to make sure I blend in with the crowd.
And after everything Kazuki did, not only would it be disrespectful to go against him, but I would also become the centre of attention. Negative attention, yes. But still attention nonetheless.
That is something I would like to avoid as much as possible.
"Ah yes. Of course you would bring up your guardian angel." She snapped.
Horikita then sighed and looked down at her own basket, her eyes narrowed yet burning with passion.
"But... I cannot refute any of the things he's said. He has proven himself to be quite a formidable man, I will admit that much at least." Her confession surprised me. I didn't expect her to actually say something like that.
But I suppose, she cannot deny such a thing after what we all witnessed.
"But, that doesn't change anything. Eventually, I will surpass him. Just another obstacle I need to cross."
I disagree.
I haven't really seen what you can do yet, but I heavily disagree with everything you just said.
But... I guess it is normal to dream.
"I will reach Class A, with or without his help. I don't deserve to be in a class full of defectives." She said, her face was sharp and filled with contempt.
She truly, genuinely, wholeheartedly believed she did not deserve a placement in Class D.
Whatever helps her sleep at night, I guess.
To be completely honest...
If someone like Kazuki Hikaru ended up in Class D, which I still don't see why, then you sure as hell don't deserve to be higher than him.
"Hmm ?" She uttered, making me look at her again.
"What ?"
"Did you just say something ?"
Huh ?
"No, I don't think I did." I was thinking something rude, yes. But I never spoke it out loud.
I didn't say that out loud, did I ?
"You were thinking something rude just now, weren't you ?" She questioned, her eyes were as sharp as knives.
"No, it's just imagination." I replied.
"Is that so ?" She didn't seem that convinced.
...
"By the way, why did you only give out your name and nothing else ? Everyone else said something about themselves, why didn't you do the same ?" I questioned, which made her stare at me with unchanging, merciless eyes.
"Why does it bother you ?"
"It doesn't. But I figured you'd be able to make more friends that way. If people knew more about you, they'd be more inclined to know you." I explained my reasons to her, unfortunately she seems more boneheaded that I anticipated.
"There are a lot of reasons I could give you, but should I give a simple example ? Even though I did introduce myself, there's no guarantee that I'll get along with everyone. Rather, it would have created problems instead. Wasting mine and everyone else's time by talking about myself is just unnecessary. By skipping that, I can avoid such problems." She explained her views on her actions to me.
If Horikita I produced herself properly, I bet she'd be more popular with our classmates.
"But there's still a high probability that you would get along with everyone."
"Where did you get that probability from ? We could argue endlessly over it so let's just say that the probability is indeed high. Did you get along with anyone ?" She turned the question back to me.
"Well, yes. I'm very close to Kazuki alread–"
"Except him ?"
"..."
"That boy is a highly social individual. He's interacted with practically everyone in the class and the only reason he hasn't tried to talk to me, is because he never got the opportunity. You're not special in any way. That man is everyone's friend."
Ouch. That's very hurtful to say, Horikita.
"Uuh..."
The sad thing is I can't actually refute her.
I really wasn't able to get anyone else's phone number, besides Kazuki, who has probably already gotten the phone numbers of majority of our classmates.
It couldn't be used as evidence to prove that there was a high probability of her getting friends if she introduced herself.
So, defeated, I averted my eyes.
"In other words, you have no proof that self-introductions makes finding friends easy." Horikita Continued.
"To begin with I never intended to making friends. So there was no need for me to expend efforts in properly introducing myself, nor did I need to listen to anyone else's introduction."
Wow... She's a lot more isolated, no aloof, then I originally thought.
She did reject me the first time. Actually, now that I think about it, it might be a miracle she even bothered to reveal her name at all.
Even thought she was extremely uptight, walking next to her didn't feel that bad.
Looking at the instant food section, I grabbed a singular cup and looked at it. This was the first time I've ever seen this. I've always wanted to try stuff like this out.
I know I shouldn't waste my points on it though. I'll just buy one and maybe come back later of I like it. Unlike those two boys over there, I don't want to blow through my points on useless things.
"Do boys really like this kind of stuff ? I don't think it's really good for the body."
"I was just considering if I should buy this or not." Looking at it closer, the cup noodle was worth 156 yen. I have no idea if that's low or high for a bowl of cup noddles.
Since I had no way of knowing, I asked Horikita about it. Unfortunately, she also didn't seem to be that familiar with these things.
"Oh, it's really big. It's a G cup!" I believe it stands for "giga cup" or something, and just by looking at it, I already feel full.
On an unrelated note, Horikita's breast aren't small, but they aren't large either. Just ate just the perfect size.
"Did you think something inappropriate just now, Ayanokouji-kun ?" She suddenly questioned me.
"... No, of course not."
"You were acting strangely though."
With just a glance she was able to notice that ? She's sharper than I thought.
"I was just wondering which one I should buy. What do you think ?" I quickly came up with an excuse.
"If it's just that, then it's fine. But you should probably stop buying unhealthy food like that. The school has much better, healthier options for meals. Additionally, it's a waste of points that we might not get back." Despite her disregard of Kazuki's true intellect, she seems to genuinely believe that, at least for now, she's behind him.
She's taken all of his words to heart.
A good start, I'll say.
I understand her words and though I agree, I felt the irresistible urge to buy just one of them. So, I took one regular sized bowl of instant noodles and placed it in my basket.
With that, Horikita seemed to also be mostly done with the instant food section. We moved over to the necessities section of the store.
Just like last time, Horikita chose the cheapest facial cleaner. This time, i volunteered to help her out.
"This one looks better, don't you think ?"
I grabbed a more expensive facial cleaner, which was also creamier and of higher quality. Just because we need to save points, doesn't mean you need to be stingy.
"Not necessary."
"No, but—"
"I told you I don't need it, didn't I ?" She glared at me.
"Yea..." I slowly put the cleanser back in its place.
I thought I could start a conversation with her without getting her mad, but I failed before it even started.
"You're not very good at socializing, are you ? You suck at coming up with topics to talk about."
"Even coming from you... I guess you have a point."
"Of course I do. I have a naturally good eye for people. Normally, I wouldn't want to hear you speak twice but I'll put in the painful effort of listening to you, this time." I don't really know whether to feel flattered or annoyed.
I tried to make friends with her, but my expectations were completely cut off.
Two more girls entered the store as I approached another aisle. When I got there, something caught my eye.
"What is this...?"
I looked at the essentials being provided here. It was all I needed for proper confirmation.
"Free ?"
"I see. This is here to make sure hopeless students who waste their points can still buy essentials. Your guardian angel was right on the mark again." And of course, Horikita felt the need to throw another jab at me about Kazuki Hikaru again.
His performance earlier today was beyond impressive.
"Don't fuck with me!"
Both me and Horikita looked over to the side upon hearing a voice. It was angry and filled with intimidation.
My gaze fell upon the red haired student standing away from them, near a bench with two bowls of cup noodles placed on it. Why are there two of them ? Does he intend to eat them both ? Or is there a second person he's with ? Where is he then ? Bathroom break, maybe ? Maybe went to buy something else.
The boy in question was a tall first year with a muscular, athletics build. He appeared to be a delinquent, at least at first glance. I recognise him. He's Sudo Ken, from our class.
I wonder what trouble he's gotten himself involved in now.
Looking over to the side, I noticed three upperclassmen. It seems that they're taunting him and from the looks of it, whatever their plan is, it's working. Someone should probably stop him before he gets violent and lands himself, and us (Class D), in trouble.
I noticed the displeasure on Horikita's face. She certainly understood what was going on and it seems like she was about to walk over there.
If I didn't know any better, I would've assumed she's trying to help the poor boy.
But I know it's completely selfish. If a fight breaks out here, with Sudo throwing the first punch, those seniors can use the camera footage as leverage against Sudo. Worst case scenario, he gets expelled and Class D will suffer incredible backlash from it. Him getting caught up in this situation is something we cannot afford, especially considering the lead we have thanks to Kazuki.
"Ah.." I let out a noise.
Speak of the devil.
Kazuki Hikaru is here.
I held a hand out to Horikita, motioning her to stop. She looked back at me with an expression of displeasure and confusion. Horikita followed my gaze and her eyes fell upon the well dressed figure that walked over to Sudo from behind.
Sudo seemed like he was about to explode. But before anything could escalate, Kazuki's hand came hurtling down on his head, producing a decently loud *SLAP* sound.
Sudo grabbed his head in pain and looked back at the boy, who looked at him. I don't know if he said anything or not, but whatever he did, Sudo backed off.
That's the second time today he's intimidated Sudo.
He was smiling kindly at them, but I could see the mischief behind those twinkling blue orbs of his. Even from distance, I could tell. That man had a plan, and it's going to work.
But I wonder... What is he going to do ?
Hm... He's swinging his phone around, twirling it in his hand for all to see, a playful smile hopping around on his handsome face. For whatever reason, I noticed the three seniors back off a little. They were tense.
They realised that they were outplayed.
Kazuki was walking over to them, which in turn only made them back away. He then came to a stop, exactly three metres away from them. They were yelling some things at him, probably trying to intimidate him into backing off. Especially since they had the numbers advantage, this tactic might have worked against other students.
But Kazuki isn't "other students".
In an unexpected twist of fate, he pulled out a student card. For a second, I was stuck contemplating why he would pull out his own student card.
Did he intend on paying them off ?
Surely not.
Kazuki has no more than 100,000 points on him at the moment. Those upperclassmen probably have more than that, considering how long they've been here. And clearly, they weren't Class D students either. There's no way Kazuki has enough to pay them off.
So what...?
"What... How ?" I heard Horikita mutter right next to me.
She is in clear disbelief.
I couldn't blame her. What Kazuki just did... It was something even I didn't see coming.
The student card in his hand... It's not his.
As soon as he pulled out the card, one of the three students went into a frenzy. He panicked and started searching his own pockets and that's when it hit me.
He stole the student card.
But he never made any moves at all ? He never tried to steal anything or even get close to the seniors.
The camera has no footage of this at all.
How ? How did he get their card ? He never made any moves. He isn't close enough to take the card from them. The only way he'd be able to take it in this scenario is if he was too fast, which there's no way. Kazuki, as brilliant as he is, is still human. He can't do something like that unless...
Unless he planned this encounter out...
I see now. He probably passed them and earlier today and stole the card from them. Based on their interaction, it seems they don't actually know him, which implies that they never interacted before. So Kazuki stole the card in secret and deliberately lured them here.
He also seems to be teaching Sudo a lesson. I understood from the moment he smacked Sudo, he's understood that he needs to deal with Sudo's violent tendencies and he's doing it by befriending and intimidating him. Sudo is like a rabid dog that will bark at and bite anyone who crosses him. He needs to be tamed and leashed, and Kazuki had already taken the initiative.
That second bowl of instant noodles is Kazuki's. After hanging out with Sudo, he brought him here and then left for unknown reasons. He then coincidentally appeared when the seniors showed up and held the card of one of the three.
Too suspicious.
There's no way he didn't plan this encounter out. Everything has been going exactly as he wanted until now.
I also noticed him move the card around his neck, near his face. Was he threatening them as well ?
By the end of it, the three seniors basically begged for forgiveness and left. Before then left, Kazuki flicked the student card at its owner, which he barely caught. From the distance, I noticed blood. The senior cut his hand on the card.
It isn't impossible. The sides of the card, specifically the corners, are quite sharp and can picture through skin and draw blood.
Kazuki really did threaten them. The bloodlust, his smile, his plans and actions are all perfect.
Sudo seems equally terrified of Kazuki.
With this one action, he not only showed the dangers of Sudo's agressive nature and obtained private points from his seniors, but he also intimidated Sudo enough to be able to simply demand subservience.
If I could smile, I probably would have.
Well played... Kazuki Hikaru.