❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
Ayase Hikari had arrived with absolutely impeccable timing and two merry comrades in tow, lured to her house by the prospect of studying together. And by “merry comrades,” I mean the shrimp and the track junkie.
“N-N-Nice to m-meet you, I-I’m Yoshiku Yuu. I-I’m, umm, Hikari-chan’s, f-f-friend,” stammered the shortie from her hiding place behind Hikari.
“Heya! Kazuki Rena here. Long time no see, Ayase-senpai! And is that the student council president? Man, didn’t expect to see her here!” Kazuki’s greeting was a lot more direct—she introduced herself with a smile. That said, I could understand Ayase and Yuuta’s presence, but why would Kazuki be with them? As far as I knew, she wasn’t especially acquainted with either of them.
“Oh, wow, she’s tiny...and adorable! See, I knew it! Tiny ones really do give you something special...” murmured Kotou, who’d made a full recovery thanks to my valiant sacrifice. I could practically see the little hearts in her eyes as she stared at Yuuta. This won’t last, though. Only a matter of time before the attention ends up back on me...
“Ah, umm, good morning, Renge-san and Kyouka-san,” continued Hikari.
“Good morning to you as well, Hikari-san,” replied Kiryu.
“It’s been quite a while!” added Renge, somewhat more casually. “Have you been well?”
“Ah, yes! I’ve been fine, thanks.”
It was a pretty remarkable scene: the top-scoring students in each grade level were all gathered in one place. They were all beauties too, which seemed just a little too convenient to be a coincidence—what standards are really being used behind the scenes in Oumei High’s grading room...?
“And, umm,” Hikari continued, a bit awkwardly, “the boy who’s collapsed over there would be...?”
“Oh, right, that’s Kou,” replied Kaito. “I’ve told you about him before, right?”
“Kou... O-Oh, yes, that’s right! Kou-san—I mean, Kou-senpai.” The exchange was transparently unnatural, but nobody called it out.
All of my interactions with Hikari had taken place in environments where nobody else was around to see us, so in theory, nobody would know about our former relationship beyond the absolute surface-level details. The way I saw it, having everyone else aware that we at least knew each other’s names could be a good thing. The plausible deniability would be nice, especially considering certain actions I may have taken which I may have felt pretty guilty about.
It didn’t seem like she was being awkward about it because she’d suddenly remembered me, incidentally—rather, she’d forgotten about me entirely but thought it would be rude to admit it and was trying to play along with Kaito. Making the connection between my name and my face hadn’t sparked her memory at all. By the way, I was, in fact, literally collapsed in a corner from the mental backlash of shouting “boobs are forever” in front of everyone. Somebody, please, just kill me already.
“Anyway, don’t just stand there,” said Kaito. “C’mon in, have a seat.”
“Sounds good, thanks!” replied Rena.
“E-Excuse us,” added Yuuta, a bit more hesitantly. They both walked into the room, found seats, and sat down.
“R-Rena-chan, it’s a little cramped with the both of us,” complained Yuuta.
“Ugh,” I groaned in agreement. Out of all the empty seats in the room, they’d chosen my corpse to use as a couch. Everyone in the room was caught completely off guard (me included, of course).
Kiryu was the first to work up the nerve to call it out. “Umm, Kazuki-san, Yoshiki-san? You are aware that’s technically a human, right...?”
“Oh, yeah, guess it is,” said Kazuki, shifting around for a more comfortable position. “It was in the perfect spot, so I didn’t even think about it!”
“Think you could be a bit more comfy, boob-man?” complained Yuuta as she smacked me on the head. “We’re your guests, right? Show some hospitality!” Even dirty, decades-old mechanical horses at grocery stores make you pay to ride on them, but these people are expecting me to do their bidding without forking over a single coin! Cheapskates! Why’re customers always such entitled jerks, anyway?!
“So, umm, I’m guessing the two of you are friends with Kou-senpai?” asked Hikari.
“Don’t worry, you’ll always be my best friend, Hikari-chan!” exclaimed Yuuta. “I guess you could say he’s my manservant if I had to describe him!” Her manservant, huh? I guess I did bait her with food, so I can see how she got that impression. Have I been too soft on her...?
“And Senpai’s my partner!” added Rena.
“Your partner?” asked Kaito.
“Yeah! My training partner!”
“Oh...? When did that happen, Kou?”
“Couldn’t tell you, myself...” I mean, of course I couldn’t, considering this is the first I’ve heard of it! I was starting to seriously wonder just how over-inflated Kazuki’s image of me was. Kaito let it drop pretty easily, though, and turned back to his sister.
“Hey, Hikari, do you wanna join in on our study party? Rena and Yuu-chan too, of course. We’re all your senpais here, so I figure we probably have a lot we could teach you.”
“Umm, are you sure?” she replied, a little reluctantly. “Wouldn’t we be a bother?”
“I wouldn’t particularly mind,” replied Kiryu.
“Indeed, I wouldn’t object either,” added Renge.
“Ooooh, me too, me too! I totally agree too! Come sit on your senpai’s lap, Yuu-chan!” screamed Kotou.
“I-I’ll pass, thanks...”
“Nooo!”
Kaito sighed. “Well, you heard ’em.”
“Y-Yeah. I guess we’ll take you up on that, then... You two don’t mind, do you?”
Kazuki and Yuuta both nodded in agreement. I assume. Couldn’t actually see it, but I’m pretty sure they were nodding.
And so our study party recommenced! My “boobs are forever” declaration was wiped from the collective memory (or at least put on ice indefinitely) without ever reaching any sort of resolution.
We ended up splitting into three general groups. First up was Team Teacher, formed by Kiryu and Renge: those who were already so prepared they had no need to cram before the tests. They weren’t even pretending to glance at their textbooks and occupied themselves by fiddling with their phones or reading. Part of me wondered why they’d even bothered showing up, but at the very least, their knowledge of the lower years’ material and the subjects covered by the exams was flawless, meaning they could answer any question you had to throw at them. They ended up being an indispensable resource for the rest of us.
Next up was Team Workbook, composed of Kaito, Kotou, and Kazuki. They were busy solving questions from their workbooks and the handouts our teachers had given us, training their practical skills and studying in the most traditional and practical manner possible. The willingness to put in that sort of slow, straightforward work has a direct correlation to one’s scores on the tests, I’m sure.
Last was Team Good-Luck-With-That, made up of Ayase the Younger, Yuuta, and me. Instead of workbooks, we were poring through our textbooks and other people’s notebooks. Specifically, I was copying Kiryu’s notes while Ayase the Younger copied Yuuta’s (and got Yuuta’s input on all the lessons that she’d missed). We weren’t even at the starting line, as far as studying for the tests went.
Yuuta would normally be on Team Workbook, but she had to follow her notebook wherever it went and was too shy to leave her friend’s side (or rather her friends’ side, since she got me as a bonus). Thus, she ended up at our table. Normally I’d be put off by her ridiculously obnoxious neediness, but this time and this time alone, I was actually grateful for it. Having to study alone with Ayase would be “please grant me the sweet release of death” levels of awkward.
That said, though she and I were both dealing with the consequences of a truancy streak, our basic book smarts couldn’t possibly have been on more drastically different levels. One of us was eternally average, grade-wise, and the other was the top student in her class. If Ayase was a flower, then I was a weed.
It took me a fair bit of time to even decipher the contents of Kiryu’s notebook, but Ayase, in contrast, would assuredly be finished copying Yuuta’s notes and would move over to Team Workbook (and eventually even Team Teacher) in a heartbeat. So would begin Ayase Hikari’s ironfisted academic dictatorship. She was an upstart, no mistaking it, and once she was gone I’d be left all alone in Team Good-Luck-With-That... Wait. Wouldn’t that be no different than just studying at home?
Right around then, Yuuta piped up without warning. “It feels so weird to be around both of you at the same time!”
“Huh? D-Does it?” Ayase replied. She seemed a bit shaken, somehow.
“I mean, we are in different grade levels,” I chimed in, casually shutting down the topic. Internally, though, I was just as freaked out as she was. “You took some time off, right? You feeling better now?”
“I’m...fine.”
“That’s good to hear. I’m your brother’s best friend and all, so I was sorta worried.”
“My brother’s... Ah, thank you for thinking about me!” I’d completely seized the initiative, and the conversation was firmly under my control. Talking with her was risky, but it also had the potential for a big payoff if I could use the chance to clearly establish the nature of our relationship.
“I was worried too!” chimed in Yuu. “I’m your best friend, after all!”
“Thank you too, Yuu-chan. I’m sorry I made you worry.”
“I believed in you, Hikari-chan! I knew you’d be all right!”
“Wait, so which is it?” She was worried, but she also believed in her? The contradiction even had Ayase chuckling, but Yuuta didn’t seem to get it and cocked her head in confusion.