Another week had passed, and time was ticking.
The midterm exams were next week, so studying became more of a priority for the students of Class D, especially with their future points at stake. They didn't want their points to be any lower than they already were, rather they wanted to increase what they already had.
In order to do that, they needed to be better than how they were last month. They were already lucky that they didn't outright lose all of their points so this time, things were going to be different.
They needed to do two things in order to increase their points this time. The first is to fix their own behavior, which has been going well so far. The other one is passing their midterms and making sure that none of them fail, which is a harder task than one might think.
Despite the efforts of the students who volunteered to teach their classmates, there's no telling if all of them are capable of passing their exams, particularly the seven people who failed the previous mock test.
But, it's not like anyone was sure of what could happen. Who knows? By some miracle, they might be able to pass their midterms, all of them. If that's the case, then no one will be in any danger of being expelled.
After their classes had ended, Ayanokouji and Sakura were heading to the library for yet another tutoring session, which more or less became a regular occurrence for the two of them. The past two weeks were but a blur now, but it didn't take away how they spent the weekdays at the library, studying and learning together.
Especially for Sakura, who thought that she could spend three years in this school staying as someone in the shadows who couldn't even hold a proper conversation with another person.
While they were walking, Kiyotaka then felt his phone vibrate all of a sudden, prompting him to check the message he had received.
He hummed for a few seconds, before returning his phone to his pocket. "Looks like Karuizawa's gonna be late for a bit."
"Eh?" asked Airi, as she turned to him in confusion. This was something that truly surprised her, because Kei was always with them during this time of the day and she had gotten used to the blonde girl's company. "W-Why?"
Kiyotaka shrugged. "She's going to eat with her friends, apparently. But she promises that she won't take long, so it's fine."
Airi blinked. If there's one good thing about Kiyotaka being a tutor, it's the fact that he was incredibly patient and wasn't strict with his methods.
"Oh... w-what do we do while we wait for Karuizawa-san, then?"
"When we get there, find an empty table for us to occupy. I'll be returning these books first, then I'll find you. From this point onward, we're no longer taking information from books. We're going to see and work on how much you actually remembered from the topics I've taught you."
In his hand was a plastic bag filled with the books they had used for the past few days. He borrowed them for Airi and Kei to use and study whenever they had free time.
"O-Okay."
Although she was nervous, Airi knew that this was inevitable. She knew that she won't be able to rely on books for so long, because her performance will depend on how much she knew by heart. That's why she has been putting a lot of effort into her studying ever since Kiyotaka began tutoring her and Kei.
Upon reaching the library, both students were surprised to see that the place looked relatively empty, compared to how it was last week. It didn't even seem like their classmates were there, not that it mattered. As a matter of fact, the quiet atmosphere was a nice change of pace.
"I'll find you once I'm done returning these," he told Airi, who gave him a nod before walking off.
With that, Kiyotaka went to the counter so he could show the books he had borrowed and ensure that he missed nothing. Afterwards, he went to the reference section and returned each book he had to the same place where he found it.
"Now to find Sakura," he thought to himself as soon as he was finished. "I hope Karuizawa's done eating and is on her way here. It'd be a shame for her to be left behind."
While on his way to find his red-haired classmate, Kiyotaka noticed a female student struggling to grab a book on a high shelf in the mystery section. The book was barely within reach, which could be the reason why the girl wasn't using a chair to make things easier.
Deciding that there wouldn't be any harm in helping another student in getting a book from a shelf, Kiyotaka went towards the girl and grabbed the book for her.
"Here you go," he said, handing it towards her.
The girl looked surprised for a moment, before flashing him a thankful smile. "Ah... thank you for your help."
He was about to utter a "you're welcome" as a sign of courtesy and then leave to continue looking for Airi, only to notice the book that she now had in her hand.
"Do you like her work? Brontë?" asked Kiyotaka, realizing that the girl was trying to reach for a novel entitled 'Wuthering Heights', which was one of the greatest novels of the English language.
"I don't really like or dislike the book. It was in the wrong section, so I thought I should return it to its proper place," she replied.
"I see."
Kiyotaka was ready to end the conversation right there, only for the familiar pink screen to appear above her head, which was enough to tell him that this wasn't any random encounter with a female student in the middle of the day.
[Hiyori Shiina: 'Curious Schoolmate']
[Relationship Status: ?]
[Affection Points: 0/100]
[Heroine Summary: Hiyori is a student of Class C who doesn't interact with a lot of people, but remains as a popular figure in the classroom for her intelligence and innocent nature. She dislikes violence and doesn't support the current method of how her class works. She prefers it when everyone gets along instead. She is very fond of reading books and is now interested in you, because you seem to be a bookworm like her as well. She doesn't have anyone in her class whom she can talk to about books, and now she is hoping that you would be one. MUST NOT BE LEWDED... FOR NOW.]
"Class C... this is the first time I've met someone from that class," he thought, taking a moment to consider this newfound information, before shifting his attention to the rest of her 'summary'. "So... she's happy that I'm interested in books like her, because she doesn't have anyone else in her class to talk to about them. Interesting... must not be lewded? What does that mean? Hm, I could have sworn I heard that word before... Eiichiro mentioned it once..."
Deciding to think about that later, he looked at the girl in front of him and observed her closely. At first glance, she appeared to be someone with an innocent nature and looked harmless enough to the point that she wouldn't even harm a fly. She was also quite attractive and cute as well, two traits that reminded him of Nanase, now that he thought about it.
"She doesn't like how her class works, and she dislikes violence..." he continued to observe her 'summary', now paying attention to the information regarding her class. "Does that mean that her class works around violence?"
"Uhm... may I know your name?" the girl asked, tilting her head curiously.
He was quickly brought back to reality by her soft and gentle voice. "It's Ayanokouji Kiyotaka," he replied.
"Which class are you from...?"
"Class D."
"Ohhh..." she muttered, before flashing him a smile that could make even the mightiest of gods bow down to her simply for how innocent and cute she was. "My name is Shiina Hiyori, from Class C."
Kiyotaka nodded, but didn't say anything else for now, opting to wait for something peculiar to happen first.
And he was right.
The world around him turned black and white, and the three usual choices appeared before him. At this point, this was basically second nature to him now, with how many times this has happened in the span of a month and a half.
A. [It's nice to meet you, Shiina-san. I hope we can get along.]
B. [My pleasure. I've always had a soft spot for girls in distress, if I had to be honest.]
C. [You're really cute, Hiyori. I'd like to take you out sometime, if you don't mind~]
Kiyotaka observed each choice closely. The obvious answer to this would be the third option, simply because almost every heroine he comes across likes it when he flirts with them... with a few exceptions like Suzune, Airi, and Kei. He has been careful with the choices he makes around those three, but everyone else was different.
The second option would be another good answer, because it's more of a harmless compliment like it always was. The first option was, of course, the neutral answer and had no romantic intention behind the words.
However, this time was different. Kiyotaka couldn't explain it, but he feels that it would be a huge mistake if he does pick the third choice. In fact, he was also feeling the same way towards the second option. It's like... if he went ahead and chose either of those two, something catastrophic might happen that's caused by the system itself...
Was this feeling caused by his 'dating stats' or something? Did it give him the gift of premonition? Or was it simply a hunch that he had?
Kiyotaka sighed.
There's just no way for him to understand the system and what it's capable of, is there?
"I hope this isn't the wrong choice, then..." he thought, shifting his attention to Option A. He had left that choice alone ever since he realized that all it gave him were rude responses to his heroines.
And so, for the first time in his new life with this eroge superpower, he chose the first option.
"It's nice to meet you, Shiina-san. I hope we can get along," he told the girl as the world returned to normal.
Instead of saying something as a response, Hiyori simply flashed him another gentle smile, one that prompted three new notifications to appear.
[Hiyori Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with Shiina Hiyori!]
[Your current status with Hiyori has changed to 'Book Buddies'!]
[You have gained 5 Affection Points with Shiina Hiyori!]
"Even though I picked the option that sounds friendly rather than romantic... I still get Affection Points?" the young man asked himself in surprise, although that feeling didn't last long. It's absolutely normal for the system to work like this, despite not making any sense in almost anything that it does. It's to be expected from a superpower like this.
"By the way, how do you know Brontë?" she asked.
Kiyotaka turned his attention to the girl herself once more. "I've already read her novel, as well as her sisters' works."
"That's amazing. I have never met someone who's also into books before," Hiyori breathed out. Her eyes started to sparkle in amazement.
pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ "'Also'? Do you like to read, Shiina-san?" he asked, feigning innocence regarding what he knew about her.
"I do," she nodded. "I was planning on rereading 'Farewell, My Lovely', but I wasn't able to find a copy today."
"Do you need some help finding one? I can spare some time." Kiyotaka figured that it wouldn't take a while to find one book, especially when he knew what she was referring to, so it wouldn't hurt if he helped her out. That's what the system would want, right?
She shook her head. "It's all right. I've already read it. Besides, I was fortunate enough to find another good book while I searched for it. The school library is quite large. If I tried to search everything on its shelves for one book, I'd probably get distracted easily by other books."
"You're probably right," he agreed, before deciding to end their conversation right here. He still had to find Sakura and he had nothing else to do here. Plus, Karuizawa might have arrived already and was now only waiting for him to show up. "I'll be seeing you around then, Shiina-san."
"Wait a moment. Are you looking for a book to read, Ayanokouji-kun?" Hiyori asked, stopping him in his tracks.
Kiyotaka mentally noted to avoid mentioning either Kei or Airi to her. "Not really. I just saw you struggling to get that book, so I decided to lend you a hand. But it would be a good way to release some pent-up stress if I had one," he replied.
He wasn't lying, by the way. Oh, how he would love to read a couple of books during his free time in order to clear his mind and to act as a way to distract him from his troubles. Unfortunately, his current circumstances didn't allow him the luxury of having a relaxing hobby such as reading books.
There's no such thing as 'free time' for him by now.
After taking a moment to mourn about what could have been, Kiyotaka then noticed that Hiyori was already scanning the mystery section while pulling out several books from the shelves. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"Have you already read Dorothy L. Sayers?" she asked.
"I've read Christie, but not Sayers. Sorry."
"In that case, I would most definitely recommend 'Whose Body?' That's the first book in the series featuring Lord Peter. Once you read that book, you'll inevitably want to read the rest." After getting six books from the shelves, Hiyori then handed them over to her newfound friend.
Kiyotaka could only stare at her as well as the books in her hands, puzzled at her behavior. She was completely different from all the other 'heroines' he had encountered so far. From her 'summary' alone, it was stated that she's somewhat like Suzune in terms of social interactions but she's not, in any way, an icy kuudere like the latter. Her behavior was more similar to Kikyo, but without a mask to hide her true intentions.
This girl with an innocent nature... simply had a passion for reading books. That's it.
Another week had passed, and time was ticking.
The midterm exams were next week, so studying became more of a priority for the students of Class D, especially with their future points at stake. They didn't want their points to be any lower than they already were, rather they wanted to increase what they already had.
In order to do that, they needed to be better than how they were last month. They were already lucky that they didn't outright lose all of their points so this time, things were going to be different.
They needed to do two things in order to increase their points this time. The first is to fix their own behavior, which has been going well so far. The other one is passing their midterms and making sure that none of them fail, which is a harder task than one might think.
Despite the efforts of the students who volunteered to teach their classmates, there's no telling if all of them are capable of passing their exams, particularly the seven people who failed the previous mock test.
But, it's not like anyone was sure of what could happen. Who knows? By some miracle, they might be able to pass their midterms, all of them. If that's the case, then no one will be in any danger of being expelled.
After their classes had ended, Ayanokouji and Sakura were heading to the library for yet another tutoring session, which more or less became a regular occurrence for the two of them. The past two weeks were but a blur now, but it didn't take away how they spent the weekdays at the library, studying and learning together.
Especially for Sakura, who thought that she could spend three years in this school staying as someone in the shadows who couldn't even hold a proper conversation with another person.
While they were walking, Kiyotaka then felt his phone vibrate all of a sudden, prompting him to check the message he had received.
He hummed for a few seconds, before returning his phone to his pocket. "Looks like Karuizawa's gonna be late for a bit."
"Eh?" asked Airi, as she turned to him in confusion. This was something that truly surprised her, because Kei was always with them during this time of the day and she had gotten used to the blonde girl's company. "W-Why?"
Kiyotaka shrugged. "She's going to eat with her friends, apparently. But she promises that she won't take long, so it's fine."
Airi blinked. If there's one good thing about Kiyotaka being a tutor, it's the fact that he was incredibly patient and wasn't strict with his methods.
"Oh... w-what do we do while we wait for Karuizawa-san, then?"
"When we get there, find an empty table for us to occupy. I'll be returning these books first, then I'll find you. From this point onward, we're no longer taking information from books. We're going to see and work on how much you actually remembered from the topics I've taught you."
In his hand was a plastic bag filled with the books they had used for the past few days. He borrowed them for Airi and Kei to use and study whenever they had free time.
"O-Okay."
Although she was nervous, Airi knew that this was inevitable. She knew that she won't be able to rely on books for so long, because her performance will depend on how much she knew by heart. That's why she has been putting a lot of effort into her studying ever since Kiyotaka began tutoring her and Kei.
Upon reaching the library, both students were surprised to see that the place looked relatively empty, compared to how it was last week. It didn't even seem like their classmates were there, not that it mattered. As a matter of fact, the quiet atmosphere was a nice change of pace.
"I'll find you once I'm done returning these," he told Airi, who gave him a nod before walking off.
With that, Kiyotaka went to the counter so he could show the books he had borrowed and ensure that he missed nothing. Afterwards, he went to the reference section and returned each book he had to the same place where he found it.
"Now to find Sakura," he thought to himself as soon as he was finished. "I hope Karuizawa's done eating and is on her way here. It'd be a shame for her to be left behind."
While on his way to find his red-haired classmate, Kiyotaka noticed a female student struggling to grab a book on a high shelf in the mystery section. The book was barely within reach, which could be the reason why the girl wasn't using a chair to make things easier.
Deciding that there wouldn't be any harm in helping another student in getting a book from a shelf, Kiyotaka went towards the girl and grabbed the book for her.
"Here you go," he said, handing it towards her.
The girl looked surprised for a moment, before flashing him a thankful smile. "Ah... thank you for your help."
He was about to utter a "you're welcome" as a sign of courtesy and then leave to continue looking for Airi, only to notice the book that she now had in her hand.
"Do you like her work? Brontë?" asked Kiyotaka, realizing that the girl was trying to reach for a novel entitled 'Wuthering Heights', which was one of the greatest novels of the English language.
"I don't really like or dislike the book. It was in the wrong section, so I thought I should return it to its proper place," she replied.
"I see."
Kiyotaka was ready to end the conversation right there, only for the familiar pink screen to appear above her head, which was enough to tell him that this wasn't any random encounter with a female student in the middle of the day.
[Hiyori Shiina: 'Curious Schoolmate']
[Relationship Status: ?]
[Affection Points: 0/100]
[Heroine Summary: Hiyori is a student of Class C who doesn't interact with a lot of people, but remains as a popular figure in the classroom for her intelligence and innocent nature. She dislikes violence and doesn't support the current method of how her class works. She prefers it when everyone gets along instead. She is very fond of reading books and is now interested in you, because you seem to be a bookworm like her as well. She doesn't have anyone in her class whom she can talk to about books, and now she is hoping that you would be one. MUST NOT BE LEWDED... FOR NOW.]
"Class C... this is the first time I've met someone from that class," he thought, taking a moment to consider this newfound information, before shifting his attention to the rest of her 'summary'. "So... she's happy that I'm interested in books like her, because she doesn't have anyone else in her class to talk to about them. Interesting... must not be lewded? What does that mean? Hm, I could have sworn I heard that word before... Eiichiro mentioned it once..."
Deciding to think about that later, he looked at the girl in front of him and observed her closely. At first glance, she appeared to be someone with an innocent nature and looked harmless enough to the point that she wouldn't even harm a fly. She was also quite attractive and cute as well, two traits that reminded him of Nanase, now that he thought about it.
"She doesn't like how her class works, and she dislikes violence..." he continued to observe her 'summary', now paying attention to the information regarding her class. "Does that mean that her class works around violence?"
"Uhm... may I know your name?" the girl asked, tilting her head curiously.
He was quickly brought back to reality by her soft and gentle voice. "It's Ayanokouji Kiyotaka," he replied.
"Which class are you from...?"
"Class D."
"Ohhh..." she muttered, before flashing him a smile that could make even the mightiest of gods bow down to her simply for how innocent and cute she was. "My name is Shiina Hiyori, from Class C."
Kiyotaka nodded, but didn't say anything else for now, opting to wait for something peculiar to happen first.
And he was right.
The world around him turned black and white, and the three usual choices appeared before him. At this point, this was basically second nature to him now, with how many times this has happened in the span of a month and a half.
A. [It's nice to meet you, Shiina-san. I hope we can get along.]
B. [My pleasure. I've always had a soft spot for girls in distress, if I had to be honest.]
C. [You're really cute, Hiyori. I'd like to take you out sometime, if you don't mind~]
Kiyotaka observed each choice closely. The obvious answer to this would be the third option, simply because almost every heroine he comes across likes it when he flirts with them... with a few exceptions like Suzune, Airi, and Kei. He has been careful with the choices he makes around those three, but everyone else was different.
The second option would be another good answer, because it's more of a harmless compliment like it always was. The first option was, of course, the neutral answer and had no romantic intention behind the words.
However, this time was different. Kiyotaka couldn't explain it, but he feels that it would be a huge mistake if he does pick the third choice. In fact, he was also feeling the same way towards the second option. It's like... if he went ahead and chose either of those two, something catastrophic might happen that's caused by the system itself...
Was this feeling caused by his 'dating stats' or something? Did it give him the gift of premonition? Or was it simply a hunch that he had?
Kiyotaka sighed.
There's just no way for him to understand the system and what it's capable of, is there?
"I hope this isn't the wrong choice, then..." he thought, shifting his attention to Option A. He had left that choice alone ever since he realized that all it gave him were rude responses to his heroines.
And so, for the first time in his new life with this eroge superpower, he chose the first option.
"It's nice to meet you, Shiina-san. I hope we can get along," he told the girl as the world returned to normal.
Instead of saying something as a response, Hiyori simply flashed him another gentle smile, one that prompted three new notifications to appear.
[Hiyori Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with Shiina Hiyori!]
[Your current status with Hiyori has changed to 'Book Buddies'!]
[You have gained 5 Affection Points with Shiina Hiyori!]
"Even though I picked the option that sounds friendly rather than romantic... I still get Affection Points?" the young man asked himself in surprise, although that feeling didn't last long. It's absolutely normal for the system to work like this, despite not making any sense in almost anything that it does. It's to be expected from a superpower like this.
"By the way, how do you know Brontë?" she asked.
Kiyotaka turned his attention to the girl herself once more. "I've already read her novel, as well as her sisters' works."
"That's amazing. I have never met someone who's also into books before," Hiyori breathed out. Her eyes started to sparkle in amazement.
pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ "'Also'? Do you like to read, Shiina-san?" he asked, feigning innocence regarding what he knew about her.
"I do," she nodded. "I was planning on rereading 'Farewell, My Lovely', but I wasn't able to find a copy today."
"Do you need some help finding one? I can spare some time." Kiyotaka figured that it wouldn't take a while to find one book, especially when he knew what she was referring to, so it wouldn't hurt if he helped her out. That's what the system would want, right?
She shook her head. "It's all right. I've already read it. Besides, I was fortunate enough to find another good book while I searched for it. The school library is quite large. If I tried to search everything on its shelves for one book, I'd probably get distracted easily by other books."
"You're probably right," he agreed, before deciding to end their conversation right here. He still had to find Sakura and he had nothing else to do here. Plus, Karuizawa might have arrived already and was now only waiting for him to show up. "I'll be seeing you around then, Shiina-san."
"Wait a moment. Are you looking for a book to read, Ayanokouji-kun?" Hiyori asked, stopping him in his tracks.
Kiyotaka mentally noted to avoid mentioning either Kei or Airi to her. "Not really. I just saw you struggling to get that book, so I decided to lend you a hand. But it would be a good way to release some pent-up stress if I had one," he replied.
He wasn't lying, by the way. Oh, how he would love to read a couple of books during his free time in order to clear his mind and to act as a way to distract him from his troubles. Unfortunately, his current circumstances didn't allow him the luxury of having a relaxing hobby such as reading books.
There's no such thing as 'free time' for him by now.
After taking a moment to mourn about what could have been, Kiyotaka then noticed that Hiyori was already scanning the mystery section while pulling out several books from the shelves. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"Have you already read Dorothy L. Sayers?" she asked.
"I've read Christie, but not Sayers. Sorry."
"In that case, I would most definitely recommend 'Whose Body?' That's the first book in the series featuring Lord Peter. Once you read that book, you'll inevitably want to read the rest." After getting six books from the shelves, Hiyori then handed them over to her newfound friend.
Kiyotaka could only stare at her as well as the books in her hands, puzzled at her behavior. She was completely different from all the other 'heroines' he had encountered so far. From her 'summary' alone, it was stated that she's somewhat like Suzune in terms of social interactions but she's not, in any way, an icy kuudere like the latter. Her behavior was more similar to Kikyo, but without a mask to hide her true intentions.
This girl with an innocent nature... simply had a passion for reading books. That's it.
