"I'm not the one who disappeared for weeks," he retorted in his mind. Kiyotaka wondered what happened to this girl that caused her to disappear off the face of the Earth for about two months, but she may have just been avoiding him. After all, he did kind of humiliate her when they first met, but now it seems like she's fine. "Likewise, Sakayanagi."
"Ayanokouji-kun, do you know her?" Not wasting time, Suzune asked the biggest question that was haunting her, Kikyo, and Kei's minds.
"You could say that."
The black-haired girl sent him a scowl for that completely vague answer that he gave, but he wasn't even paying attention to her. Because of that, she didn't try to get his attention any further and simply went for the other person in their little group who might have an idea on who the other student was.
"Kushida-san, who is this?" Suzune asked her friend who was also staring at the newcomer.
Kikyo showed no expression on the outside, but she definitely felt suspicious and distrustful of this girl. She may actually be a bigger threat than anyone in their class, including Suzune herself. "She's Sakayanagi Arisu, the rumored leader of Class A," she said.
"Class A's leader? And Ayanokouji-kun knows her?" Suzune was surprised at this new knowledge. Perhaps Kiyotaka was learning more on how to be sociable around other people if he knew the leader of another class. "You sound like you already know her, yet you did not tell me?"
Kikyo shook her head. "I've only heard of her thanks to some students talking about Class A. I've never met her personally until now."
The girl took a little glance at Sakayanagi in an attempt to gain an impression of her. At first glance, Sakayanagi was someone who radiated superiority, someone like her but completely different. While she demonstrates her talent at almost any subject with ease, Sakayanagi felt like someone who mostly relies on their mind in order to be cunning and to plan several steps ahead, kind of like a professional chess player.
"You said that she is the rumored leader of her class? What does that mean? You are not sure that she is?"
"It's confusing. From what I've heard, there are some Class A students who treat her as their leader. There are also some who believe that the right person for that position is a guy named 'Katsuragi'. That's all I know, Horikita-san."
"A battle for power within their class? Interesting."
Back with Kiyotaka and his 'childhood friend', the young man decided to get this over with as soon as possible. While he didn't feel completely drained yet, he will definitely feel that way soon enough now that Arisu was here. He was sure that the Class A student wasn't here to make amends or anything and to make matters worse, his four other heroines were still here and he was certain that they wouldn't be going anywhere...
"What are you doing here?" he asked in his usual apathetic tone.
"Hm, what a rude question out of nowhere. I simply thought of buying something to eat and I saw this place. The midterm exams have just ended too, have they not? What better way to celebrate an accomplishment?" she smirked.
"Then why aren't you inside the shop yet?"
"Can't I say hello to an old friend first?"
"You already did," he said flatly.
Arisu giggled. "Hoh? What's with this change of attitude, Ayanokouji-kun? This wasn't how you acted towards me when we met. What happened to that tone you used on me when we met during our first day here?"
Oh, how he was so tempted to use that same tone on Arisu right now to silence her, but he couldn't do anything right now with the other girls around... which means that Arisu was saying these things because she knew that he won't be able to do anything to stop her, lest he risk the others seeing him act like a playboy that's out to seduce everyone around him.
Truth be told, he could just do it regardless of the consequences, but he didn't feel like dealing with four other girls who were all interested in him. He needed the comfort of his home and Bed-chan more than ever.
"Ayanokouji-kun, what the hell is she talking about?"
Oh, dear... the questions have begun and the first of many came from Karuizawa. What's worse is that the others turned their attention to him and expected an answer as well. If he doesn't give the blonde girl what she wants, it'll only trigger a chain reaction from the others and they'll start demanding him for one!
"I have no idea," he replied, pretending to look dumb.
"Oh, I wasn't aware that you were accompanied by your classmates. My apologies for not noticing," said Arisu, looking away from Kiyotaka for the first time and shifting her attention to his classmates instead.
Kei didn't take kindly to what she said, thinking of it as an insult that meant she and her classmates weren't even worth looking at.. "The hell is that supposed to mean?" she asked, narrowing her eyes in growing anger.
Arisu remained calm, her smug look not wavering. "I mean nothing by it. I simply had my attention on Ayanokouji-kun the entire time that I wasn't able to notice any of you."
Kei continued to narrow her eyes, but backed down for now. She turned towards her friend instead who had remained quiet up until now, as she had no idea what to do at the moment. Her ice cream had already melted completely, because she hasn't touched it ever since Arisu made her presence known.
"Sakura-san," the blonde called out, snapping her out of her little trance. "You're good at reading people, right? What do you think about her? I honestly don't trust her..."
Doing what was asked of her, Airi observed the Class A student closely, taking note of the girl's demeanor and aura. "U-Uhm... I don't know what she's planning, but... she's not here just to talk to Ayanokouji-kun... I think..." she muttered.
"Then that means she's here to show off..."
"I-I don't know... it could be for another reason too..."
While Kei and Airi were in a conversation of their own regarding the lilac-haired girl from Class A, Suzune decided to satisfy her own curiosity regarding the 'rumored leader' of the top class in their year. Whether or not Arisu would answer her questions was a different story, though.
"How do you know Ayanokouji-kun?" she asked.
Arisu decided to humor her for a bit. "Hmm, I suppose you could say we are... connected, in a way."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Kikyo, tilting her head in confusion.
"That is all that I will be telling you," the lilac-haired girl chuckled. "If you wish to know more, you will have to ask him instead of me."
"Why?" Suzune frowned slightly. Now she was certain that there's something going on between Kiyotaka and this girl, although she had no clue what as of now. "Are you hiding something from us, Sakayanagi-san?"
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Before you ask him, however, do bear in mind that Ayanokouji-kun doesn't like being asked personal questions such as this. Expect to be turned down if you try to ask him."
Suzune wasn't surprised that Kiyotaka was like that. At first, he didn't want to admit that he scored 50s in his entrance exams, but eventually told her the truth. Now that she thought about it, he had every right to refuse to answer any of her questions, but he still did. She could try and ask him about Sakayanagi Arisu, but the girl had a feeling that he would flat-out refuse to tell her anything.
"If that's the case, then why not just tell us? Or is your relationship with him something that cannot be disclosed?" she continued.
"Where's the fun in simply giving you the answer?" Arisu smirked. "You don't have to worry, though. It's not like we're making some kind of impossible deal behind your backs. We're not planning anything that's going to shock you in the future."
Suzune raised an eyebrow at her. "You do realize that your words are only making you more suspicious in our eyes, correct?"
Arisu chuckled in amusement. "Then, by all means, ask Ayanokouji-kun what you wish to know."
Growing tired and annoyed of this new girl, Kikyo decided to just go on ahead and ask Kiyotaka what's the deal with this girl who didn't even look like she was a high school student. Seriously, give this girl a little push, and then she wouldn't be able to get up because of how fragile she looked.
"Ayanokou—" Kikyo immediately cut herself short when she noticed that the man in question wasn't even with them. "Wait, where did he go?"
Right away, the focus of the whole conversation switched from finding out more about this mysterious girl to Kiyotaka suddenly vanishing from sight. All of them turned their heads in every direction in search of a young man with brown and wearing the school uniform, but Kiyotaka was nowhere to be found.
How the hell did he even do that without any of them noticing? It was like he disappeared along with the wind, kind of similar to a ninja or something...
"What a jerk. He really left us behind without even saying anything," Kei pouted. Now she's having thoughts of punching him on the shoulder the next time she sees him... yeah, that sounds like a fitting payback for ditching them while they were still here.
"I-I-I'm sure h-he has a good explanation why he left so suddenly..." Airi chuckled nervously, although she too felt saddened that Kiyotaka left them without a care in the world.
"Oh, my... how interesting~" Arisu chuckled, looking unbothered by his sudden disappearance and actually felt amused more than anything else. "He left without even saying goodbye... well, since he is gone, there is no reason for me to continue this conversation. Until the next time we meet, Class D."
After giving them a nonchalant wave, Sakayanagi turned around and was ready to head into the ice cream shop, before being stopped in her tracks before she could leave.
"Wait," Suzune called out. "Before you leave, I want to ask you something."
The lilac-haired girl shook her head and continued on her way regardless. "As I have said, I have no intention of giving you the answer you seek, Horikita Suzune-san."
"You said that Ayanokouji-kun had a change of attitude compared to when you first met, which happened to be on the first day of school. What did you mean by that? Was he acting different that time?"
Arisu immediately realized that it was a completely different question from what she asked him earlier and after hearing everything that came out of Suzune's head, it made the girl remember what happened during that night. She only brought it up earlier, albeit in a subtle manner, in order to catch Kiyotaka off guard. But now... it was all coming back to her.
Yes, not even the smartest mind in Class A could deny that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka completely broke through her facade and made her feel weak. She would have submitted to him if he made any further move on her but for some reason, he didn't and left her alone afterwards. That didn't mean that the damage hadn't been done, though.
In fact, his words haunted her for several days to the point that her father, the chairman himself, had to check on her because his daughter didn't attend her classes for three days straight. Apparently, Arisu locked herself in her room that night and barely came out. Due to her absences, Class A ended up losing more points than what they're originally supposed to end up with.
It was also because of her steamy encounter with the 'Masterpiece' that she avoided any possible contact she might have with Kiyotaka for two months, as it would have been hard and awkward for her to be near him... not after the myriad of feelings that he caused her to experience when he cornered against the wall.
Even now, when it has already been two months since that encounter, Arisu still felt a little nervous about facing him and to make things worse, she had to recall that embarrassing memory of her being cornered against a wall. Thankfully, she was able to pull through and didn't embarrass herself in any way.
ραпdα nᴏνa| сom Arisu thought about how to answer Horikita. Of course, she could just refuse to answer again, but that would most likely end up in her defeat. If these girls fail to ask her, then they will ask Ayanokouji instead and there's a big chance that he will tell the story to them in a way that will humiliate her for sure! There's no doubt that he will do such a thing to get back at her for today...
The girl quickly thought of something that's vague and will end up in her favor. "Hmm... let's just say that I wasn't able to get any sleep the whole night after we met," she smirked and looked back for a moment to face the Class D girls.
As Sakayanagi began to walk away, Horikita and the rest of the girls could only stare at her retreating figure with confusion evident on their faces.
"That makes absolutely no sense," Kei commented, making no move to hide her confusion. "She didn't get any sleep after meeting him? What, she couldn't get him out of her mind that day?"
Airi nodded in agreement, feeling confused too.
Kikyo was in the same boat. The first thought that came to her mind was that Sakayanagi is also interested in Kiyotaka as well, but it wouldn't make sense. From the start, she could tell that the relationship between them was more of a rivalry than romance. The other thing that caught her attention was that Sakayanagi said that his attitude had changed from the first time they met... but what kind of 'change' was it?
Because of this, she turned her attention to the person who might have a clue on what Arisu just told them.
"I wonder what she meant by that... do you have any idea, Horikita-san?"
"Not at all..."
Suzune drew a blank as she thought of possible answers, but they did get a response from her at least... even though it was something that they didn't understand. Of course, they could ask Kiyotaka what his 'friend' from Class A about what she meant, but Suzune felt pissed with him at the moment.
Oh, he's definitely getting a smack from her for leaving them out of nowhere, and she could tell that she's not the only one who's angry with him.
One thing was for sure, though.
The next time that she meets Sakayanagi Arisu, it would be on opposite sides of a battlefield.
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