Classroom of the Elite: The Eroge

"I'm sorry, I was rambling. Am I bothering you?" asked Hiyori, adopting a worried look when she noticed that he couldn't say anything in return.

"No. I was just a little surprised. I'm not really here to read books, but I might as well borrow these so I can read them when I have time," he shrugged, taking the books from her. "If I have time, that is."

[You have gained 3 Affection Points with Shiina Hiyori!]

"That makes me glad," Hiyori looked extraordinarily happy. She smiled so widely that her eyes scrunched up, and to the point that it got Kiyotaka to feel a sudden tightness in his chest for a moment. "You're not here to read, right? Would you like to walk with me to the dorms, then?"

Kiyotaka blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

That was even more puzzling than a simple book recommendation. Walking with a girl was a big red flag, especially for someone whom he just met. To make things worse, she likely lives on the 4th floor of the first dorm building, because she's one of his heroines as well...

"No one in Class C likes reading, so I don't really have anyone to talk to," she added, noticing that the young man was left speechless after her question.

"That's not my concern. I'm sure you're aware of the class standings by now, so wouldn't it be bad if we were seen together? Especially if people find out I'm in Class D," he explained. "All the more reason to be wary, since it seems like her class is being led through violence. I don't want to gain attention from other classes this early, although talking to Shiina about books would be a nice break from all of this."

"Please don't worry about that. I'm not really interested in the classes and their points, and I've never been interested in conflict, either. Do you find talking to me a problem because of this?" Hiyori asked.

Kiyotaka shook his head. "No, no. I have no issue with you, personally."

The worried look on her face disappeared and was replaced with a smile. "I'm glad. I wouldn't want our classes to clash over something so trivial. I'd prefer we all get along," she said.

"I'm glad you think that way."

Hiyori nodded. "So, would it be fine with you? Walking with me to the dorms? I'd like to talk to you more about the works you've already read, Ayanokouji-kun."

The young man was about to politely decline the offer [even though it would be a good way to take a break from all the craziness in his life at the moment] because of his responsibility as a tutor for two of his classmates, when he heard someone clearing their throat behind him, most likely in an attempt to get his attention.

"Ahem."

Kiyotaka turned around to see Kei standing there, with her arms crossed while sending him a frown. It was clear that she felt displeased about something, though Kiyotaka had no idea what it could be. And when exactly did she get here? From her text earlier, it honestly seemed that she wasn't even halfway to being done eating with her friends.

"What are you doing here, Ayanokouji-kun?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him suspiciously. "Why aren't you with Sakura-san?"

"When did you arrive?" he asked in return.

She smiled eerily. "Just now actually, and look at what I find. Aren't you supposed to be teaching us, Mr. Tutor? Why aren't you with Sakura-san?" Kei said in a voice that was full of sarcasm.

"Why do I feel like I did something wrong here?" he said in his thoughts, confused at her behavior. Kei has never acted like this before, so it was just strange that her personality took a sudden 180. "I was on my way to Sakura but I saw that she needed help with something, so I took a little detour."

As he gestured towards Hiyori, the girl herself blinked a few times in realization after unintentionally listening to the conversation between the two classmates.

"Oh, are you supposed to tutor your classmates, Ayanokouji-kun?"

"Yes. I was just about to decline your offer when Karuizawa suddenly appeared, Shiina-san," he explained. Kiyotaka decided that it would be for the best if he doesn't mention anything about Hiyori asking him to walk with her to the dorms in front of Kei, because she already looked like she's about to blow a fuse...

Like an innocent angel, Hiyori bowed her head in apology. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take you away from your responsibilities."

"It's fine. You didn't know."

"Well, it seems that you're already done helping her with whatever she needs help with," the blonde gyaru smiled sweetly as she grabbed the boy's arm before pulling him away from there. "Let's go, then."

Kiyotaka let himself be pulled away by his blonde heroine, but still turned his head to look at Hiyori for the briefest of moments. "See you around, Shiina-san."

Hiyori smiled and waved her arm in farewell, which was a sight that made the teen's heart skip a beat unknowingly.

It was an image that Kiyotaka wouldn't be able to get out of his mind even if he tried to.

As they searched for the table where Airi was, Kei took a hidden glance at Kiyotaka, who had his usual indifferent expression. She wondered who that was, the girl he was talking to earlier. Kei was completely sure that she wasn't a classmate of theirs, because she had never seen her before. Shiina, her name was? She must be from another class then... but why would Kiyotaka talk to someone from another class?

"So who was that girl?" she asked.

"Shiina Hiyori from Class C."

"What the—" Kei looked surprised for a moment, before she gave him an accusing stare. "Why the hell were you talking to her then?"

He gave her a curious look. "Does it really bother you that I helped her out instead of being with Sakura?"

"No! I meant, why were you talking to the enemy?"

Kiyotaka tilted his head in confusion. "Enemy?"

"She's from another class, isn't she? That makes her an enemy."

He felt appalled by that accusation from Karuizawa. "It's true that she's from another class, but I wouldn't say she's an 'enemy', Karuizawa. If you took a good look at her earlier, you'd know why. Shiina-san doesn't even look like someone who'd hurt a fly."

"That doesn't change the fact that you were talking to someone from another class," she scowled, looking pissed for some reason.

"Wait, is she jealous?" Kiyotaka asked in his thoughts. "If it makes you feel better, it was just a chance encounter. I helped her get a book from a tall shelf and we had a little discussion about books."

Having gotten through the same situation before, Kiyotaka knew how to resolve this. He reached out with his hand and patted the girl's head, causing her eyes to widen in surprise and making her stop in her tracks.

Kei couldn't say or think of anything else at the moment. All that her mind could focus on was Kiyotaka's hand that rested on top of her head.

Obviously, the first reaction that erupted her mind was to slap his hand away and yell at him for laying a hand on her, and then accuse him of being a pervert.

However, the complete opposite happened.

Karuizawa did nothing to remove his hand from her head. All she could do was remain in her place, look up at him in shock, and feel her heart beating faster inside her chest. Within a few seconds, the girl found herself enjoying his action to the point that her face turned red out of embarrassment.

In the end, all that came out of her mouth were three simple words.

"It better be..." she pouted, looking away to hide her face from him.

[You have gained 10 Affection Points with Karuizawa Kei!]

[You made a Tsundere jealous! You gained +2 in Charm!]

"These headpats are a really big help..." he let out a sigh of relief before removing his hand. He could now admit that it was a useful 'skill'. The only useful one he had so far. "...and that pout of hers is kind of cute."

While he was deep in his thoughts, Kiyotaka missed the little whine of disappointment from the girl, which was most likely because he stopped patting her head.

"Glad to see you've calmed down. Let's continue looking for Sakura," he told the girl before continuing on his way.

Grumbling to herself about certain guys being able to give comforting headpats, Kei followed after him.

It didn't take them long to find their classmate, who ended up at the second level of the library. As they headed to where Airi was, Kei shifted her attention to the books that Kiyotaka held.

"And what are those for? More books for us to study?" she asked whilst folding her arms across her chest.

"Actually, no. Shiina-san recommended these to me earlier, so I'm planning to read them in my spare time... if I have any, that is."

"Is that so..."

Kei had calmed down considerably by now, but her anger was quickly resurfacing after finding out that the books he had were basically from that girl earlier. Fortunately, she did nothing more than pout at him this time, which was certainly better than Kei lashing out at him for simply talking to a girl from another class.

"Maybe I shouldn't have said that," Kiyotaka thought to himself regardless, realizing that he may have just said the wrong thing.

He definitely shouldn't have.