12 Chapter 12: A Distress Call from the Peaceful Rice Paddy

"Hey Yukio-Kun, would you be able to help with the study session today? You received the top grades on the quiz so I feel your presence would really motivate everyone. Yukimura-san and Kouenji-san have rejected me already."

Hirata Yosuke came over to Yukio's desk and asked the boy, who was packing his textbooks away signalling the end of the school day.

"Ah, I had something planned for this evening, Yosuke-Kun. But, I'll join you guys for the future sessions."

"Thanks, Yukio-Kun."

"How many students have you managed to gather already?"

Yukio curiously asked, to which Hirata responded despondently.

"About five. It's a shame that Sudou-san and Ike-Kun didn't want to join though."

'Five? That's a good number, no? I guess when you have a messiah complex you'd want to take care of everyone. Since we've become good friends, it's probably fine to burst his bubble a little.'

"Don't sweat it. Someone else is planning to organise another study session for just them."

"Oh, that's great! Who is it?"

"Funnily enough, it's Horikita-San and Ayanokouji-Kun."

A look of pleasant surprise flitted across the boy's face, as Yukio wondered how genuinely good the young man was.

"Hm… Horikita-San? She's helping with the class? That's wonderful!"

"Mhm. But well, recruiting the guys doesn't look to be going so smoothly."

Yukio directed his gaze to Ayanokouji pitifully getting rejected by Sudou and Ike at the back of the class.

"Ah… should we do something about it, Yukio-Kun?"

"Hm… Probably not. There's a reason they didn't want to participate in your group. I think Kushida-Chan will help organise it for them, so don't worry about it."

"My group… is it because of me, Yukio-Kun?"

The boy had a confused and rueful look while asking the question.

"Frankly speaking, it is, Yosuke-Kun. But you have to understand, being the leader of the class means your going to be popular with girls, and so you'll gain the ire of some of the boys."

"Well… I understand that. But why won't they join my study group?"

"I don't really know. It's probably something petty like not wanting to be taught by the only boy with a girlfriend. And they probably imagine you flirting during the session."

"Ah… Karuizawa-Chan and I aren't… like that."

"I know Yousuke-Kun. And despite my impression of your relationship with Karuizawa-Chan…"

Yukio looked pointedly at Hirata since the friends had discussed relationships prior to Hirata's relationship, and both had said they weren't interested currently. Yukio knew Hiarata's circumstances so he didn't make things too hard on the sheepish boy since some of the responsibility was on him.

"…the other guys see it for what it is- the popular guy in a relationship with the popular girl. So you'll just have to get over it, I guess."

"I see. I just hope they join Horikita-San's study group so they don't fail the midterms."

"Don't worry about it. I'll check in with them later."

Leaving one of his only male friends with words of gratitude, Hirata walked off to accompany a small group to the library.

— — —

"Welcome to my humble abode."

At the door of dorm 403, a tall foreign-looking boy attired in a relaxed fit- joggers and a Tee, greeted two girls at his entrance.

"We'll be disturbing you, Yukio-Kun."

The duo entered and Yukio directed them to a round table in the middle of the room where they sat, before offering them a drink.

"Coffee please, Yukio-Kun. You've decorated this room quite a bit, haven't you?"

Nene observed the room, feeling the comfortable rug below her bottom.

"With a boy's touch."

Added Chiaki, noticing the greyish-blue theme throughout.

"I guess. I've visited some drab rooms across the hall and it's not something I'd like to wake up to. So, what's up? I left the classroom early yesterday so I couldn't stay back to hear the reaction."

"Oh, so…"

After going on about the fit the students threw yesterday, she went on to talk about the study groups introduced today.

"Yep, Yosuke-Kun's asked me to help out with his. I believe Horikita-San is planning to organise one of her own as well."

"Oh! Is there something between Horikita-San and Ayanokouji-San? The rumours are that they're in a relationship."

Nene gossiped, hoping to receive an answer from Yukio since she assumed he'd chat with the other guys. Horikita was known to keep to herself and barely talked to the girls, let alone the guys.

"Hm… they're not in a relationship. I know that for sure. But Ayanokouji did say they had a sort of partnership, I guess."

"It seems like all boys in our class want is to be in a relationship."

Chiaki looked at Yukio, and the boy just smiled at her obvious attempt to provoke a reaction.

"Well, the girls in our class are pretty hot, so I don't see why they wouldn't want to. Why? Don't you guys fancy anyone in the class?"

"Nope! They're all too immature. I'll probably look for love in the older students."

Nene chimed in, while Chiaki just nodded.

"I'm sure they are. Since Hirata's already taken and I'm not looking for a relationship, I guess there are no good guys left."

Yukio haughtily raised his head while Nene laughed at his obvious quip.

"Have you ever been confessed to?"

Chiaki bonked his head while asking dryly, causing Yukio to reel.

"Unfortunately not, no. Maybe it's because I hang around you guys all the time."

He said in mock thought.

"I've already been confessed to, though."

"Huh?"

Yukio asked in disbelief.

"Who was it, Nene-Chan?"

"Some class A kid, last week. I rejected him because he was kind of lame."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I… thought it was a girl thing."

"You Baka. I'm a guy so I can check if they're a decent guy, you know."

Retorted Yukio, wondering if there were any other relationships from the light novels he was forgetting. As far as he could remember, Hirata and Kei were the only couple during the first semester.

Yukio had decided to call them by their first names because saying Matsushita-Chan was a bit of a handful, and so that others didn't get the wrong idea, referring to Nene with her first name too was a foregone conclusion.

After talking about a few more useless topics, the group moved on to studying.

Nene was average all around, while Chiaki's ability seems to be slightly above average, but that was debatable. Yukio was great at math, English, science and social studies, but he had to catch up on the others.

With the trio sitting in comfortable silence, and the odd question about the material here and there, the time passed by.

"Chiaki-Chan. Could you help me with this question?"

Yukio presented a slightly harder question which should hypothetically be above her ability and she didn't fail to act as she should.

"Sorry, Yukio-Kun. I'm not able to answer questions like those."

'I really want to see what's under that shell. She planned to maintain average grades so no one would be jealous of her grades I believe. I can see why that would be a good idea, but I prefer to hide in plain sight by receiving good grades- sort of like Yukimura-Kun.'

At 7.30 pm, Yukio stood up and stretched. It was feeling stuffy in the room so he went and opened the window.

"I'll get started on dinner. Grilled fish was it, Nene-Chan?"

"Yep, Yukio-Kun."

"Chiaki-Chan?"

"That'll do, Yukio-Kun. Would you like some help?"

"I'll be fine. Just give me 30 minutes."

Yukio walked behind the counter and started to cook while the girls packed away to clear the table for the meal.

— — —

Both the girls watched the boy working his way around the kitchen before Nene whispered in Chiaki's ear.

"I think he has the hots for you, Chiaki-Chan. You should snag him up before someone confesses to him. You know how boys are. Most of them accept the first confession that comes their way so he might get stolen away."

Nene advised with good intentions, but which set Chiaki off thinking about the boy they were discussing.

'After all this time, I still can't seem to figure him out. The class has just been a disappointment and I think he's been a big reason why. I can still remember his unusual behaviour from the second day. And yesterday, he just calmly comforted the class after the big reveal. He's planning something and I really want to know what it is.'

"Are you listening to me? What do you think of him, Chiaki-Chan?"

'A relationship? Not anytime soon. I don't really want to get so close to any of the boys while at this school since they might figure out that I'm a fake. And something like a relationship is a weakness I'm not willing to have.'

"Heard you loud and clear, Nene-Chan. Honestly, I don't see what you're seeing. He's cool, but he's not interested in me. And even if he was, he isn't interested in a relationship right now."

"He says he's not, but do you think that's the case?"

Nene rebutted.

"I think he's mature enough to act as he says. And if he wasn't, it would say a lot about him anyway. I like what we have as friends now, so there's no point ruining it, you know."

'Not until I can pry into that mind of his, at least.'

Nene just looked at her thoughtfully but didn't continue on the topic.

— — —

"Dinner is served."

The trio tucked into the delicious-looking meal. Nene made an odd expression while Chiaki savoured the taste.

"Your food never fails to impress, Yukio-Kun."

"Right?! Now that I've only got 30,000 private points, I'm going to have to hold back on eating out. Please feed me, Yukio-Kun!"

"Ha Ha, thanks for the praise!"

Yukio contemplated telling them about the importance of private points, and the fact that they'd get the midterms paper from Kushida and Ayanokouji soon, but decided against it.

'There's no point disseminating too much information about the mechanics of the school. The fewer people know, the more cards in my hands, and the lower the risk of spread. Keeping the news about the paper is a no-brainer.'

After enjoying the hearty meal, the pair of girls helped clean up, and Yukio noticed Nene sending suggestive looks to Chiaki who brushed them off.

They eventually left, and Yukio decided to get in a workout before bed. His ordinary day ended with him thinking of the contents of his student profile and how he would be spending his next few weeks until midterms.