15 Chapter 15: Inciting a Peaceful and Tranquil Forest

On the first weekend after the class point reveal, Yukio was aimlessly walking around Keyaki mall, in anticipation of hanging out with his friends in a while.

'Coming here early to see if I can spot any prominent characters seems like an interesting idea in my head, but it's not so easy in reality, is it? Haa… there wouldn't happen to be one lone Fuka Kiryuuin or so lazing about somewhere, would there?'

Praying for silly dreams, Yukio walked into Pallet Café and was about to order a drink to pass the time when he heard someone calling out to him.

"Kobayashi-Kun! Over here."

Turning to face the calling, Yukio spotted Kushida sharing a table with Horikita and Ayanokouji.

'Hm… are they discussing plans for the study group? Or was it the reboot version? Well, whatever… it wouldn't hurt to have Hirata's envoy join the conversation. Maybe I can tease Horikita too.'

Deciding to join in on the conversation, Yukio sauntered over to the trio before smirking when he locked eyes with Horikita.

"Hello, Kushida-Chan and Ayanokouji-Kun. And is that Horikita-San? What a pleasant surprise. "

Horikita looked disgusted, inconsiderate of how Yukio would feel at the face she pulled, though his smirk turned into a grin at her reaction.

"I must be unlucky to meet not one, but two people I hate today."

Kushida looked between Horikita and the new arrival before hesitantly asking-

"Um… Kobayashi-Kun, are you familiar with Horikita-San?"

Yukio looked back at Kushida who looked as innocent as an angel while asking the question, but he had no doubts she had nefarious intentions.

'Haa… was it really the right choice to join the conversation? Actually, I guess this will just serve to stop Kushida from suspecting me in the future. This girl is too paranoid. Ayanokouji discovering her dark side has probably heightened her tension.'

Horikita scoffed at the question.

"Horikita-San and I? Not particularly, no. But we became acquainted earlier this week."

Horikita looked back at Kushida, directing a question to the enlightened girl, having decided she would not entertain the annoying boy before her.

"Why did you call him over?"

"Well, we were talking about the possibility of rising to class A. Didn't Kobayashi-Kun point out that it was possible?"

Yukio, receiving the stares of the trio at the table, thought of how pitiful the girls were, sitting right beside their ticket to class A, but being blissfully unaware.

"Hm… I'm sure it is possible. Like I said in class, they wouldn't make it impossible to do so. But I can't tell how they measure the loss of class points, nor how we can even gain points."

"So you had nothing useful to add to the conversation then."

Horikita shot at him.

"I'd need to have been part of the discussion to make a positive contribution, Horikita-San."

Kushida thought it best to intervene before they got sidetracked again.

"That's fine Kobayashi-Kun. We didn't have much anyway. I think having the resolve to reach class A is what matters! So we need to figure out a way to have Sudou-Kun and his friends agree to join again."

"Agree to join again? I thought you'd formed a study group already, Kushida-Chan?"

Kushida spent the next minute explaining the failure of the first study group, by which point Yukio looked over at a Horikita who was trying to hide her shame, with amusement in his eyes.

'I should probably avoid teasing her too much. I wouldn't want to dampen her resolve in forming the study group again.'

"Well… the first time didn't go… so smoothly."

He directed a look at Horikita who looked like she had something to say but continued his words anyway.

"But I know arrogant as you might be, you aren't an idiot, are you? I'm sure you have a plan to reign in those troublesome classmates of ours. They don't want to join Yosuke's group so we'll be counting on you Horikita-Chan. I look forward to seeing what you guys have cooked up next time we meet."

"Thank you for the trust, Kobayashi-Kun!"

Kushida cheered. Knowing he should give them space to continue with their recruitment, he stood up from the seat.

"It was a fun time. See you later Ayanokouji-Kun, Kushida-Chan and Horikita-Chan."

Walking away from the group who were oddly reinvigorated by Yukio's motivation, the young adult heard Horikita muttering under her breath-

"Who let you call me so familiarly?"

He chuckled as he ordered a drink and left the café, heading to the mall where he would soon meet his friends.

The purpose of having left earlier than the arranged time of meet up with Chiaki and Nene was so he could possibly meet with, or at least spot, some of the characters he had read about in the light novel.

For the past month or so he'd only been staying within his small circle, and occasionally with the other groups of class D, and it made him have a desire to want to explore the wonderful world that Syougo Kinugasa had penned in his works.

While things had not gone exactly to plan, he was glad to have met up with the trio from class D since it gave him a chance to live the light-novel experience. And even after being side-tracked by the group, his plans could still bear fruit as he noticed an individual standing in front of the mall.

Recognising the familiar head of platinum-blonde hair, Yukio greeted the B class representative.

"Hey, Ichinose-San."

The girl, and a shorter, blonde girl standing close beside her, swivelled in the direction of the voice. Ichinose beamed when she recognised the face of the boy, while the girl, who Yukio could vaguely recognise but not pin a name to, sported a nonplussed expression.

"Hello, Yukio-Kun! It's great to see you again!"

Chortled the cheerful girl.

"You too, Ichinose-San. It's nice to meet under less… bizarre circumstances. Anyway… what are you guys doing here?"

"Us? We're just waiting for our friends to get here."

Yukio smiled, realising the popular girl would either be around lots of people or have planned an outing already.

"Figures."

"Um… Honami-Chan, who is this?"

The girl that had remained quiet until then, spoke up, as she felt slightly annoyed at the intimacy between Ichinose a random boy she didn't know.

"Hm… Oh, Chihiro-Chan, meet Yukio-Kun from class D. Yukio-Kun, this is my classmate and friend Chihiro Shiranami-Chan."

Yukio's eyes widened imperceptibly as he realised who the girl was and inwardly smirked, as an idea popped into his head.

'Why don't I mess around with her a little?'

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Shiranami-San. I'm Yukio Kobayashi."

"Yukio… Kobayashi? Yukio is your first name?"

The shorter girl fell into a confused stupor as she contemplated Ichinose's way of referring to Yukio, unaware of the confusion growing upon the pink-haired girl's face too.

"Mhm, Ichinose-San is on a first-name basis with me, Shiranami-San."

Intentionally leaving a true but vague remark, Yukio winked at Ichinose to keep silent, who upon realising Yukio's playful idea, nodded her head in understanding as she blushed slightly, while the fragile blonde girl perked up with a look of dejection.

"Are you guys… dating?"

'Ah… let's end it here. Ichinose probably hasn't realised Chihiro's feelings yet. We're going to need Ayanokouji to swoop in and save the day. I'm not too willing to do that.'

Yukio chuckled while Ichinose burst out laughing.

"No, no, Chihiro-Chan. It was just a joke. This is only our second meeting. And… I didn't realise Yukio was your first name?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm not from Japan so using my first name is more comfortable for me. Shiranami-san, please feel free to use it as well."

The blonde sighed in relief while Ichinose looked conflicted but ultimately nodded. At least there would not be similar misunderstandings in the future.

While the three continued their conversation, Nene popped up behind Yukio and tapped his shoulder.

"Ne~ Yukio-Kun, who are you talking to?"

The girl hit an indistinguishable high note in her tone, but no one noticed the odd occurrence, as Yukio introduced the girls to each other.

Eventually, Chiaki arrived, so the group separated, leaving a suggestion to hang out together in the future.

— — —

Nene was sitting down on a seat in the movie theatre beside Chiaki and Yukio. But, unlike the boy in the group, she was occupied with thoughts of Yukio's interaction with the class B representative, completely disregarding the movie which held a lower priority in her head.

'I wonder if he likes girls like that? Haa… why does Chiaki seem so nonchalant about the situation? The guy has obviously expressed his interest, but now he's going to get stolen by some other girl. If it were me, I'd have bagged him already.'

— — —

On the seat beside Nene, the other girl in the group was also lost in thought.

'Since his actions have been getting more profound, I wonder if there's something special in the people he interacts with besides us? I should watch him more closely. Maybe I should probe him a little more strongly too?'

— — —

Unlike his female friends, Yukio was just enjoying the movie, until a stray thought flitted through his mind.

'It's a little problematic that I don't know the exact topics covered in the midterms until Kushida informs everyone, but that's not too big of a problem if I just revise everything, right?'

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, he remembered that his addition to the class would probably cause inflation of the required pass marks.

'Meh… I'll leave Sae to sort out the details. She's not stupid. But… once I receive those test papers, isn't it just too easy to memorise the answers and get perfect marks on everything? How about I cheat on my worst few subjects and take my best ones properly, just to see how I stand in a normal Japanese midterm.'

The evening ended on a positive note, despite everyone's inner thoughts, and the rest of the week concluded normally.

— — —

'Watching Horikita's study group frantically studying is surprisingly fun. I didn't realise I had this sadistic streak in me.'

Kushida had already informed everyone of the change in the exam's contents, which caused the failing students to panic. Hirata, however, quickly reassured the class that they would be fine.

While the after-school study groups continued mostly normally, but with a frantic undertone, Yukio was thinking about a conversation he had had with Chiaki about the school.

'She's not giving herself away, but the questions have, if not before, made me very aware that she recognises the school isn't what it seems. Maybe she'll open up soon? I guess I can only hope for that to happen.'

And like that, two more weeks passed until it was Thursday- the day before the midterm.