104 Act 17: Scene 6

After classes had ended, Kiyotaka sent a quick message to both Kei and Airi, telling them to meet him outside of the classroom for something important. Both girls had no idea what he wanted to tell them but nonetheless, they followed his order and stood in the hallway outside of the classroom.

They only waited for about a minute before Kiyotaka stepped out of the classroom and walked up towards them.

"I'm glad you two are here," he acknowledged their presence with a nod.

"Is there something you need to tell us, Kiyotaka?" Kei raised an eyebrow at him curiously.

Airi's eyes widened at what she heard from her friend's mouth, as she turned to face the blonde gyaru with a look of bewilderment on her face.

"K-Karuizawa-san, you... you called Ayanokouji-kun by his name..." she stuttered.

"Yeah, something wrong with it?"

"N-No, it's just... it's surprising that you were using his first name... it's supposed to be done only to people you're c-close with..."

Kei shrugged. "I've been calling him by his name for a while now. You already said it, it's normal for you to call the people you're close to by their names, I'm pretty sure we're enough at this point. Also, I'm surprised you only realized just now."

"Oh, I... I haven't noticed... I'm sorry," Airi hung her head in shame. Ugh, she was such an idiot. Her friend literally kissed Kiyotaka in front of everyone about a week ago, there's no way that they wouldn't be 'close' after that.

Just thinking about that moment brought a little ache in her heart, but Airi ignored the feeling. Now isn't the time for it. Besides, Kei wasn't the only one who kissed Ayanokouji that time.

"Eh, no worries. It's nothing big," Kei chuckled, before she suddenly remembered something important. "Oh, that reminds me! Do you mind if I start calling you by your name, Sakura-san?"

"W-W-What...?!" Airi cried out in embarrassment.

"Woah, chill out. It's just a name, girl. No need to get worked up about it, like I told you at the library when we first met."

"B-B-But... t-t-t-this is something different...!"

"Well duh, that's why I'm asking you first, right?" the blonde chuckled once again, finding her friend's reaction to her question hilarious. "Is it fine if I call you by your name?"

The redhead's blush grew darker, and it got to the point that she had to turn her head away. This was something that she had never experienced before, someone asking for her permission to call her by her first name, mainly because she didn't have any friends before... certainly not to this extent.

"Uhm... I suppose it's... f-fine..."

"Nice! I know I already said this before, but you can call me by my name too, Airi-chan."

The blonde patted her on the shoulder softly, causing Airi to blush harder, although there was a hint of a smile on her face out of happiness.

"I'll... k-keep it in mind, K-Kei-san..."

The two girls shared a smile before turning their attention back towards Kiyotaka, who was just staring at them with his usual impassive look. Both Airi and Kei were immediately hit with a wave of embarrassment, realizing that they had left the young man out of their conversation... even though he was the one who asked them to meet him here.

"Oh, uh... sorry, Kiyotaka. We got distracted talking to each other..." Karuizawa scratched the back of her head awkwardly, having no idea what to say, really.

"Don't worry about it. As a matter of fact, I appreciate you talking to Sakura as much as you can. You know she doesn't really interact with the rest of our classmates."

Airi lowered her head in embarrassment, unable to refute that statement because it was true.

"While you could have been nicer about it, I agree. Airi-chan here needs some more friends. But I'm fine with being her only friend for now if she wants!" Kei placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder, in response to that little jab from the boy. "Anyway, what are we gonna talk about?"

Kiyotaka put on a more serious look as he took a deep breath, before uttering his next words.

"I want to remind you both that even though the whole class is focused on helping Miyake at the moment, you shouldn't forget about studying on your own. We still have our finals to worry about before the summer break, just so you don't forget."

His two heroines shifted in their places almost in an uncomfortable manner, mostly out of embarrassment. It's as if the thought of studying didn't cross their minds at all before this.

"Well... I have to admit that I completely forgot about studying, hehe..." Kei chuckled nervously, before waving her hands before her frantically. "But trust me, it's not because I didn't want to! It's just that I've been more focused on helping Miyake-kun, that's it."

"Uhm... I've been studying a little..." Airi admitted while keeping her head down. "B-But it's hard to understand lessons without you explaining them to me, Ayanokouji-kun... I-I understand everything better w-when you're helping me."

Kiyotaka observed them for a moment, gauging the answers that they had given him

"All right, first of all... Kei, while I'm sure Hasebe and Miyake would appreciate your efforts to help out, you shouldn't forget about your responsibilities as a student," he told the blonde gyaru.

Kei just nodded her head, knowing that she shouldn't let this whole case overshadow the fact that she's a student who has to study in order to pass her exams. To do otherwise would be a disservice to the hard work that Kiyotaka put in to help them!

"...Sakura, it's good that you still tried to study on your own, even if you're having a hard time. Having initiative is the first step in improving, after all. And don't worry about struggling in the lessons because after Miyake's case, I'm planning to resume our study sessions."

Airi looked elated at hearing that their sessions will happen again, mostly because she found it easier to study with him around, as if his presence alone was a motivator. Meanwhile, Kei let out a slight groan. Though she had no problems with studying in order to get good grades, there's no way she would look forward to doing it all the same.

"Studying at the library again, huh? It was fun being away from that place while it lasted..."

"Unless you feel confident enough in yourself to be able to get through the exams without my help, then you need to do this, Kei."

"I've a long way to go before being as smart as you..." the blonde sighed again, before sending the young man a wink. "Oh well, at least it won't be that bad. After, you'll be there with me, Kiyotaka~"

Kiyotaka shook his head and simply continued on with his words.

"While it's good that you can admit that you're not yet capable enough on your own, you can't stay at this level, Kei. Sooner or later, you'll have to get through exams on your own. I won't be able to help the two of you forever, after all."

"Ugh, of course I know that. It's just that studying is so boring when it's only me! It's a lot more fun when it's with friends..." she pouted.

"We can still study together if that's what you're worried about," Kiyotaka shook his head.a "My only point is that you have to be capable enough on your own so you don't have to depend on me anymore to pass your exams."

"Oh," she blinked a few times in realization, before smiling brightly. "Well, that's a relief! At least I'll still be able to do this!"

"Here we go again..." he said to himself, resisting the urge to sigh in exasperation as Kei lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him in a big hug, as the girl seemed to be enjoying this moment with him.

While Kiyotaka struggled to deal with an overly clingy Karuizawa who was having the time of her life hugging him, Airi remained quiet with her head hanging low. Her gaze was directed to the ground and full of doubt, with the young man's words echoing in her mind over and over as though she was reminding herself of them.

She has to be capable on her own? It sounds like a fever dream. A task that's completely impossible for someone like her.

Airi couldn't see herself being confident without Kiyotaka around to help her. As a matter of fact, the only reason why she was even here and not expelled was Kiyotaka himself, because he helped her through his tutoring sessions. She couldn't see herself succeeding without depending on him.

"B-But what if we still need you to teach us, Ayanokouji-kun? W-What if... I still need you... to teach me...?" she asked nervously, struggling to even raise her head to look at the young man because she was afraid of what he would say. Would he turn her away? Would he stop tutoring her as a whole? Just thinking of these scenarios was already making her second-guess herself...

"I'll help you with your studies for as long as you need, Sakura. But there will come a time where you'll have to get through your exams without me. I won't always be there to hold your hand, and you know that."

Airi bit her lip. She wasn't that dumb. Of course she knew that Kiyotaka won't always be there. In fact, if she ever graduates from this school, there's no guarantee that he will still be by her side if it happens. For all she knew, she could be all on her own after a year of being here.

Still, the thought of being alone without anyone to help her... it scared her.

"But what if I can't? T-The only reason why I even passed the midterms was because... was because you were helping me."

"Then you just have to take a risk and be confident in yourself that you can do it."

The redhead blinked a few times as she registered those words in her mind, as if she had never even considered them before.

"Take a risk...?"

Kiyotaka managed to pry himself off of Kei's grip before shaking his head. "And I disagree with what you said. You didn't pass the midterms because I was helping you. I don't recall giving you the answers, nor did I give you a code of some kind to help you during the exam. Did I?"

"...n-no, you didn't..." she murmured, a thoughtful expression taking over her face.

"Besides, I said it after the exams, remember? That achievement was yours. I didn't accomplish it for you. I'm not the one who answered your test, am I? It was you who worked hard for a passing grade. All I did was guide you to your goal, Sakura."

"Y-You did..."

"...which also means that you took a risk when it happened. None of us could have known who would pass and who would fail when the midterm examinations took place. All of us took a risk by going through those tests with the possibility of getting expelled if we failed, and our efforts paid off."

Kiyotaka took a step forward and placed his hand on Airi's shoulder, making her gasp softly in response. It also caused her to raise her head and look at the young man directly, unable to steer her gaze elsewhere.

"You took that risk despite knowing that you could get expelled if you failed. You have it in yourself to be capable enough on your own, Sakura."

The girl's blush darkened even further, but she did her best to keep herself from losing her composure... even if he was so close to her like this...

"Wow... I definitely wasn't expecting you to give Airi-chan a life lesson just now," Kei commented as she watched the interaction between them. No, she wasn't jealous at all because there's nothing to be jealous about. It's not like Airi was going to stake her claim on Kiyotaka like Chiaki and Kikyo, the girl was too shy for that sort of thing.

"Anyway, that's all I wanted to tell you both. It wasn't my intention to take up a lot of your individual time," Kiyotaka heaved a deep sigh and moved away from Airi, allowing the red-haired girl to breathe normally again.

"Aw, can't we hang out together for a bit, Kiyotaka?" Kei pouted and tugged on his shirt a few times as an invitation.

He shook his head. "I have to get going. I think Hasebe wants my help to keep on searching for our witness, so I'll see you both tomorrow."

"Oh, fine... but don't think you'll be leaving without this!"

With a mischievous look on her face, Kei threw her arms out wide and wrapped them around the brown-haired teen in another big hug, as she nuzzled her face against his chest. It always felt good to do this with Kiyotaka, and she could never see herself getting tired of doing this... even if he has yet to return her hugs.

"Yes, you like to hug me. Is there anything new?" he said blankly.

"Oh, I'm gonna get you to hug me back eventually. I don't understand why you don't want to when you already did it before. Did you forget that i's normal for friends to hug each other?" she giggled before letting go of him. "Bye, Kiyotaka!"

Kiyotaka waved his arm in farewell, before walking off and leaving the two girls. While Kei began to go into a monologue about figuring out a way on how to make Kiyotaka return the action whenever she hugs him, Airi kept her gaze glued towards the young man who was slowly disappearing from their view.

"Take... a risk..." the girl thought to herself, repeating his earlier words in her mind over and over.