Chapter 4: A Unexpected Situation

[Third Person Pov]

[6th of November, 22.12]

"I'm back..." Ayanokoji said.

"Ayanokoji-kun..." Horikita, Ichinose, and Sakayanagi said.

Kei simply looked to the side whistling as if she hadn't done anything wrong.

"... Ah, hello..."

Ayanokoji was shocked. What were they doing here? Weren't they supposed to be with their class currently?

Or did they come here after they have solved problems such as the housing for their respective classes? It definitely has gotten his curiosity as to why they were here.

He just hoped that they wouldn't come here under the premise of the sake of friendship and ask something in return, such as a few hundred Cor's or something else.

While he wasn't, fundamentally against the idea of lending some money, he didn't want to keep it too high. Killing <Frenzy Boar's> is quite an easy task, and you only need to kill 2 at most to solve problems such as their housing and food.

Nevertheless, it was unnecessarily to speculate further, so he would listen towards what they have to say.

"What are you three doing here?" Ayanokoji asked, his face apathetic, his voice stoic.

Ayanokoji didn't quite understand how they found this place.

Did they perhaps send each other at the beginning friend requests and happen to follow Kei to her current location? Or did they encounter each other while Kei was buying groceries, or any other things?

There were quite the amount of answers to that question, but unless he gets the confirmation, speculating was once again useless.

Inside his mind, he heavily sighed as he just wanted to rest.

He had intended on killing Monsters longer, but in the forest, he saw for more than ten minutes no monster in sight.

He had searched for the <Frenzy Boar> and the <Dire Wolf>, but he saw how multiple players continuously killed them and that it took a bit for them to spawn. Besides, now mere 25 EXP weren't worth the trouble of letting other people get attentive on him, as they weren't able to kill them in a single strike unlike him. Much worse, Ayanokoji didn't need to charge his attack at all, nor use any skills.

Even if he were to swap weapons, he was simply too strong for level 1 Monsters.

But it'd still regardless enhance his weapon proficiency for the other weapon, so he used multiple ones to test out with which he was also comfortable.

The Rapier wasn't really up to his liking, nor the dagger, the axe, the warhammer, the spear, and the claws.

The only weapons that were to his liking were the one-handed straight sword and the one-handed curved sword.

Although he would prefer the Katana over any of these two weapons, there wasn't any Katana in the weapon store, nor did the menu show a Katana.

Only if needed, such as facing a floor Monster, he would use the one-handed straight sword, but for now, he'll fight with the curved sword.

Ayanokoji, realizing that he drifted away, paid attention again to Horikita, Ichinose, and Sakayanagi again.

"I invited them over here, Kiyotaka. I met the tree of them while buying groceries and invited them to eat with us," Kei explained.

"Okay," Ayanokoji answered, with a very delicate short answer.

"Ayanokoji-kun, I hope it's okay with you that we are here," exclaimed Ichinose.

"It's fine by me," Ayanokoji responded.

Ayanokoji didn't talk more than necessarily. After all, there was no reason to.

Sakayanagi began speaking. "Fufu, Ayanokoji-kun, it's quite a beautiful apartment that the two of you have. I'm a bit jealous, fufu..."

Ichinose looked at Sakayanagi and whispered in her ear. "How much do you think the apartment costed, Sakayanagi-san?"

The two of them sat at the table next to each other and had a better bond than they had in school. It was kind of unexpected, but Aincrad had many additional future surprises ready for them.

Sakayanagi whispered back in an amusing tone, looking at Ayanokoji. "It must be up to 5 to 7 thousand Cor's. But it's reasonable to say that the prices of apartments will rise in the next few days quite a lot. If we compare them to the rooms in the Inn's, this is by far a thousand times better."

Horikita sighed heavily. "Can the two of you stop whispering and try on guessing the apartments cost?"

"Ahahahaha..." Ichinose laughed in awkwardness, that Horikita revealed their conversation up to the table.

"Fufufu, it seems like we have been caught, Ichinose-san," exclaimed Sakayanagi, who tried to act remorseful but simply enjoyed this situation.

"Seems so," responded Ichinose.

Kei looked awkward at Ayanokoji. Ayanokoji, in the meanwhile, simply looked at the pot that seemed to be ready in a few minutes.

Out of common courtesy, he decided to bring up the topic about his class. "How is the class doing, Horikita?" he asked.

Horikita looked for a small moment surprised. She felt that he had been distancing himself from his class ever since the survival game started.

He didn't even try to meet any of them.

Well, he did meet Karuizawa, but that was a completely different topic since she was Ayanokoji's girlfriend.

Some of her classmates were even speculating whether Ayanokoji had possibly died. But that wasn't it.

Horikita, regardless of being a bit suspicious about Ayanokoji's sudden interest, still answered. "Well, they are not doing well. We could house everyone in two Inn's in total, but most of them feel like going out and fighting monsters to be completely dangerous. Chabashira-sensei is trying to calm down everybody alongside Hirata, but well, it's a bit harder than expected. I tried my best, too, but well, it still is pretty hard, after all."

"Chabashira-sensei wanted to contact you, but well... it seems like she forgot. I'll tell Chabashira-sensei that the two of you are safe. Don't worry, I won't tell her or anyone else about this apartment."

Horikita exclaimed, realizing the potential trouble it could cause if they knew about Ayanokoji's and Karuizawa's luxurious housing, while they were limited in a single Inn room.

"I see. Thank you. But how did you earn around 1.850 Cor's or more if most of our classmates weren't fighting?" Ayanokoji asked, just out of curiosity.

"Well... It wasn't quite easy. Only a few of us went on hunting monsters down, while the rest of our classmates waited for us to come back. Hirata-kun, Sūdo-kun, Ike-kun, Chabashira-sensei, Yukimura-kun, and I went on hunting. While we were on hunting, it happened that we didn't have killed enough monsters, and they happened to take quite a long time to spawn. Even then, it happened that some of the other players killed the monsters that spawned or that we were fighting against. We didn't kill enough to get everyone in an Inn for the evening."

"... But then, Ike-kun saw a sudden quest that was repeatable from an NPC in the hunting camps that didn't require anything at all since we had completed it by killing the <Frenzy Boar's> in the West Field. It was the <Frenzied Hunt> quest that rewarded you 300 EXP and 450 Cor's once you killed 20 <Frenzy Boar> and brought back 5 <Boar Tusks> and 10 <Boar Meat> to the NPC. Since we were in a party, it seemed like the fifty monsters we all killed in total weren't a problem, and we could complete the quest twice. As of now, we have 600 Cor's left."

Ayanokoji quickly realized that it was a total of 600 Cor's, 50 Cor's too much, so he immediately came to a conclusion. "Is someone else besides me and Karuizawa missing. The calculation doesn't add up," Ayanokoji responded, indicating that it were only 36 people in total, instead of 37.

[A/N: 38 Students in Total in Class D and 1 Homeroom Teacher as a small reminder]

Horikita simply nodded. "It's Koenji-kun. Since 4 P.M., nobody saw him at all. He disappeared and didn't appear again."

Ayanokoji thought whether Koenji also came at that point to the conclusion that they were trapped inside this world and disappeared out of that reason. It'd make sense if he was bluntly honest.

"I see. Thank you for the information," Ayanokoji said. "What's with your class, Ichinose, Sakayanagi?" he asked.

Out of the two of them, Ichinose decided to speak up as the first one. "Well, we are in a similar situation. Fifteen of our classmates participated in fighting monsters, while Hoshinomiya stayed with the rest of them and tried to reassure them. We should have, currently, enough for two days at the very least."

Sakayanagi also began speaking up. "Fufufu, likewise, although in my class, everyone participated. Mashima-sensei had quite the encouragement speak, which made everyone participate."

Although Sakayanagi said that her class should be well for two days, it was quite easy to deduce that it should be more, based on what she was saying, which is true, that everyone participated.

<Frenzy Boars> weren't really hard to kill, especially when you used a sword skill.

It was, however, a different matter that many of the fifty thousand players aimed for these monsters, which is why it was quite hard for players to kill them, without anyone getting first or stealing your kill.

If Sakayanagi didn't decide on entirely telling the truth, it was because she didn't want her class to lend any other class some Cor's for the survival.

Everyone was on their own. That's how the game was designed to be.

Ayanokoji realized that Sakayanagi realized that, Ryūen realized that even Horikita realized that, but as for Ichinose...

It was a completely different matter. She would always stay the good-hearted girl she was, which was a problem, since many of her would definitely take advantage of her, be it her looks or something else, that might drive a certain person group.

"I see. Thank you for the information," Ayanokoji repeated the same prior sentence again.

All four of them looked quite surprised. They slowly began, however, to ignore that issue.

Karuizawa, seeing the uncomfortable situation, decided to speak up. "Ahem, the dinner is ready," she said.

All the different kinds of foods Karuizawa prepared were now laying on the table. "Karuizawa-san, do you perhaps have learned the cooking skill?" Ichinose asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, I did. I unlocked it when I tried to cook. I didn't expect that it was that easy to unlock," she exclaimed.

Ichinose bowed her head slightly. "Thank you, Karuizawa-san. Without you, I might have taken quite a long time as to how to unlock it."

"No problem. It wasn't that great of a deal either way."

"No, no, I truly appreciate it, Karuizawa-san," exclaimed Ichinose.

"Okay..." she expressed, in a shocked tone, as it wasn't a great deal of telling her how to unlock the skill.

It was just Ichinose being kind, just like she usually was.

But that indefinite kindness would be definitely used by other players sooner or later.

As soon as their conversation seemed to be over, all of them started to eat. "~Uhm~ I can not believe how good this tastes," Ichinose said.

"Fufufu, agreed. I didn't think that it'd taste that good. It seems like I won't be disappointed then in the near future."

Sakayanagi definitely had plans on getting on her hands as much Cor's as possible. The more Cor's, the more enjoyable the life would be here in Sword Art Online.

Just like Ayanokoji, Sakayanagi doubted whether the school would resume for them at all if they happen to get out of this game.

She tried to be realistic, but it'd at the very least take one year, perhaps even more, for them to even complete this game.

Could they, regardless of their prior circumstances, still attend ANHS?

The school and the government will suffer tremendously from the fact that all their students are trapped inside this game.

It might even result in the school being closed, which might be quite possible. But if it were truly to take two to three years to finish this game, what would happen to them?

They shouldn't be able to attend ANHS further, theoretically, since new students would be there at that time, which also meant that the teacher's authority was quite useless.

Most likely, the government would create another school for all the Sword Art Online Survivors, who were, in fact, still students.

Both Sakayanagi and Ayanokoji were mostly right with their conclusions.

The school was Japan's number one high-school, it wouldn't be shut down because of this incident. Well, for now, they were temporarily shutting down until next year. On the 1st of April, the school would start again for the new first year's.

Therefore, they decided to create a new school for all students that were trapped in Sword Art Online and would give those students of ANHS still the same advantages, of getting the 100% employment rate and the 100% college admissions, under certain conditions they would need to meet.

Sakayanagi, realizing that she shouldn't think about the future but rather as to how to survive in this new reality, returned from her absence.

"Is that really a one star Boar Meat?" Horikita frowned as to how the meal could taste this good.

Even Ayanokoji got surprised. This game felt suddenly a bit more enjoyable than previously.

If this was simply from a Lvl. 1 cooking skill and a one star Boar Meat, he didn't want to think how the cooking would taste at the maximum level with five star ingredients.

Alone the thought gave him strength to survive this game so that he could taste this blissful moment. While Ayanokoji was immersed that the cooking tasted this delicious, he had that certain sudden thought.

What if Kei, or perhaps he himself would try on making Ice Cream? How would it taste? If he were to get special ingredients that support and improve the taste of the ice cream, would it taste better than in reality?

There are a few more reasons now to level up since these ingredients wouldn't be lying on the first floor at all.

Ayanokoji, next to leveling up, had now another objective of gathering delicious food and enjoying eating it to the fullest.

It didn't take all too long until everything on the table was eaten. "Karuizawa-san, thank you. That tasted good."

Ichinose said, feeling gratitude that she was able to eat something delicious. She and her classmates needed to spare, and couldn't really buy too much expensive food.

It was rather pitiful that they decided on buying the cheapest bread on the bakery for every one of them, since one bread costs only 1 Cor.

It was dry and unrefined, and she definitely didn't want to eat the black bread again. Compared to Sakayanagi's class, who most likely could enjoy more expensive meals.

Ichinose, who felt bad that her class didn't enjoy that much luxurious food, definitely promised herself that they could do it tomorrow.

In the same position was Horikita, who also only tasted the black bread like Ichinose for 1 Cor.

Meanwhile, Ayanokoji thought whether he should go tomorrow to a restaurant or not to test the food there out.

It wasn't a decision he would make right now immediately. He would do that tomorrow. This wasn't the only thing he planned for tomorrow.

He'd also buy new equipment for him. Something that should be able to cover him up and hide him from other players while still being good.

He also felt awkward not to sleep with sleeping clothes, so there was another thing he would search tomorrow and buy.

Ayanokoji got interrupted by his thoughts again. "No problem, Ichinose-san. I'm glad that you liked it," Kei responded.

"Fufufu, Horikita-san, Ichinose-san, I think we should be going now that we have eaten the food," exclaimed Sakayanagi.

"Yes, the three of us still need to rent a room at the Inn's," said Horikita.

Ichinose began to look slightly sad because she couldn't stay any longer in this beautiful apartment anymore.

There were many things that made the apartment attractive and appealing to her.

One of the things was the nice company she had, that felt like as if she was in school again, talking with her friends.

The second reason, although a bit less important than the former one, was that the beds were really soft, unlike that of the Inn, where she heard some of her classmates complaining. In addition, there was a shower that made it by far more attractive.

As for the last reason...

It was because the person she loved, Ayanokoji, was there, that she felt like staying there. She was a bit jealous over Karuizawa, and she hated that because Karuizawa was so kind to her this whole evening.

But the next thing that she heard would quite shock her.

"If you three don't have a current place to sleep at, how about staying overnight here. We still have about two bedrooms left, so there shouldn't be any trouble, I guess."

Ayanokoji was a bit surprised that he offered them to stay overnight here, but somehow, he liked their company a bit.

They made it a bit livelier here than it'd be with him and Kei only.

Kei agreed with Ayanokoji. "Yeah, yeah, how about the three of you stay here? A bit company would be nice."

Horikita, Sakayanagi, and Ichinose looked at each other in doubt. Should they be really staying here for a night?

No matter what those three were thinking about, they couldn't immediately come to a conclusion.

There was the benefit of a soft bed, sparing a bit of Cor's, while also being able to eat a great breakfast tomorrow, alongside being able to use a shower, which aren't offered in Inn's. Besides, it was really quite a nice apartment, so they could imagine sleeping here.

"Fufufu, I don't have any objections. What about you, Ichinose-san, Horikita-san?" Sakayanagi asked.

She didn't mind sleeping here. After all, it was far better than any Inn's could offer. Besides... not only was she able to spare money, but perhaps...

She could finally confirm whether she holds for Ayanokoji romantic feelings or not.

Until the first year, Ayanokoji became her obsession.

She wanted to beat him. By beating him, she would have been able to prove that no matter how hard one might train, the only thing that mattered were genetics, which decided the outcome.

An artificial created genius would never be equal to a natural born genius.

That was what she thought until Ayanokoji beat her in the chess game, where the Acting Director Tsukishiro didn't interrupt and sabotaged him.

The moment he beat her, her obsession stopped on defeating him. But ever since the second year, she had again such an obsession. It wasn't like previously. She would now frequently think about him in a different kind of matter.

In the end, she wanted that obsession to become true. Whether it would come true was another question. But then again, it was useless to think about romantic feelings in such a dire situation they were currently in.

"I'll also take you up to your offer, Ayanokoji-kun. Thank you for having us here," Ichinose exclaimed, doing a slight bow out of gratitude.

Ayanokoji looked at Horikita, who seemed to be contemplating currently. "Well, I guess it'd be better to spare as many Cor's as possible, so I think it'd be better on accepting your offer. Thank you, Ayanokoji-kun, Karuizawa-san, for having us here," Horikita too, did a slight bow out of gratitude.

Now that all three of them decided on staying the night here, how would the rooms be divided.

Sakayanagi, clearly not wanting to let Karuizawa and Ayanokoji sleeping separate due to their presence, suggested a solution towards their problem. "Horikita-san, Ichinose-san, how about the three of us playing Rock, Paper, Scissors? The winner gets to sleep alone."

Sakayanagi did come up with a good suggestion. The winner would be sleeping alone, while the losers would sleep together in a bed.

Ichinose nodded. "Sure."

"I'm fine with that," said Horikita.

Meanwhile, Kei flustered in Ayanokoji's ear, while the three of them were busy conversing. "Kiyotaka... perhaps we could do more than just sleep?" suggested Kei.

But as unfortunate as she was, Ayanokoji refuted. "Some other time. I doubt it'd be appropriate doing our first time with them here," Ayanokoji said.

"... I didn't mean that, baka. I meant something like going midway through the night out, walking hand by hand, watching the moon and stars," Kei whispered in a fast tone.

"...Ah..."

The one time where he thought he had grasped the meaning behind her sentence now seemed to be completely wrong.

"... But I don't mind doing it with you, once they are away..."

Kei immediately turned her head around, hiding her blushing expression. What she now had suggested was more than daring, but she would lie if she never thought about doing the certain "deed" with her boyfriend, Ayanokoji.

Ayanokoji simply nodded, unaware of what to answer at this moment.

Unaware of the type of conversation Ayanokoji and Karuizawa had, the three girls focused themselves on deciding who would occupy a whole room for themselves.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors."

All three of them said.

"Impossible..."

"All of us have the Rock."

"Again," Ichinose said, determined on having the room for herself and enjoying a very good sleep.

"Fufu, I couldn't agree more with you, Ichinose-san," Sakayanagi said, with full enthusiasm.

Horikita simply nodded, but just like the other two, she also wanted to have the room for herself.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors."

"Again?!" Ichinose shouted out loud in disbelief that there wasn't any victor still set in stones.

This whole charade continued 6 more times until a victor was set in stones.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors."

All three of them said simultaneously full with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, two of them got quite disappointed by the results.

"Impossible," Ichinose frowned.

"Fufufu..." Sakayanagi laughed. "It seems like we have lost, Ichinose-san."

"Yeah..." Ichinose muttered deprivingly.

'What an intense battle', thought Ayanokoji.

"Well, congratulations, Horikita-san," congratulated Ichinose.

"Thank you. But you don't need to be so formal, Ichinose-san. You can simply call me Horikita. You too, Sakayanagi-san, Karuizawa-san."

"Sure, but please do the same."

Just like that, the girls began to have a conversation, from saying that there is no need for formality amongst them to a completely different and unrelated topic.

While the girls were talking about many different topics, Ayanokoji backed away and decided to go for a shower on the second floor.

But while Ayanokoji was showering something unexpected happened. A person opened the doorknob, and he hadn't locked the door at all.

"Ayanokoji-kun..."

The person who muttered his name in embrassment was Ichinose Honami, who had asked Karuizawa before if she could shower.

"Is everything fine, Ichinose? Do you need anything more? The towels and everything else should be there, " Karuizawa exclaimed, walking from the stairs a few steps uphead.

Ichinose immediately realizes how it'd look like if she was seen in the shower with Ayanokoji, locked the door before Karuizawa could see them together.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Karuizawa. I was just surprised how beautiful it is in here," Ichinose exclaimed, trying to sound as normal as possible. She tried to prevent herself from stuttering and indicating to Karuizawa that something else was going on above.

"Okay, please tell me if you need anything," she exclaimed, walking downstairs again.

"I'm sorry, Ayanokoji-kun. I didn't know that you were in here," Ichinose said, having herself turned backward from the direction of the bathtube, where Ayanokoji was relaxing.

"It's my fault for not locking the door. You don't need to apologize. Besides, I'm in a minute finished. Can you please turn your back so long?" Ayanokoji asked.

Ichinose nodded in embarrassment. "Sure."

She really didn't expect Ayanokoji to be so casual. He didn't feel any embarrassment. Instead, his facial expression was, like always, quite apathetic.

He was a mysterious person. No matter the situation, he didn't change the expression on his face.

Even now...

Even if she were in her bra and underwear, she could guess that he wouldn't even change his expression. She really wanted to know more about Ayanokoji. The only thing she knows is that he is associated with Tsukishiro and Shiba, as well as he should be familiar with the word "White Room", from what she heard during the Island Exam this summer.

Ayanokoji, regardless of Ichinose's thoughts or embarrassment, asked her something else that he was curious of. "Are you okay? How are you dealing with this situation?"

It was the first time someone had asked her how she was feeling since the beginning of the game. She had always needed to reassure her classmates, but nobody really tried on reassuring her.

It was perhaps a problem on her part since she appeared to be strong for the sake of her classmates, but she really felt only despair ever since the start of the Death Game.

She felt, however, grateful that Ayanokoji cared about her, despite him having his own share of problems like the rest of the players.

"I'm not feeling quite good if I'm being honest. Ever since the death game was announced, I only wanted to cry. But... I can't. I have a responsibility to stay strong for my classmates. If I were to cry, it'd decrease their mood and would make them feel hopeless, sad, and depressing. For their sake, I can't cry. The only thing that is positive about all of this is that I'm really happy that my little sister doesn't need to experience this. If this game were published next year, instead of this year, I'm not sure how bad and desperate I'd feel."

Ichinose exclaimed, releasing everything that had been gathered inside of her. It didn't take long until she cried.

"I'm sorry... I didn't want to cry, but I can't hold it back any longer," Ichinose said between sobs, her emotions pouring out uncontrollably. The weight of the death game's announcement and the burden of keeping up a facade of strength for her classmates had become too much to bear.

"Let it all out, Ichinose. You have the right to cry. Don't keep it in," Ayanokoji reassured gently.

As Ichinose allowed her tears to flow freely, she felt a mixture of relief and vulnerability. The act of releasing her pent-up emotions was like shedding a heavy armor that had been suffocating her.

Meanwhile, at the same time on the first floor, these three had heard Ichinose's loud sober.

"It's Ichinose..." Kei muttered, concern evident in her voice.

"Should we go upstairs?" Horikita asked, her brows furrowed in worry.

"No, we should let her alone for now. She needs time to process everything. We shouldn't interrupt here," exclaimed Sakayanagi, understanding the need that Ichinose needed her own privacy.

If Ichinose still wanted, they were ready to talk with them. But as of now, they shouldn't interrupt her while she was processing her emotions.

Kei felt the same. She knew how Ichinose felt since she did the same. Once Ayanokoji went on killing Monsters, she went showering and cried for more than twenty minutes about their tragic situation of being trapped here.

She knew how important it was to have her own space, which is why she would give Ichinose the needed space of processing everything on her own.

All three of them had the same opinions regarding this topic and were united on not bringing this topic up once Ichinose is done with showering.

They instead didn't want Ichinose to feel awkward, as they had stopped discussing and were trying hard to come up with multiple topics since the three of them hadn't really much in common at all.

As for Ayanokoji, he'd try to reassure Ichinose more, but he was currently naked in the bathtube, and he didn't feel like standing up currently since Ichinose ever since she let everything out, looked now in his direction.

Obviously, she didn't notice that since she was busy processing her emotions, but for him standing up, he meant showing his manhood to her, which he didn't want.

He also didn't want to interrupt her at all, so that was the dire situation he was in. He didn't have any clothes besides his starter equipment, and if he were to equip it now, it'd make it quite wet.

It'd also take a while until it would be drying, estimatingly three hours, and if Kei or someone else would be thinking of waking him up, from his "supposedly" sleep with his underwear, he wouldn't have any equipment to equip, without making things obvious.

So, instead of doing anything at all, he simply waited until Ichinose would calm down.

It took her six minutes until she calmed herself down.

"Thank you, Ayanokoji-kun. I'm feeling much better," she exclaimed.

Although she still did sober, it wasn't as intense as before.

"I'm glad that you feel fine, but if it doesn't bother you, could you please turn around. I'd like to change," he said, expressing the one thing he waited so patiently to say.

"Ah... yes," she said, slightly realizing that Ayanokoji was longer in the bathtube than he intended to.

It didn't take more than ten seconds until Ayanokoji finished changing.

But there was one remaining problem. If he opened the door, it'd be quite obvious for the three of them downstairs that Ichinose is finished with showering.

There was not only a bathtube here, but also a large nice shower, where two people could suit in.

He had showered and then went to the bathtube to relax a bit until Ichinose came.

He didn't like bringing up the topic, but he felt that it was needed to, since Ichinose intended from the very beginning to shower.

"If I'm opening the door, the three of them will think you are finished with showering, Ichinose," exclaimed Ayanokoji.

Ichinose slightly realizing that ever since she cried that loud, the three of them must have heard her downstairs and paid a bit more attention to her than necessarily. "I see..." she expressed, unsure whether she could take in the near distance a shower again or go to the bathtube.

She suggested something really crazy, but she felt that the shower would help and ease her regarding all that pressure she is dealing with.

"Ayanokoji-kun, would you mind turning around and waiting for fifteen, no twenty minutes until I'm showering and perhaps enter the bathtube to relax a bit?" she asked, embarrassment completely written over her face.

Ayanokoji nodded. "Sure," he answered.

He didn't know what to say precisely in this situation. He also didn't know whether this situation was good or bad at all.

If you look into it a bit differently, the most beautiful girl in his school would be undressing herself behind him, then go showering, and enter the bathtube, without a bra or underwear, and he was supposed to listen, or use his imagination, how it'd look if he happened to quickly steal a glance.

It was definitely a difficult task, even for someone like Ayanokoji, who had completed physically impossible tasks since young.

A task like that required absolute mental control.

'I guess even the White Room can not prepare you for everything,' Ayanokoji thought.

Since a young age, he was nearly thought about in the most difficult situations. Whether it'd be stuck in an elevator, unequipping people with weapons, or enduring hot or cold temperatures, he was prepared for it all.

But not this. All his knowledge was useless in this moment.

He even began to ask himself whether Ichinose would mind if he were to steal a quick glance or several ones.

But he quickly denied these sudden thoughts. He kept his hormones in check and kept a calm, rational mind. The only thing he couldn't control was his certain body part that was reacting through his imagination.

Therefore, he tried on not making Ichinose attentive on that if she happened to look towards his direction coincidentally. He positioned himself a bit different so that you couldn't see anything neither from the shower nor the bathtube.

That was all before she was undressing herself. He didn't want to make her attentive to soon on something going on.

In his imagination, it was already difficult, but right now, right here, that has proven to be a difficulty higher than that.

But then it began. He heard her calling the menu, unequipping her clothes and walking in the direction of the shower.

Ayanokoji needed to endure it 20 additional minutes until he could walk away in his and Kei's bedroom, in pretense of sleeping.

It was hard, but in the end, he did it.

The lesson he learned through this is always to lock the doors. A thing, he was glad he ignored today, surprisingly.

--

Chapter End:

A/N: Well, I was arguing whether or not I should include the latter part of the chapter, but I decided to keep it. I wanted her to have a talk with Ayanokoji, but not in his bedroom, so the next option was the bathroom.

And just like that, I let my imagination run a bit wild. I had initial plans on writing a bit more, a conversation, and perhaps a bit more in some other directions, but I decided to let it be because it'd be pretty awkward, honestly.

Anyways, how did you like this chapter?

I think it's fine. But then again, I am the author, so I'm in need of your opinions.

Feedback is always appreciated. If you have any suggestions as to how I should design this story or something else, I'll be glad to listen and see if it's possible or not.

Well, that'll be all. Have a great day.