Chapter Text
He breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that this special exam is over. Not that it was that difficult for him, but achieving a good result with everyone required some effort. And it's good that it was worth it.
After taking first place, they could all relax and finally spend their summer vacation. They were sent to a familiar ship, and now the students were enjoying their time. After he checked into his room, he immediately went to his group of friends, looking for them all.
But he didn’t see anyone anywhere until he felt hands behind him that took him. Immediately after this, a cheerful cry was heard right in front of his ear, and he immediately recognized this voice.
"Finally, you've been found!" Kushida shouted, and he immediately turned in her direction, “Finally we can chat, otherwise I haven’t seen you at all since this exam.”
He smirked slightly at this, nodding in agreement. Indeed, during this time they hardly communicated. Still, Kiyotaka missed spending time like this.
"How are you, how is life?" he sounded a little sarcastic. Not hello, but straight to the point, funny. "Where are Sudo and the others, have you seen them? I tried to find you all, I even went to the pool, but there was no word anywhere."
“Honestly, I wasn’t even interested,” she answered with a little smirk. "They're probably hanging out in some unknown place, as always."
Kiyotaka smiled lightly while winking and waved his hand to Kushida. “Well, if they are not here, then let’s go chill together?”
Kushida smiled shyly at this, nodding with full enthusiasm. So they went together to a small restaurant, deciding to order something to drink and at the same time talk about things. There was a new exam coming up soon, so they wanted to enjoy the temporary vacation without wasting time.
All this time he heard his best friend talking about her funny situations during the exam and how she survived there. Kiyotaka laughs at some points, mentioning her clumsiness and funnyness from time to time. After some time had passed, they noticed a red head approaching them. Recognizing the man immediately, Kushida stood up and smiled broadly, waving her hand vigorously.
"Sudo-kun, over here!" while she was screaming, Kiyotaka also decided to wave his hand. Sudo walked with a satisfied smile, running immediately when he heard Kushida's voice.
In fact, Kiyotaka is surprised by his changes in social terms. He had no problem communicating more openly with his friends and even went out with them more. He wanted to find them himself before this and approach them, although before he would not have been able to approach someone so easily. This is a small change and detail, but for some reason it made his soul feel good. He is progressing for the better and he thinks he can be proud of himself. It’s good that no one bothers him, despite the difficult exams and their future.
"Hello, guys!" he said in a cheerful and loud voice. He was active. "Are you resting? I sorted all this stuff out in the room. I'll sit with ya, okay?"
They both nodded and that's how the rest of their evening went. It was fun, and Kiyotaka even thought for a moment that alcohol would be helpful.
Strange thoughts, though.
While they were in the middle of a conversation, Kiyotaka's eyes met the eyes of a girl from his class. Familiar eye color, familiar long hair and a familiar, more serious face.
Horikita Suzune, as always, instead of having fun with other people, prefers to be alone and read one of her hundred books. She went straight back to reading after her moment of looking at him. Kiyotaka looked at her questioningly for some time, clearly confused. Did she really want to go to them? He pushed those thoughts away. Some kind of nonsense. Of course, in this exam, she revealed her vulnerable side to him, and even admitted that she considered him a friend. This statement shocked him a little. It turns out that the cold girl has a weakness and she knows how to take care of people, like all ordinary people. She definitely didn't admit it and said it unconsciously, but Kiyotaka knew it was because of her pride, and deep down she knew that she was telling the truth that day.
“And Ike is a complete idiot, he came in and-” Sudo kept telling his stories outside of school with full energy. Kiyotaka didn't notice how he lost in thoughts for a while and only woke up when the guy opposite him called out to him. "Ayanokōji? Are you still here in our world, dude? Did you even hear what I said?"
Immediately, he looked back at Sudo, nodding. “Y-yes, I heard everything, I was just... thinking.”
Kushida immediately intervened, looking at him with suspicion. "And what were you thinking about?" she got straight to the point, eager to know everything that was going on in Kiyotaka's head. "There's something I don't know, hmmm?"
She stopped as she stared in surprise at the seated girl who could be seen behind Kiyotaka. "Ah... that's the thing. She scares you, doesn't she?"
He began to shake his head, denying it and trying to explain that it wasn’t about her at all, but Sudo managed to say the first word faster than he did.
“In my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with her,” he said in a thoughtful voice, looking at Horikita with some kind of admiration in his eyes. Kiyotaka and Kushida knew the reason for this, and resisted the urge to tease Sudo. “I wonder what kind of book she’s reading? I don’t like books, but it suddenly became interesting...”
Kushida laughed uncontrollably at this and grabbed his arm in a joking manner. “Well, call and ask!”
Sudo immediately blushed at her words, opening his mouth in slight shock. “Uh, you... call her yourself! You’re the most social here!”
"Hey, stop being a coward!" she insisted while Kiyotaka looked at them, holding back his laughter. Sudo, noticing this, looked at him sharply. Kiyotaka raised an eyebrow, trying to find meaning behind this strange look.
"What?"
"What 'what'?!" Sudo raised his voice, it was unclear whether he was joking or serious. “You come up and ask about the book, and then invite her here! You are our only chance, she only talks to you normally!”
Kushida leaned on the table, nodding casually. “Actually, yes. Kiyotaka, only you can convince her to come,” she glanced at Sudo briefly with displeasure. “She doesn’t like me either, unfortunately. Hm, what a pity...”
He wanted to resist, but Sudo interrupted him. "Dude, please!" he screamed in frustration, and Kiyotaka wouldn't be surprised if Horikita had already heard them. "I'll be your debtor after this, I swear!"
Kiyotaka sighed, not fully understanding the situation. "Are you sure calling her out is even a good idea?" not that he was against it, but he didn’t want to spoil his mood with her grumbling and cold words, "You know Horikita. She doesn't like gatherings like this, especially... with us."
But Sudo continued to look at him pleadingly. Kiyotaka didn't want to refuse him so easily. And he won't lose anything from just talking to Horikita. Even if he says a few rude words, they will cheer him up again in a minute. With a sigh, he stood up and Sudo immediately beamed again with a small smile. Kushida looked at all this with curiosity.
As he walked towards Horikita, he saw how she still hadn't looked up from her book. She doesn’t hear steps towards her and the book is so interesting to her, or does she deliberately ignore him and don’t even want to look at him? Is this related to her unconscious confession about her feelings of friendship for him?
When Kiyotaka was already in front of her, he opened his mouth, but was interrupted before he could speak.
"Let's get straight to the point, Ayanokōji-kun," at first she spoke without taking her eyes off the book, but then she sharply looked straight into his eyes without hesitation. “You know, I don’t waste time on meaningless conversations.”
Kiyotaka straightened his hair a little and decided to ask what he needed without any doubt.
"What's the name of your book?"
Horikita raised an eyebrow, but her expression was still serious. "Excuse me?"
He looked at her with a slightly annoyed look. "You heard me. What's the name of your book?"
He wasn't annoyed with her, but in fact he wanted to finally leave so as not to feel this awkwardness. But Horikita sighed and apparently guessed that something was wrong. Apparently, such machinations do not work for her.
"What's the catch?" she asked immediately. She certainly knows how to notice every detail. "I just saw you hanging out with Sudo-kun and Kushida-san. Did you think I didn't hear you whispering about something?"
Kiyotaka scratched his head, realizing that he had screwed up. "Uh...actually, yes," he began, trying to find the right words. Why was he so embarrassed? "We wanted to invite you to join us, and it was their idea. I know you don't like that, but they insisted."
She blinked. "I see," she closed the book and Kiyotaka looked at her in surprise. Is she planning to join them after all? "In that case, have a good time."
He was immediately disappointed when he saw that she began to leave the place altogether. The plan failed. Not that there was a huge chance of convincing her to come to them.
"Are you... sure?" he asked to be sure. He almost always didn't care about her in these situations. This is her life and he had no right to interfere with it. But now... for some reason everything felt somehow different. More sad. "We are free, how about one time try to have fun and create new memories in life?"
"I'm absolutely sure," she replied coldly, rejecting his offer. She looked at him one last time, not turning her head completely. "If I were you, I would study for a new exam. Relaxing in such a situation is not the best choice."
Kiyotaka didn't know how to respond to this, so he fell silent. They stood like that for some time, and he already wanted to find some kind of conclusion to this conversation. But Horikita spoke up, although she clearly said something else originally.
"See you tomorrow, Ayanokōji-kun," she said one last time before leaving completely. Kiyotaka sighed in disappointment, feeling as if he had failed in a difficult task. After that, he returned to his friends, who looked at him with sad eyes.
"As you can see, it didn’t work out," he spoke first. "I think it was a waste of time to begin with."
Kushida nodded in agreement. "Why didn’t her friends please her? As if if she hang out with us once, it would kill her..."
Kiyotaka looked behind him as if Horikita was still there. But she wasn’t there, and he didn’t fully understand why he was looking there at all. "I have a strange feeling after this," he began in a quiet voice, as if he was afraid of something. "For the first time, I feel really sad for her. She looks so lonely."
Sudo intervened. "Same feeling, dude," he said to Kiyotaka, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Even though this is her life and I don’t want to get involved in it, but... something tells me that this girl is very unhappy deep down."
He described now everything that Kiyotaka felt at the moment. He doesn't understand why he felt this, nothing like that happened just now and this was Horikita's normal behavior. He knew that she had a soft side and that maybe she wasn't as cold as she seemed. But... maybe, deep down, she has kindness, which for some reason she hides. He wants to believe it.
He had thought about this once, and began to think the same now. He wouldn't mind seeing Horikita smile.
-
After he said goodbye to Sudo and Kushida, he went straight to his room in silence. Only the sounds of walking were audible to his ears. It became quiet, maybe almost everyone had already left. But... in fact, he was wrong when he saw Hirata and Karuizawa holding hands. Hirata immediately smiled when he saw him. Kiyotaka was honestly tired and didn’t have the energy to talk to anyone, but out of decency, he waved his hand and smiled a little in response.
"Good evening, Ayanokōji-kun," he greeted, looking straight into his eyes. "Are you going to bed already?"
It was not that late, so maybe he was interested. Kiyotaka nodded at this, glancing briefly at Karuizawa, who looked slightly displeased. Was it because of his presence? Or is there another reason?
But she spoke in a boring voice. “Yes, yes, we understand,” she clearly did not want to be near him. Why didn’t he please her so much? "Hirata-kun, let's go already? We have more important things to do now, remember?"
It seemed like Hirata wanted to stay, but he nodded to her, looking back at Kiyotaka. "That's right. Sorry, but we'll have to part ways with this. See you in the room if you're still up!"
With these words, they left, and Kiyotaka saw the last displeased look Karuizawa gave him. He moved on without thinking about it. He didn't care what people thought of him. The main thing is that he finally found what he wanted and what he expected from school.
Friends and peaceful life.
He noticed how during all this time he had hardly thought about the White Room or his past. It's as if it doesn't exist and never existed. It was as if he were in another world. Is this what happiness feels like? When can he be himself around people who appreciate him? No one bothers him, he does not participate in any unpleasant situations, and this is all he dreamed of.
Or maybe the future is unknown. Maybe in the future, he will decide to do everything to avoid returning to this place. Although he knows that this is unlikely, even if he decided to do something, the future is unknown, as are our further actions.
He shook his head, deciding to follow the path of not thinking about the past. The present is the present and should be appreciated while there is time.
Thinking about this already in his room lying on the bed, he was distracted from his thoughts by the sound of the phone. He shuddered, although later he did not understand why. He no longer shakes with excitement when Kushida writes or calls him (he doesn’t want to remember it), but for some reason it’s still unusual for him to receive messages from someone so unexpectedly. Taking the phone in his hands, he did not have time to look at the message when they decided to call him instead.
He stared at the phone with a surprised look, analyzing the situation.
Horikita Suzune actually called him.
He blinked a couple of times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He didn't understand why he was having such strange reactions to Horikita lately. At first, it was a desire for friendship, then, it was a little anger that she disturbed his quiet life and now... he has mixed feelings for her. Maybe this is due to her confession of friendship. Maybe they really are destined to be friends.
Maybe he can help her become better in the future.
Be kinder and more sociable.
Without wasting any more time, he decides to answer the call. Immediately after that, he heard a small cough. Apparently, Horikita has not yet fully recovered.
"Are you still sick?" he asked a little more worried than planned.
"I’m getting better, don’t worry," she assured him and got straight to the point. "Are you free tomorrow evening?"
Kiyotaka blinked, clearly not expecting such a question. “Uh...” he thought for a moment, and, not seeing any plans for tomorrow, nodded to himself. "I'm completely free. Do you need anything?"
Horikita chuckled, which he took as a yes. Of course, she wouldn’t have called him just like that. Today she said that she doesn’t waste time on meaningless conversations.
"This is important," she said sternly, and it suddenly seemed to him that she was here with him in the room. Scary girl for sure. "And don't you dare invite your friends there, Ayanokōji-kun, I'm tired of your stupid machinations and plans. If you do that again, you'll definitely be punished."
"Oh c'mon!" he answered in a tired voice. "It’s not my fault, they’re pushing me to do this because you're only talking to me."
"No resistance" she sounded like Chabashira-sensei. "I hope you keep our promise and come tomorrow. See you."
Immediately after that, she hung up, and he threw himself on the bed again. With a sigh, he turned off the phone, not planning to sleep much longer. But what interests him is his meeting with Horikita tomorrow. What does she need and what are her motives this time? Probably, as always, something has to do with school points and a future exam.
She thinks about it too much, and is also more nervous about it than she should be. Maybe he should convince her to take a break and relax sometimes too.
Kiyotaka stood up and suddenly left the room. He's too bored there. Maybe he’ll find someone, Hirata for example... he was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice how he crashed into someone. He and this person both gasped in pain, and Kiyotaka even fell to the ground because of it. Looking up, he saw Karuizawa and Hirata again. But, apparently, he tripped over Karuizawa, considering that she looked unhappy and Hirata looked worried.
"Watch where you're going," she spat with hostility in her eyes. Kiyotaka continued to look at her without any change on his face, although he did not understand where his fault was.
"I'm sorry," he apologized sincerely and stood up. Hirata immediately moved closer to him, clearly feeling guilty.
"No, forgive us, Ayanokōji-kun!" It wasn’t his fault, but he still apologized. "Are you okay? Aren't you in pain?"
Kiyotaka shook his head, trying to say that everything was fine, but Karuizawa spoke again.
"I’m not surprised that only girls like Sakura-san and Horikita-san like you," after mentioning Horikita, something changed in him. "They like you because you are as clumsy as they are. A perfect match, you three."
"Actually," Kiyotaka decided to explain, "There's nothing between me and Horikita. Why does everyone think we're-"
"Look, I don't care, okay?" Karuizawa rejected his explanation and began to insist on her own again. "Just stop being so clumsy. Your head just really hurt me!"
"That's enough, Karuizawa-san," Hirata reassured her with a gentle smile. Then, he looked at Kiyotaka and let go of Karuizawa's hand.
"I was about to leave, so let’s go to the room together," Hirata suggested, apparently not noticing that Kiyotaka had just left it. But he agreed to it and nodded in response.
He said goodbye to Karuizawa one last time and they all went their separate ways. Kiyotaka was actually happy about this. She’s somehow too arrogant, and nothing that bad happened. Maybe this behavior doesn’t just come from a good life.
It's not that he cared, but he wouldn’t mind knowing the story of her life; for some reason he’s now sure that something definitely happened. While thinking about this, he secretly looked at Karuizawa walking in the other direction until she was no longer visible.
"Sorry about that" Hirata apologized again and brought up the issue. "She's just the way she is. But... actually, she has her reasons for it."
Kiyotaka listened, but then looked away. His guesses were correct. "Actually, I don’t think that exonerates her. But you don’t have to apologize for that, Hirata, you didn’t do anything wrong."
Hirata nodded uneasily, and it was clear that he was not convinced. Apparently, he really felt guilty for Karuizawa's behavior.
Deciding to forget about it, they both decided to talk about something else. But...
In fact, the only thing on his mind was the meeting that Horikita was talking about.
And for him, it's definitely weird.