Miura Yumiko POV:
It was the second day of school and just like in the novel no one had paid attention to class except a select few. Yesterday when I got to my dorm, to pass time I had read a book before looking through my messages. However, all my classmates ever talked about were Hirata and boys. Mostly Hirata. They even talked about the perverts and Ayanokouji. They also talked about some boys from other classes.
Unsurprisingly, Kushida had mentioned seeing me with Ayanokouji today and wanted to know what's up. More like my secrets, I just responded with 'how I was curious about him, nothing much.' But some didn't believe me. Then they called him gloomy and socially awkward person and when they continued to talk about it, it ended up getting on my nerves. Normally I would've left them to themselves, but I just had the urge to write one thing. I ended up saying, 'At first it seems like it, it's possible he was a sheltered kid, but he can keep a conversation going luckily.'
Soon they went back onto the topic of Hirata and I had noticed Matsushita was the one who barely conversed about him. My family also heard of her name, but she hadn't heard of mines, so I didn't mind playing a surprise with her.
——————————— Call ————————————
Me:
Matsushita, I noticed how you don't talk much about Hirata like the others?
Matsushita:
That's true haha. He is a handsome guy, but sadly I'm not interested in him. Plus there's a lot of competition. What about you and Ayanokouji?
Me:
He just interests me. But your probably engaged because of your family.
Matsushita:
W-what do you mean?
Me:
I remember my parents mentioning the name Matsushita. Your like me aren't you, some rich but doesn't want anyone to know.
Matsushita:
... yeah I am. You caught me, but please don't tell anyone.
Me:
Sure but two things you have to do for me.
Matsushita:
Depends on what it is?
Me:
Once is to not tell anyone about me as well. Two is if you be my friend. Your the only person I'm most likely to get along with and I have a had time making proper friends.
Matsushita:
Really? That's all.
Me:
Yeah, plus you don't have to worry, I may be cold but I don't want to do anything I'll regret in a new school. Plus all the girls talk about it is Hirata.
Matsushita:
You are right about that haha.
—————————————————————————
After that, we had become friends and talked to one another without any tension or weirdness. She also said she isn't engaged, Hirata is just not her type. Right now in class I decided to read a book on my phone as everyone isn't paying attention in class, so there's no point for me to as well, since I'm the end Class D will get 0 points. And me using my phone wouldn't make much of a difference. Plus this lesson is so boring as there's nothing to learn since I already know this.
Once lunch came, surprise surprise. It seems like Hirata is having lunch with only girls.
"Well, I was thinking of heading to the cafeteria. Anyone want to come with me?" announced Hirata as he stood.
I swear I could see the hearts in those girls eyes. When Hirata tried to call out Ayanokouji, he was interrupted. This sight amused me. Me and him accidentally made I contact and I know he could see the amusement in my eyes. Which made him sigh depressingly. I then turned around to Matsushita to see if she wanted to come to eat lunch. She responded with a yes and we started to leave the classroom until a girl called us out.
"Hey, Miura-san, Matsushita-san aren't you two coming with us." I however just ignored her and left, while Matsushita was left to apologise. She then caught up with me.
"Hey, you know, I saw Ayanokouji-kun talking to that girl sitting next to him~ She might just end up stealing your man~" It seems like Matsushita tried teasing me, but there's no way it would work as the two of them have nothing going on.
"There's no way Ayanokouji would get together with that bitch." Matsushita seemed surprised at my words.
"Did something happen between you guys?"
"On the first day me and Ayanokouji both looked around the bus, and looked at her for a second. She, knew we looked at her and had decided to call us out before we entered the school. She questioned us with an attitude and tried to glare at us. But I ignored her and introduced myself to Ayanokouji."
"She really did that, wow" she laughs at this." ... guess the rumours were true and people weren't lying when they talked about her." What rumours? Seeing my confused look she continued explaining. "She rejected an offer to hang out from Kushida-san and she was cold about it." Wow, so Kushida's already making her fruitless attempts on Horikita.
Then I remembered something, while I'm talking to Matsushita right now, Kushida had approached Ayanokouji about Horikita. Soon we made it to the cafeteria and ate together. Some girls from class B had joined us and made small talk with us. We then made our way back to class and sat down. I was in thought about something until a voice from the speakers broke me out of it.
"At five PM Japan Standard Time today, we will be holding a student club fair in Gymnasium No. 1. Students interested in joining a club, please gather in Gymnasium No. 1. I repeat, at—" The SCP girlfriend's voice rang out on the speakers. And before Ayanokouji could strike up a conversation to talk to Horikita about her coming with him, I decided to message him.
——————————— Message —————————
Me:
Hey Ayanokouji.
Ayanokouji:
Hey.
Me:
Do you wanna come with me to the Club Fair. I don't wanna join any club, but just to check it out.
Ayanokouji:
Sure I don't mind, but can I invite Horikita?
Me:
Horikita? Who's she?
Ayanokouji:
Oh right, you wouldn't know her name, she's the one who approached us before the entrance ceremony yesterday.
Me:
Ohh, her. Nope. I don't like her at all. She's got that aura that makes her think she's superior to everyone around her. And I hate those types.
Ayanokouji:
I don't think she's that bad.
Me:
Have you tried making friends with her?
Ayanokouji:
Yeah, but she declined.
Me:
Lemme guess, she said something like she doesn't need any.
Ayanokouji:
Yeah, how'd you know?
Me:
Like I said , I hate those types, so just the 2 of us please. 🥺
Ayanokouji:
Fine. I'll see you after class.
Me:
Great! It was nice talking to you, bye.
——————————————————————————
After our conversation, I waited for lessons to end. It starts at 5pm, so I have an hour to win our bet. It's easy, I'll just use Ice cream-chan. Once classes had finally ended, I went out the class and waited for Ayanokouji and right on time he came out.
"Hey Ayanokouji, you ready?"
"Yeah, but the club fair shouldn't start for another hour?" We started walking out of the school.
"Ah right, this is where I win our bet." His eyes widen in remembrance at me mentioning it.
"Our bet." I decided to fake pout and be angry.
"Are you telling me you forget." I crossed my arms and turned around. "I could just call it off you know."
He sighed "There's no need to do that. I'm sorry for forgetting."
"Fine, but you have to treat me to ice cream."
"Ice cream?" Now time to ask the question.
"Yeah, what's your favourite flavour." Since he's been in the white room, he shouldn't have been able to have ice cream.
Unless he did during his stay with Matsuo at his father's mansion. It was never mentioned in the LN so I don't know.
"Um... I uh guess vanilla." Perfect, he acted unsure, just like I thought. I fake gasp in realisation.
"You never had ice cream before."
"Yes I have." He's trying to deny it. Now time to make up some random observation to prove it.
"Oh really, but a normal person would do either two things, straight away mention there favourite ice cream flavour, no hesitation. Or they'd contemplate on which one they like the most and if they can't come to a decision, then they'd just choose multiple ones. For example, me, I like Strawberry flavour and Mint Choc Chip flavoured ice cream. So it's pretty obvious you haven't had any before, which I find sad." That should be enough. The expression he should have is a gobsmacked one, but of course it's still that same handsome apathetic face I can never get bored of.
He sighed once again before answering me. "Yes I haven't had ice cream before and it's personal so please don't ask me." I smirked at him and faced him fully.
"Of course it is. You and your secrets is what makes you who you are. A mystery, someone people should fear." He rose an eyebrow at my statement.
"What do you mean by that?" I just laughed of the question before responding.
"That'll be answered in due time. But now back to the topic of Ice cream, are you interested to find out which flavour or flavours you like." I specifically used the word interested in my sentence. With that, I should easily win.
"I guess I am interested. Instead of liking the generic vanilla or chocolate, I might end up liking a mixed one."
After that he talked for a few minutes so passionately about ice creams. It made me glad to know he can still talk to me without me always having to lead the conversation. I smiled at the scene and was really happy with my life right now and what was happening.
We decided we'd get some coffee first and he'd have to treat me since I won our bet. We went to a cafe and I decided for us to stay there and talk for a little while. He's practically spent his life reading books, so I decided to bring up topics about some authors. I smiled almost every 5 minutes, because of me realising this is basically a date. Although, he of course doesn't see it that way.
Before we knew it, it was already 10 minutes till the club fair.
"Seems like time flies pretty fast when your having fun." I look over to Ayanokouji to see if there is any small differences on his face. I was able to see his eyebrows furrow a little even though I had no clue why. Unless...
"Yeah... I guess it does." I frowned, did he actually not have fun at all. Seeing my expression, he continued "it's nothing bad, it's just that this has never happened to me before."
"Your acting like you've barely spoken to anyone. What, we're you homeschooled?" Technically he was, but I have a feeling he'll say something different.
"No, I was just a normal loner back in Middle school, no one had ever noticed. That's all." I just responded with an eyebrow raise and said, 'uh huh.' To show him I don't believe him.
"Ah we're here." I pointed out that we're already right outside the gymnasium and led us in. It was really packed. Hopefully nothing unnecessary happens.
"There are more people here than I expected." He's right, but I expected that. However, it is still new for me to see as this scene wasn't in the anime.
While we were looking around, Ayanokouji talked about the karate club and the people on stage. While the students on stage were introducing themselves and their clubs, we spotted Horikita standing in the middle of the crowd, looking all pale with a face I would love to see everyday. Ayanokouji seeing her as well decided to call her out and see what was wrong with her.
"Hey Horikita? you okay?" Ayanokouji waved his hand in front of her face, but it's like she was just a standing corpse now.
We both then follow her line of sight and see a man with black hair and wearing glasses. I instantly knew this was Horikita's brother. But what interested me was his piercing, calculating gaze. Just like Ayanokouji mentioned in his thoughts in the LN. But it's been a while since I've seen that kind of face, so he obviously intrigued me. He was looking around the first years but didn't see us. We're there to many people for him to spot us? More specifically his sister?
It was getting kind of boring just looking at him standing there doing nothing. I was probably making a bored face right about now, while students were yelling, trying to make fun of him.
"Do your best!"
"Did you forget to bring your notecards?"
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
They continued to hurl comments at him. However, the laughter and comments didn't faze him one bit. Once the laughter had died down, his face changed to an apathetic expression.
"What's with this guy?"
Not a single student opened their mouth for the next 30 seconds and I had the urge to yawn so badly. Finally Horikita's brother had started his speech.
"I'm the student council president. My name is Horikita Manabu, the student council is looking to recruit potential candidates among the first-year students to replace the graduating third years."
And he lost my attention already. The feeling I had dissipated already. It's like chewing gum, you like the taste, but after a while of chewing the taste goes bland and plain. That's how I feel about him right now. While he continued talking, I moved forward a little and was careful not to make loud footstep noises to catch everyone's attention. I took out my phone and took a couple photos of Horikita's face, as she was completely terrified and it amuses me a lot to see her different from her usual, arrogant self.
"Although no special qualifications are required for candidacy, we humbly ask that those considering application not be involved in other club activities. We generally do not accept students involved elsewhere." As I was done taking pictures, I looked back at the SCP as he continued on with his speech.
He spoke in a soft tone, but the tension around us was so thick it felt like you could cut it with a knife. If this is his best then I'm impressed but also disappointed at the same time. Of course it'd be easy for people like me and Ayanokouji to silence this many students, and him being a normal person was able to do it, which is what impressed me. But it still wasn't enough to keep my attention on him.
"Furthermore, we in the student council do not wish to appoint anyone who possesses a naive outlook. Not only would such a person not be elected, he or she would sully the sanctity of this school. It is the student council's right and duty to enforce and amend the rules, but the school expects more than that. We gladly welcome those of you who understand this."
I rolled my eyes as everyone was so afraid to talk and wasn't sure what'd happen. I almost wanted to strike up a conversation with Ayanokouji, because this silence is unbearable, but I'll just end up drawing attention to myself. Luckily the organiser of the club fair had finally spoke to remove the tension.
"Thank you all for coming. The club fair has ended. We will now open the reception area to anyone interested in signing up. Also, registration will be open until the end of April, so if any student wishes to join at a later date, we ask that you please bring the application form directly to the club you wish to join." I almost shouted a thank you! But refrained myself from doing so. And finally the gymnasium had become loud and noisy again.
"Hey Horikita." Ayanokouji once again tried to call Horikita. And after a couple more tries she finally snapped out of her daze.
"Ay-Ayanokouji-kun... and Miura-san? What are you two doing here?"
"We just came to look around, but what happened to you? You looked all scared and terrified?"
"W-what do you mean? I was just thinking about something?" I decided to play with the bro-con a little.
"Huh, Horikita, you were clearly say dreaming. Were you perhaps thinking of something lewd~ about him, because he was so captivating to you?~" I smirked as Horikita immediately became a blushing mess and tries to glare at me.
"W-what are you o-on about? I wasn't thinking about n-nii— I mean the SCP i-in that way?" While she tried to keep her voice all arrogant, high and mighty. She was obviously failing.
Before we could continue our conversation, a voice called out to Ayanokouji and I grimaced as I knew who it was and who they were with.
"Yo, Ayanokouji. You came, huh?" It was Sudo, accompanied by Ike and Yamadead— I mean Yamauchi becuase he isn't dead yet.
While they were engaged in their conversation, Horikita immediately walked away from them and you could see her go into the crowd. While I had simply disappeared from where I was standing. From a distance I got see Ayanokouji holding his phone while looking at the retreating figure of Horikita and looking for me. I decided to send him a message while he was holding his phone.
Ayanokouji's Phone:
Miura Yumiko: Sorry, I'm allergic to perverts. But I really enjoyed today. 😊 We should do this again!