38"Okay everyone, those are our main videos in this session. What do you think?" Eve asked everyone.
"It's fun!"
"I can't wait to see the others."
"Same."
Everyone immediately expressed their satisfaction with the video shown by Eve... without thinking about how I felt about having my life shown to everyone.
"Fu fu, I admit I quite enjoyed it, even though so far the conflict has only been limited to one class," said Sakayanagi.
"Oh, no need to worry about that. There's still a lot more I want to show you."
"I'm looking forward to it," Sakayanagi said with a satisfied smile.
"So what's next? You can't possibly just let us stay here forever, right?" Asked Ryuuen who stretched his legs over the back of the chair of the person in front of him.
Ryueen's question caught everyone's attention, they then looked ahead and wondered what Eve's plan was next. The video has finished broadcasting, which means they have nothing more to do.
"Ah right, sorry," said Eve as if waking up from her reverie, "Okay everyone, with the end of the video, that means our night session is over. Now you can rest or want to discuss if you want."
"Where can we rest?" Ike asked confused.
"Wait a minute," Eve said.
After that there was silence, everyone including me wondered what Eve was doing, but it didn't have to wait long because a few moments later each of our phones rang.
I opened my phone and saw that a message had just come in from an unknown number.
13-A
That's the content of the message, short and without any explanation. Of course everyone is confused, including me, by the contents of this message.
"What's this?" Ishizaki asked confused.
"I will explain, everyone please listen carefully."
Hearing that, everyone paid close attention to the speaker, even though it was quite strange to me.
"At the beginning I told you that there would be 3 sessions, namely morning, afternoon and night. Each session will be around 3 to 4 hours, after that you are free to spend your time on anything until the next session."
If that's the case, then we will spend approximately 12 hours a day watching what Eve will broadcast, and the rest we can spend however we want. But what will we do during that free time? It looks like Eve will explain further.
"To spend your free time, I have created several facilities for your convenience. There are private rooms, cafeterias, convenience stores, and many others. And you can use it all for free."
The students were immediately excited to hear that, giving us facilities that could be used for free was the right step for Eve to fill our free time. Because without it, we would quickly get bored.
"For the bedroom, you can go to the end of the hall at the back. At the end of the hall there are 2 elevators which are quite spacious, the elevator can take you up to 13 floors, and on each floor there are several rooms that I have provided. On each room door there are letters of the alphabet to mark the room. Now you just have to adjust to the message I have sent to you, that is your room. Oh, you can also use the stairs which are not far from the elevator to go up."
13-A. So that's the meaning of the message, it means my room is on the 13th floor with room number A.
"If you want to discuss, then you can use the room in the hallway. There are 4 rooms, each representing your class."
For those who were confused by my actions of just casually entering a room in the hallway, now they will definitely understand that I entered my own class discussion room.
"For food and drink needs, you can go to the door located next to the elevator, from there you can go to the cafeteria, convenience store and other places."
"…"
Nobody spoke. I guess it's natural after all the preparations Eve has prepared for us. It seems like she wants us to be as comfortable as possible here.
"You are full of preparation," said Sakayanagi in praise.
"Fu fu, if you want to do something you really enjoy, would you half-ass it?" Eve asked.
"Of course not, if my preparation is not thorough then I won't find my pleasure."
"Then that's what I'm doing now," said Eve, "Okay everyone, now you're free to do what you like, you can go discuss or go rest. Tomorrow's morning session will be held at 9 am."
After that, several people started to stand up, it seemed like they were going straight to their respective rooms judging by their tiredness.
"But remember," said Eve, drawing the attention of those who had already stood up, "Your school rules still apply here, so don't do things that are detrimental to you."
That means fights, illicit relations between students, and several other violations are also not permitted here. Considering that Eve can notice everything, I don't think they would dare break the rules.
Mashima-sensei gave Eve a nod of thanks before he guided the students to the place Eve had indicated.
I remained in my seat while watching the other students leave, the occupants of the previously full theater room gradually decreasing. If I go now then I'll just be stuck in the elevator queue, even though the elevator is quite spacious, it's impossible to carry more than 150 people at once.
I can use the stairs to go up but it doesn't rule out the possibility that the stairs are also used by other students. But it doesn't matter, after all I still want to be here for a while.
I looked around me and realized that Ayanokouji's group and several students from other classes were also still sitting in their seats.
"What should we do now, Suzune-san?" Yousuke asked.
"It's getting late now, we better get some rest. But I hope we can have a class meeting at 8 after everyone has breakfast. Excluding Kouenji-kun, could you please bring everyone to attend?" Suzune said, her question was more directed at Yousuke and Kikyou because they both had good friendships with all of our classmates.
"I can do it," Yousuke said nodding.
"I'm… not sure I can but I'll try," Kikyou said with a little hesitation. Since her true nature has been revealed, she may feel awkward about meeting her friends.
"You can refuse if it's too hard for you, Kikyou-san," said Suzune who could feel Kikyou's anxiety.
"No, it's okay. I have to try it," Kikyou said with a slightly forced confident smile.
"Okay, I understand. But don't force yourself," Suzune said, Kikyou nodded.
After that we all stood up to go to our respective rooms, because almost all the students had left, we were able to walk smoothly in the hallway without being hampered by queues.
"By the way, what floor are you all on?" Kikyou asked curiously.
"13."
"…"
We said that in unison that made us look at each other in confusion, apparently all members of the Ayanokouji group had the same room floor.
"It seems like we all have the same floor," Yousuke said smiling.
"It seems so, this is probably Eve's doing," said Keisei snorting.
"Isn't that great? We won't be too far apart," said Haruka who felt happy.
"I agree," said Airi nodding, I could feel the same pleasure as Haruka from her.
We reached the end of the hall where the elevator was, there were still a few students but not enough to form a queue, after waiting for a minute we were finally able to use the elevator.
The elevator was wide enough to fit all of us. Kei pressed the button for the 13th floor and the elevator doors closed. We waited for a few moments while the elevator took us to our destination, the elevator doors then opened showing we had arrived at our destination and when we got out of the elevator, we were once again treated to a luxurious view.
"As expected of Eve," Ken said while whistling.
After that each of us went to our respective rooms, I went to my room where the letter A was clearly displayed on the door. I looked at room B which was my heatrer and realized that Suzune was the owner of that room.
She turned to me and gave a small nod before opening the door to her room, I also opened the door to my room but before I entered, the sound of the elevator door opening caught my attention.
Suzune and the others who had almost entered their room also turned towards the elevator door. From the elevator door came two girls who we knew well.
Honami and Hiyori.
As soon as they got out of the elevator, they froze when they saw us in front of their respective doors. Honami came out of her frozen state and gave us a bright smile.
"Wow, hello everyone~, so we're really on the same floor," said Honami cheerfully greeting us. Hiyori gave everyone a nod with a smile.
Judging from their reactions, it seemed like the two of them had already made a guess that Ayanokouji's group would be on the same floor.
"Hello Honami-chan, it looks like Eve has prepared everything for us," Kikyou said in greeting.
"Eve is really well prepared, isn't she?" said Hiyori, joining the conversation.
Seeing that their conversation wasn't that important, I decided to take a break. After giving everyone a nod, I went into my room. When I got inside, once again I had to give Eve credit for everything she had prepared.
The view of the room I see now is the same as the high-class hotel rooms I saw on the internet. The room was spacious and luxurious, the bed looked very soft, even the bathroom was as big as my room in the dormitory.
I opened the wardrobe and saw a lot of sleeping clothes that had been prepared, I put them on without hesitation because these had definitely been prepared by Eve too.
My next interest was in the glass walls that lead directly to the outside. This room has no windows but is replaced by a very wide glass wall. I stood in front of the glass wall and could see the cool night view.
"It seems like Eve has adapted the time here to the real world," I muttered.
Looking at that peaceful night scene, I can now think again about everything that happened up until now.
My relationship with my friends has improved. My life is shown by everyone, to be honest it doesn't really affect me because all my life I've always been watched by people, the only problem is maybe my thoughts which can be known by other people.
Next I started attracting people's attention because they knew that I had been holding back all this time, the vigilance towards me from other class students would definitely increase, on the other hand the students from my class might pay attention to me in the next exams.
"Things will change drastically in second year," I said with a sigh.
With nothing else I needed to do, I decided it was time to rest. Giving one more glance at the night view outside, I then walked over to the bed.
When I lay down on the bed, it only took a moment for me to sink into the world of dreams.
The next day, I woke up at 7 am feeling refreshed. There's still an hour left before the class meeting, so I don't need to rush. After cleaning myself, I went out to go have breakfast.
When I opened the door, I met Maya who had just come out of her room.
"Good morning, Kiyotaka-kun," said Maya greeting me with a smile.
"Good morning," I replied with a nod.
"How do you feel? For me, this is the first time I have felt luxury like this and it feels very nice," said Maya excitedly.
"I agree, the mattress also felt very comfortable," I said while remembering the feeling of my bed.
"I agree! Kyaah, I hope we can take those things home," Maya screamed with joy, apparently she really enjoyed the luxury that Eve gave her.
"That might be a problem, the school will definitely wonder where you got those things," I warned her.
"I see," said Maya lowering her head slightly, it seemed her spirits dropped a little when she heard my words.
"But hey, maybe you could talk to Eve about it," I said comforting her.
Maya then nodded quickly, "Hn, you're right. I will try it. But… how? We haven't even seen her in person yet."
Well, that's a good question. We've never seen Eve's form in person, so we can't speak to her directly. The only way to communicate with her was through the speakers in the heatre or in the meeting room.
"Well, we better think about that later," I said ending the topic, "By the way, where are you going?"
"Ah, Shinohara-san sent me a message earlier, she invited me to have breakfast with her and Matsushita-san," answered Maya, "How about you, Kiyotaka-kun?"
"I also plan to go to breakfast."
"Wow, what a coincidence, would you like to go to breakfast with us, Kiyotaka-kun?"
"Eh?"
Maya's innocent and carefree question caught me a little off guard.
"Sorry, what did you ask?" I asked her to confirm whether what I heard was true or false.
"I asked if you would like to go to breakfast with us?"
Apparently I heard right, she actually invited me to breakfast with her friends. Now this is a problem, Maya's friends are Shinohara and Matsushita, I almost never talk to the two girls excluding Matsushita who follows me because of her suspicions. If I join Maya and her friends, things might get awkward.
"Thank you for your invitation but I think I should decline, I almost never talk to them. So I'm afraid I could make the atmosphere awkward later," I said politely refusing.
"It doesn't matter. I think if you get to know a lot of people and get close to them, you might be able to learn something you didn't know."
Maya said something I never thought would come out of her mouth, or I just don't know her yet. Even though I know her past, a person's character will never be the same as before, they will definitely develop over time until they grow up.
Maybe what Maya said was true, because I was close to her, I could find out something that I didn't know about her.
"Okay, I'll join. But I will leave immediately if they feel uncomfortable, okay?" I said to her.
"Really? Yatta! You don't need to worry about that, I'm sure they won't mind," Maya said happily, then she grabbed my arm and dragged me away, "Then let's go, Kiyotaka-kun."
Maya dragged me into the elevator and then she pressed the button for the 1st floor excitedly, even though we were already in the elevator, she still didn't let go of my arm.
The elevator doors closed and started operating, we remained silent while the elevator took us to the ground floor. Maya hummed lightly while embracing my hand, she seemed to be in a good mood, but if other people saw us this might become a problem. But luckily no one was using the elevator and we were able to get to the ground floor smoothly.
I thought I could avoid trouble but I realized how wrong I was, when the elevator doors opened, we were immediately faced with two girls who were leaning against the wall in front of the elevator.
Shinohara and Matsushita.
The two girls looked at us in surprise while Maya was still embracing me without a care in the world.
"Good morning, Matsushita-san, Shinohara-san," said Maya cheerfully.
"Good morning..." Shinohara said stiffly, perhaps she was still surprised by my presence.
"Good morning," Matsushita said in a casual tone, then she grinned, "Seems like someone's in good spirits this morning."
"Ah." Maya flinched before her eyes turned to her hands that were embracing me, she quickly let go of me with a red face, "S-Sorry, Kiyotaka-kun. I was completely unaware."
"No problem, don't worry about it," I said.
"By the way, how come you can be together with Ayanokouji-kun, Satou-san?" Asked Shinohara who had calmed herself down.
"We met in the hallway earlier so we decided to go together."
"Hallway!?" said Shinohara and Matsushita at the same time, meanwhile Maya tilted her head in confusion seeing the two's reactions. I don't think she understood why they were so shocked.
"You guys met in the hallway? Does that mean…"
"Your rooms are on the same floor?"
Judging from their reactions, it seems like the two of us having rooms on the same floor is not a natural thing.
"Is there something wrong?" Maya asked confused.
"Nothing, it's just that we were surprised that you two have the same floor room," said Matsushita shaking her head.
"Yeah, we thought the boys' and girls' floors were separated like the dorms at school," Shinohara added.
"Eh?" Maya screamed in surprise.
Now my suspicions were proven correct, among all the students, only the 13th floor had a mixed group of boys and girls, all of whom were members of the Ayanokouji group. All of this was definitely the result of Eve's interference.
"Which floor is your room, Satou-san?" Shinohara asked.
"13."
"That's the top floor."
"Do you know who the students on that floor are?" Matsushita asked.
Maya then told them who was on the same floor as us, after which Matsushita pondered.
"Hm, it seems like the people called by Ayanokouji-kun previously were gathered together. Is that a coincidence?" Matsushita said directing the last question at me.
"I don't know, but I think this is Eve's doing," I said with a shrug.
"I see," said Matsushita nodding in understanding, "Well, I guess there's no need to think too much about that. How about we have breakfast now?"
"Yes, I agree. I'm hungry now," said Shinohara.
"Okay. Ah, do you guys mind if I invite Kiyotaka-kun?" Maya asked.
They were both taken aback for a moment before looking at each other, moments later they reached agreement in their gazes.
"Sure, we don't mind," said Matsushita smiling. Seeing her expression, I think she will take advantage of this opportunity to probe about me.
"Yes, after all we do have the same goal," said Shinohara without objection.
This is quite an interesting development, I thought she would reject me. Did her impression of me improve after watching those videos?
"Good. Let's go," Maya exclaimed excitedly.
With that the four of us headed to the door that I saw previously closed was now open. I could also hear the murmur of people chatting in the distance, it seemed like many students had gone to explore this place.
When we entered the door, what we saw was a hallway at the end of the hallway there was a door. We walked to the door in silence and as the only man, I took the initiative to open the door first.
What awaited us behind that door was something surprising even for someone like me.
A magnificent and beautiful garden spread out in front of us, beautiful flowers and a calming river flow as well as everything that represented aspects of beauty decorated this garden.
In the park, there are several large buildings neatly arranged to add to the completeness of this park. I don't know what those buildings are for but I can find out later.
In the distance I could see several students enjoying the beauty of the park, I could see Ishizaki and his friends gathering in the middle of the grassland in the park.
"Eve has done extensive renovations here," I thought when I remembered that previously the room outside the heatre was just filled with endless clouds.
"I-Is this Heaven?" said Shinohara who stuttered at the beauty that appeared before her eyes. Next to her, Matsushita also stood stiffly while widening her eyes.
"Hey you guys, take a look at this," Maya exclaimed, we turned to her and saw her standing in front of a notice board.
I got closer to Maya's place and realized that it wasn't a bulletin board, but a map. A map of very good quality, detailed and easy to understand.
"This is a map," Shinohara said after approaching.
"More precisely, a map of this park, and also very detailed," said Matsushita, examining the map carefully.
"The main heatre building… that was where we were before, right?" said Maya while pointing to a building on the map, it was written on the Main Theater Building.
We turned around to look at the building we were referring to, where we came out of the previous building. When we turned around, it was once again silent.
The Main Theater Building looks like our school's gymnasium, big and spacious. It's just that this building is joined by a building that looks like a luxury hotel towering high into the sky. That must be where we stay.
"W-Wow, we're staying at a place like that?" said Maya whose eyes were sparkling.
"I-It's too fancy for me," stammered Shinohara.
"Hm. I think Eve renovated this place while we were resting last night," said Matsushita, who was unfazed by the sight in front of her. Maybe she was used to luxury?
I looked back at the map and checked everything, after a while I found our destination.
"I found the cafeteria," I said, catching the girls' attention.
"Close enough. Okay, let's go everyone," said an enthusiastic Maya for the umpteenth time.
After that we went to the cafeteria building, according to the map the building was directly opposite the Main Theater Building. But because of the size of this park it took us about five minutes to get there.
Luckily, no one noticed us on the way to the cafeteria because they were busy enjoying the beauty of the park. If they had noticed me, unpleasant glances would have been directed at me for walking with three girls.
We arrived in front of the cafeteria building and then entered through the automatic doors. When we got inside, the students' murmurs could immediately be heard. As I expected, almost everyone was already in this room having breakfast while the rest were outside enjoying the garden.
The building itself is very spacious and has two floors, each dining table is neatly arranged. I looked around the room and found a small notice board next to the entrance. I walked over there and read it.
Hello, this is Eve~.
This place is a cafeteria, you can eat as much as you like here, there are various dishes from all corners of the world that you can order here.
The way to order is quite simple, you just go to the dining table, on the table there is a tablet and you can order your order there. After you have finished ordering, your order will be delivered by a Melusine, they are my friends so you don't need to be afraid of them.
Please enjoy~~.
- Your beloved Eve.
(PS: everything is free.)
[AN: This is Melusine from Genshin Impact, if you're curious.]
Is this what it feels like when your wish comes true? Eve's desire to make us as comfortable as possible was extraordinary, everything was carefully prepared so that we could enjoy the spectacle she would provide.
Can I do this if one day I get a really big wish? This is currently unimaginable to me.
After that we started looking for an empty table and found it on the second floor. Apparently, the tablet Eve was referring to was attached directly to our dining table, so there would be no attempted theft. Even if the theft happened, I'm sure Eve would find out right away.
Apart from the tablet, on the table there is a QR code that directs us to an application containing the food menu in this cafeteria. This application can be considered a replacement for paper menus.
It took us a while to choose our breakfast menu, because the cafeteria menu consists of cuisines from all over the world.
After a while, I finally decided on the food that would be my breakfast menu this time. Kushari, typical Arabic mixed rice, I'm quite curious about Middle Eastern cuisine.
At the same time, the girls also completed their orders. Maya ordered Chinese food, Shinohara ordered French food, and Matsushita ordered Korean food. I used the tablet and wrote down my order and theirs on the tablet, after that all we had to do was wait.
"Everything feels like a dream, doesn't it," said Maya, breaking the silence.
"Yes. Overseer, magic, those videos and many others. Those are all things I know to be pure fantasy," Shinohara said.
"As Eve said, the fantasy came true. There are still many things we don't know about life, this shows how small the life we live is," said Matsushita.
The world is vast, and if you consider the universe, it is even vaster. As Matsushita said, if I had never left the White Room, I would never have realized how small the life I lived in that place.
"By the way, Suzune-san wants to have a meeting at 8 o'clock. Did you guys know about that?" Maya asked her friends.
"Yeah, Kushida-san sent me a message last night before I went to sleep," Matsushita said.
"Me too," said Shinohara nodding.
As expected of Kikyou, she moved quickly. But looking at their expressions and tone of voice, I didn't see any disappointment in them towards Kikyou.
"It seems like you guys accepted Kikyou's true nature well," I said expressing my thoughts.
They looked at each other for a few moments hearing my words, Shinohara then sighed while rubbing her head.
"Well, at first we also didn't expect Kushida-san's true nature to be like that, but thanks to Satou-san for making us aware," said Shinohara.
"I'm just saying what I think, really. Even though Kikyou-chan's kind actions are only to get attention from other people, her actions of helping other people are real," said Maya.
"Even so, it was a good move, Satou-san. We might have a worse view of Kushida-san if we didn't hear your words," said Matsushita.
"That... that's nothing, he he," said Maya shyly.
That's a good move from her, I don't think Matsushita really cares about Kikyou's character, the problem is Shinohara. From my observations so far, she is a stubborn girl who cannot really control her emotions and calm down.
I still remember when she was very angry at the boys when Kei's panties were stolen during the special exam on the uninhabited island. If it was just her who was angry then it wouldn't be too much of a problem, but Shinohara's anger had a strong influence on the other girls to have the courage to scold the boys.
So bringing Shinohara to our side is quite beneficial if something bad happens between us. The best example is probably when Kikyou's deepest secret is revealed, I think almost the entire student body will be angry with her.
Not long after, the food we ordered arrived, but we were silent to see who delivered the food.
It was not human, but had human-like features with two arms and two legs. The creature was no taller than my waist, had a long tufted tail, long ears or were they horns? I can't tell the difference. The creature's entire body is decorated with blue fur that looks soft.
The creature was likely the Melusine mentioned by Eve earlier.
"Hello everyone, welcome to the cafeteria. This is your order," said Melusine as she placed our order on the table.
"…"
The girls remained silent. I think it's natural because this is the first time in their lives seeing a non-human creature that can talk to them. If it weren't for the experience of meeting Eve, I might have been as surprised as they were.
Matsushita was the first to recover, she summoned the courage to speak, "H-Hello, nice to meet you. If I may ask, who are you?" she asked politely.
"Hello, my name is Mara, I am a Melusine who works here," answered Mara, confirming my suspicions that she was a Melusine.
"Melusine?" Shinohara asked tilting her head.
"That is one of the races that exist in my world," answered Mara. The words 'My World' indicated that she was from another world, "Then, please enjoy your order."
After that Mara withdrew, we just watched Melusine in silence until she entered the room which I thought was the kitchen.
"The world is wide, huh," said Maya, breaking the silence.
We have to agree with that.
After that there was nothing else to do apart from eating the breakfast that had been served. It tasted as I expected, so good that it made me want to order more. The girls even squealed with pleasure at the food they were eating.
After a while we finally finished our food feeling satisfied.
"Ah, I'm full~," said Maya with a satisfied sigh.
"Same. It was the most luxurious breakfast I've ever had," said Shinohara.
"There are still about 20 minutes left before the meeting, we can relax here for a moment," said Matsushita while looking at her watch.
"By the way, what is Horikita-san going to discuss?" Shinohara asked.
"I don't know, maybe about Kiyotaka-kun?" said Maya, immediately the girls immediately looked at me.
"Speaking of that, you're the center of attention this time, Ayanokouji-kun," said Matsushita with a smile.
I think it's time she decided to investigate me. Well, I don't really care about that now.
"There's nothing I can do about that," I said.
"Can I ask something?" Shinohara asked suddenly.
"What's that?"
"Satou-san has said it before, but I want to hear a straight answer from you. Ayanokouji-kun, why are you holding back?"
Seeing the calmness of Shinohara, who usually acted sternly, asked me, maybe Maya had said something that could calm them down. Even though I don't know what she said but I have to give her credit.
But for now I have to answer Shinohara's question. I thought for a moment to form the words before speaking.
"You already know that I've been studying at home all this time, right?" I asked.
The girls nodded, it was common knowledge after watching the video last night. I think all students know about that.
"How about that?" Matsushita asked.
"It all comes from there. The experience that I learned while I studied at that place was not a pleasant experience as you might imagine. My father is a strict and hard person, he wants perfect results in every lesson and sport that I study," I said, explaining to them the experience I had, without telling them about the existence of the White Room.
"To live up to my father's expectations, I must do everything in my power to do so. Every day I have to use one hundred percent of my brain and muscle power since I was little until before I entered this school. Therefore, I have never felt what other people feel. How does it feel to be a normal student? How does it feel to have friends? I came to this school to experience that after being escaped from my father's grasp."
Under normal circumstances, I would probably never say any of this to another student. But this time is different, everyone will know what I have done at this school. I still remember everything I did while at this school, some of which were definitely not liked by other students, the best example was when I trapped Kei on a cruise ship.
"I thought that if I didn't hold back, I couldn't get the school life I wanted. I have always used all my abilities throughout my life, but there are times when I feel tired of doing that."
"So you use this school as well to rest?"
"Exactly," I answered. It can be said like that, seeing new things and people's development is an interesting thing for me. It could also be said to be resting.
"…"
The girls especially Matsushita and Shinohara didn't say anything after hearing my story, it seemed like they were thinking about what I had told them. For Maya, she had nothing but a sad look on her face knowing what exactly I had been through.
"So you study at home not because you want to, but because your father forced you to?" Shinohara asked surprised.
"Yes, because I had no other choice that's why I obeyed his orders."
"How could a father do that to his child!?"
"As long as his goal can be achieved, my father will not care about anything else."
"Goal?"
"Sorry, I can't say about that."
"Wait, you said earlier 'escape from your father's grasp'. Ayanokouji-kun, could it be…"
"Yes, I ran away from home," I said, confirming Matsushita's guess.
"So that's the meaning of freedom you said in the first video," Matsushita said while leaning back in her chair.
After that there was silence between us as the girls pondered my words. There are still about 15 minutes before the meeting, should I go now?
I stopped that thought when Shinohara took a deep breath.
"Honestly, I always thought you were a gloomy person, Ayanokouji-kun. Even I also thought of you as a disgusting pervert when you were friends with Ike and the others. I'm sorry for thinking that about you, I didn't expect you to have such a past," Shinohara said guiltily.
I never thought that there would be a day where someone like Shinohara would apologize to me, or maybe this is what she really is like. She was the type of person who would say whatever she felt directly.
"No need to apologize. I often hang out with Ike and the others, but I still feel outside their circle of friends, there are some words I don't understand from them."
"It's better that way, Kiyotaka-kun. Sometimes the less you know the better," said Maya, Shinohara nodded in agreement.
"By the way Ayanokouji-kun, how high is your academic knowledge?" Matsushita asked curiously, but her eyes were showing something else.
How much did you lie to me? That's what she implied through her eyes.
At this point she definitely knew that I was lying about my limits to her. It doesn't really matter now. If she wants to know then she will get the answer.
"Riemann hypothesis, Navier-Stokes equations, Poincare equations. Do you know the meaning of those words?" I asked her.
"What's that?" Shinohara asked tilting her head. In contrast to Shinohara, Matsushita widened her eyes.
"It is a Mathematics problem that has not been solved until now," said Matsushita. As expected she knew about it.
"Correct. Earlier you asked to what extent my abilities were, so my answer was that it was only problems like the ones I mentioned that I couldn't answer."
Matsushita was silent for a moment before she looked at me with new eyes, "T-That means you have mastered all academic knowledge up to college level."
"W-What!?" Shinohara exclaimed in surprise. Maya widened her smile seeing her friends' reactions.
"Of course! Kiyotaka-kun is the smartest student in this school," said Maya proudly.
Shinohara and Matsushita gave flat looks at Maya who was puffing out her chest proudly, Maya who realized that she was the center of attention then looked down in shame because she realized her actions.
Then the two of them looked at each other and grinned, it seemed like they found something interesting.
"Yes, Ayanokouji-kun is a smart person. Therefore you have to work extra hard, Satou-san," said Shinohara.
"Eh?" Maya screamed confused.
"If you work hard, maybe Ayanokouji-kun will start to pay attention to you. Isn't that right, Ayanokouji-kun?" Matsushita asked me.
Paying attention to Maya? What does it mean? I looked at Maya in confusion, while Maya just looked down in shame.
"…"
A sigh could then be heard, I turned my head and saw Shinohara and Matsushita looking at me in disappointment. Apparently my confusion was clearly visible to them.
"So you really don't know anything about romance huh, Ayanokouji-kun," said Matsushita.
"Where did that come from?"
"We already know that you rejected Satou-san's confession and the reason for your rejection," said Shinohara.
Apparently Maya had told her friends that she liked me, I looked at her and she gave me an apologetic look.
"Do you really not want to date her, Ayanokouji-kun?" Shinohara asked. From her tone, this was a serious question, not a joke like before.
"It's not that I don't want to date her, but I can't yet. My life is like a blank slate, there is still so much I haven't learned in this world. Therefore I want to satisfy my curiosity first, starting from being a normal student. It's too early for me to learn about love."
That's what I said. But I also don't rule out that I'm also interested in learning about love soon. If all these events didn't happen, I would have used Kei to learn about love.
"But you might be able to learn love if you date her," Shinohara said. To think she said the same thing I was thinking, even though her intentions were clearly different.
"Would you date someone who doesn't love you?" I asked.
"Well, that…" Shinohara hesitated to say.
"Right now I don't have feelings for anyone, but maybe in the future that could change. I think there's no need to rush into starting a relationship."
"That…"
"It's okay, Shinohara-san."
Just as Shinohara was about to deny my words, Maya interrupted her with a smile.
"Satou-san?"
"Don't worry, right now Kiyotaka-kun doesn't have any feelings for me. But I won't give up, I will do everything I can until one day Kiyotaka-kun can return my feelings," said Maya looking at me with red cheeks while giving the most beautiful smile I could see from her.
Shinohara and Matsushita fell silent and looked at Maya with wide eyes, it seemed like this was the first time they saw Maya like this.
"Okay if you put it like that, Satou-san. Sorry Ayanokouji-kun, I was too pushy," said Shinohara, sighing.
"It's okay, don't worry about it."
"Hee, so you didn't want to hurt Satou-san's feelings, that's why you rejected her. You're a good person, Ayanokouji-kun," said Matsushita grinning.
"No, I'm not that kind of person," I said in denial.
"You humble yourself-"
"No, I am serious."
Matsushita was a little surprised by my strong denial, but I had to do it. The higher she praises me, the greater the impact she will feel when she falls. Therefore, I have to stop her here.
"Sorry for yelling at you. But I don't want you to be too quick to judge me as a kind person," I said.
"Why is that?"
"That's the answer for later," I said as I got up from my seat, "Now let's go, it's time for the meeting to start."
The girls were silent for a moment, before each of them checked their own watches.
"Wow, that's right, there are only five minutes left before the meeting," said Maya while looking at her watch.
"Unconsciously time flies while we chat," said Matsushita.
"Okay, let's go," said Shinohara who stood up from her seat while stretching.
After that we went to the class meeting room to attend the meeting held by Suzune.
Thanks for reading!
This is the first interlude, this interlude contains casual conversations between characters in their free time.
That's all I want to say for now. Sorry if there are mistakes in words, repeated words, or language errors during writing.
See you next chapter.