36After leaving the cafeteria. Me, Maya, Matsushita, and Shinohara went to attend a class meeting held by Suzune. The meeting was held in the Class Meeting Room, which meant we headed back to the Main Building.
During the walk, I could feel the curious gazes of the other students. Maybe because my life was on display, it made me the center of everyone's attention.
I quickened my footsteps to avoid them, luckily the girls understood what I meant and they quickened their pace too. We entered the Main Building and went straight to our Class Meeting Room.
We entered the room and saw that almost all of our classmates were already inside.
"Oi Kiyotaka, over here."
I turned to the source of the voice calling me and saw Ken waving his hand at the row of sofas where we were discussing earlier. All members of the Ayanokouji group also gathered there.
I walked towards their place, Maya and her friends followed me from behind. After arriving at my destination, I sat on the empty sofa next to Akito.
"It looks like you all got here first," I said.
"Yeah, and it looks like you're having fun with Maya and her friends. Where have you been?" Kei asked with a frown, making Maya's smile widen.
"He he, we went to breakfast together, Kei. Is there anything wrong with that?" Maya asked while smiling at Kei, but everyone could feel there was an electric spark between the two girls' gazes.
"W-Wow, what's with this strong sense of competition," said a slightly flabbergasted Matsushita.
"Ha ha, if you want to know, then the answer is that they are competing for this guy," Ken said grinning while pointing his thumb at me.
"Eh?! Karuizawa-san too?!" shrieked Shinohara, surprised to hear that Kei liked me.
"Hoo… this is interesting news. I never thought you could attract the hearts of two beautiful girls, Ayanokouji-kun," said Matsushita grinning at me.
"Heh, you might be surprised to hear that it's not just two girls fighting over Kiyotaka," said Akito grinning, it seemed like he and Ken were doing this on purpose.
"Really?! Who else?!" Shinohara demanded.
"You'll find out for yourself," said Ken leaning back on the sofa.
I ignored their conversation which started to gossip about me, then I looked at Kikyou who was sitting on the sofa next to me.
"I heard you had talked to everyone, how did it go?"
"Well, as expected, many of them avoided me. But I'm lucky that there are still people who want to talk to me," said Kikyou with a smile.
"Who?" I asked. Those who still accept Kikyou may still be trapped in the illusion of her Angel charm or they have truly accepted Kikyou's nature like Matsushita and Shinohara.
"Kokoro-chan, Miichan, and their friends."
"Them, huh," I muttered. I often see Kikyou hanging out with Miichan and her group and it seems like they are close friends. And considering Miichan's nature, I wouldn't be surprised if she could forgive Kikyou's true nature.
Well, that's all assuming they don't know Kikyou's biggest secret. I don't know how Miichan and the others will react when they find out her secret.
"Hey, Kiyotaka-kun. Can I ask something?" Kikyou asked hesitantly.
"What's it?"
"Can I tell Miichan and the others my secret?"
"…"
Well, this was surprising enough to leave me speechless. The previous Kikyou would never have said something like this, she would rather work with the devil itself than have her secret revealed. Now she's asking me about exposing her secret.
But I can see where this question is coming from. Kikyou has now thrown away her biggest desire and is trying to live a normal life, of course people who know his true nature will stay away from her. But not everyone thinks like that, there are people like Miichan who, after knowing Kikyou's true nature, still accept her as a friend.
This is where the question comes from, the longer she keeps her secret from people who consider her as a friends, the more feelings of guilt arise from within her.
"It's not up to me to make that choice. But if you really value your friendship with them, then choose what you want to do," I said.
"My wish…" muttered Kikyou thoughtfully, possibly thinking about what she wanted to do.
I can't do anything here. This was something related to Kikyou and her friends, if there was anyone who could make a decision then it was herself.
Kikyou remained silent and deep in thought, she was still thinking about what she really wanted to do. I didn't say anything and patiently waited for her answer.
Soon she took a deep breath and exhaled.
"Okay, I've decided. I'll tell them," Kikyou said firmly, then she looked at me. "If I want to start a normal life, then I can't keep lying to them."
Wise decision. It is better to tell directly than to be told by someone else, because the effect will be lower. Just like I did to Suzune and the others, if I never tell them about my true abilities, an even worse mess will definitely occur.
Ken will throw a tantrum, Suzune will charge me more often with her cruel words, and Kikyou will definitely use the opportunity to corner me. The original Ayanokouji group probably wouldn't have reacted much except for Keisei who would have been furious at me.
"If you want to do that then do it. If you want advice from me, then tell them when the time and moment is right to do it."
"Fine, I'll do it," said Kikyou nodding.
After that there was nothing we needed to do other than wait for the rest of our classmates to gather in the room, I looked around the room where my classmates were spread out enjoying the facilities in this meeting room.
The Ayanokouji group seems to have made the row of sofas located in the middle of this room their own, because all the members occupy this place plus Shinohara and Matsushita. We look like Big Boss here.
The door to the room opened and Ike and his entourage entered the room. With the entry of Ike and his entourage, all the students in our class had gathered in the room excluding Kouenji as usual.
After seeing everyone already in the room, Suzune stood up from her sofa.
"It seems you have all arrived, may I have your attention?" Suzune said.
Right after that everyone stopped their activities and started paying attention to Suzune, this was enough to prove that they already considered Suzune as the leader of their class.
"There are still about 45 minutes before the morning session starts, so before that I want to say something to you all," Suzune said while looking at her watch.
"What's it?" Ike asked.
"As you know that our class has become the center of attention from other classes now, that's because we are now seeing Kiyotaka-kun's life from his perspective where he is from our class."
"Isn't that because all the class leaders chose him including you, Horikita-san?" Shinohara asked.
"Yes, and I admit that it brings a loss because the other classes know the situation about our class," said Suzune. "But the loss is not the only thing we gain, because now we can all see our class situation more clearly and know something we didn't know."
I could feel the gazes directed at me and Kikyou, thanks to those videos, they could tell that I had been holding back and they also knew Kikyou's true nature.
"Um, can I ask you something, Horikita-san?" Miichan asked shyly.
"What's it?"
"Will Ayanokouji-kun continue to hold back in second year?"
Everyone blinked their eyes and looked at Suzune with anticipation, it seemed like they were very curious whether I would continue to hold back or not.
"No need to worry about that, he will help if needed."
As Suzune said, I will only help if needed, other than that she will take care of everything with the help of our classmates. That was something we mutually agreed upon during discussions at the beginning of the meeting, the goal was to develop their own abilities because if they depended too much on me then it would only hinder their growth.
My classmates didn't seem to understand the meaning of Suzune's words because they seemed to be relieved just hearing that answer.
"And the last one, strengthen yourself while watching, remember that we were once class D students, the Defected. Insults will definitely happen to us, but hold back your anger and frustration while watching, because other classes will definitely use that opportunity to destroy our mentality. You can vent all the feelings you are holding back in this room, the place where we gather. Please remember that."
Everyone hardened their expressions hearing Suzune's warning, they had already experienced insults from other classes in last night's session. Thanks to Ken's words, they managed to survive but that didn't mean the insults from other classes would stop, so Suzune's early warning was the right step to prepare themselves.
"Okay that's all I wanted to say, you guys can spend your time however you like until the morning session starts."
After that everyone dispersed and busied themselves, some of them left the meeting room. I decided to relax in this room until the appointed time.
I had nothing to do apart from chatting with the other members of the Ayanokouji group. The Ayanokouji group of boys consisting of me, Akito, Yousuke, Ken, and Keisei gathered and chatted with each other, most of the topics we discussed were sports because 3 of us were club members.
Every now and then I tried to hear the conversation of the Ayanokouji group girls who were sitting next to us, but when I heard my name among their conversation, I decided to stop listening.
We stayed in that room for the rest of the time and when it was about 10 minutes before 9am, we decided to head to the main theater room.
When I arrived at the theater room I could see that almost all the students had filled the room, the teachers had also arrived and were sitting in their respective places. I returned to the seat I filled previously, followed by the other members of the Ayanokouji group.
Maya, who previously sat in the middle row, now sits two rows in front of me along with Shinohara and Matsushita, it seems like she doesn't want to be far from us either. Apart from that, there is nothing different about the students' seating positions.
Soon it was 9 am, meaning it was time for the show to start. A rustling sound from the speakers caught our attention.
"Hello everyone~, good morning. I hope you enjoy your first day here." Eve's cheerful voice echoed throughout the room.
"Yeah, that was a lot of fun," shouted Ike with satisfaction. Soon other students followed him.
"We really enjoyed it."
"Thank you, Eve."
Everyone expressed their sense of satisfaction, I can understand that feeling. If I had the courage, I would also express my satisfaction just like them.
"Hm~, hm~, it's good that you feel satisfied. Now let's start our morning session, are you ready?" Eve asked.
"Yeah!" answered the students in unison.
"Very well, then let's start the show~"
Thanks for reading! Next we will enter Y1V2.
Sorry if there are mistakes in words, repeated words, or language errors during writing.
See you next chapter.