My Answer (2)

I looked at Kirisaki in shock, Hiroki had a wry smile and she gasped in surprise. So great was my surprise, that I put aside my conflict with Hiroki and asked her, "Kirisaki, you willingly came all the way out here, without knowing who he was?"

Once I questioned her, Kirisaki finally realised her mistake and showed a bashful smile while fidgeting.

"Uh, well, he said that it was important and I didn't want to be rude," she said.

As she came up with excuses, I noticed something unknown in the gaze she glanced at me with, but I didn't think much of it. I was too focused on this careless behaviour of hers.

'No wonder the KKFC is so overprotective.'

With a sigh I lightly scolded her, "Kirisaki, don't you know that you're not supposed to leave with strangers? You need to be more careful, especially in a school like this. What if this pervert had done something to you?"

"Oi, aren't you being too rude there? I'm right here, you know," said some fly that we chose to ignore.

In response to me, Kirisaki slowly nodded her head and then looked up at me, "You're right. I'll be careful next time."

I wanted to be more firm but when she gave me that look, I had no option but to forgive anything she did. With a cough to hide my blush, I then told her to wait for me while I handled Hiroki. I was worried that he would try and interfere, but he only spoke once she was out of auditory range.

"Wow, I didn't expect you two to be this close. I should have taken a picture to send to the KKFC."

To counter I asked, "Hmph, aren't you on their wanted list now after taking her out of class?"

"Oh, are you worried about me? Don't worry, I have my means."

"..."

Seeing that I was at a disadvantage, I stopped trying to argue and stuck to glaring at him. My wish to wipe that infuriating grin off his face only grew, but as much as I didn't want to admit it, I couldn't beat him in a battle of words. In a way different from Ms. Aria, he was someone I had trouble with.

Since I stayed silent, Hiroki shrugged his shoulders and went back to the main topic.

"So, what's your answer? Why do you want to stay in the Life Assist Club?" 

I already had my answer ready, so I simply took a deep breath before looking straight into his eyes filled with amusement.

"When you said that I wanted to stay because my crush was in the club, you weren't wrong."

"So you mean to say that-" 

His expression brightened as he jumped to conclusions, but before he finished I continued my answer.

"But, that isn't the main reason."

"It's not?" Hiroki asked with one eyebrow raised.

"That's right. It's not just the fact that I can be with my crush that makes me want to stay. It's because I want to keep working with everyone, including my crush. I never thought that I would have the opportunity to interact with the popular kids, and at the start I thought that it would just be a pain in the neck fitting in among them, but in the few weeks that we've worked together, I've become sure."

"Sure of what?" No longer with a grin but still with interest and curiosity in his expression, Hiroki waited for my response.

"I'm sure that if I stay with them, I'll be able to have a lot of fun. More than enough fun to make up for all the stuff I'll have to put up with, like dealing with you. That's why, I won't let you or anyone else try to take that away from me." I said firmly.

I stood my ground but with a carefree tone, Hiroki responded, "Ouch, can't you be a little gentler with your words?"

"You sure weren't gentle on Saturday."

"Hehe, you got me there. Still, that was a nice answer. However, what if it's your clubmates that want to kick you out?" 

With a rare solemn look in his eyes, Hiroki asked this question. If it was me from Saturday I would likely have panicked, but the me on the way to school had predicted that he might ask a question like this so I could reply without any fright.

"I would have to resign if that happened, but I doubt it'll happen any time soon." I stated confidently.

"And why is that? Do you have that much faith in them?"

"That's part of the reason, but, it's also because I'm the vice-president, it won't be that easy to get rid of me."

This was just a bluff, but fortunately, it was one that worked.

"You're, the Vice-President?"

Looking at the clear bewilderment on Hiroki's face, I smiled and nodded with satisfaction.

"That's right. You can ask Kirisaki if you want to check."

I wished that he stayed in disbelief so that I could shove the truth in his face, but Hiroki shook his head with an impressed expression.

"I believe you. This is my loss."

Perplexed by the sudden declaration of my victory, I cried out in surprise, "Wait, that easily?! Weren't you going to keeping pressuring us until you got your way? Aren't you just a shameless playboy bullying his junior? Are you sick or something?"

Genuinely shocked by how easily he gave up, I checked if this was just a sick joke of his, but it didn't seem like it.

With a vein on the verge of popping on his forehead, Hiroki asked, "Do you talk to Zakushi like this too?"

"Of course not. Zakushi is my respectable senior."

"And what am I?"

"Trash."

"You little-"

Even I thought my mouth was getting a little out of control, but despite how far I went, Hiroki merely clicked his tongue and sighed.

Hiroki then said, "Listen, I only came after you because of a bet I had with Zakushi. It sucks that I'll lose the bet, but you did a good job, Akishiro."

"Finally calling me by my name again, huh?"

"Kuku, that's because you're finally worth me remembering."

Hiroki then turned around and walked away after waving goodbye to Kirisaki.

"I look forward to seeing how long you can stay yourself, my rude junior."

This was the last line he said before his back faded into the distance.

"..."

"..."

Both Kirisaki and I kept looking in the direction of that back until Kirisaki asked a question.

"Do you think all of our seniors will be weird?"

"Well..."

I hesitated to answer out of respect for Zakushi, but on the inside I agreed with the sentiment.

'Wait a second, how will I express my passion to the ones that hate me, when he's the only one who heard me?

...Oh well.'

With my conflict with Hiroki supposedly finished, yeah, not much changed. Well, I now had to keep my guard up in case the KKFC was still after me, but besides that it was the same as usual. 

However, because nothing had changed, in a sense, Zakushi's plan had failed. Not that there was anything wrong with the plan, I just couldn't execute it properly. If I had given my answer on Saturday, then the plan would have been done properly and maybe I would no longer be public enemy #1. Nevertheless, I knew not to expect too much of my past self. Although things didn't go as planned, I was no longer as bothered by how my schoolmates looked at me. After all, 'twas but a small price to pay for salvation. No matter how much they hated me, it couldn't compare to the joy of being in the Life Assist Club, and surely they would agree with me.

And to prove my resolve, I took a bold course of action after school. Honestly, I didn't know how this crazy idea came into my mind, but with the leftover guilt I felt for pushing Kirisaki away, as well as my determination to stay in the Life Assist Club until I wasn't wanted, I was able to overcome my fear of danger.

I left my class as soon as school was over and headed to class 1-C. If she was already gone then I would just give up, but if she was there...

When I got to her class, I was somehow just in time as she was waving goodbye to her friends and admirers. I waited until she stopped waving to approach her.

"Hey, Kirisaki."

After hearing me, she turned around with a puzzled look, "Hmm, Akishiro?" 

Once she and everyone within earshot looked at me, I asked the same thing that she had once asked me.

"D-do, you want to go to club together?"

Of my own volition for once, I made the spectators my enemies for this adorable girl who called me her friend. My arms trembled at the feeling of being held at gunpoint by everyone except her, but I held my ground. This might come off as a taunt to the KKFC, however, I was sure that they wouldn't act in front of Kirisaki. When I was alone would be a different story, but at least for now, I was safe. Instead of feeding my fear, I swallowed it and waited anxiously for her answer.

At first she was surprised, then she showed me a smile of pure joy that could melt the coldest of hearts before grabbing my hand. 

'Wait wait wait wait! You raised the difficulty too high!!!'

"Let's go."

Without any regard for the chaos my mind had been thrown into, Kirisaki pulled me through the rows of students who looked ready to pull out knives. In fact, a few of them were looking rather horrifying with box-cutters in their hands.

'Looks like my days are numbered. Good thing I transferred the storage of my hard drive at home. I'll miss you Mom and Dad."