Classroom of the Elite: The Eroge

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with. The sooner I'm done with this, the sooner I can get to my room and retire for the day," he shook his head and dismissed the notification, before observing his surroundings.

Well? Where was this 'special event'? There's no 'heroine' here with him at the moment, so the system will definitely do something about that.

After about a minute of waiting for something to happen, Kiyotaka continued on his way to the dorms. If that new 'special event' wasn't going to happen right where he was, then it would take place on his way to his room or when he gets there.

Nonetheless, he was quite certain that something would happen.

"Ahhh, you fucking perverts!"

The young man immediately heard a loud, annoyed voice in the distance. Just from the tone, he could tell that it came from a girl, but who exactly? One of his heroines, maybe? Or could it be someone new?

"I want to strangle them every time they get close to me... I want to kick their faces over and over until they bleed and shut up!"

Kiyotaka quickly followed the source of the voice, having a feeling that this wouldn't be any ordinary encounter between a boy and a girl. It didn't take long for him to trace and find the source of the voice; a female student not so far from him, kicking the metal railing in front of her as hard as she could.

"Why the hell did I have to get stuck with those two idiots? Horikita should have taken them with her but noooo, she didn't want to handle it! She couldn't deal with them!"

It was none other than Kushida, who now bore a venomous look on her face as opposed to the usual smile she had all the time. Her voice had also changed. Gone was her cute and gentle voice and was now replaced by a deeper and sharper one.

"Is she not going to study with her group today?" Kiyotaka asked himself, temporarily ignoring the fact that she was having a little tantrum at the moment.

He decided to get a closer look and hid himself behind the trees nearby. The girl was facing away from him, so there was no danger of being detected by her... as long as he doesn't make any noise, that is.

"She's seriously annoying! God, how irritating. To think I even befriended that bitch... I can't wait for her to get expelled!"

Although he was aware of Kikyo's true nature from the start, it was still different from seeing it in person. Kiyotaka didn't know how to feel about seeing the girl act like this, when she was the complete opposite before.

"Ugh, I hate her. Who does she think she's fooling? She hasn't changed at all. She's still an arrogant bitch who only cares about what she wants!"

"Wait... she doesn't hate Horikita for possibly knowing about her past and instead, Kushida hates her for acting the way she is?" Kiyotaka thought.

That in itself was strange. What does she hate about Suzune exactly? Her attitude? The black-haired girl normally kept to herself instead of interacting with other people. Her arrogance? She's currently learning to change herself. Or perhaps it's because of how Suzune didn't want anything to do with her at first?

This whole issue is just plain confusing.

"Hmm, there's no one else around... most likely the work of the system," he noted while looking around for students who were in the area.

Strangely, even though classes just ended and the sun was still high in the sky, there weren't any other students roaming around the area. Even in the distance, Kiyotaka couldn't see any students approaching so Kikyo was in the clear.

Yep, this is definitely the work of his 'superpower'. It either made the girl invisible to other people except for him, or it was preventing other students from venturing into this area.

"'Get to Class A', my ass... you only care about yourself! You're annoying! You must think you're so good, huh?! I can't wait to get Ayanokouji-kun to work against you. I can't wait to see the look on your face when you find out that he's the reason why you'll be kicked out of here!"

"Is that what she wants to happen?" he thought, raising an eyebrow in slight interest.

Apparently, Kikyo wants to get him to expel Suzune... somehow. She hated the other girl to the point that she wanted nothing more than to see her face expulsion... for some reason.

He could already tell from this that Kikyo is the type of girl to act before she thinks. She obviously didn't think of the possible consequences of ranting and letting her frustrations out in a place like this.

She was only lucky that the system protected her from being seen by other people.

Plus, how exactly would she be able to convince him? Throwing herself at him? Acting all cutesy so that he would take her side? Framing him for doing something so bad that Suzune would hate him? Or perhaps keeping Suzune from seeing him altogether?

Kiyotaka shrugged helplessly. Even with the 'heroine summary' that the system provided for him, it wasn't enough to make him understand how this girl's mind worked.

There was already a voice in his head that was telling him to get out of there before Kushida sees him... and who knows how she would react if she did?

However, an odd question arose as well. One that concerned the girl and the notification that appeared before him earlier.

"Am I supposed to catch her in the act now? That must be what this 'special event' is all about."

Well, what else could be the reason why he was seeing this? It couldn't have been for the sole reason of getting him to see Kushida's other side. This was the perfect opportunity for him to catch her in the act, and see where that leads to. He also had a feeling that if he didn't do this, his broken superpower would go ahead and make him trip or make a noise of some kind anyway, just to get Kushida's attention.

"I hope I'm making the right decision here..." he sighed in defeat.

Whatever happens from here, he would leave it to the system. For all the headaches and stress he gets from it, his weird power hasn't led him to danger yet.

He stepped out of the trees and walked closer towards her, making careful not to make any noise for now.

"Kushida?" he spoke just as he was behind her, doing his best to sound confused.

Kikyo suddenly froze in her place as she heard someone else's voice from behind her. What's worse is that the voice sounded familiar to her and when she turned around to see who it was, her eyes widened in alarm.

After a brief silence, she then spoke in a cold voice. "What... what are you doing here?" she glared at him.

Kiyotaka couldn't deny that it felt different hearing her speak to him in a completely different demeanor. If it weren't for the system considering Kikyo as a 'heroine', he would think that she never cared about him at all.

"I... got a little lost. Sorry. If you want me to leave, I can go now."

Kikyo glared harder at him, clearly seeing through the obvious lie. Her eyes were different than before; what was once a cute and gentle look was now a cold and murderous expression and it was directed towards him.

"How much did you hear?" she demanded.

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't hear anything at all?" he replied, still insisting that he was innocent even though it was a fruitless attempt in doing so.

Silence followed afterwards. The girl continued to glare at him, while he could only turn his head away. Kiyotaka honestly didn't know what to say to her that wouldn't make her mad in any way.

Once again, it would have been easier if the system helped him out here by giving him the three usual choices for him to choose from.

Then, out of nowhere, Kikyo began to laugh.

She just... laughed.

"...Haha... hahahahaha... hahahahahahaha...!"

"This is creeping me out..." the young man thought to himself as he watched her laugh for some reason, which was also different to how she usually does it while around other people.

The girl dropped her glare and put on a sarcastic look. "You're really lucky that I like you, Ayanokouji-kun. If it was any other person who's in your position right now, I would have accused them of raping me," she smirked.

He didn't show it, but he was surprised at the sudden 180 in her demeanor. "Was that supposed to make me feel better? And why do I feel like I dodged a massive bullet there?" he asked himself.

Kushida stopped laughing a few moments later, "So what are you going to do now? You're gonna tell everyone that I'm a two-faced bitch who's only pretending to be nice in order to gain everyone's trust? You better do it now, because I don't feel like I can stop you anyway."

"Seriously? She's just going to let me leave like that?"

Despite the surprise he felt at the moment, he noticed that underneath her sarcastic words, Kikyo felt afraid that he would actually tell someone else about this. Kiyotaka wasn't sure if she was serious when she said that he can run away now, but he wasn't going to do such a thing.

['To Protect Her Smile' has been Activated!]

"I won't," he told her, making the girl look at him in shock.

He had no reason to tell anyone about Kikyo's 'other side', even though she basically admitted that she would have accused him of a crime if he was someone else. Because of the high number of Affection Points she had, the system must have influenced her not to do anything bad to him.

Furthermore, he had known about her fake mask ever since he met her and still, he never told anyone else about it.

"W-What?" she asked in a dumbfounded voice, before Kushida glared at him again. She felt that he refused because he had some sense of pity for her, which the girl saw as an insult. "What the hell are you talking about? I told you, you can walk away right now and tell everyone that I'm not who they think I am! I won't stop you!"

Kiyotaka shook his head, now assured that nothing unfortunate will happen to him.

"I have no idea why you're like this, nor do I know why you hate Horikita even though you're friends, but I'm not going to tell anyone about this."

Her angry look fell apart as soon as it appeared.

"If anything, I'd like to hear your side of the story first. Why are you like this? Why did you befriend Horikita if you actually hate her? What caused you to be this way? Are we even friends? Or do you hate me too?"

After hearing those words from his mouth, Kikyo's mouth was left hanging open out of shock. She seemed unresponsive for a few moments before lowering her head, hiding her face from him. Kiyotaka wondered what she must be thinking right now, and he could only hope that he was saying the right thing.

"You really are an interesting person, Ayanokouji-kun."

The girl raised her head and smiled at him. No, this wasn't one of the fake smiles that she always does whenever she's around everyone else. Just from a single glance, one could see that this particular smile was genuine. Despite the dangerous look in her eyes, it didn't take away anything from the way her lips formed a curve that conveyed her joy.

In fact, her actual smile was completely different from her fake one to the point that Kiyotaka was left staring at her in wonder and amazement. It almost felt like he was seeing something that was meant for his eyes only.

['Kikyo's Real Smile' was added to the gallery!]

The sound of a camera snapping a photo was able to snap the young man out of his little trance, as he looked at the newest notification he received, as well as the 'image' of Kikyo smiling at him.

Well, at least now... he can see that 'image' whenever he wants to.

"I won't tell you today. Though... maybe when we're alone, I will."

"That's fine with me."

He could understand why. The girl probably needed time to sort this whole thing out. Plus, she already got caught in the act while she was out here...

Another brief silence followed, because Kushida was trying to figure out what to say next. Ayanokouji now knew about her secret, and he promised not to tell anyone about it... so what happens now?

"Are..." she frowned, before looking up at the young man. Kiyotaka noticed the conflicted expression on her face that was mixed with eyes of nervousness. "Are you really not going to tell anyone about this? This is your last chance, Ayanokouji-kun. If you walk or run away now, I won't stop you."

"Friends don't sell each other out, Kushida. What you are right now doesn't change the fact that you're one of my friends. And to be honest, I kind of prefer seeing you like this. No lies, just the real you."

Kikyo's eyes widened again, and this time a blush took over her cheeks as well. She was clearly affected by his last statement that it made her turn away in order to hide her face from him.

"S-Stop saying things like that!" she snapped.

[Special Event 'What's Hidden Underneath' has been cleared! You gained 31 Affection Points with Kushida Kikyo!]

[Relationship Status 'A Rocky Relationship' has been maxed! Relationship Status with Kushida Kikyo has been upgraded to 'Lovey-Dovey Psycho'!]

[Congratulations! You unlocked the Achievement: 'Level Up'! You gained +5 in all stats!]

"So that's what happens when I max out a girl's 'route'..." Kiyotaka quickly read through all of the notifications that popped up and observed each one closely.

If he had to be honest, he felt a little disappointed afterwards. For all the bullshit that he had gone through up until now, a change in their 'relationship status' was all that he received as a reward?

How underwhelming.

"Want to head to the dorms together, Ayanokouji-kun? I don't really have anything else to do today," the girl asked, snapping him out of his thoughts again. She had switched into her 'angel' persona, donning the fake smile that he was so used to seeing at this point.

Kiyotaka nodded. "Lead the way."

But, if nothing else, then the fact that Kikyo wasn't angry with him despite knowing her secret was the reward. The system might have influenced her mind, but it still made him relieved that she didn't react in a violent way or anything.

It also felt like they had become closer than before, now that one was aware of the other's true nature.