Classroom of the Elite: The Eroge

"I know they're probably just happy to see their friends again and hang out, but it feels like a lot of them actually want to go to school even though they don't like studying."

Kiyotaka hummed to himself. As he watched his classmates' interactions with each, he was also in deep thought.

From what he knew, most teenagers his age didn't really like studying and were only in school to hang out with other people and be popular. It was a trait that's prominent in many of his classmates which he noticed from the start, although there were people like Yukimura, Hirata, and Horikita who treated the school as an actual school and not as a glorified social club.

"I suppose I could say that they're like this because it's Friday already... but I don't think it's just that."

It was indeed a rare sight for Class D to be enjoying a school day, but it makes sense when it was already Friday and another weekend was drawing near. However, it's not just that.

About two weeks after their midterms, the students were now just waiting for the month to end.

It is currently the 29th of May, and the next week would mean three things. One would be the start of a new month. Second, it also means that they would be able to receive their monthly point allowance. Third, it also means that their final examination was drawing nearer, which honestly made some of them nervous because their midterm examination felt like it happened only yesterday, and now they were about to take another set of tests in a few weeks time.

They did have some motivation, though. A luxury vacation at an island was waiting for them if they pass their final exams! Just the thought of it was enough to motivate those who weren't fond of studying to ensure that they would get a passing grade at least.

Everyone else's efforts on keeping themselves behaved and dedicated to that goal eased the burden for one Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. Between balancing his own efforts in contributing to the class, keeping track of everyone else, handling a bunch of girls who were his heroines, and the scarcity of his precious sleep hours, things were... manageable, so far.

After the skirmish at the recently-opened bathhouse with his heroines, the system was apparently nice enough to give him a two-week vacation from the craziness that he had been enduring for some time now. In other words, there were no 'special events' or 'bonus scenes' or anything else of the sort that happened for two weeks.

How nice of his superpower to be thoughtful.

"Anyone up for a trip to the onsen later, anyone?"

"Oooohhh, that sounds tempting! It's Friday, after all!"

Speaking of which, the bathhouse immediately became an instant attraction for the students of the school. The day after he and his heroines enjoyed a bath that he wouldn't be able to forget anytime soon, the place grabbed the attention of some students from Class B who, in turn, spread the word to the whole school.

And from there, the place was always seen being visited by students and teachers alike.

At the very least, Kiyotaka was able to feel what it's like to go to a public bath, as he had no plans of going there again, at least until there's an instance where he can take a bath in peace without being a victim of the system's crazy schemes.

"Maybe we can try the normal pool this week instead of the onsen? What do you say?"

"Ehhh? You guys go there on Friday? Why not do it over the weekend when there's really nothing to do?"

"Because it feels so much more relaxing when you take a bath right after classes!"

Kiyotaka listened to that particular conversation quietly, and was immediately reminded of what happened when he went to that place.

"I would have enjoyed it even more if we took a bath and nothing more," he sighed to himself.

After thinking about it for some time now, Kiyotaka realized that he, in fact, did not hate having to take a bath with his heroines. The idea itself was pleasing and it was a way for him to get rid of stress. However, washing their backs wasn't part of that and it only made things awkward between him and some girls, most notably Ichinose and Sakura.

Ever since that day, the two couldn't keep themselves together in front of him to the point that they can't even conduct a proper conversation with him.

Kiyotaka couldn't blame them, though. He basically made them experience pure sexual bliss by simply washing their backs with a wet towel. As a matter of fact, it was surprising that most of his 'heroines' didn't see it as a big deal... except for Chiaki and Arisu, of course.

Those two ended up becoming more obsessed with him that it's only thanks to his White Room training that he could handle them. One became a sly fox who looked like she could pounce on him at any moment, while the other couldn't help but breathe heavily whenever she was around him like an animal in heat.

Anyways... back with Sakura and Ichinose.

He hoped that this phase wouldn't last long, especially since Sakura needed him to help her out with the upcoming final exams. Ichinose, he had no problem giving her all the time she needs to get over how she acts around him. She was in another class, after all.

She'll get over it... at least he hoped so. The system was on his side when it came to making his heroines happy, right?

"Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun!"

"It's good to see you again, Ayanokouji-kun!"

The young man could only sigh as he was pulled out of his thoughts by two familiar voices.

Karuizawa and Kushida waltzed into the classroom while waving at him, ignoring how their classmates were all staring at them before directing their gazes to the subject of the girls' attention.

"They really don't care about everyone else, do they?" he asked himself with a deadpan tone.

Ever since that day at the bathhouse, things have never been the same for those two girls as well. They used to walk with him to school everyday, as if he had a harem following around (even though he technically has one already) but now,

The only one who still accompanied him when heading to class was Suzune, not that he had any problem with it. In fact, it provided him with a brief period of peace and furthermore, talking with Suzune was akin to a break from the stuff that happens between him and his other heroines.

What bothered him was that the two girls used it as an excuse to hug him every morning.

Yes, to hug him every morning.

"Good morning," he returned their greeting in his usual tone as the girls rushed over towards him.

Kiyotaka was sure that he heard someone from their classmates scream as if there was a ghost the moment Kei wrapped her arms around his neck from behind in a hug.

"Don't you ever get tired of saying that in the same voice every time?" she chuckled while burying her face into his neck. It was clear that she was enjoying this despite the attention that she was receiving from everyone.

Kiyotaka sighed. He didn't bother to stop her because one, it was too late and two, definitely a bad move on his part if he tries to go against the system.

"I'll stop doing it when you stop hugging me in the morning," he said flatly.

"You never had a problem with me hugging you before, so what's this about?" Kei asked as she released him and took a step back.

Every time they did this in the past, he was very lucky that no one saw them in the act, which was no doubt the work of the system. However, today must be the day where his superpower thought it would be the perfect time to screw him over by letting their classmates get a front-row view of it. The worst part is that everyone is here, and the two girls were actually the last ones to arrive.

He shook his head. "It's not the hugging that I dislike. You two keep on doing this in class even though we're surrounded by our classmates. We only got lucky before but now, it's over. They can see what you're doing."

This time, it was Kushida who spoke.

"Does it really matter, Ayanokouji-kun? I can do what I want and it's not like anyone can stop me from hugging you, hehe~"

This time, almost the whole class screamed as they watched Kikyo hug him from the side, as she buried the side of her face into his arm.

"I'm surprised that you, of all people would say that," the young man thought while trying. his best not to admit to himself that being hugged like this by his two heroines felt pleasing.

A certain black-haired girl watched the interaction with a weird look on her face. She was used to this by now but like Kiyotaka, they could have chosen to do this when they're not in front of everyone else.

"Must you two keep on doing that?" Suzune sighed. "All of our classmates are staring at the both of you, if you're not aware of it by now.

Kei turned towards her. "Horikita-san, if you just let go of your cold facade for a moment and try doing the same, you'd understand why it feels good to hug Ayanokouji-kun."

"Karuizawa-san, if Horikita-san doesn't want to do the same then just let her be. Even though we already told her that she should try hugging as well..." Kikyo sighed, but her thoughts were a different story. She wanted to laugh but had to resist the urge to do so. "Heh. Horikita has always been too stuck-up to even consider hugging someone else. I mean, she literally asked us if friends also hug! How pathetic is that?!"

"Both of them do look like they're enjoying it..." Suzune thought as she observed the three students. Contrary to what Kikyo thought, the girl did think about hugging Kiyotaka too since friends do it as well, but couldn't bring herself to do it, mostly because of their current location. "I refuse to do such a thing here, of all places. Perhaps... when we are alone, then I could do it."

Meanwhile, the rest of the class had finally snapped out of their trance. Aside from Koenji who was too busy cleaning his nails, they were all in disbelief upon seeing both Karuizawa and Kushida acting all lovey-dovey around Ayanokouji, who was the farthest thing from being popular with girls.

Well, maybe he does hang out with them regularly along with Horikita and they knew it, but they never thought he would be close enough to these girls that they would hug him out of the blue.

The fact that he didn't look anything special only made it worse.

"Kushida-san seems like she's growing closer to Ayanokouji-kun as of late, don't you think?"

"I noticed that too..."

"I never thought Karuizawa-san would be close to him as well... doesn't she hate boys?"

"Yeah, that's what I know about her. She even said it herself after our first day here."

"Wasn't she studying with Ayanokouji-kun for the midterms? I think I remember seeing them both at the library once."

"Yeah, they were with our other classmate who has red hair!"

"Her name is Sakura. At least get that right..."

"Seriously, what the hell does that guy have that I don't? I'm better than him in every way, so why can't Kushida-chan hang out with me instead?"

"I don't know, because you're a disgusting pervert?"

"Ike's one as well! And it's not like I'm assaulting anyone..."

Kiyotaka listened to everything that came out of classmates' mouths and if he could, he'd laugh at them. If only they knew that he never wanted this to happen in the first place...

"Ayanokouji-kun, do you mind if I ask a question?" said Hirata, who took initiative by asking the person who had the answers.

"What is it?" the young man replied as Kikyo finally let go of him while giggling.

"I think I speak for everyone else here when I say that you seem pretty close with Horikita-san. However, it's not just her. You also seem to have a close relationship with Kushida-san. And like what I implied when I asked you to be one of the class tutors, both Karuizawa-san and Sakura-san are also comfortable being around you."

Kiyotaka did his best not to roll his eyes, even though everything that Yosuke said was true. "What point are you trying to make here?"

"I'm not trying to assume anything, but are you possibly dating one of them?"

Several people across the room immediately turned to Kiyotaka for an answer, feeling both anticipation and nervousness for what he was about to say. Will he say yes or no, that was the question in their minds at the moment.

"You think I'm dating one of them, simply because I'm close to these girls?" he questioned. "Am I not allowed to be friends with them?"

"I do apologize if I'm making you uncomfortable with my question, Ayanokouji-kun." Hirata smiled nervously, wondering if he might be stepping on a landmine with his sudden question. "A lot of us are simply curious because it's what we have noticed."

"Does this mean you actually know that I've been going through this for weeks and you only said something now?" Kiyotaka asked in his mind.

"Hirata-kun, it seems that you might have been influenced by everyone else in what they think," Suzune spoke up on behalf of Kiyotaka. She noticed how he was being overwhelmed with these senseless questions and decided enough was enough. "You are assuming things. None of us are dating Ayanokouji-kun."

"I don't think so, Horikita-san."

All pairs of eyes immediately turned towards Kikyo, who had a thoughtful expression on her face as if she was considering something.

Suzune raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean by that, Kushida-san?"

Kikyo merely smiled and turned towards Kiyotaka, who stared at her curiously, wondering what the girl had in mind.

"He's worth more than a stupid mask," she thought as she approached the young man.

His eyes widened slightly when Kikyo grabbed his head and pulled him towards her, their lips touching each other in a kiss. Kiyotaka was too overwhelmed with her bold move to notice the looks of disbelief that were etched on everyone's faces at what they're seeing.