Chaoskouji

Arc 4 Chapter 4 - Movements

The first group meeting was almost over, and I had spent the entire time in conversation with Shiina.

It turned out that not only was she a fan of mystery novels, but romance was also a genre that excited her greatly. It was clear from our chat just how passionate she was about her books, whilst simultaneously trying to hold herself reserved as to not seem too weird and push away the first person who shared her interest.

While I had learned she hadn't made any friends in her class yet, she wasn't hiding in obscurity either. For Ryuuen to be willing to take advice from anyone was something I hadn't expected, meaning he had recognised her potential when she provided him with a suggestion.

She wasn't a leader, that much I could tell. She didn't have the personality for it. But Class C only had one leader: Ryuuen, and hence it was his support crew that joined him in Dragon group. That was Shiina's role. She wasn't a leader, but she was sharp.

Even though she was genuinely excited to make a friend in me, I could tell she was still wary, and had been probing me for information the entire time.

There had been a few attempts so far to reignite discussion in the group, but every time so far they had been shot down by someone else. I had nothing to do, but sit hear and watch as plausible ideas had been thrown around, and allowed someone else to do my job and continue the stalemate.

The announcement came that we were free to go, and everyone began to wrap up their conversations. The Class A students got up immediately and moved out of the room as fast as possible not talking to anyone at all. They had ignored any attempts at conversation from anyone outside their class, and were clearly sticking with that plan for now.

"It was a pleasure to finally meet you, Ayanokouji-kun. I'm looking forward to the next meeting. I'll bring along some of my books for you to borrow, if you'd like."

"I'd appreciate that."

This ship didn't have a proper library, and I had already read through the materials I had brought. A breath of fresh air would be a nice break from the impending monotony of the cruise.

She followed the rest of Class C out, leaving just Kikyou, Horikita and I in the room. Once it was quiet, I was approached by the black-haired girl, a stormy look on her face.

"We need to talk."

I considered her demand for a moment, before deciding it wasn't any trouble.

"I suppose we do. But I haven't eaten yet, so it'll have to be over lunch."

She sighed, apparently willing to make that sacrifice if it meant getting answers.

"Fine."

"Yay! I finally get to have lunch with you Horikita-san!" Kikyou invited herself along to our lunch. I had no problem with it, but...

"Excuse me? This is between Ayanokouji-kun and myself. I don't see a reason for you to be there."

"That's a rather limited understanding, Horikita. Kikyou is necessary for us to work with the class. I need her to be on the same page, so that everything goes according to plan."

My reply got a beaming smile of gratitude from Kikyou, and a frown of annoyance from Horikita, but there was nothing she could do about it. If she wanted to talk to me, she would also have to put up with Kikyou.

"Alright. Just this once, and only because we need to plan, will I allow it."

Apparently, we needed to plan. I hadn't realised it, but if Horikita said we needed to then we would.