Chaoskouji

Arc 7 Chapter 5 - The Rooftop

The next day Chabashira returned with the results for our practice exam.

Things had mostly gone as planned, and while there were a few pairs in the average scorers of the class that would have difficulty, all the worst students had been successfully matched up with the best.

Horikita had been paired with Sudou, I had been paired with Karuizawa, Kouenji had been paired with Satou, Kikyou had been paired with Inogashira.

And Yukimura was on his own, bravely soldiering on.

The class was abuzz with the revelation of our partners, and finally, we could begin to organise into study groups properly. The Paper Swap end of semester exams were only a couple of weeks away now, and many of my classmates seemed eager to get stuck into their study.

And so, once the day was over, I found myself dragged away by Kikyou to the roof of the school building. I was surprised to find it quiet at this time of day, but I was more interested in our reason to be up here, so I let the previous thought go.

Walking out, I stopped not far from the door, standing in place, while Kikyou walked over and leant against the railing, looking out across from the school.

Since I had nothing important to do this afternoon, having planned to not start studying with Karuizawa until tomorrow, I simply stood, waiting curiously while I filtered through possibilities in the back of my mind, specifically for Class A and B.

"So?"

"So."

Kikyou stared at me with a bored expression, leaning against the railing of the roof, her hair flicking lightly in the wind.

"I can't be bothered playing your little word games right now. What's the plan to deal with Horikita?"

"You're in an upset mood I see."

"I'm going to have to tutor the lowest of the low for the next few weeks," Kikyou growled. "I'm not particularly happy to have it become real."

"You won't be taking the worst students," I reasoned. "Horikita and Hirata will do that, probably. You'll just get the slightly below average ones."

"You know, sometimes I envy you and your ability to get out of doing things just by acting like a prick, completely aloof of our problems."

"Really?"

"Of course not. I couldn't live like you," Kikyou laughed, finding such a consideration illaudable.

"No, you couldn't. And I would struggle to do what you do," I admitted. I was simply incapable of matching Kikyou's talents. I was perfectly capable of setting up an information network, which was what I had done by befriending her. Making friends like she did was simply impossible for me.

"Inogashira isn't too bad of a partner though, right?"

Kikyou let out a sigh, tilting her head up to look at the sky.

"No, she's not so bad. She's quiet, and I'm pretty sure I can tutor her to a reasonable level. I just wish I didn't have to risk myself so much."

I tilted my head slightly in confusion.

"Why are you at risk?"

"Uh, because I'm pretty smart, and I can probably get 80%, but Inogashira isn't great. There's a chance I can still get expelled." That last sentence came out as a whisper, as if she had only just realised it.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

Her eyes shot to me a look of confusion and frustration mixed together.