A Queen's Advance (Kiyotaka x Suzune)

Opening

I don't know why I feel this way.

By all rights, I shouldn't be even thinking about him.

But no matter what I do, no matter how hard I try to keep him out of my mind, he's always there.

Sometimes, I've wished that I never met him. Sometimes, I think about how different my time here in this school would be if our paths had never crossed.

...but I would be lying to myself if I did that.

If I had never met him, I'm very certain that the bad outcomes would outweigh the good. Not only do I see him as the first friend that I've made in this school, but it's because of him that the relationship between me and my brother was being slowly mended.

Before he left for this school, our relationship changed greatly. He became cold and distant towards me, and I didn't know why. However, knowing my brother, he wouldn't tell me the answer in a verbal manner. Instead, he would want me to figure out the answer for myself.

From there, I was determined to make him acknowledge me. To make him turn his head towards me and be proud of my accomplishments. So I made the decision to follow him here after finishing middle school... so I can fix the bridge between me and my brother.

But I digress. I'm supposed to be thinking about that boy who is shrouded in mystery...

I remember the first time I met him... when we rode the same bus to school. It was only a chance encounter, and neither of us could have seen it coming. There is no way that we would have known we'd be on the same bus together.

Regardless, I was reading a book in peace while there was a commotion in the bus. I didn't bother paying attention to what was happening, but I eventually found out that Kouenji-kun was simply refusing to give up his seat for an old lady and Kushida-san was trying to defuse the tension.

And that was the first time I laid eyes on him.

When I felt that someone had been staring at me, I turned my head to glare at that person. It was only for a few moments, but our gazes met and I was able to have a clear view of that mysterious boy. i am not someone who is well-versed in social interactions, but I am capable of getting a good read on a person's intentions just by looking at them.

With that, I should have been able to figure out why that boy was staring at me, but I was unable to.

Perhaps it's because of the expression he carried on his face, which conveyed no emotion at all. Or perhaps it meant that he was someone whom I couldn't read at all, because there's something strange about him... I couldn't determine what it was, but there was something about him that got my attention though I didn't show it.

As we arrived at school, I tried to approach him, just to find out why he had been staring at me. Naturally, my first thought was that he was doing it because he was attracted to my appearance. If I had been right, then I would have insulted his existence and never speak to him again.

But that wasn't his reason. He simply asked me why I didn't consider giving up my seat for the old woman at the bus earlier.

What a stupid question, if I had to be honest. And to think that I had to approach him for an answer when I could have just ignored him. I did end up learning one thing about him that I would keep in mind for the future, and it's that he disliked trouble.

After a little banter between us which ended in the two of us expressing our desire to be away from one another, I continued on to my assigned classroom.

Imagine my surprise and annoyance once I found out that we were classmates as we entered the same room. To make things worse, our desks were right next to each other, making us neighbors.

To think that I would have to spend my three years in this school being near him...

From there, we continued to encounter one another in many situations. Many of them as a direct consequence of us being classmates, and some of them by chance.

One such instance was during the night when I saw my brother again after several years. My brother wanted me to leave this school because he thought of me as a disappointment and that my presence would be an embarrassment to him, despite my insistence that I will reach Class-A and make him acknowledge me.

My brother had pinned me to the wall with the clear intention of hurting me, but I didn't do anything to defend myself. I felt too helpless at the time that I didn't bother to even protect myself and just as my brother was about to hit me, he came.

Call it biased, but I believe that my brother is a very talented individual who is capable of defeating anyone in this school who dared to challenge him. His achievements speak for himself. My brother holds a 4th-Dan in aikido and a 5th-Dan in karate, and yet that person was able to avoid his attacks as if he was an experienced martial artist himself.

Even during our special exam at the uninhabited island, he continues to be a complete enigma in my eyes. Before the exam itself, I was already feeling under the weather but naturally, I hid that from everyone in class because I didn't wish to be a burden.

But, of course, my efforts to keep my condition hidden from everyone else were pointless. He ended up carrying me back to the ship right after I lost against Ibuki-san and passed out under the rain.

I never told anyone about it, but I felt completely helpless when I realized that I was back at the ship. Not just that. I felt ashamed. I felt that I had let my class down, despite my words about reaching Class-A with my own abilities. But most of all, I felt that I let my brother down because I was unable to prove myself to him.

This is the reason why I was taken aback upon learning that Class-D won the island exam. I should have felt relief and triumph after learning about it but no, I didn't feel either of those. Instead, only confusion and curiosity filled my entire being when my classmates bragged about it.

How exactly did we win? What happened after I passed out?Who was responsible for our class winning despite the odds that were stacked against us?

After thinking about it for a while, I managed to deduce that that person had something to do with our victory, so I went to get answers from him immediately.

After listening to his explanation I realized that he used me as a pawn in his plan to lead our class to victory. I surprised even myself even afterwards because I wasn't even angry with him for what he did. If anything, I found myself feeling strangely accepting of what happened.

Maybe it's because he did what I couldn't do, or it's because his plan was so ingenious that I couldn't help but be fascinated with his abilities...

Overall, I consider our relationship as something that cannot be overlooked. Even if he gets on my nerves most of the time because of how he is, I cannot say that he is simply a classmate to me or an acquaintance or at most, a friend.

I mean, I'm thinking of him right now, aren't I? Even though it's our summer break, a period in which we aren't supposed to worry about anything, here I am worrying about someone.

A boy, no less.

Why?

Because I, Horikita Suzune, have fallen in love with a boy.

And I won't let him be with anyone else.