Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Self-Test

Vol. 1: Chapter 5.3 - Karuizawa Kei's Secret

"I guess I should look up some recipes online and practice cooking..." I thought, looking at my purchases.

It didn't take long until a new message popped up.

(19:34) [Ayanokouji-kun, good evening!]

(19:34) [Are you busy?]

It was Kushida.

(19:34) [No, not really.] 
(19:34) [You wanna talk about Horikita now?]

(19:34) [Yes!]

(19:34) [Do you have anything in mind?]

(19:34) [Well, it's still just the first week.]
(19:34) [For starters, why don't you just ask her directly one more time?]
(19:34) [If it doesn't work, then we'll see what we can work with from there.]

(19:35) [You think I won't make her angry?]

(19:35) [Well, knowing her as a seatmate, she might just ignore you.]
(19:35) [But if you try acting determined instead of being overly nice, then she might consider it.]

(19:35) [Ehh.]
(19:35) [You know her quite well.]

She put on a jealous tone. This will be a slippery slope into the topic of my relationship with Horikita, and I don't wanna talk about that.

(19:35) [Not really.]

To prevent that, I'll shift her attention to something else.

I checked the clock. Since I still have a little bit of time before Hirata and the other person gets here, I decided to give Kushida a call.

"Hello? That surprised me, you know? You suddenly decided to call," said Kushida.

"My bad. I just thought it would be more efficient," I answered.

"Ah, no, no. You don't need to apologize or anything... In fact, I'm actually quite happy. We don't get to hang out after school at all, so I'm glad we can talk like this outside of class, even if it's just a phone call," she narrated.

"I see. Well, I just thought it would be a bother to you if I asked to hang out since you have a lot of friends. I guess talking like this is fine, from time to time," I said.

"Ahaha. Don't say that. I'd love to hang out with you again, along with Hirata-kun or Sudou-kun," she replied, chuckling.

If this is considered acting, then it's really, really good.

"By the way, I talked with Ichinose-san earlier. She seems like a key figure in Class B." I changed the topic.

"Oh, so you met her, huh? Among the other classes, Class B was the easiest to get close with. A lot of them were really friendly. I guessing that it's mostly due to Ichinose-san's influence," said Kushida.

"They were calling her 'Class Rep', so I got curious and approached her," I added.

"Oh, did you now? I thought you talked to her because she looked cute~," Kushida replied with a teasing tone.

"You're a lot cuter than her, Kushida-- if I said that, would you consider me to be hitting on you?" I asked. That was a popular line in the current entertainment media. I never thought I'd get to use it at all.

"Geez, you could've just said it as is! Now I feel stupid for feeling happy!" she yelled.

"Sorry, I'm just not used to these things. Since you're good at socializing, I thought it would be fine to ask you," I replied.