Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Solace

Vol. 4.5: Chapter 11.1 - Being Popular Has Its Own Downsides

I woke up at around 4 AM to do my daily exercises and got back as soon as an hour and a half passed. I rarely saw anyone else jog out as early as I did, and even if there were, they were mostly seniors whom I didn't recognize. Of course, waking up at 4 o'clock in the morning is something that I only do whenever I sleep early. I always try to get 7-8 hours of sleep every night.

So why did I decide to sleep at around 8 or 9 PM last night? Well, to put it simply, I was exhausted. Despite having a good relationship with most of my classmates, along with my status as the class's former leader, I still got tired of interacting with everyone. It was Hirata's birthday yesterday, and lots of people came and went to his room. I was there from noon 'til early evening because I wanted to help him out with the cleaning. And honestly, socializing wore me out more than doing physical work.

Don't get me wrong, though. I'm steadily making progress. Thanks to Hirata and my other friends, I've been adjusting well with everyone for the past five months that I've been enrolled here. And now that we're in Class A, I can just focus all of my attention on further improving my social skills. Thinking about it now, I can't help but feel blessed.

After cooking some breakfast, I actually planned to take it easy. Of course, nothing goes as planned and I suddenly received a message as soon as the time neared 9 AM. 

*Bzzt*

I grabbed my phone, and to my surprise, two messages could be read from my lock screen notifications-- two, not one-- from two separate people.

(8:57) [Kiyopon, wanna go to a fortune-teller? Everyone's yapping about them.] (Haruka)

(8:57) [Kiyotaka-kun, if you're free, do you want to check out one of the fortune-tellers at Keyaki Mall with me?] (Airi)

Airi wouldn't invite me out like this... This is giving me the 'planned' vibe. Given what I heard back at the ship, I guess they're trying to see who I'm going to choose. I was careful enough to not open the app and put their messages on read. I need to think about this first.

I checked the class group chat and saw how hot of a topic these so-called "fortune-tellers" were. The advertisement was apparently put up around the campus three days ago. I remember seeing some posters around Keyaki Mall when I went out with Ryuuko. I guess that's what they were all about.

I started reading through everyone's messages and gathered some details.

"I knew it..." A couples-only theme, huh?

I looked through my contacts, which were filled with more than 50 different numbers, and chose to call another friend.

"Hello, Kiyotaka-kun?"

"Kikyou, are you free today?"

"Ahh... Before I answer that question, can you tell me why you're asking?"

"Apparently, there are these fortune-teller services in Keyaki Mall today. Do you wanna check it out with me?"

"Hmm... I kind of expected you to ask about that, but I thought you'd get invited by others."

As expected of her, I guess. She knows me more than anyone in this school.

"I won't lie. You're absolutely right. Airi and Haruka invited me at the same time, but you can only come with one person, right? I think their timing was planned, so choosing one over the other is a tricky decision."

"Ahh, I see. So that's how it is," she giggled. "I think it's fine to choose between one of them, though."

"Is it?"