Lilac Petals (Classroom of the Elite)

Chapter 2

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka

I hadn't really done much of anything over these past few days, other than hanging out with the Ayanokouji group, or just spending the day in my room. To put it simply, I was peacefully enjoying my time off like any other person.

That was until I saw that I had an unread message just as I was about to prepare my breakfast. The sender was a first-year student from Class A—Sakayanagi Arisu. The message asked if I could come over to her dorm room.

I raised my eyebrow at this. After all, a girl inviting someone of the opposite sex over to her room could mean many things.

If it were a couple that's been dating for some time, then the invitation could mean that the girl just wants some privacy with her significant other. Such is normal for an romantic relationship, where intimacy is its most present trait.

Otherwise if it were a pair of friends, then there was no telling the purpose behind it. It could range from anything from friendly to romantic, depending on how long they had known each other for—and obviously, how they feel. Love blooms from friendship, or so I have heard.

However, knowing Sakayanagi and the current circumstances at hand, it was obviously related to a project. At the beginning of spring break, she took it upon herself to "teach me," so I supposed that her invitation had something to do with that.

Plus, I had nothing else to do today, so I quickly replied to Sakayanagi's message, confirming that I'd head over soon.

I left my room, making sure to lock the door behind me. I was idly waiting by the elevator's entrance to reach my floor so that I could get to Sakayanagi's floor. At least that was the plan anyway, until the doors slid open.

A raven-haired girl in casual attire appeared, and it was none other than my insufferable, compass-bearing seatmate from Class D—Horikita Suzune. She gave me a probing look, almost as if she wanted to know something.

"Oh. Good morning, Horikita."

"Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun."

Now that she was here, I figured that I should go to the ground floor first and wait for her to leave. It was still early in the morning, so if she saw me stop at another floor, it would raise some questions.

The two of us waited in comfortable silence as the elevator descended. I supposed that she didn't have anything specific in mind to talk about. And for some reason, she was standing at the very back, away from the door.

As soon as the elevator had reached the ground floor, both of us stepped out.

"Wait a minute."

Just as I was about to walk away, Horikita suddenly called out to me. Her voice was firm and commanding, an indication that she was serious. I decided to stop in my tracks and turned around to look at her.

"What is it?" I asked.

"In the In-Class Voting exam, you got a lot of votes from Class A, and you got first place. Not to mention that Protection Point. Was that really just a simple coincidence? It's almost as if... you and Sakayanagi-san worked toge..." Horikita trailed off.

Her theory was quite obvious at that point. However, she probably had no evidence to back it up.

"Actually, never mind. Forget it." She lightly shook her head, then walked away.

After watching Horikita's figure fade into the distance, I looked around for anyone else watching me, before entering the elevator once again. After pressing the button for Sakayanagi's floor, I leaned against the wall and looked at the ceiling.