After 7 P.M., when the sun was already set, Sudou visited my room.

"Sorry for dropping without notice... sniff sniff... So today you're having curry?"

Sudou murmured, while catching the smell from dinner, from the door.

Sudou suddenly turned to look at the two pairs of shoes by the door.

"Are you having someone over?"

"Yeah, Kei and I were preparing to eat curry together."

"Karuizawa, huh..."

As soon as I answered, Kei, who was wearing casual clothes, opened and came out from the living room door.

"Is it wrong for me to be here?"

"N-No, it's not wrong or anything. What's the deal with you two always together…?"

I could tell from his reaction that he came thinking no one else was here.

"Of course we're always together. We're a couple, after all."

"Even if you’re a couple, being together all day... I guess it makes sense."

Sudou was going to rebut, but imagining the few couples around him, he reluctantly admitted. Ike and Shinohara, for instance, have recently been conspicuously holding hands and sitting on boyfriend's lap, without fear of being seen.

Today too, as soon as school ended, they said they were going to karaoke.

"It seems you're coming back from your club."

I recalled him usually returning around this time.

"For someone like me who doesn't have a girlfriend, basketball is all I have."

That... I'm having trouble responding to that.

"Anyway, I'm sorry for interrupting before dinner but can I have a moment? I won’t take too much time."

From the way he checked the shoes early on, it’s probably some secret matter.

"You can eat first."

"Eh~? I will wait for you since you're gonna finish in no time, right? He said it won't take long."

Sudou thought for a moment again and said it won’t take longer than 5 minutes. Kei was satisfied and closed the door.

I put my shoes on and went out with Sudou to the hallway.

Kei wouldn’t leak anything to a third person, but it’s more reassuring this way.

"Hey, Ayanokouji... no, I mean, how do I say it? Have you... (done it) with Karuizawa?"

He sought confirmation with ambiguous words.

"I'm gonna leave that to your imagination."

"Ugh... aren’t you basically confirming it with that response..."

That depends on how you interpret the response.

“So? What’s the matter?”

_____

(skipped)

_____

“Sorry to ask you a favor like this. Then… I will contact you later. Sorry for interrupting your time with Karuizawa."

Sudou didn’t want to take any more of my time and returned to his room.

After seeing him off, I also returned to my room. Kei was sitting on a cushion by the table.

She didn’t serve the curry and waited for me.

"Welcome back~ What did you talk about?"

"A lot of things."

"A lot? I'm kinda interested. Tell me~ I’ll keep it a secret."

"I don't mind telling you but before that, can you stand up for a bit?"

"Hmm?"

After Kei, who tilted her head curiously, stood up, I touched the surface of the cushion with my hand.

Then I felt a cold sensation.

"As I thought, you were eavesdropping."

"...Got caught, huh."

If she was sitting there waiting, it would be weird for the cushion to not be warm.

"Was my acting bad?"

"Your acting was perfect. It’s just that I suspected you were going to listen."

"Ugh— I see."

"Also, if you wanted to feign ignorance, you should have smoothly avoided any indication from the cushion, such as by going to the fridge and getting a drink. Besides water, there's also milk and tea."

"Eehh? But I'm not eating the curry yet so wouldn't it be weird? There's also still water in the cup. Knowing you, you would check the amount of drinks in the fridge."

"If you don't want to get caught eavesdropping, that's the minimum you need to do. As for the water, you can drink it. If you don't want to, then you can pour it into the sink in the kitchen. The sink gets wet during the cooking process anyway."

After it's gone, it’s impossible to check for it.

If the kitchen's sink wasn't wet, then the toilet is also an option.

"F-forget about that, let's talk about the school trip."

Kei said while leaning forward, trying to change the topic.

There's no point in continuing this topic, so I followed along.

"What did you think about the schedule of the school trip? Because we get a lot of free time during the trip, it became a hot topic in class, right?"

"It seems so. But for me, it feels like a downside because we must stay with only the people in our groups. The chances to be paired with you are low, right?

That probability is about 5%. But that’s if the groups are decided by just probability.

"U-u, God please, let us be paired together!"

Kei, with fingers interlaced, prayed to heaven.

"Even if we can’t be together during free time, there are no restrictions during our stay at the hotel. In fact, I see it as a perfect opportunity for me to get to know the students from the other classes."

If Kei and I are in the same group, we will naturally spend all day together.

I won't say it would be a bad time, but I feel like it would be a bit of a waste.

Just like how we are spending time together now, there are plenty of chances for us to do so.

"Why do I feel like you don't want to be in a group with me?"

"That's not true. It's just that you should prepare yourself to still enjoy the trip even if we are not in the same group."

Kei probably understood this in her head as well, but it seems she couldn’t accept it easily.

"But..."

She puffed out her cheeks in a sulky pout and hugged me on the shoulder.

"If you’re not with me, I might die of loneliness."

"That’s exaggerating."

"But but..."

It seems I'll have to come up with something in order to make Kei more motivated.

"There's a reason why I think it’s alright for us to be in different groups. In order for us to reach class A, it’s essential for us to gather information on the other classes at this stage. Many students will also let down their guards during the school trip.”

In response to the dissatisfied Kei, I continued.

"After hearing the school trip's schedule and groups, I did a little research on the internet about other schools. I found out that having 2 whole days of free time is quite rare. From this, I deduced that the school wants us to take this opportunity to change the relationship with the other classes."

"For what purpose?"

"I don't know that yet, but at the end of the 2nd or the 3rd semester, anyway, sometime in the near future, the information that we get from this trip might come in handy."

"That's why you want me to gather information that can be used as a weapon in the future?"

"Your ability is outstanding, so I want to make good use of it.”

I said that while caressing her head. Although she was still dissatisfied, at least she's not that against it anymore.

"W-Well? I guess I understand that you want to rely on me ~"

"Obviously, if we end up together in the same group, I plan to enjoy it. But if it doesn’t turn out that way, don’t lose motivation and help out the class.”

"...Okay. If Kiyotaka says so, then I'll do my best."

As I caressed her head repeatedly, I decided to shift the subject.

"About Sudou’s matter—"

"Ah, the thing about Sudou-kun wanting to confess to Horikita-san? Yeah, I'm a little interested in that."

I wasn’t confident whether she would cling to the topic but apparently she's more interested than I thought.

"Girls really like to talk about these things, huh."

"Of course. Well, I think he’s definitely getting rejected though."

"Is that so?"

"Eh? You think it’s going to go well?"

"I think there's a chance. If them starting out with a relationship that’s “more than friends” is considered a success, then I will bet on his success.”

"Are you serious? Then let's make a bet. On whether he succeeds or not."

"What do you plan to bet on?"

"Hmm~ let's see. If I win, I'm gonna ask for a little pricey present for Christmas~"

As she said that, she already started fantasizing about this and that present.

"That’s easy to understand. Then if I win?"

"Then I'm going to do whatever you ask."

"Are you sure? About making such a big bet."

"Yeah, because he will definitely fail. It's not about whether Sudou-kun is good or bad, but we're talking about Horikita-san here. She's not interested in love."

"I wonder."

Certainly, at first glance, Horikita doesn't appear to be interested in love.

Let alone if someone confesses to her at this point in time, she will probably feel very confused.

However, we cannot say for sure that the confession will not be successful just because she doesn’t have an affection for him.

Horikita is also at the stage of learning many things right now.

We cannot deny the possibility that she will take a step up to that stage, just as I did.

If the partner is Sudou, Horikita’s impression of him was probably not bad.

"Aaah~ I'm looking forward to Christmas~ I wonder what I should ask for~"

"Then I'm going to think slowly and carefully what I'm going to ask you to do."

"Wah, feels a bit obscene!"

That was just Kei’s wild imagination.