Learning to Live (Ayanokoji SI-Waifu Catalog) (Patreon)

Chapter 9

(A Month After School Started)

With my need to get the Toggle perk as soon as possible, me and Ichika had redoubled our efforts and managed to Stamp all the targets available in campus awarding us 100 credits.

This included people like Kazuomi Hosen and Takuya Yagami that originally were not introduced into the story until year 2 with the both of them being first years. Kazuomi was your typical delinquent with violent impulses. Yagami though was actually someone from the White Room like myself and Ichika that had taken the place of Honami as Class-B’s leader thanks to Universal Calibration.

Without a second thought I had sold Yagami, Kazuomi, Nagumo and Koenji to the Company with none being the wiser thanks to the Gone and Forgotten perk. Those four were just annoying or would get in my way later on in the year so I decided to deal with them immediately.

In fact, Nagumo would not really be a problem until second year but since I had no plan whatsoever to remain in this world for that long, it was best he was dealt with now.

With the problem of captures out of the way, the rest of the month had passed quickly with nothing really exciting happening other than me and Ichika training our Templates whenever we had the chance.

Now I found myself heading to class alone for once and was checking my phone looking at my PP (Private Point) balance seeing that 48k points had been deposited meaning that the class had lost 520 Class Points for the month. A huge improvement in my opinion as in canon the class had received 0 points.

Even after all my work there had been those that had resorted to their old ways and would misbehave in class with the major examples being Sudo, Sotomura and some other random people I never took the time to learn the names of since they played minor roles in the original story.

“Morning Ayanokōji-kun~”

Looking up from my phone I was met with the bright smiling face of Honami as she walked up to me.

“Morning Ichinose.” I greeted the girl in return with a small nod of my head putting my phone away.

“Checking your points huh? I have to admit that I’m a little sad that even though you managed to figure out so much about the school, we still ended up losing more than half our points.” Honami complained with a small pout as she fell into step with me.

“Cheer up.” I said patting the girl on the head softly getting her to close her eyes and smile in pleasure. “I’m sure we will have a chance to make up some of our points later.”

I had recently figured out I could use Sticky Fingers for any kind of touches not just in bed and I had been abusing the hell out of it.

Speaking of Sticky Fingers, I had also purchased Love Spot (Smile), Sweet Home x1, Normalcy, HUD, Toggle, Martial Talent, and Soul Talent Going forward leveling up our Template should be easier thanks to the Soul and Martial talents.

“Hihihi thanks Ayanokōji-kun~” Honami said getting a little closer to me to where our fingers were almost touching.

I thought about just going for it and grabbing her hand to see what her reaction would be but before I could do so I felt someone jump on my back forcing me to grab their legs so they wouldn’t fall and a loud squeal in my ear.

“Kiyotaka! Thanks so much!” Kei yelled as she hugged me around the neck and rested her chin on my shoulder with a big smile on her face.

Yet another small change that had happened was that Airi, Kei and Haruka had requested/demanded I start calling them by their given names since it wasn’t fair in their view that I only did that for Tsubasa and Ichika.

“Thanks to you I didn’t end up without any points for this month. I know we weren’t supposed to but I just couldn’t help myself. There were just so many cute things…” She rambled happily in my ear unaware of the small frown Honami was sending her way, especially when she called me by my first name.

“You should be more careful how you spend your points Kei. There are still things I don’t understand about this school so we have to be cautious.” I warned her gently not minding her presence at all already having become accustomed to her during our study sessions.

“I know, I know.” Kei said with a cute pout still ignoring the now also pouting Honami to our side. “But if that ever happened you would lend me some of your points so I wouldn’t go hungry right?” She turned her head and looked at me with a pleading expression.

Adopting a blank look on my face I just stared at her silently for a moment before sighing in defeat when her expression didn’t change.

“While I wouldn’t just give you points as you would just waste them again,” I began making Kei pout harder at me. “However, that doesn’t mean that I would just let you go hungry. If there ever comes a time when you don’t have any points for food just let me know and I’ll cook something for you.”

Blinking at my answer, Kei let out a big smile with a blush lighting up her face. “Wow, I didn’t know you could cook Kiyotaka. Is there something you’re not good at actually? You seem to be good at everything you do.”

“Of course, there are many things I’m not good at.” I deadpanned. “Now please get down and at least greet Ichinose, you’re being rather rude right now.” I asked after seeing Honami slowly losing her patience at our interaction.

“Hmm, Ichinose?” Kei asked with a blink slowly looking around us and seeing the girl walking right next to us with a rather forced smile adorning her face. “Oh! Hey Ichinose-san. Good morning.” Kei greeted with her own forced smile as she finally got off my back.

“G-good morning Karuizawa-san.” Honami greeted with closed eyes and a slightly twitching eyebrow.

“You guys don’t mind if I accompany you to class, right? Great!” Kei asked however before either of us could respond she had already grabbed ahold of my left hand and held it with both of hers.

Honami seeing this finally couldn’t hold herself back anymore and immediately grabbed ahold of my free hand hugging it between her own breasts. “O-of course not.” She said trying to pull me more towards her.

‘At this rate Honami’s yandere side might appear much sooner than in canon.’ I thought while discreetly looking at the rather angry look she was sending Kei’s way.

Now one might be wondering, if the both of them are already Stamped then why are they still acting jealous towards one another when the effects of the binding are supposed to make them friendly toward each other?

Normally that’s how things would have gone if I hadn’t interfered with the Stamps settings with the use of Toggle. I had basically turned down the setting that allowed my Companions to not feel jealousy toward other girls in my retinue to 50%.

Meaning that while they saw no problem in all of them liking the same guy, it didn’t mean that they would be content with taking second place in my heart thus the current situation.

I after all didn’t want my Companions to never have any problems with the others as that was just part of life and taking that away didn’t feel right to me.

This of course only extended for those girls I was planning to take with me. Everyone else had every setting turned off causing them to act normally towards me again thankfully as it was getting ridiculous.

I just stayed silent during our walk the rest of the way enduring being manhandled by the girls just nodding along to whatever they were saying.

When we reached the classroom, I finally breathed out a sigh of relief as they were forced to release me letting me walk to my desk in peace as I was greeted by a happy class, glad they hadn’t lost all their points this month.

When Sae walked in minutes later, she showed the results of all four classes and their total points so far showing what we were only behind C-Class by a mere 50 points. She then let us know that it was possible to reach Class-A by beating them in class points getting everyone excited as Class-C and B were not that far ahead of us.

Sae finally left us alone for the rest of Homeroom after giving us a backhanded compliment that maybe we were not the defects she first thought of. Before she left though, I caught her looking at me discreetly with an unknown look on her face.

As soon as she left, Honami took the lead thanking everyone for giving their all the past month and also thanking the tutors that had been a huge help to everyone.

“Now everyone, I know your happy about our results but please keep in mind that we have midterms in 3 weeks so please try not to fall behind in your studies, okay?” Honami asked everyone sweetly getting everyone to agree.

“I also want to ask for the tutors to please help anyone who asks for your help. I know I’m asking a lot of you but please bear with it for a little longer. Thank you.” With a small bow Ichinose ended her small speech to cheers from the class and agreements from everyone to continue their study sessions.

“Hey Kiyotaka are we still having our study sessions?” I heard Kei ask as she walked in my direction with Airi and Haruka behind her.

“I-I felt like I r-really learned a lot from you K-Kiyotaka-kun.” Airi seconded with a blush on her face and cutely poking her fingers together.

“Yeah Kiyopon, you seem to have a knack for this.” Haruka teased with a small grin on her face.

“As I told you before, if you need help then of course I’ll do my best to help out.” I nodded my head in agreement getting the girls to smile seeming pleased with my answer.

‘Though I doubt that even my help could have helped someone like Airi if it wasn’t for the Educational perk.’ I thought after confirming that Airi was actually pretty bad at every subject I had her study at first.

“By the way Kiyotaka, can we talk after school? There’s something I need your help with.” Kei asked appearing nervous all of a sudden.

I looked at her curiously for a moment thinking what she could possibly want. ‘Is she about to ask me to become her fake boyfriend or something? This Kei never showed much interest in Hirata even at the beginning of the school year.’ “Of course, Kei.” I agreed giving the girl a smile.

Seeing my smile, Kei’s cheeks turned a bright red making me raise an eyebrow in feigned confusion. ‘Love Spot seems to be working.’

“T-thanks.” Kei muttered with a whisper with her head facing the ground.

Later that day after our usual tutoring session, Kei and I found ourselves sitting next to each other in my room with a cup of tea in Kei’s hands to help with her nerves.

“So, what did you want to talk about Kei?” I asked looking at the girl who was squirming in her seat.

“… Hey Kiyotaka? We’re friends right?” Kei asked while looking down at her lap.

“Of course, we are.” I responded immediately.

“T-then…” Kei then raised her head now looking at me in the eyes with a nervous look on her face. “Will you please pretend to be my boyfriend?”

‘I knew it.’ I thought silently, taking a moment to gather my thoughts. “Can I ask why?” I asked gently.

Kei suddenly brought up her legs to her chest and hugged them laying her head down on her knees. “…I-I’m scared.”

Laying my hand down on her shoulder I gave it a small squeeze as a show of support. “Is this because you fear being bullied?” I asked quietly making her look up with a surprised gasp.

“H-how did you know?” Kei asked with a stutter looking at me with wide eyes.

“I may not be very good at social interactions but I’m really good at reading others based on body language and the way they interact with other people.” I explained briefly making her blink in shock.

“You found that out by only observing me?” She asked incredulously.

“Yes,” I nodded. “But that’s all I know really.”

“I-I see.” Kei blinked before shaking her head and looking back down again. “I guess this makes what I have to tell you a lot easier. ‘sigh’ It all started…”

Kei then spent the next few minutes telling me about her past of being bullied and humiliated, even getting a physical scar due to it. At the middle of her speech, I had moved from my seat and sat next to her gently hugging her around the shoulders wishing to provide any support I could, glad that she had not freaked out at my touch.

‘Do I have a thing for girls with issues or something? So far, the girls I like the most, Ichika, Honami, Airi and Kushida fit the bill. Wait! There’s my angel Hiyori and Tsubasa so that’s not completely true.’ I thought silently feeling relieved when Kei finally stopped crying, drying up her tears with the back of her sleeve.

I also felt a cold rage threatening to take over my body only being held in check thanks to Stress Defense at seeing Kei in this state. Kei was mine, as long as that detail remained true then I wouldn’t let her come to harm by anyone.

Once I sufficiently calmed down, I finally decided to open my mouth. “I have no proper words that can properly convey what I feel about your situation Kei, except that I can somewhat understand what you must be feeling.” I muttered getting Kei to look at me with red puffy eyes.

“W- ‘sniff’ what do you mean?”

“Haah this won’t be a pretty story either Kei so brace yourself.” I said with a tired sigh before looking at her in concern. “By the way, please tell me if you feel uncomfortable with me touching you. I would understand if you didn’t.”

“A-actually…” Kei whispered while laying her head on my shoulder. “Your touch surprisingly feels very warm and comfortable.”

“I see. Ahem anyways, now it’s my turn to tell you about myself. It’s only fair.” I said thinking it was probably due to Sticky Fingers.

Like Kei had done previously, I filled her in about what my life had been like in the White Room since I was a toddler with my whole life being decided for me. A literal dog eat dog world where not being the best was met with a harsh punishment.

Throughout it all Kei remained silent just listening to my story with the only noise I heard from her were gasps of surprise at some of the crueler things I was forced to do.

“Seems that even if we both had shitty childhoods, you suffered much longer than me. I honestly find it almost a miracle that you can still smile after everything you’ve been through.” Kei muttered quietly looking up at me in admiration.

‘That’s mostly due to a multi-omniversal slaving company and me no longer being just Kiyotaka.’ I thought in the privacy of my mind not finding that special at all. Just extremely lucky really.

“It’s because I have people like you that I can still smile like that Kei.” I muttered quietly only telling her part of the whole truth.

“B-because of people like m-me?” Kei asked with a stutter and a blush coloring her cheeks.

“Yes,” I nodded feeling my lips curl up into a smile. “People that treat me just like another person and not a machine that has to follow every order it’s given. Most importantly however, for not making me feel so alone anymore.”

Kei stared silently at me for a moment when she suddenly covered her face with her hands as a blush lit up her entire face forcing her to look away from me. “…I-I see.”

Wanting to move the conversation along, I slowly and gently laid my right hand below her left breast right over where her scar previously was making her let out a loud squeal. “W-what a-are you doing K-Kiyotaka?”

“This is where it is right?” I asked softly not surprised at not feeling the scar under her blouse since it was already healed. “I’ve seen you subconsciously touch this spot more than a few times.”

Seeing what my intention was, Kei looked away from me with a look of shame on her face. “Y-yeah… Well at least it was. For some reason I just woke up one day and it was gone.” She revealed.

“I see. While strange that’s a good thing. Even if you still had it there’s nothing to be ashamed of Kei.” I muttered reassuringly. “Though I guess scars on pretty girls are not as appealing to have as us guys.”

“If I still had it, would you be disgusted by it? Like you said scars on a girl are ugly.” Kei asked looking back at me with a nervous expression.

I shook my head and pulled my hand back from Kei’s shirt. “Of course not. Scar or no scar, I don’t think any part of you is disgusting.”

“N-not even when I’m nothing but a leech that can’t survive without others?” Kei asked in a whisper with some tears in the corner of her eyes.

‘There it is. Kei’s true feelings about herself.’ Instead of an immediate response I just brought Kei into my arms and hugged her around the waist making her squeak. “There’s nothing about you that will ever make me think any less of you Kei.”

I felt Kei tremble in my arms for a bit before she eventually calmed down and hugged me back burying her head in my chest. We stayed in that position for a few minutes before Kei pulled back a bit and looked up at me with her eyes looking red and puffy from crying.

“Hey Kiyotaka? You never answered my question.” Kei muttered shyly.

“Kei, I really don’t want to experience a fake relationship for my first time. Not to mention that I want my first confession to be a memorable one.” I muttered with a shake of my head making Kei sad as she let out a small sigh and lowered her head.

“Yeah, I k-mm!” I stopped whatever Kei was about to say next as I gently laid my finger over her lips making her blink in confusion.

“Let me finish.” I chided her gently then removed my finger once she nodded in acceptance. “While I’m not interested in a fake relationship, that’s not what you were really asking for right? What you really wanted out of this was someone who would protect you no matter what right?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kei’s blush turned a bit darker at my questions but nodded her head regardless.

“That’s something I can definitely do. So, Kei please listen to what I’m about to say next.” I said grabbing her chin and staring straight into her eyes to make sure she saw how serious I was. “No matter what happens from here on out, I promise you can rely on me to protect you from anyone/anything that wishes you harm.”

I watched as Kei’s eyes widened in shock as her blush grew the darkest, I had seen yet even reaching her ears. However, to my surprise Kei didn’t say anything in response and instead just buried her head in my chest again along with tightening her hug.

“T-thank you…”

When she left later that evening after another quiet thanks I was further surprised when I heard her whisper an almost inaudible ‘Don’t tell me I’m in love with him already?’ when she was a bit away from the door probably thinking I couldn’t hear her.

‘Hahaha looks like even here Kei beat Honami and Airi to the punch at confessing their feelings to me even if she’s not aware yet that I overheard her.’ I thought in slight amusement before going back inside and seeing a smirking Ichika sitting on my bed.

“Should I expect more girls to join us back home based on how many girls you have brought into your room recently Senpai?” Ichika asked with a raised eyebrow looking amused.

“Haah you already know that’s probably not going to happen for a while yet. They’re all regular humans after all.” I said with a roll of my eyes already having had this talk with her and sitting beside her after giving her a brief kiss on the lips.

“Huhuhu I know~ It’s still funny to see those girls trying desperately to grab your attention not knowing that they already belong to you.” Ichika said with a small snicker.

“You seriously need to find a better hobby than spying on everything I do all day.” I said with a deadpan gently flicking the girl on the nose.

“I can’t help it Senpai hihihi. Other than having nothing better to do, your life is like a real-life drama.” Ichika laughed holding her nose where I had hit her.

Shaking my head at her antics I just pulled Ichika along with me back to our Sweet Home as she talked my ear off as always.