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

Chapter 12

(Week after Mid-Terms)

With the exam over, everyone felt in high spirits about passing without any problems. Even the rowdy ones like Sudo who usually got some of the lowest grades had been content after everything was over.

The night after our test the girls consisting of Airi, Honami, Kei, Kikyō, Tsubasa, Ichika, Chiaki, Haruka and Suzune surprisingly, had thrown a celebratory party in my dorm room with the girls forcing me to cook for them when Honami let it slip that I was an amazing cook.

While the girls seemed to be enjoying themselves, I spent most of the evening being manhandled as the girls fought for my attention with the most aggressive being Honami surprisingly.

The following day I spent it with Hiyori, who had barged into our classroom and happily dragged me away while rambling happily about one thing or another leaving my classmates staring at our backs in confusion. We holed up in her dorm room and talked about the latest book we read as we drank tea and had snacks personally made by me.

Contrary to her usual demeanor, my angel was rather talkative once you got her talking about something she enjoyed that most of the times I just found myself listening to her ramble with a content look on my face.

My angel aside, I found myself letting out a small sigh as I sat in my seat while listening to the whole class mutter to themselves about not receiving any allowance this morning.

‘So, you made your move after all Dragon Boy.’ I thought with a small frown at the mess that would follow.

Looking around the classroom I spotted Sudo with a few bruises on his arms along with Airi fidgeting nervously in her seat while occasionally glancing at me from time to time. That only increased when Sae arrived and everyone began complaining at her about what had happened.

Turning towards Airi I caught her staring at me and offered the girl a small smile making the girl blush and nervously smile back looking much more relaxed after I did.

When Homeroom was over, I spotted Airi immediately make her way towards me and stopping just to the side of my desk.

“Kiyotaka-kun, c-can I speak to you after school is over?” Airi asked almost begging me with her eyes to agree with her request.

“Sure Airi. Are you okay though? You look kind of pale right now.” I looked at her pretending to be concerned.

Airi’s whole body seemed to slump forward in relief before she blushed and offered me a happy smile for my concern. “Thank y-you Kiyotaka-kun! And don’t worry, I’m okay but thank you for worrying about me.” She even gave me a small bow before returning to her desk and pulling out her lunch.

“Did she seem a little nervous to you?” Suzune to my side suddenly spoke up discreetly observing Airi eat silently.

“Yes. Hopefully I find out what has her so nervous later.” I whispered pulling out my own lunch and began eating myself.

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(Later that day)

When class ended for the day, Sae ordered Sudo to follow her to the staff room and after threatening the guy when he refused, they finally left.

Airi who was standing beside me at the time, started fidgeting again after she saw that and with a bold move I didn’t expect from the shy girl, she grabbed ahold of my hand and led me away. After walking for a while in silence, we came to a stop in front of dorm room number 1106 letting me know that we had arrived at her room.

I then felt Airi’s hand, that was still holding onto mine, tremble for a bit before suddenly releasing me as if she had been burned. Airi then rapidly turned in my direction and started rambling as she apologized for dragging me here without my permission all the while her face kept getting redder and redder.

Shaking my head at the cute sight in front of me I gently silenced the girl by putting my index finger over her soft lips immediately getting her to quiet down even if her face had now reached Kei levels of red which was impressive.

“Haha it’s alright Airi, I’m not mad I promise.” I said with a small laugh before slowly removing my finger away from her kissable lips and patting her head a bit.

The embarrassed but happy girl only nodded her head slowly before politely coughing into her hand and opening her mouth. “W-Would you please come in, Kiyotaka-kun?”

A few minutes later I was now sitting on the edge of Airi’s bed with a cup of tea on my hands that she had just finished making for me.

“While I know it’s nothing compared to the ones you make I h-hope it’s to your liking, Kiyotaka-kun.” Airi muttered worriedly sitting down herself in her computer chair facing towards me.

“To be honest just the fact of having a pretty girl make something for me already makes me feel extremely happy.” I said quietly taking a small sip of my tea with my eyes closed relishing in the feeling of having someone that cares about you make something for you even if it was something as simple as tea.

Other than Honami, Airi was the only one that had made something for me since Ichika refused to cook so I usually found myself in the kitchen on most occasions.

“Pretty! H-he called me pretty hihihi~”

I pretended I didn’t hear that as I had a feeling we would be here for much longer if I let her know with Airi probably going into a stuttering mess out of embarrassment.

Taking a brief look around the room I realized that this was the first time I had been invited to someone else’s room as we usually used mine. Airi’s room looked nicely decorated with the only thing really catching my attention were her computer and the brand-new camera on her desk.

“Have you found any interesting places to take pictures of Airi?” I decided to ask seeing as the girl still seemed lost in her own world.

“H-huh?” Airi blinked a couple of times in confusion before my words finally registered in her mind. “O-oh! Umm y-yes I actually found a few spots around the school that I liked.” She answered with a smile lighting up her face now that she was talking about her hobby.

“Do you think I might be able to look at some of them one day? If it’s alright with you of course.” I subtly asked trying to get the conversation back on track and also curious to see what Airi would say. A lot of her pictures were rather risqué so I wanted to know if she would feel comfortable enough to show me out of her own free will.

Blushing at my sudden question, Airi started fidgeting in her seat as she played with her hair. “A-actually, I wanted to show you some pictures I took yesterday while exploring some of the school. I think it might also be the reason why our points got delayed. H-here, take a look.”  She slowly handed me the camera to her side.

Adopting a curious expression, I nodded in agreement and took the camera from her hands. Scrolling through the pictures I tried to hold back from popping a boner at seeing Airi posing for the camera in different states of dress.

Reaching to the last pictures taken, I finally saw the photos she had taken of Sudo’s altercation. However, what grabbed my attention was the 25s video of the whole confrontation from start to finish making me blink in shock and look up at Airi who was giving me a nervous look.

I felt a smile pull at my lips unknowingly and couldn’t stop myself from reaching out and patting the girl on the head a bit much like I would a puppy.

‘Maybe I should stop underestimating this girl from now on. Not only did she have no problem pretty much revealing her idol status to me but she was even smart enough to take a video of what she saw yesterday. Haha looks like Ichika won’t be needed at all to resolve this problem.’

“Great job, Airi.” I congratulated the blushing girl who only smiled shily in response with her head almost unconsciously leaning into my hand that was still caressing her head. “I can already somewhat guess what happened based on what you showed me.”

Airi nodded her head slowly. “I-I just didn’t want all the effort you’ve put into making sure we don’t lose all our points to go to waste. Especially since thanks to you I actually managed to get decent grades for once and Sudo-kun and those other students could have possibly ruined that.” Airi muttered with her eyes taking on a determined look.

‘She’s come a long way since our first meeting.’ I thought in satisfaction.

“Thanks, Airi. Thanks to you, we will not only be able to avoid any punishment but also teach a lesson to those bullies.”

She blushed at my praise before blinking in confusion and tilting her head. “Do you think that altercation was done on purpose?”

I finally removed my hand from her hearing a small whine and went back to browsing over the pictures she had taken. “Most likely. I recognize this part of the school in the pictures you took and I can tell you that there are no cameras there.”

“Now that you mention it, that part is also very hot for some reason.” Airi muttered in deep thought.

“The important part is now we have valid evidence we can use against them if this issue escalates.” I said with a shake of my head before offering the girl a proud look. “With that said though I must say that you surprised me today Airi.”

Squirming in place Airi turned her head away from me. “I-I did?”

I nodded my head knowing she could still see me from the corner of her eyes. “Yes. It must have taken a tremendous amount of courage to come to me and show me all of this considering you were even worse than me at talking with other people. You have come a long way Airi, be proud of that~”

Airi’s face turned beet red again as she started stuttering nonsense for about a minute. Then she took a deep breath and faced me properly even taking off her fake glasses letting me see her beautiful blue eyes framed by her fiery pink-red hair.

“I-It’s all thanks to you Kiyotaka-kun.” She said in a soft whisper gifting me with a smile so pure that it left me mesmerized for a moment.

“Ever since the tutoring sessions began when I properly met you and the others, I found myself smiling more often and actually having fun at school. Hihihi now I even look forward to classes weirdly as it allows me to see yo- ‘ahem’ everyone in our little study group.” I felt myself feeling a little disappointed when she didn’t go through with her last sentence about looking forward to seeing me but ultimately dismissed it as she still had more to say.

“So, thank you Kiyotaka-kun. For always being there for me and helping me all this time.” Airi finally finished bowing to me at the end.

“You give me too much credit Airi, your hard work and dedication also played a big role.” I said with a shake of my head before sighing fondly and giving the girl a fond look. “Nonetheless your most welcome. I also found myself having fun spending time with you whether that was in our tutoring sessions or any other interaction.”

Her face still set in a blush Airi’s smile widened then her eyes took on a look of resolve and she opened her mouth. “T-there’s actually something else I wanted to tell you Kiyotaka-kun.”

‘Oh, is she really about to confess perhaps? Or is this about her Idol status.’ I thought curiously for a moment then nodded to the girl letting her know I was listening.

Airi stayed silent for a bit then undid her normal low twin pigtails and styled her hair instead as her Shizuku persona. Now with her glasses gone and a different haircut I was almost getting the Clark Kent impression due to the huge difference such small changes made.

“Wow, that hair style really suits you Airi. You look even more beautiful than usual.” I complimented the girl in a sincere tone.

Instead of the usual stutters I expected from her, Airi just smiled wider with her blush now reaching her ears. “Thank you, Kiyotaka-kun. D-do you like girls with long hair?”

“I do. I especially love your hair the best if I’m being honest.” I said admiring her hair. “For some reason bright colors such as yours are very appealing to me. Especially red.” I admitted in a small whisper.

Airi didn’t say anything in response and just giggled happily for a few moments with her hand covering her mouth. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s just… I’m really happy to hear that.” The last part was said in a whisper before the girl shook her head and looked at me again with a determined expression.

“You see Kiyotaka-kun…”

I spent the next 5 minutes patiently listening to Airi as she recounted her story of how she became an Idol and how she hid her true self from everyone due to her fear of normal interactions.

She told me that recently she had thought about retiring as an Idol due to feeling uncomfortable with some overzealous fans. While she still loved photography and would never give it up, Airi now wanted to try taking different kinds of photos like of the environment or animals.

When she had said that it made me think if maybe I had something to do with that change as while I didn’t hate her old profession, I didn’t like it either. Especially if the girl in question was my woman and was showing more skin than necessary and uploading it to the internet where who knows how many degenerate fucks had access to her pictures.

I of course completely ignored the whisper at the back of my mind that told me I was one of those degenerate fucks in my old life. In fact, that made my point more valid in my eyes but like I said I have selective memory about these facts so let’s move on.

When she finished with her story Airi remained silent and just stared at me nervously waiting for my response.

Extending my hand forward I grabbed one of her hands and intertwined it with mine making Airi widen her eyes in shock and look down at our joined hands. “Thank you for trusting me with your secret Airi. I promise I won’t betray the trust you’ve placed in me and reveal it to anyone else unless I get your permission first.”

“That- y-you I.” Overwhelmed by my actions I saw as Airi’s eyes rolled up to the back of her head with her body falling forward in a dead faint forcing me to catch her before she fell to the floor.

“Sigh, seems it was too much for her.” I deadpanned before pulling Airi to my arms proper and setting her down on her bed and maneuvering her under her sheets.

Before I left, I made sure to take her shoes off and left a note on her desk explaining what had happened. Then overcome by a sudden urge I leaned my head down towards Airi’s face and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek while whispering a quiet ‘good night’ and finally leaving her dorm.

I was completely unaware of the huge smile on Airi’s face nor the small giggle that went unheard as soon as the door closed to her dorm.