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

Chapter 19

(October 20)

The days following the Sports Festival had been rather relaxing if I’m being honest. Since the Paper Shuffle was our next special test, we had gone back to our old study groups with the addition of 2 additional girls that I had to teach. Those being Maya and Chiaki even if the later didn’t really need it as she was plenty smart on her own.

One thing that had come out of that was an increase in Kei’s possessiveness of me with the new girls around. It was not rare for her to be seen glued to my side nowadays even much more than the other girls which was saying a lot going by how possessive they were as well.

Perhaps she thought I would replace her or something with one of the new girls so she was acting in defense of that. Which was ludicrous of course as Kei was one of the girls, I liked the most in this school. That she was the only tsundere in my harem currently was just the icing on the cake for me.

‘It’s as that edgelord once said. I like what I like and I don’t like what I don’t like. Simple as that.’ I thought with a nod.

“Ne, Kiyotaka do you want to go to a karaoke bar with me~?”

Speaking of my cute tsundere, she had caught me unaware while I was taking a stroll through the campus and was quick to jump onto my back for a piggyback ride.

“Karaoke huh? Just the two of us?” Seeing as I was already used to her spontaneous behavior, I just went with the flow as this was not the first time that she had done this. Kei really enjoyed being carried by me whether in a piggyback ride or a princess carry depending on the situation.

“Yep~ Since tomorrow is your birthday, I want to have you all to myself for tonight.” Kei confirmed with a happy cheer resting her head on my shoulder and rubbing her cheek with mine.

Seeing her act this way there was only one answer I could give. “Sure, I would love to. My birthday huh? To be honest I had almost forgotten about it.”

“You forgot your own birthday?!” Kei asked in an incredulous tone before she widened her eyes as if in realization and lowered her voice down to a whisper. “Oh! Is this because you technically have 2 birthdays that you remember?”

“Yeah,” I whispered back. “Luckily for me my 2 birthdays were only a month apart exactly with my first being in September and my current one being in October 20. Uncanny coincidence if you ask me.”

“Whoa, that is an uncanny coincidence. Whatever, you’re here now and that’s all that matters anymore so let’s go have some fun instead!”

And there it is.

One of the main reasons Kei was someone I deeply cherished above most others. She had an uncanny ability to ground me to the present whenever my thoughts would wander to my previous life or anything associated with it. That was why Kei had nothing to worry about me ever replacing her as she had already become an integral part of my life.

I found myself staring at the beautiful smile on her face for a bit, once again surprised that this was actually my life now. Talking and flirting with whom I only thought as a fictional character before.

‘Don’t worry Kei. Unlike the original Kiyo, I’m never letting you go.’

“Of course, Kei. Let’s go!” Feeling much lighter, I guided us to a karaoke bar while we chatted quietly about anything and everything.

Reaching the establishment, we rented a room for two and went in where Kei was quick to pick out a bunch of songs for us to sign together.

“Hihihi you’re seriously too much sometimes Kiyotaka. I remember the first time we ever went to karaoke as a group and you sang horribly. Now though thanks to your cheat power, you wouldn’t look out of place in a boy band hihihi.” Kei laughed openly after we just finished our first song as she leaned against me in support.

I couldn’t help but cringe at the imagery that her words brought me. “Yeah… I don’t think being in a boy band is something I’ll ever be interested in.”

“Hihi never say never~ You said it yourself remember?” Kei said while looking up at me with a teasing smile. “We have eternity together~” Kei’s smile widened as she said that as if the thought itself brought her immense joy.

“We’ll see.” I relented as she was somewhat right. I didn’t know what I would be doing a year from now much less the eternity that awaited us.

“Come on~ I want to try this one next~”

Before we knew it 2 hours of fun had passed with us only stopping due to Kei needing to stop to rest her sore throat. Coincidentally the last song we played was one of my favorites and it matched my current relationship with Kei almost to a T. That song being All I Ask of You from The Phantom of the Opera.

“That song… It really describes us perfectly huh?” Kei asked in a whisper with her voice hoarse from overuse.

“Yeah… Though I’m surprised that you understood the lyrics Kei them being in English and all.” I said pulling Kei into my arms and taking a seat with her ending up in my lap.

“Hmph, I’ll have you know that as long as it’s a song or something popular I usually do my research even if it’s in another language.” Kei said sticking her tongue out at me playfully.

‘Must be her Gyaru side coming into play.’ I thought in slight amusement.

“Hey Kiyotaka, have you found out where you will be heading next year?” Kei suddenly asked quietly.

Blinking at the sudden question I took a moment to process what she said before letting out a small sigh. Even with Hiyori staying silent on the matter it had not taken the other girls long to ask what the next world would be like and getting suspicious when I would always avoid the question.

Eventually I was cornered by everyone and was forced to come clean to them about the fact that I was leaving as soon as the school year ended. While devastated at first, they had calmed down when I informed them that they would still be able to see me in the evenings thanks to them having access to Sweet Home.

Come to think of it, that had been the moment that their actions with me had escalated in the bedroom.

“Hmm, no I haven’t actually even though the progress bar is already full. To be honest I’m a little nervous about what world it’ll end up being.” I said pulling up my Hud and seeing my Exit Stage Left bar at 100% just waiting for me to press the Jump to Next World button.

“It won’t be dangerous right?” Kei asked with a worried face.

“Don’t worry,” I said patting her head with my free hand. “Since this only a tier2 world, the next world shouldn’t be anything I can’t handle.”

“That’s a relief.” Kei breathed out and sagged against my chest. “Ne Kiyotaka… I-I want to go with you.”

Blinking at the sudden turn the conversation took, I looked down at Kei seeing her giving me a serious look.

“Haah we’ve already been over this Kei. Even if the danger is minimal, I don’t want to put any of you in danger. Besides if you come with me you won’t get to finish your high school education. Is that something that you want?” I asked in an attempt to persuade her otherwise.

“I don’t care about any of that!” Kei exclaimed raising her voice taking me by surprise. “Kiyotaka… I can honestly say that these past few months have been the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life. Asking me to keep attending this school without you is just impossible for me.”

“Kei…” I muttered quietly with a small wince at hearing how sad her voice sounded.

“I don’t care about academics. I don’t need a social life. I don’t need friends. Being together with you is all that matters to me!” Kei finally raised her head from my chest showing me her teary face. “So, I don’t care if it’s dangerous or whatever just please take me with you!” She pleaded.

I let out another sigh at hearing such words especially as I already knew that out of all of my girls Kei was the most attached to me. The binding while fixing any mental issues she had due to her past, it didn’t do anything for the way she attaches herself on someone who could protect her. Instead of getting rid of such a thing, it actually enhanced it due to the way the binding works and made Kei see me as the only person in existence that could ever protect her and make her happy.

Suddenly hearing that I would be going away for an undetermined amount of time must have left her with horrible nightmares even with the knowledge that she would be able to see me in the evenings. So yeah, I could say that this conversation wasn’t that surprising for me.

“Haah, I can’t promise anything but how about we see what world opens up next? Depending on the world I will decide if you can accompany me or not. Is that okay?” I ended up compromising while gently wiping Kei’s tears with my thumb.

“Mmn thanks Kiyotaka~ You’re the best hihihi~” Acting as if I had already agreed Kei broke out into a triumphant grin.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself dummy.” I admonished the girl playfully then pulling up my Hud again I took a deep breath to steady my nerves and took the plunge. “Well, here we go I guess.”

Closing my eyes for a moment I slowly opened them and looked at the floating screen in front of me for a moment before frowning a bit. “Shit.”

“What is it? Did it land on a bad world?” Kei asked worriedly.

“It’s not really a bad world per se though it seems you won’t be able to accompany me like you wanted Kei. The good news however is that I will only be spending a few days at most before leaving.” I answered with my mind quick at work reviewing my plans for the world.

Since the very beginning I had looked at all the possible worlds that I could end up in and had come with a rudimentary plan for each of them with one plan sometimes working for more than one world due to similarities.

“What world did it land on? Tell me already!” Kei asked with a pout as she started poking my cheek repeatedly.

“Hmm…honestly this is not that bad of a world if I’m being honest. With a little luck I could be in and out of there in a week at most.” I muttered ignoring Kei for now still thinking about possibilities.

“Mou tell me already Kiyotaka~” Kei pouted cutely while hitting me on the shoulder lightly.

“Alright, alright. Have you ever seen an Anime or read a Light Novel called No Game, No Life Kei?” I finally revealed.

No Game, No Life. A world about a pair of brother and sister that get Isekaid into a new world by Tet, the One True God of said world. A world completely governed under the Ten Pledges set by Tet himself that forbid any member of the 16 races from committing war and violence and forcing them to settle their disputes by a game.

The world was relatively safe actually but there was still the risk of being discovered by Tet and him immediately noticing we didn’t belong there as we wouldn’t be bound by any pledges unless we allowed it.

The silver lining to all of this was that there was currently a certain someone in Elkia, the main city of Immanity, who had a thirst for knowledge and the unknown that would literally salivate at the chance to study a completely alien race to her. And wouldn’t you know it, I currently had an alien girl whose main power dealt with knowledge back in my Sweet Home.

‘Yeah…Shouldn’t be too hard to get Matsu to download all the current books in this world into a couple dozen hard drives. Of course, we would have to stick with nonfiction for now. I should also start saving up for Bounty Tracker now that I think about it.’ I thought.

“Hmm no, can’t say I have. Not that I watch that much anime or own any light novels anyways.” Kei said with a shake of her head.

“Haah listen it’s a world…” I then took the next few minutes explaining to Kei what the world was about and the dangers of it.

“Wooow… Now that sounds like a fantasy world alright. Elves, gods, girls with animal ears, mermaids, dwarfs, angels, vampires and dragons.” Kei muttered in awe for a moment before pouting again. “And you said I can’t go?”

“Absolutely not!” I denied immediately with a shake of my head. “I have no idea what Tet might do if he discovers that we somehow ended in his world without his notice.”

“Aww man, and it sounded like such a cool world too.” Kei pouted harder.

“We can always visit it again in the future once I’m sure that all of you can go unnoticed by Tet.” I reassured patting her head a bit getting Kei to dig her head deeper into my chest.

“I guess…”

“Hey cheer up. Like I said I will only be gone for a week at most.”

‘At least I hope so.’

=====

(October 20)

‘Well…that just happened.’ I thought feeling exhausted while I laid my head down on my desk trying to get some rest not even caring about losing points after everything I just went through.

Upon waking up this morning I had been literally jumped by Ichika, Arisu, Kikyō, Airi, Hiyori, Matsu and Honami in that particular order. It had been to the extent that I was slightly afraid that Sexual Calibration might stop working for me. And while not everyone went the whole way, Honami and Hiyori, I still found myself completely drained by the time we finally left the house.

Thankfully I did get a small break once school started with the most the girls doing was surprising me with a few kisses.

“Come on Kiyotaka, we’re already late as it is. The others are going to be mad at us that we took so long.” Kei said as she pulled me along behind her with a bag of groceries in her other hand.

“And whose fault is that? Miss ‘Don’t you dare stop, Kiyotaka’.” I asked with a deadpan getting Kei to almost stumble in place.

My cute tsundere had used the excuse that we were alone to pull me into an empty room where we ended up going to third base to my pleasant surprise.

“S-shut up! You already did it with the others anyway! I-it was my turn.” Kei tried to excuse with her dere side coming out for me to see.

‘Not completely true but okay.’

“Of course, dear.” I just nodded along with her knowing my words were more effective than any weapon on her.

“D-d-dear? W-where d-did that c-come from?”

See? My cute Kei was so cute when she let her dere side come out and yes, I’m completely aware I just said cute twice.

“Do you not like it?” I asked with a teasing smile that she thankfully didn’t see or my fun would be over.

“I-I mean it’s not like I mind or a-anything.”

I just chuckled silently and enjoyed the view of the cute tsundere in front of me that unfortunately didn’t last long as we soon arrived to my dorm room where the party was being held.

Entering the place, I was treated to the sight of balloons, festive signs and a cake as the friends I had made this year greeted me with a ‘Happy Birthday’. After greeting everyone and receiving heaps of congratulations and either pats on the back or hugs I was pulled to the front of my table where the cake was.

“Come on Kiyotaka-kun, make a wish!” Maya asked with a cheer from a little beside me as she urged me to cut the cake.

“Give him some space everyone.” Ever the sweetheart Honami made sure I wasn’t crowded by everyone as she stood next to me acting as some sort of guard.

I took a moment to look at everyone seeing almost half of my class in my tiny dorm room currently present with the majority of them being girls with a few exceptions. Taking a few minutes to thank everyone for coming I finally cut the cake the girls had made for me receiving a cheer from everyone.

Feeling my school phone vibrate I curiously pulled it out and noticed I had received a message from an unknown number. Pulling the email open I felt my whole-body freeze as a cold pit formed in my stomach.

Rereading the email, I slowly closed my phone as my face went slack not showing any emotion at all.