A Monster's Influence: Route B

Volume 3 - Chapter 19

Ayanokouji's POV

I had woken up earlier than I wanted to because of the bus rides our entire batch was taking to Tokyo Bay for summer vacation — no thanks to Shibata kicking my door in (an exaggeration; I entrusted Kanzaki with one of the duplicate keys. Shibata just kicked my door open and dragged me out of bed against my will for fun). Kanzaki was worried that I had forgotten to pack, but I already had done so the day prior. I didn't enjoy expending more effort than I had to, after all.

I threw Kanzaki and Shibata out of my room so I could freshen up and put on some comfortable clothes before exiting right after them with my suitcase. It was lucky that Kanzaki and Shibata didn't leave the vicinity of my door so I could make my demands.

"Hurry up, Tanteikouji!" Shibata noisily exclaimed, "Everyone's waiting for you in the lobby. We wanna drop by Pallet to get some coffee."

I glared at Kanzaki for his transgression against me of letting Shibata wake me up at the devil's hour, "Shibata, I demand Kanzaki give me a piggyback ride or I'll push him down several flights of stairs where there are no cameras and no one else watching."

"Done deal," Shibata accepted without Kanzaki's formal consent, "Kanzaki, bend over — I mean squat so he can get on your back."

"Why would I—" he started before turning his head towards me and flinched, "I mean, hurry up, Ayanokouji. Shibata, get his suitcase."

I lethargically climbed on his back before the three of us set off for the lobby. We arrived at our first destination, where we met up with Yuki, Ichinose, and Amikura. Coincidentally, Yuki seemed to be in a similar state as me; reddened eyes from our beauty sleep being ruined, having been woken up way too early. She also happened to be receiving a piggyback ride by Ichinose, who seemed ready to keel over from the added weight (I couldn't blame her, given what she had already). If I had to make an educated guess, Amikura did the same to Yuki as Shibata did to me. Amikura is the most likely candidate to do it, after all. All things considered, she didn't look too different from her normal self, aside from her bloodshot eyes and hair that cascaded like a waterfall. An au naturel look which looked rather nice, perfect for headpats.

"Hyaah!" Ichinose ungracefully plopped her passenger down on the couch before she swayed and flopped herself over on it as well, her head laying back from the total exertion. Kanzaki seemed to contemplate throwing me through the table consequences be damned, but ultimately followed suit.

"Shibata, Amikura," Kanzaki called out, "Buy the drinks from Pallet. I'll push the money later. I'll have an espresso while Ichinose will have..."

"Hot chocolate," she smiled brightly, blinding me with a radiance that made me hiss and cover my face with a pillow.

"Ayanokouji, what do you and Himeno want?"

"I'll have a doppio, while Yuki would probably order a marocchino. And Amikura, if you tamper with my drink like putting salt in my coffee ever again," I looked her in the eyes and twirled my finger, letting my words hang without the implication.

"Got it, bosu!" she mockingly saluted as she and Shibata left for the cafe.

"Ayanokouji-kun, what's made you so grouchy today?" Ichinose asked with concern.

"Ichinose, it's literally 3:30 a.m. Shibata dragged me out of bed thirty minutes prior. Couldn't we have waited until four or something? Our ride comes at 4:30 a.m., and we would still have time leftover."

"Sorry about that!" Ichinose sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, "Shibata-kun and Amikura-chan just wanted to bother you two for fun. You two are pretty funny, after all. Anyway, it's been a while since the four of us spent some time together, huh."

I sleepily gave her a nod while Kanzaki made a noise of confirmation.

Ichinose continued, "It's usually one or two people missing. Sometimes you're busy with your club or hanging out with Himeno-chan, I'm with my girls or dragging Kanzaki-kun along, Kanzaki-kun is busy with Shibata-kun or the duo, etcetera, etcetera. Maybe the four of us should get lunch on the cruise ship or something."

"Yeah," I yawned and made a noise of satisfaction, "I wouldn't mind catching up with you two. What do you think, Yuki?"

Yuki seemed to have fallen back into slumber, a little drool dribbling out of her mouth. I shook my head fondly before I quietly stood up and wordlessly changed seats with Ichinose so I could give Yuki a lap pillow. In a flash of brilliance, I used the opportunity to grab one of her locks and place it above her top lip like a makeshift mustache, taking a snap of this moment with my phone before sending it to my two friends. They stifled their laughter, careful to make sure she wouldn't wake while I caressed her luxurious royal locks. We all fell silent once more, Yuki's soft snores the only sounds that were heard in our vicinity.

Ichinose took on a serious but worried expression, "Ayanokouji-kun, what really happened between you and that girl from Class D? She said something about you saving her from dropping out, right? Why were you gone for a week?"

"Ichinose, you shouldn't—" Kanzaki started in an attempt to stop her from prying, but I waved him off, "Kanzaki, this matter is important and she should be cautioned for the sake of the class because of her status as our class leader."

I closed my eyes to gather my thoughts before opening them, "Ichinose, I didn't save that girl. It was a random encounter and it was by pure luck that Yuki stumbled upon her. Yuki got hurt in the process. I..." I hid my idle hand that I clenched, but I had the feeling that she knew, "I think it's best for our class to be a tad more careful on campus. It's not something I want to talk about, so I'll leave it at that."

We fell into silence once more. Ichinose looked like she wanted to ask more questions out of concern for my well-being, but she decided not to push too hard for now.

The somber mood dissipated as soon as Amikura and Shibata returned with our drinks, "Here you go, bosu!" Amikura placed my drink on top of my head before the both of them set the rest of the drinks on the table, "I'm so excited guys! I can't believe we get to go on a cruise! It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! I'm so happy I get to spend it with all of you and the others. Oh, and you look less grumpy now, Kuraikouji-kun."

I grabbed my drink that had been balanced on my head, raising it to mouth level. I looked suspiciously at Amikura, who mischievously gestured towards my drink. I opened the cap and looked at the contents before sniffing it. I couldn't detect any anomalies. I hesitatingly brought it closer to my lips, dreading her impish smile as I tentatively brought it closer to my lips. Her smile only got wider as I finally took a sip, and...

It was completely normal. A doppio without sugar, just how I liked it. I could detect the faint acidic and floral notes from the light roast coffee, allowing me to relax and turn relatively back to normal. I motioned Kanzaki to hand me Yuki's drink, which I placed under her nose. She gave it a sniff before she lazily got up from her position, holding her cup with both hands and taking minute sips of her drink.

Everyone lazily chatted, taking leisure with all the time we had before our bus arrived. When it was a quarter before our bus would come, we all got up and took our belongings with us to where some of our classmates were waiting with Hoshinomiya-sensei.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mission failed, we'll gettem next time. Here's a chapter before we start getting to the Speranza!

Also, "kurai" means "gloomy", so "Kuraikouji" is basically "Gloomykouji".