Classroom of the Elite: Ichinose of Class-D

Chapter XV - Whoever Has Faith In The Beauty Of Their Dreams Has The Future

It was now the 20th of July. Today was especially special for me since.. well.. It's my birthday! I didn't have anything special planned for it though this time of year. Usually, my mother and sister would come together to surprise me but this time, it's different. Even though I wouldn't be celebrating my birthday with my family this year, my friends had decided to throw one for me when I told them I wasn't going to be hosting a party.

They were being so generous, willing to go out of their way to spend their precious private points just for me. At first, I declined but they weren't having it and already picked out a venue for it. But all that aside, what I was most concerned about was.. the guest list. Everyone who is coming will be on there.

That was the only thing that worried me. As much as they all wanted to throw this party for me, I wanted this to be for everyone in Class-D and anyone else who felt like coming, although that probably wasn't a good idea because of logistic reasons. I don't mean to toot my own horn in anyway but, I'm pretty popular and the amount of people that might come could overwhelm Class-D's financial status. There was also another reason to this too. Logistics aside, whether Ayanokouji-kun would come was another matter. I still keep feeling the same way as I do whenever I'm around him. Of course, I did want to invite him, but I can't find the courage to do so.

In the end, I opted out and let my friends invite whomever they want. As soon as I got my hands on the list of people they had invited, I looked through it and saw perhaps fifteen or so names? They were all girls though, no boys.

Weirdly enough, I felt sort of relieved that Ayanokouji-kun wasn't invited, but I was also disappointed in a way.

In any event, all the planning and preparation my friends had gone through will pay off in the end. The place they picked is a fairly sized karaoke parlor just near Keyaki Mall, just me and my friends and classmates. I didn't expect anything extraordinary nor will I, just the fact that people I cared about is fine by me. Any case, as I arrived, people were already wishing my happy birthday. There was plenty of empty seats left since not everyone has arrived yet, so getting a head start, I chose the seat next to Mako-chan but she quickly stopped me before I was able to sit down.

(A/N: remember the second chapter? i will never cut out mako-chan, even if honami is in another class)

"Ah, wait a moment, Honami-chan, your seat is over there," Mako-chan said, pointing me to the other side of the room.

"Huh? O-Oh, okay."

I don't believe there was ever special seating arrangements, if there was I wasn't informed about it. Anyways, I found it a little strange, but ultimately, I followed along with what Mako-chan had told me and took my seat. After doing so, I looked around a little. There definitely is something going on. The seat besides me was empty but when I looked at my other friends who were here already, everyone was seated by each other. For instance, Kikyou-chan was placed next to Mori-san and Inogashira-san, Shinohara-san was seated next to Satou-san, and so on.

Karuizawa-san would've been here but unfortunately, she has been sick with influenza and couldn't come.

But me? I was alone. I don't think this is some cruel trick they're playing on me but, there was another reason why I'm sitting by myself. My side of the booth was looking a little empty, this means that it's reserved for other people, but for who exactly?

Only a little after these thoughts ran through my head, more and more people started pouring in, sitting next by one another. As for me, I was still alone. Eventually, everyone had arrived, the entire place almost packed but since it was a larger room than the usual, there was plenty of booths, albeit, they were separated.

Something is still not adding up, I retract my earlier statement and say that almost everyone has arrived. There was still one person missing, Chiaki-san was no where to be found. Looking back at the guest list, I remember her name being on there but she still hasn't shown up yet. She hasn't given me a call and I'm assuming she hasn't called anyone else either, otherwise I would've caught wind of it.