Classroom of the Elite: Ichinose of Class-D

Chapter XXVII - Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

It has now been a week since summer vacation ended, and now, I am in my room at the first year dormitories with my new, unexpected girlfriend, Ichinose Honami. A few days ago, we went out on a date at my request and soon thereafter, one thing led to another, we started going out. Despite what I thought originally about any intimate relationship with Ichinose, she decided to confess her love once more at the end of our date and as such, I accepted it. This leads us to this moment in time in which I started my first romantic relationship.

"Hey, what are you thinking about, Ayanokouji-kun?"

Interrupting my thoughts, the aforementioned girl stared at me as she sat atop my bed.

"Huh? Nothing, really."

I guess there wasn't any real reason for me to hide what I was thinking about but then again, there's no real reason for me to be truthful either and suppose I did say something, it may make the atmosphere around us awkward. In any case, Ichinose lightly smiled and continued talking.

"I see, well if Ayanokouji-kun doesn't want to talk about it, then I wont pry further."

"In that case, I'll-"

"Hold on a minute, I'm not finished yet."

Her abrupt interruption was quite sudden, I expect she didn't want to pursue the matter further but apparently, Ichinose has other ideas. The nature of which is still unknown.

"I'm listening," I responded.

"Why don't you sit down first?"

Without any reason to refuse, I complied with her request and sat down. As I did, Ichinose once again, gave me a smile as she scooted closer to me on the bed and looked at me with her gaze softening.

"So I was thinking, Ayanokouji-kun. We started going out two days ago.."

"And..?"

"I was wondering if I could call you by your given name now."

Apparently her request had nothing to do with the conversation we had previously but instead, she simply asked to refer to me by the name I was given upon birth rather than my family name. It didn't even occur to me that I was still being formal with Ichinose. Perhaps this is the first step towards 'loving' your significant other.

"That's fine with me, as along as I can do the same," I replied to her.

"Of course, Kiyotaka-kun~"

She didn't seem embarrassed, there really wasn't any need to be. We're still alone together and it's not as if Ichinose, or rather Honami, hasn't called anyone else by their first name. There's also the fact that she was already embarrassed by simply confessing their feelings to me, that past experience most likely contributed to her attitude. Anyhow, I switched my attention back to her and noticed her expression changed to a more forlorn look.

"Did I do something wrong?" I questioned.

Though there was silence for a while after I made my statement, it was shut off as Honami continued to stare at me in an annoyed way.

"Kiyotaka-kun still hasn't called me by my name yet."

"Honami," I said.

"Not good enough."

It became painfully obvious that she was trying to coax me into saying her name again in a more affectionate manner, and that pouty expression of hers made it evident, but unfortunately for her, I'm not as dense as to not notice what she has planned. Her keen insight after the island exam made it clear to me that I shouldn't underestimate her perceptiveness. Though I can avoid the hassle of having to repeat her name, it's probably in my best interest to keep her happy so I chose to do as she asked of me.