Warmth Of A Genius | Classroom Of The Elite

Move 15 - Sakura Airi

Sakura Airi POV:

I woke up to the sound of my alarm blaring in my room. I tried reaching for it since it's usually on my nightstand, but when I did, I couldn't find. I felt my phone, a water bottle I kept there, as well as my camera. But not my alarm clock. It took me another minute of clumsily feeling around for it, to realize I'd moved it to the other side of the room specifically for today.

To be honest, I don't want to go to school today. The past few days all I've done is stay cooped up in my room, afraid to go outside. I know the chances of something like that happening again are very slim, especially since Haruka-chan told me she's seen more security around campus the past few days. But it still scares me, a lot.

Maybe... missing just one day of school wouldn't hurt. It could make us lose class points, but you can't lose what you don't have, right? If I go and can't pay attention to class, I'd be causing trouble for the class regardless. So if I just skip out, maybe I can-

"Airiiiiiiii, time to- oh, you're awake! I was sure you'd still be asleep."

Nevermind...

"H-Haruka-chan! I gave you a keycard to my room because I was scared, n- not for you to... break in!"

"Is it breaking in if I was given the key?"

"Y- Yes? No? I... what?"

Haruka-chan stepped into the room and approached my bed. She then kneeled down and put the palm of her hand on my head, making a mess of my hair.

"How're you feeling? You coming to school today?" She said, a small smile creeping onto her face as she continued messing with my hair.

"You make it sound like I have a choice," I mumbled.

"If you decide to stay home, I will just have to become your personal maid for the day and take care of my Airi~" Haruka-chan stood up proudly.

"No... I'll go. I don't want to get you in trouble."

Suddenly I felt my mattress dip down, only to see Haruka-chan sitting next to me as she grabbed both my hands.

"Are you sure you're okay, Airi?" She asked with a serious expression on her face.

"I'm... managing."

"That doesn't sound very reassuring, you know?"

I didn't give Haruka-chan all the details. All I said was that I had a bad experience at a shop in the mall over the weekend. But the sudden shutdown of the mall on Saturday, coupled with the growing rumors of the assault of a student made her connect the dots relatively fast.

She hasn't mentioned it outright, but I'm sure she knows what I went through. Though she's the only one, since I didn't want Akito-kun and Keisei-kun to know. But... I just wanted someone close to me to know.

"I can go to school, I think. Although... could you come with me later to pick up groceries? Going to the mall on my own is..." My voice trailed off, remembering the events that played out. 

The past 2 days my head has been spinning with a bunch of what-if scenarios, each worse than the last. If Ayanokouji-kun wasn't there, then...

"Airi!"

"H-Huh?"

"You're zoning out, are you sure you're okay?"

Haruka-chan sat on my bed and wrapped her arms around me, holding me tightly against her.

"Missing a day won't break apart the class. You can be selfish in this case, ya know?"

"But..."

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. I'm grateful that Haruka-chan is so accommodating, even when I should just get over it and go to school. The fact that she cares so much makes me happy that we got put into the same study group for our midterms.