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Volume 6, Chapter 5: "The Formation of Ayanokōji Group" Part 4

The Ayanokōji Group (saying it still invokes a sense of shame), was established, and we had officially decided to start our activities along with Airi. Originally intended to act as support for Haruka and Akito, the scope of the group began to expand little by little. Haruka indirectly led the group by creating a group chat. There was a dramatic increase in communication during the periods where everyone wasn’t together. Since none of us have many friends and we usually spend a lot of time alone, our conversations in the group chat were pretty lively and frequent.

[After studying tomorrow, do you all want to go to the movies together for a change of pace?]

Haruka posed a question in the chat.

[You’re talking about the new movie?]

[Yup! I heard it’s coming out tomorrow. Exams are going on now, so getting tickets is unexpectedly easy!]

[It’s not a bad idea for rejuvenation purposes. By ‘you all’, does that mean I also have to join?]

[Of course you do; it would be meaningless if Yukimū didn’t join us. The group is just beginning, after all. But I guess I did ask everyone pretty suddenly. If you don\'t have time tomorrow, we can wait until after the exams.]

If there’s a shortage of people, it appears that she intends to postpone it.

It doesn’t look like Akito has seen the messages yet, but if he had, he’d probably choose to go along with her. Both Keisei and Airi haven’t given their answers yet. Should I take the lead?

Even though I was a little bit nervous, I responded to the group chat.

[I’ll participate.]

After I sent this, a message came from Airi a few seconds later.

[I want to go, too.]

[……I get it. If Akito goes, I’ll go too.]

With this, other than the absent Akito, everyone agreed to attend. Akito opened the group chat a few minutes later, and sent his own response.

[Alright. I\'m curious about that movie too. Can you make our reservations?]

[Yeah. I’ll collect the points from all of you later. Thanks everyone!]

The group chat then died off. She had probably switched her screen over to the Internet in order to make reservations.

[I’m looking forward to the movie.]

A personal text came from Airi.

[Yeah true.]

[Please take care of me tomorrow, Kiyotaka-kun. Good night.]

Airi ended our brief conversation with a polite message.

“So I’m going to the movies tomorrow with the group?”

Somehow, I guess my life is becoming a little bit more like a riajuu.

Society would probably think this, but I definitely have a feeling of excitement that I haven\'t ever felt before.

“……I’ll have to go to bed early so I’m not late.”

My phone rang at this moment.

I answered the phone when I saw the name ‘Horikita Suzune’ on the caller ID.

“It seems that you’re awake.”

“It’s still 10 o’clock. Do you need something?”

“The study groups at the library are almost done. After the study session tomorrow, I’d like to make some final arrangements for the final exam. Can you join me? If you can also tell Yukimura-kun for me, it will save me the trouble.”

“Tomorrow……”

“Is there a problem?”

It would be lying to say there wasn’t one.

Since we had all agreed to go to the movies after studying tomorrow.

“If it’s inconvenient, the day after tomorrow is fine, but Thursday is the limit. The questions are almost all completed, but in some cases, we’ll need to rethink the answers.”

She seemed intent on making those decisions as soon as possible.

Even in this situation, I don’t want to turn my back on her expectations. She’s probably already consulted with Hirata, but still wanted to use the time leftover to become as certain as possible.

“I see. I’ll talk to Keisei. Does it matter if we’re a little late? Also, if it’s better to get in touch with Hirata or Karuizawa first, I can do it.”

“Keisei? You and Yukimura have become surprisingly close. You also don’t need to worry about their schedules since I’ve already spoken to them. I’ll inform them of the date and time.”

It seems that Horikita has also managed to get closer to the others through the study sessions. I’m happy that she was able to start a conversation with Hirata and the others even while alone.

I hung up the phone, and a moment later I received another text. Things are really coming up tonight.

This time it wasn’t from Airi, but instead from Karuizawa.

[I’ve confirmed it as you said. Today, I heard from somebody that a girl was asking around about how much sugar Hasebe-san had added to her cup. She wasn\'t able to find out anything and added sugar based on what was left over, which attracted some attention since she added so much.]

As I thought, that\'s what happened after all.

This means that she\'s quick-witted, even more so than just having superior insight. Hiyori picked a good opportunity to shake us up by showing off her powers of observation back then.

Right now is a perfect opportunity. I’ll tell her about it first.

[I think Horikita is going to contact you tomorrow. We have arranged to start a meeting at around twenty o’clock.]

[Eight at night? Isn’t that pretty late?]

[I have some prior arrangements. I’m going to see a movie after the study session.]

[A movie? Is it that new one?]

[That’s the one. Regardless, I have a favor to ask of you during the meeting.]

I gave Karuizawa detailed instructions.

I didn’t have any other option than to use tomorrow’s meeting.

After she read everything, she responded with a seemingly annoyed message.

[Isn’t this just another troublesome errand? What’s the point?]

[I’ll explain when everything is over. It’s better for you this way.]

[Yeah whatever. I’ll see you tomorrow then.]

Karuizawa immediately dropped it. But instantly after that, I received another message.

It wasn’t a message, it was an illustration on a small sticker.

It was of a cute round strawberry cake with a few candles put on top.

[I noticed too late.]

It was followed by this additional message, and she didn’t send anything else after that.

“She… Did she find out about my birthday? But how?”

I don’t remember telling anyone about my birthday. Despite thinking this, I realized the truth. On the chat app, there’s a field for a date of birth along with a name and email address. Since I hadn’t chosen to keep that information private, it was possible to access this information if someone wanted to.

I had thought that there was absolutely no chance of it happening this year. Was Karuizawa the first person to notice my birthday?

Customarily, I began to erase everything after our exchange finished.

Although I was a bit hesitant, I also deleted her birthday sticker.

I immediately accessed Karuizawa’s profile and noticed that her birthday was March 8th.

“I guess I should memorize it for the time being.”

(Part 4 End)