Well, let's move on the next side story....hmm....ah right!

Though most of you had probably read volume 4.5 but you're still curious about how our silent protagonist will deal with its events, right?

Yep.

Well, the friendship of Katsuragi and Kiyopon had begun prior to the elevator incident.....

While Kiyopon was busy looking at a certain name in his notebook....

He had suddenly received a message notification from his phone.

Kiyopon checked his phone and began to read the message which was from Mori Nene.

She had sent.

Message? Kiyopon was curious about what she meant so he decided to inquire her about it.

Kiyopon replied.

She forwarded Kushida's message.

Kiyopon was a bit suprised. So it was Inogashira's birthday huh....

She texted.

A group of girls? Kiyopon would usually join but.....he still wasn't too comfortable with that much attention.

Especially when it's a group filled with the opposite sex .

Kiyopon already predicted that if he were to join in, then he'd likely just make their conversation awkward.

A boy in a girls conversation will make him stick out like a sore thumb. With that, he decided to politely decline her offer.

He replied.

she replied instantly. She was suprisingly insistent on having Kiyopon join their group.

he still tried to decline her.

she replied.

Kiyopon genuinely felt happy from that.

He was glad that people didn't think of him as a bad person to talk to........due to the inconvenience of him communicating through his notebook.

He sighed quietly to himself before making his final decision after thinking it over once more.

He replied.

she replied.

Kiyopon decided to ask.

' she texted.

Kiyopon questioned.

He clearly saw the friendship they managed to develop during the island exam. It couldn't have possibly vanished after that exam.....

She answered .

Ah...Kiyopon understood now. Horikita is definitely improving, she knows she can't do things alone. She did her best to lead the class in both the island and zodiac exam after all.

But.....she was still quite distant when it came to friendships. She still built a wall around herself that only a few people were allowed through.

Of course, one of them being Kiyopon himself.

With that question answered, Kiyopon had no further questions.

He asked.

Mori quickly sent the details and Kiyopon replied with a thumbs up before they both bid their goodbyes. Successfully ending the conversation.

Kiyopon sat on his bed.

With only one question in mind.

What exactly should he gift Inogashira?

He also had to take in account of the fact that he had......little points right now.

Well, not little. But it isn't big enough to buy something expensive for a girl....

Was Inogashira the type to like expensive gifts?

Kiyopon immediately shook that question away and sighed.

No. She isn't like that. Kiyopon concluded.

Kiyopon then began to realize how little he knows his classmates besides Horikita, Mori, Hirata, and the three idiots.

The only thing that Kiyopon knew about the girl named Inogashira Kokoro was that she was quite shy and that sewing is her favorite hobby.

Maybe he can ask Mori about some cheap but good suggestions of gifts to buy as Inogashira's present tomorrow when they meet.....

" Oh, you're finally here!" Mori waved Kiyopon over.

Kiyopon walks towards them.

" Hm? Oh, Ayanokoji-kun!" Karuizawa greeted with a wave.

Kiyopon nods and soon exchanged greetings with the other girls.

After that, Kiyopon's hare- I mean, the group proceeded to roam around Keyaki mall in order to shop for Inogashira's present.

While the other girls were having a conversation about their usual topics and sometimes switching it to gushing about Kiyopon.

Mori decided to slow down and match Kiyopon's pace since he was mostly trailing behind the group, likely on purpose.

Kiyopon seemed lost in thought until Mori gently knocked on his head.

" Hello~~ Is Ayanokoji-kun here?" She says teasingly.

Kiyopon snapped out of his thoughts and jolts in suprise when he sees Mori behind him.

" Did I startle you? My bad. You seemed distracted and you were trailing behind quite a bit...." she said with a grin.

Kiyopon writes in his notebook.

It said.

Mori giggles before waving away his apology dismissively.

" It's no problem. But if you don't mind, may I know what you were thinking about?" She asked curiously.

Kiyopon nodded and began writing in his notebook once more.

It said.

" Hmm....okay!" She nodded.

" But!" She propped a finger, emphasizing her ' but ' .

Kiyopon tilted his head, which was a sign of him giving his attention.

" You'll have to go on a date with me one day!" She said with a grin.

Kiyopon's brain froze.

A date? Kiyopon wondered if it was a friendly date or.....a romantic one.

But he erased those thought soon after. This was Mori, after all.

She likely wanted a friendly date, from what he could deduce. He shouldn't make it complicated for the both of them by asking whether or not this was a romantic date.

" Deal?" She said while lending her hand for him to supposedly shake.

That's right.

It was probably a friendly date....

Mori doesn't seem to be the type to like boys like Kiyopon in that way. She just wanted to hang out but phrased it in such a way that may suggest either a friendly date or a romantic one.

After concluding that , Kiyopon was about to shake her hand until she suddenly grabbed his hand and held tight before suddenly moving towards the store.

" I'll take it as a yes, but let's hurry up! We're losing the group!" She said with urgency as she began dragging Kiyopon.

The duo made it to the department store and managed to catch up with the group.

" Huh? Where did Karuizawa-san go?" Asked Mori.

" Karuizawa-san is out trying some clothes with Sato-san and Matsushita-san." Shinohara answered.

" You're not joining them?" Mori asked.

Shinohara shakes her head, " I was actually waiting for you two. Where were you guys?" She asked Kiyopon and Mori with suspicious eyes.

Mori casually laughed before answering, " Gomene~ I was having an interesting conversation with Ayanokoji-kun and we didn't even realize we were trailing behind. Right, Ayanokoji-kun?" She said and glanced towards Kiyopon.

Kiyopon nodded before writing in his notebook.

It said.

Shinohara seemed to be satisfied with that answer.

Kiyopon was impressed with how Mori lied so seamlessly.....

It looked so natural and if Kiyopon were to be in Shinohara's place, then he'd most likely believe Mori too.

Kiyopon inwardly sighed to himself. Why was he overthinking on such a small thing?

Brushing those thoughts aside, he began to notice a small group of girls approaching towards them.

" Oh? Hey!" Kushida happily greeted.

" Kushida-san? Are you here to pick out a gift too?" Shinohara asked.

Kushida nodded before presenting she girls she brought with her.

" Mii-chan and Ruri-chan." She said.

The two girls that were introduced, Mei-Yu Wang and Ichihashi Ruri, waved at us with polite smiles.

" Would you three like to join our group? After all, we're here for the same reason as you." Mori happily proposed.

" Sure! What do you girls think?" Kushida asked Mii-chan and Ichihashi.

" Sure!" Mii-chan quickly agreed.

" It'll be more fun that way, right?" Ichihashi also seemed to agree.

Soon, their groups merged and this time, Mori was being dragged into their conversation while Kiyopon stayed behind looking at the items in store.

Kiyopon realized that this may be harder than he initially thought.

Not only was he with a group full of girls.

He was also in a store in which girls frequented. And he obviously had zero experience in picking out a gift for a girl.

Mori was seemingly busy with the conversation she was having with Mii-chan and Ichihashi and Kiyopon didn't want to interrupt her, even though she made a deal with him about helping him select a gift.

Kiyopon sighed to himself as he halted and decided to look at the different items on the aisle that was nearby.

Kiyopon picked out a stuffed bear. It was snow white, decorated with ribbons and its belly captioned ' Little Darling' .

It looks pretty. Kiyopon thought.

He checked its price and soon after, he immediately placed it back on the shelf before exiting the aisle.

He decided to look around for different shelves until his ears picked up a certain name.

" Oh! This dress looks so pretty, Manabe-san!" A girl said.

Manabe....Kiyopon's eyes slowly glanced towards the place where he had heard the voice.

There she was, not too far away from where Kiyopon was standing. She was currently with two other girls.

Kiyopon managed to recognize them as Nanami Yabu and Yamashita Saki, those two were the people that she hangs out with often.

" Ooo, you're right. It does look pretty ." Manabe agreed, though she lacked much enthusiasm in her tone.

Her friends didn't seem to mind though.

I guess that's normal for them....Kiyopon thought.

Kiyopon wondered why they were here though. Their trio didn't seem to be too fond of shopping.

" Hey, let's give Rika-chan this dress. Maybe she'll like it!" Yamashita suggested.

" Huh? Where did you come from Saki? Weren't you supposed to guard Rika while she's changing?" Nanami said in a confused tone.

" A." Yamashita seemed to have realise her mistake and immediately apologize, " S-Sorry! I completely forgot! I'll head back now!"

Manabe sighed and calmed her friend down, " It's fine. But you know how nervous Rika gets so don't do this next time.....anyway, we were just about to return to the dressing room." She assured while lightly reprimanding her.

Yamashita apologized again before she went back to the dressing room with Nanami Yabu while Manabe seemed to stop.

Manabe slowly turned her head to meet Kiyopon's gaze.

She wore an irritated expression upon seeing him while Kiyopon stayed blank as usual.

' Why does he have to be a weirdo....' Manabe thought.

Kiyopon decided to give her a slight nod as a greeting.

Manabe sighed and gave him a small, wave as her greeting before going to the dressing room where her friends are.

Manabe Shiho.

A student from Class C.

A recent friend of Kiyopon.

And also his own tool to use.

Kiyopon immediately erased that last thought.

He'd rather not think about it now.

During the island cruise ship, he had a certain interaction with Manabe.

They started on good terms but Kiyopon had done something unexpected that had transformed their relationship to something that'd be frowned upon if others knew.

Oh? You want to know the details? You're curious on his version of spreading legs?

I won't explain that just yet. :)

As Kiyopon walked around the store once more, he was suddenly suprised with a sight he never thought he'd see.

Katsuragi Kohei of Class 1-A was........examining a box he picked up from the shelf?

It seemed to be a red velvet colored box, though Kiyopon didn't know its contents.

Katsuragi wore his usual stern look but he also seemed a bit nervous. Worried even.

Is he going to shoplift? Kiyopon wondered.

But Katsuragi returned the thin box back to the shelf and took down a similar one and proceeded to do the same motions again.

After a while, he finally settled on a box before leaving the shelf and proceeding to the counter.

Out of curiosity, Kiyopon walked to shelf to see what Katsuragi had picked out.

" Yo, Ayanokoji!" Ike had called.