Third Person PoV

1. The ' other ' childhood friend?

Kiyopon hears a knock on his door. He gets up from his bed and opens the door.

" Hello, Kiyotaka-kun."

He was met with a suprise visit from his ' Childhood friend'. Her usual smug radiance was replaced by a more warm and gentle complexion.

Kiyopon also notices another presence, and it was none other than Arisu's companion ( slave ), Kamuro Masumi. The purple haired girl waves at Kiyopon in greeting, and Kiyopon waves back before returning his attention to Arisu.

" May we come in?" She asks.

Kiyopon nods and steps aside.

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" That black eye looks new. Who did it?" Arisu asks. 

For some reason, Kiyopon felt a dangerous aura emanating from the small figure before him. Her smile didn't reach her eyes, and her eyes showed malicious intent. Even Kamuro shivered by the dangerous energy from Arisu, scooting a bit farther away in order to distance herself from the walking time bomb.

" Please do tell me." Arisu insists, " A name will do. Or if that option is not available, then a description will suffice." Her aura only grew more aggressive.

Kiyopon writes in his notebook.

' Why do you want to know?' it said.

Arisu releases a strained laugh. 

" Fufufufu....I'm just curious, is all." She tilts her head, " I'm far too weak to try anything."

' Liar.' Kamuro thought.

Even Kiyopon thought that it was an obvious lie. 

He writes in his notebook...

' Ryuen.' it said.

Arisu nods, " Ah, I see." 

" Very well, I'll be sure to make arrangements for Dragon boy's funeral right this instant." She takes out her phone, dialing a number. " I'm sure my father will conform to my wishes. Even if it means killing another student." She says with venom.

" No." Kamuro snatches Arisu's phone.

Arisu glares at Kamuro. " Give it back." She says.

" Nah." Kamuro shakes her head in defiance.

" Masumi-san, that wasn't a request. That was an order." She threatens.

" And what are you gonna do if I defy that order?" Kamuro replies.

" Do you wish to be ordered a coffin as well, Masumi-san? I can have that arranged along with Dragon boy's coffin." Arisu says, her smug smile turning more strained.

" Sure." Kamuro rolls her eyes.

" You--"

Kiyopon interrupts Arisu by placing his hand on her small shoulder and pulling her back. Arisu looks at him, confused before smiling again.

" Don't worry Kiyotaka-kun. Since that purple dumbass attacked my childhood friend, I'll make sure to give the most violent death possible." She says with a sweet sickly voice.

Kiyopon sighs before writing in his notebook.

' Please don't do that.' it said.

" No, no. It's really not a bother, if that's what's making you reluctant, Kiyotaka-kun." Arisu insists.

" The fact that you aren't reluctant about killing another student is concerning you stupid loli..." Kamuro mutters under her breath, to which Arisu left no comment on.

Kiyopon writes in his notebook...

' I settled things with him. We're buddies now.' it said.

".....What?" Arisu sounded confused.

Kiyopon tilts his head. He assumed they were buddies now, after all, he did read from internet-sensei that boys usually make up a lot quicker after exchanging fists since they're horrible at words more often than not. Or maybe it was just one-sided. 

Kiyopon mentally frowned at that. 

That would be sad. He hoped Ryuen would consider him a friend, or even an acquaintance at least.

After all, they did just have a snowball fight yesterday-

" You're telling me that you two are....friends...?" Arisu asks to be sure. Even Kamuro looked confused.

Kiyopon nods.

" I see...." Arisu takes that all in.

Kiyopon writes in his notebook.

' Now that you know about that. Please don't hurt my friend.' It said.

Kamuro tries to hold back from nosebleeding.

" Hm..." Arisu sighs, shaking her head. " I suppose I'll refrain from doing so, since my childhood friend insists that I spare his life. Just this once, I'll let go of the matter then." She says, the dangerous aura around her dissipating.

Kiyopon smiles.

Arisu turns to Kamuro.

" Masumi-san, I suggest you clean that nose of yours and give me back my phone." She says to the nosebleeding and blushing Kamuro Masumi.

The purple-haired girl absent-mindedly hands Arisu's phone back and slowly walks towards the bathroom, eventually disappearing inside and fixing her look.

Kiyopon wonders if Kamuro was okay but Arisu didn't seem to be worried, so he doesn't ask.

  " Anyway....I want to ask you something a bit personal, if you don't mind?" Arisu says in a gentle manner.

Kiyopon already has a feeling as to where this was going to go. He nods.

"....Are you okay?" She asks. " My father told me about what happened....and you locked yourself in your room for 1 month, correct? I was worried." She releases a sad sigh.

She looks down to her hands, fiddling with her fingers. " I wanted to help you, but there was only so much I could do. I call myself your ' childhood friend', but I couldn't be there because I didn't know much about....the real you."

" I thought you were a cold calculating person, similar to that of a natural genius like myself, except you were just nurtured to become one. A false genius. I thought you'd be secretly cruel due to that facility but.....it seems, you still have a lot of humanity left in you. It was because of that butler, wasn't it? He taught you things the white room never could. And you live with his teachings." Arisu says.

" At first, I thought the current you is the fake but....you're genuinely happy. I can see it. The way your eyes shine and the way your smile seems natural....you are happy with the way you're living now. You formed a new personality for yourself, a personality you like. It's touching to me, I never would've thought that....the boy once called a ' monster' would be someone beloved in this school. The current you is without a doubt the real you." She looks to him with a soft smile.

" I always wished for you to experience warmth. But it's easy to see that you've been feeling it all this time. I'm happy for you." She says with sincerity. 

Kiyopon writes in his notebook.

He shows it to her.

Arisu gasps a bit before forming a smile.

' I appreciate everything you've done for me. And don't feel bad for not being able to help me, because your words right now have reached me and I'm grateful that you felt that way. Our meeting was sudden, but I'm happy we met, Sakayanagi Arisu.' 

Arisu never thought a written message could touch her heart this deep. The smug smile she was always associated with wasn't there at all whenever she interacts with this boy. Her smile is always sincere around Kiyopon.

And this....just makes it 10x better.

" I'm even happier, Kiyotaka-kun..." She says.

Kiyopon nods.

*click!*

The bathroom door opens, and Kamuro finally steps out after wiping away the excess blood. She was back to her composed and unapproachable self. She takes a seat beside Arisu again.

" Did I miss anything?" Kamuro asks.

" No, nothing. I was just catching up with my childhood friend." Arisu's smug smile returns. She didn't want anyone else to witness her true smile except her dear childhood friend. Kiyopon also seems to get the message and says no comment except nodding along.

" Oh? That so? Hm...." Kamuro narrows her eyes at Arisu in suspicion, before an idea suddenly it her head. She quickly turns to Kiyopon.

" Ayanokoji, how did you and this loli meet? I've been curious about it." Kamuro asks.

" Fufufu, didn't I already inform you about how we met? It was a beautiful day where cherry petals swirled in the blue sky--"

" I'm not asking bullshit from you. I'm asking Ayanokoji." Kamuro interrupts and Arisu just giggles in response.

"....The truth is, she knew of me before I knew of her. We just met this year...in this school." Kiyopon answers.

"....Hah?" Kamuro's jaw drops to the floor.

" Fufufu~" Arisu laughs amusingly.

" SO YOU TWO AREN'T CHILDHOOD FRIENDS??? I KNEW IT! I KNEW THIS LOLI WAS JUST MAKING UP SHIT!" Kamuro yells.

" Language, Masumi-san." Arisu says, amusingly. Completely disregarding the fact she herself spoke some vulgarity when Kamuro was in the bathroom.

Kamuro ignores Arisu and continues to press Kiyopon further.

" Can I ask you another question? Have you ever had a childhood friend???" Kamuro asks out of nowhere.

Arisu stops smiling. She, too, began looking at Kiyopon, curious about his answer. After all, her father did mention a little girl back at the white room who used to keep the boy company.

She wonders about what Kiyopon thinks of her.

" ...I never had one?" Kiyopon answers, confused.

Arisu's eyes widen in suprise.

" Oh. Well that was anticlimatic." Kamuro leans back on her seat.

Arisu coughs, " Say, you really hadn't considered any of the children as your friend back at....' home'?" She asks.

Kamuro wondered why Arisu's question felt a little off, but had no idea whether she should question it or not. It's likely the loli wouldn't give her a straightforward answer like usual. Geniuses are annoying to deal with.

"..." Kiyopon understood Arisu's question, and was grateful that she hid it decently.

Perhaps....there was someone back at that place....

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" So you're the one theh call 'masterpiece', huh?" A small little girl calls out in the empty room.

Kiyopon stands still as the little girl with twin tails began inspecting him.

" Are you all talk? Or are you actually the real deal?" She narrows her eyes. " I find it difficult to believe-"

SWOOSH!

"...." The little girl had just dodged Kiyopon's kick in time. Her trained reflexes had kicked in before she could even processed what had happened.

Kiyopon stares at her with a rather sharp gaze.

" ....Haha....Hahahahaha!" The little girl began laughing.

Kiyopon's sharp gaze melts into one of confusion at the girl's sudden laughter.  He wondered what was so funny.

" You almost got me there....if that kick actually connected then I would've seriously been injured!" She beams, unusually enthusiastic.

The little girl was bouncing up and down, looking happy as if she'd just received a new toy. Kiyopon sighs and tries to walk past her but-

She grabs his hands and holds it close, looking deep into his eyes.

" Let's be friends, Kiyotaka~!" She randomly suggests.

' Friends?' Kiyopon wondered if she was hearing herself right now. No, rather, he wonders if she's even aware of the environment she's in right now.

"...Let go." He softly commands.

" Aww, you sound so cute! Now we HAVE to be friends! Pretty please? Don't you wanna be friends with a cute girl like me- AH!"

Kiyopon flips her to the ground, her back making a loud thud after the harsh impact.

" Ow..." She rubs her back in pain before looking to Kiyopon.

"..." He says nothing, deciding to avert his gaze to the exit and walking away leaving the little girl alone.

But before he could get far, he heard her final words:

" My name is Amasawa Ichika by the way!!!!"

Kiyopon just sighs and keeps walking away.

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Kiyopon remembers.

The girl that introduced him to ' friendship', she was persistent in trying to annoy him as much as she could. At the time, Kiyopon saw friendship as nothing but a distraction, a detriment in the white room.

But.....somewhere along the way...

After their curriculums bave greatly differed due to his rapid improvements.....

He no longer saw her again.

It was only until then, that Kiyopon began to feel the loneliness seeping in. As annoying as she was, she kept him company. Unwanted as it is, it became something he slightly looked forward to, though the past Kiyotaka would've never admitted to it.

Kiyopon writes in his notebook...

' There was someone back home who considered me her friend. At the time, I failed to reciprocate the same feelings. So no, I really never had a childhood friend. Arisu is my first.' It said.

Another girl.... Both Kamuro and Arisu thought in unison.

Kamuro thought that Kiyopon must have some hidden charm that lures women to him. That underneath his cute facade, lies some horny lustful devil that seeks to devour every woman he seeks and claim as his.

Meanwhile, Arisu was more happily preoccupied with the fact that she is indeed the ' first" childhood friend and not the ' other' childhood frie-- oh wait, Kiyopon doesn't consider her a childhood friend. Ha. Take that!

Arisu was quite petty.

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" Thank you for humoring me, Kiyotaka-kun. Today has been pleasant." Arisu smiles.

Kiyopon was bidding them farewell at the door. After a few final words, the two Class A students eventually left. Kiyopon closes the door and begins cleaning up until he suddenly receives a message notification.

He checks his phone and it was a message from Mori.

He opens her message and reads it...

' Remember that free date pass you promised me back then, when we searched for a suitable present for Mii-chan? I'd like to officially use it for Sunday! I'll meet you at Keyaki mall at 9 am. Don't be late! 😉 '

Thud!

Kiyopon had dropped his phone in suprise.

He'd totally forgotten about the date he owed her-

------------------------------------

" Annnd there." Mori smiles as she receives an immediate response from Kiyopon, confirming their date.

" He said yes...?" Airi asks.

" Of course! He owes me after all." Mori says with confidence.

" Lucky..." Airi mutters.

The pink-haired girl fiddles with her drink. She had mixed feelings about this, but it's her fault for not being as confident as Mori. Even when Airi has certainly improved her social life....she just couldn't ask out the boy she likes.

" I'm a coward..." she groans.

" Yep. You are." Mori sighs. " I really....thought you'd try and ask him, but once I began to realize that you weren't going to do it....." she trails off.

Airi gives a somber smile.

" I know. It's okay. You asked him out before I could....so it's unjust for me if I were to be offended by you." Airi knew that Mori liked Kiyopon as well. The both of them liked this one particular boy.

And Mori was the first to make a move. With a confidence that Airi could only dream of achieving.

" I plan to confess to him at the end of the date. Will you be all right with that?" Mori's usually fun tone was nowhere to be found. A more serious, and careful tone took its place.

Airi nods slowly.

" Airi....look, I-"

" If he says yes," Airi exhales a breath, smiling. " I'll just move on. And if he says no, then that means I still have a chance.  That's all there is to it."

The two of them stare at each other, a few moments of silence....

Mori's face breaks out a smile. She chuckles.

" Good. That sounds fair to me." She says, giving a thumbs up.

" Good luck, Nene-chan." Airi says to her rival in love.

" You better not stalk our date, Airi~"

" W-What gave you the idea that I would even think of that?!"

" They say the quiet ones are the most freakiest-- wait, then what about Koyo-"

" Nene-chan!!! Don't lewd him!"

CHAPTER END!

Next chapter is the final chapter for 7.5 and it'll be pretty long!

Mori finally made use of the free date card.

Perhaps she'll actually win this bout of love?

Oh who am I kidding

You guys already know who's winning....🗿

Or maybe i'll pull smth out of my ass and destroy your expectations because why not?

Seems plausible.

Oh!

And before I go,

I don't plan to adapt volume 8 and maybe volume 9.

No, I do not plan to skip and go straight to volume 10.

I just said i dont wanna adapt them. Which means, I'm going to be planning my own non-canon events to act as filler in the place of the missing volume 8 and 9.

Think of it as....Kiyopon-verse