Sitting around the table and eating breakfast together was supposed to feel a lot more homely than this. Damn this love drama, everyone's so uncomfortable around each other. It's been a few days since then, and I still haven't a clue as to how exactly I can tilt the odds in Kevin's favor. We're nearing the end of our first semester here, meaning everyone who applied for a rank up, has met the requirements for it, and has written a thesis to back their research up can start the next semester with a brand new badge indicating they have surpassed their current scholarly limits. When it comes to our household though, it's mostly chill in that sense.
As you may remember, Kiria, our highest ranking roommate who boasts the rank of Quartion has all but grown complacent with her current rank and thus won't be applying for Trezzion, the third of the fifteen ranks.
"I'm too swamped with work at the student council, ehe~!" She explained with her tongue stuck out, "T-Though, don't take that to mean I'm wasting Kevin's money! I-I pay for the repeat semesters out of my own pockets!"
"Repeat semesters?" I tilted my head, "So you have to pay even more money if you don't get a passing mark on your thesis?"
Stopping their eating as they all looked at me worriedly, I was apparently the only one left eating.
"Meil..." They shuddered as they dared to ask, "Of course you pay for repeat years."
"Huh. I guess I never really bothered to look into what happens if I fail, since I am flawless and all." I said as a matter of fact, "I can imagine how that would catch the attention of average students like yourselves though."
"Average!?" Lemmy took offense to that, "I'm anything but!"
"Right, I'm not one to brag, but a Cinim who's also working at the Library of a Thousand Passages is far above average." Javi sounded a bit displeased by my comments as well, "And besides, what makes you so certain you're this perfect being?"
"He got a perfect 100 on our latest exam." Kevin muttered, not even bothering to look up from his plate as he spoke.
"Not just the last one, but every single one before that." I corrected him, "And is maxing out your headstart by having your starting rank be Nonim not already above average?"
"I'll admit that's impressive, Meil, but you really shouldn't be letting your guard down this much." Kiria advised, "That was my mistake as well after I became a Decim, since back then I plowed through every rank up on my first try."
"Now look who is bragging." I gave her a stare.
"S-Shut up! What I'm trying to say is that I went on to fail thrice before making it to Nonim because of that, so just take my advice, alright?!"
"Huh, it took you all that time to reach the rank I started off with?" My face then imitated this false empathy, "Poor you, and more importantly..."
"Poor me!" Kevin lashed out, "You failed this much? When did that happen?! In the letters you sent me throughout the years, you said it was a total breeze! Why the hell did you think I signed up to this place if it wasn't!? I'm dumb as a rock when it comes to anything above BasicEd!"
"W-Wuh?" She retreated back in her seat, afraid of his sudden outburst, "Y-You followed me... because of such a dumb reason!? Kevin, why did you blow all that money on tuition fees if you didn't wanna enroll here? Why didn't YOU tell ME that you didn't want to?!"
"Because you barely ever replied to my letters!" He shouted from the heart this time, "Before, the letters almost came in daily, but over time it became weekly, then biweekly, then monthly... Ugh, I had eventually stopped sending you letters, fearing I was smothering you with them and all, and now you're gonna blame me for all this!?"
"Awkward..." Javi whispered over to Lemmy and I, "Think we should break this up?"
"Nah, leave them be." Lemmy sat back, "This is fun, not to mention good for me."
"That is not very gentlemanly of you. Did you not accept him as your master?" I gave him a death glare.
"For the religion, sure. But now that I know I have a fair chance at stealing his goddess? I dunno, there's a certain charm to that as well." He shrugged.
"You're straight evil." Javi looked over at him, horrified beyond comprehension.
"Grr...! That's what I hate about you!" Kiria sat up so her voice could be heard loud and clear, "You never talk to me about any of your worries, always bottles them up, and look what happens! You just keep withering away in that smelly room of yours and don't do anything!"
"Gasp! You did NOT!" He visibly recoiled back, "Alright then, if it's so goddamned smelly, clean it for me yourself while I do my reps at the gym!"
"Kevin!" She yelled out to him as he left through the front door, "Kevin!"
"Heh, at this point you gotta question the little faith he has left in that goddess of hers." Lemmy chuckled to himself, "Kinda sad though, not gonna lie. It would've been more fun if he hadn't given up so early."
He didn't give up though, dammit! I was the one who forcefully pulled him out of this race od yours, you stupid tyke! I did it for his own safety, for his own mental wellbeing! Kevin was getting dangerously close to offing himself at the rate he was going, to the point where even one more rejection could lead to his untimely demise. That's why I introduced him to weightlifting, since I know that "feeling strong physically" is important for "feeling strong mentally". Lune taught me that, and I intend to teach Kevin the same. This isn't the time for childish antics. Kevin needs to learn to live without Kiria.
***
After Kevin had left to get a few reps in at the gym, Lemmy soon had to leave to run a few errands for the student council, and I was told to visit Jethro's office for a talk regarding the whole "Praise Jethro" thing. Apparently he's super interested in the mystery after hearing that his father played a crucial role in it, but I had no intentions of telling him anything, so now I regularly have to report back to him and come up with all these lies about what the mystery is actually about. Though, that's still better than getting the server room found out and getting charged with mass murder.
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The only one's now left in the house were Kiria and Javi. Back when we first moved inside the house together, Kiria clearly stated how uncomfortable it was for her to live with four other men, but she soon realized none of us were the untrustworthy type, so these days she's more often than not found alone with one of us. Of course, neither Kevin nor Lemmy don't take advantage of this, which I can only chalk up to them not having the balls to try.
"What are you gonna do now?" Javi asked Kiria.
"Ugh, clean up his room, just like he said." She finished cleaning up the dishes as she threw the sponge in the sink, "After all, I'm the only one still willing to put up with his crap."
"We both know you're really not." Javi gave her a deadpan stare, "We've been living under the same roof for over a month now. Everyone knows just how slovenly you are around the house, when you're not putting up that honors student act."
"Y'know, just for that - You're gonna help me clean his room up."
"No I ain't." He got up to leave as quickly as possible.
"Yes you are!" She somehow still managed to grab onto him and drag him into Kevin's room, "For this great undertaking, I'm gonna need all hands on deck!"
"Y'know, I doubt he was even being serious about you cleaning his room up. Why are you taking him so seriously?" He then dared to ask, "You like him or something?"
"L-Like...?" She turned around, donning a meaningful gaze before sticking her tongue out in disgust, "Don't make my mind go to weird places, he's like a little brother to me."
"Right, I remember you told him that before." Javi then nudged the conversation into his preferred direction, "I do believe that was right before he got all depressed. What a coincidence."
"Seriously, that guy is a real handful..." She failed to follow along as she rummaged through under his bed, "Hm? Aha, I knew it!"
"What are you doing?" Javi sighed.
"Looking for porn mags of course!" She proudly whipped out dozens of envelopes from deep under the bed, "Everyone keeps their porn stash under their bed! It's the laws of nature!"
"Kevin once told me you were quite the childish tomboy before you enrolled and it really shows at times..." Javi pinched the bridge between his Eyes, "You two are more similar than I thought."
"Oh, zip it!" She hissed as she haphazardly ripped open the first envelope, "Now let's see what kind of girls he likes! I could tease him about it for ages, hehehe... Huh?"
"Womp womp. Looks like our boy Kevin's a lot more dignified than you were led to believe." Javi chuckled, "Though to think he'd be keeping all these letters under his bed. They must be really important to him."
"T-These letters..." Kiria's face became flushed, "They're all from me. H-He really kept all of them? For all this time?"
Javi then realized it was now or never. This was quite the odd predicament he's placed himself in, but it seems like the mood is perfect for it. He's gonna have to man up and confess to Kiria. As with any girl, it's a gamble where the stakes are super high, but he knows he'll never get a chance like this as well.
"Kiria!" He grabbed her by the shoulders, his gaze following her bright Blue Irises, "T-There's something I need to tell you!"
"J-Javi!?" She yelped, unsure of what to make of this surprising twist, "W-What's the matter?"
"Kevin really loves you!" He yelled out with a flushed expression, "He loves you so much it hurts! Even now, as I'm telling you all this, he can feel his chest tightening up! It's not familial love, it's not the kind of best friend love you two share, he means real, honest to goodness, romantic love!"
"Javi..." She then backed away, confused and scared, "What the hell is wrong with you? W-What the hell are you saying?"
"...Ugh, that was so embarrassing." Javi then got up, "He owes me bigtime for this. Listen, do you really think a guy would pay two tuitions for him and a girl just so they could end up as friends? No, he really loves you as a woman, and the reason he's been so depressed lately was because you hurt him with your words. You don't have to accept his feelings or anything, but at the very least you can apologize so he can properly move on."
"Javi, I'm not following at all, what?" She shook herself out of the trance as she got up as well, "There's no way it's that, you're just overthinking. Besides, I've known him since we were kids, so obviously I would notice."
"Wrong! Bzzt! You have no idea how incorrect that statement is!" Javi then dug into her and refused to hold back, "Your dumbass couldn't tell because he didn't spell it out for you! He was too afraid of you rejecting him or even worse, TELLING HIM HE'S LIKE A BROTHER, that he never manned up to state it clearly! Ugh, that's all from me, figure the rest out yourself."
"I-I..." She looked down, fidgeting in place as her face glew a soft Red color, "T-There's just no way! What makes you so sure, anyways?!"
"Well, there's two major things." He gave her a warm smile, "The first is that he told me. And not only me, but Meil as well. We've been trying to nudge him in the right direction from the sidelines all this time, but it appears Meil is now prioritizing his mental health with all this gymbro stuff over his goal of getting Kevin's crush to like him back."
"O-Oh, Meil knew too..." She then took a deep breath to calm down, "A-And the other one? You said there were two major points that proved it."
"Ah, that'd be this." Javi flashed her a wide grin as he whipped out a porn magazine with a bunch of green haired well endowed and slightly plump ladies on it, "I found it under his bed while you were reading the letters. Looks like you were right, it's the laws of nature after all."
Flicking through the risque imagery depicting the girls who bore a striking resemblance to Kiria herself in all sorts of erotic situations and poses, her face gradually turned bright Red. Finally making it to the last page of the magazine and closing it with an audible thud, she refused to even look up at the giggling Javi before tossing the magazine aside and walking out of the room.
"Heh, looks like I did it, Kev. Praise me some when you get back, y'hear?" Javi shook his head, still bearing the content smile on his face before realizing something, "Ah crap! She left me to clean up his room now! Dammit Kevin, you owe me like ten times more now!"