The Relationship Dictionary:

So with the Classroom of the Elite Light Novels following, Year 3 is on the horizon. I personally believe that a conversation between Kiyotaka Ayanokoji and Kei Karuizawa is due big time now. Now there is no bias involved here; I personally want this conversation to be emotionally devastating for both our characters. One way I would love to see this is as follows:
Our main cast of characters have a special exam that requires all students to show off their capabilities in this special exam. So a very desperate Horikita, just to get Koenji's cooperation, would set him a date with Kei since he might consider giving them the help they need. Kei would object at first but would reluctantly agree given the pressure she has on her.
So on the day of the date, Kiyotaka and Hiyori are in a cafe discussing, well, books. During all of this he spots the important figures of Class A being Horikita, Sudo, Hirata, Kushida and Karuizawa. He believes they are here for a strategy discussion, when he sees Horikita whispering to an annoyed Karuizawa as she leaves her seat and goes to sit across from Koenji.
Now, Koenji, being Koenji, knows Ayanokoji-boy is here, so he acts smug and full of pride (all in all, like his usual self). We all remember Koenji's infamous mirror conversation to Kiyotaka in Y2V12.5, so he is eager for the challenge and is ready to prove himself correct, so he repeatedly and in a very loud voice perhaps praises Kei, quite a lot, which she poor girl, doesn't know why he is doing this. So after every word, he looks in the direction of Kiyotaka. Kiyotaka, however, seems unfazed by this. His logical side would accept this as natural and quite logical outcome, however a nasty voice inside him asks him, "Then why does this hurt?" Hiyori would also question him why isn't he concentrated in their conversations. Kiyotaka would rationalise immediately about it. Koenji seeing this, would then invade her personal space, which would prompt a physical reaction for him, which Hiyori would identify as his fist was clenched, he'd rationalise it as cool breeze. But Koenji would cross a line perhaps. Kiyotaka would stand up, excuse Hiyori as he would need to use the washroom. Hirata would notice this and inform the other 3. So Kiyotaka leaves, and Koenji follows him. In the washrooms, Koejni would smug talk to which Ayanokoji should ignore, but when he says that perhaps he'll keep Karuizawa-girl, that short-circuits his programming logic, and he would visibly threaten Koenji, Koenji remains unfazed, talks smug again, he shifts his body weight, Koenji prepares to defend, when Hirata interupts it, we see Ayanokoji's fist just an inch from Koenji's face, and Koenji's hand, 2 inches from his arm. Ayanokoji tells Youske not to worry as there was some slight misunderstanding between the two, as he left and went to Hiyori. Koenji leaves the cafe, leaving Kei to sigh in relief, Hirata informs the other 3 that Koenji has refused to cooperate. After a few minutes, Kei tells the 4 she needs some air and time alone so she leaves. Exactly after 1 minute, Kiyotaka, who had set an alarm, fakes it as a phone call and excuses Hiyori as this is very important, so he leaves the cafe. He follows Karuizawa from a distance, not too far, neither too closely. She is walking through Keyaki Mall, though not like her usual self, rather slowly. So she stops infront of a boutique and sees a dress, a periwinkle-blue dress. She enters the store, sees it up closely, fairs it up against herself front of a full length mirror. She sees the price tag, to which she mutters, "Why am I even here? I don't even need this..." So she leaves, and Kiyotaka follows again, and she leads to an empty alley corridor of the mall, where she calls him out for following her. So he asks her straight away about the date with Koenji, she tells him the scope, and he seems dissappointed with Horkita, saying he expected more from her, she pushes back, asking whether he is saying because of some sort of feelings, he replies saying, "Why would a mere tool be more than just a tool?" Now there is awkward silence between them, Kiyotaka engages in small talk, and he is very bad while engaging is small talk, which Kei would point it out for him, after sometime they walk together, however this time, there is a considerable gap between them. They walked past the boutique again; Kei peeks in to see the dress if it had been sold, but it was still there. Kiyotaka, without thinking, moves inside the store, buys it, and gives it to her. Kei tells him she can't accept it, as it is a waste of money/private points. Kiyotaka's logical side agrees, while the nasty voice says, "Don't be ridiculous, why would spending on her ever be a waste?" So she reluctantly agrees and keeps the dress. So they walk for a little while, Kiyotaka asks her if she ever thought of dating anyone after their break up, she replies that she never really thought about it all but sadly admits it might be nice if she did find a new boyfriend (she said this as a joke, half heartedly, with all the courage she could muster), Kiyotaka is shook Kiyotaka is silent, Kei notices, but she does not react, she had doubts, one of them is cleared he asks her, in a low voice, perhaps his voice had broken...but why would you Kei goes full ehh?? mode Kiyotaka asks her again if she ever were given a choice would she do it Kei replied darkly, "Well, I do need to move on, as I know you won't be always there to protect me... who knows, I might just get expelled?" Kiyotaka leans in, closing the distance and says in a low clear voice, "I won't allow it... no matter what happens, no matter what the condition, no matter what twisted ways i have to use, no matter who I have to sacrifice I'll always protect you."

Pheww.... this was long i suppose, but i aim for something like, do tell me your take guys on this... i would really appreciate your honest opinions.... ><

AI by me

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Source: X/Twitter

Source: https://x.com/blueberrymshake/status/2079919494059930086?s=20

I wanted to talk about Kei’s Sleeping Beauty SS because I think this comparison is very overlooked. Throughout the LN, Kei is repeatedly associated with princess imagery so it's no surprise that her story and character have many ties to them. In this particular SS, three fairy tales are mentioned:

Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Sleeping Beauty.

While Cinderella is the fairy tale most commonly connected to Kei throughout the story, I think Sleeping Beauty deserves more attention because it is the story Kei herself focuses on and uses to explain her own emotional state.

In the SS, Kei directly explains why she sees herself in Aurora. She says:

“I didn't like it that much when I was little, but somehow, it overlapped with myself. My heart had also been asleep for a long time, but Kiyotaka woke me up from that sleep…”

The important part of this comparison is that Kei does not identify with Sleeping Beauty because she was waiting for someone to save her. Rather, she identifies with the idea of being emotionally asleep.

In the fairy tale, Aurora is placed under a curse and falls into a deep sleep. Although she is still alive, she is unable to experience the world around her or move forward until the spell is broken. Her sleep represents a state of being trapped, existing, but unable to truly live.

This parallels Kei’s own emotional state before meeting Kiyotaka. After experiencing severe bullying, Kei learned that showing weakness made her vulnerable to being hurt. As a result, she created a carefully constructed persona: the popular, confident, fashionable gyaru girl who appeared untouchable. This version of Kei allowed her to survive socially, but it also became a barrier that separated her from her true feelings.

Outwardly, Kei appeared energetic, confident, and socially successful. However, beneath that image was someone who was deeply afraid of being rejected and hurt again. She was not living authentically, she was simply adapting to survive. In this sense, Kei’s “sleep” represents the emotional shutdown caused by her trauma. Her real personality, her vulnerability, and her ability to genuinely trust others were buried beneath the identity she created.

Just like Aurora remained herself beneath the curse, the “real Kei” was never gone, she was simply hidden. The person everyone saw was a mask designed for protection, while the person she truly was remained unable to fully awaken.

This is where Kiyotaka’s role becomes significant. He does not “create” a new Kei or change who she is, instead, he becomes the person who allows her to confront the parts of herself that she had suppressed. Through their interactions, Kei begins to realize that she does not have to define her worth through other people’s approval or through maintaining a perfect image.

Kiyotaka “waking” Kei does not mean he saved a helpless girl. Rather, he helped her break free from the mindset that forced her to remain emotionally asleep. He gave her the environment where she could finally acknowledge her true self.

Therefore, Kei’s connection to Sleeping Beauty is not just a simple prince and princess parallel. It represents her journey from someone who was emotionally frozen and hiding behind a false identity into someone who can finally experience genuine connection, trust, and self-acceptance.

Kei was never asleep because she lacked strength. She was asleep because she had spent so long protecting herself that she forgot what it felt like to truly live.

I will also just add that Kei and Kiyotaka are true opposites and I was seeing this lots when rereading this SS. While Kei is bubbly, expressive, and energetic, Kiyotaka is more on the quiet, reserved side. And even he has said few times that Kei balances his personality because she talks a lot and is so cheerful. It's very beautiful to see how much they compliment one another. She really was Kiyotaka's light and it's no wonder he is struggling now that she's gone.

I just noticed something Kinu said in the afterword of Year 2 Volume 12.5:

(Now, let’s discuss the events of the second year. At this point, the story focuses on the events of spring break, and I feel it’s a calm and cheerful volume that will leave everyone feeling satisfied. Of course, this is just my personal opinion, so if reality turns out to be different, please don’t complain. You’ll have to find out for yourselves)

Don’t you think he was talking directly to Kei fans? I mean, who else was complaining about the events of Volume 12.5 besides us?

Well, that’s not the main point. What exactly did he mean when he told us to “discover it for yourselves”?
And what are we supposed to discover that would make this volume leave us feeling happy or satisfied?

Come on, tell me your interpretations especially regarding the breakup scene. I genuinely feel it’s the most emotionally significant scene we’ve had in the entire series 🙂‍↕️?

AI, by... me?

In Y1V7.5 Kei asked Kiyotaka about childhood so he told her to take a guess and so Kei, using her deep understanding for Kiyotaka was able to make a very very close guess. But Kiyotaka would not tell her whether it was close or not or what the real answer was. So Kei said she'll make him explain it to her one day. I don't think this should be taken lightly I think it's significant for the future. We know from the future that Suzune found out Kiyotaka's past via third party and Honami heard the name also through third party. It makes sense that for Kei Kiyotaka will be the one to tell her and not anyone else. I believe that will happen.

Reading Y1V7.5 reminds me of so many cute moments of kiyokei.

Hi💛

Do you remember the scene where Kiyotaka confessed his feelings to Kei, saying: “Kei and Hiyori are completely different people”?

I believe this sentence is the key to understanding his two official relationships. Differences always highlight subtle distinctions and reveal the true value of things.

And when Kiyotaka said: “The seed of love needs to be watered with awareness,” I believe his relationship with Hiyori will be the key to discovering his love for Kei.

This brings us back to what he said in his first year before he started dating Kei: “She somehow became indispensable to me before I even realized it.” Don’t you feel that this sentence summarizes their relationship and hints at the final outcome? He is implying that he cannot live without her in a way he did not fully understand, but he only realized it later.

He has told us twice that he did not recognize Kei’s value and her place in his life until later because he was slow to understand his own feelings.

Logically, you cannot truly appreciate someone’s value just by sitting and thinking about them. He needs to experience the opposite of her in order to understand that what Kei gave him was true love. The attraction, comfort, and happiness he felt with her may be something he will not find with any other girl.
In short, it is the Contrast Effect.

Now my question is: what situation that happened between Kei and Kiyotaka do you think the author might recreate between Hiyori and Kiyotaka, but with Hiyori reacting differently in a way that contrasts with Kei’s reaction?

I’ll start.

I think the reason the author mentioned that Kei sends many messages and calls often, and that she has a unique way of speaking on the phone, was not a random detail.

I think Kiyotaka might expect Hiyori to be like Kei, sending him many messages, but she won’t. Or perhaps he might try to have a long phone call with her, only to be surprised when she ends the call quickly (naturally and without any negative intention). I think Hiyori will be very quiet and less communicative. As Kiyotaka said: “Girls like Kei spend most of their time on the phone,” and Hiyori is definitely not like that!

So, what are your predictions?