"Anyway, no matter what, you have to get along well... Don't force me..."
Thinking of this, Hirata clenched his knuckles hard. They were oddly shaped and clearly belonged to someone suited for martial arts.
"Since a class gathering won't work, why not have Kushida organize a girls' gathering first?"
"Kushida," full name: Kushida Kikyo.
She was the cute, angelic girl who had stepped forward with them to maintain order back then.
Kushida was extremely enthusiastic. Hirata hadn't even needed to ask her—she had already invited nearly every girl in the class.
The reason I said "nearly" was that there was also a troublesome girl among them, second only to Bai Lan.
Thanks to Kushida's reliability, Hirata relaxed and smiled in satisfaction. "Then I'll put all my effort into dealing with Bai Lan!"
Since Hirata didn't have Bai Lan's contact information, he planned to start with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who seemed to have a fairly good relationship with him.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was just about to head to the convenience store to buy lunch and some daily necessities.
However, after finally escaping from the many girls surrounding him, Hirata hurried over and called out to him.
Ayanokoji: Damn it, I couldn't avoid him.
Hirata gave him a gentle smile. "Let's go together, Ayanokoji. I happened to want to talk to you."
Looking at the murderous stares from the lovestruck and resentful girls behind Hirata, Ayanokoji's Salted Fish Eyes instantly drooped. "I'm really not familiar with Bai."
Hirata: "At least you can talk to him. That's better than anyone else can do.
"I want to learn from you how to get along with Bai.
"I hope everyone in the class can have good relationships with one another, enjoy high school together, build beautiful memories we'll never forget, and graduate together. That's very important to me, so... please!"
Ayanokoji could only nod stiffly. "I-I understand."
"You can chat with Bai, so perhaps you have something in common with him..."
Ayanokoji: "..." We absolutely do not!
"Please, use your way of thinking to help me understand why Bai would do something like this."
Feeling the killing intent from the fangirls behind Hirata, Ayanokoji didn't want to "waste" too much of Hirata's time, so he said, "Give me some time to think about it."
Hirata: "That's great! Think it over carefully. I'll come find you later... after lunch."
"Ah! Sure, sure." Ayanokoji hurriedly agreed.
Ayanokoji only wanted to get away as quickly as possible, lest the girls mistake him for a romantic rival.
Hirata: "What's your room number?"
Ayanokoji: "..."
Bai Lan had originally planned to splurge at the restaurant, but then he suddenly remembered that he still hadn't bought any daily necessities.
He changed his mind at once and headed to the convenience store nearest the dormitory. He planned to buy daily necessities and pick up a boxed lunch while he was there, making do with that for lunch.
Before long, Bai Lan was carrying a shopping basket and carefully picking through the various products.
During this, Bai Lan discovered that daily necessities could actually be claimed for free, though in limited quantities. This further confirmed his guess.
The competition between classes at this school must be incredibly fierce. Otherwise, there wouldn't be students who couldn't even afford the points needed to buy daily necessities. For all he knew, the cafeteria might also have free items.
Just then, Bai Lan sensed someone approaching him.
He instinctively looked up.
First, he saw a pair of slender legs, white as mutton-fat jade, wrapped in black stockings that extended past the knees.
Then came long black hair reaching her waist. On one side, a lock had been deliberately tied into a distinctive little braid. At the same time, he caught sight of her graceful, undulating curves.
Finally, he saw a face with an alluring, foxlike charm, yet also exceptionally refined and breathtakingly beautiful.
That face looked familiar.
The person was the girl Bai Lan had originally planned to make cry—the one who, judging by her face alone, would probably become Class D's class beauty.
14. Bai Lan: I'm Going to Bully the Class Beauty!
(Because of revisions, the word count for the previous sections was insufficient, so they had to be rearranged. Some content from Chapters 13 and 14 has been moved to the end of the previous chapter. Please take note.)
Bai Lan glanced around.
*It's lunchtime, so plenty of people are choosing to deal with lunch at the convenience store. A few of them are from Class D, too.
*If I "bully the class beauty" here, quite a few people should notice.
*With a girl this beautiful, if she gets bullied, plenty of simps will probably come looking for trouble with me just to raise her opinion of them.
And if there happen to be a few people here who like solving problems with violence... wouldn't that be wonderful?
With that thought, he decided to restart his original plan.
Calling it "bullying" was merely Bai Lan's way of continuing the verbal sparring that had been interrupted earlier.
Since it was an exchange between both parties, and she had been the one to start it, Bai Lan didn't consider it bullying at all and felt no psychological burden.
However, he knew that those simps wouldn't see it that way.
And that was exactly what he wanted.
If Miss Class Beauty reported him for harassment because she couldn't outtalk him, that would be even better~
Before long, Bai Lan began.
"Oh~ it's you, Class Beauty." Bai Lan waved the toothbrush in his hand like a glow stick as he greeted his "target."
"You?" The ice flower turned her head, sending several locks of hair flying. She frowned and said, "Don't call me Class Beauty. I hate it when people judge others according to their personal preferences based on their physical appearance. Compared to my looks, I hope to attract attention because of my abilities."
Seemingly unconcerned, Bai Lan continued sorting through the products. "If you really didn't care, you wouldn't have said so much. The more you explain, the more it shows that you care. Someone who truly didn't care wouldn't even bother responding."
"I simply find it annoying. I don't like my ears being filled with useless, irritating noise."
"If you really found it annoying, you shouldn't argue back. You should deal with the person speaking and find a way to make them unable to bother you again instead of trying to debate them.
"Arguing back means you want to prove something. What you want to prove is precisely what you doubt. So, are you doubting whether you really don't care about how others judge your appearance?"
"You..." The ice flower paused, then said, "You've been arguing with me so much. What are you trying to prove? What are you doubting?"
"It's simple. I'm proving... that I'm still just as eloquent! My verbal skills haven't declined! My retreat this morning was entirely accidental! It's not that I couldn't outtalk those people from Class B—I simply didn't want to. Proof complete! Ah, ha, ha, ha~"
Bai Lan put his hands on his hips and broke into Jin Guan-chang's distinctive laugh.
"This is my first time meeting someone whose mouth is even sharper than mine. And it's sharp while being sour, spicy, and mean. You must not have any friends, right?"
"Oh~ You even used a self-sacrificing attack just to strike at me? I think I can see boomerangs filling the sky."
"..."
"My name is Horikita Suzune."
The ice flower suddenly introduced herself with no warning.
Bai Lan stopped laughing. "Why are you suddenly introducing yourself?"
The girl calling herself Horikita Suzune spoke with some indignation. "Because of what happened this morning. I thought you were a worthy opponent, only to discover that you didn't even care what my name was. It made me feel slighted."
Bai Lan: "Huh? You never asked for my name either."
Horikita: "Because I knew your name was Bai Lan, so there was no need to ask."
"Then perhaps I already knew your name too?"
"You knew my name, yet called me 'Class Beauty,' as though I were merely a title based on empty appearance. That makes it even more hateful!"
Bai Lan: ...
"Then I'll leave?" Bai Lan pointed toward the exit.
Horikita tucked her hair behind her ear and raised her head. "Would that count as running away? Does that mean I won?"
Was this Horikita's competitive spirit really that strong?
What a coincidence. So was mine!
"Beep, beep, beep..." Bai Lan pursed and blew across his lips, then said, "Fine. Today, I'll let you experience true verbal combat! It's too cramped here. Let's go outside."
Horikita: "I still have things to buy."
Bai Lan: "What are you buying?"
"Facial cleanser."
"Ah, I remember. It's over there." Bai Lan pointed in a direction.
Before long, they had finished shopping.
The two of them lined up at the checkout counter.
When their turn was almost up, a problem arose at the counter.
A tall crew-cut boy was standing in front of the register, openly and roughly patting down his own body with both hands. He felt around his waist and abdomen, then his thighs...
As he searched, he argued with someone.
"I said, wait a moment! I'm looking!"
"Hurry up, please!"
"Damn it! I'm still not used to this. I forgot I needed to bring that card to pay."
From their conversation, it was clear that the crew-cut boy had forgotten his student ID.
Once again, Bai Lan urged the school to hurry up and introduce mobile payments.
Then Bai Lan realized that the boy looked familiar. He was from Class D.
Growing impatient, Bai Lan left the shopping basket in place to hold his spot, then walked to the front. "Use my card."
Following the hand holding out the student ID, the crew-cut boy looked at the person approaching and said in surprise, "You?"
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