I Just Want to Drop Out of School in Real Education Section 39

"What do you mean... Oh! I get it. You want me to pretend I want to be friends with Horikita, and use that as an excuse to confront her!"

"Exactly! See, Little Angel is willing to learn how to confront people just to make friends with Horikita! It's practically the origin story of 'Meat and wine pass through the intestines, Buddha remains in the heart,' how touching!"

"Uh, can you even fool anyone else with this?"

"Why would I need to fool anyone else? As long as I can fool you, that's enough, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Because you're doing this because you believe my words and I've tricked you. Others don't need to believe 'you'; they just need to know that 'you believed me,' understand?"

"Oh! Whether I believe you or not is my business. Others aren't me, how would they know I don't believe you?"

"That's right. You just need to act like a naive, sweet girl and insist that 'you confronted Horikita to make friends with her,' that 'Bai Lan taught you this method of making friends,' and then, 'regardless of any advice or warnings, just focus on confronting Horikita.' That'll wrap it up, and it'll also reinforce your 'innocent' persona."

"Classmate Bai, you're making such a huge sacrifice! You really are a good person! Thank you, Bai-san!"

"I..."

Bai Lan couldn't be bothered to explain. He hoped she'd still be able to say such things in the future.

"You think it's useful just because I'll take the blame? Ha!" Bai Lan chuckled inwardly.

Actually, there was one thing Bai Lan hadn't told Kushida.

While this plan could resolve the conflict between Kushida and Horikita, it had its pros and cons.

As Kushida used this plan to resolve her own predicament, it would also cause cracks to appear in her beloved Little Angel persona.

As Kushida and Horikita clashed more often, when emotions ran high, she might occasionally fail to maintain her gentle and cute image, inadvertently revealing her true nature.

As the saying goes: "Seeing is believing."

This saying isn't entirely accurate; what you see might not always be true.

However, it does express how humans tend to believe what they see.

Even if what they see is false, people are more willing to believe it's true.

Even if everyone knows Kushida is "confronting on orders" and that it's Bai Lan's fault.

But when onlookers occasionally see Kushida's darker side, they'll subconsciously feel that Kushida isn't as innocent as she appears on the surface, and might be a "pink on the outside, black on the inside."

Everyone likes a "Little Angel"; this persona naturally fosters affinity and gives people a high initial impression.

But a "Little Angel possessed by a demon" is different. While people might like that in anime, in reality, many would steer clear.

Even without concrete evidence, the impression of a "little devil" would inevitably make people wary of Kushida.

This would make it harder for Kushida to make friends!

Then, Kushida would find herself wondering: Why is it becoming increasingly difficult for me to make friends?

This was another purpose behind Bai Lan devising this plan for Kushida!

Once Kushida realized that the method Bai Lan taught her would actually hinder her ability to make friends, instead of improving it.

She probably wouldn't dare ask Bai Lan for any "ultimate friendship techniques" again, right?

Moreover, after Kushida used this method to eliminate Horikita as a threat.

In this school, the only one who could still threaten her would be Bai Lan...

Heh heh heh~

46. Meeting King of Fist Hirata, Time to Lay It All Out

After Kushida got the solution to her predicament from Bai Lan, she finally left his room.

Before Kushida left, Bai Lan asked her for contact information for everyone in the class.

Bai Lan didn't explain why he needed it, and Kushida didn't ask further.

After dealing with Kushida, Bai Lan found Hirata's number among the contacts Kushida had sent him.

He typed it in.

And dialed.

"Hello, Hirata speaking."

As soon as the call connected, Hirata's polite voice came through.

Bai Lan got straight to the point: "This is Bai Lan. I have something I need to discuss with you."

A few minutes later, Bai Lan and Hirata met by a landscaped lake near the dormitories.

"Classmate Bai?!" Hirata's voice was filled with pleasant surprise. "I was just wondering how I could get in touch with you. I didn't expect you to contact me first! Is there something I can help you with?"

"No, thank you."

"Ah? Then why did you ask me to come?"

"I asked you to come because I hope you'll stop 'helping' me."

"What do you mean by that? I don't understand," Hirata said, looking genuinely confused.

"I know everything you've done."

Hearing this, Hirata apologized, "Ah… you know everything? I'm sorry, I acted on my own."

Bai Lan ignored him and asked, "What's your goal? What benefit do you get from doing this?"

"Benefit? No, I just want everyone in the class to get along. I don't want to see anyone bullied, and I want you to be able to fit into this class."

"Are you saying you think I'll be bullied?"

"Uh… I do think that."

"Then don't you know that your method has problems and significant hidden dangers? Your method is just putting a lid on things; it can't truly solve the problem. Sooner or later, people in the class will find out you're lying to them, and this will ruin you!"

"Sooner or later? One day later is better than one day sooner, right? If I hadn't done this, you would have become the enemy of the whole class today, wouldn't you?"

"But have you ever considered that this might be exactly what I wanted?"

"What?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't want to stay at this school. I want to drop out, which is why I'm using this method to cut off any possibility of forming emotional connections with anyone right from the start."

Bai Lan laid his cards on the table.

"What? You plan to drop out?" Hirata suddenly became agitated. "Why would you… wait, if you want to drop out, shouldn't you just submit an application? Why did you do all this?"

Bai Lan explained, "For certain reasons, I cannot voluntarily drop out, nor can I drop out due to academic performance. Therefore, I will find other ways to achieve my dropout."

"What I asked just now doesn't mean I agree with you dropping out. I just found it too strange and couldn't help but ask," Hirata explained his previous statement before continuing, "I believe everyone in the class is an irreplaceable existence, and everyone is extremely important. My greatest hope is that everyone can stay together, not a single person missing, and live harmoniously, helping each other, and building beautiful youthful memories together as we spend these three years. So, Classmate Bai, can you please not drop out?"

"No, Hirata, you're too naive. Your wish will never come true from the beginning."

"Why?"

"Firstly, the mere act of 'staying here' prevents me from being truly happy. Therefore, even if I force myself to stay, I will definitely not be among the people who are 'happy together,' so your goal cannot be achieved."

"Why can't you be truly happy? I don't understand."

"It's normal that you don't understand. You just need to know that what you consider happiness might not be what others consider happiness, and what you think is good might not be what others want. I yearn for the vast sky outside, but you want to keep me on this isolated island. Our happiness is fundamentally in conflict. If you truly care about me, please let go!"

Hearing Bai Lan say this, Hirata looked somewhat dejected. "Is that so? Leaving here is what you want? I understand. In that case, I won't try to keep you any longer. However, I hope you can promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Whatever method you want to use to drop out, I'll go along with it. I might even help you. But I ask that you don't use any method that harms anyone in the class, and don't harm yourself! At least, for as long as you are in this school, we are still classmates. I don't want anyone in the class to get hurt, including you."

Bai Lan frowned. "Isn't that asking too much? I might inadvertently affect people in the class, consider it repaying your favor. As for whether I get hurt or not, that's none of your business."

However, Hirata was stubborn. "No! Every single person in our class must be alright! If even one person is missing, it's not 'the whole class'! I will never give up on anyone!"

The more Bai Lan listened to Hirata's words, the stranger he found them. Finally, he couldn't help but say, "I think there's something wrong with you. Is creating a harmonious atmosphere by force really that important to you? For that, you're willing to risk your reputation and, without even understanding me, try to clear my name? Have you ever considered that continuing with such an idea is dangerous! I am the first person in this class who needs you to clear their name, but I am definitely not the last! In fact, I'm relatively easy to clear. After all, you're not entirely wrong. Although my words are unpleasant and I skip classes and leave early, I have genuinely contributed to the class. My contributions even outweigh my faults. I can tell you a cruel truth: according to my investigation, the class assignments in this school are not 'randomly assigned' but 'assigned by category.' Everyone in this class is of the 'same kind,' and they are 'defective products' that have been eliminated! You are too, and so am I! I have my own problems. I can see that you have problems too. You can't whitewash Class D, which is full of problems! From this incident, I can see that you don't have the ability, do you know that?"

"Enough! Stop talking," Hirata growled, completely losing his usual gentleness.

Bai Lan ignored him and continued, "As time passes, everyone's problems will gradually be exposed. Conflicts, exclusion, and confrontation will be unavoidable."