I Just Want to See the Look on Your Face When I Stand You Up

Staring at the tightly shut door in front of her, Kushida Kikyo's eye twitched several times.

Damn it!

Kushida Kikyo pulled out her phone, intending to give Kamio Tatsuya a piece of her mind. But after thinking it over, she gave up. Wouldn't that just be handing him something to use against her?

Back in his dorm, Kamio Tatsuya plugged in his phone and went straight to bed.

As for that Kushida girl, he hadn't given her a second thought.

The next day, perhaps because he'd slept well the night before, Kamio Tatsuya got up a little earlier than usual.

"Good morning, Kamio."

Seeing Kushida Kikyo standing inside the elevator, Kamio Tatsuya's mouth twitched.

What the hell?

He'd barely run into her twice in the past month, so why did they have to cross paths today? And Kushida wasn't the only one in the elevator.

As luck would have it, the others were familiar too: Kamuro Masumi and Sakayanagi Arisu.

Well, he couldn't exactly pretend he didn't know them.

Kamio Tatsuya simply nodded to Kamuro at the back, then silently stepped into the elevator and stood by the door without a word.

When the elevator reached the lobby, Kushida greeted them and immediately went to join her friends.

But Kamio Tatsuya's troubles clearly weren't over yet.

"Good morning, Masumi... and Sakayanagi."

Since he'd seen Kamuro, he had to greet her. But greeting only Kamuro seemed a bit rude, so he included Sakayanagi too.

"Imagine finding three scapegoats for yourself at this school. Kamio, you really have made me see you in a new light."

As expected, nothing good ever came out of this white-haired little girl's mouth.

It sounded like praise, but that was usually just her way of opening a conversation.

"If you have something to say, just say it." Kamio Tatsuya glanced at her. "Besides, if you're only leaving the dorm now, won't you be late at your walking speed?"

Sakayanagi's face twitched. Kamio Tatsuya was the first person who'd ever dared say something like that to her face.

"Kamio, personal attacks aren't something a fine gentleman should make."

Yes, Kamio Tatsuya was implying that there was something wrong with her body. But of course, he couldn't admit that—or rather, it wasn't time to admit it yet.

"Come on." Kamio Tatsuya immediately protested, putting on a deeply wounded expression. "I was only worried whether your leg would get you to school in such a short time. How could you accuse me like that? You've really hurt my feelings."

This time, not only Sakayanagi but Kamuro, who'd been following the two of them in silence, couldn't hold back.

"Pfft!"

Her laughter annoyed Sakayanagi, and the sound of her cane striking the ground grew louder as she walked.

Meanwhile, Kamio Tatsuya silently gave Kamuro a thumbs-up behind Sakayanagi's back.

Kamuro slapped his hand down.

Good thing Sakayanagi hadn't seen it. Otherwise, who knew how angry she'd have gotten?

"Kamio, let's have lunch together. There's something I'd like your help with. I'll have Masumi come to the entrance of Class D to get you."

After putting up with his teasing, Sakayanagi finally got down to business.

She could've just said that from the start. Kamio Tatsuya curled his lip.

"Are you paying?"

You'd swindled three million Points out of me, and now you were asking whether I was paying? You had to have more Points than I did.

"What a stingy man, making a girl pay."

Starting up again, were you?

And you were so worked up that you'd resorted to such a low-level provocation.

"Men and women are equal. Besides, you're the one asking me for help."

With one sentence, Kamio Tatsuya deflected Sakayanagi Arisu's attack and even got in a counterattack.

Kamio Tatsuya believed in one thing: if you lost a verbal sparring match, chances were you just weren't thick-skinned enough.

Kamio Tatsuya wasn't all that thick-skinned himself, but compared to these high schoolers, he had more than enough.

In a word, did you have thick enough skin?

Answer: enough.

By comparison, Sakayanagi Arisu was far behind, so she could hardly ever get the better of Kamio Tatsuya.

I Just Want to See the Look on Your Face When I Stand You Up

Watching Kamio Tatsuya remain completely unmoved, Sakayanagi felt utterly helpless.

She was good at finding people's weaknesses and attacking them, but she still hadn't figured out where Kamio Tatsuya's weakness was.

The guy was impervious to every approach.

After grumbling to herself, she brought the conversation back on track.

"Then let's meet at lunch. Masumi, could you please bring Kamio to our usual private room?"

Kamuro Masumi knew this was punishment for laughing just now.

But she didn't mind. She wasn't the bashful type, and she didn't dislike Kamio Tatsuya. In fact, she rather liked him. Otherwise, she wouldn't have let him touch her leg.

It was just that he was really too awful. He never reached out to her first!

"No problem."

"Then I'll wait for you after school."

"No need. I'll see you in the cafeteria."

The dorms weren't far from the school, and before long they arrived. Kamio Tatsuya and the others parted ways and headed toward the school.

After the Midterm Exam, the mood in Class D had eased up.

Sure enough, as soon as he entered the classroom, he heard a cacophony of voices.

"You're still the same as ever."

As soon as he sat down, Horikita, whom he hadn't spoken to in a while, struck up a conversation.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Kamio Tatsuya was completely confused.

"I thought you'd let yourself go a little more after getting three scapegoats."

What the hell? Who did you think you were looking down on?

Kamio Tatsuya was a little annoyed. Did she think everyone was like the Three Fools?

Well, Sudo seemed to have learned his lesson from what had happened and was actually here earlier than Kamio Tatsuya.

But still, Ike and Yamauchi weren't even in class, and it was this noisy? Class D really was doomed.

Still, things calmed down somewhat once the teacher arrived. Overall, the class was a lot better than before.

Hirata and the others' efforts were paying off.

Soon, it was the last class of the morning, and Kamio Tatsuya wondered what Sakayanagi wanted from him.

It didn't feel like anything good.

Maybe he should stand her up?

He had a feeling Sakayanagi would be furious.

Sure, you could dodge the first day of the month, but not the fifteenth. Still, he might as well dodge the first day first.

Besides, judging by Kamio Tatsuya's instincts, Sakayanagi definitely wasn't asking him for anything good. If he could make her give up, that would be enough.

The last class was English with the homeroom teacher, Majima Tomoya. He'd finished the lesson a few minutes early and told the students to review the material on their own.

"Teacher, my stomach hurts. Can I go to the bathroom?"

"Go ahead."

Kamio Tatsuya raised his hand and said he needed to use the bathroom. Majima-sensei graciously let him leave early.

And Kamio Tatsuya really did go to the bathroom first.

Since class wasn't over yet, leaving the Teaching Building would count as skipping out early. They might even deduct those hard-won Class Points from the class.

He didn't care much for Class D, but it wasn't right to screw them over like that. He was already plenty shady, but he couldn't take it too far.

As soon as the dismissal bell rang, Kamio Tatsuya left the bathroom and headed to the school's Supermarket.

He'd decided to have bread today.

Sakayanagi was probably waiting at the entrance to Class D by now.

Heh. Trying to scheme against me?

You're still two thousand years too early!

In fact, Sakayanagi hadn't believed Kamio Tatsuya when he'd said they'd meet in the cafeteria.

So as soon as school let out, she headed straight for Class D.

She just hadn't expected the students to file out of Class D without Kamio Tatsuya among them.

"Hello, you're Classmate Sakayanagi from Class—right? Are you waiting for someone? If you need any help, please don't hesitate to ask."

At that moment, Hirata Yosuke from Class D happened to be there. His whole thing was never leaving a troubled classmate to fend for themselves.

So when he saw Sakayanagi Arisu standing alone in the hallway outside Class D, he couldn't help going over to talk to her.

"Thank you. If you could, would you mind calling Kamio for me?"

"Kamio? You mean Kamio Tatsuya?"

"That's right."

Sakayanagi smiled politely.

"Kamio left the classroom near the end of the last class because his stomach hurt. He hasn't come back yet." Hirata gave a wry smile, showing that there was nothing he could do.

Hirata's words struck Sakayanagi like a bolt from the blue. She stared blankly and blinked twice.

Did he really have to avoid her this badly?

She didn't believe for a second that Kamio Tatsuya had actually gone to the bathroom because of a stomachache.

"May I ask what you need Kamio for? I can pass along a message."

Seeing Sakayanagi's expression, Hirata's inability to leave anyone in need alone kicked in again.

Sakayanagi opened her mouth, wanting to tell him, Kamio and I agreed to have lunch together. But she shook her head instead.

If she said that, the students in Class D would probably think Kamio Tatsuya was a jerk for standing up a cute girl.

She was here to ask Kamio Tatsuya for help, not to pick a fight with him.

If she offended him now, things would probably get difficult.

"No need. I'll wait for him here."

After buying two of the popular yakisoba-pan rolls at the Supermarket, Kamio Tatsuya went straight back to the Teaching Building. He planned to eat on the rooftop.

Surely Sakayanagi wasn't still waiting by the classroom door.

Well, it didn't matter. He was only standing her up for fun. It wasn't that he didn't want to see her.

In any case, he rather liked the way the white-haired girl kept getting back up after each defeat.

Then he glanced at the vending machine by the Supermarket entrance. If he only ate bread, he'd probably get thirsty.

"Oh, you really were waiting here for me."

At the entrance to Class D, Kamio Tatsuya looked delighted as he saw Sakayanagi Arisu standing in the hallway with her cane.

"Kamio, standing someone up isn't a good habit."