Karuizawa's Tool Person

The next morning, Tenyo Yuyuki washed up quickly, grabbed his bag, and got ready to go to school.

Even though the dorms had single kitchens, he was a shut-in in his past life and a chaebol heir in this one, with maids at home to serve him—Tenyo Yuyuki was still lacking in household chores.

His main option was to spend money at Keyaki Mall to get by.

As long as you had money.

You could live comfortably at this school.

Arriving at D Class.

Tenyo Yuyuki immediately noticed something off.

The entire classroom was shrouded in a strange atmosphere.

Most students were huddled together in small groups, whispering quietly, their eyes occasionally darting toward one corner of the room.

Following their shifting gazes.

Tenyo Yuyuki saw Kushida Kikyo, the girl who yesterday wanted to be friends with the whole school, sitting alone and silent in her seat, her head lowered so no one could see her expression.

He went to his seat, put down his bag, and lightly tapped the shoulder of Matsushita Chiaki in front of him, lowering his voice. "What happened?"

"Shh!" Matsushita Chiaki turned around, pressing a finger to her lips. Keeping her voice as low as possible, she handed him her phone. "Someone posted this yesterday. Take a look first."

Taking the phone, the post was simple.

It basically said that during middle school, Kushida Kikyo tricked her classmates into trusting her, then casually leaked their secrets online, eventually causing the class to disband—calling her a hypocritical scumbag and so on.

"Is It True?"

After reading the post, Tenyo Yuyuki asked, clearly surprised.

Matsushita Chiaki glanced toward Kushida's direction before whispering, "Not sure. It was posted from an Anonymous Account. Hard to believe, though—that Kushida could be that kind of person. Tenyo, do you believe what's in the post?"

Tenyo Yuyuki shook his head. "Hard to judge right now. I just Don't Really Want To suspect my classmates."

The classroom atmosphere was incredibly tense. Everyone was murmuring about Kushida's true nature.

After all, it was only the second day of school. Even with yesterday's self-introductions, they barely knew each other's names.

Though some guessed that content from an Anonymous Account was mostly rumor.

Better safe than sorry, though. Just imagining their own secrets being leaked by Kushida Kikyo in the future sent chills down their spines.

Who they hated, who they liked, their sad pasts could all become jokes. At best, their Interpersonal Relationships would collapse; at worst, they'd be socially dead on the spot.

Even though Kushida Kikyo looked harmless, even a little pitiful, it was safer to keep distance!

Behind Tenyo Yuyuki, Horikita Suzune was thinking to herself:

"What's This Guy after?"

She was a hundred percent sure this rumor was spread by Tenyo Yuyuki.

After all, he'd just signed a contract about Kushida Kikyo yesterday, and today a rumor about her pops up—how could the world be that coincidental!

The key point was, Horikita Suzune knew very well that she'd be the one taking the fall for this.

"Forget it."

Shaking her head, Horikita Suzune turned her attention back to the book in her hands.

She couldn't care less about Kushida Kikyo's fate, and she certainly didn't think Kushida Kikyo could do anything to her.

The class atmosphere grew more oppressive. Everyone was just whispering about what kind of person Kushida Kikyo really was.

"What should I do?"

Watching the scene in the classroom, Hirata Yosuke was anxious inside.

He Did Not Expect.

That this would happen on the second day of school.

He knew very well!

Even if everyone chose to ignore it, the consequences would be irreversible.

Kushida Kikyo would slowly be isolated, sink to the bottom of the class, and eventually face only one path—bullying!

The entire D Class would follow the same path as her Junior High class, eventually falling apart.

This wasn't what Hirata Yosuke wanted to see. He knew all too well the bottomless malice of human beings.

"I have to help Kushida!"

With that thought, Hirata Yosuke stood up directly.

But before he could act, Tenyo Yuyuki had already walked over to Kushida Kikyo. "Kushida, are you okay?"

"Hm?"

Caught off guard by the sudden concern, Kushida Kikyo didn't react at first.

Her head was lowered, her eyes unfocused, and her heart was a mess of darkness.

The second day of school!

Her past had been exposed. Though some parts were deliberately exaggerated, most of it was true!

From now on, forget about becoming friends with the whole school—probably no one would even get close to her anymore.

Of course, with her own social skills, Kushida Kikyo was confident she could still become a pivotal figure in the class. At the very least, she wouldn't sink to the bottom. But that wasn't what she wanted.

"Kushida, are you okay?" Tenyo Yuyuki asked again, concern in his voice.

Like a ray of light piercing the darkness, Kushida Kikyo's body trembled slightly before she quickly snapped back to reality.

"I'm fine!" Kushida looked up instantly, a gentle smile already on her face. "Tenyo, I'm sorry for making you worry."

"Don't worry about it."

Tenyo Yuyuki shook his head and said softly, "I wonder who spread those rumors. It's really too much. Kushida, you don't need to care about something like this at all."

What an idiot... Kushida laughed inwardly.

Although the rumors were somewhat exaggerated, a normal person's first reaction to something like this would be to stay out of it—just like the classmates currently eavesdropping on their conversation.

Only a fool like Tenyo Yuyuki would believe her so easily.

Kushida was long used to—and even enjoyed—the trust others placed in her, but at this moment, while silently mocking Tenyo, she also felt a hint of delight.

Though both were called trust, the trust Tenyo Yuyuki showed her right now was somehow different, like a glimmer of light in the dark night, warming her heart.

But that was all.

What mattered now was seizing the opportunity Tenyo Yuyuki had handed her!

"Tenyo, thank you so much."

Kushida Kikyo flashed a brilliant smile, a few tears glistening at the corners of her eyes before she choked up again:

"We've only just started school. Why did this have to happen to me? It's too much."

By the end, she covered her pretty face, burying her head low so no one could see her expression.

It was almost like she was pouring out her grievances to Tenyo Yuyuki.

The entire classroom fell silent.

Only Kushida's occasional sobs echoed through the room.

No one had expected that someone's casual rumor would hurt this kind girl so badly!

The guy who spread the rumors was really too much—how could he bear to slander such a beautiful girl?

Most of the students in the classroom simultaneously thought, 'Kushida, the victim, is just too pitiful.'

"It's okay, Kushida."

Hirata stepped forward at just the right moment, saying considerately, "We all know very well what kind of girl Kushida is, as her classmates."

"That's right." A girl from the Dragon Kingdom named Wang Meiyu bravely grasped Kushida's small hands. "Kushida, you don't need to care about some guy spreading rumors behind your back."

"A cute girl like Kushida-chan can't possibly be a bad person. Everyone, rest assured—if I say so, it's definitely true."

Yamauchi Haruki of the Foolish Trio also patted his chest confidently.

The girls around gradually gathered back around Kushida Kikyo, offering words of comfort.

Hirata hadn't made a definitive judgment about Kushida's character, but that was enough.

At this point, the classroom was filled with an atmosphere of 'Everyone, come comfort Kushida.'

Kushida seemed to pull herself together, forcing a faint smile as she thanked everyone for their concern.

Tenyo Yuyuki watched everything unfold calmly before returning to his seat. He had done enough for now.

Young people tend to easily believe others!

Even knowing most of it was a lie, they couldn't help feeling a bit of secret delight or clinging to wishful thinking.

Whether it was the D Class classmates believing Kushida's explanation, or Kushida believing in Tenyo Yuyuki's 'stupidity,' it was all the same!

But Tenyo knew very well.

Even if the others believed Kushida's explanation now, when they considered sharing secrets with her in the future, they would think twice.

In other words, it would be hard for Kushida to wield the weapon called 'truth' again!

In Tenyo Yuyuki's view.

After learning about this school, the other classes would more or less be wary of people from different classes.

Few would tell Kushida secrets that could harm them, unless it was someone like Yamauchi Haruki, who thought with his lower half.

Kushida's weapon was essentially a treasure tool for her own class.

It had the greatest destructive power against her own class, but only half the effect against outsiders.

"What's the point of all this?"

As soon as Tenyo Yuyuki sat down, Horikita Suzune behind him spoke up.

But her gaze remained fixed on the book in her hands, clearly not very interested in the matter.

Though there was no address or context, Tenyo Yuyuki understood what she meant.

"We're all classmates, isn't it only natural to help each other out?"

With that, Tenyo Yuyuki turned to look at Ayanokoji. "Don't you think so, Ayanokoji?"

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Ayanokoji quickly recovered.

When Horikita had been speaking earlier, he'd already picked up on a certain strange feeling and had considered approaching her for information.

Given Horikita's personality, she wouldn't typically strike up a conversation without a clear purpose.

But he hadn't expected Tenyo Yuyuki to cut him off before he could act.

After all.

By the second day, rumors—or truths—about a classmate had surfaced, and the most unsettled person in D Class was actually Ayanokoji.

While everyone else was focused on Kushida, Ayanokoji was more concerned with whoever was moving in the shadows.

No matter what their goal was!

With the target's purpose and identity unknown, this wasn't a comfortable living environment for Ayanokoji.

And the source of that strange feeling was the relationship between Tenyo and Kushida—there shouldn't have been any connection between them.

Tenyo wasn't the type to be as warmhearted as Hirata either; his actions made Ayanokoji sense something off.

Since getting answers from Horikita wasn't an option now, he'd have to go straight to Tenyo himself.

Ayanokoji said casually, "That's true. It does seem like you and Kushida get along pretty well."

"Ayanokoji, that won't do. I think even ordinary classmates should help each other out."

With that, Tenyo Yuyuki turned toward Kushida's direction and countered, "Do you think Yamauchi and the others are comforting Kushida just because they're close?"

At that moment, Yamauchi Haruki and a few girls were gathered around Kushida, who seemed to be perking up with her friends' support.

"Who knows."

Ayanokoji sounded a bit deflated. "Too bad. I don't have many friends, so I really can't understand how Yamauchi manages to get along with everyone."

"You don't have any friends at all."

Horikita Suzune ruthlessly exposed his cover-up, then added, "And Yamauchi's just being shallow—that's hardly a good quality."

"Is that so?"

Ayanokoji muttered woodenly to himself.

Without a reliable reference and unable to grasp the mindset of an ordinary high school student, Ayanokoji found it hard to judge.

Whether it was reasonable for Tenyo, someone with no prior connection to Kushida and a straightforward personality, to comfort her.

Horikita Suzune had no interest in teaching Ayanokoji either, and Tenyo clearly didn't want to answer her questions directly.

Besides.

She had no interest in Kushida—just a bit of curiosity about what Tenyo was after. If he didn't want to answer, so be it.

Tenyo Yuyuki turned and went back to his seat.

Even if Ayanokoji figured out that he was the one spreading the rumors, it didn't matter. With Ayanokoji's personality, he wouldn't bother with things that didn't concern him.

Still, Tenyo Yuyuki had taken minimal protective measures.

With Hirata leading the way.

The class wouldn't bring up Kushida's past anymore—otherwise, it would seem like they were deliberately targeting her.

If that window passed.

With Ayanokoji's self-set persona as an avoidance principle follower, it would be hard for him to pry information from Horikita again. Horikita was also bound by a contract and couldn't leak details accurately.

Even if Ayanokoji pieced together from fragments that it was him, given his standing in the class, no one would believe him.

Just before class started, Tenyo Yuyuki's phone buzzed with a message from Kushida Kikyo.

[Tenyo, thank you so much for caring about me. After school, I want to invite the whole class to karaoke. You have to come! [Cute]]

Reading the message, Tenyo Yuyuki looked up and flashed Kushida a smile.

Kushida was clearly trying to mend her standing in the class, and the invitation to him was probably just for show.

But Tenyo knew that his actions had already stirred a ripple in her heart.