You Must Like Him!

"Just the literal meaning."

Frustrated by Gojo's smug demeanor, Horikita Suzune moved to strike again, but Ayanokoji stopped her.

"We're all classmates. A little joke is normal—no need to throw hands, right?"

"Tch, that hurts."

Though his side had taken a heavy hit, Ayanokoji still managed to speak with a blank expression.

Looking at the spot where he'd been attacked, Ayanokoji couldn't help but complain inwardly.

'I got a nickname too, so why am I the one getting hit? Is this what normal high school life is like?'

Seeing Ayanokoji wince from her attack, Horikita's anger temporarily subsided. She didn't strike again, instead issuing a cold warning.

"Blindfold Guy, if you give me another nickname, I'll absolutely knock you flat!"

Ignoring Horikita's confident threat, Gojo cheerfully stared at Ayanokoji without a word.

Realizing she was being ignored, Horikita felt like she'd punched cotton—powerless and frustrated.

Under the relentless gaze, Ayanokoji broke into a cold sweat, worrying.

'Gojo doesn't have some kind of weird fetish, does he!?'

Unable to withstand the intense stare, Ayanokoji asked again.

"Is there something on my face? Having you stare like this, Gojo, makes me a bit uncomfortable."

"Nope, nothing there. I just kind of like you, so I looked a little longer."

Startled by the confession-like words, Ayanokoji felt uneasy but forced himself to continue.

"Is that also the literal meaning?"

"Exactly!"

Gojo grinned, sizing up the Ayanokoji Kiyotaka before him.

Watching the whole exchange, Horikita shuddered at the two of them staring at each other as if exchanging loving glances, and muttered.

"Pervert!!"

Continuing to ignore Horikita, Gojo finished his appraisal, extended his right hand, and spoke with a smile.

"Want to be friends? I'm interested in you!"

Looking at the outstretched hand, Ayanokoji felt like crying.

He really did want to make friends, but why did the first one have to be a "pervert"!

Though reluctant, he still took the hand.

After all, he wasn't exactly normal himself right now—he needed more social interaction to improve, and the abilities Gojo had shown so far could definitely help him.

After exchanging contact info, Gojo answered Ayanokoji's first question.

"I'm not interested in joining any clubs. I'm just here to freeload—I spent too freely yesterday and now I'm low on points. How about it? Want to sponsor me?"

"Don't listen to him! I warned him yesterday—this kind of guy isn't worth your sympathy."

Horikita, standing nearby, finally boiled over when she heard Gojo mention being short on points.

Why did someone with such a terrible personality have to be her classmate! She only enrolled here to follow in her brother's footsteps—why did she have to suffer like this!

"Let's go!"

"But..."

Ayanokoji tried to say something, but Horikita cut him off forcefully.

"You were the one who shamelessly begged me to come with you after school, weren't you! Now that I'm leaving, you're just going to watch me go alone? Is that how you repay me? Is that your attitude toward a companion?"

Hearing this, Ayanokoji felt like his CPU was about to melt.

He'd only invited her because she seemed as friendless as he was—just to check out the club recruitment together. Since when did asking two questions count as shameless begging?

He was about to retort when his hand was grabbed.

Watching Horikita drag Ayanokoji away, Gojo just found it baffling.

But then he looked at the 20,000 points that had just been transferred to his phone, and his mood brightened again.

'The line's been cast.'

"Kei! Maya!

Sorry for the wait, huh?"

"Hey, Chiaki, you took forever in the bathroom."

"Yeah, Maya and I waited almost 20 minutes!"

Hearing the two of them complain, Matsushita Chiaki could only hurriedly apologize.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm feeling a bit unwell."

"Really?! Are you okay? Maybe you should head back to the dorm and rest. Maya and I can keep shopping for a while." Worried about her friend's condition, Karuizawa Kei urged.

"Yeah, you two go ahead. I'm heading back."

Watching Matsushita Chiaki walk away quickly, Maya asked with some confusion, "Didn't Chiaki just go to the bathroom? How come she came back holding an envelope?"

"Who knows? Maybe someone from a club recruitment shoved it into her hand on the way back."

It had already been two days since exchanging contact information with Ayanokoji.

Fiddling with a fighting game handheld on his desk, ignoring the teacher at the podium, he happily played the game...

'K O'

Winning effortlessly, he looked up at the clock by the blackboard.

16:20

Class was almost over.

Thinking about it carefully, this seemed to be the first time in several days that he had stayed in class normally until dismissal.

'I really am a good student. I've improved again!'

He praised himself in his thoughts.

"Ring, ring, ring~"

Class ended, and most of the students rushed out of the room in a swarm.

Just as he stood up, he sensed someone approaching from behind.

"Gojo... Gojo-kun! Thank you so much on the bus that first day of school!"

'I finally said it! Airi, you're amazing!'

Sakura Airi thought excitedly. She had been struggling with this for days, but every time she tried to thank him, Gojo Satoru had already left before class officially ended, leaving her no chance.

This time, she finally saw that Gojo-kun hadn't left early, so she had to muster up her courage!

Turning around to look at Sakura Airi, who was thanking him, Gojo Satoru was a bit puzzled.

It wasn't that he had forgotten why he was being thanked, but rather because of Sakura Airi's personality.

She was usually so timid, and most of the class was currently avoiding him. Yet she managed to speak to him in the classroom, in front of so many people—that was the real point of confusion.

"You're welcome. It was nothing."

Gojo Satoru waved his hand in response.

"Mm! But still, thank you, Gojo-kun."

With that, she immediately ran out of the classroom. That was her limit. Being watched by so many people made her extremely uncomfortable. She was already timid, and now she had become the center of attention.

"Hey hey, Chiaki, look quick! Your target got snatched up first!"

Sato Maya, watching the situation with Gojo Satoru, quickly reminded her.

"Huh?! What do you mean, my target?"

Matsushita Chiaki was full of question marks. When did Gojo-kun become her target? No, no, he was indeed her target, but definitely not in the way Maya meant!

"Eh?! No? But I've seen you staring at Gojo-kun for the past two days!"

Sato Maya was a bit speechless. She had noticed Chiaki sneaking glances at Gojo Satoru for two days straight, and now she was denying it.

'That's not it at all! I just happened to pick up the invitation he threw away, so I was curious and kept watching him,'

Of course, she could only shout this helplessly in her mind, since this matter was too bizarre.

Ever since the Student Council President announced that the student council was recruiting, many outstanding first-year students had submitted applications, but all of them had been rejected without exception. This even included Ichinose Honami, the current leader of Class B, and Katsuragi Kohei from Class A.

And yet Gojo Satoru had received an invitation before recruitment even started. He definitely had some kind of secret he couldn't reveal, and it was very likely that, like her, he was hiding his true strength.

Especially since he had thrown the invitation away. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she might have thought it was an accident. Of course, that wasn't important—what mattered was the invitation itself.

Seeing that Matsushita Chiaki didn't refute her, Sato Maya became even more certain of her guess and directly comforted her.

"Even though Gojo-kun has a bit of a bad personality and often skips class.

But he's handsome! Even though he wears an eye patch and you can't see his whole face, just the lower half shows he's a real looker. Plus, his voice is nice, and he's tall.

He didn't hesitate to fight back against that Ike Kanji guy's harassment, and even Sudo Ken, that hot-tempered guy, didn't dare say a word after Gojo Satoru taught him a lesson. He even avoids him every day.

He even rejected someone like Kushida Kikyo, who's practically a campus goddess!

If you could become his partner, you'd definitely feel super safe! No need to worry about anyone stealing him away!"

Listening to Sato Maya ramble on and on about Gojo Satoru, Matsushita Chiaki was utterly shocked, and couldn't stop herself from complaining internally.

'Sis, who exactly is the one observing Gojo Satoru here?! Since when did he have so many advantages?! How come I didn't know?!'