The faint smell of disinfectant still lingered in the hallway early in the morning. Shangguan Che yawned and greeted Hirata as he approached. "Hey, good morning, Hirata."
"Good morning, Shangguan." Hirata's gaze settled on his face. He paused, then asked in confusion, "Huh? Did you not sleep well last night? How come you have dark circles?"
"Are they that obvious?" Shangguan Che instinctively rubbed his eyes, grumbling inwardly, Of course they're obvious. After watching those two 'mosaic upperclassmen' last night, it kept playing in my head like a movie. I tossed and turned for half the night. How could I not have dark circles?
But he couldn't say that out loud, so Shangguan Che casually made up an excuse. "It's nothing. I just stayed up too late reading a novel."
"I see. Then you'd better stay alert in class today." Hirata didn't think much of it and nodded with a smile.
Shangguan Che quickly changed the subject. "By the way, Hirata, how's it going with getting the other students to join the study group?"
"Most of them agreed. There are just a few who are still hesitating, so I'm planning to ask them again tonight." A hint of gloom crept into Hirata's voice. He clearly wasn't satisfied with his results.
Shangguan Che knew exactly why. While he'd been unable to sleep in the second half of the night, he had already used Clairvoyance to "sneak a peek" at Hirata's progress.
Kanji Ike, Yamauchi Haruki, Ken Sudō, and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji had all flat-out rejected Hirata's invitation.
He couldn't guess why Ayanokoji had refused. (Ayanokoji had agreed to help Horikita Suzune, so when Horikita declined to attend the study group, he had no time to go either and could only turn it down.)
But while Shangguan Che wasn't using Clairvoyance in the middle of the night, Ayanokoji received word that Horikita had joined the study group.
Ayanokoji: What a mess.
So Ayanokoji agreed to join Hirata's study group again that morning. Of course, Shangguan Che hadn't seen any of that.
But the other three's behavior had left Shangguan Che completely baffled.
After rejecting Hirata, the three of them immediately jumped into their little group chat to complain. They said they hated Hirata's "handsome and talented" act and would rather fail and get expelled than attend a study group organized by him.
Come on, guys, failing means getting expelled! Throwing away your own future just because you dislike someone—what kind of baffling move is that? Do you think you're being brave? It's just ridiculous! Shangguan Che rolled his eyes inwardly. The anime world really is full of surprises. You three have certainly demonstrated the full range of human diversity.
He patted Hirata on the shoulder and offered his sincere encouragement. "You could ask some other people to help you invite them and get the study group going sooner. It'll be good for the class, too. But for today, I still hope you succeed!"
Although he knew Hirata would probably hit a wall, as his "best friend," Shangguan Che still had to offer some encouragement.
When he saw Hirata head straight for Kushida Kikyo as soon as he entered the classroom, Shangguan Che quickly emptied his mind.
The image of Kushida kicking the guardrail by the river last night was still vivid in his memory. He'd heard that girls had incredibly sharp instincts. If he spaced out and accidentally met her eyes, she might sense something was off, and then he'd be in trouble.
Back at his seat, Shangguan Che could finally slump over and rest for a while.
He glanced at Sakura on his right and noticed that her dark circles had faded quite a bit. He wondered, Does she recover quickly because of her constitution, or did she secretly cover them with makeup? That's an awfully fast change.
His mind was still foggy, and he forgot that he usually chatted with Sakura on his phone. He asked her directly, "Sakura, aren't you tired today?"
"Yes, Shangguan. I slept well last night." Sakura answered softly, her cheeks a little flushed.
"Then I'll take a nap. Wake me up when class starts. Thanks." After saying that, Shangguan Che tipped his head to the side and laid it on his desk.
The "classroom nap passive skill" he'd acquired in high school activated instantly. In just a few seconds, he was nearly asleep.
Sakura stared at his sleeping profile for a moment, then hurriedly took out her phone and kept her eyes fixed on the time displayed on the screen, afraid she might miss the bell.
But as she watched, her thoughts drifted to the third letter she'd received today, and her brow furrowed without her noticing. Should I tell a teacher? Chabashira-sensei is so stern. I don't dare go alone... Should I trouble Shangguan? Would that bother him...? Maybe I should just ignore it. They're only a few unpleasant letters...
As she fretted, a cool voice rang out. "Hey, hey, class is about to start."
Shangguan Che jolted awake. He smoothly pulled out his textbook and picked up his pen, his movements practiced and fluid, even though his brain hadn't fully booted up yet. He looked up, saw Horikita, and quickly said, "Thanks, Horikita."
"I hope you'll pay more attention to the time in the future and avoid affecting the Class Points." Horikita's tone was still flat, but her seriousness left no room for argument.
Shangguan Che's newly rebooted brain was a little slow to process the information. By the time he thought of a reply, the best moment had passed, so he gave up. Never mind. I don't have to answer. It's not a big deal anyway.
He turned to look at Sakura and saw her staring blankly at her phone, its screen dark. Shangguan Che wondered, Seriously, when did Sakura start staring at a blank phone screen? Didn't she used to stare at the desk?
"Sakura, class is about to start. You should put your phone away," he reminded her.
But Sakura didn't react at all. She stayed in the same position. Shangguan Che started to panic. Has she spaced out so badly she's gone catatonic? Or did I infect her with my sleepiness?
He gently touched Sakura's shoulder. "Sakura, class is about to start."
"Huh, is class about to start? I need to wake Shangguan." Sakura suddenly came back to herself, her gaze still a little unfocused.
"I'm already awake," Shangguan Che said with a helpless smile.
"Um, Shangguan, I'm sorry. I didn't..." Sakura's face flushed as she hurried to explain, but before she could finish, the bell rang.
"Ring, ring, ring~ Ring, ring, ring~"
Shangguan Che quickly put a finger to his lips. Sakura immediately fell silent and sat properly.
During this class, Shangguan Che could clearly feel that the atmosphere in the classroom had changed. In the past, students either slept or passed notes during lessons. Now, at least half of them were taking notes seriously.
He used Clairvoyance to glance at the other classes and was instantly spurred on. Wow, almost everyone in the other classes is taking notes. The gap is huge. Seeing the comparison is downright frustrating!
Thinking of how he still had to help his classmates study that afternoon, Shangguan Che picked up his pen and decided to take some notes seriously.
But after writing only a few words, he frowned at his crooked handwriting. This writing is so ugly I can't even stand looking at it myself. Forget it, I'm done. This definitely isn't my real ability!
He loosened his grip on the pen and started spacing out again.
One moment he wondered who had sent Sakura's letters, the next whether Hirata could handle those few "troublemakers," and then what Ayanokoji and Horikita Manabu had talked about last night.
Before you continue