A Chance Encounter Outside the Dorm and the Probing Hidden in a Smile

After seeing Sakura safely back to the girls' dorm, Shangguan Che watched her walk into the building with a blush on her face before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

He felt the dorm key in his pocket and wondered, What should I do now?

After thinking it over for a while, he decided to head downstairs and get a free bottle of mineral water from the vending machine.

The school stocked the vending machines with free mineral water every month. He might as well take advantage of it and keep some in his dorm, so he could drink it whenever he got thirsty.

When he reached the vending machine, he immediately spotted the blue-haired girl standing there.

Himeno Yuki from Class 1-B. Shangguan Che matched her to her name in his mind, quickly recalling the student files from Class B.

Her most notable trait was that she was a loner. She didn't like taking part in class get-togethers and was always by herself.

Though that wasn't entirely accurate. Himeno liked to leave parties halfway through.

He could remember the students in each class so easily because he'd discovered that most first-year homeroom teachers kept their students' files locked in their office cabinets. That way, they could "prevent them from getting lost" and check them whenever they wanted.

There were exceptions, though. For example, he'd searched all through Chabashira-sensei's office for the files from Class D, but couldn't find them. In the end, he'd given up.

(Chabashira had been afraid Hoshinomiya would try something, so she'd hidden the files in her dorm.)

Unfortunately, Shangguan Che hadn't made a habit of "sneaking into female teachers' dorm rooms," so he'd never gotten to see them.

There's nothing special in Himeno Yuki's file, either. She's just an ordinary student who doesn't like crowds, Shangguan Che thought. He didn't plan to greet her.

After all, he didn't like class get-togethers himself. He'd once seen the Class B students singing and dancing at a karaoke party on the security cameras and thought, Too noisy. The dorm's much more comfortable.

As Shangguan Che selected a bottle of water and waited for it to drop with a thud, a familiar voice suddenly sounded behind him. "Hey, Shangguan. Out having fun this late?"

Shangguan Che turned around and saw Ayanokoji standing not far away, empty-handed.

"Look here." Shangguan Che held up the bottle of mineral water he'd just gotten and gave it a shake. "It's free. I'm taking it back to my dorm to drink."

"Do you like mineral water, Shangguan?" Ayanokoji came a few steps closer, his gaze settling on the bottle in Shangguan Che's hand.

"I wouldn't say I like it. I'm just trying to save some money." Shangguan Che twisted off the cap and took a drink. Then, noticing that Ayanokoji seemed unusually talkative today, he decided to play along. "As for why I'm saving money, do you want to know?"

Ayanokoji blinked and put on the tone of a "normal person." "Yeah, I'd really like to know."

Amused by Ayanokoji's attempt to "fit into everyday life," Shangguan Che deliberately made up a story. "So I can buy a guitar! I'm planning to make a living playing guitar someday, but I can't even afford one right now. How about you help 'fuel my dream' and sponsor me a little?"

He'd expected Ayanokoji to stay silent, like usual. Instead, the other boy said expressionlessly, "Sure. How much do you need?"

"Hey! Don't say that so seriously! I might actually believe you!" Shangguan Che quickly waved his hands, feeling a little flustered.

He hadn't really planned to borrow money. After all, he understood the saying, "The one who lends money is the master." But he didn't want to become that kind of person.

"I'm not joking." A rare hint of seriousness entered Ayanokoji's eyes. "I want to give it a try and see what it's like to chase a dream, whether there's anything good about it. Maybe I can learn from you, too."

Shangguan Che's heart sank.

Oh no. I've gone too far!

He hurried to explain. "Ah, sorry, sorry. I was joking just now. It's not that I won't buy a guitar. I definitely will. I just don't want to borrow money from you. I'm not used to borrowing from other people."

"Okay. I understand." Ayanokoji nodded, his face returning to its usual blank expression. But Shangguan Che couldn't shake the feeling he'd been played.

What kind of "little white rabbit" had a blood-red background in his character profile? This was obviously a fox pretending to be harmless!

Just then, Shangguan Che caught a glimpse with his Clairvoyance of the elevator nearing the first floor. He hurriedly said goodbye. "If you're not doing anything else, go ahead and get some water. I'm heading up."

"Mm. See you." Ayanokoji slowly waved, the motion a little stiff.

"See you." Shangguan Che turned and hurried toward the elevator, still wondering, What's gotten into Ayanokoji today? He's acting so weird.

He didn't see Ayanokoji watching him walk away, silently thinking, Shangguan hasn't had special training in controlling his body, and the way he talks is different from Ike and the others. He's less energetic and carefree than they are.

He doesn't seem to feel any urgency. He's just enjoying life.

So was I the only one who got threatened?

As soon as the thought came to him, Ayanokoji forcibly suppressed it, telling himself, That's just an idea I want to plant in my mind. It isn't true.

Shangguan Che had barely reached the elevator when the doors opened and a short-haired girl stepped out.

Kushida Kikyo, he thought with an inward groan. He quickly emptied his mind and pretended not to recognize her.

It wasn't that he was afraid of her. He just thought dealing with her was too much trouble.

"Oh, it's Shangguan!" Kushida Kikyo recognized him first, putting on a surprised, adorable expression as her eyes lit up.

"Mm. Good evening, Kushida." Shangguan Che did his best to keep his tone neutral. He neither met her gaze nor deliberately avoided it, simply giving her a casual reply.

Since the start of school, he'd spoken to only four girls in total: he mostly chatted with Sakura and Ichinose on his phone, and Kushida didn't know about that;

he'd only exchanged a few unimportant words with Karuizawa while helping her with a problem;

as for Kushida, he'd made a habit of not looking directly at her ever since he first saw her on the bus. He had to keep it up now, in case she noticed something was off.

What Shangguan Che didn't know was that, to Kushida, his "deliberate attempt to keep his distance" only made him more suspicious.

"Why are you still out so late, Shangguan?" Kushida took a couple of steps closer, her voice full of just the right amount of concern.

It's not that late. The sun's only just gone down, Shangguan Che thought.

But all he said was, "Getting water."

He held up his bottle of mineral water to avoid saying anything unnecessary.

"I see." As she spoke, Kushida suddenly leaned closer, bringing her head near his hand to examine the bottle. A strand of her hair nearly brushed his arm.

Shangguan Che's body stiffened at once. He hated it when people stood so close to him.

Kushida keenly noticed his stiffness, the corners of her mouth curling into a barely perceptible smile.

She'd achieved her goal. Now she could move on to the real topic. She knew the trick of "loosening the other person's composure and getting them to follow their emotions." That move just now had been meant to break through Shangguan's "defenses."

"Do you know how the hearing turned out, Shangguan?" Kushida straightened up and asked brightly.

Shangguan Che already knew. Unless something unexpected happened, Class D should've won.

But he deliberately said, "I'm not sure."

"Huh? Hirata said in the class chat!" Kushida said, pretending to be surprised. "Class C withdrew their complaint, and Sudo didn't get punished at all! Horikita was amazing—she practically took on all of Class C by herself!"

As she spoke, she narrowed her eyes slightly and stared at Shangguan's face, trying to find something in his expression.

"Yeah," Shangguan Che replied casually, but he was thinking, Hirata must've left out my part in the class chat, so Kushida Kikyo doesn't know I was involved, either.

And Ayanokoji didn't show up. No wonder everyone thinks Horikita "saved the day." But that's fine. Everyone won! Everyone except Class C.

At the thought, his face unconsciously showed a hint of relief and happiness.

That slight change in his expression only confirmed Kushida's suspicions. Shangguan Che was definitely on Horikita's side.

Those two boys around Horikita—one with a poker face (Ayanokoji), the other Hirata's little sidekick (Shangguan Che)—both had to go!

If Shangguan Che had known what she was thinking, he would've cried out in protest. "I'm just happy our class won, and glad to see Hirata growing as a person. How does that make me a target?"

"Then, goodbye, Shangguan." Kushida put her thoughts aside, flashed another sweet smile, and slowly waved. Her gesture was exactly the same as Ayanokoji's just now.

"See you," Shangguan Che replied perfunctorily, inwardly grumbling, Why did she wave goodbye just like Ayanokoji? Did he copy her?

But he didn't have time to dwell on it. The elevator doors opened again, and he quickly stepped inside.

As he watched the numbers slowly climb, Shangguan Che let out a long breath. "I can finally go back to my dorm. My safe house, here I come~"

Back in his room, he set the mineral water on the table and collapsed onto the bed, thinking about his chance encounters: Himeno Yuki's silence, Ayanokoji's "strange behavior," Kushida's probing... Couldn't they just let me buy one bottle of water in peace at this school?