An Encounter Under the Dormitory Building and the Probing Hidden Within a Smile

After safely escorting Sakura back to the girls' dormitory and watching her walk into the hallway with a blushing face, Shangguan Che finally let out a sigh of relief.

He touched the dorm key in his pocket and pondered to himself, "What should I do now?"

After thinking for a long time, he decided to go to the vending machine downstairs to grab a free bottle of mineral water.

The school added free mineral water to the vending machines every month; it would be a waste not to take it, and if he saved them in his room, he could drink them whenever he was thirsty.

Walking up to the vending machine, he immediately spotted the girl with long blue hair standing there.

"Himeno Yuki from Class B of the first year." Shangguan Che mentally matched the face to the name, his brain quickly flashing through the student files of Class B.

The girl's most prominent trait was that she was "unsociable," disliked participating in class bonding activities, and was always a loner.

That didn't seem entirely accurate, though; Himeno just liked to leave parties halfway through.

The reason he could easily remember the student information for every class was that he had discovered most first-year homeroom teachers kept student files locked in office cabinets, which not only "prevented loss" but also made them convenient for the teachers to check at any time.

However, there were exceptions, such as the files for Class D; he had searched Chabashira's office from top to bottom and found nothing, so he eventually had to give up.

(It was because Chabashira was afraid Hoshinomiya would pull some tricks, so she had hidden the files in her dormitory.)

Unfortunately, Shangguan Che hadn't developed the habit of "peeking into female teachers' dorms," so he never got to see the real thing.

"There's nothing special in Himeno Yuki's file; she's just an ordinary student who doesn't like crowds." Shangguan Che muttered to himself, having no intention of greeting her.

After all, he didn't like group activities either. Previously, when he saw the footage of Class B students singing and dancing at karaoke during a bonding event, he only felt that it was "too noisy; the dorm is much more comfortable."

Just as Shangguan Che selected his water and waited for the bottle to drop with a "thud," a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him: "Yo, Shangguan, out playing this late?"

Shangguan Che turned around and saw Ayanokoji standing not far away, his hands empty.

"Here, look at this." Shangguan Che held up the mineral water he had just retrieved and shook it. "It's free, I'm planning to take it back to the dorm to drink."

"Shangguan, do you like mineral water?" Ayanokoji walked a few steps closer, his gaze falling on the bottle in his hand.

"Wouldn't say I like it, I just want to save some money." Shangguan Che unscrewed the cap and took a sip. He suddenly felt that Ayanokoji was talking a bit too much today, so he decided to just go along with the conversation. "Do you want to know why I'm saving money?"

Ayanokoji blinked, imitating the tone of a "normal person" as he said, "Nah, I'm very curious."

Shangguan Che was amused by his attempt to "blend into daily life" and deliberately made up a lie: "To buy a guitar! I plan to make a living playing guitar in the future, but unfortunately, I can't even afford one right now. Why don't you 'add some fuel' to my dream, Ayanokoji, and sponsor me a little?"

He had expected Ayanokoji to be silent as usual, but to his surprise, the other boy said expressionlessly, "Sure, how much do you need?"

"Hey! Don't say things like that so seriously, I'll take you up on it!" Shangguan Che waved his hands in a hurry, feeling a bit panicked.

He hadn't actually intended to borrow money; after all, he understood the saying "the one who borrows money is the boss," but he didn't want to be that kind of person.

"I'm not joking." There was a rare hint of seriousness in Ayanokoji's eyes. "I want to try it out and see what chasing a dream is like, if there's anything wonderful about it; maybe I could learn a thing or two."

Shangguan Che's heart skipped a beat.

Oh no, he had pushed it too far!

He quickly explained, "Ah, sorry, sorry, I was just joking. It's not that I'm not buying a guitar, I definitely am, I just don't want to borrow your money. I'm not used to borrowing from others."

"I see, I understand." Ayanokoji nodded, his face returning to that expressionless state, yet Shangguan Che couldn't help but feel like he had been played.

What kind of "little white rabbit" has a character profile box tinged with blood-red? This was clearly a fox playing the pig to eat the tiger!

Just then, he used his "Clairvoyance" to catch a glimpse of the elevator reaching the first floor, so he quickly said his goodbyes: "If there's nothing else, you should go buy your water. I'm heading up."

"Mm, see you." Ayanokoji waved his hand slowly, his movements a bit stiff.

"See you." Shangguan Che turned and ran toward the elevator, still muttering to himself, "This Ayanokoji, why is he acting so weird today?"

He didn't see that after he turned away, Ayanokoji watched his back and thought silently: Shangguan hasn't received specialized physical control training, and his tone of voice is different from Ike and the others—less youthful energy, more laziness.

He doesn't seem to have any sense of urgency; he's just enjoying life.

In that case, am I the only one being threatened?

As soon as this thought emerged, Ayanokoji forcibly suppressed it, telling himself, "This is just an idea I want to instill, not the truth."

Just as Shangguan Che reached the elevator, the doors opened, and a girl with short hair stepped out.

"Kushida Kikyo." He complained internally, quickly clearing his mind and pretending he hadn't recognized her.

It wasn't that he was afraid of her, but he felt that dealing with this person was too much of a hassle.

"Oh, it's Shangguan-kun!" Kushida Kikyo, however, recognized him first, her face showing a surprised and cute expression, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him.

"Mm, Kushida-san, good evening." Shangguan Che tried to keep his tone as flat as possible, neither meeting her eyes nor deliberately avoiding them, just responding casually.

Since the start of the semester, he had only spoken to four girls in total: he mostly chatted with Sakura and Ichinose via phone, and Kushida didn't know about those things;

He had only spoken to Karuizawa a few times while helping her solve problems, nothing of importance;

As for Kushida, he had maintained the habit of "not looking directly" at her since the first time he saw her on the bus, and now he had to stick to it even more to avoid letting her see any flaws.

But Shangguan Che didn't know that his "deliberate distance" only made him seem more suspicious in Kushida's eyes.

"Why is Shangguan-kun still out so late?" Kushida stepped forward two paces, her tone filled with just the right amount of concern.

Shangguan Che muttered to himself, "It's not that late, the sky just turned dark."

But he only said, "Buying water."

He held up the mineral water in his hand, avoiding any unnecessary words.

"I see." Kushida said, suddenly leaning in close. She brought her head right up to his hand to inspect the bottle of mineral water, her hair nearly brushing against his arm.

Shangguan Che's body stiffened instantly; he hated being this close to people.

Kushida keenly sensed his rigidity, a subtle smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Her goal was achieved, and now she could get to the main point. She was well-versed in the tactic of "loosening the other person's guard and leading them by their emotions," and that move just now was meant to break through Shangguan's "defenses."

"Does Shangguan-kun know the results of this tribunal?" Kushida straightened up and asked in a light, breezy tone.

Shangguan Che had a good idea: If nothing went wrong, it should be our Class D that won.

Yet, he deliberately replied, "I'm not sure."

"Eh? Hirata mentioned it in the class group chat!" Kushida said, feigning surprise. "Class C dropped the charges, and Sudo-kun didn't receive any punishment at all! Horikita-san is truly amazing; she basically stood against the entire Class C all by herself!"

As she said this, she narrowed her eyes slightly, staring intently at Shangguan's face, trying to find something in his expression.

"Yeah." Shangguan Che replied casually, though he was thinking: Hirata must have omitted my role in the group chat, which is why Kushida Kikyo doesn't know I participated.

Plus, since Ayanokoji didn't show his face either, it's no wonder everyone thinks Horikita is the one who 'saved the building from collapsing.' But that's fine too, a total win! Everyone won, except for Class C.

The moment he thought of this, a look of relaxation and happiness appeared on his face involuntarily.

It was precisely this expression that made Kushida even more certain of her theory. Shangguan Che was definitely on Horikita's side.

These two boys around Horikita—one with a poker face (Ayanokoji) and the other a little sidekick to Hirata (Shangguan Che)—neither of them could be allowed to stay!

If Shangguan Che knew her thoughts, he would surely cry out in injustice: I'm just happy the class won and relieved at Hirata's growth; how does that make me a target?

"See you later, Shangguan-kun." Kushida pulled her thoughts back, put on a sweet smile again, and gave a slow wave. It was exactly the same gesture Ayanokoji had used earlier.

"See you." Shangguan Che replied perfunctorily, though he was complaining internally: Why is her goodbye gesture the same as Ayanokoji's? Did Ayanokoji steal it from her?

However, he had no heart to dwell on it. The elevator doors opened again, and he hurried inside.

Watching the elevator numbers climb one by one, Shangguan Che let out a long sigh of relief: "Finally, I can go back to the dorm. My safe house, here I come~"

Back in his room, he placed the mineral water on the table and collapsed onto his bed, reflecting on the encounters he'd had: Himeno Yuki's silence, Ayanokoji's "abnormality," Kushida's probing... In this school, can't I even buy a bottle of water in peace today?