Turning Dark?

The mysterious night was like thick black ink splashed across the sky, not a glimmer of starlight in sight.

That shadowy figure was none other than Kushida Kikyo!

She was furiously kicking the iron railing by the river with her right foot!

"Ah, this is so annoying!"

"This is awful, awful, absolutely awful!"

"Just because she's cute, she does whatever she wants and ignores everyone else?"

"Why doesn't that bitch Horikita just die!"

"Ugh, it's driving me crazy! And that bastard Zhuge, too!"

"That damn attention-seeker. All he does is act mysterious, sow discord, and cause trouble."

"Ah! Why hasn't he disappeared yet? Get him expelled! Expelled! Expelled!"

Zhuge Linghao had recorded the whole thing, and was holding his breath for dear life. It wouldn't do to ruin such a perfect video with some weird noise!

After stopping the recording, Zhuge Linghao swiftly sent a message to someone. Once that person replied, he messaged someone else.

Now, please sit back and enjoy the show.

After putting his phone back in his pocket, Zhuge Linghao turned and headed toward the dorms to fetch someone!

"I didn't expect you to call me out this late. Itching for a fight?"

Zhuge Linghao said to the man in a baseball cap, "Don't put it like that. I just have something to discuss with you!"

The two went to the big tree from earlier and watched Kushida Kikyo vent her frustrations by the river.

"Uh... What do you think's gotten into her? Is there any hope for her?"

"Hmph. How boring. If that's all, I'm leaving."

Watching the man walk away, Zhuge Linghao murmured, "If only you two were in the same class. This would be hilarious. You'd make quite the perfect couple!"

After waiting another half hour, Kushida Kikyo had calmed down. She stood motionless, quietly letting the night breeze wash over her.

The time had come. Zhuge Linghao turned off Do Not Disturb and messaged Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: "Bro, hungry? Want to grab a late-night snack?"

Then he left his phone by the big tree and quietly made his way on foot to a darker spot.

A minute later.

"Not going." The other person replied.

At the same time, the phone beneath the tree let out a loud ding!

Just as expected, Kushida Kikyo slowly turned around. Wary, she approached the source of the sound.

By then, Zhuge Linghao was hiding beneath another tree five meters away.

"System, I'll buy an Experience Card!"

When the shadow was two meters from the first tree, Zhuge Linghao immediately imitated Kushida Kikyo, trying to make his dead-fish eyes look bloodshot and sinister as he punched the tree again and again.

As he punched, he shouted, "I knew it! Kushida is still the one I like most! She's beautiful, sweet-voiced, gentle, kind, and full of energy! She's the girl of my dreams!"

"Hehe, all those stupid things I did before were just to get Kushida's attention!"

"Actually, Kikyo-chan is my little angel, my little sun! Kikyo is the best!"

Zhuge Linghao waited a moment, keeping an eye on the shadow as it quietly veered off its original path. Controlling his volume, he continued pounding the tree!

"Ah, I'm so frustrated! So irritated! I'm miserable!"

"Why don't those losers just die!"

"Every last one of them is such a pain to deal with! I've tried so hard!"

"(艹皿艹), that stinking woman Horikita does nothing but boss people around. Why hasn't she been expelled yet?!"

"That poker-faced Ayanokoji is seriously disgusting! Just die! I'm always so nice to him, but he never reacts!"

"And that hypocrite Hirata, always putting on an act! He's surrounded by so many girls, too. Damn it! He could at least share one with me!"

Kushida Kikyo heard every single word, without missing a thing!

Zhuge Linghao had timed it perfectly. He suddenly turned around. "Who's there?!"

Kushida Kikyo cautiously emerged from the shadows, her eyes meeting Zhuge Linghao's darkened, dead-fish eyes.

She thought happily: [Ahhh, how beautiful! That's the look of someone just like me! It's exactly like mine. But this perverted lunatic really likes me? How ridiculous!]

"Zhuge? What are you doing here so late?"

Zhuge Linghao rushed over. "You heard all of it?"

"Well, I think so. I heard someone yelling about being frustrated and miserable, so I was going to come over and see what was going on..."

Kushida Kikyo deliberately made up a lie!

She hid the fact that Zhuge Linghao had said he liked her.

Looking down at her, Zhuge Linghao said coldly, "If you dare tell anyone, I won't let you off."

Kushida Kikyo's gaze darted away. She took half a step back and asked uncertainly, "What if I accidentally let it slip?"

"Then I'll tell everyone you're obsessed with stalking me and madly in love with me! That you became my number-one simp, and still couldn't get me in the end!"

"Eh? How can you do that? Those accusations are completely made up!"

"Don't worry, I have proof!"

As soon as Zhuge Linghao finished speaking, he spun around, grabbed Kushida Kikyo's hand, and pressed it hard against his own butt!

"Now your fingerprints are all over my pants. You can't deny it!"

After letting go of her hand, Zhuge Linghao calmly asked, "Can you swear to keep what happened tonight buried forever?"

Kushida Kikyo nodded, looking pitiful, and agreed!

After getting her confirmation, Zhuge Linghao changed faces at the speed of light again. In just 0.1 seconds, he was back to his usual goofy, cheerful self!

"Hehe, Kushida, now we've got a secret we share!"

"Ahaha, yeah!"

"By the way, Kushida, has anyone ever told you that you look like Cardcaptor Sakura?"

"Uh... Who's that?"

"Never mind. Let's head back. Good night!"

"Good night!"

Lying in bed, Zhuge Linghao was exhausted as he thought over how he'd handled things that day.

At first, when he stumbled upon Kushida's crazy outburst, he'd only wanted to record a video and get some leverage over her.

Later, Zhuge Linghao decided this was a rare opportunity, so he might as well make a bigger splash!

First, Zhuge Linghao messaged Shiina Hiyori. The two had exchanged contact information when they met at the library!

[Jealous? Hehe!]

He asked Shiina Hiyori to send him Ryuen Kakeru's contact information.

As expected, Shiina had the phone number of her own Class C leader. Without any fuss, she sent Zhuge Linghao Ryuen Kakeru's contact information.

Then Zhuge Linghao messaged Ryuen Kakeru, introduced himself, and asked him to come see Kushida in her darkened state.

Zhuge Linghao knew the two of them would end up together sooner or later. All he was doing was moving the story along!

Once he'd taken care of all that, Zhuge Linghao hid beneath another tree and equipped the Actor Experience Card he'd bought from the shop.

Zhuge Linghao transformed into a movie star and completely stunned Kushida Kikyo. His masterful performance of a fake descent into darkness had made her believe she'd caught him by the handle!

[Hehe, I totally fooled her!]

Zhuge Linghao let out a breath.

Of course, Zhuge Linghao had another, even more important reason for doing all this.

Kushida Kikyo had already set her sights on Zhuge Linghao and was thinking about getting him expelled!

To keep himself from being expelled, Zhuge Linghao had deliberately staged that big reversal, hoping to throw off her rhythm.

He'd even sacrificed his dignity, falsely claiming he liked her and using his looks to change her opinion of him!

The scene shifted. Sure enough, the shock had left Kushida Kikyo unable to sleep all night.