When Bai Ye arrived at class that morning, he heard people discussing something all over the hallways and classroom.
The story of a boy streaking around school yesterday had already spread everywhere. Quite a few people had even secretly taken photos. Although they hadn't seen the boy's face, some sharp-eyed students had compared his build with the photos and narrowed down the list of suspects.
Yamauchi was one of them, and the prime suspect.
"Yamauchi, that guy wasn't you, was he?" Kanji Ike rushed over to Yamauchi Haruki, excitedly shoving a photo in his face.
Yamauchi's face turned ashen. "Get lost! That wasn't me. I was sleeping in my dorm yesterday. Why would I do something so shameless?"
After brushing off Ike's questions, he felt the furtive glances drifting his way from all over the classroom. His mood sank to rock bottom.
"What're you all staring at? I already told you it wasn't me! Someone must be jealous of how handsome I am and trying to frame me. Hmph!"
Yamauchi glared at the onlookers. They chuckled and turned back to discussing the incident.
His gaze settled on Bai Ye, who had just entered the classroom, his expression utterly calm. Resentment, envy, fear, and a hint of unease flickered in Yamauchi's eyes.
He'd never been so humiliated in his life. Thankfully, Bai Ye hadn't exposed him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to show his face in public.
As for Sudo, the other person who knew the truth, Yamauchi had bought his silence with tens of thousands of points.
Just thinking about the tens of thousands he'd spent for no good reason made his heart ache.
He had to find a chance to get even. But he couldn't do anything to Bai Ye right now. Even Sudo, the strongest fighter in the class, had been beaten. Who could he turn to?
Maybe... someone from another class...
But wouldn't that amount to betraying his class?
No, no. He was targeting Bai Ye, not anyone else. How could that count as betrayal? As long as he could make Bai Ye look bad, he'd be satisfied. He was still a member of this class, and the others wouldn't ostracize him just because of Bai Ye.
Who should he approach?
As Yamauchi pondered with a conflicted expression, he failed to notice a boy in the corner silently watching him.
After a long while, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked away.
Remembering what Bai Ye had told him two days earlier, he felt his long-calm heart stir again.
Bai Ye had openly admitted his identity and asked for his help. In return, after graduation, Bai Ye would help him achieve true freedom—or help him destroy his father, Ayanokoji Atsuomi.
He didn't believe Bai Ye had told him everything, nor could he be sure the other boy would keep his promise. But he had only two choices.
Either get Bai Ye expelled or agree to help him for the time being.
Clearly, his chances of getting Bai Ye expelled were less than thirty percent. And if Bai Ye left, he'd have another powerful enemy. It was a terrible choice, and he didn't want to resort to it unless absolutely necessary.
That left him with only one option.
He could agree for now, then look for Bai Ye's weakness—something he could use as leverage to make him keep his promise.
The previous night, Bai Ye had told him about Yamauchi's streaking and warned him that Yamauchi might betray the class. He'd asked Ayanokoji to keep an eye on him and collect evidence if Yamauchi slipped up.
In return, Bai Ye had told him some of the school's rules and warned him that Chabashira Sae might use lies to pressure him into helping the class advance.
That was enough.
Two more days passed.
For the past two days, Bai Ye had been worrying about how to raise Horikita Suzune's affection for him.
Some time ago, Kushida's involvement had led Horikita to believe the two of them had some kind of secret relationship. But thanks to Kushida and his combined efforts, they had finally cleared up the misunderstanding. Horikita had begun trusting him again, and they were gradually moving toward friendship.
It was a shame that Horikita still hadn't officially accepted him as a friend.
Of course, becoming friends with Horikita was on a whole other level of difficulty compared to becoming friends with anyone else. For one thing, her definition of friendship was different from everyone else's.
First, they had to build mutual trust, and Horikita still didn't fully trust him.
At most, she'd acknowledged some of his abilities and kept in touch because she had no choice but to ask for his help.
He spent the whole day thinking about it. After school, as usual, he went to the spot where Hasebe had lain down that day to rest. The curvaceous girl was stretched out on the ground, letting nature admire her beautiful figure.
Hearing his footsteps, Hasebe sat up and waved to him. "Xiao Ye-ye, over here~"
"..."
She'd only started calling him Xiao Ye-ye yesterday. For the first two days, they hadn't talked much; they'd simply lain on the grass and basked in the sun. But for some reason, Hasebe had taken the initiative to get closer to him yesterday. She'd not only lain beside him but also chatted with him.
They'd talked about trivial things, but they'd gotten along well. He'd also discovered that, though Hasebe seemed aloof and kept her distance from everyone, she was actually rather quick to warm up to people. She liked giving new friends affectionate nicknames.
He should have known that from the original story, since he'd read it. But he'd read the book before transmigrating, and so much time had passed that he'd forgotten most of it. He didn't remember Hasebe very well, either.
"Xiao Ye-ye, what's wrong? You look like you just got dumped."
He couldn't bring himself to argue over the slightly embarrassing nickname. It was still better than "Xiao Bai," which sounded like a dog's name.
"It's nothing. I've run into a problem and can't figure out how to solve it."
"Want to tell me about it? Maybe I can help." Hasebe patted the grass beside her affectionately, inviting him to sit.
He walked over. "It's nothing. There's plenty of time, so I'm not in a hurry."
"Could it really be... something to do with girls?"
Hasebe blinked, the curiosity in her eyes growing more intense.
"No..."
"If you don't want to tell me, I won't ask... But I'm still curious. Is there a girl in class you like?"
"I don't know. What about you?"
"You tell me first, then I'll tell you."
Bai Ye suddenly grew curious. "Well... there is someone. Your turn."
"Mm, there isn't anyone I like."
"Ha..." He slapped his forehead, feeling like he'd been tricked. "Fine. Actually, I think of her as a little sister. I don't like her the way you mean."
Bai Ye was glad Wang Meiyu wasn't here. Otherwise, hearing that would have upset her for the rest of the night.
Still, he didn't feel guilty. He loved his little sister ten times more than he'd ever love a girlfriend.
If his little sister and his girlfriend fell into the water at the same time, he'd definitely save his little sister first.
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