No.
"Weren't you and Sakayanagi..." Kamuro was already confused.
"An ex-girlfriend," Nakano Yuu said. "In other words, we broke up. Do you think a girl would treat her ex-boyfriend kindly after a breakup?"
"And this person is Sakayanagi Arisu, no less," Nakano Yuu added.
"..." Kamuro.
Although she hadn't interacted with Sakayanagi much yet, Kamuro could already imagine how it would go.
If they'd dated and broken up, and especially if the ex-boyfriend standing in front of her had done something to wrong Sakayanagi, then of course Sakayanagi would want revenge.
So this guy knew all that and had come to buy himself some insurance?
"That's more or less it," Nakano Yuu said. "And now you can sign the IOU."
"Then I'll delete the video," Nakano Yuu said.
"..." Kamuro glanced at him, seeming hesitant.
But after thinking it over for about two minutes, she decided to fill out the IOU.
[Today, Kamuro Masumi, student number ST121040045, borrowed 500,000 Private Points from Nakano Yuu of Class 1-D.
Debtor: Kamuro Masumi.]
"Your handwriting's decent. It's just that your grades are really poor. If you don't want trouble, I suggest you study more," Nakano Yuu said.
"..." Kamuro.
Kamuro began to feel something strange.
At first, she'd thought Nakano Yuu had approached her on Sakayanagi's orders to catch her doing something incriminating.
But...
She hadn't told anyone in her class about her academic ability, and the teachers hadn't announced everyone's written exam scores. Sakayanagi shouldn't have known about it.
She'd also confirmed that there were no students in her class from her old middle school. So how had he learned this information about her?
She asked him just that.
"How did you find out all this stuff about me?"
"That's a secret. Everyone has secrets or quirks, so there's nothing to be embarrassed about," Nakano Yuu said.
"Then your quirk is..." Kamuro asked casually, as if following his lead.
"Of course I can't tell you," Nakano Yuu said. "And here's the video. Look, I deleted it. Now you can work without worrying."
Nakano Yuu stood up. "Want to check?"
"..." Kamuro.
But Kamuro Masumi wasn't interested anymore.
Even if he hadn't deleted the video, he was still holding an IOU for 500,000 points. Either way, he wouldn't lose.
So why steal? Why had she stolen?
Kamuro began to think about giving up her quirk.
P.S. Guys, I'm all out. You know what I want to say, right?
P.S. Please give me data, please give me data, please give me data, please give me data. But hold off on the knives for now—give them to me tomorrow. Sniffle.
Kushida, why are you here?
Kamuro must have had something troubling her, because after drinking some warm water, she decided to leave.
She left with a frosty expression.
It was probably the worst day she'd had since enrolling a little over a month ago.
Not only had someone caught her doing something incriminating, but even though Nakano Yuu had deleted the video, she was still in debt for 500,000 points. If she didn't pay him back, she'd have to become his informant.
It was a complete disaster.
And according to him, there was no need for them to add each other as friends. If Sakayanagi came into contact with her, she'd check her phone, and adding him would only make Sakayanagi suspicious.
But...
Was Sakayanagi really the type to check other people's phones, or even use them?
Kamuro found that hard to believe.
That guy's suggestion was outrageous, too. Since that was the case, they'd have to communicate through the school's mailboxes.
Kamuro knew about those. In one corner of the lounge on the first floor of the dormitory, there were mailboxes bearing the students' names, each with a lock. Only the owner could check their own mailbox.
But he hadn't asked her to contact the mailbox labeled Nakano Yuu. He'd told her to use the one named Horikita Suzune.
She just couldn't understand it. How cautious was he?
And if he could use Horikita Suzune's mailbox, did that mean she was another poor soul like Kamuro, someone he'd manipulated and kept under his thumb?
With a complicated mix of disappointment, anger, resentment, frustration, and curiosity, Kamuro quickly left.
"Check, please." With his main target gone, Nakano wasn't going to stick around either.
"That'll be 800 Private Points," the server said, coming over quickly. But her expression wasn't pleasant, and Nakano-kun could practically read the word "scumbag" in her eyes.
No.
He'd just brought a girl here for coffee two days in a row. That still meant he was bringing business to the café, didn't it?
As he thought this, Nakano Yuu suddenly looked behind him. A cute girl with short blond hair stood there, her features delicate and her smile like an angel's.
It was Kushida Kikyou.
"Ehehe, Nakano-kun," she greeted him.
Right.
Yesterday, he'd brought Horikita here, and today it was Kamuro. It really did make him look suspicious.
And now Kamuro had left, only for Kushida to show up right after her.
Anyone would think he was an irredeemable womanizer.
"..." Nakano Yuu.
Nakano turned to look at Kushida Kikyou.
He'd been looking at her all day in class, of course, but it was still unusual to see her here.
For instance...
How long had she been here? More precisely, how long had she been watching?
Kushida.
"Oh, Kushida, you're here too."
Since he'd decided not to come to this café again, Nakano had completely stopped worrying about the server's opinion of him. Instead, he turned his attention to Kushida.
"Yeah. I told you where to find Kamuro, but I was still a little worried about how things would go. Kamuro doesn't really seem like the type to accept a confession," Kushida said, sounding concerned.
In other words, she'd believed Nakano Yuu's nonsense and thought he'd gone to find Kamuro because he wanted to confess to her.
"Yesterday, I asked Horikita to help me and tell me what to keep in mind when confessing to a girl," Nakano Yuu continued with his lies.
"But my confession just failed," Nakano Yuu said, shaking his head. "Maybe it was too sudden."
"I see..." Kushida nodded in understanding.
Or rather, it would've been weird if a clueless guy had walked right up and confessed and hadn't been rejected.
"Huh?"
The server, who'd picked up the cups and was just about to leave, froze.
At that moment, she gave Nakano Yuu an embarrassed look. She realized she'd been too hostile toward him just now, and that she'd misjudged him.
It made sense.
He looked like a new student, so it was natural that he'd be unfamiliar with romance and need help from other girls. He even seemed sincere about it.
So he wasn't some guy juggling three girls at once, seamlessly moving from one date to another.
"Since we're already here, want to have a cup of coffee together?" Nakano suggested. "The coffee here is really good."
"Well..." Kushida seemed a little hesitant.
But everyone knew how it was for the students in Class D: they were broke.
"It's fine. My treat," Nakano Yuu said.
"Um, thanks," Kushida said, acting a little bashful before actually sitting down across from Nakano Yuu.
?
Wait, girl, you're really going to have some?
One cup of coffee cost 800 points, which wasn't a problem for Nakano.
But wasn't Kushida everyone's little angel? Would she really let a guy pay for her?
Nakano Yuu felt that something was off.
As he thought this, Kushida said, "But, um, the points were borrowed from Horikita. Would that be..."
All right.
Nakano Yuu understood. Kushida was hung up on Horikita Suzune. She kept trying to get closer to Horikita but never managed it. It must've made her so frustrated. But she couldn't just do nothing, and naturally, her resentment had been building.
So she'd heard that morning that 10,000 points had been deposited into Nakano Yuu's account, and he'd explained at the time that Horikita had lent them to him.
So Kushida actually wanted to spend Horikita Suzune's money, did she?
Still...
Kushida showing up here was something he needed to pay attention to.
Even if she'd "seamlessly" appeared after Kamuro left, and had probably made sure Kamuro didn't see her, the question was how much she'd witnessed.
And although Nakano Yuu had claimed he was confessing to Kamuro, that had all been a lie. If Kushida let that slip, Sakayanagi might become suspicious.
So he had to make sure she didn't say anything.
"It's fine. I'll pay Horikita back myself," Nakano Yuu said.
"Um, wouldn't that be a little too much? Coffee's pretty expensive," Kushida said modestly.
"Then you can have warm water instead. That's what I ordered for myself just now," Nakano Yuu said. "I can order coffee for you."
"..." Kushida.
"Warm water is fine too," Kushida said reluctantly.
Seeing Kushida's expression turn strained, Nakano finally felt at ease.
Then Nakano got down to business.
"Kushida, why did you come here? More precisely, how did you find me?"
P.S. Morning, guys.
Dangerous person—who are you talking about?
Actually, when Kushida had first appeared, she'd already let slip that she'd come because she was worried about Nakano's "confession progress."
That made her seem like a really warmhearted girl.
And to have found out he was here and tracked him down, she'd probably used GPS.
Just as Nakano had thought of using GPS to track her, she could quickly track him, too.
But she'd probably searched for lots of students this way and kept tabs on where they went. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to pull off those "chance encounters" and invitations to hang out.
Before you continue