Despicable

Seeing the girl stubbornly refusing to budge, Suzuki Tsubame had no choice but to threaten her.

"When someone was venting just now, I secretly recorded a video. You wouldn't want it uploaded to the School Forum, would you?"

"Despicable!"

Kushida Kikyo glared at him. If she could do it over, she definitely would not have asked him for help!

"I can tell you, but you have to delete the video." She chose to take a step back. She had no leverage over him, and that made her feel terribly insecure.

"You're not in any position to negotiate with me. Even if you don't tell me, I can ask Suzune."

"I'm sure she'd be more than happy to tell me."

Suzuki Tsubame had nothing to fear. He had already learned everything about her, so it did not matter whether the two girls told him or not. It would only be a little more troublesome otherwise.

Afraid of pushing Kushida too far, Suzuki Tsubame still tried to comfort her. "You don't need to worry too much. Honestly, I quite like you."

"After all, you're very pretty. That's the one thing you can be completely assured about."

Heh. That's exactly why I'm worried, Kushida Kikyo grumbled inwardly. Thinking about how Horikita also knew about her past filled her with helplessness. It made it hard for her to even make something up.

Then, she told him everything that had happened to her.

When she was little, she had always excelled academically. Her parents and relatives constantly praised her, and she loved that feeling of being admired.

Gradually, as time passed, she found herself struggling more and more with her studies.

Her grades were no longer outstanding, and her parents praised her less and less.

She began searching for ways to make herself happy. She discovered that whenever someone needed her, she felt a flicker of joy.

That feeling of being surrounded by admirers made her feel incredibly comfortable.

Her dream became simple: to become friends with everyone.

During middle school, she became friends with nearly every classmate in her class.

While everyone needed her, she also became the emotional dumping ground for dozens of people. Along with the satisfaction of being needed, countless negative emotions came crashing down on her.

There were creeps like Yamaguchi and Ike, for example. There were also girls who claimed to be best friends, yet fell in love with their best friend's boyfriend. All kinds of gossiping and badmouthing went on behind people's backs. Some even confided in her that they had gotten pregnant for scumbags.

In short, after who knew how long, she began spreading all sorts of negative information about her class online as an outlet.

As more and more negative rumors spread farther and wider, her classmates eventually discovered it.

Later, it turned into her facing the entire class alone, and she exposed every secret the class had.

The entire class instantly descended into chaos and completely fell apart. In the end, not a single person in the class was willing to return to school.

As for her relationship with Horikita... there was not actually much of one. Horikita Suzune had merely attended the same middle school as her.

Because Horikita had ranked first in her grade every single time, Kushida Kikyo remembered her clearly. She envied Horikita's ability to earn praise without caring about anyone else's opinions.

Since Horikita had always been busy studying and was withdrawn by nature, no one ever chatted with her about that kind of gossip. As a result, Horikita had only a faint impression of Kushida Kikyo.

"So that's how it was!" Suzuki Tsubame put on a look of sudden realization.

What kind of weak class had she been assigned to? The students' character was absurdly awful. With a talent like that, even in the current Class D, she would have been one of a kind.

Of course, she herself was also partly to blame.

Suzuki Tsubame did not plan to lecture her just yet. Although Kushida Kikyo's mind was incredibly resilient, she was still just a little girl. He did not want to accidentally push her into a breakdown.

"Didn't you lose control of your emotions because you made too many bad friends?"

Suzuki Tsubame wanted to guide her toward making some genuinely good friends.

"You think I don't want to be friends with capable people?"

Kushida Kikyo leaned against Suzuki Tsubame's chest. They looked like a couple deeply in love, but the girl's voice was as cold as ice from the depths of hell.

She said jealously, "If I could be like Horikita, smart and beautiful, would I still have to worry about not making good friends?"

Hmm... that was not necessarily true. After all, Horikita Suzune really did not have any friends besides him.

There was nothing to be said about looks, since those were innate. But Horikita's abilities did not come from talent alone.

Kushida Kikyo only saw that Horikita ranked first in her grade every time. She did not see the effort behind it.

Other than eating and sleeping, Horikita spent nearly all her time studying. Her studies were not limited to academics either; she had mastered cooking, physical training, and all kinds of other skills.

She was practically an all-rounder. Suzuki Tsubame really did not know what kind of genes the Horikita family had. Both brother and sister were absurdly capable.

If Suzune's personality had not gone astray, she definitely could have been placed in Class A.

"Anyway, all you wanted was everyone's attention, right?"

Suzuki Tsubame temporarily gave up on guiding her. His priority now was to earn her trust first.

"So what if it was?! You've ruined everything for me!" Kushida Kikyo could already imagine what her future days would be like.

Suzuki Tsubame would use her secret to threaten her. She would either become his plaything, choose to drop out, or endure being isolated by the entire class and even the whole school.

She could not accept any of those outcomes.

Seeing her eyes gradually turn numb and her pupils begin to lose focus, Suzuki Tsubame gently released her and let her collapse to the floor in a W-sitting position.

"Here..."

Suzuki Tsubame handed her his phone and said, "I didn't record any audio or video. You can check for yourself."

He was not as uninterested in women as Ayanokoji, but he was definitely not a pervert like Yamaguchi either. Using threats against a girl to satisfy his lust would have been far too low.

Kushida Kikyo's gaze refocused, and she snatched Suzuki Tsubame's phone from him.

"Hmm... nothing in the album... nothing in the recorder..." Sitting on the floor, she searched through Suzuki Tsubame's phone bit by bit.

Even if she racked her brains, she would never have imagined that an invisible surveillance camera still existed behind her at that very moment.

Suzuki Tsubame had already cleaned up his phone. Chabashira's recording and his deal with Class A had both been saved in a top-secret file on his computer.

The password was his eighteen-digit identification number from his previous life. Even a genius hacker would be helpless against it.

"Why do you have so many points?" she cried out. More than 3.8 million was indeed an enormous sum for freshmen like them.

"At yesterday's club orientation, I got lucky and won a few bets against some upperclassmen."

It would not have mattered if he told her about the deal with Class A, but less trouble was always better.

Kushida Kikyo looked completely unconvinced.

She might have believed him if it were a hundred thousand or several hundred thousand, but he had won more than three million and was still calling it luck. Did he take her for an idiot? Still, she could not be bothered to ask further.

"Here, your phone." After finding nothing, Kushida Kikyo put her smile back on and slipped the phone into Suzuki Tsubame's hand.

"Since everything's fine, I'll be leaving now. Goodbye, Suzuki."

Kushida Kikyo waved with a smile, intending to leave immediately.

Suzuki Tsubame could imagine what would happen if he let her go now. His life would definitely become miserable afterward. She would surely do everything in her power to target him.

It would not really affect him, but completing her task would certainly become incredibly difficult.

"My, Kushida, are you in such a hurry? Have you already decided that I'm not hiding a recording device on me?" he asked with a smile.

Kushida turned back with a stiff smile. Looking at Suzuki Tsubame's smiling face made her feel uncomfortable all over.

After a moment of silence, Kushida Kikyo could not help asking,

"Suzuki, you wouldn't be hiding something like that, would you?"

"Well, you never know. When betting with upperclassmen, they won't honor it unless you prepare a few extra precautions."

Suzuki Tsubame spoke with a helpless expression.

That was true enough. Some upperclassmen would see that they had not signed a contract and had no teacher to guarantee it, then simply refuse to honor the bet.

That was when recordings became important.

At his words, Kushida Kikyo's expression instantly darkened again. It changed as quickly as an opera mask.

"Kushida, were you in such a hurry to leave because you were thinking of how to target me? Make me drop out?"

Suzuki Tsubame was clearly smiling as he spoke, yet Kushida Kikyo felt a chill run through her.

That really had been what she was thinking. Just moments ago, she had been considering how to make this guy drop out. Suzuki Tsubame's expulsion had even become a higher priority than Horikita Suzune's.

The question practically short-circuited Kushida Kikyo's brain. She figured that if she did not answer properly, she would be finished.

"How could that be?! Suzuki, you're my first friend at this new school!" Kushida Kikyo hurriedly tried to make up for it.

"How could I ever harm a friend?!"

Her flustered appearance made Suzuki Tsubame want to laugh. Weren't the people in her middle school class her friends too? How had she treated them?

Suzuki Tsubame shook his head, clearing away his turbulent thoughts. With a sincere expression, he said, "Don't worry, Kikyo. You're one of my few friends too. I would never harm a friend."

Suzuki Tsubame deliberately emphasized the word "friend," reminding her to think carefully before acting. If she disregarded their friendship, he would not mind letting her suffer a little.

After saying that, Suzuki Tsubame turned and headed toward the Dormitory.

Kushida Kikyo was left alone, her face shifting from green to pale like a human color palette.