Kikyo's Defense Crumbles

Inside the cafe.

In a corner booth, three people sat facing one another.

They looked at each other in silence.

Xu Nuo sat on the edge, unhurriedly adding a few sugar cubes to his coffee. He stirred it with a spoon, watching the show before him with great interest.

"Um..."

"Horikita-san, and Xu Nuo-kun, what a coincidence. Are you two here for coffee as well?"

Before long.

Kushida Kikyo broke the silence.

She blinked her purple eyes, struck a cute pose, and a sweet smile blossomed on her face.

Isn't that lie a bit too deliberate?

Xu Nuo was speechless.

Unfortunately.

Horikita Suzune remained completely oblivious. She didn't even lift her eyes to look at Kushida, sipping her black tea while radiating an aura of cold indifference.

She sat bolt upright, like an iceberg.

She wanted to make someone retreat in the face of difficulty.

However.

A carefully braided plait hanging from her long, straight black hair added a touch of silliness to her appearance.

"Horikita-san?"

Seeing the other girl ignore her completely.

Kushida Kikyo's smile remained, though the corner of her eye twitched slightly as she repeated her question in a soft voice.

Still no response.

She had no choice but to continue speaking on her own.

"I think—"

"Since we're all in Class D, we should get along well. Horikita-san, would you mind exchanging contact information with me?"

Having said that.

The girl offered a cloyingly sweet smile and pushed her phone to the center of the table.

Immediately after.

She clasped her hands together, her gaze filled with anticipation.

Finally.

Horikita Suzune set down her teacup.

"I refuse."

The words were crisp and clean, filled with icy coldness.

"Sorry, I have no intention of making friends with anyone; it would only be a burden. Besides..."

Horikita finally looked up.

Her reddish-purple fox-like eyes met Kushida's directly.

"I especially don't want to get involved with someone like you... someone who makes me feel unpleasant. So, Kushida-san, could you please stop bothering me?"

On that last sentence.

Her tone grew much heavier.

In an instant.

The air in the entire cafe seemed to freeze.

The corners of Xu Nuo's mouth curled upward.

Well played!

This wasn't just a refusal; it was like throwing the other person's face on the ground and grinding it underfoot.

It wasn't that Horikita Suzune lacked emotional intelligence.

But clearly.

The girl disdained using such tactics on others.

Kushida Kikyo could no longer maintain the smile on her face. It stiffened slightly, and something seemed to flash through her purple eyes—so fast it might have been an illusion.

"Ah... haha, Horikita-san, you really know how to joke..."

She tried to brush it off.

But this time, even her angelically sweet smile, practiced countless times, began to crack.

She smiled with great reluctance.

Her fingers tightened unconsciously, nearly crushing the paper cup.

However.

Horikita Suzune remained expressionless, ignoring her words entirely. She stood up from her seat, her face cold as she reached out and grabbed Xu Nuo by the wrist.

The touch was ice-cold; her fingers were slender yet surprisingly strong.

"Let's go."

"I don't want to waste time on such irrelevant people. Remember what you promised me."

Irrelevant...

Heh, the little angel is going to be kicking the railings again tonight.

Xu Nuo feigned helplessness, rising with her pull before shrugging at the blonde girl frozen in place, signaling that he couldn't help her.

Immediately.

Horikita walked out of the cafe, dragging him along without looking back, leaving behind a resolute silhouette.

She hadn't given Kushida any room to speak at all.

At this moment.

The noise of the cafe faded into the distance, as if the entire world had left Kushida Kikyo all alone.

The girl lowered her head.

The shadow of her hair obscured most of her face.

No one could see what was sinking deep into the depths of the blonde girl's originally clear, water-like purple eyes, turning them dark and icy.

"Tsk."

A sound, almost imperceptible, rang out.

Beside the steaming cocoa sat the phone she had placed in the center of the table; its screen was still lit, displaying the interface for adding a contact.

After several seconds.

The girl finally raised her head, her sweet smile still intact.

"Hey, hey."

"Is there any need to be this rushed?"

Xu Nuo sighed helplessly.

He had been dragged and pulled by Horikita Suzune to a secluded bench where few people passed by, leaving only the rustling of wind through the leaves.

Seeing that no one was around.

She finally let go of his hand and turned to face him.

The afternoon sun filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled light and shadows across her face. In those reddish-purple eyes, a rare sense of urgency flickered.

"I've fulfilled your request. You promised to tell me—"

"The truth about this school!"

Horikita Suzune got straight to the point, her voice losing its usual composure and carrying a hint of tension instead.

Hearing this.

Xu Nuo sighed. He didn't answer immediately, instead leaning back against the bench, his body gradually relaxing as he studied her with a calm gaze.

Her bowtie was slightly crooked, and a few strands of black hair had been blown messy by the wind, sticking to her slightly sweaty cheek.

But the girl was completely indifferent to all of this.

It was clear.

She was truly anxious.

"Suzune."

"You must have heard of it, too."

"This school claims to have a one-hundred-percent advancement rate to the outside world." Xu Nuo's voice was steady, possessing a strange magic that smoothed out the girl's emotions.

He was very forthcoming this time.

He didn't continue to tease this high-mountain flower.

After all.

One must know the limits when it comes to jokes.

Hearing this.

Horikita Suzune frowned, looking puzzled. "Isn't that the case? Could it be that the school is engaging in false advertising?"

"That's not it."

Xu Nuo shook his head, paused for a moment, and said:

"But all of this has a prerequisite—only the class that graduates as Class A has this qualification. In other words, the classes are actually in a competitive relationship."

"Only the final winner can successfully graduate."

"As for the losing classes..."

"You know."

Xu Nuo shrugged, his meaning self-evident.

Frowning tightly, Horikita Suzune struggled to digest this information, her expression turning quite grim.

A school that prioritizes ability!

So that was it; no wonder her brother would...

"Class A..."

Horikita Suzune stood there, motionless, her entire being shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere.

"Then why..."

"Has Chabashira-sensei never mentioned this?"

After a long while.

She posed another question.

"I have already told you what I promised."

Seeing that she had finally reached the crux of the matter, Xu Nuo revealed a faint smile and spoke nonchalantly.

"As for that..."

"That will be an extra charge."

Bastard!

Horikita Suzune gritted her teeth in hatred, dying to rush over and throw the profit-driven guy over her shoulder.

But the matter was of great importance, and she had to hold back.

"How many points."

Upon hearing this.

Xu Nuo stated a number quite bluntly.

"Two million Private Points."

As he spoke.

As if he had been prepared all along, he produced a contract from somewhere and handed it to the deep-in-thought girl.

"I do not accept any bargaining."

"This is the contract. Take a look and see if there are any issues."