A Conversation with Horikita

As they parted, Shiina told Xia Mu to study hard and not lose to her.

She was afraid he might do too poorly, but also afraid he might do too well.

Shiina felt like an overprotective mother, worrying endlessly about Xia Mu.

She was gradually coming to understand her own feelings.

There was nothing wrong with admitting it. If she liked him, then she liked him.

But she wasn't sure how Xia Mu felt.

I'll find a chance to ask him! Shiina told herself.

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Bang!

A glass shattered on the floor. Long Yuan glared at the three trembling figures kneeling before him, his anger rising.

This time, he was truly furious.

This was the second time Xia Mu had ruined his plans.

What an arrogant, clueless brat.

He grabbed one of them by the neck with one hand, then raised his fist and slammed it down.

Blood splattered. The man was immediately beaten into a pulp, but he didn't dare say a word.

The other two trembled, fear creeping into their hearts. But they knew they were no match for Long Yuan, so all they could do was kneel and accept their punishment.

After beating the three useless idiots, Long Yuan rubbed his knuckles and wondered if there was a traitor in his class.

Why had Xia Mu happened to show up at the school building and ruin his flawless plan?

Before, Long Yuan had thought of Xia Mu as nothing more than an arrogant brat. Now, he was beginning to take him seriously.

It seemed taking down Class D wouldn't be as simple as he'd thought.

Time flew by, and before long, the midterm exams were over.

After handing in his test, Xia Mu returned to his seat and packed up his things.

"How do you think you did?" Horikita Suzune unexpectedly asked Xia Mu about his grades.

"Not bad. I should get first place," Xia Mu replied confidently.

"Hmph!" Horikita Suzune threw a book at Xia Mu, and he caught it with ease.

"Can't you be serious for once?" Horikita Suzune frowned. "If you fail an exam, you'll really be expelled."

As far as she was concerned, Xia Mu would be an extremely useful asset on her path to moving Class D up.

Besides, they still didn't know what consequences expulsion would bring, so she wouldn't allow Xia Mu to get expelled.

"I am serious." Xia Mu tossed Horikita's book onto her desk, finished packing his bag, and turned to leave.

"Need something?" But when he turned around, he saw Sudo Ken standing there uneasily, a bottle of juice in his hand.

"Here."

Sudo turned his face away and held out the drink to Xia Mu. "I was wrong about what happened before. I'm sorry."

Honestly, having someone like him apologize in person felt embarrassing.

But Xia Mu had convinced him, and he had even saved his life, albeit unintentionally.

Later, when he went back and thought it over, he realized that without Xia Mu, he might have been accused of bullying a classmate.

After waiting a while without hearing a response from Xia Mu, he thought Xia Mu wasn't going to forgive him.

But his patience had reached its limit.

Just as he was about to take the drink back, Xia Mu snatched it from his hand, popped the tab, and took a sip. "Ahh."

"I was thirsty. Thanks."

He didn't dislike people like Sudo, but he didn't particularly like them either.

But with someone like him, a small favor was enough to turn him into an extremely useful asset.

Xia Mu couldn't do everything himself, after all.

"Ahem."

Sudo coughed and lowered his hand. Did that mean Xia Mu had accepted his apology?

He scratched his head. "Um, there's a basketball game later. Do you want to join?"

Before Xia Mu could answer, Horikita Suzune stepped forward and grabbed his wrist with a smack. "No. He has something to do later."

As she spoke, she pulled Xia Mu toward the classroom door. "Come with me."

Xia Mu wanted to see what Horikita Suzune was up to, so he didn't resist.

She led him to the school rooftop.

The familiar place reminded Xia Mu of the day he'd hypnotized Kushida.

Should I hypnotize Horikita Suzune here and take her right here and now?

She knows too much.

But he hadn't brought all his equipment with him, and Horikita Suzune had a strong will. If the hypnosis failed, wouldn't he end up revealing even more to her?

And she would be on her guard from then on. After thinking it over, Xia Mu decided against it.

"Why did you keep it from me?"

Horikita Suzune suddenly turned and fixed her gaze on Xia Mu, her beautiful eyes so sharp they seemed capable of cutting a person in two.

If someone like Sakura had been questioned like this, she would probably have been frightened into babbling incoherently.

"What are you talking about?" Xia Mu slouched. "Could you stop being so cryptic? It's annoying. Just tell me everything at once."

Horikita Suzune furrowed her brows at Xia Mu's bluntness. "Are you the one pulling the strings behind the scenes?"

"Long Yuan came to see me. He said you ruined his plan and asked if I was the one who did it."

"Is that clear enough?"

"So."

"Answer me."

Horikita took two steps toward him, trying to overwhelm him with her presence.

Unfortunately, at barely over five feet tall, she was no match for Xia Mu.

"Oh, that was just an accident."

Xia Mu saw no reason to lie to Suzune about that. "Sakura was there too."

It had been an accident, but Xia Mu had indeed done it on purpose.

If Long Yuan was unhappy, then Xia Mu was happy.

He didn't care whether he was helping Class D.

"Oh? Is that so?"

Horikita Suzune couldn't understand it. Had Xia Mu really not deliberately ruined Class C's plan?

"Forget it. That's not why I wanted to talk to you today."

Horikita Suzune dropped the subject. "I want to invite you to work with me to defeat the other classes and help Class D rise to Class A."

She seemed to have an inexplicable obsession with reaching Class A.

"What do I get?" Xia Mu neither accepted nor refused.

"If the Class Points go up, your personal base points will go up too."

"Also, I'll pay you extra personal points every time you contribute."

Horikita Suzune took out her phone to prove she had the means.

"Those are good terms," Xia Mu said sincerely, before changing tack. "But unfortunately, I don't like being used as someone else's weapon."

"I refuse."

"But you can come talk to me. If it suits me, I'll help you. It depends on whether you can afford the points I ask for."

At this school, points were important. They were like coins in a game.

As long as the rules allowed it, they could be used to do quite a lot.

They were very useful.

"Sigh."

Horikita Suzune wasn't surprised. She only sighed softly as she watched Xia Mu turn to leave, then suddenly asked, "You have that kind of ability. Why don't you want to reach Class A?"

"Do you want to be treated like trash for the rest of your life?"

Xia Mu laughed at that. "Whether someone is trash isn't decided by a class ranking."

"If you think you're trash, then you're trash."

"If you don't, then you're not."