The Real Problem Is You, Xia Mu

"Xia Mu, Xia Mu!"

Sakura had already taken off the glasses she'd worn as a disguise. These days, plenty of students had started approaching her.

But she was still only interested in Xia Mu. She just wanted to be friends with him.

She'd noticed that ever since what happened last time, Xia Mu had gradually grown distant.

Maybe it was just her imagination, but Sakura couldn't deny how dejected she felt.

"Is something wrong, Sakura?" Xia Mu stopped and glanced to his right.

Sakura's ample bust was a real burden, making it much harder for her to run than it was for other girls.

But it was hard to say whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Th-this isn't because finals are coming up, is it?"

Sakura gasped for breath. Sweat trickled down the bridge of her pert nose and dripped into the valley between her breasts. It was quite a sight.

Honestly, she was really suited to being a female streamer.

The dancing kind, anyway.

"I-I wanted to invite you."

Sakura explained. After catching her breath, she raised her head and met Xia Mu's eyes. But after only a glance, she nervously looked away and murmured, "I talked it over with them, and they're all fine with it."

"Our group has Ayanokoji, Xingcun, Hasebe, and Miyake."

She listed them off like she was reciting a treasured collection. "They're all really nice people. They definitely won't hold you back, and they won't hate you!"

Looking at the hopeful expression on Sakura's face, Xia Mu narrowed his eyes. "Sakura, thanks for thinking of me."

"But I'm used to being on my own. I'm not interested."

Xia Mu shook his head and rejected her without hesitation. If he needed help, he could always use other people's weaknesses to gather allies.

Besides, he didn't need any right now.

And as for a study group, that was out of the question.

He would never do something that had no point and offered no benefit.

"Huh? Xia, Xia Mu..."

Watching Xia Mu walk away, Sakura's heart gave a painful lurch. She raised a hand toward his retreating back, but in the end, it drooped helplessly to her side.

Back when Xia Mu had first approached her, she'd known what was wrong with her.

For her own sake, and for Xia Mu's, she'd worked hard to change.

Now she'd changed, but Xia Mu had grown distant.

Why?

Was he a ninja? Did he leave once he'd completed his mission?

"Maybe the one with a problem now is you, Xia Mu..."

She sighed softly, lost in endless confusion.

What should I do?

"Ding-ding-ding!"

The long ringing of the exam bell signaled that finals had officially ended.

It also meant that summer vacation had begun.

By then, Xia Mu had reached one million points.

He was far ahead of everyone else in his class.

But it still wasn't enough.

His Skill Points hadn't changed either.

Kikyo Kushida's Correction value had also stayed fixed at the same point.

Whenever Xia Mu ran into her now, she only gave him a creepy smile and said nothing.

But Xia Mu knew that she hated him even more than she hated Suzune now.

The Correction progress had left her personality somewhat split.

At times she was gentle; at others, irritable.

As a result, fewer than half as many girls supported her as supported Karuizawa Kei.

Some boys had even noticed that something was off about Kushida and gradually distanced themselves from her.

So, in her eyes, Xia Mu was the root cause of all this.

She didn't care about anything else now. She just wanted to get revenge on Xia Mu.

She was simply waiting for the right opportunity.

There were still three years ahead of her. The school was bound to give her a chance eventually.

During summer vacation, Xia Mu spent most of his time reading with Shiina.

The two of them had read nearly all the popular books on the market, and had now moved on to more obscure ones.

They even read and discussed books with some rather perverted content.

They were closer than ever.

Shiina was so absorbed in reading, cooking, and making tea with Xia Mu that she stopped caring whether Class C could rank up. This left Long Yuan gnashing his teeth in frustration.

But the school hadn't scheduled any special exams during summer vacation, so he had no chance to make a move against Xia Mu.

The violent methods he usually used worked on people who were so cowardly that they wouldn't dare report him to a teacher for fear of retaliation.

He also had absolute control over Class C.

If he went after someone like Xia Mu, he didn't believe Xia Mu would simply do nothing in response.

Still, there would be a chance sooner or later.

As long as he didn't cripple or kill anyone, a little torment was no big deal.

As for the students in Class A, they'd played it safe throughout the first term. Whatever the exam, they'd managed to secure first place.

After all, their class had the fewest problem students and the strongest overall ability.

So it was no small challenge to lead a class full of problem children like Class D all the way to Class A.

As for Class B, aside from appearing now and then, they were rarely heard from.

Class D, on the other hand, was always having some kind of problem every so often.

Still, at least the class hadn't turned against itself, and it had just barely made it through.

The atmosphere in the class was strange now, though, with everyone splitting off into all sorts of little cliques.

There were also more people who kept to themselves.

"Thump!"

Xia Mu flopped onto the bed and gathered his thoughts, considering how to set things up from here.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Just then, someone began pounding furiously on his door.

He glanced to the side. He didn't even need to think about who it was—who else could be so rude?

Sure enough, as soon as he opened the door, the other boy excitedly said, "The pool opens tomorrow. Let's go swimming! There'll definitely be tons of girls with perfect figures to look at."

"Slurp, slurp, haaah!"

As he spoke, he breathed heavily and swallowed nonstop, looking like a total creep.

Xia Mu's mouth twitched at the sight. "Don't you have a girlfriend?"

"Hey."

After answering, Zhu Xincheng hooked an arm around Xia Mu's neck and dragged him into the room. "You've got it all wrong. Who says you can't look at pretty girls just because you have a girlfriend? I'll just look. I won't touch."

"Besides, I want to help you pick out a few."

"I've got a girlfriend now. How could I leave you behind?" The chubby boy winked furiously at Xia Mu, repeatedly jabbing his elbow into Xia Mu's chest muscles and making them go thump, thump, thump.

After nearly three months of exercise, he'd slimmed down to a little over a hundred pounds. He still had traces of his old fat, but he was a long way from deserving to be called a "chubby boy."

"Are you really not worried about your girlfriend?" Xia Mu asked.

"Of course not! Now that we're dating, I'm the one who calls the shots!" Zhu Xincheng pounded his chest, full of swagger.

"Oh, your girlfriend's right behind you." Xia Mu spoke calmly, as if he were stating something completely ordinary.

The words scared Zhu Xincheng so badly that his legs started shaking. He turned around, didn't even see anyone, and dropped to his knees, banging his head against the floor. "I was wrong!!"

He was a total henpecked husband.

"Have some backbone." Xia Mu shook his head, kicked him in the rear, then sat down and gazed at the ceiling. "Fine."

He might as well go take a look. Maybe he'd discover someone else who needed Correction.