Sorry? No Way-Hand It Over!

"What are we competing in?"

Xia Mu's gaze drifted down to Suzune's chest. "Whose breasts are bigger?"

"Then you've already lost."

Xia Mu was telling the truth. He had pecs.

But Suzune...

If you compared it to a painting, it was like two red flowers stuck onto a blank white canvas—nothing to write home about.

At his words, Suzune's eyes filled with anger. She looked like she wanted to kill him.

"You've got a filthy mouth."

"Likewise. You're pretty sharp-tongued yourself," Xia Mu shot back.

Suzune furrowed her brow and sped up, running ahead without waiting to see if Xia Mu agreed. "Start!"

"If you don't think you can keep up, don't bother coming after me."

"Hey, missy, are you really trying to provoke me?"

Watching Suzune's retreating figure, Xia Mu laughed. "Just don't let me catch up, or you'll regret it!"

"Clatter!"

Suzune yanked her chair back in the classroom and sat down angrily, her face dark with displeasure.

Seeing her, Ayanokoji asked curiously, "Did someone pick on you?"

"Bang!"

Suzune slammed her hand on the desk. Remembering what had just happened, she trembled with rage.

Talk about bringing up the wrong subject.

Now Ayanokoji was sure: someone really had picked on her.

Was there actually anyone in their class who could get the better of Suzune?

When Xia Mu arrived in class, he could more or less guess what had happened.

After he came in, Suzune kept viciously scribbling on a blank sheet of paper with her ballpoint pen. Without realizing it, she'd written the character for "kill."

Her eyes were fixed on Xia Mu.

Ayanokoji's detached, unsettling gaze turned toward Xia Mu.

Perhaps he, too, could be a useful tool.

Xia Mu, however, was looking at Kikyo Kushida.

He'd just given Suzune a hard time, and it felt great.

He was looking forward to seeing what Hypnosis could do.

"Good morning, Xia Mu."

As soon as Kikyo Kushida entered the classroom, she waved at Xia Mu, her face beaming with a radiant smile.

She made it seem as though Xia Mu was very important to her.

A flush spread across Yamauchi's face, and he practically drooled. "Ah, Kushida is just too cute!"

"Xia Mu, she's doing you the honor of greeting you, and you don't even reply!?"

Xia Mu glanced sideways at him. How had he forgotten about those guys?

He'd have to find a time to teach them a lesson, before they kept buzzing around him like flies.

"Kushida, come over here."

Xia Mu beckoned to her.

"Huh?"

Kushida seemed a little confused as she pointed at herself, but inside, she was overjoyed.

This nerd had definitely fallen for her sweet, adorable charm.

He'd probably go home that night and lie awake under the covers, unable to sleep!

She walked over to Xia Mu's desk with her hands behind her back, pushing her chest out. "Mm-hmm~ What did you want, Xia Mu?"

She smiled brightly, and her adorable appearance left the boys around her completely lovestruck.

Only Ayanokoji, Suzune, and Airi Sakura felt a faint sense of discomfort.

"Thump."

Xia Mu pulled out all the assignments he'd received since the start of the school year from beneath his desk and handed them to Kushida.

Her expression stiffened. "X-Xia Mu, what do you mean by this?"

Though Horikita Suzune was reading, she glanced over out of the corner of her eye.

The others were baffled, too.

They could understand confessing to Kushida or asking her out, but what did handing her your homework mean?

"It's just that I haven't done any of my homework these past few days."

Xia Mu rubbed the back of his head, looking a little embarrassed. "I got carried away having fun at the start of the school year."

"So?" Kushida's expression turned a little unpleasant.

"Do it for me." Xia Mu grinned, showing off his pearly white teeth.

"No, no..."

"Then you won't be able to improve, Xia Mu!"

"I can't be the one to hold you back!"

Kushida refused with a self-righteous wave of her hand.

Inside, she was cursing Xia Mu for being an idiot. He wanted to use her as free labor, did he?

"Aw, okay..."

Xia Mu looked disappointed. "I thought we might have a chance to become good friends."

"I never thought you'd fail such a simple test. Never mind..."

As he spoke, he started to take the assignments back.

"Wait!"

Seeing this, Kushida called out to stop him, a barely perceptible flash of anger in her eyes. "Give them to me. I'll do them for you, Xia Mu. You must've been having so much fun at the start of the school year that you forgot!"

"It's okay. I'm here for you!"

Kushida smiled on the outside, while cursing him to herself.

"Great, thanks, Kushida. I knew you were the cutest girl in the world!"

Xia Mu was overjoyed, acting as if he couldn't be more grateful. "Keep trying, and we'll definitely become good friends!"

The corners of the onlookers' mouths twitched when they saw Xia Mu.

How could someone be so shameless?

The Idiot Trio, in particular, looked ready to breathe fire.

Suzune couldn't help the slight lift at the corners of her mouth. She almost laughed.

So she wasn't the only one Xia Mu picked on.

No, there was nothing to be happy about.

This was humiliating. One day, she'd make him pay a hundredfold!

Suzune clenched her book in her hand.

"Doo-doo-doo~"

With no homework to do, Xia Mu hummed a cheerful tune as he watched anime, becoming more and more engrossed.

Normally, Suzune would've thought he was hopeless, but now she felt as if Xia Mu had some kind of confidence behind him.

Could he have already finished studying the material for the first semester, just like she had?

When break time came, Xia Mu rolled his stiff neck and stretched.

"Haah~"

"Kushida, are you there?"

He looked toward Kushida, asking even though he already knew the answer.

The moment she heard his voice, Kushida knew he was about to pull something.

But to maintain her image, she couldn't pretend not to hear him.

"X-Xia Mu..."

"What is it?"

Her delicate hand tightened around her black pen. After a whole morning of homework, she was feeling a little irritated.

"I'm so hungry..."

Xia Mu rubbed his stomach and glanced at the lunchbox under Kushida's desk. "I wish someone would give me a lunchbox!"

The students around them looked displeased.

"Hey, Xia Mu, don't push it!"

A girl with purple twin-tails stepped forward from among the girls and shouted at him.

Ken Sudō's forehead bulged with veins as he shook his fist. "You're treating the adorable Kushida like your personal plaything!"

At that, Xia Mu looked at him with a hint of surprise.

Well, he'd guessed right.

Free labor was free labor. Might as well make use of it.

"Die!"

Sudō thought Xia Mu had looked down on him. He snatched up a chair and was about to swing it at him.

"Sudō, don't lose your temper!"

Seeing this, Kushida hurried to play the peacemaker. Then, lowering her head pitifully, she took out her lunchbox. "If you want to eat, Xia Mu, you can have it..."

"It's fine if I go hungry. It's normal for classmates to help each other, isn't it?"

After hearing that, a normal person would've felt too embarrassed to ask again.

But Xia Mu was hardly a normal person.

He went straight over to Kushida and snatched up the lunchbox with a slap. "Sure, thanks, Kushida. You're just too cute~"

Hand it over!

"?" Kushida was dumbfounded.