Ichinose's Troubles, Kushida's Intentions

"Eh? Eh!"

Ichinose blinked her glistening, watery eyes, her face filled with bewilderment.

So that was it...

She had been reading too much into things!

Honestly, she wasn't a little girl anymore...

"Thank you, Ayanokoji-kun."

Watching Ayanokoji's usual expression, Ichinose's eyes flickered, and then she revealed a sweet smile.

Regardless of the situation, this was someone else's kindness.

Accepting it gracefully was part of her upbringing.

"You're welcome," Ayanokoji said indifferently, his secondary consciousness lingering on the surrounding crowd.

He scanned the area, his gaze finally landing on a senior in the corner who, at first glance, looked just as friendless as he was.

Click. He took a photo and sent it to Kushida.

Task issued: Target, the lonely, miserable senior.

In the Class D classroom, a whistle notification sounded. Kushida took out her phone and revealed a soft smile.

In front of her best friend, she always maintained a well-behaved and lovable image.

This, too, was part of her upbringing.

Finding a random excuse to slip away, Kushida sent a brief two-word reply to Ayanokoji: Received.

In the second-year cafeteria, Ayanokoji was eating his meal leisurely.

A few minutes later, a pretty figure appeared at the entrance of the cafeteria and began walking toward him.

Ayanokoji glanced at her, then looked at the remaining food on Ichinose's plate, and said calmly:

"Ichinose, let's go."

"Eh, but that would be a bit wasteful."

Ichinose looked down at the leftovers on her plate and said.

This was a deluxe set meal, after all...

A single portion cost as much as three meals a day for a regular student.

"It's fine, I still have plenty of points," Ayanokoji said, his eyes lowered. "It just so happens I have something else to take care of."

Ichinose looked up, a hint of confusion flashing in her beautiful eyes.

No matter how much money he had, this was still a waste.

Besides, inviting someone out only to suddenly claim he had something else to do...

Ichinose felt the distance between her and the boy returning to that of strangers.

"Alright, anyway, thank you for your kindness today, Ayanokoji-kun."

Although she couldn't understand the boy's thoughts, she still understood the principle of reciprocating kindness; thanking him was a must.

Ayanokoji nodded, and then the two left the cafeteria together.

I'll find another opportunity to return this favor later.

Ichinose followed behind Ayanokoji, thinking to herself.

Shortly after they left, Kushida Kikyo walked into the cafeteria.

Following the instructions Ayanokoji had provided, she spotted the target at a glance. She took a breath, skillfully donned her signature sweet smile, and adjusted her expression to a warm, inviting glow:

"Senior, could you please help me with a small favor...?"

Invincible!

With the support of her pair of "divine artifacts," she completed the task perfectly.

"Mission accomplished~ Ayanokoji-kun."

Before he had even reached the classroom, he received the good news from Kushida. Looking at the fresh message, Ayanokoji raised an eyebrow, a look of approval appearing on his face.

As expected of you, the social butterfly Kushida.

"Received," Ayanokoji silently sent the message back.

Behind him, the pink-haired girl had a trace of worry between her brows, her mind heavy with thought.

For the past few days, she had been troubled by one thing.

In the past, she rarely refused the requests for physical intimacy from the girls in her class, as she believed it was a way for girls to express friendship, and she was happy to be so well-liked by those around her.

However, in the last few days, she had begun to feel some resistance.

The reason was that her supposed best friend, Shiranami Chihiro from her class, had actually fallen in love with her and had written her a love letter to confess!

Regarding the matter of my best friend wanting to take things further because I'm too cute...

Just thinking about it is something a normal, heterosexual adolescent girl simply cannot accept.

What should I do...

The girl wore a melancholic expression.

She didn't want to hurt Shiranami Chihiro's feelings either, but she truly couldn't find an entry point to solve this problem.

Seeing the girl looking so troubled by chance, Ayanokoji felt a strange sense of guilt in his heart.

As expected, even a fabricated excuse was still too blunt.

Inviting someone to dinner without a word, not even giving her a chance to refuse, and failing to control the sense of distance between people—perhaps the girl really was very reluctant.

After a moment of internal speculation and analysis, the next second, a "Sorry." slipped out of his mouth.

Eh? Why?

To whom?

Ichinose was completely bewildered. She looked around in a daze, and then, to avoid awkwardness, she responded to the boy in front of her:

"Oh... yeah."

A man's heart... is as deep as the ocean.

A strange new realization was added to her mind for no reason.

After school, at Keyaki Mall.

Ayanokoji was sitting under a parasol in the lounge area, looking at the passing pedestrians with a blank expression, as if he were waiting to meet someone.

Before long, an unannounced "Ayanokoji-kun~" came from beside his ear.

Kushida Kikyo suddenly jumped out from behind him, but she didn't stay happy for long; the next second, her face was filled with disappointment.

"Geez, is Ayanokoji-kun a robot? No matter what, you never show any other expression on your face."

Kushida complained in a sweet voice; she had wanted to startle this somewhat dull boy.

Ayanokoji looked at her with an indifferent expression.

Heh, naive.

How could a mortal intimidate a god?

A prank of this level might scare a regular person, but scare you, Lord Ayanokoji?

That is nothing but wishful thinking!

Therefore...

Don't do this next time...

For the first time, Ayanokoji was grateful for his poker face.

Afterward, Kushida took the test papers out of her bag.

Following Ayanokoji's instructions, she had bought two sets: one was the midterm exam paper, and the other was the paper from the previous quiz.

As expected, the question types were basically the same; the information provided by Senior Maruko was reliable.

Ayanokoji handed the test papers back to Kushida, telling her to go make copies and then distribute them to everyone in the class two days before the exam.

As for the reason, he had already explained it to Kushida before.

Born in sorrow, dying in peace; humans are creatures full of inherent flaws.

If they lack the strong mental fortitude to control and overcome them, then one can only use an imminent crisis to drive them forward.

"Ayanokoji-kun, thank you."

While he was lost in thought, Kushida suddenly thanked him.

"No need, I'm also a member of the class, it's only right that I do something."

"Besides, we don't know what kind of impact an expulsion would have on the others."

Ayanokoji spoke in official-sounding platitudes, sounding slightly perfunctory.

Kushida shook her head:

"That's not it, I'm talking about you helping me get closer to Horikita-san."

"You were the one who asked her to bring Sudo and the others to the study session, right?"

"Although progress hasn't been very smooth, we can at least talk to each other now."

After saying this, Kushida raised an eyebrow, revealing a slightly helpless smile.

Ayanokoji watched her silently, whispering to himself:

Kushida, although I don't know what your true objective is.

But that kind of smile is not the smile of someone who genuinely wants to make friends.

This was something he had only learned from another girl not long ago.

It's the same smile, yet yours hides a hint of danger.