An Xiao: Was I Being a Little Reckless?

"Huh?"

"My brother asked you to be my tutor, didn't he, An Xiao?"

After Horikita Manabu left, Horikita Suzune's demeanor changed noticeably. She still seemed to have traces of "inferiority" and "timidity," but for the most part, she had returned to her usual self.

"Looks like you took your brother's words to heart, Horikita Suzune."

"I look forward to working with you."

Horikita Suzune pressed her lips together. She looked at the boy in front of her, who was staring at his phone screen with the corners of his mouth twitching upward. She opened her mouth a few times, then finally spoke, still sounding a little unwilling to accept it.

"Why... why did you get my brother's approval? And I..."

We'd both only just started school. Why could he...

Looking at Horikita Suzune, who seemed unable to let go of her frustration, An Xiao scratched his head and said helplessly, "Actually, your brother treats you pretty well."

He really couldn't understand how things had gotten to this point between the siblings.

Couldn't they just talk it out?

But as soon as An Xiao said that, Horikita Suzune froze. Her thoughts, which had just begun to settle, went blank again, and she repeated his words in a daze.

"My brother... actually cares about me?"

Sigh.

An Xiao sighed. Looking at the number on his phone, he figured he'd better explain things properly to his benefactor.

"Why do you think your brother specifically mentioned how I found out about the rules?"

"And he even demonstrated in front of you exactly what points can do at this school."

"That doesn't seem like someone who doesn't care about you. Horikita-senpai... at most, he's just a tsundere."

Horikita Suzune had been listening carefully, thinking it all over as she listened. Once she had calmed down, she realized that An Xiao was right.

But when she heard his last sentence...

When the word "tsundere" was applied to her cold-looking brother in her mind, the corners of her mouth couldn't help curving upward. Even her earlier low spirits lifted a little.

After a few light coughs, Horikita Suzune tossed her long hair over her shoulder and regained her usual cool demeanor. She walked over to An Xiao, took his phone, tapped something on the screen, then handed it back.

"Since it's my brother's request... I look forward to working with you."

"I'll come find you when I have time."

"Sure, sure."

After confirming they'd added each other, Horikita Suzune left without looking back. An Xiao put his phone in his pocket, smacked his lips, and muttered uncertainly,

"Was I... a little reckless?"

But he really was offering a lot.

Forget it. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I should think about what food to prepare for tomorrow first.

As it turned out, An Xiao was wrong. Very wrong.

The next afternoon, An Xiao was sprawled across his desk like a pile of mud, his eyes vacant. Only the lollipop in his mouth bobbed up and down slightly, proving he was still alive.

"An Xiao, what's wrong?"

Ichinose Honami, sitting in the desk in front of him, turned around and looked at him with concern.

"Nothing. I just realized how stupidly naive I was."

An Xiao answered listlessly.

No matter how he'd imagined it, he'd never expected the gap between Classes A, B, C, and D to be this huge!

Class D in particular. He'd thought its students were just a little slow, but the reality had far exceeded his expectations.

If you classified them according to society's standards:

Class A consisted of society's elite.

Class B, high-level wage slaves.

Class C, corporate drones.

Class D... could only be described as a madhouse.

When An Xiao had gone to take a look during P.E. earlier, he'd found that the students in Class D were basically all doing their own thing during class. He'd even seen a few weirdos watching porn on their tablets in the middle of class.

It was a testament to the diversity of life.

By comparison, Class C, which had used violence to "beat the whole class into submission," seemed more normal.

But seriously, wasn't the school going to do anything about this?

There were cameras everywhere, after all.

An Xiao remembered how he'd been exposed online several times in just a few days, and sighed again.

He'd really been too reckless.

Could Horikita be like that too? She didn't seem that way!

How had she ended up in Class D?

An Xiao irritably raked a hand through his hair. Remembering his deal with Hoshinomiya-sensei, he shifted the candy from the left side of his mouth to the right, then looked at Ichinose Honami and asked listlessly, "Ichinose, do you think there are any normal people in Class D?"

"Huh?"

Thinking of Ichinose's unusual social skills, An Xiao told her about what he'd seen in the other classes.

"Class D... is definitely going to have a rough time next month."

After hearing An Xiao out, Ichinose thought for a long while before saying that was all she could come up with.

She hadn't expected Class D to be like that either.

"You think so, right!"

While An Xiao was still thinking it over, a head of dark blue hair appeared in his view. The next moment, an arm hooked around his neck and pulled him over.

"An Xiao, An Xiao! Look at this post on the Student Forum!"

"Cough, cough! Shibata, let go! You're choking me! Cough, cough! I've got food in my mouth!"

An Xiao slapped Soh Shibata on the thigh in annoyance, then looked at the phone he'd shoved in front of him.

Hm? What's this...?

An Xiao raised an eyebrow, intrigued by a pinned post on the forum.

[Chess Challenge

Location: Chess Club

Pay 100,000 points to participate. Best two out of three. The winner gets 500,000 points.]

Damn, they were playing for that much? And... it was a new student?

Since posts on the school forum used verified identities, An Xiao could clearly see who had posted it.

Class A, Year One: Sakayanagi Arisu.

Tsk, she sure was confident!

But the post had stayed up this long, which meant she had some skill.

"Thanks, Shibata. I'll bring you something tasty next time."

An Xiao stood up, patted Shibata on the shoulder, gathered his things, and headed out of the classroom.

As for class?

Give me a break. Classes in Japan ended around three in the afternoon.