Sakayanagi Has C

Bang, bang, bang!

"Sorry to bother you. Is this the Chess Club?"

An Xiao knocked on the clubroom door and went inside, only to bump into a boy who was just about to leave.

"Sorry, I bumped into you."

"No problem." The boy waved it off, then asked curiously, "Are you here to challenge her too?"

An Xiao nodded. The boy gave him a look that said he'd expected as much, though there was also a hint of pity in his eyes.

Another person here to lose points.

He pointed toward one side of the room, then patted An Xiao on the shoulder. "It's over there. By the way, you came because of that post on the forum too, right? Take my advice and give up."

"Besides the people who were already in the club, several others have come by one after another. Not a single one lasted ten minutes. You should give up."

An Xiao didn't say anything. He just smiled and headed in the direction the boy had pointed.

The boy shook his head and left, deciding not to meddle any further.

After walking a few steps, An Xiao spotted a petite silver-haired girl wearing a beret, sitting quietly in the corner of the clubroom. She held a cup of coffee in both hands, taking tiny sips.

Standing beside her was a taller, purple-haired girl, surveying the room with an openly disdainful look.

What a strange combination.

The thought crossed An Xiao's mind, but he didn't slow down. He walked straight toward them with a polite smile.

"You're... Sakayanagi Arisu, right?"

"Can we start the match now?"

Hearing him, the girl sitting on the sofa slowly raised her head. Her purple eyes flashed with surprise when she saw An Xiao, then she regarded him with an amused, almost-smile. "Hello, An Xiao from Class B."

Damn, another one who'd looked me up. How did she know, too?

Was it really that easy for people to dig up information at this school?

The earlier cases of Hoshinomiya-sensei and Horikita Manabu were one thing. They had their own access and connections. But how had this girl found out about him?

Being remembered by someone who'd made sweeping attacks on the Student Forum at the start of the school year couldn't possibly be a good thing.

"Um, let's start." Not wanting to get caught up in a conversation, An Xiao sent her the points directly through Sakayanagi Arisu's account on the forum.

But even after he'd sent them, the girl across from him made no move. Instead, she studied An Xiao with an intrigued look.

"Don't be in such a hurry, An Xiao." Sakayanagi gently set down her coffee and smiled at him. "As someone who discovered the school's hidden rules on the very first day, you've piqued my interest."

"I'm not a midget," An Xiao replied without thinking.

Sakayanagi Arisu and the girl standing beside her both froze.

They probably hadn't expected him to say that so bluntly.

But then...

"A midget, you say..."

"Given my stature, I suppose that's the sort of label people would give me. Still, it's rather rude, isn't it?" Sakayanagi's lips curled into a smile, and her eyes narrowed, even as she said it.

"I'm broad-minded enough not to get angry or hold a grudge over what other people call me."

No, no.

She was clearly angry.

"Um, are we playing or not?" An Xiao awkwardly changed the subject.

Sakayanagi rested her chin on her hands and said nothing more. The chess match began.

"Checkmate."

The girl toyed with a chess piece in her hand and smiled at the boy across from her, though a trace of disappointment still flickered in her eyes.

So that was all there was to him. She might as well finish this quickly.

"Want to play again?" Sakayanagi Arisu asked.

"Phew." An Xiao patted his cheeks and let out a long breath. Then he pulled another lollipop from his pocket, put it in his mouth, and smiled at Sakayanagi. "Let's keep going. I'm almost there."

"Almost there... is that so?" Sakayanagi's eyes narrowed, making it impossible to read her expression. Still, she looked a little more serious than before.

"Then let's continue."

Nearly an hour passed.

An Xiao let out a heavy breath, bit down hard on the stick still in his mouth, and smiled at Sakayanagi. "Checkmate."

At the same time, the girl in front of him instinctively clutched the skirt beneath her hands, wrinkling it in several places.

From where An Xiao sat, he could clearly see her trembling.

"Are you all right?" An Xiao asked with some concern. His gaze lingered on her somewhat pale cheeks and the crutch beside her.

Mobility issues.

Frailty.

Those words surfaced in An Xiao's mind.

"Sorry you had to see that. As you can tell, I'm rather frail." Sakayanagi Arisu straightened up, recovering from the emotions stirred by the game.

"At an ordinary high school, I might not even have been able to enroll normally. And here..."

Sakayanagi didn't continue that thought. Instead, she said, "I'd thought he was the only new student at this school who could interest me. I never expected..." As she spoke, she stared intently at An Xiao.

"Ahem. Um, the points." An Xiao looked away, not wanting to follow that line of conversation, and hurriedly interrupted her.

"Of course."

Seeing his reaction, Sakayanagi smiled but didn't press the matter. She promptly transferred the points to An Xiao.

"Are you still here? If you beat me again, our bet still stands."

"No, I have something to do later, so I can't keep playing." After seeing the points arrive on his phone, An Xiao checked the time and quickly declined Sakayanagi's invitation.

He gathered his things and headed for the door.

But before he'd gone very far, An Xiao turned around. He looked at Sakayanagi Arisu, whose face was still a little pale under the lights. After hesitating for a moment, he came back to his senses, took a few pieces of homemade candy from his right pocket, and set them on the chess table.

Of course, these were all normal flavors, completely different from the ones he'd given Hoshinomiya-sensei.

"I made these myself. They're good for staying alert and replenishing your sugar."

"Also, if you're not in good health, you should probably drink less coffee and other things like it."

After saying that, An Xiao pointed to the cup of coffee Sakayanagi had set aside. He didn't wait for her reply before leaving.

Looking at the candy on the table, Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly laughed.

"Interesting, isn't he, Kamuro?"

P.S. No one's been commenting lately. Is there something wrong with my writing? I'm a new author, so please show your support!!!