A Night Encounter with Kikyo Kushida

"Say, Honami, could you please stop looking at me like that? It's kind of creepy." An Xiao packed up his things, saying so with a helpless expression.

It had been several days since Honami saw An Xiao push his hair back, but throughout those days, she had been glancing at him intentionally or unintentionally. After a while, even An Xiao couldn't take it anymore.

Not to mention that other members of Class B were watching from the side.

"Hehe." Honami chuckled foolishly, feeling a bit embarrassed, but her curiosity still got the better of her.

"An Xiao, why do you keep your hair like that? Isn't it inconvenient in your daily life? I mean, it covers your eyes completely."

"How should I put it..." An Xiao thought for a moment and said, "I guess it makes it easier for me to zone out during class."

"Huh?"

After hearing An Xiao's explanation, Honami was completely bewildered.

She had considered many possibilities, but she never expected it to be for this reason.

"Think about it," An Xiao said, pointing to his eyes. "This way, even if I sleep in class, the teacher won't notice. After all, my eyes are hidden, and my hair even blocks the light. It's killing two birds with one stone."

[If you can't visualize a character with hair covering half their face, you can refer to Ron Kamonohashi o(￣▽￣)d]

As An Xiao spoke, he nodded to himself with great satisfaction.

Sure enough, he really was a genius!

"Ouch! Honami, what are you doing?"

An Xiao rubbed his forehead, which had just been flicked, and asked in confusion.

"An Xiao, you... that's not okay! You still need to pay attention in class."

Honami put her hands on her hips, wanting to say more, when a loud slap against a table echoed through the quiet library.

Here we go again...

An Xiao and Honami exchanged a look, both feeling helpless.

No need to guess, it was Class D again.

Although their study group hadn't officially disbanded, it was barely holding together.

Over the past few days, this kind of thing had happened more than once.

At the beginning, An Xiao would go over to help out or smooth things over for the sake of Horikita.

But while that was fine occasionally, after it happened too many times, not just An Xiao, but even Honami couldn't stand it anymore.

After all, they had their own studying to do, and Class D's sudden outbursts would instantly ruin the good atmosphere.

This led An Xiao and Honami to calculate their time and arrange for Shibata and the others to leave early.

Otherwise, it wasn't worth it to have their moods affected and their efficiency ruined.

And this situation had become even more delicate after Horikita announced a few days ago that she would no longer participate in the study group.

To be more precise, the pressure had basically fallen onto Kikyo Kushida.

Watching Kushida apologize to the librarian while trying to deal with the grinning Yamauchi behind her, Honami tugged on An Xiao's sleeve and cast an inquiring look at him.

"Forget it... it's too late to go over now."

"It's getting late, they'll probably finish soon anyway. As for Kushida..." An Xiao looked at Kushida, who was bowing while seeing off the librarian, and said helplessly, "It's already over."

"Kikyo, she... sigh." Honami Ichinose also sighed. "An Xiao, tell me, why are students like Yamauchi the way they are?"

"If they were even a little bit better, Kikyo wouldn't have to be like this."

After these few days of brief interaction, even someone as good-natured as Honami was reaching her limit.

She was a girl, after all, and whenever Yamauchi saw her, he would constantly talk to Ike next to him about things like bust size, and he didn't exactly whisper, and his gaze was also...

Thinking about it, Honami felt uncomfortable, and after saying goodbye to An Xiao, she left the library.

Watching the people leave the library one after another, An Xiao stretched his shoulders and slumped onto the sofa nearby, muttering to himself, "Exams... can they just hurry up and happen?"

"Why does it feel like reviewing is even more exhausting than the exam itself?"

"Guess who I am?"

Just as An Xiao was thinking this, a pair of soft, warm hands suddenly reached out from behind and gently covered his eyes, followed by a very pleasant scent.

"Hmm... Ryuen, it has to be Ryuen."

"...Wrong answer." The girl's slightly dissatisfied voice drifted from behind him as she walked to his side. "The difference is so obvious."

"Besides, when did you and Ryuen even meet?"

"The only person I know in Class C is you. I've only heard the name Ryuen; I was just teasing you," An Xiao said, feeling a bit speechless.

"I see." Hiyori Shiina nodded, then suddenly changed the subject. "You haven't come to read lately."

"Ah? Well, the midterms are coming up, so everyone is busy reviewing. Doesn't your class have them?"

Upon hearing An Xiao's words, Hiyori Shiina didn't move, just tilted her head and looked at him, as if asking why he would even ask such a question.

Right, reading and reviewing didn't exactly fit the class culture of Class C.

An Xiao sat up from the sofa, looked at the sky that had already turned dark outside the window, and turned to Hiyori Shiina.

"It's getting late, shall we head back together?"

"Mm."

After tidying up their things, the two of them left together.

Walking back to the dorms, An Xiao looked up at the sky, which had turned completely dark, and suddenly felt a bit sentimental.

"This is what a normal high school life should feel like."

Recalling all the fragmented and inexplicable troubles from before, An Xiao almost wanted to cry.

It was just a school, so why did they have to pull all these strange and bizarre stunts every single day?

Noticing the odd expression on An Xiao's face, Shiina Hiyori felt a bit puzzled, but she didn't say anything, simply walking quietly by his side.

The two of them chatted aimlessly as they walked, but they hadn't gone far before a series of strange sounds reached their ears.

"What is... that tapping sound? And is someone talking?"

"I suppose so." Shiina said, sounding a bit uncertain as well. "Should we go take a look?"

"Sure, let's go."

The two of them headed toward the source of the noise, but as they got closer, An Xiao found the voice increasingly familiar. After exchanging a few brief words with Shiina, he ran ahead toward the spot.

"Ah—so annoying, so annoying."

"Why don't they all just die!!"

"It makes me so mad, that Yamauchi, and that Ike too."

"They kept staring at my chest while we were studying, as if I didn't notice, and then they had the nerve to say those disgusting things while acting so full of themselves."

"And I have to smile at them!?"

"So disgusting!!! Why don't they just drop dead already!!"

"And that Horikita, she must have known this would happen, which is why she dumped all this trouble on me, just to spite me, right?"

"Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch..."

"Die, die, die, die..."

In front of An Xiao, Kikyo Kushida had completely shed her usual cute and gentle persona. She was cursing viciously while kicking the railing in front of her with all her might.

Maybe... I should just pretend I didn't see anything and walk away.

As An Xiao thought this and prepared to turn around, Kikyo Kushida seemed to sense something and whipped her head around.

"Why are you here, An Xiao?"

"Did you... see everything just now?"