Ayanokoji Comes Looking for Him

"Sorry, could I take up a little of your time?"

Inside the cafeteria, a flat voice with almost no emotion came from beside him. A moment later, the chairs in front of and beside An Xiao were pulled out.

"Ayanokoji, Kushida, what did you want to talk to me about?" An Xiao swallowed what was in his mouth, then asked curiously.

"There's something I wanted to discuss." Ayanokoji nodded, then took a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to An Xiao.

"This is..." An Xiao raised an eyebrow as he looked at the familiar-looking contents in his hand.

"The revised exam material from last week, right?"

"So that's what it was." Ayanokoji nodded and said nothing more.

"In that case, An Xiao, would you be willing to make a deal with me?"

"Of course. I'll give you something in return."

"Go on."

"I've seen the practice tests your class uses, and they look pretty good. Would you be willing to sell us a copy?"

"That should be a midterm exam from the first semester a few years ago."

An Xiao nodded in understanding.

After all, the midterm exams were only a few days away. There was far too little time for the students in Class D to review all the material from scratch.

"But how did you think of coming to me?"

"Our relationship is pretty good, but our classes are still competing against each other, aren't they?"

"Could you tell me why?"

Now that they'd decided to look for old exam papers, most people would either ask their homeroom teacher, as An Xiao had done, or ask students in the upper grades.

There was no reason they should ask a student in their own year, so An Xiao was quite curious.

"About that..." Ayanokoji glanced at Kikyo Kushida. The latter immediately understood what he meant and gazed at An Xiao with a pitiful expression.

"We asked some upperclassmen before, but for some reason, they all turned us down."

As she spoke, Kushida stood up and leaned forward slightly. The two prominent mounds on her chest became even more noticeable as she pressed them together. She looked at An Xiao with hopeful eyes.

"My friend might get expelled. Could you help me?"

Honestly, if any other normal guy had been there, he might have agreed right away. It was an approach obviously tailored to appeal to men.

But...

An Xiao recalled how Kushida had acted when they'd bumped into each other before, and how she'd gotten drunk and ranted furiously about the students in Class D in his room. Then he looked at her now, gazing up at him with those watery eyes and saying that her friend might get expelled.

For some reason, An Xiao felt like laughing.

It wasn't a mocking laugh or anything like that. He simply found the huge contrast in Kushida's behavior amusing.

Kushida had been staring at An Xiao the whole time. When she saw him press his lips together to hold back a smile, her expression nearly fell apart. Her teeth clenched tightly, but she still kept smiling.

Looks like that won't work.

That was what Ayanokoji thought.

He didn't know why An Xiao was making that face, but he could tell Kushida hadn't managed to charm him.

They'd have to try a different approach next time.

With that in mind, Ayanokoji looked at An Xiao and asked, "Would you sell us those exam papers?"

"You actually have points!" An Xiao said, surprised, as he suppressed his smile.

"...We have a few. But I hope you won't ask for too many," Ayanokoji said.

"I see..."

An Xiao had initially planned to refuse, but then he thought that even if they couldn't get the papers from him, they could ask Ichinose. She'd probably give them a copy.

More precisely, most of Class B seemed soft-hearted. If Kushida asked them, they'd probably agree.

But how many points he'd get out of it was another question.

Wait, looking at it that way, am I the only coldhearted one in Class B?

"Um... does that mean you'll agree?" Ayanokoji, who had no idea what An Xiao was thinking, noticed the other people around them beginning to leave and spoke up.

"More or less." An Xiao scratched his head, then finally agreed.

A little extra money was better than nothing.

"Then... sixty thousand points."

"That's a bit much. Could you lower it?"

"Please!" Kikyo Kushida sat down beside An Xiao, pressed both hands against his thighs, and looked at him pleadingly.

"Then... eighty thousand points."

"Why does the price keep going up?" Ayanokoji asked.

"Because... Ow!"

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just bumped into the table leg." An Xiao smiled as he grabbed Kushida's wrist with one hand and moved it off his thigh.

"I'm kidding. Fifty thousand points will do." An Xiao added, "It's absolutely worth the price."

"Is that so? All right, then. Fifty thousand it is."

After the two of them made a quick points transfer, Ayanokoji glanced at the images he'd received and nodded. Then he stood up to leave.

But just then, An Xiao suddenly spoke.

"Are there many people like you in Class D?"

"Huh? I'm not sure why you're asking, but I don't really know." Ayanokoji turned back slowly. His expression remained unchanged, and his tone was still flat. "I'm just an ordinary person, after all. If that's the standard, then there should be others."

After saying that, Ayanokoji left.

This guy... He must be the one Hoshinomiya-sensei said had potential.

An Xiao had no proof, but he just had a feeling.

As he was thinking this, a hand somehow found its way to his waist and pinched hard.

"Ow—"

"You were laughing so happily just now! Can you tell me why?" Kikyo Kushida sat beside An Xiao. Her expression hadn't changed from before; she was still smiling sweetly. But she gave An Xiao the chills.

"I thought of something funny."

"Oh? Is that so?" Kikyo Kushida's tone was gentle. "Then could you tell me what was so funny? Maybe it'll make me laugh, too."

When An Xiao kept quiet, Kushida decided not to press him any further. She stood up to leave, but as she passed beside him, she still left him with a soft remark.

"I'll come find you tonight. Don't forget what you promised me."

So, should I keep eating or not?

Looking at the fragrant lunch in front of him, An Xiao suddenly lost his appetite.

P.S. Thanks to Herrscher of Sentience Fu for giving the author a monthly ticket.