Ayanokoji-kun Comes Knocking

"Sorry, could I take a moment of your time?"

Inside the cafeteria, a flat voice, almost devoid of emotion, came from beside him. Immediately after, the chairs in front of and next to An Xiao were pulled out.

"Ayanokoji, Kushida, is there something you need from me?" An Xiao swallowed the food in his mouth before asking with a hint of curiosity.

"We do have a matter to discuss." Ayanokoji nodded, then reached into his pocket and handed a slip of paper to An Xiao.

"This is..." An Xiao raised an eyebrow, looking at the familiar content in his hand.

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

"So it is as I thought." Ayanokoji nodded, not saying anything further.

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

"Of course, I will provide you with compensation."

"Let's hear it."

"I noticed the practice papers your class uses are quite good. I was wondering if you could sell us a copy."

"Those should be the midterm exam papers from the first semester of previous years."

An Xiao nodded in realization.

After all, the midterm exams were only a few days away. With so little time left, it would be far from enough for the people in Class D to review all the key points from scratch.

"However, how did you think to come to me?"

"Even though we have a decent relationship, our classes are still in competition with each other."

"Could I hear your reasoning?"

Given the clear premise of needing past years' papers, most people's choice would be to either ask their own homeroom teacher directly, like An Xiao did, or ask students from the upper grades.

No matter how you look at it, asking a student from the same grade shouldn't be the first option, which is why An Xiao was so curious.

"Regarding that..." Ayanokoji glanced at Kikyo Kushida. The latter immediately understood his intent and looked at An Xiao with a pitiful expression.

"We tried asking students from the upper grades before, but for some reason, they all refused."

As Kushida spoke, she stood up and leaned forward slightly, the two mounds of evil on her chest becoming even more prominent under the pressure. She looked at An Xiao, filled with hope.

"My friend might be expelled. Can you help me?"

To be fair, if it had been any other normal boy, he might have agreed on the spot; after all, the anti-male attack was far too obvious.

However...

An Xiao recalled his previous encounter with Kushida and her performance when she was drunk in his dorm room, cursing the people of Class D like a madwoman. He then looked at Kushida, who was currently staring at him with watery eyes, babbling about how 'my friend might be expelled.'

For some reason, An Xiao felt like laughing.

It wasn't a mocking laugh, but rather, he simply found the massive contrast in Kushida's behavior quite amusing.

Kushida, who had been staring at An Xiao, saw him purse his lips and struggle to suppress a smile. Her expression faltered for a moment, and she gritted her teeth tightly, though she maintained a smile on her face.

It seems this won't work.

Ayanokoji thought to himself.

Although he didn't know why An Xiao had that expression, Ayanokoji could tell that he wasn't being swayed by Kushida.

I'll have to try a different approach next time.

Thinking this, Ayanokoji looked at An Xiao and said, "Can you sell these test papers to us?"

"You guys actually still have points!" An Xiao reined in his smile, looking somewhat surprised.

"...We still have a few, though we hope you won't ask for too many." Ayanokoji said.

"I see..."

An Xiao had originally intended to refuse, but he realized that even if they couldn't get them from him, if they asked Ichinose, she would likely give them away.

To be precise, most people in Class B seemed to be soft-hearted; if Kushida begged them, they would probably agree.

How many points he could get out of it then would be uncertain.

Wait a second, looking at it this way, am I the only one in Class B with a black heart?

"Um... did you agree?"

Ayanokoji, unaware of what was going through An Xiao's mind, saw that the other people eating nearby had gradually left, so he spoke up.

"I suppose so." An Xiao scratched his head and finally agreed.

Every little bit of extra profit helps.

"Then... let's say 60,000 points."

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

"Please!" Kikyo Kushida sat down next to An Xiao, placed her hands on his thigh, and looked at him 'pleadingly.'

"In that case... 80,000 points."

"Why are the points getting higher?" Ayanokoji said.

"Because... it hurts!"

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I just bumped into the table leg." An Xiao smiled, though one hand gripped Kikyo Kushida's wrist to remove it from his thigh.

"I'm just kidding, fifty thousand points will do." After saying that, An Xiao added, "It's absolutely worth the price."

"Is that so? Then I understand, fifty thousand it is."

After the two briefly traded the points, Ayanokoji looked at the image that had been sent to his device, nodded, and stood up to leave.

But just then, An Xiao suddenly spoke up.

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

"Huh? I don't know why you're asking, but I'm not really sure about that." Ayanokoji slowly turned his head back, his eyes devoid of any fluctuation, his tone remaining flat. "After all, I'm just an ordinary person. If you go by that standard, there probably are."

Ayanokoji left after saying that.

This person... he must be the hidden talent Hoshinomiya mentioned.

Although there was no evidence, An Xiao just had that kind of feeling.

And just as An Xiao was thinking this, a hand reached toward his waist before he even realized it, followed by a sharp pinch.

"Hiss~"

"You were smiling quite happily just now! Could you tell me why?" Kikyo Kushida sat beside An Xiao, her expression unchanged from before, still smiling, but it made An Xiao feel a bit creeped out.

"I thought of something happy."

"Oh~ is that so?" Kikyo Kushida's tone was gentle. "Then could you tell me what happy thing it is? Let me be happy too."

Seeing that An Xiao remained silent, Kikyo didn't intend to continue the conversation and stood up to leave, though she left behind a soft sentence as she passed by him.

"I'll come to find you tonight. Remember what you promised me."

So, should I still eat this meal?

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

ps: Thanks to Herrscher of Sentience Fu for the monthly ticket gifted to the author.