An Xiao: I Must Have Lost My Mind.

"Um, thank you so much for just now."

As soon as they stepped out of the electronics store, Sakura Airi bowed to An Xiao once again.

"I told you, there's really no need for that," An Xiao said, looking at the scene with a helpless expression.

"No, after all, An Xiao, you really helped me out a lot just now."

Sakura subconsciously raised her hands, kept her head low, and said in a weak tone, "If it had just been me, I might not have been able to sign that warranty form."

"I'm telling you..." Without immediately addressing what just happened, An Xiao stepped forward, used the clipboard in his hand to gently lift Sakura's chin, and then tapped her slightly hunched back with it.

"Your chin is almost touching your neck; stand up a bit straighter. You weren't like this when I saw you taking photos earlier."

Hearing An Xiao say this, Sakura couldn't help but recall the first time she met him. A flush of pink quickly burned up her neck, and she rubbed it somewhat unnaturally, though her demeanor softened and she wasn't as stiff as before.

"But that clerk from just now really did give off a bad vibe." An Xiao nodded as he looked at Sakura, his brow furrowing as he remembered the clerk he had seen earlier.

To be honest, An Xiao didn't consider himself someone who judged people by their appearance, and as for that clerk, while he wasn't exactly handsome, he was far from ugly.

Yet, from him, An Xiao felt an inexplicable sense of discomfort that he couldn't quite place.

"That clerk we saw earlier..." An Xiao paused before continuing.

"Although it's not great to talk about people behind their backs, if you run into him again, try your best to stay away from him."

"Okay." Sakura nodded, looked at An Xiao, and added in a small voice, "And I wasn't really comfortable with his gaze either... I always felt like I was being watched."

"That's good." An Xiao nodded; it was best to be on guard.

"I'll contact you when I get the camera."

"Today... thank you so much."

"Alright, alright, no need to be so polite," An Xiao said with a wry smile.

While being polite was a good thing in some respects, it was rather awkward when it was constant.

At least, that was how it felt to An Xiao.

"Sor—" Sakura subconsciously wanted to apologize again, but remembering what An Xiao had just said, she swallowed the words before they could leave her mouth.

"I understand, I'll try my best."

"I'll contact you when the time comes. Of course, if I happen to forget, please feel free to remind me."

"You still have my contact information, right?"

"Yes."

Because An Xiao still had work to finish, they said their goodbyes after a few brief words.

However, as An Xiao walked, he flipped through the information on the store's employees he had in his hand, only stopping when he saw the familiar portrait. He spun his pen between his fingertips a few times before finally circling that photo.

After doing all this, An Xiao let out a sigh.

"I hope I'm just overthinking it."

Evening.

"I must be seeing things."

An Xiao stood in front of his dormitory door, his hand gripping the handle, but his gaze remained fixed on the two pairs of women's shoes neatly placed at his threshold.

Closing the door, An Xiao leaned his back against it, tilted his head back, and whispered, "I must be hallucinating from exhaustion. I haven't even gotten home yet, how could there be people inside?"

"That's right, a hallucination, it must be a hallucination."

An Xiao muttered to himself, took a deep breath, and opened the door again.

"What are you doing at the door? Opening and closing it—hurry up and come in."

"Sorry, Horikita and I have something we want to discuss with you, An Xiao, so we let ourselves in without an invitation."

Looking at the black-haired and brown-haired figures walking out from inside the room, An Xiao suddenly let out a laugh.

"So it really was a hallucination? It seems I've been way too tired lately."

"How could Horikita and Kushida be in my room?"

"Most importantly, they aren't fighting?"

"I think I'll go out to eat today."

An Xiao started to close the door again, but was stopped by Kushida, who had stepped forward.

Kushida grabbed the wrist of the hand An Xiao was using to hold the door handle, leaned in close to him with a smile on her face, though the words she spoke weren't quite as gentle.

"Why don't you try walking away and see what happens?"

"..." An Xiao.

Inside the room, An Xiao lay on the bed with his face buried in a pillow. After a long while, he sat up and looked at the two sitting primly on the chairs.

"Before we talk about anything, can I ask one question?"

"How did you two get in here?"

An Xiao was aware that Horikita had a key card to his room; he had essentially tacitly approved of it, otherwise he would have spoken to her directly about it last time.

Furthermore, ever since that last incident, Horikita would always give him a heads-up before coming over.

However, An Xiao had been a bit busy lately and hadn't really been checking his phone.

But as for Kushida...

Given the relationship between the two, An Xiao didn't think Horikita was the type of person to voluntarily open the door for Kushida.

"We just happened to run into each other on the way here, so we came together," Kushida said with a smile.

"I didn't ask you to follow me; you tagged along on your own," Horikita said with a cold expression.

"Is that so?" Kushida tapped her chin with her finger, wearing a thoughtful expression, before saying apologetically, "Then it seems I misunderstood."

"But come to think of it, you and Horikita really have a close relationship! I was quite surprised when I saw that she had a key card to your room earlier."

"...A lot of things happened that led to this."

An Xiao's mouth twitched, but he also let out a sigh of relief.

He had been worried that Kushida might have obtained a key card to his room from somewhere without his permission; if that were truly the case, they probably wouldn't even be able to remain friends.

"So, what exactly is it that you two came to see me about today?"

An Xiao sat cross-legged on his bed, looking at the two of them.

An Xiao was also a bit curious about what kind of matter could make the two of them sit quietly in his room without fighting.

"However, I'll say this upfront: if it involves that business between your class and Class C, I won't be helping."

Once An Xiao finished speaking, the room fell into a silence.

It was Kushida who spoke first: "It's half and half, really. It involves our class, but not quite."

"The situation is like this..."