The Method from An Xiao

"Hmm, I see. So that's how you two handled it."

After hearing how Horikita and Ayanokoji had successfully tricked the three students from Class C into dropping their complaint by setting up fake security cameras, An Xiao nodded in genuine admiration.

Of course, the object of his admiration wasn't the two people standing before him who had devised the plan, but rather the three students from Class C who had been successfully fooled by it.

Judging by the footage An Xiao had captured earlier and the shock he saw on their faces when he later handed that evidence over to Ryuen, they had definitely scouted the location beforehand.

They should have known perfectly well whether or not there were surveillance cameras in that area.

Yet, for them to still be deceived, An Xiao didn't even know what to say.

Moreover, An Xiao couldn't fathom what those three were thinking; even if they had been caught on camera, Sudo would have been at fault too since he threw the first punch. They could have easily used that to drag Class D down with them.

And most importantly, setting aside whether the rumor-mongering had any real impact, shouldn't they have found it suspicious that you were willing to stand right under a camera to threaten them into dropping their complaint?

So, what exactly were they thinking?

Was their brain really just a decorative ornament?

How could they just drop the complaint?

In An Xiao's view, the entire affair was riddled with absurdities, and the fact that it actually worked could only be called a miracle.

The only part of the whole ordeal that required any real skill was the way Ayanokoji had sweet-talked those three.

Thinking of this, An Xiao couldn't help but glance at Ayanokoji.

"Hey, what are you doing? Hurry up and explain your method." Horikita said, looking somewhat dissatisfied as An Xiao remained silent for a long time.

"Oh, sorry, sorry. I was just thinking about something, so I zoned out."

An Xiao shook his head to clear his thoughts, scratched his hair, and said to Horikita, "To be honest, I really didn't expect you to use that method."

Hearing An Xiao say this, the corners of Horikita's mouth curled up, and just as she was about to say something, Ayanokoji, who was standing to the side, spoke up: "Although it might be ill-timed to say this now, I think An Xiao's meaning might be a little different from what you're imagining."

An Xiao looked at Ayanokoji with some surprise, nodded, and then said to Horikita, "Seriously, the fact that your method worked was at least half down to pure luck."

"If the other side had used even a shred of common sense, your plan would never have succeeded."

Following that, An Xiao told them exactly what he had been thinking.

After listening, Horikita's head felt like it was buzzing. She remained silent for a long time before finally speaking.

"Then what would your method have been?"

"My method, huh..." An Xiao didn't answer directly, but instead asked the two of them a question.

"If someone accused you of stealing their money, what would you say?"

"If it were me, I would probably let them check my belongings to dispel their suspicions," Ayanokoji said.

But after he finished, he noticed the strange look in An Xiao's eyes and asked with some confusion, "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing." An Xiao shook his head and then looked at Horikita.

"What about you? How would you answer?"

Horikita sneered and said.

"Where is the evidence? An accusation without basis only exposes your own stupidity."

As expected.

An Xiao sighed and looked at Horikita Suzune with a wry smile. "Doesn't that mean you already knew how to answer?"

Horikita was stunned, then realized what An Xiao meant, her beautiful eyes widening slightly.

"It seems you've realized it too."

"Your class's approach was exactly what Ayanokoji described, while my method was what you just said."

"Your class fell into the trap of trying to prove your innocence from the very beginning, working hard to prove it wasn't you."

"Honestly, if it were me, since there was no surveillance evidence, on what grounds could they claim I was the one who hit them?"

"What evidence do they have that I was the one who did it?"

"They can't just say it happened because they said so, right?"

An Xiao's words were soft, yet they sent huge ripples through Horikita's heart. Even the way Ayanokoji looked at An Xiao had changed slightly.

After a long while, Horikita chuckled, looked at An Xiao, and said with a hint of helplessness, "It seems I probably failed this test."

"It's not quite a failure." An Xiao shrugged and said, "Regardless of how you did it, the result is that you succeeded."

Ignoring An Xiao's attempt at comfort, Horikita Suzune composed herself and looked at An Xiao.

"It won't happen again next time."

Absolutely.

Watching Horikita like this, An Xiao couldn't help but laugh. He rummaged through his right pocket, pulled out a piece of candy, waved it in front of Horikita, and said.

"Here, for you. A reward for passing the test."

"...Do you take me for a child?" Horikita looked at An Xiao's gesture, her voice rising a notch, and even her face flushed with a faint red hue.

She walked up to An Xiao, stomped hard on his foot, snatched the candy from his hand, and walked away without looking back.

"You're certainly not a child anymore; you're impossible to tease," An Xiao said helplessly, then looked down at his now-empty right hand, the corners of his mouth curling up involuntarily.

These two siblings really are alike.

Both of them are such tsunderes.

"As I thought, your relationship with Horikita is quite good. At the very least, I've never seen her look like that before."

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji walked up and said to An Xiao.

"It's alright, I suppose we're friends. By the way, do you want a candy?" An Xiao pulled another piece of candy from his right pocket and held it out toward Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

"Hm, thanks." Kiyotaka Ayanokoji took the candy from An Xiao, offered a word of thanks, and then spoke as if it were nothing.

"Does classmate An Xiao like eating candy very much?"

"Hm? Me? It's alright. It's mainly because I have a bit of hypoglycemia, so I carry some candy around with me. Over time, I just got used to it." As An Xiao spoke, he took out a piece for himself and popped it into his mouth.

"Oh, is that so?" Kiyotaka Ayanokoji said softly, peeling the wrapper off the candy and, imitating An Xiao, placed it into his mouth.

"Oh, right, come to think of it, why did you help Horikita, Kiyotaka?"

"Regarding the things you mentioned earlier, if you had handled them all by yourself, the efficiency would have been much higher, wouldn't it?"

"The final results would likely have been better as well."

"Cough, cough."

I choked. My luck is truly terrible.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji thought to himself.

ps: The author might be pulling an all-nighter to play Valorant, so tomorrow's updates will all be in the evening.

If you have a preferred update time, please let me know here; the author will be reading the comments.