Silver Card

The next day, Yi Chen sat up in bed, his face flushed and his body weak. After getting up and washing up, he kept coughing.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

Yi Chen dragged his tired body to the door and opened it. His friend Ken Sudō had come to walk to school with him.

"Yi Chen, what happened to you? You were fine yesterday."

Ken Sudō walked into the room as he spoke.

Yi Chen shook his head and replied hoarsely,

"I don't know either. Maybe I got caught in the rain. I've just felt weak all over today."

Ken Sudō reached out and touched Yi Chen's forehead, his brows knitting together.

"Whoa, you're burning up. You've got a fever, bro. We need to get a doctor to check you out right away."

Yi Chen was about to answer, but another bout of violent coughing hit him.

Seeing this, Ken Sudō hurriedly helped him sit down, then ran to the water dispenser and poured him a cup of warm water.

Yi Chen drank a few sips and felt a little better. Then he said,

"There's no need to get a doctor. I should be fine after a little rest."

Ken Sudō disagreed.

"No way. You're this sick—you have to see a doctor."

With that, Ken Sudō crouched down and turned his back to Yi Chen.

"Get on. I'll carry you to the infirmary."

Yi Chen said he could walk by himself.

So Ken Sudō accompanied Yi Chen to the infirmary. After making sure Yi Chen was settled, Ken Sudō went to school to request leave for him.

Yi Chen told Ken Sudō to bring the people from their fight to the scene after school that afternoon; he had a way to help him now.

Ken Sudō was deeply moved. Even though Yi Chen was sick, he was still helping him.

That day, Ken Sudō continued to face plenty of discrimination at school.

Yi Chen rested in the infirmary all afternoon and felt a little better after treatment.

He got up and left, then went to the place where the fight had happened.

As soon as he arrived, he heard Ken Sudō arguing with several people from Class C. Yi Chen walked over and looked at them expressionlessly.

He pointed to the security camera not far away, and the people from Class C immediately grew nervous.

They looked at the weak-looking Yi Chen and figured he wasn't very clever.

In the end, both sides made concessions, and the people from Class C agreed to drop the lawsuit.

After they left, Ken Sudō asked, confused,

"If there was a camera, why didn't we report them? At first, I thought there was nothing we could do."

Yi Chen smiled and told Ken Sudō to keep his voice down. Then he led him a little farther away.

Yi Chen said calmly,

"I moved that camera there myself. It couldn't originally capture the corridor."

Ken Sudō burst out laughing.

"Haha, that's brilliant, Yi Chen. Those idiots from Class C just fell for it."

Yi Chen coughed twice.

"You should try not to get me into trouble in the future. If you really want to do that, at least be a little smarter about it."

Ken Sudō looked at the coughing Yi Chen with concern.

"Are you still not better, Yi Chen?"

Yi Chen replied calmly,

"I need three days of IV treatment. I should be better by tomorrow, I guess."

Ken Sudō said,

"Then I'll take you back to the dorm to rest."

The two returned to the dorm. Yi Chen lay on his bed reading manga, and Ken Sudō went back to his room.

Angel:

"Mission complete:

Silver Card:

"Five-Tone Singing King"

Description:

(After use, singing ability reaches the level of a singing king)

Yi Chen happily used the card, then got ready to sleep.

Before long, there was a knock at the door.

Knock, knock, knock—

Yi Chen's already-burning body seemed to grow even hotter at the sound of the knock.

He stormed over to open the door.

When he opened it, he saw Kushida.

Yi Chen had been fuming, but when he saw who it was, he drew in a sharp breath.

Kushida looked worriedly at Yi Chen's flushed face and stepped closer until they were standing very near each other.

Kushida touched Yi Chen's forehead and said softly,

"Why are you so hot? Has your illness gotten worse?"

"Yi Chen, didn't I tell you to call me if you needed anything?"

Yi Chen was at a loss for a moment. He took a small step back, his ears turning red.

"I'm fine. What are you doing here?"

Yi Chen tried to make his voice sound calm.

Kushida took out a book and handed it to him.

"I put together notes on today's important lesson points. I was worried you'd miss them because you were sick."

Yi Chen took the book, a trace of warmth in his eyes.

"Yi Chen, you're not feeling well. You should get some rest."

Yi Chen nodded, still a little shaken.

Kushida smiled at Yi Chen and said,

"Then take good care of yourself. I'll be going now."

Yi Chen watched her walk away, an unfamiliar feeling rising in his heart.

Maybe I'd been too influenced by my preconceived notions about her. At least she's been kind to me lately.

After closing the door, Yi Chen leaned against it for a while, wondering whether what he'd done was right.

He shook his head, trying to clear away his thoughts, then went over to the bed and lay down.

Kushida's notes were right beside his pillow.

Yi Chen sat up and opened the notebook. Neat handwriting met his eyes, with every important point from class recorded in detail.

The next day, Yi Chen felt even worse, and Ken Sudō took him to the infirmary again.

After classes ended that afternoon, Airi realized Yi Chen hadn't come to class again. She heard from the teacher that he'd taken sick leave, then worked up the courage to ask Ken Sudō where he was.

That afternoon, Airi bought some fruit and went to the infirmary to see Yi Chen.

Airi gently pushed open the infirmary door and saw Yi Chen leaning against the bed, reading. His face was somewhat pale.

"Yi Chen, I heard you were sick, so I came to see you."

Airi spoke softly, not daring to look Yi Chen in the eye.

Yi Chen was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said,

"Thank you, Airi."

Airi came over and sat beside Yi Chen's bed.

Airi said sadly,

"Yi Chen, did I make you sick? Actually, that day, I..."

Yi Chen looked at the pitiful Airi and said gently,

"What is it? Take your time. This has nothing to do with you. Getting sick is perfectly normal. Everyone gets sick."

Airi looked at Yi Chen with wide, pleading eyes.

"Yi Chen, about what happened with Ken Sudō—I took a photo of it at the time."

As she spoke, Airi picked up her phone and leaned forward, bringing them closer together as she showed Yi Chen the photo from that day.

Yi Chen looked at the photo on her phone, at Airi without her glasses, and said slowly,

"Oh, you look pretty good."

Airi's face turned even redder, and she hurriedly said,

"What are you talking about? Look behind me. That's Ken Sudō and the others."

Yi Chen smiled.

"I see them. Hasn't this matter already been taken care of? You really do look pretty."

Airi blushed as she looked at Yi Chen, their faces very close together.

They looked at each other for a while before Airi realized it was inappropriate. Embarrassed, she sat to the side and covered her face.

Yi Chen glanced at Airi and tried to ease the awkwardness.

"Airi, why were you there that day?"

At his question, Airi relaxed and replied unhurriedly,

"I went there to take photos, and happened to capture it."

Yi Chen said,

"Do you like taking photos?"

Airi replied softly,

"Something like that."

Yi Chen asked,

"Then you must have lots of other nice photos. Can I see them?"

Airi's already flushed face grew even redder.

Airi sat there and thought for a while as Yi Chen watched her quietly.

Airi slowly moved closer to Yi Chen and sat on the edge of his bed. Embarrassed, she said,

"Sure."

Yi Chen propped up his pillow so Airi could lean against it. Then they both leaned back on the bed and looked at the photos together.

Yi Chen looked through Airi's many beautiful photos and kept complimenting her. She even had some cosplay photos.

The two chatted back and forth about this and that.

Just then, Kushida arrived at the infirmary with some freshly cooked porridge.

She saw how close Yi Chen and Airi were and froze.

When Airi saw her, she stood up nervously, saying she'd only come to visit and was about to leave.

Yi Chen looked at Kushida, and his hair stood on end. He didn't think he'd done anything wrong, but one thing was certain at that moment: he was in trouble.

The atmosphere in the infirmary was a little strange.

Yi Chen looked at Kushida, Kushida looked at Airi, and Airi looked at Yi Chen.

Kushida smiled and said,

"Yi Chen, I brought you some porridge. Seeing that you have someone here to look after you puts my mind at ease."

"I'll leave the porridge here. You can eat it, or you can let Airi have it."

Kushida slowly took out a notebook and set it on the cabinet in the infirmary. She spoke gently.

"Yi Chen, these are the notes from today's class. You can look them over when you have time. I'll be going now."

Yi Chen wanted to stop her, but the words wouldn't come.

Watching this, Airi felt a dull ache in her heart.

Airi said slowly,

"Yi Chen, are you and Kushida close?"

Yi Chen looked at Airi, relieved.

"I guess you could say that."

The two were left feeling awkward for a while because of the little misunderstanding.

Yi Chen glanced at his phone and tried to break the tension.

"Airi, you really are pretty. Haha. It's getting late, so what do you say?"

Airi seemed lost in thought, as if she understood something.

She softly apologized, then hurriedly left.

Yi Chen watched Airi go.

"Why did she apologize?"

Something felt off. Had she misunderstood him?

Yi Chen stood there, feeling troubled and strangely empty inside.

Not long after they left,

the cherry blossoms outside the window were in full bloom. A gentle breeze blew, and a few petals drifted down in front of the window.

Looking out, Yi Chen couldn't help thinking that Japan's cherry blossoms really were lovely. This was what real school life was like.

When you got sick, you could take leave without feeling guilty, and teachers wouldn't show any favoritism in class.

There was no such thing as "it takes two to tango." If someone hit you, you hit back.

Classroom of the Elite: strength above all. You only needed to be strong yourself.