Chapter 27

"Based on the abilities of the others, they shouldn't have been assigned to Class D." "Not bad, what else?" "If I had to say, Koenji and Horikita are unwilling to cooperate with others because they think too highly of themselves, but Hirata and Kushida seem exceptionally abnormal. They not only possess strong social skills and academic grades that can be called excellent, but Hirata is also the ace of the Soccer Club, and Kushida's athletic ability is above average among the girls. Therefore, the two of them likely have flaws that would make people shudder." After listening to Himeno Yuki's analysis, Yuan Yuyuan was increasingly satisfied with her; if it were this child, she might truly become an excellent leader. "Very good, but you missed one point: Kushida hates Horikita." "Just because of that one sentence? It could also have been an unintentional slip." "With her emotional intelligence, she wouldn't make such a low-level mistake, though that possibility can't be ruled out. But you weren't there when the incident happened at the library last time, so I'll let you off the hook this once." Subsequently, Yuan Yuyuan told Himeno Yuki about Kushida's abnormal behavior at the library, and Himeno Yuki suddenly realized the truth, but there was one thing she couldn't figure out. "But why? Our classmates often see Kushida trying to suck up to Horikita." "Perhaps she's lurking around Horikita to collect dirt on her. After all, she has always presented herself as an angel just like Honami, and others are willing to vent to her or badmouth people, and so on." As Yuan Yuyuan spoke, he suddenly realized something was wrong: "Could it be that she leaked someone's secrets and triggered a violent incident? No, that's not right either; that level of trouble would be at most a Class C issue." Himeno Yuki nodded in agreement and added at the right moment. "Maybe she leaked everyone's secrets? There are plenty of people who badmouth others behind their backs, and with her social skills, it wouldn't be strange even if she made the whole school get into a brawl." Yuan Yuyuan was noncommittal, but he still felt it was a bit unreliable. "But if she's a blabbermouth, who would be willing to tell her such things? The logic holds up, but it probably wasn't spread at school... However, one thing is certain: she definitely vented it out, and she made sure someone else knew about it." "Does she have to vent? If she's really like you said, with her level of cunning, she might be able to hold it in, right?" Yuan Yuyuan shook his head, gave Himeno Yuki a "you're so naive" look, and said, "That's where you're wrong. If you have too many chat logs, your memory runs out, let alone a living person like her. But there's no way to confide in acquaintances about these things, and even if she writes a diary, it's just talking to herself; looking at it for too long might even make her more irritable." "That makes sense, but so what? We have absolutely no evidence." "Exactly, so this arduous task is entrusted to you!" ??? Himeno Yuki tilted her head, which was filled with question marks, and looked at Yuan Yuyuan, who was standing beside her and talking without any sense of burden, in disbelief. "What do you mean it's entrusted to me? You don't expect me to go find evidence, do you? How am I supposed to do that out of thin air?" "Of course it's not that simple. Think about it, there are less than five hundred students in the three grades of our school, so she definitely won't leak these things this time, otherwise, she'd be identified immediately." "Doesn't that mean there's still no way? If she doesn't say it out loud, won't it be even harder to find evidence?" "Tsk, Yuki, you still have a long way to go. If she can't say these things, won't she find other ways to vent? Climbing trees, hitting railings, lying on the tracks—anything is possible." "You mean she'll find a place where no one is around to vent her anger, is that it? Wait, are you saying you want me to become a stalker who monitors others?" "What kind of talk is that! What kind of talk! I want to see my lawyer! Can you call this a stalker? As long as we hold her leverage, it's equivalent to holding the leverage of the entire grade! When we face any class, we can throw them into chaos. Dealing with a mere Class A won't be a problem at all. This is all for the sake of the class, don't have such low awareness." "Tch, you pretentious guy, you have a whole set of excuses." Seeing Yuan Yuyuan start his nonsense again, Himeno Yuki knew she couldn't escape this fate. But if she had to choose between her previous life and being a tool, Himeno Yuki chose the latter without hesitation. "Fine, even monitoring is better than playing pretend. Sigh, sometimes I really envy Horikita Suzune, living without caring about others' eyes, feeling fine even if she's all alone. Unlike me, having to be enslaved by a guy like you who comes up with ideas on a whim." "Why are you getting all emo? How about I take you out for a big meal another day? Japanese, Chinese, Western, you can choose whatever you want. Just bear with it for a while, and I'll buy you more desserts to reward you." "You promise! I want to eat French food, I've wanted to try it for a long time... No, wait, you're too insidious! I'm working myself to the bone monitoring others, and you're only bribing me with one meal? No, no, while I'm monitoring her, you have to take me out for a big meal every week." "You're really trying to drain my points, aren't you? Do you know that a French meal outside starts at over ten thousand yen!" Although he said that, Himeno Yuki knew the difference between being full once and being full all the time. For the sake of the big meals, she went all out this time. She turned around and poked Yuan Yuyuan's arm, saying nothing, just blinking her eyes and looking at him pitifully. Yuan Yuyuan had never seen the iceberg that was Himeno Yuki make such an expression, and in the end, he helplessly chose to compromise. "Fine, fine, fine. Since Yuki is so eager to go on a date with me, I'll reluctantly agree." "Blegh, say whatever you want, I'm definitely eating that big meal, and I'm going after school!" "Eh? But I promised Shiina that we'd go to the library to read after school." "Who is Shiina? Another girl, right? Heh, so you're a lecher." "What kind of talk is that! But I also find it strange; I didn't expect my popularity with women to be this good. If you want to make a move, Yuki, you'd better hurry. I'm very popular, and if you miss out, you'll regret it so much you'll shed ten pounds of tears in your blanket." "Stop calling me Yuki, hey! You guy who keeps pushing his luck, who would care about a young master like you who rolls around in a pile of rouge? Look, even Ichinose has been distancing herself from you lately. Could it be that you got bored and turned to target that Shiina student?" Yuan Yuyuan was quite impressed by the high schooler's imagination. Clearly, he was innocent with everyone, except for being overly self-conscious when he first enrolled, which led to some dark history that only he knew about. Most of the time, it was just a matter of pulling a pretty girl along to save face for himself. "Where do all these random thoughts come from? I've been worrying about the class for so long, can't I enjoy myself? According to you, I'm rising in class for Honami, studying for Shiina, and slacking off for you? That's putting the cart before the horse. But I wouldn't mind having a romance, though. Has Yuki ever been in love? What does it feel like? Share it with me." Himeno Yuki always felt that Yuan Yuyuan was scolding her, but she had no evidence. "Forget it. Look at me, are there any boys who dare to approach me?" "Ah? I don't think you're ugly. You should be more confident. If nothing else, my taste is top-tier strict." "What are you talking about? I'm not talking about my looks! I've been like this since I was a child. There were people who tried to hit on me, but they couldn't squeeze out a single sentence for half a day, so eventually, I just couldn't be bothered with them." "That's true, no wonder they would..."