30

"You heard all that?" "If you mean Kushida kicking the door and cursing Suzune out, then yes, I heard it." "You really are honest." Now that her secret was out, Kushida no longer bothered keeping up appearances. She hurried down the stairs and shoved Yuan Yuyuan against the wall. "If you dare tell anyone what just happened, I'll never forgive you." "That gives me an idea. What do you think of the headline, 'Shocking! A certain Class 1-D student who wishes to remain anonymous, Kushida Kikyo, has been doing this behind everyone's backs'? The whole Newspaper Club would be eternally grateful to me." "Looks like you still haven't grasped the situation. If you tell anyone, I'll accuse you of attempted sexual assault." Yuan Yuyuan raised an eyebrow. This woman was vicious. In this country, if someone's record was tainted by sexual misconduct, their whole life would probably be ruined. But he didn't need to find a job, so he didn't care. "But what would you accuse me with? You think you can just make something up, and then I have to prove I didn't do it?" "No, because you did do it." As she spoke, Kushida Kikyo grabbed his hand and pressed it against her chest. "Look, your fingerprints are right there. Now we have evidence, don't we? I'll never wash this shirt again. If you dare tell anyone, I'll hand it over to the police." "Nice. I admire your nerve, but it seems you're the one who hasn't grasped the situation." Yuan Yuyuan swiftly pulled out his phone with his other hand. Its camera was already open, and he snapped a whole series of pictures of Kushida. Before she could knock the phone out of his hand, a sudden pain shot through her chest. "Ah!" She glared furiously at Yuan Yuyuan. She couldn't believe that he, who seemed like such a gentleman, had suddenly squeezed her so hard... "What are you doing?!" Meanwhile, Yuan Yuyuan was admiring his handiwork. "Why is Kushida making that face? So lewd." "It won't work. Even if you took pictures, I can just say I was trying to pry your hand away. Delete those right now!" "I'm done playing around. Besides, deleting them wouldn't help. Look behind you." "That trick is way too childish. As if you could—" "As if a self-important bitch like you could possibly help anyone study!" Kushida's eyes widened. In disbelief, she turned around and saw a girl with twin ponytails standing on the stairs behind her. Kushida's words insulting Horikita Suzune were playing from the girl's phone. "No! You have no proof that was me. That's not my voice." Hearing that, Himeno Yuki kindly skipped ahead to the part Kushida wanted. "Your fingerprints are right there. Now we have evidence, don't we?" When Kushida realized Himeno Yuki had recorded the whole thing, and Yuan Yuyuan had taken pictures of her face, she felt as if all the color had drained from the world. Looking at Kushida Kikyo, who had collapsed to the floor, Yuan Yuyuan held out his milky-scented hand. "Get up. As long as you behave, I won't let this get out." "Heh, hahahahaha! Don't think I don't know what you're after. Do you take me for some kind of—?" Kushida Kikyo quickly calmed down and thought of a way out. "You're always coming to our class to sell information, so you must really like points. How about I give you all of mine? Or, whenever you come to Class D to make a deal, I can put in a good word for you. We worked together pretty well back then, didn't we? Horikita probably still hasn't figured out that we were doing it on purpose. And I can talk to any group in Class D. Please, I'm useful. But I really can't do that kind of thing." Yuan Yuyuan said nothing. The light gradually faded from Kushida Kikyo's eyes. Looking at Kushida, who seemed utterly spent, and Himeno Yuki, who was gazing at him with admiration, Yuan Yuyuan felt deeply misunderstood. "What are you thinking? I'm not interested in that kind of scenario." Yuan Yuyuan leaned down and held Kushida's face in his hand. "Don't you want to get rid of Suzune? I can help you." "What? Really? You're willing to get Horikita expelled?" Kushida Kikyo was nearly in tears now that a way out had appeared. Excitedly, she grabbed the hand Yuan Yuyuan had placed against her face. This time, though, she didn't try to press it against her chest; she simply used it for support as she got to her feet. Yuan Yuyuan was a little disappointed that she hadn't put his hand there this time, but he went on. "I'm afraid I can't do that. President Horikita and I have a mutually beneficial relationship, and we're sort of friends, so I won't make an enemy of him over something like this. You just hate Suzune, right? I can make her disappear from Class D." "Xiaoxue, the conversation from here might get a little dark. You should head back. Thanks for your help today. Once this is settled, I'll take you out for a feast." Himeno Yuki's eyes widened as she pointed at herself. She'd been hoping to hear the two of them discuss in detail what they planned to do next, but Yuan Yuyuan had already gotten what he wanted and was now kicking her to the curb. She wanted to say something, but the words caught in her throat. In the end, all she managed was, "You cheapskate! Go drink cold water!" After that, Himeno Yuki turned and left with her pride intact. It had absolutely nothing to do with the feast. o(￣ヘ￣o＃) Yuan Yuyuan knew she wouldn't get angry over something like this, so he didn't give it another thought. Right now, Kushida was the priority. "What if we got her transferred to another class? As long as she's not in Class D getting in your way, that's fine, right?" "But she knows about what I did... What if she tells someone? I think it'd be better to get her expelled." Only then did Yuan Yuyuan understand the source of her hatred for Horikita. "What happened between you two? Tell me about it." Since she was already in his hands, Kushida didn't mind venting her frustrations to Yuan Yuyuan. "Fine. It was back in middle school. Oh, I guess I should start from the beginning. I heard you got a perfect score on the last test, Yuan, and even that big guy Sudo couldn't beat you. Someone as exceptional as you could never understand how I feel. You could never understand someone like me, who can't be the best at anything." First Semester: Chapter 29—Kushida Kikyo, Who Longed for Recognition. "When I was very young, I longed for people to recognize me. I loved being the center of attention. Whether people admired me, envied me, or even looked at me with jealousy, it always made me happy. At first, my life unfolded just as I'd hoped it would." "But it didn't last. That life ended when I started middle school. Whether it was academics or athletics, I was no longer the brightest star. The top students and the athletes could always outshine me. Even when I did my very best, I still couldn't take first place. And more than one person even outshone me in the one thing I'd always been proud of: my looks. But then I realized... 'You realized that other people really liked talking with you, that you were sociable...'"