Chapter 32

"Honami does have a bit of a problem. Her biggest flaw is that she's too much of a bleeding heart. But Katsuragi has the fatal flaw of being blindly cautious, so in theory, she has no reason not to be in Class A." Kushida Kikyo blinked. Seeing that Yuan Yuyuan had really finished speaking, she suppressed the urge to smack him and pressed, "Then, Yuan..."

Yuan Yuyuan glanced at the nonexistent watch on his wrist, then hurriedly pulled Kushida downstairs. "It's late. Let's go eat. I'll call Himeno over, too. Come on, come on, or the cafeteria will run out of food."

"Wait, you still haven't answered my question! You're going too fast—I'm going to fall!"

In the end, they decided not to meet in the cafeteria, but to go to the Western-style restaurant Himeno Yuki had strongly recommended.

"Why would they build such an expensive restaurant at a school? Isn't this distorting students' spending habits? It's corrupting everyone's minds! Don't they know there are still so many people in this society who can't even afford to eat?" Yuan Yuyuan stared at the bill in agony, but neither girl paid him any attention. They were both watching each other. Kushida Kikyo was trying to figure out what their relationship was, while Himeno Yuki was thinking...

"Why is she here, too? I only get to eat because I went to all that trouble to keep an eye on her. It's not fair, it's not fair."

"Behave yourself. It's not like you're paying. Besides, if Kushida earns a merit, I'll bring you along next time. How's that?"

"That's more like it."

Kushida Kikyo sat to one side, watching the two of them bicker. She had actually noticed Himeno Yuki a long time ago. She'd been around the block herself, after all, and Himeno's amateurish disguise couldn't fool her.

"Himeno, this is our first time meeting, isn't it? I'm Kushida Kikyo. It's nice to meet you."

Himeno Yuki hadn't expected Kushida to greet her first, especially after she'd caught Kushida in such an embarrassing moment just now.

"I'm Himeno Yuki. It's nice to meet you."

Himeno Yuki's response chilled the atmosphere. Yuan Yuyuan knew it was unrealistic to expect the two of them to become as close as sisters the moment they met.

"All right, all right, we're all one big family here. Xiaoxue, don't keep looking so stern. Try talking to Kushida more. Just look at that clumsy disguise you put on in class. Sheesh."

"What? Why are you picking on me again? I didn't even say anything."

"I'm telling you to learn from her. I haven't interacted with Kushida much, but at least her acting feels natural. You, on the other hand... I saw through you in no time."

Himeno Yuki had nothing to say. If Kushida hadn't been placed in Class D, Himeno might not have seen through her disguise... Though most of it had been Yuan Yuyuan's guesswork, she couldn't let him get the upper hand.

"So what? Nobody else noticed. You must've been staring at me lecherously when I wasn't looking. Tsk, gross."

"I've been wronged, Lady Himeno! I figured it out because you often looked like you wanted to die whenever you talked to your classmates!"

When even Kushida looked at him in surprise, Yuan Yuyuan finally understood what it felt like for honest office workers who hadn't done anything wrong to be branded perverts by mischievous high school girls looking for a laugh.

"Hey, hey, why do you believe her, too? When I touched your heart earlier, I was looking straight ahead the whole time."

"But you did squeeze it, didn't you? There were other ways to do it. It still hurts a little." Kushida put on a pitiful expression, a few tears already glistening in her eyes. Every word she said made it sound as if someone had taken advantage of her.

Yuan Yuyuan would never accept this slander. He shut his eyes in grief, but unlike Kushida, he couldn't force himself to cry.

"What happened to your sweet, innocent act? How can you say something so suggestive in public? What is this world coming to?"

Seeing that all the food had arrived and the topic of her bad acting had passed, Himeno Yuki quickly redirected their attention to the food. "Enough, enough. You've already been marked as a pervert by both of us. Hurry up and eat. I still have to go back to the dorm and disinfect myself with alcohol."

By the time Yuan Yuyuan opened his eyes, Kushida was already sitting beside Himeno Yuki, as if sitting beside him would bring misfortune.

"I'm the boss here. Why are you two acting so smug when I've got dirt on both of you?"

Kushida Kikyo and Himeno Yuki ignored him again, looking for all the world like they'd already become friends as they huddled together and gossiped about Yuan Yuyuan's various perverted antics.

Yuan Yuyuan didn't mind their little scheme. It wasn't easy for the two of them to find a shared topic and have their fun at his expense, so he let them be.

By the time they'd dawdled through dinner and returned to the dorm, night had fallen. With nothing else to do, Yuan Yuyuan lay on his bed, lost in thought.

"Did I run my mouth a little too much today...? I seem to remember..."

Yuan Yuyuan's memory went back to the day Manabu Horikita had invited him to join the Student Council.

"I want points. I'm going up against the vice president, who has power and influence. I won't feel safe without some points to protect myself."

"But I can only give you ten million."

Yuan Yuyuan felt numb. At the time, he'd been so focused on the vice president and the ten million points that he hadn't noticed Manabu Horikita had said "only." That meant if he lost to Nagumo, he'd be facing expulsion, and ten million wouldn't be enough. And if that was the case, the promise to transfer Horikita Suzune to another class would fall through, too...

Even though it was late, he still called Manabu Horikita.

"Hello, hello, Horikita-senpai. Sorry to bother you—did I wake you?"

"That's all right. I'm reading. What is it?"

"I wanted to know how many points it costs to transfer someone to another class."

"Since the first month has already passed, I can tell you. A class transfer, or an exemption from expulsion, costs twenty million points."

Yuan Yuyuan's heart bled. He should've just agreed to expel Horikita Suzune back then instead of making a careless promise to Kushida to get her transferred to another class. Trading twenty million points for Kushida's loyalty wasn't exactly a loss, but the fact that he wouldn't see any return on it in the short term was devastating.

He thought it over carefully. Raising the price on Manabu Horikita now would be ridiculous, and there was no need to damage their relationship over a few points. In the end, he silently swallowed the loss.

"Fine. That's all I wanted to ask. Get some rest, President."

"Mm."

After hanging up, Yuan Yuyuan sighed. He envied the president for having time to read. He still had to... Read?

Shiina!

He hurriedly took out the book Shiina had recommended. When had they agreed to share their thoughts on it? He'd completely forgotten.

### It's the First Semester: Chapter 30—Help! It's a bit strange for an author to ask this, but how do I keep images from getting blurry? They look fine on my computer, but they're blurry as heck on my phone. Pudding, pudding, pudding, pudding, pudding, pudding, pudding, pudding, pudding, pudding, pudding, pudding, pudding, pudding, pudding. I mean the one of Hiyori. Don't slander me in the comments, or I'll come after you.