Chapter 45

"Did you come to me just to admit your mistake?" "Exactly! And then I rejected her flatly. She lost all face and didn't have the nerve to see me again." Himeno Yuki rolled her eyes and continued poking at her steak, showing no intention of picking up the conversation. Yuan Yuyuan, on the other hand, was quite anxious; he had already fabricated—no, thought through—how to explain the situation, but since Himeno Yuki didn't intend to keep asking, he couldn't help but feel like he'd been played. When school ended in the afternoon, because he had received a message from Kushida Kikyo, Yuan Yuyuan didn't go back to sleep as usual. Instead, under the pretext of assisting Class D, he convinced the kind-hearted crowd to stay behind willingly. Soon after, Kushida Kikyo arrived at Class B with two of the Idiot Trio and the new Idiot Trio member, Ayanokoji. She greeted everyone she knew, roughly gauged whether there were any witnesses, and then stood before Yuan Yuyuan to ask: "Yuyuan-kun, do you have any clues? I haven't found any useful evidence so far." "Wait, why is Kushida-san calling him so intimately? Even I only call him Yamauchi-kun." "I already asked earlier; there are no clues." Yuan Yuyuan ignored the idiot Yamauchi. If he lacked the ability, he should just stay quiet. The girls in the class said this guy loved to seek attention, and looking at him now, that was certainly true. Kushida Kikyo didn't take Yamauchi to heart either; she had already decided to find Yuan Yuyuan later to give this idiot a good scolding: "Then what should we do? If this continues, Sudo-kun will be expelled." "It's fine, hasn't Ayanokoji already made a move?" Yuan Yuyuan greeted Ayanokoji, who was standing at the very back: "Right, Ayanokoji? What I find strange is that you don't seem to have much say in this. Could it be that you actually prefer playing the pig to eat the tiger?" "Eh? Is that true, Ayanokoji-kun? So you've been hiding your true strength all along, to think you could earn such high praise from Yuyuan-kun." Kushida Kikyo had already received instructions from Yuan Yuyuan and cooperated by echoing his sentiment, though given her persona, she couldn't very well ask why he wouldn't do his best to help Sudo if that were the case. Yamauchi, however, didn't think in that direction at all; with his limited intellect, he could only see that Kushida Kikyo seemed very interested in Ayanokoji: "What's this? How could a guy like Ayanokoji possibly do something like that? Kushida-san is overthinking it." Yuan Yuyuan was truly stunned by the stupidity of this pig, Yamauchi. He could have pretended to be magnanimous about the previous interruptions, but who was he? The big boss of Class B! How could he let someone like Yamauchi—who was considered trash even in a dump like Class D—question him: "Hey you, are you questioning me?" "I just don't think Ayanokoji has that kind of ability." Based on Yuan Yuyuan's intimidation in Class D, the bullying-prone Yamauchi didn't dare to talk back, but since his dream girl Kushida was still there, Yamauchi naturally didn't want to lose face. Yuan Yuyuan didn't coddle Yamauchi; he hated people who were incompetent yet loved to bark: "Since when does someone else's ability get defined by your thoughts? Don't take yourself too seriously." "Could you two please stop arguing? Regardless of whether Ayanokoji-kun is hiding his strength, let's at least not hurt our harmony." Kushida intervened just in time, knowing Yuan Yuyuan didn't want to deal with Yamauchi, and prepared to steer the topic back to Ayanokoji. "Since Kushida-san has..." "I see you still haven't realized the situation, you idiot." Yuan Yuyuan cut Yamauchi off. Kushida was clever, but Yamauchi kept trying to take the ladder she offered—did he think he didn't need to save face? "You don't think this is just going to blow over, do you? Interrupting repeatedly while others are speaking—do you really think I'm made of paper?" Having exhausted all his courage on that last sentence, Yamauchi naturally didn't dare to talk back to the arrogant Yuan Yuyuan and just stood there looking disgruntled. But Yuan Yuyuan didn't intend to let him off: "What, cat got your tongue? You were talking quite a bit just now. Do you really think I was giving you face?" Seeing that this loser truly didn't dare to talk back, Yuan Yuyuan didn't plan to press his advantage too far, especially with everyone watching. He turned his gaze back to Ayanokoji: "The annoying guy has shut up now. Ayanokoji-kun, don't you intend to answer my question? If you keep hiding, your friend is going to be expelled. I'm curious, how will you withstand the offensive from Arisu like this?" "I just have better luck than most; there's no need to think of me as that strong, right?" Ayanokoji felt helpless. If he didn't answer, it would seem too strange, and even if it was a bit far-fetched, it was better than tacitly agreeing. "You can use that line to fool Suzune and the student council president, just don't fool yourself." After saying this, Yuan Yuyuan took his little sidekick Himeno Yuki and headed back to the dormitory. He naturally wasn't there to declare war on behalf of Sakayanagi Arisu; he just wanted to use others to spread the word and drive a wedge between Ayanokoji and Class D. Surely no one would be willing to work for someone who didn't care about the life or death of their friends? But those two idiots just now didn't seem to understand at all, so he would have to see how Kushida and the others in Class B performed later. Halfway there, Himeno Yuki couldn't suppress her curiosity any longer and asked Yuan Yuyuan: "What did you mean by all that? Can you stop being a riddle-master!" "What riddle-master? As long as he understands, isn't that enough?" "But I don't understand! Can you explain it to me in detail? I'm really curious." Yuan Yuyuan sighed; so there was a third idiot. Come to think of it, wasn't this girl an ice queen? Why was she so gossipy? Still, he didn't mind telling Himeno Yuki: "Let's talk when we get back. I can't explain it clearly in a moment." Hearing this, Himeno Yuki hurriedly quickened her pace, urging Yuan Yuyuan: "Then what are you standing there for? Hurry up! You're always so slow." Yuan Yuyuan had no choice but to speed up. Once they reached his dormitory, Himeno Yuki sat at his guest table with lightning speed, waiting for him to tell her the story. However, Yuan Yuyuan walked to the fridge to get her a juice and then brewed a pot of tea for himself. Himeno Yuki watched with her temples throbbing, but for the sake of the juice, she decided to forgive Yuan Yuyuan. Yuan Yuyuan deliberately kept her in suspense, taking his time to finish everything before saying: "Alright, what do you want to know?" "Ah? This... the hiding strength part, the Arisu thing, and why you scolded Yamauchi—I want to know it all." "Hey, I'm not saying this to be mean, but I can understand not getting the first two, but not getting the third one? I'm starting to think choosing you was my mistake." Could Himeno Yuki endure this!? But she still wanted to hear the story... She endured it. "Why else would you be the boss? Please, just tell me!" "Alright, alright, let's start with that idiot. Actually, I really didn't want to deal with him at first; talking to him just lowers my value. But as you know, I'm currently in charge of all external affairs for Class B. If others see someone like Yamauchi constantly interrupting my conversation with Kushida, where would I put my face?" "Oh~ so you mean someone of Yamauchi's caliber interrupting you makes you look bad, pfft... hahahahaha." Himeno Yuki laughed at Yuan Yuyuan without restraint: "Only at times like this does it make people realize that you're just someone who acts on impulse..."