Chapter 46

"High schoolers, huh?"

"It's not as simple as you think. It'd be much worse if everyone in class thought I was tough on my own classmates but a pushover with outsiders. And the person we're talking about is Yamauchi, the bottom of the bottom-feeding Class D. Think about it: how much would I lose if they started thinking, 'This guy's not that impressive after all'? Don't look at things so one-sidedly."

Yuan Yuyuan shook his head in disappointment. Was Himeno Yuki just naturally airheaded, or was she insensitive to this sort of thing? He felt like he'd made a terrible decision.

"Oh, I see. Why didn't you just say that from the start? What about Ayanokoji, then? How did you know he was hiding his abilities? And Arisu—you mean Sakayanagi from Class A, right? How did you know about those two?"

"That brings us to a painful chapter from my past."

Yuan Yuyuan briefly told her about Ayanokoji's background and abilities, as well as Sakayanagi Arisu's near-obsessive desire to beat him.

Himeno Yuki blinked, then gave him a look that said, Are you impotent? "And then? There's no more? You still haven't told me how you found out."

"...Our fathers were friends when they were young. Our family also helped get this school established, so our families are close. We met when we were kids, after running into each other a few times. But let me make this clear: once I realized she was crazy, I started avoiding her."

Hearing that the two had known each other since childhood, Himeno Yuki's expression stiffened. Still, she patted Yuan Yuyuan's hand and comforted him with a sympathetic look. "Don't be too jealous. It's perfectly normal for the childhood friend to lose to the newcomer. After all, nobody can stop a plot twist straight out of a novel. You really don't have to take it to heart."

Yuan Yuyuan's mouth twitched. A high school girl's imagination really was something else. Was this the world of a romance novel?

"Give me a break. If I were jealous, would I be talking to Ayanokoji so nicely? And tell me, did you copy that line to comfort me from a novel, too?"

Himeno Yuki's expression gradually froze. It was good news that Yuan Yuyuan wasn't jealous, but... She looked him over again. Had he read that kind of novel, too? Wait, why was that good news?

"Of... Of course not. I came up with all of that myself to comfort you."

"Right. Well, thank you!"

Yuan Yuyuan had already figured it out from her expression, but he didn't plan to press the matter.

"All right, all right. You've heard enough. If there's nothing else, you can head back."

"Fine, I'll go. It's not like I want to stay."

Himeno Yuki pursed her lips and muttered, but she didn't move. Yuan Yuyuan closed his eyes and pretended to be dead. Only then did she stomp her foot and get up to leave.

First Semester: Chapter 43 The truck came barreling in.

The next day after school, Yuan Yuyuan spent the morning classes as usual. Class D's search for evidence was proceeding step by step, but as far as he knew, they hadn't made any progress at all.

That made Yuan Yuyuan start to doubt Ayanokoji. Was this so-called greatest masterpiece nothing more than a shockwave? That didn't make sense. The White Room was a rival to Advanced Nurturing High School; it couldn't have let some useless guy ruin its reputation. Something had to be wrong.

Yuan Yuyuan returned to his dorm as usual to meditate (daydream). Life as a max-level human was just this boring. It was all Ryuen's fault for picking on the weak and going after the worst class, Class D, instead of messing with Class B.

Before long, the entertainment Yuan Yuyuan had been longing for finally arrived in the form of a message from Kushida Kikyo, the one and only two-faced girl.

Kushida Kikyo: [That woman Horikita joined the group helping Sudo. She said the witness might be Sakura from our class.]

Yuan Yuyuan: [Nice, nice. You're really improving.]

After receiving the message, Yuan Yuyuan praised her first. The fact that she'd reported the information without adding a bunch of telegram-style sound effects was proof enough that Kushida had been listening to him.

He was quite pleased, and only then continued asking:

Yuan Yuyuan: [So here's the question: who's Sakura?]

Kushida Kikyo: [A pink-haired girl who wears glasses and carries a camera around. She seems like she might be socially awkward, and also... that part of her is really big.]

Yuan Yuyuan: [What part is really big? Have you started talking in riddles, too?]

Kushida Kikyo: [That's not what I mean. Her... feminine features... are really big.]

Yuan Yuyuan could barely hold it together on the other end of the phone. Luckily, they were texting, and Kushida had no idea he was deliberately pretending not to understand. Nothing else would have made a social butterfly like her stammer. And Sakura was probably bigger than Kushida; otherwise, she would have proudly said something like, "But compared to me, she's still got nothing!"

Yuan Yuyuan: [I see. She carries a camera, too. If she really is the witness, she may have taken pictures of what happened to Sudo. What are you planning to do?]

Kushida Kikyo: [We haven't figured that out yet. Sakura isn't answering her phone, Horikita left, and those idiots just keep standing around, so we don't have a plan at all.]

Yuan Yuyuan: [Lmao, I almost forgot you're in Class D. Let me know when you come up with a plan. Maybe I can mooch some benefits off you again.]

Kushida Kikyo didn't know what to do with Yuan Yuyuan, the penny-pincher. Still, he'd forgotten he was in Class D, too. That counted as praising himself by proxy, didn't it?

He'd also managed to insult Class D while he was at it. What was Class D? He barely knew them. They should stay away from him.

What Yuan Yuyuan hadn't expected was that the Class D group still wouldn't come up with a plan all day. It was pretty ridiculous.

Time moved on to July 4. Five days remained until the trial... until the planet's energy was completely depleted. Yuan Yuyuan received another message from Kushida, who said they were going to visit Sakura after school.

Seriously, what had they all been doing until now?

After school, Yuan Yuyuan stretched and was just about to head to Class D when the angel came over to talk to him.

"Yuyuan, do you want to check out the Special Building later? I don't think we've investigated the matter for the past few days."

"It's fine, it's fine. The only one who hasn't investigated is Honami. I've been keeping an eye on it the whole time."

"Huh?"

Ichinose scratched her cheek, looking at Yuan Yuyuan in confusion.

Yuan Yuyuan gave her an awkward yet polite smile. He'd been having such an easy time lately that he'd accidentally said what he really thought. He hurriedly corrected himself.

"No, I mean... I can handle it myself. Honami, go play with your little sisters. Believe first, then believe again, and keep on believing."

"Oh, all right. I'll leave it all to you, then, Yuyuan! Do your best!"

"Sure, sure. Go on, Honami. Don't keep your little sisters waiting."

With that, Yuan Yuyuan headed toward Class D, wondering if he'd still make it in time.

Before Yuan Yuyuan even reached Class D, a girl came running toward him. He was about to step aside when he suddenly realized who it was: the pink-haired girl with glasses, clutching a camera to her chest.

Yuan Yuyuan came up with a plan. He pretended not to notice Sakura and slammed into her like a truck.

"Ah!"

Sakura cried out in pain as Yuan Yuyuan knocked her over. The camera in her hands traced a perfect arc through the air.