Was Kushida Here to Clear Her Head Too?

Haruki Yamauchi and Kanji Ike chimed in too, chewing snacks as they mumbled their praise:

"Horikita's so responsible!"

"Exactly! She's amazing!"

"Horikita really is the hope of Class D!"

For a while, Suzune Horikita became the center of everyone's praise.

She still wore an expressionless face, but her slightly straighter back and the fleeting emotion in her eyes revealed that she wasn't entirely unmoved.

Kikyo Kushida stood to one side, still wearing her sunny smile. She even clapped along as she agreed, "That's right, that's right! Horikita's amazing!"

But for the briefest moment, her smile stiffened almost imperceptibly.

A flicker of gloom and jealousy passed through her eyes.

The emotion vanished so quickly it might have been an illusion—but Lin Mu caught it.

He looked at her flawless smile and her still-bright eyes, which seemed to have a thin veil of mist over them, and silently clicked his tongue.

I hate how Suzune Horikita puts on airs of being aloof, yet so easily wins everyone's approval.

Her displeasure lasted only an instant before Kushida hid it perfectly.

She put on her gentle smile again, as if nothing had happened, and continued playing the cheerful, considerate, understanding Kikyo Kushida.

The not especially lively get-together finally drew to a close after most of the snacks had been eaten.

It was getting late, and they had class the next day.

Everyone got up to leave, leaving the room strewn with snack wrappers, empty drink bottles, cookie crumbs...

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's dorm room had been as neat and tidy as a model home, but now it looked as if a storm had swept through it.

Lin Mu looked at the trash scattered across the floor, then at Ayanokoji's expressionless face and the others already preparing to leave. After a moment's thought, he spoke up.

"I'll help clean up."

After all, he'd been at the gathering too. Even if he'd spent the whole time blending into the background, just leaving all the trash behind and walking away didn't seem right.

At that, Kikyo Kushida immediately raised her hand too. "I'll help as well! Since I suggested the gathering, it'd be rude to leave all this trash behind."

The others—Sudo, Yamauchi, and Kanji Ike—exchanged glances, looking awkward.

They clearly hadn't planned on cleaning up, but with Kushida offering to help, they couldn't just slip away.

"Then... we'll help too..." Sudo mumbled, scratching his head.

"No need," Lin Mu said, cutting him off evenly. "Besides, more people would only make it harder to clean up.

"You can head back. Kushida and I can take care of it."

Haruki Yamauchi was eager to leave, so he seized the opportunity.

"Then we'll leave it to you! Kushida, Lin Mu, thanks for the effort!"

With that, he pulled Kanji Ike and a still-hesitant Sudo out of the room.

Suzune Horikita glanced at Lin Mu, then at Ayanokoji. She said nothing, merely nodding slightly before turning to leave.

At last, only Lin Mu, Kushida, and the room's owner, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, remained.

The three of them quickly divided up the work.

Kushida took care of the trash on the table and bed, while Lin Mu swept the floor. Ayanokoji pitched in too.

Before long, the room was tidy again.

They gathered the trash in a large bag until it bulged.

Lin Mu picked it up and weighed it in his hand before speaking calmly.

"I'll take the trash downstairs. You two can finish tidying up."

With that, he turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

The dormitory area was quiet at night.

The hallway was softly lit. Carrying the trash bag, Lin Mu strolled to the elevator, then headed to the garbage collection point outside the dormitory building.

He tossed the bag into the sorting bin and brushed off dust that wasn't there from his hands.

The evening breeze, damp with sea air, swept over him and stirred the white strands of hair falling across his forehead.

It was refreshing, with a slightly salty smell, and it swept away the lingering scent of snacks clinging to him.

Lin Mu stood beside the garbage bins, not heading back right away.

He looked up at the night sky. There was no moon, only a few sparse stars, dim beneath the glow of the city.

From far off came the faint sound of waves, rising and falling in a steady, endless rhythm.

It'd be boring going back to the dorm anyway.

With that thought, Lin Mu set off toward the nearby shore.

Beneath the night sky, the sea was a vast expanse of deep ink-blue.

The waves lapped gently at the sand with a soft shushing sound, carrying tiny grains away as they receded, again and again.

The entire coastline lay cloaked in quiet darkness, with only the distant streetlights casting hazy pools of light.

Lin Mu leaned against the railing along the seaside path, his hands in his pockets and a lollipop almost finished between his lips.

He gazed at the rolling sea, feeling the cool breeze brush his cheek, and let his thoughts drift.

At times like this, he didn't want to use any of his abilities.

He simply wanted to stand there, feel the wind, listen to the waves, and lose himself in a moment of peace.

But the peace didn't last long.

Soft footsteps came from behind him.

They were light and hesitant, stopping and starting. Whoever it was clearly hadn't set out for the seaside with a particular destination in mind, but was wandering aimlessly.

Lin Mu didn't turn around, but with Psychokinesis, he had already "seen" the newcomer's outline and face.

It was Kikyo Kushida.

Her head was bowed, and her steps were slow, nothing like her usual lively, energetic self.

Her long brown hair stirred in the night breeze, covering most of her face.

She walked absentmindedly and hadn't even noticed the person standing by the railing ahead. Only when she was less than five meters away did she suddenly look up. Their eyes met.

Kikyo Kushida clearly hadn't expected to run into Lin Mu here.

She froze, and for an instant her expression slipped. It was a look Lin Mu had never seen on her face before:

Confusion, gloom, irritation, and a trace of vulnerability she hadn't had time to hide.

But the next second, all those negative emotions receded like the tide.

She quickly steadied her breathing, lifted the corners of her mouth, and curved her eyes into crescents. The sunny, cheerful Kikyo Kushida was back.

She recovered so quickly that it was hard to believe the moment before hadn't been an illusion.

"Oh, Lin Mu?"

Her voice held just the right amount of pleasant surprise, as if this really were a happy coincidence. "You came out for a walk by the sea too? What a coincidence!"

Lin Mu looked at her without saying anything.

His gaze was calm, yet seemed to see right through her, making the smile on Kushida's face stiffen slightly.

A few seconds later, Lin Mu turned back to the sea and spoke softly.

"Something on your mind?"

His voice was gentle, with no hint of accusation—just a simple question.

Kikyo Kushida's smile faltered.

She gave a deliberately carefree laugh and replied brightly, "What do you mean, Lin Mu?

"I'm always like this. I don't have any heavy secrets weighing on me. I'm all sunshine and smiles."

She walked over to the railing, stopping about a meter from Lin Mu, and looked out at the sea too.