You're Like You're Looking Up Some Information, Right?

Kamuro Masumi wondered if it would be a truly happy thing to have someone who cared for her with all their heart.

"Doesn't this just go to show that he really likes you and wouldn't betray you easily?" Kamuro Masumi continued to speak up for Yagami Shizuka.

Sakayanagi Arisu remained silent, her furrowed brows soon relaxing. She had never trusted anyone, nor did she believe anyone was worth her trust, so whenever she wanted to trust someone, negative thoughts would always arise.

If one were to ask what love was, she felt it was humility.

And humility did not necessarily earn pity.

What it might earn instead was resentment, hatred, disgust, and one's own tears.

Without love, one would never experience such things.

That was why she had never let her heart be moved by anyone.

"Let's go. The surveillance plan is canceled. You should go back to monitoring Katsuragi, and find time to keep an eye on the movements of the other classes as well." Sakayanagi Arisu leaned on her cane and walked away.

"Are we not monitoring Shizuka-kun anymore?"

"There is no need." Sakayanagi Arisu took the camera back once more; this time, she had to return it to be at ease.

She, too, feared having her own leverage fall into someone else's hands.

Yagami Shizuka had spent two days in the library, reading during the day and checking out books to read in his dorm at night.

There were truly few people as passionate about reading as he was.

Shiina Hiyori, who was in the library, was very surprised. She wanted to find Yagami Shizuka to chat, but he didn't give her the chance.

She noticed that Yagami Shizuka liked to frequent the electronic section, as if he were looking for something, looking very busy.

If he were a student who loved to study and wanted to look up study materials, she wouldn't mind helping him out.

In the electronic section.

Yagami Shizuka was racing against the god of time, playing a game of chess with Cupid, and engaging in a battle of voids with Sakayanagi Arisu.

Just at the moment when he and Sakayanagi Arisu collided in the void, muscle against muscle.

The countdown on his forehead turned red.

[3]

[2]

[1]

In those three seconds, he did many things. His fingers, single for many years, moved rapidly across the keyboard, typing so fast that the keyboard began to smell of burning.

At this moment, he was covered in sweat, and the computer screen had switched back to the search interface.

Shiina Hiyori pushed the door open and entered. Seeing Yagami Shizuka's lost and helpless expression, she hesitated, wondering if she should say something, yet not knowing how to start. Just as she was about to leave, she gathered her courage and said softly, "You seem to be looking for some information, right?"

"Yes!" Yagami Shizuka nodded, not denying it.

Although the prompt had already stated that the surveillance crisis from Sakayanagi Arisu was resolved, who could be sure? The more weapons one possessed, the better, right?

No one would ever complain about having too many weapons in their hands.

"Are you looking for the hidden rules of this school?" Shiina Hiyori asked again.

"Hmm?" Yagami Shizuka raised his head, casting a puzzled look, "How did you know?"

Although that wasn't it, he still had to put on a show, otherwise he wouldn't be able to smooth things over.

"It was Ryuen Kakeru from my class who said it. He said this school has hidden rules, and if we don't do anything, we will become lambs waiting to be slaughtered by others." Shiina Hiyori did not hide it.

"So, does that mean your class has already unified, right?"

"Yes, but it was a violent unification. If we didn't do that, we would have lost even more." As a member of Class C, Shiina Hiyori seemed to support this approach of Ryuen's.

If one didn't understand Ryuen, one might give him a one-sided evaluation.

Ryuen also had a gentle side; his violence was mostly directed at those who wouldn't listen.

And for someone like Shiina Hiyori, Ryuen would never force her to do anything.

Ryuen's methods weren't entirely correct either, because using violence would result in point deductions; it was just that the losses were smaller this way.

He was currently only preventing students from violating discipline; as for unifying points, he couldn't do that yet. No matter what, the school would never condone students seizing points through intimidation.

"Then have you discovered any intelligence regarding the rules?" Yagami Shizuka asked casually.

"Not yet. I don't really want to manage the affairs of the class, so only here can I feel at ease." After thinking for a moment, she added, "Do you need to exchange information with people from my class?"

"No, there's no need." Yagami Shizuka waved his hand directly, then explained, "You don't need to do anything for me. You probably don't want to have contact with them either, so just leave it at that."

"Oh." Shiina Hiyori understood immediately.

Seeing that the conversation was about to end, she said, "My name is Shiina Hiyori, from Class C. What is your name?"

"Yagami Shizuka, from Class A. Please treat me well."

"Nice to meet you." Shiina Hiyori nodded politely, then added, "If I may ask, could we talk about books? As in, book buddies."

"Sure." Yagami Shizuka had no objections.

Although they were supposed to talk about books, Shiina Hiyori couldn't find a topic for a moment; she couldn't just start by talking about books the other person hadn't read.

"You seem to have borrowed a lot of books these past few days. Do you not have any specific requirements for what you read?"

"No. I believe that the books I read are all useful to me, which is why I borrow them. To be honest, I read all kinds of books. Those books are inherently useful; ordinary people just don't know their value."

"Mm, you're right." Shiina Hiyori also supported Yagami Shizuka's view. "I think the greatest benefit of coming here is having a library like this. I'd be willing to live here for years."

"I think so too. Plus, the environment here is elegant, clean, and quiet. Reading here is simply heaven."

"Exactly, I think it's heaven too."

Within a few sentences, they were chatting without any awkwardness.

Conversations between cultured people are just different; they can always find a topic, and chatting with like-minded people gives one a sense of mutual appreciation.

Yagami Shizuka had a very pleasant time chatting with Shiina Hiyori. When he left, he borrowed a few more books. The reason he only borrowed three each time was simply because the library didn't allow for more.

In the blink of an eye, it was Monday and time for school again.

The classes were still dull and boring. He couldn't slack off during lessons, so he could only continue to sleep, which would give him more time to read at night.

The way Sakayanagi Arisu looked at him had also become strange, as if she had eaten something indescribable. She wasn't exactly angry, but she wasn't not angry either; she just couldn't do anything about him.

The classmates thought they had quarreled, which was why the situation had turned out this way.

During the break, Yagami Shizuka ran to the hallway to get some air; he was finding the constant staring truly unbearable.

"Shizuka-kun." Nishikawa Ryoko and Shiraishi Asuka walked over, and Nishikawa Ryoko spoke first, "Did you two have a fight? Did you not have a good time over the weekend?"

"Sigh! It's a long story!" Yagami Shizuka sighed. He didn't want it to be this way either; he was just trying to protect himself.

"As far as I know, you two didn't go on a date at all, did you? Did you stand her up, or did she stand you up?" Shiraishi Asuka asked sharply.

"It's not a question of standing anyone up. The truth is, I never asked her out in the first place."

"Then why didn't you ask her?" Shiraishi Asuka pressed.

"It's an obvious question. Even if I asked her, she wouldn't agree, and even if she did, she'd just stand me up. I'm not going to go looking for rejection."

"Ha!" Shiraishi Asuka and Nishikawa Ryoko exchanged a look and burst into laughter. It seemed the reason for Sakayanagi Arisu's anger had been found.

Nishikawa Ryoko said with a serious expression, "There is one thing I think Shizuka-kun needs to know first.

Girls are usually quite shy. If you don't take the initiative, there will never be a result. So, things like asking someone out—you have to try it to know if it will succeed or not."

Yagami Shizuka was stunned, but after coming to his senses, he replied, "I see. In that case, I'll give it a try this weekend."