Forced Labor

"Did they say anything?" Suzune Horikita asked, looking a bit puzzled. "I was busy thinking about whether or not I should apologize to Sudo at the time, so I didn't notice."

"I see..."

Toru Hasegawa confirmed his inner suspicion; it turned out that he was the real culprit.

It was one thing for Sudo not to realize it, but Suzune Horikita looked like a very intelligent person, so how could she have missed it?

Thus, he recounted the conversation between the second-year senior and Sudo exactly as it happened, then asked again:

"What do you think?"

"...The fact that the other party could guess which class Sudo is in is certainly worth pondering. As for the 'defective product' and 'seeing hell' parts, I actually think those fit Sudo's fate quite well."

Suzune Horikita chuckled softly. Toru Hasegawa could see the number above her head jump from 40 to 70.

Hmm... although this wasn't his primary goal, it was nice to build a good relationship with others.

"Forget it, we should know the answer to this sooner or later."

Despite saying that, Toru Hasegawa remained on high alert. Meanwhile, he finished his cleaning.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Arisu Sakayanagi walked out of the convenience store with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, wearing an apologetic expression, before naturally noticing the state of the floor.

"I just cleaned up a little; it was really quite messy, after all."

Seeing Arisu Sakayanagi's gaze, Toru Hasegawa replied briefly.

He had no intention of mentioning what had happened earlier.

Arisu Sakayanagi just nodded gently, then said to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka beside her:

"I see... We won't disturb your time together any longer. Ayanokoji-kun, Horikita-san is still waiting for you there~"

"I need to correct one thing." Upon hearing this, Suzune Horikita immediately corrected Arisu Sakayanagi's statement. "He and I have no relationship whatsoever. If you must say anything, it's just that we happen to be classmates sitting next to each other, nothing more."

She spoke in a crisp voice, clearly dissatisfied with Arisu Sakayanagi taking the liberty of defining her relationship with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

However, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka did not show the reaction she had expected.

He merely glanced at her with deep, unreadable eyes before shifting his gaze back to Toru Hasegawa.

Suzune Horikita sighed helplessly. She didn't care about his unusual behavior, but she felt foolish for waiting there.

"I'm leaving first."

With that, she headed directly toward the dormitory building.

"So, this school has co-ed dormitories?"

Although Suzune Horikita had left first, the other three, whose destination was also the dormitory building, ended up walking the same path.

Toru Hasegawa, feeling for some reason that the atmosphere was different than before, spoke up quickly.

"Yes, the boys live on the lower floors, and the girls live on the upper ones."

Arisu Sakayanagi flipped through the manual recording the dormitory regulations as she entered the elevator with the other three.

Toru Hasegawa pressed the button for the 3rd floor, while Ayanokoji Kiyotaka pressed the button for the 4th. The other two just stood there quietly, making no move.

Toru Hasegawa knew this was a habit many girls had, so he wouldn't bother asking something like "Why aren't you pressing the floor button?"

"Where is your room?"

Toru Hasegawa was stunned that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had initiated a conversation with him, then replied:

"301, why do you ask?"

He could feel that something about the other boy had changed ever since Arisu Sakayanagi and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had their private conversation at the convenience store.

"I'm in 401. It seems we have quite the connection, being right above and below each other."

"Don't make too much noise at night; it wouldn't be good if you disturbed me."

Toru Hasegawa regretted saying that the moment it left his mouth, because there were two girls present.

However, words spoken are like spilled water; they cannot be taken back.

He waited with a nervous heart for the potential mockery, and then, the elevator doors opened.

The 3rd floor had arrived.

"Mm, I've always been very quiet."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka waved at Toru Hasegawa, then pressed the door-close button. The three faces were hidden by the elevator doors.

"Phew—what was I thinking just now?"

Feeling as though his emotions had been on a roller coaster, Toru Hasegawa patted his cheeks and opened his dormitory door with his room card.

"Single dorms are the best!"

After a cheer, Toru Hasegawa put down the plastic bag and began organizing his personal belongings.

"Toothbrush cup goes here... body wash goes here... and shampoo goes here..."

Toru Hasegawa muttered to himself while tidying up. Once he finished, he threw himself onto the freshly made bed and began rolling around in excitement.

Even if this school was hiding some unknown truth, at least for now, he was free!

However, he hadn't been happy for more than a few minutes when the school-issued phone vibrated.

"Damn it, it has to be that girl Sakayanagi looking for me."

Since his friend list currently only contained one person, Sakayanagi Arisu (as for Sudo, he really hadn't found a suitable opportunity to request a friend add), if it wasn't a school notification, it had to be her.

Feeling a sense of foreboding, Toru Hasegawa covered the phone, trying to deceive himself as he peeked at the message through his fingers.

"It really is Sakayanagi. I'll just pretend I didn't see it."

If he opened the phone, it would show as read, so he simply wouldn't open it.

Harboring this carefree thought, Toru Hasegawa turned off the screen.

Then, not even a minute later, a "knock-knock" sound came from the door.

"Keeping a girl waiting outside is not very gentlemanly, Classmate Hasegawa~"

Hearing the familiar voice, Toru Hasegawa felt like crying as he opened the door:

"Is there something you need, Classmate Sakayanagi?"

"Ah, so you didn't check your phone? I wanted to ask you to go to the cafeteria for lunch. When I saw the message hadn't been marked as read, I guessed this would happen."

"You really are something."

Toru Hasegawa pretended to check his phone and then exclaimed in surprise.

He didn't know if Sakayanagi Arisu had seen through his acting, but since she was already here, he had no excuse to refuse. Thus, he had no choice but to honestly head to the student cafeteria with her.

"Don't you find it strange to have lunch with a boy you've only met once?"

On the way, Toru Hasegawa couldn't help but ask.

Since he had already confirmed that the number above her head was a favorability display, the fact that this girl—who had a favorability of 30 and didn't even count as a cold stranger—would invite him to the student cafeteria for lunch was worth questioning.

It was hard for him not to suspect that she had ulterior motives.

"Not at all, which is actually what I was just about to say." Sakayanagi Arisu chuckled, then changed the subject, "I have something to take care of this afternoon, so I was thinking of treating you to a meal to ask for your help."

Glancing at the gray cane in her right hand, Toru Hasegawa helplessly accepted the fact that he was being roped in by her.

"Fine, I guess my afternoon is only worth the price of a meal."

The two arrived at the student cafeteria. Toru Hasegawa scanned the menu, wanting to pick a mid-to-high-priced set meal to really bleed her dry.

But soon, the "Mountain Vegetable Set Meal" caught his attention.

"Even the cafeteria has free food?"

Toru Hasegawa rubbed his eyes, and after confirming he hadn't misread it, he turned to look at Sakayanagi Arisu, wanting to hear her opinion.

"So that's how it is, the truth of this school."

To his surprise, she wore a meaningful smile, showing no intention of answering his confusion.

"...I'll have the Mountain Vegetable Set Meal."

"I'll have the same."

"Are you doing this on purpose?"

"Not at all. I'm just as interested in the Mountain Vegetable Set Meal as you are. Is that strange?"

Sakayanagi Arisu replied unhurriedly.

Toru Hasegawa couldn't argue. He took the two sets from the cafeteria lady; after all, since the silver-haired girl beside him was leaning on a cane with one hand and had a weak arm on the other, he was the only one who could handle this.

"..."

Ten seconds passed, and Toru Hasegawa was already regretting his decision.

It wasn't that the Mountain Vegetable Set Meal tasted bad, how should he put it... it was just... you know? It was that kind of indescribable flavor.

It was no wonder it held the status of a free meal. Aside from not having a single speck of meat, its three biggest characteristics were green, green, and for god's sake, green!

Toru Hasegawa rose from his seat and said to Sakayanagi Arisu:

"I still want to keep growing, so... I'm going to go buy another one."

As he spoke, he prepared to leave.

"Wait." Sakayanagi Arisu stopped him and took out her student ID from her skirt pocket. "Since I said I would treat you, I will. Take this."

Toru Hasegawa didn't act coy or refuse, because he was going to be manual labor for the afternoon; this was his deserved compensation.

Taking Sakayanagi Arisu's student ID, he ordered a set meal worth 600 private points and, combined with the previous Mountain Vegetable Set Meal, enjoyed a proper lunch.

Sakayanagi Arisu had no intention of ordering extra; she only ate the initial Mountain Vegetable Set Meal.

Glancing briefly at her calm chest and thinking of her height, which only reached his own chest, Toru Hasegawa didn't have any thoughts of making suggestions.

"Is this what you're planning to do this afternoon?"

"That's right~"

At the entrance of the Chess Club, Toru Hasegawa saw an aggressive smile on Sakayanagi Arisu's face for the very first time at such close range.

< src="https://e1.kuangxiangit./uplos/chaptersnew/964/264132/250404/1743734829-100434764-113152652.jpg" alt='Volume 1 Ayanokoji knows Horikita'>

< src="https://e1.kuangxiangit./uplos/chaptersnew/964/264132/250404/1743734857-100434764-113152652.jpg" alt='Volume 2 forgot again'>

< src="https://e1.kuangxiangit./uplos/chaptersnew/964/264132/250404/1743734888-100434764-113152652.jpg" alt='Confirming Horikita is on the 13th floor'>