The Dark Side of Kushida: There's Always Some Bastard Trying to Harm Me

As the dismissal bell rang, Class D's classroom emptied as quickly as a beach after the tide went out.

Most of the students eagerly grabbed their precious "answers" and hurried back to the dorms, planning to use what little time remained for some last-minute "cramming."

Soon, only a handful of people were left in the classroom.

Lin Mu watched Kikyo Kushida carefully pack her bag with her head bowed. After a moment, he called out to her.

"Kushida, wait a second."

"Hm? What is it, Lin Mu?"

Kikyo Kushida looked up. She still seemed a little tired from handing out the answers, but her smile remained bright.

"There's something I'd like to talk to you about privately. Let's go somewhere else." Lin Mu kept it brief and headed out of the classroom first.

Kikyo Kushida looked a little puzzled, but followed right after him.

They walked one behind the other through the teaching building's increasingly quiet corridors and arrived at a secluded spot behind the building. A small, classical pavilion stood there.

Aside from the occasional student passing by, hardly anyone ever stopped there. It really was a good place for a private conversation.

Lin Mu stopped beside the pavilion. He didn't go in to sit down, but casually leaned against one of its dark red wooden pillars.

Afternoon sunlight filtered through layer upon layer of leaves, casting shifting flecks of light across his short white hair and stern profile.

A freshly unwrapped lemon lollipop rested between his lips. He gazed toward the neatly trimmed lawn in the distance, his tone calm, though there was a hint of seriousness not usually present:

"Kushida," he began, his voice especially clear in the quiet surroundings. "The academy... would never tolerate such an obvious loophole in its rules.

"The fact that you got hold of the midterm answers probably doesn't mean your 'connections' are especially impressive. It's more likely that the academy... or, rather, whoever made the rules, has 'turned a blind eye' for some reason."

The smile on Kikyo Kushida's face faltered slightly.

Lin Mu didn't look at her. He continued in the same calm, blunt tone. "These answers might work this time. They could keep most of Class D from being expelled right away and give the class a chance to catch its breath.

"But there won't be the same 'good luck' next time or the time after that.

"The academy can't, and absolutely won't, keep cleaning up Class D's messes forever."

He paused, then finally turned his head to look at Kikyo Kushida.

His eyes looked especially deep and calm in the dappled light.

"If you come across another 'shortcut' or 'opportunity' like this, don't volunteer to take it on, and don't assume you'll get lucky.

"If the answers you bring back turn out to be wrong, how do you think the other students will treat you?

"This school... is much 'fairer' than you think, and much crueler, too.

"The 'loopholes' it shows you are often part of the trap."

His words were like a cool breeze, scattering the lingering excitement and sense of accomplishment Kikyo Kushida had felt after successfully getting the answers.

She lowered her head and looked at the sheet of paper that so many students regarded as a lifeline, lightly running her fingertips along its edge.

Lin Mu's point wasn't hard to understand. Considering the academy's strict rules and Chabashira Sae's cold attitude, the more she thought about it, the more sense it made.

That was right. If the answers were really so easy to get, wouldn't that make the academy's rules meaningless?

She'd only thought about helping everyone get through the crisis. She hadn't considered that possibility... or perhaps she simply hadn't wanted to think too hard about it.

She raised her head, her smile returning. This time it was less exuberant than before, and carried a little more sincere gratitude and warmth.

She looked at Lin Mu, her eyes bright.

"I understand, Lin Mu. Thank you for taking the time to tell me this."

Her tone was sincere, her gratitude completely genuine.

"I never expected that someone who always seems so lazy and uninterested in everything would care so much about your classmates and the class... and think so far ahead!"

Her praise was blunt and enthusiastic, with the frankness characteristic of Kikyo Kushida. She seemed genuinely moved by Lin Mu's "kind warning."

Lin Mu looked at her radiant smile, which seemed to say, "You're such a good person," and heard her thanking him for something she'd understood in an entirely different way. A trace of helplessness crossed his mind.

The point of what he'd said was clearly "the rules are a trap" and "don't take that kind of risk again." But she'd taken it as "Lin Mu really cares about everyone."

Forget it.

He'd never been interested in correcting other people's misunderstandings, especially when they didn't matter.

There wasn't much point in saying more about the concern of someone who couldn't be bothered—or, at least, if that even counted as concern.

He'd given her the warning. Whether she listened or understood was up to her.

So he simply gave Kikyo Kushida a slight nod, accepting her thanks—or, more accurately, bringing the conversation to an end.

Then he straightened up, brushed off whatever dust might have gotten on his clothes from leaning against the pillar, turned around, and headed toward the dormitory area without saying another word.

Kikyo Kushida stood where she was, still holding the answers, a smile lingering on her face.

She watched Lin Mu's tall but languid figure walk farther and farther away along the gravel path, until it disappeared around a bend in the tree-lined road.

Only after Lin Mu was completely out of sight did her smile slowly, little by little, fade.

(Changing expressions here doesn't cost beans!)

The sunlight was still bright, shining on her delicate profile, but the sweet smile she usually wore now looked somewhat... peculiar.

She lowered her head. Deep in her eyes, a fleeting, faint curiosity—and something else, utterly unlike her usual sunny, cheerful image...

A nearly obsessive possessiveness quietly flickered past, like an undercurrent deep beneath a lake's surface.

A voice murmured in her heart, with a hint of cloying sweetness:

"Lin Mu... you really are so kind. You always say things that sound so cold, but are actually meant to warn people, at the most unexpected moments...

"It makes me... want to slowly uncover every thought hidden beneath that lazy exterior of yours, and examine them all, carefully, one by one."

Kikyo took a light breath. When she raised her head again, her face had regained its flawless, energetic smile.

She carefully put the answers into her bag and patted her cheeks. All right, don't think about that anymore.

She'd made plans with a few girls from her class to visit Academy Commercial Street after school and pick up some daily necessities and snacks.

After all, if their class really did get some points this time, they'd have a little more to spend next month.

But as she turned to leave the pavilion, her steps seemed lighter than usual, with an extra spring she couldn't quite explain.

Meanwhile, as Lin Mu walked back to the dorms, he suddenly felt a chill run down his back for no apparent reason.

It was as though some cold, sticky gaze had quietly brushed against him.

He stopped and reached up to rub the back of his neck, puzzled.

Strange... The sun is shining, and the breeze is warm.

Could someone be trying to hurt me? A few possibilities flashed through his mind. Could it be Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A, with her scheming nature?

But she didn't seem to have any reason to make a move right now. Or was it someone else?

The heightened senses he'd gained from his supernatural ability sometimes gave him an intuition like a "warning," though it was usually vague.

(Activity period: May 1 to May 5)