Chapter Forty-Eight: Sudo's Narrow Escape and the Party

Lin Mu continued in a low voice, his warm breath brushing her ear. "You can ask them when they get back. Just don't tell Sudo yet—"

He paused and glanced at Ken Sudō, who was still sitting there looking utterly lost. A hint of barely perceptible coldness entered his voice.

"Let him think about it a little longer. He had the answers and still failed. He clearly didn't take this exam seriously."

Kikyo Kushida's eyes widened. She froze in place.

Her mind seemed to shut down. For several seconds, she couldn't process the sudden good news.

Her lips parted slightly as if she wanted to say something, but she didn't know what to say.

Confusion first filled her eyes, then disbelief, and finally a sense of relief.

Sudo... wasn't getting expelled?

It was... all taken care of just like that?

She had already prepared for the worst. She'd even started thinking about how to comfort Sudo and explain the situation to their classmates afterward...

She hadn't expected everything to suddenly take a turn at this very moment.

And Lin Mu had been the first to tell her.

Kushida looked at Lin Mu.

The boy still had his usual lazy air about him, a lollipop stick between his lips and a listless look in his eyes.

He acted as if what he'd just told her were some trivial matter, like the convenience store having a half-price sale on potato chips.

And yet, while most people had sat there in silence, he'd gone out and come back with this news.

Though Ayanokoji and Horikita had solved the problem together, Lin Mu said he'd only gone along to watch.

Still, Kushida looked at Lin Mu and softly said, "Thank you." Genuine warmth colored her voice.

At the same time, her thoughts were already racing.

Ayanokoji and Horikita... How had they managed it?

Chabashira-sensei had been so adamant. How had they convinced her? Points? Or some other condition?

Her curiosity grew like a weed.

She couldn't wait to hear the answer and learn everything that had happened during the negotiations.

But for now, she had to restrain her curiosity and follow Lin Mu's suggestion—not tell Sudo yet, and let him "fret" a little longer.

After all, as Lin Mu had said, Sudo Ken really hadn't taken this exam seriously. He'd had the answers and still failed.

Letting him learn his lesson might not be a bad thing.

Kushida took a deep breath, composed her expression, and turned to Hirata Yosuke and the other classmates who were still worried.

She began reassuring them. "Everyone, try not to worry too much. Maybe there's still a chance..."

Her voice was gentle and full of hope, a far cry from the despair she'd shown just minutes earlier.

Lin Mu returned to his seat and sat down again. He fished an unopened box of milk-flavored lollipops out of his desk.

This really was the last of the emergency stash he'd left there. He opened the box and popped one into his mouth.

As the sweetness spread through his mouth, he contentedly narrowed his eyes.

All right. That farce was finally over.

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over his classmates, who were still mired in the gloomy atmosphere, before settling on the clear autumn sky outside the window.

Next, he should think about what to have for dinner.

But before that...

Lin Mu pressed the lollipop with his tongue, nudging it from one cheek to the other.

First, he'd enjoy his candy.

Night had fallen over the campus, and darkness slowly washed across Advanced Nurturing High School.

The bustle and tension of the day sank below the horizon along with the sun, and warm yellow lights gradually appeared in the dormitory windows.

Most students were already resting in their rooms, saving their energy for the next day's classes.

But amid the calm of the night, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's single room had become a temporary get-together spot for Class D's study group.

Though rather than a celebration, the atmosphere at this "get-together" was more like an awkward gathering where everyone had their own thoughts.

Linmu Fujimiya leaned against the wall by the door, a freshly unwrapped milk-flavored lollipop between his lips.

He watched the people in the room, bored out of his mind. He felt like an observer who'd wandered into some unfamiliar tribe—the most conspicuous "outsider" of all.

In the middle of the room, Ken Sudō, Haruki Yamauchi, and Kanji Ike sat cross-legged on the floor.

They stuffed themselves with all kinds of snacks brought by Kikyo Kushida, the sounds of chewing and crinkling wrappers especially clear in the cramped room.

Suzune Horikita sat alone in a chair beside the desk, her back perfectly straight and her hands resting on her knees. She was as silent as a delicate ice sculpture.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji leaned against the head of his single bed, his expression calm and his gaze blankly fixed on the ceiling, as if the lively scene had nothing to do with him.

Kikyo Kushida, the gathering's organizer in name, busied herself handing out snacks, a signature smile on her face.

"Help yourselves, everyone! I bought plenty! Sudo had a scare today, so he needs to replenish his energy!"

As for why Lin Mu was here...

Let's go back to the classroom that afternoon.

Not long after Lin Mu returned from the rooftop, Ayanokoji and Suzune Horikita returned to the Class D classroom one after the other.

They went straight to Ken Sudō, who was still slumped in his seat with an ashen face, and told him as simply as possible that his expulsion had been overturned.

Sudō froze. His mind was still in a daze, as if he couldn't understand what those words meant together.

Then joy crashed over him like a tidal wave, sweeping away every trace of despair on his face. He slammed his hands on the desk and jumped to his feet, laughing so loudly it nearly lifted the roof.

"Haha! I'm not getting expelled! This is great! Just great!!"

After going through an emotional roller coaster from hell to heaven, the tall boy who barreled around the basketball court and usually had a short temper finally revealed his vulnerable side.

Kikyo Kushida immediately hurried over.

Seeing Sudō after his narrow escape, she gave him a smile of genuine relief, though intense curiosity glimmered in her bright eyes.

She turned to Ayanokoji and Horikita and asked softly, "That's wonderful! Sudo isn't getting expelled, but...

"How did you and Horikita convince Chabashira-sensei? She was so adamant about it..."

Ayanokoji's expression didn't change. He simply said, "Nothing special."

Suzune Horikita was even more aloof. "As long as it's resolved, the details don't matter."

One was expressionless and the other icy; together, they shut down all of Kushida's questions.

Kushida blinked. She was dying to know, but seeing their attitudes, she could only let it go for the time being.

Then, to "celebrate the successful end of the study group" and "help Sudo recover from his scare," Kushida suggested having a small party.

Haruki Yamauchi and Kanji Ike enthusiastically agreed at once. They'd already spent all their points and were living on the cafeteria's free vegetable set meals, so the moment they heard "party" and "snacks," their eyes lit up.

Sudō was even happier to agree. He needed a celebration to let out all the excitement of having escaped expulsion.

Suzune Horikita frowned, clearly reluctant. But after Kushida said, "We're all members of the study group, so let's celebrate together," she finally gave a cool "Mm," which counted as consent.

(Activity period: May 1 to May 5)