Been Set Up, Huh

"You're not really trying to help them, are you?"

"Sorry. I don't know what you mean by that." Kushida lowered her head, then lifted it again as if pulling herself together. "Let's leave it here for now. See you tomorrow."

With those words, Kushida grabbed her bag and quickly left the library.

Now only Horikita and Ayanokouji remained in the library.

"Ayanokouji-kun, you seem to be the only relatively normal one here. If you also want to catch up on your studies, I could make an exception and give you some individual tutoring."

"I don't need it. I'm heading back too."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I want to go talk to Sudo and the others. We're friends, after all."

"I really don't understand what you have to talk about with people who are about to be expelled." Horikita's gaze suddenly sharpened. "Speaking of which, you say they're your friends, yet you're completely indifferent to them being expelled. I can't figure you out."

Ayanokouji didn't respond to Horikita's words. He picked up his things and walked out of the library...

Three hours had passed since he sent the message to Kushida, but the chat page still showed it as unread.

There was still some time before the dormitory curfew. Mu Tianchen decided to return the books he'd borrowed from the library earlier and headed in that direction.

There were still many people at Kodo Ikusei at night, most of them engaged in club activities outdoors.

Mu Tianchen deliberately avoided the crowded areas, walking along the smaller paths.

Just as he was about to reach the library, he saw a figure that looked like Kushida coming out.

The figure that resembled Kushida didn't look back and hurriedly jogged toward the school building.

She was wearing a first-year girl's uniform and had short brown hair. Even though he hadn't seen her face, it was very likely Kushida.

Mu Tianchen happened to have something to discuss with her, so he jogged after her.

Her destination was indeed the school building, but by the time Mu Tianchen caught up, she was already out of sight on the first floor.

She probably went upstairs, Mu Tianchen thought. Sure enough, faint footsteps came from the stairwell.

If he remembered correctly, there shouldn't be many people in the school building right now. What was she doing here?

But since he'd already followed her this far, he might as well go up and take a look.

With that thought, Mu Tianchen also reached the second floor. However, the footsteps continued upward, and he followed along until they finally stopped at the top floor.

The top floor led to the rooftop—a quiet place where one wouldn't easily be disturbed. Could she be planning a secret meeting with someone?

Thinking this, Mu Tianchen softened his steps and stopped just outside the rooftop door.

He cautiously peeked out and caught a glimpse of her profile. It was definitely Kushida. There was no one else around.

Kushida placed her bag on the ground. Sensing she might turn around, Mu Tianchen stepped back a little.

He was still curious about why she was here. Besides, if he just walked out now, it would inevitably make it seem like he was following her.

Though that was exactly what he was doing.

Bang!

"Annoying!"

From the other side of the door came the sound of kicking the railing and Kushida's curses.

This was the complete opposite of her image in class. Although Mu Tianchen had sensed she was putting on an act before, actually witnessing it was still quite surprising.

Recording this scene might come in handy...

Bang! Bang!

"Acting all high and mighty just because your grades are good. People like that holding a study session—how laughable."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"That bitch Horikita, why doesn't she just die!"

So she was cursing Horikita. From her words, it seemed there had been some kind of conflict during the study session.

With Horikita's personality... she really wasn't suited for handling interpersonal relationships.

No wonder Teacher Chazhu didn't approve of her...

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Kushida kicked the railing a few more times. It seemed she had vented enough. She turned around and started walking toward the door.

Mu Tianchen naturally heard her footsteps and stepped back accordingly.

But since Kushida had stopped kicking the railing, the surroundings suddenly became much quieter. The sound of his footsteps was picked up by her.

"Who's there!?"

Kushida stopped in her tracks and stared warily at the direction of the door.

Since he'd been discovered, there was no point in hiding anymore.

Mu Tianchen slowly walked in from outside the door. Their eyes immediately met.

"Why are you here?!"

Kushida was the first to speak when she saw the unexpected person entering, her voice low and terrifying.

"I went to return books at the library and happened to see you come here, so I followed. I also have something I need to talk to you about."

After saying this, Mu Tianchen raised the book in his hand and showed her the unread chat records on his phone.

"What a coincidence. But you saw everything that just happened, didn't you?"

"If I said I didn't, you wouldn't believe me, would you?"

"I suppose not..."

Kushida walked over quickly, staring at him with dark eyes.

"If you spread what just happened, I won't let you off."

These words were clearly a threat. In her eyes, she probably thought Mu Tianchen was an easy target.

After all, when she asked for Takagahara's contact info before, he did it right away just because she acted cute.

Threatening him in this tone now—she probably figured he'd be lucky if he wasn't scared shitless.

"What if I do spread it?"

"Then I'll tell everyone you almost raped me here."

Kushida was a bit surprised that Mu Tianchen would counter-question, but since he asked, she might as well go all the way.

From her observations, this guy had no friends. If she ruined his reputation, he'd be treated with contempt and probably drop out on his own.

"Oh? That's slander."

"It's not slander," Kushida said as she walked up to Mu Tianchen. "Let's make it a fact right now."

Then she suddenly reached out, as if to forcibly grab his arm.

But an awkward thing happened—she couldn't pull him at all.

"What's going on?"

Kushida was stunned. She considered herself quite athletic; there was no way she couldn't even move his arm.

It could only mean Mu Tianchen was much stronger than she thought.

Seeing Kushida frozen in confusion, Mu Tianchen slowly pulled a voice recorder from his pocket—one he'd bought from the store after noticing something off about the school. He carried it almost every time he went out or to the library.

After witnessing Kushida's other side at the door, he decisively turned on the recording function, capturing all her curses from earlier.

When Kushida saw the voice recorder, she thought about snatching and destroying it, but her strength wasn't enough. All she could do was grit her teeth and say, "Damn it! I've been outsmarted!"