Scared Me

The new day was considerably calmer. Beihai could still sit in his seat, listening attentively and working on problems.

Kiyotaka Kiyotaka, on the other hand, was struggling. Last night, he had nearly pulled an all-nighter, getting less than five hours of rest. He had barely lain down in bed after a shower before he was forced to open his eyes and come to class.

If he had just stayed up all night, it wouldn't have been so bad. But the worst was when you slept a little after staying up, only to be forced awake again—that was the hardest time to endure.

His eyelids were heavy, and his head nearly dropped onto his arm several times as he drifted toward sleep.

Beihai's energy wasn't nearly as poor. After all, as a human, there were limits. The more he thought about it, the more he understood: the more people played tricks and schemes, the easier it was to...

Beihai stopped that dangerous train of thought. Though he was now propped up by the system's modifications, to be honest, without that mysterious power, he really would have dropped dead.

But he hadn't expected that guy next to him to actually stay up all night with him. Anyone else might have thought he had a system too, but now it was clear that was just his own overthinking.

"No matter what, in the end, he's still just a person."

Beihai stopped paying attention and threw himself fully back into his studies.

Soon, it was noon.

Beihai went to the cafeteria with his small circle, Airisu Sakura. This way, he could avoid any strange social interactions—unless it was Class D's Kikyo Kushida, or Kiyotaka Kiyotaka forcing his way in, there wouldn't be a third person.

As it happened, Kikyo Kushida and Kiyotaka Kiyotaka were huddled together right now, seemingly discussing some plan.

Beihai ordered a set meal, deliberately picking some bitter melon and green peppers.

Airisu Sakura's meal was much more normal. Most of her spending went toward her camera, and the point shock from April had affected her, but she could still handle it.

So she ordered a plain Sakura-style lunch: miso soup, a long strip of salmon, rice, pickled vegetables, and salt.

As for the school cafeteria's luxury meal—that was the chicken cutlet rice.

So neither Beihai nor Airisu Sakura had ordered anything extravagant. In fact, Beihai's meal could only be described as abstract.

After some time of getting used to each other, the two could now sit together naturally.

Airisu Sakura had just picked up a long strip of pickled vegetable and put it in her mouth when, in the blink of an eye, some bitter melon and green peppers appeared on her plate.

Her expression immediately shifted. After all, in Sakura, most people didn't like eating green peppers.

The DNA from childhood stirred. As a kid, she hadn't even wanted to eat broccoli, and now she avoided green peppers like the plague—it was a genetic trigger.

"Ah, Beihai-kun, you can't do that. I don't really like eating these."

Beihai looked up, his expression innocent and natural, the corners of his mouth not even twitching, as if he were doing it purely for her own good.

"Huh? Sakura-san, don't be so fierce. We're all adults here—no need to talk about adult topics in public."

Airisu Sakura's brain almost couldn't process that. When she did, she felt a mix of embarrassment and indignation. But her outward personality was too timid to put the bitter melon and green peppers back on his plate.

She could only protest silently. Faced with her pitiful, aggrieved eyes, Beihai simply pretended not to see.

It wasn't until tears began to form in her eyes that Beihai stopped. He couldn't push it too far—even a rabbit would bite if cornered, though she didn't seem dangerous at all.

"Actually, Sakura-san, you've misunderstood me. I was just teaching you a lesson."

Beihai said this with complete seriousness, though even he didn't believe it.

But Airisu Sakura, after a brief pause, nodded and believed him.

After all, Airisu Sakura thought she understood Beihai by now. Over this long period, their interactions had been a process of mutual understanding.

Sure, Beihai could be excessive sometimes, but it was mostly teasing, and he often gave her tasty snacks—though the flavors were always strange. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like Beihai was just bullying her.

"This lesson is: eating green vegetables is good for your physical and mental health."

Airisu Sakura: "..."

She had waited and expected so much, and this was the answer?

"Mmph, I don't want to talk to you anymore."

Beihai offered a symbolic consolation, or rather, he went straight to the point.

"For how long?"

"At least a week... Hmm, forget it, three days... No, two days... Hmm, one day, one day, and that's the shortest."

Beihai wasn't about to let her have her way. If it had been before, he might have had to be more cautious, but after all this contact, he had fully figured her out and knew the limits.

"No way, impossible. I can't stand even one day. If I can't talk to Sakura-san, I'll die of boredom. Besides, I bought a lot of snacks for you to try, and there are some problems I need to study seriously."

Beihai immediately played the pity card, and it worked like a charm.

It caught Airisu Sakura off guard. She had considered various possibilities—anger, indifference, or him continuing to be shameless—but she had never thought he would play pitiful.

Beihai had completed his daily task. With enough interaction, he got serious. Maintaining a circle required a certain amount of interaction and goodwill; otherwise, the balance would easily break.

Now it was time to soothe her, or just find some excuse to brush it off.

In short, it was all nonsense. Who cared, as long as it worked.

"Listen, I really do have something to teach you. I'm not joking. If you ever run into someone as rough as me in the future, remember to refuse, or come straight to me."

People always like to treat others based on what they themselves understand to be right.

And then get angry when the other person doesn't follow the script we've written.

Most of the pain in interpersonal relationships

stems from this naive mismatch.

What you give is never what the other person needs.

Yet you ask, why can't sincerity be repaid with sincerity?"

Just like before, when Beihai gave Chinjao and Bitter Gourd what he thought was best—entirely his own idea, without considering their feelings—and still believed he was acting with pure sincerity.

That's the lowest-cost demonstration and the most straightforward explanation.

Airisu Sakura quickly nodded. Watching her adorable reaction, Beihai almost laughed out loud. While it was very easy to ruffle this little kitten's fur, calming her down was just as effortless.

"Yeah, Suzune Horikita is exactly that kind of person. She thinks she's doing things for my own good and for the class's good, but instead she makes my life miserable."

An unexpected third party chimed in. There was no need to turn around to know who it was—in this small circle, the only one with such a blatant lack of boundaries was Kiyotaka Kiyotaka.

"Beihai, I have last year's exam papers here. I can't guarantee they'll be 100% the same, but there should be similarities. Do you want them?"

Beihai was a bit taken aback. Well, well, well. You actually managed to get your hands on these. Just how little faith do you have in those three?

"No need. I'm not at that point yet."

"Oh, having an extra safety net isn't a bad thing, you know. Are you sure you don't want them?"