Making Trouble

He dialed back a bit. Kiyotaka Kiyotaka's reason for approaching Kikyo Kushida was that her angelic persona in the class made her the safest choice to leak the exam questions.

Her credibility within the class was also very high, and it conveniently allowed him to keep himself out of the picture.

After all, those three might not listen to others, but they would absolutely believe Kikyo Kushida. As the saying goes, with a face that cute, how could she possibly deceive me?

At this, Beihai could only offer a complaint.

"You bought last year's exam questions? On the importance of having no real test papers."

Kiyotaka Kiyotaka didn't have that many thoughts on it. After all, he had already finished the work Suzune Horikita assigned him. He had originally hoped to use this to get closer to her, but it seemed to have failed—though it wasn't a big deal.

"Yes, during the transaction, the other party's tone was very casual, just constantly trying to raise the price. This proves that such deals are quite ordinary and likely happen frequently.

Even if this year's questions differ from last year's, there will definitely be similarities. In the end, it's just insurance to prevent them from dropping out."

Kiyotaka Kiyotaka ate his meal quietly without saying much more, only thinking to himself, Could it be that roasting the other person together doesn't increase favorability?

After eating, they continued on to school for the afternoon classes.

In the classroom, Suzune Horikita was still her usual self, but her mood was quite complicated. She still had to make up for the lessons, but those three had already given up. Even if she regrouped them, it probably wouldn't be of much use.

When Kiyotaka and Beihai walked into the class, her feelings grew even more tangled. She could only watch them, her hands slightly clenching into fists, lost in thought.

Beihai had just sat down when his Terminal rang. He took it out and saw it was his employer.

Honami Ichinose: [The May exams are coming up soon. Do you need any help?]

Honami Ichinose had thought carefully before sending this message. She wanted to help Beihai, and there were clearly quite a few hidden circumstances in Class D—like the most basic academic ability.

Beihai typed back succinctly. To be honest, without Mind Sharing, he really would have needed her assistance. He might have even been forced to join the mutual aid trio.

But now?

[No need. The exams won't be too hard. If you want to help me, then study more, read some books, do your homework, broaden your thinking. I'd be very grateful.

If you pay me some points, I'll tell you how to stir up trouble here.]

Honami Ichinose hugged her Terminal, her face flushing slightly. Is he worried about me? Probably, right?

How ridiculous. I've troubled him so much, and now he's actually turning around to care about me.

In stories, this kind of behind-the-scenes character is usually very aloof—except when necessary, they're like a cold-faced killer who's been gutting fish for ten years.

We've only met once before, so why am I thinking like this? As she mused, she transferred 50,000 points over, adding a line, [Mhm, I will.]

Seeing how quickly she caught on, Beihai immediately channeled his inner strategist.

[You can spend some points. If I remember correctly, the exam papers are usually sealed in file bags.

At times like this, have your homeroom teacher swap them out. Even if you get caught, it won't matter—this school encourages that kind of behavior anyway.

So, are you going to swap your own class's papers, or strike at the remaining classes directly, turning a high school exam into a college exam?

I believe even the elites of Class A would find that hard to handle.]

After sending it, seeing no reply, Beihai stopped the conversation. Class was about to start anyway.

And most importantly, making her read more and write more really did help him. Mind Sharing was all about sharing.

If Honami Ichinose neglected her studies and didn't focus her main energy there, then Beihai would have a hard time learning too.

Things weren't so rosy for Kiyotaka Kiyotaka. As the saying goes, you chose your own circle, so you have to choke it down with tears. But there was a lot he didn't understand, so it was a case of one willing to hit, the other willing to take it.

When the bell rang, Beihai closed his book and checked the time. It wasn't even 5:30 PM yet, and school was already out.

Time really flew. The rest would have to be made up on his own.

Airisu Sakura packed her bag beside him and stood up to leave.

Beihai silently followed her. She didn't notice until they had walked out of the teaching building.

"Beihai-kun, aren't you waiting for Kiyotaka-kun?"

"Huh?"

He instinctively didn't know how to answer. Whether in April or for most of this month, he had been walking with her. Why was a third party suddenly butting in?

"No, it's always been like this, hasn't it? I only walked back with him for the past few days. But compared to him, he's a bit troublesome. Following you is the best."

"Eh, what are you saying, Beihai-kun?"

Airisu Sakura panicked and turned to run. Beihai could only follow slowly behind.

"Sakura-san, you're not thinking about something weird, are you?

Kiyotaka-kun came to me a few times before because he had some troublesome matters to deal with. It left me without a quiet place."

Airisu Sakura's fleeing steps didn't stop; they only got faster.

Seeing her speed up, Beihai suddenly halted, watching helplessly as she reached the corner of the wall.

Airisu Sakura turned the corner. Seeing that Beihai hadn't chased after her, she let out a sigh of relief, but at the same time, felt a bit annoyed.

Now how could she not see that Beihai was doing it on purpose—constantly getting her angry, only to quickly soothe her emotions right after.

Once or twice was fine, but as the frequency increased, she truly fell into his trap and couldn't find a way out.

And she couldn't even tell whether he was intentional or careless, because most of the time Beihai looked completely innocent. Yet it was precisely this situation that made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

After all, if she got angry and Beihai put on a face of pure innocence, acted hurt, and apologized profusely, wouldn't that make her the unreasonable one?

Just then, Beihai strolled up slowly. When he spotted her, he didn't forget to greet her: "Sakura-san, were you waiting here specially for me?"

As he spoke, he pulled out a few candies.

"I was out of line just now. I'm truly sorry. How about I give you these candies, and you forgive me?"

Airisu Sakura could only step forward and take the Sour Candy from Beihai's hand. After days of being fed like this, she had developed a noticeable resistance.

She unzipped her schoolbag and put the remaining candies inside. Beihai spotted the camera within.

"Sakura-san likes photography, huh? But finding a nice scene in this school is a bit tough."

Having discovered her interest, he could naturally use that as a springboard to keep the conversation flowing.

Everyone knew that if two people shared the same hobby, their relationship would only grow closer.

It was like back in middle school—when everyone was talking about Naruto, and you were the one watching One Piece, you couldn't quite fit in, and it could even spark a big argument.