Horikita Siblings' Midnight Exchange, Worth 500,000

He packed some pastries and two cups of coffee from the café.

Yuto Tsukishima strolled leisurely along the path leading to the dormitory.

Enjoying the caress of the evening breeze, he let his mind wander:

Kushida Kikyo had already sent him a message, getting a bit impatient—seems she'd built up quite a bit of malice;

As for Sakayanagi Arisu, she was probably scheming about how to use him, right?

Would she set up a situation to pit him against Kiyotaka Ayanokouji? Who would she use?

Ichinose Honami? Kushida Kikyo? Or maybe use Class C's Long Yuan to pressure his living space?

Hell, she might even use the seniors from the Manga Club.

Forget it, no use overthinking. Deal with things as they come—handle what you can, let go of what you can't. Don't force yourself.

He hummed a little tune, his mood fairly decent.

Suddenly, a figure caught his eye: Kiyotaka Ayanokouji.

What a coincidence—he'd just been talking about the guy, and there he was. Should he tell him about it and trade for some points?

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji noticed Tsukishima too.

He pointed into an alley, then made a shushing gesture.

Tsukishima nodded, pulled out his phone, started recording, and crept over quietly. Then he heard the two people talking.

"You're still that sister of mine who just imitates me. You think growing your hair out and getting good grades makes you me?"

"I don't!"

Horikita Suzune and Horikita Manabu.

These siblings didn't get along?

Tsukishima lay on the ground, stealthily inching his phone forward.

"Don't?" Horikita Manabu suddenly reached out, grabbing Horikita Suzune's arm and pinning her against the wall. "Then tell me, what have you done since entering this school? Besides relying on someone like Ayanokouji, what else can you do?"

Tsukishima glanced at Ayanokouji, whose expression hadn't changed a bit, and nudged him. "He's talking about you~"

Ayanokouji shot him a look, his eyes calm, his voice very low: "Aren't you going to do something?"

Tsukishima looked at him in surprise: "What does sibling drama have to do with me? If anyone should go, it's you. Horikita President himself said Horikita-san has been relying on you all along."

Ayanokouji's face was blank: "I'm not good at handling this kind of situation."

"Ehh~ You'll have to face it sooner or later. Why not try learning now?"

"Horikita-san might not be able to take it."

"That's a problem for you, the one she relies on, and Horikita-senpai. What's it got to do with me?"

"Horikita-san might get expelled."

"What's that got to do with me?"

"Class points might get drained. Tsukishima-kun and Kushida-san would probably be troubled."

"Don't worry about us. Not at all."

Horikita Manabu looked over, his voice cold: "Come out."

Tsukishima sighed: "It's all your fault. Otherwise, I might've gotten an even better video."

Ayanokouji countered flatly: "That probably has something to do with Tsukishima-kun too."

Horikita Manabu glanced at Ayanokouji, then turned to Tsukishima: "Name your terms."

Tsukishima grinned, rubbing his hands together: "A late-night chat between the Horikita siblings is worth at least 500,000 points."

Before Horikita Manabu could speak, Horikita Suzune objected: "Yuto Tsukishima, this is extortion! My business is none of yours!"

Tsukishima laughed: "Horikita-san's got a childish sense of humor, huh..."

Horikita Manabu's eyelid twitched. He sighed and began haggling without changing his expression: "300,000."

Horikita Suzune bit her lip, wanting to speak, but a single look from Horikita Manabu silenced her.

"Well, it's getting late, and I've got things to do at the dorm. How about this—I'll take a loss. Final offer, 400,000!"

"Deal."

Horikita Manabu pulled out his phone, made a quick transaction, and 400,000 points arrived instantly.

Tsukishima immediately started tapping on his phone: "Want to check it?"

"No need."

"OK! Pleasure doing business. I don't know anything about tonight. Oh, and this guy next to me is Ayanokouji. We're not close. I'm off."

With that, Tsukishima turned and walked away.

His phone buzzed.

[Kushida]: Are you there yet???

[Kushida]: The milk tea's gone cold!!!

[Kushida]: Are you standing me up???

[Kushida]: You cold-hearted, perverted cheapskate!!!

[Tsukishima]: Hold on, hold on, I'm almost there. Tonight's been a bit eventful.

He quickened his pace and turned into the dormitory building.

As soon as he entered, he saw a girl wearing a mask, large glasses, and a long windbreaker standing in front of the vending machine.

Tsukishima froze on the spot.

Were there stalker girls in this school now?

His brain had already started playing out some dirty scenarios—coerced teachers, coerced female students, coerced...

Wait, why was everything coerced?

The girl turned around, spotted him, and suddenly charged over, leaving Tsukishima unsure whether he should run or not.

"What are you staring at? Get upstairs!"

"Huh? Kushida? You switched careers to stalker girl?"

"Go die! Just get upstairs!"

In Tsukishima's room, Kushida casually tossed her coat onto the bed, plopped down in a seiza position, and dropped all pretense, immediately launching into a tirade:

"Damn bugs, they should take a piss and look at themselves before daring to confess to me!"

"'Kushida-san, you must be tired, let me buy you some milk tea'—disgusting! Why don't they just die?!"

"That tagalong Ike! Yamauchi could fart and he'd call it perfume! And he wanted to teach me how to fish—what is he, a damn monkey?!"

"That violent gorilla Sudo! Besides playing basketball, what else can he do? Just roar around like an ape?!"

"That bitch Karuizawa! Always going 'Hirata-kun~ Hirata-kun~' every day—if she likes Hirata-kun so much, why doesn't she just die with him?!"

"I'm exhausted. Smiling every day, dealing with those idiots every day, listening to their brain-dead topics... Why do I have to work so hard?!"

"And you, you perverted cheapskate! Your brain must be pickled in piss, right? How else could you have so much dirty crap in there? You sick freak, why don't you just die?! If it weren't for you, would those gossiping bitches have started stirring things up?!"

"If it weren't for you, would those disgusting bugs have confessed to me?!"

"I have to hold back my disgust and smile while rejecting them—why should I?! Why do I have to work so hard for this?!"

She seemed genuinely pent up, grabbing Tsukishima's drawing paper and tearing it into shreds, her face twisted and manic: "Draw, draw, draw your mother! You think I don't know what's in your head? Why don't you just die?!"

"With your level, you want to be a manga artist? Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself, see that death-warmed-over face of yours—manga artist? More like 'die artist'!"

Tsukishima's expression turned strange. Watching her voice grow louder, he reached out, covered her mouth, and pressed her down onto the bed face-up: "Calm down. Keep your voice down, don't be so loud. And don't tear my drawing paper."

He flipped over and sat on the bed, using his legs to pin down Kushida's body while restraining her hands.