Three's Company Raids the Dormitory at Night

Inside the dorm room.

Tsukishima sat on a chair.

Kushida and Hirata stood off to one side, while the other three, whose brains seemed to be missing, sat on the bed.

Yamauchi had even lifted up his mattress, apparently looking for some book that caught his interest.

Tsukishima stared at Yamauchi for three seconds, then turned his gaze to Kushida.

"You little bastard, you're messing with me, right? I knew you weren't being straight."

"It's not me, big bro, I was forced into it too!"

Tsukishima then looked at Hirata.

Hirata let out an awkward light cough: "Yamauchi-kun, um... we're here to talk about serious matters, don't go rummaging through other people's things..."

Yamauchi reluctantly put the mattress back down, muttering under his breath: "I was just looking... maybe there's something good..."

Ike leaned in and whispered: "Find anything?"

Yamauchi shook his head.

Kushida couldn't bear to watch. She took a deep breath and stepped forward: "Tsukishima-kun, about the study session..."

Tsukishima refused without hesitation: "I'm not interested, and I don't have time."

Hirata immediately walked over, deep anxiety and pleading in his eyes: "Tsukishima-kun, I know you might not really like everyone in the class, but we're still a group, and Sudo and the others really are in danger..."

Tsukishima made a stop gesture: "Stop, stop. Horikita-san already told me all that."

He deliberately emphasized the word 'Horikita' with extra weight.

As expected, Sudo was instantly hooked by the name: "That bitch came to see you?"

Tsukishima nodded: "Right after school let out today, she found me and hoped I'd help you guys improve your grades, to avoid getting expelled in the midterms."

It was true, he just left out Horikita's real motive.

As for why he did this, he just wanted to put some pressure on Horikita. What bad intentions could he possibly have?

Sudo immediately flew off the handle: "No way, she said stuff like 'If you can't even solve these simple problems, just drop out already!' Don't joke around!"

Yamauchi and Ike didn't believe it either: "That ice queen? Absolutely not! She'd be happy to see us dead!"

Tsukishima said indifferently: "You can go ask Ayanokouji-kun. He was right there watching the whole thing. Even if he doesn't talk much, he wouldn't lie about something like this, right?"

"Horikita-san really is like an iceberg, always serious and unsmiling. To put it bluntly, every time I see her face, I feel like I owe her a ton of money."

Yamauchi immediately chimed in: "Yeah, she's really scary, and her mouth is vicious too!"

Tsukishima sighed, leaned his body closer to the three of them, turned sideways to avoid eye contact that might cause conflict, and softened his tone:

"Her mouth really is vicious, and she's cold and distant, but have you ever thought about it? She got first in the class on the last quiz. Why would she join a study session?"

"To put it bluntly, what could she possibly learn from a study session with you guys?"

Before they could respond, Tsukishima slammed the table and kept going: "Nothing at all! So why would she join a study session to tutor you guys?"

Sudo sneered, getting impatient: "You're not gonna say it's for our sake, are you? Enough with the nonsense, are you gonna tutor us or not!"

Tsukishima spread his hands and looked at Hirata: "Hirata-kun, with patience like that, how am I supposed to teach? Japanese, foreign languages—every subject takes a lot of talking. Math takes even more."

"I've only explained two steps of logic, and he's already losing it. Can he really focus on receiving guidance? Can he even listen to what I'm saying?"

"And besides, am I wrong? Why is Horikita-san willing to tutor you guys? Are you giving her points? Does she need your paltry points?"

Tsukishima met Sudo's eyes directly: "Sudo-kun, what exactly did you give her to make someone who'd rather see you dead willing to tutor you?"

Because it sure as hell isn't for your sake.

Sudo gritted his teeth, even more agitated: "Blah blah blah, what are you trying to say?"

Tsukishima leaned back in his chair: "What I'm trying to say is simple. Someone who voluntarily offered to tutor you got driven away. What good could possibly come my way?"

"She was the one who insulted us! If she's gonna tutor, fine, but what was with all that talk!"

Tsukishima showed no sign of being fazed by Sudo's anger:

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're all big shots, the strongest, the coolest, the baddest."

"You don't need anyone's guidance, it's everyone else butting in."

"People have to beg to tutor you, have to kneel and lecture you before you're satisfied. The moment something doesn't go your way or you get upset, you just walk out. And they still have to treat you nicely, feed you well, and wait on you hand and foot."

"I don't have that kind of patience, and I don't want to end up like Horikita, hated by everyone for doing a good deed. After all, there's a lesson to be learned from her example."

"Everyone, please see yourselves out."

Sudo's face was red enough to cosplay a traffic light. His hair stood on end as he pointed at Tsukishima: "You... you, fine, I don't need your help!"

He grabbed Yamauchi and Ike: "Let's go!"

Hirata the superhero immediately felt uneasy. He looked at Tsukishima, but Tsukishima's logic just now left him with no openings.

So he could only force out a: "Sorry, Tsukishima-kun, for the intrusion."

Then he shot Kushida a look and rushed out of the dorm room to find the Sudo trio.

Kushida glanced down the hallway, confirming everyone was gone, then let out a long breath and gently closed the door.

She plopped down onto Tsukishima's bed and started complaining.

"How can those three idiots be so stupid! Do they even have brains or not!"

"And Hirata, always fake-smiling and never doing anything! Does he keep the peace with just that grin? No wonder he's called a superhuman!"

"Tsukishima, why did you speak up for that ice queen Horikita? You're not planning to use her as a shield, are you? What a schemer!"

Tsukishima didn't reply, just stared at her with a smile, making Kushida's skin crawl.

Kushida's face flushed red. She hugged her arms, her big eyes glistening as she looked at him, curling her body up small, her voice twisting out from deep in her gut: "Tsukishima-kun, don't stare at me like that~ H~"

Tsukishima chuckled. "Pretty good act. Luring people here to set me up, huh?"

Kushida whimpered. "I was forced into it too~"

"I know you were forced. But that doesn't stop me from screwing you over for it."

Kushida froze, even her pitiful act crumbling. "Listen to yourself—are those even human words? I've already thrown myself out there, and you still want to screw me over?"

Tsukishima gave her a puzzled look, then straightened his posture. "What's the problem? In my book, even a stone has to yield two ounces of oil. Let alone a saint like you."