Inside the dorm room.
Tsukishima sat in a chair.
Kushida and Hirata stood off to one side, while the other three brainless idiots sat on the bed.
Yamauchi even lifted his mattress, apparently looking for some kind of book he was interested in.
Tsukishima stared at Yamauchi for three seconds, then looked at Kushida.
You little snake, you set me up, didn't you? I knew you were up to no good.
It wasn't me, man! I was forced into this too!
Tsukishima turned to Hirata.
Hirata gave an awkward cough. "Yamauchi, um... we're here to discuss something important. Don't go rummaging through other people's things..."
Yamauchi reluctantly lowered the mattress, still muttering, "I was just looking... There might've been something good..."
Ike sidled over and whispered, "Find anything?"
Yamauchi shook his head.
Kushida couldn't bear to watch. She took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Tsukishima, about the study group..."
Tsukishima refused without hesitation. "I'm not interested, and I don't have time."
Hirata immediately came over, his eyes filled with deep anxiety and pleading. "Tsukishima, I know you might not be very fond of everyone in our class, but we're still a group. And Sudo and the others really are in danger..."
Tsukishima made a time-out gesture. "Hold on, hold on. Horikita already told me all that."
He put special emphasis on the name "Horikita."
Sure enough, Sudo immediately latched onto the name. "That bitch came to see you?"
Tsukishima nodded. "Not long after school today, she came to me and asked me to help you improve your grades so you wouldn't get expelled after the midterms."
That part was true. He'd just left out Horikita's real motive.
As for why he'd done that, he simply wanted to put some pressure on Horikita. It wasn't like he had any ulterior motives.
Sudo immediately flew into a rage. "No way! She said, 'If you can't even answer questions this easy, hurry up and drop out!' Don't mess with me!"
Yamauchi and Ike didn't believe it either. "That ice queen? No way! She'd be thrilled if we died!"
Tsukishima said indifferently, "You can ask Ayanokoji. He was standing right there and saw the whole thing. He doesn't talk much, but he wouldn't lie about something like this."
"Horikita really is like an ice queen. She's always so stern. To put it bluntly, every time I see her face, I feel like I owe her a fortune."
Yamauchi immediately chimed in. "Yeah, she's scary. And her tongue's sharp, too!"
Tsukishima sighed, leaned toward the three of them, and turned slightly sideways to avoid a confrontation from direct eye contact. His tone softened as well.
"She really is sharp-tongued and cold, but have any of you thought about why she'd join a study group when she came first in the class on the last quiz?"
"To be blunt, what could she possibly learn by holding a study group with you?"
Before they could answer, Tsukishima slapped the table and kept going. "Nothing! So why would she join the study group and help you with your studies?"
Sudo scoffed, growing impatient. "You're not about to say she's doing it for us, are you? Enough rambling. Are you going to help us or not?"
Tsukishima spread his hands and looked at Hirata. "Hirata, with an attitude like that, how am I supposed to teach them? Japanese and English both take a lot of talking, and math takes even more."
"I've only said a couple of things about logic, and he's already lost his patience. Is he even willing to be taught? Can he listen to anything I say?"
"Besides, am I wrong? Why would Horikita be willing to help you study? Are you giving her points? Does she need the few points you have?"
Tsukishima looked Sudo straight in the eye. "Sudo, what exactly did you give her to make someone who wants you dead tutor you?"
She really wasn't doing it for you, anyway.
Sudo gritted his teeth, growing even more irritable. "Enough with the rambling. What are you trying to say?"
Tsukishima leaned back in his chair. "It's simple. Someone who actually volunteered to help you study got driven away. What makes you think I'll fare any better?"
"She was the one who insulted us! If she's going to tutor us, then tutor us. What was the point of saying all that?"
Tsukishima didn't show the slightest sign of being bothered by Sudo's anger.
"Yeah, yeah, you're all kings. You're the strongest, the toughest, the best."
"You don't need anyone's help. Other people are just sticking their noses where they don't belong."
"You want people to beg before they tutor you, and get down on their knees to teach you. You'll only be satisfied if everything goes your way. The second you're unhappy, you throw in the towel, and people still have to treat you gently and make sure you're well fed."
"I'm not that patient, and I don't want to end up like Horikita, getting blamed no matter what I do. I've seen how that turns out."
"Everyone, please leave."
Sudo's face turned red enough to cosplay as a traffic light. In a fury, he pointed at Tsukishima. "You... you... Fine! I'm not asking you for anything!"
He grabbed Yamauchi and Ike. "Let's go!"
Hirata Superman immediately looked troubled. He glanced at Tsukishima, but couldn't find any holes in the logic he'd just laid out.
So all he could manage was, "Sorry for the trouble, Tsukishima."
Then he gave Kushida a look and rushed out of the dorm room to catch up with Sudo's trio.
Kushida glanced down the hallway, made sure they were all gone, then let out a long breath and gently closed the door.
She plopped down on Tsukishima's bed and started complaining.
"How can those three idiots be that stupid?! Do they even have brains?!"
"And Hirata—he's always wearing that fake smile and never doing anything! Does he think he can keep the peace just by smiling? No wonder they call him Superman!"
"Tsukishima, why'd you stand up for that ice queen Horikita? You're not trying to use her as a shield, are you? You're pretty calculating!"
Tsukishima didn't say anything. He just watched her with a beaming smile until Kushida started to feel uneasy.
Kushida's cheeks flushed. She folded her arms, her big eyes glistening as she curled into a ball. Her voice seemed to wind its way through a maze before emerging in a coquettish whine. "Tsukishima, don't stare at me like that~ H~"
Tsukishima chuckled. "You've got some nerve. You lured them over here to set me up, huh?"
Kushida let out a pitiful whimper. "I was forced into it too~"
"I know you were forced into it, but that doesn't mean I can't make you pay for it."
Kushida froze. She couldn't even keep up her pitiful expression. "Listen to yourself! Does that sound like something a human would say? I'm practically selling myself here, and you're still going to make me pay?"
Tsukishima gave her a deliberately puzzled look, then put on airs. "What's wrong with that? Around here, I can squeeze two taels of oil out of even a stone, let alone a saint like you."
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