Horikita the Great Demon King vs Saint Kushida

The young ladies around her let out a series of exclamations: "Eh~ Kushida, are you working with a classmate on a manga?"

"So amazing!"

"Kushida is really adorable!"

"Is Horikita the Great Demon King going to take up the challenge?"

Horikita's brow furrowed into a knot that could hold at least two bowls of pus: "This is the cooperation you need? This is the kind of pretentious, disgusting thing you want to draw?"

Kushida immediately covered her face and ran behind Tsukishima: "Marshal Tsukishima, Private Kushida has been struck down by Horikita the Great Demon King~"

Tsukishima instantly shielded her behind him: "As expected, Horikita the Great Demon King is still this powerful! Damn it, Private Kushida, go quickly, replenish your energy first, I'll find you!"

"No, I can't leave Marshal Tsukishima!"

Kushida shoved her hand into one of the young ladies' hands, then leaned forward as if she would live or die with them, while her body slowly retreated, as if being pulled away by the young lady.

Tsukishima looked at Horikita, then swept his gaze across the surrounding onlookers. Ayanokouji had already disappeared into the crowd at some point: "So, Horikita the Great Demon King, want to go replenish energy first?"

The two walked in silence for a while. Horikita's Back Spirit, Ayanokouji, had somehow fallen in step behind them again.

"So, Horikita, can you reach Kushida's level?"

"Your taste is truly awful. Pretentious, disgusting, shameless. This is the kind of terminal chuunibyou manga with zero artistic value you want to draw?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with it? Isn't this what popular shonen battle manga are like these days? Besides, Kushida was willing to roleplay along."

"If this is all you need, then I really can't do it. But maybe I can help you understand a more artistic, deeper manga style."

"From a manga perspective, more artistic means readers won't understand what you're trying to say. Deeper means directly depicting cruel social cases that lack universality. Simply put, one leaves people confused, the other leaves them unhappy. I don't like either."

Tsukishima paused: "And I'm curious—your grades are pretty good, so why are you so stubborn? I've said it many times: I don't want to get involved, I'm not interested, and I don't have time to care about Yamauchi and the others' fate. Why do you all keep coming to me?"

"You're not trying to get back at me, are you? Because I blackmailed your brother? Isn't that normal in this school? Why hold a grudge for so long?"

Horikita's expression stiffened for an instant.

"Besides, Ayanokouji here is on good terms with Yamauchi and the others, and he's a Score Control God. Why not get him to do it? Why bother me, a manga artist?"

Ayanokouji let out a voice filled with inert gas: "I'm not good at guiding..."

"Eh~ There's a first time for everything, right? Look, it's everyone's first time living, and we're all doing fine, aren't we?"

Tsukishima glanced at the surveillance camera on the lamppost, then slung an arm around Ayanokouji's shoulder: "See? No one is born a living saint. Everyone stumbles forward. 'Not good at it' isn't a valid excuse."

Though it was true that people did have things they weren't good at. But what did that have to do with Tsukishima? He was just habitually messing with people.

The May sunlight was just right, warm and comfortable. The three of them slowly strolled to the cafeteria.

Tsukishima clapped his hands: "Alright, we part ways here. See you never."

With that, he hummed a little tune and walked away.

Horikita's expression wasn't great. Ayanokouji watched his retreating back: "It's over, Horikita. What now?"

Horikita's temper flared. I'm a proud daughter of heaven—who have I ever bowed to besides my brother? I already lowered myself for you, followed your requests. Who do you think you are to reject me with all these excuses?

"Forget about him. The most important thing right now is Sudo and the others."

Just then, Hirata brought the clearly displeased trio of Sudo, Yamauchi, and Ike before Horikita. A faint smile appeared on Hirata's face: "Horikita, we're here to apologize to you..."

The study session began again.

[Kushida]: Sudo is such a gorilla. Can't learn, so he bangs the table?

[Tsukishima]: Isn't that what gorillas do? Haven't you seen Beauty and the Beast?

[Kushida]: Hirata is seriously a superman. One look and Sudo calmed down. Did he beat Sudo up?

[Tsukishima]: He is Hirata the Superman, after all.

[Kushida]: Those bastards Yamauchi and Ike are staring at me again. I'll give you 50,000 points. How about beating them up for me?

[Tsukishima]: Deal!

The next day, Tsukishima deliberately left late, 'coincidentally' running into Yamauchi and Ike.

They had huge dark circles under their eyes, yawning as they trudged toward the classroom.

Tsukishima carried his bag, phone in hand: "Senior, really, I can't. I'm not familiar with Class C..."

"Besides, that girl in Class C might be pretty and have a good figure, but..."

He walked quickly, but his words drifted like wind into Yamauchi's ears.

That afternoon, the two of them got cornered.

Word was, they were loitering outside Class C's door with shifty eyes, and Ryuuen Sakura, the ruler of Class C, thought they were gathering intel.

So he found a spot without surveillance and dealt with them.

The two didn't report it, just said they fell by accident.

[Kushida]: Whoa, I was joking, you know. How did you actually do it? Can I delay the points? I saw a necklace I like...

[Tsukishima]: Twisted Kushida Cthulhu Award.jpg

50,000 personal points credited to the account.

Tsukishima snorted coldly: "Nice try, thinking you could stiff me on the money?"

Putting away his phone, Tsukishima looked at the drafts in his hand and nodded with satisfaction.

Half a month had passed since Horikita last cornered him. In these two weeks, there had been no further waves, allowing him to focus on honing his drawing skills.

Manga Club.

President Yamada looked at Tsukishima's artwork and nodded approvingly: "Tsukishima, you have real talent for drawing. It's only been this long, and you've already grasped human anatomy. I remember it took me over two months back then."

Tsukishima smiled: "I've always enjoyed drawing. I used to sketch landscapes before, so I had a foundation."

President Yamada nodded, dropping the topic of talent: "You can try drawing manga now. Don't worry about the plot yet—first understand paneling and shot composition. Know where to use close-ups, where to use medium or long shots."

"How to convey content within limited space without making it feel cramped..."

"For this, besides reading the books I recommended, you should also regularly check out popular manga. There's a difference between color and black-and-white manga too..."

Tsukishima nodded, recalling the various doujinshi he'd seen in his past life, and couldn't help humming a tune.

Come! The doujinshi world, prepare to welcome your god!