Girls' Tea Party, Kushida's Acting

Soon enough, Tsukishima had the plot mostly written out.

He handed the drawing paper to Kushida: "Here, I've written most of it. Left you some blank space so it looks like we co-created it."

Kushida glanced at it and let out a cold laugh: "Really is toilet paper material. Such a cliché plot—a generic isekai nice-guy protagonist, collecting women left and right, every girl loves him and won't marry anyone else."

"Even the party composition is formulaic: female elf, female knight, female mage, female priest. Changes the Succubus's nature, changes the Saintess's faith, all sorts of misunderstandings..."

"Looks like you've been dumping plenty of garbage into your brain too."

Tsukishima shrugged like a little bear: "Can't help it. That's the king's path for a reason—because everyone loves it. Hey! People just eat up that 'high schooler saves the world' setup! You believe me? This crap could even sell, as long as the art's decent and there's enough ecchi."

Knock knock knock! Knock knock knock!

A knock sounded at the door.

Kushida muttered under her breath: "Here they come. Pretending to look for me, but really just scoping out the room."

She stood up and instantly swapped on a sweet smile—faster than Sichuan opera face-changing.

What could Tsukishima say? He just picked up his drawing board, found an unfinished sketch, and started adding lines.

The door opened. A few girls stood outside, eyes sparkling with excitement and gossip, some even carrying a hint of malice.

Kushida's face lit up with surprise: "Ehh~ Come in, please! Tsukishima-kun just brought some desserts and black tea. I was about to invite you all over."

She pulled the girls into the room.

Tsukishima glanced up at them and gave a slight nod as a greeting.

He turned back to Kushida, a gentle smile slowly spreading across his face: "Kiku... Kushida-san, since you have company, I'll take my leave. It's getting late—get some rest."

He deliberately paused on the name, mainly to steer the girls' thoughts.

One girl's eyes lit up: "Don't rush off! We're really interested in manga too. Want to discuss the plot together? We've read plenty of manga and light novels."

The other girls quickly chimed in: "Yeah, yeah! Discussing together can make the story better~"

"What do you think, Kushida? We talk about light novels all the time."

Tsukishima swept a glance over that girl, his tone a bit cool: "Better not talk about light novels for now. Exams are coming up—fail the midterms and you'll be expelled."

The girls' smiles froze for a moment. One opened her mouth as if to say something, but Tsukishima's gaze pressed it back down.

He put his smile back on and said softly to Kushida: "See you tomorrow."

Without waiting for her reply, he slung his drawing board over his back, grabbed his bag, and left.

The girls didn't dare stop him.

Kushida chased after him, her face bright as she called out, "See you tomorrow."

Tsukishima nodded. In his peripheral vision, he caught her lips moving: A bunch of bitches!

He almost laughed out loud, then quickened his pace.

Keep it up, Kushida Kikyo!

Click. The door on the other side of the hallway opened.

Horikita Suzune walked over. Their eyes met, and her voice came out chilly: "What exactly are you trying to do?"

Tsukishima rolled his eyes: "You guess."

Horikita's brow furrowed, clearly unsatisfied with that answer.

He tried to step around her toward the elevator, but she blocked him.

Tsukishima: "Something else?"

Horikita's expression didn't change as she began her recitation: "As the class advisor, I have both the authority and the responsibility to review the state of the class council members, to prevent anyone from influencing decisions."

"Unless you can prove you're no threat to Class D, I will always remain wary of you."

Tsukishima let out a scoff and waved a hand: "Fine, keep watching if you want. You know what? It's exactly because of this personality of yours that I recommended you as advisor. Good, keep it up. And by the way, watch out that you don't get led around yourself."

"Let me give you a tip: a class of less than fifty people, and I still had to set up a council system to hold it together. With how fragile it is, you'd be better off spending your time figuring out how to patch the cracks than watching me."

Horikita's lips pressed tight. She said nothing.

Tsukishima walked around her toward the elevator: "Whatever your reason for caring so much about the class, if you don't solve the internal problems, using the class for anything is going to be a long shot. And collective problems are always just a collection of individual ones. So, keep at it. If you're stuck, ask your brother—he should know what to do."

"As for me, just ask Ayanokouji. He spent every morning last weekend drawing with me. He probably figured out plenty, right? What, he didn't tell you?"

Horikita's brow tightened, her voice cold: "Why would he need to tell me anything?"

Tsukishima paused, then suddenly laughed: "Alright, fine. That push-and-pull relationship of yours is kind of interesting. Good night. Get some rest."

Back in her dorm room.

Horikita sat on her bed, mulling over Tsukishima's words.

Though she was wary of him, she had to admit that his perspective often gave her new insights.

She wanted to prove the school's class placement wrong, to lead Class D toward Class A—and to do that, she needed to use Tsukishima. That was why she kept going to him.

She needed him to provide new ideas and angles.

Of course, the wariness was real too.

She was now pondering her relationship with Kiyotaka Ayanokouji—neither close nor distant, a fitting description indeed.

It seemed that both her brother and Yuto Tsukishima held Ayanokouji in high regard.

She recalled her exchanges with Tsukishima, and soon furrowed her brow: "He always looks at Ayanokouji, intentionally or not..."

"So, he thinks Ayanokouji is the one driving my actions?"

Horikita's brow tightened further. She immediately began reviewing her own thoughts, especially the differences after Ayanokouji spoke.

"Every time, my decisions are influenced by Ayanokouji..."

The most obvious example was the Sudo study session incident. I hadn't planned to participate, but Ayanokouji used my brother as a reason to get me involved.

My attitude toward Class D was also off. When I first entered Class D, I had no intention of leading them to Class A. Now, I've accepted the class advisor's invitation and am even monitoring Tsukishima.

There were plenty of ways to prove I shouldn't have been placed in Class D, yet I chose this path.

She recalled Ayanokouji's assessment of her: "Arbitrarily deciding others are dead weight and cutting them off without hesitation—I think that condescending attitude of yours is exactly why you were assigned to Class D."

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji—the one who influences and changes my thoughts.

Yuto Tsukishima—the one who consolidated the class's strength.

She suddenly let out a self-deprecating laugh: "I really am no match for my brother. He's reminded me so many times."

She lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Tomorrow... I'll try looking at them from a different perspective.

She turned off the light and closed her eyes.

But her mind was still a mess. Ayanokouji's words, Tsukishima's words, her brother's words—all tangled together like an unravellable knot of thread.

She rolled over.

What exactly does Ayanokouji want?

She rolled over again.

And what does Tsukishima want?

She rolled over once more.

And my brother... how does he see me?

She didn't know how long it took before she finally drifted off into a restless sleep.