Early the next morning.
Kushida greeted Tsukishima with a smile, just as she always did. "Good morning, Tsukishima."
Tsukishima nodded. "Good morning, Kushida."
When he made no other move, Kushida felt a little more at ease, then turned to socialize with others.
Tsukishima went about his usual routine too, studying when it was time to study and practicing drawing when it was time to draw.
But that evening, Kushida sent him a message asking him to meet her.
"Good evening, Tsukishima."
Her smile was exactly the same as always.
"Did you come because you want the evidence, Kushida?"
Tsukishima glanced around. Kushida had picked a decent spot: there were no cameras nearby, and the corner of the building gave them a clear view of anyone who might be lurking around.
It seemed Kushida had learned from last time.
The smile on Kushida's face almost faltered, but she didn't answer. "What are you talking about, Tsukishima? I just have a few questions about my studies."
Tsukishima nodded. "So you're recording me right now too, right? Maybe there's a pinhole camera hidden in a corner somewhere. The moment I reach out, you'll scream, and then you'll have permanent evidence to finish me off for good."
"You're probably thinking about sending me to prison right now. But have you ever thought that if you ruined my life, there's no way I'd let you get away with it? So why are you always thinking in terms of a zero-sum game?"
"We could both win, couldn't we?"
Kushida could no longer keep smiling. A look of deep revulsion spread across her face. "I don't see how we both win. All I see is you taking advantage of me, and then making me model for you. It feels like I get nothing out of this!"
Tsukishima looked at her in confusion. "Didn't I explain the school's rules yesterday? You can sell this information for points. Hirata and Horikita in our class would definitely want it. You can tell them you spent ages haggling with Ichinose before she finally agreed to sell it cheap, but it still cost 200,000 points."
"Hirata and Horikita can definitely scrape together 200,000 points. Horikita should have about 60,000 or 70,000 left, and Ayanokoji, who's with her, probably has about the same. The two of them can put up 100,000, and Hirata should be able to gather another 100,000."
"Aren't those 200,000 points a benefit?"
"You'll have to hurry. There's only half a month left before May, and after that, this information won't be worth a cent."
He pointed at Kushida's face. "Even if you don't want the points, isn't being able to vent your feelings in front of me without holding back a benefit?"
"You're their emotional dumping ground, and I'm yours. I can help stabilize your dangerously fragile mental state. That counts as a benefit too, doesn't it?"
"You don't think you're mentally healthy, do you?"
"As for me taking advantage of you, weren't you the one who grabbed my hand yesterday and pressed it against you? Wasn't that because neither of us trusted the other? Weren't you trying to get something on me too?"
"Let's be reasonable, all right? We can't keep resorting to schemes and underhanded tricks. School is a place for studying."
Kushida seemed to snap. She seized him by the collar, her voice full of malice. "I don't need an emotional dumping ground! A pervert like you doesn't need to worry about my mental state! You just want to keep collecting dirt on me! You're trying to satisfy your perverted desires!"
Tsukishima sighed, pulled Kushida into his arms, and patted her on the head. "There, there. Don't fuss. I've always known I'm a pervert."
Kushida slapped him, then left.
Tsukishima rubbed his cheek and returned to his dorm. He hadn't even had a chance to sit down when Kushida sent him a photo.
It showed him holding her. Her eyes clearly looked frightened and aggrieved, and she had both hands pressed against his chest, as if she were trying to push him away.
There was a caption underneath.
Harassed after rejecting a confession.
Tsukishima stopped the recording on his phone, then sent it to Kushida. After that, he took a pinhole camera out of his pocket.
Who knew he'd actually end up using the thing? Man.
Tsukishima extracted the video and sent it to Kushida without editing it. He added a title underneath.
The Other Side of the Saint.avi
Lying on his bed, he considered buying some cosplay outfits and the like. It'd be a waste not to make good use of the Saint's figure.
During the break, Hirata walked up to the podium.
"Could I have everyone's attention for a moment? I have something to tell you."
Tsukishima glanced at Kushida Kikyo, who was standing beside him and sitting quietly at her desk.
"Yesterday, I got hold of some very important information about the school's points system."
He paused and looked around the room.
"Kushida got this information for us. Through her connections, she obtained the exact details from Class B."
Teruhiko Yukimura asked, "Is it the same information about the 500,000 points Horikita mentioned earlier?"
Hirata nodded. "That's right. I borrowed 100,000 from some other classmates, and Horikita and Ayanokoji each contributed 50,000, bringing the total to 200,000. We have Kushida to thank for that."
Kushida Kikyo stepped forward and bowed deeply. "I'm sorry, everyone. I thought this information was extremely important, so I took the initiative and contacted a friend in Class B."
Everyone immediately started offering her words of reassurance.
"Don't apologize, Kushida. You did it for the class!"
"As expected of our Saint! She really has that kind of pull?"
Hirata smiled warmly. "All right, everyone. To put it simply, our points are determined by our performance..."
Hirata laid out everything about Class Points, Personal Points, and how they were connected.
But he didn't mention information about switching classes or anything like that.
"So from now on, we need to study hard and follow the school's rules. Otherwise, our living allowance might be cut in half next month."
The classroom fell silent for a few seconds.
Then all hell broke loose.
"What the hell?"
"So if someone drags us down, we all suffer?"
"How is that fair?"
"That's ridiculous!"
"Yamauchi and the others skipped class. How many points will they lose?"
"You're no better! Plenty of you eat snacks in class or do your nails, too!"
"Wait, is this information even real? I heard the school has powerful backers. Would they really care about our 100,000 points?"
Tsukishima rested his head on his desk and casually practiced drawing manga on a small notebook.
Hirata clapped his hands. "Everyone, please settle down!"
The noisy classroom gradually quieted.
"It's really not that big a deal. We're students, aren't we? Studying hard is our job. All we have to do is act like normal students."
Kushida Kikyo stepped forward too, putting on a pitiful expression as she pleaded, "Please, everyone. I spent all my points to get this information. If I don't have many points next month, I'll have to eat the Mountain Vegetable Set Meal. Could you help me out?"
As expected of the Saint, that was all it took to set the boys howling.
They immediately started offering to buy her meals or take care of her for the rest of her life.
It was simpler on the girls' side: all it took was a word from Karuizawa Kei.
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