Catching a Handle, Kikita Forced to Be a Model

The next morning.

Kushida greeted Tsukishima with her usual bright smile, just like always: "Good morning, Tsukishima-kun."

Tsukishima nodded. "Good morning, Kushida-san."

Seeing that Tsukishima made no other move, Kushida felt a little more at ease inside, then turned to continue her socializing.

Tsukishima also went about his day as usual—studying when it was time to study, practicing art when it was time to practice.

But that evening, a message from Kushida called him out.

"Good evening, Tsukishima-kun."

Her face wore the same smile as always, indistinguishable from before.

"Kushida-san, are you here to ask for the evidence?"

Tsukishima glanced around. The spot Kushida had chosen wasn't bad—no surveillance nearby, a corner of a building's outer wall, with a clear view of whether anyone was hiding nearby.

It seemed Kushida had learned from last time.

The smile on Kushida's face nearly cracked, but she didn't answer. "What are you talking about, Tsukishima-kun? I just had some questions about my studies."

Tsukishima nodded. "So you're recording right now, aren't you? Maybe there's even a pinhole camera in the corner. The moment I reach out, you'll scream, and that'll be permanent evidence—a clean way to get rid of me."

"Maybe you're even thinking about sending me to prison right now. But have you considered that if you ruin my life, there's no way I'd let you off? So why do you always think in terms of zero-sum games?"

"We could both win, you know?"

The smile on Kushida's face completely collapsed, replaced by deep disgust. "I don't see any win-win. All I see is you taking advantage of me, and I have to be your model on top of that. I haven't gotten anything out of this!"

Tsukishima gave her a puzzled look. "Didn't I tell you the school's rules yesterday? You can sell that information. Hirata and Horikita in our class—they'd definitely want it. You can tell them you pestered Ichinose for ages before she reluctantly sold it to you, but it still cost 200,000 points."

"200,000 points—Hirata and Horikita can definitely scrape that together. Horikita should have about 60,000 to 70,000 left, and Ayanokouji beside her has about the same. Between the two of them, that's 100,000. Then Hirata can probably gather another 100,000."

"Isn't that 200,000 points a benefit?"

"You'd better move fast. There's only half a month left until May. After May, that info won't be worth a single point."

He pointed at her face. "Even if you don't want those points, isn't being able to vent your emotions in front of me without holding back a benefit?"

"You're their emotional trash can. I'm your emotional trash can, helping stabilize your dangerously fragile mental state—isn't that also a benefit?"

"You don't actually think your mental health is fine, do you?"

"As for me taking advantage of you—yesterday, you grabbed my hand and pressed it against yourself, didn't you? Wasn't that because of mutual distrust? Weren't you trying to get leverage on me too?"

"Let's be reasonable, okay? You can't keep pulling these schemes. School is a place for learning."

Kushida seemed to snap. She grabbed his collar, her voice vicious. "I don't need an emotional trash can! My state of mind is none of a pervert's concern! You just want to keep collecting leverage on me, don't you? You want to satisfy your twisted desires!"

Tsukishima sighed, pulled her into a hug, and patted her head. "There, there—don't make a scene. I've known I'm a pervert all along."

Kushida slapped him, then walked away.

Tsukishima touched his face and returned to the dorm. Before he could even sit down, Kushida sent him a photo.

It was a picture of him holding her. In the photo, you could clearly see the pitiful, frightened look in her eyes, her hands pressed against his chest as if pushing him away.

Below it was a caption.

Harassment after a rejected confession.

Tsukishima casually stopped the recording on his phone, sent it to Kushida, then pulled a pinhole camera out of his pocket.

He hadn't expected this thing to actually come in handy. Sigh.

He extracted the video, didn't bother editing it, and sent it to Kushida with a title below.

The Other Side of the Saint.avi

He lay on the bed, calculating buying some cosplay outfits or something. It'd be a waste not to make good use of the Saint's figure.

During class break, Hirata stepped up to the podium.

"Everyone, hold on a moment. I have something to say."

Tsukishima glanced at Kushida Kikyo standing beside him, then sat quietly in his seat.

"I obtained some very important information yesterday—about the school's point system."

He paused, scanning the room.

"This information was provided by Kushida-san. Through her connections, she got the exact details from Class B."

Teruhiko Yukimura spoke up. "Is this the 500,000-point info Horikita mentioned before?"

Hirata nodded. "Yes. I borrowed 100,000 from other classmates, and Horikita-san and Ayanokouji-kun each contributed 50,000 to make 200,000. Thanks to Kushida-san."

Kushida Kikyo stepped forward and gave a deep bow. "I'm sorry, everyone. I thought this information was too important, so I took the liberty of going to a friend in Class B."

The class immediately burst into a chorus of reassurances.

"Don't be like that, Kushida-san—you did it for the class!"

"As expected of the Saint—such charm!"

Hirata wore a gentle smile. "Alright, everyone, about the points—simply put, they're determined based on our performance..."

The details of class points, individual points, and the relationship between them were laid out plainly by Hirata.

However, he didn't mention anything about things like class transfers.

"So in the days ahead, we need to study hard and make sure to follow the school rules. Otherwise, our living expenses next month might get cut in half."

The classroom fell silent for a few seconds.

Then it exploded.

"What the hell!"

"So you're saying if someone holds us back, we all suffer for it?"

"Why should we have to put up with that!"

"This is way too unfair!"

"Yamauchi and the others skipped class—how many points will that cost us?"

"You guys aren't any better, you know? Eating snacks in class, doing your nails—that's happened plenty too."

"Hey, is this info even real? I heard the school has serious backing—would they really care about our 100,000 points?"

Tsukishima lay slumped over his desk, casually practicing manga strokes in his notebook.

Hirata clapped his hands. "Everyone, please quiet down!"

The noisy classroom gradually settled.

"It's really not that big of a deal. We're students, aren't we? Studying hard is just what we're supposed to do. Everyone just needs to act like normal students."

Kushida Kikyo also stepped forward, putting on a pitiful expression. "Please, everyone. I spent all my points to get this information. If next month's points are too low, I'll have to survive on the mountain vegetable set meal. Can you all help me out?"

You had to hand it to her—the saintly act worked instantly, making the boys howl.

Offers like "I'll treat you" and "I'll support you for life" came pouring out without a second thought.

As for the girls, it was simpler—Karuizawa Kei handled it with just a word.