Damn, how humiliating! When was Shuichi Kanda finally going to get back on his feet? At the very least, he had to avoid sitting beside her. Otherwise, it'd be even easier for her to pull something underhanded.
After obediently sitting down across from Kamuro, Kanda looked around.
"Just you? Where's your owner?"
"You really can't say anything without being nasty." Kamuro looked a little displeased. "Isn't he right here?"
Right here?
Shuichi Kanda looked around again. He even bent down to peer under the table, but still didn't see a single person.
Though from this angle, he could see some different scenery.
So where the hell was that guy...
Wait?
Was she talking about me?
He looked up at Kamuro, who was reading with her head bowed. Kanda Shuichi's heart gave a few uncontrollable thumps.
Yikes, this was way too much!
What was with her?
How could she have such a cute side?
You're actually Kushida in disguise, aren't you?
After a long while, Kanda finally calmed down. Then he saw Kamuro irritably poking at her workbook with a pencil. It looked like she'd run into a difficult problem.
"Don't tell me you're bad at studying?"
"What do you mean, bad at studying? That's so rude. I'm just not good at it." Hearing Shuichi Kanda's words, Kamuro immediately protested.
So you are bad at studying. Is that the last shred of your pride talking?
"Want me to teach you? All you have to do is call me—"
Do you want to die?
Kamuro didn't say it aloud, but Shuichi Kanda understood what she meant. The corner of his mouth, which had been curling upward, immediately fell flat.
Chapter Forty-Eight: The Sunday Library, Part Two
Because of Shuichi Kanda's inappropriate remark, he paid for it by having to tutor Kamuro.
Then, naturally, Kamuro sat down beside Shuichi Kanda.
Hey, hey, hey! That's way too close!
He thought he caught a pleasant scent. It didn't smell like shampoo. Could it be... No, that had to be his imagination.
"Does it smell nice?"
"Of course." The answer slipped out without a second thought. "Ow! Ow, ow, let go!"
Holy crap!
No, Kamuro, are you really that vicious?
Kamuro had been sitting beside Shuichi Kanda for less than two minutes when he clutched the soft flesh on his inner thigh and collapsed onto the table.
"You crazy woman! Do you really think I wouldn't release your video?"
"I'm still useful to you. You won't release it now."
Damn, that made so much sense I couldn't argue.
But seeing her disdainful expression made Shuichi Kanda furious!
Damn it, if that's how it is—
Shuichi Kanda suddenly reached out and gave Kamuro's inner thigh a hard pinch.
So this was a high school girl's thigh? So soft, so smooth...
The security cameras couldn't see them anyway. Maybe he should—
At that moment, Kamuro Masumi felt her whole body stiffen. She mechanically turned her head, her face full of disbelief.
Seeing that, Shuichi Kanda realized he'd gone too far. He quietly withdrew his wandering hand, closed his eyes, and struck a heroic pose, as if to say, "Kill me or do whatever you want."
But after waiting for quite a while, the attack he'd expected never came.
"How do you solve this problem?"
"Huh? Oh, which one?"
As he read the problem Kamuro pointed to, Shuichi Kanda quickly wondered to himself: Could Kamuro be a masochist? She'd been so rough that he'd thought she was a sadist. What a surprise.
"Are you even looking at the problem? Why are you grinning like a creep?"
"Of course I am. This problem's easy. You just draw this auxiliary line, then..."
Ten minutes later, Kamuro looked at Shuichi Kanda strangely.
"What's wrong? Don't understand?"
"No. I think your teaching is clear and easy to follow. You're better than the math teacher." Kamuro lifted her head and sighed.
Of course I am. I'm a modern high schooler who's been through the horrors of exam-focused education. How could you possibly be better at solving problems than me?
I don't know how to solve this problem, but I can still get the answer right!
Could anyone else do that?
Huh? I had a feeling Kamuro had coaxed some important information out of me.
Just then, Horikita, Ayanokoji, and the class's Three Idiots arrived at the library. With exams approaching, they were probably feeling the pressure, so the group headed toward the back of the library.
Hey, what are you doing? Don't come over here! Go over there!
But things didn't go as he hoped. They didn't just go the other way—they came straight toward Shuichi Kanda.
You can't see me. You can't see me!
Then, as Horikita Suzune passed by Shuichi Kanda, she deliberately paused.
"Hmph."
What the hell are you huffing for?
Weren't you supposed to be tutoring Sudo? What were those two doing here?
After passing Horikita Suzune, he immediately headed off to the side, where there happened to be a large empty table.
When Yamauchi and Ike saw Shuichi Kanda sitting side by side with Kamuro Masumi, looking rather intimate, they were instantly jealous.
Why? Why did that guy get to go on a date alone with a beautiful girl?
Damn it!
"Jealous?" Horikita Suzune said coolly, as if she'd seen right through them. "That's one of the benefits of being good at academics."
After deliberately needling Yamauchi and Ike, Horikita began her own unique tutoring session.
She hadn't planned on including Ike and Yamauchi, but after hearing from Ayanokoji that they hadn't studied properly at Hirata's study group, she decided to drag the two of them into studying, too.
She hadn't been the one to invite them, and Ayanokoji didn't mind anyway. After all, Kushida would take care of it.
Before long, Kushida Kikyo, the liaison for this unusual study group, arrived at the library. Naturally, she saw Kamuro and Kanda sitting side by side, their shoulders practically touching.
"Eh? Are Kanda and Kamuro on a date?"
Kamuro had asked Kushida for Kanda's contact information and room number, so afterward, she'd imagined Kamuro going all out to pursue Kanda.
Still, she was a little surprised to see the two of them openly on a date at the library.
"I'm just helping her study."
"Oh, I see. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
Hey, what's with that look? I'm telling the truth! The truth!
Not long after Kushida Kikyo went over to Horikita's group, they started arguing. It made it impossible for Shuichi Kanda to focus on sharing his study tips with Kamuro.
Sudo was the first to kick up a fuss. His target, naturally, was Horikita.
As expected. Nothing surprising there.
Even Kanda couldn't help snapping back whenever he spoke to her, so it was no wonder Sudo, with his much shorter temper, would lose it.
Sudo, I understand you!
"You bitch, I've been putting up with you for long enough! Our future has nothing to do with you!"
"That's true. Your future has nothing to do with me. No matter how painful it gets, it won't affect me. I'll only feel sorry for you. You've become such failures because you've spent your whole lives running away from things."
"You really don't know when to shut up. Besides, studying is completely useless for the future."
"Studying is useless for the future? That's laughable. You give up as soon as you run into the slightest difficulty, and you think someone like you can become a professional basketball player? If a cheat like you could become a basketball player, I'd have to mourn the state of Japanese basketball."
When Horikita said that, Shuichi Kanda knew the situation was about to turn ugly.
Sure enough, Sudo rushed over almost instantly and grabbed Horikita by the collar.
Thankfully, someone else understood how much those words could hurt.
"Sudo!"
Kushida got to her feet at the same time Sudo did, then grabbed his arm.
Even with Sudo gripping her collar, Horikita didn't show the slightest trace of fear. She simply stared at Sudo coldly and continued to taunt him.
Wow, you're brave.
Just as Kanda watched with interest, Kamuro gently kicked his shin.
"Is it really that interesting?"
"Of course it is. I want to see if Sudo will actually hit her. If he does, I'll have to hand it to him."
"You really don't care if things get worse."
"Who says I do?"
But things didn't go the way Shuichi Kanda had hoped, because an unexpected factor stepped in.
"The library is for reading and studying. It's not a place for trash from Class D like you. You stupid people never study anyway, do you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have had your points deducted down to zero in just one month."
A boy with short green hair stood up and launched a broadside at the noisy group around Sudo.
"Who's that? Do you know him?"
"Yahiko Totsuka, Katsuragi's lackey."
Katsuragi was the other leader of Class A besides Sakayanagi. Their factions were evenly matched.
"I see. Sakayanagi must have ordered you to follow them to the library. In that case, I'll send Sakayanagi a little gift."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shuichi Kanda casually picked up the pencil case Kamuro had left on the table and hurled it at Yahiko Totsuka as hard as he could.
Thud!
Chapter Forty-Nine: Feel the Darkness of Society!
The moment Shuichi Kanda finished speaking, before Kamuro could even react, he snatched up the pencil case from the table and hurled it at the head of a boy named Yahiko Totsuka.
His sudden outburst gave Kamuro a huge fright.
Though "hurled" might not be quite right. It looked more like Shuichi Kanda had grabbed the pencil case too forcefully, causing it to slip from his hand and go flying.
The pencil case left Shuichi Kanda's palm and traced a beautiful arc through the air, as though it were about to land right on Yahiko Totsuka's head.
Thud!
Unfortunately, the bald Katsuragi stepped in and blocked the pencil case Shuichi Kanda had thrown at Yahiko Totsuka.
The pencil case struck Katsuragi's sturdy arm and burst open, spilling the stationery all over the floor.
Before you continue