Why Shuichi Kanda Was in Class D / Chapter 59: You Deserved That for Tricking Me

"Shuichi, do you think the old exam questions will come in handy?"

"Yeah, of course. In fact, I also asked Hashikura-senpai for the exam paper from their first test after enrolling. I compared it with ours, and it was exactly the same as the questions on our last quiz."

"Are you serious?"

Miyake got so excited that he jumped up. His overall grades were pretty good, but he was extremely weak in certain subjects, which made him particularly upset about this test.

But his move had the unfortunate result of flipping the table. The yakisoba sitting on it went flying and splattered all over Shuichi Kanda—from his hair to his pants. Even half of the fried egg he hadn't finished landed on Shuichi's head.

Akito! You bastard!

I knew that knocking sound was a bad sign. I didn't expect it to be any different just because Akito was the one making it!

The air suddenly went dead silent. Fortunately, Shuichi had made yakisoba, not soup noodles. Otherwise, the scalding noodles would have had him yelping in pain.

He definitely hadn't been able to dodge that just now.

Seeing the state Shuichi was in, Miyake was obviously stunned, but he quickly came to his senses and hurried over to help clean him up.

"Sorry, sorry. I got a little too excited. Are you okay, Shuichi?"

"Clean this up properly, or you'll never eat anything I cook again!" Shuichi said irritably.

If anyone else had dared do something like that to him, whether on purpose or by accident, Shuichi would never have let it slide. He would have made sure they learned just how terrifying the adult world could be.

But Miyake was the helper he'd chosen, so what else could he do? He had to forgive him.

Dinner was ruined. There were still ingredients left, but Shuichi no longer felt like cooking. He'd take a shower and go out to eat instead.

The school gave students two sets of uniforms, and tomorrow was Saturday, so this wouldn't affect classes.

Shuichi took a change of clothes from the wardrobe and went into the bathroom.

By the time he came out again, Miyake had finished cleaning the room. He'd not only washed the dishes, but had also wiped the soup that had spilled onto the floor.

Shuichi tossed his dirty clothes into the washing machine, added detergent, and started it.

"Let's go eat. You're paying!"

"No problem, no problem."

Miyake naturally had no objections. If anything, he still felt a little awkward—and a little shaken. It was a good thing the noodles hadn't been that hot.

After taking Miyake for a very expensive meal, Shuichi's frustration finally faded away.

"Want something to drink? My treat."

When they got back near the dorm, Shuichi spotted the vending machine in the distance and suggested it.

"Then I'll make sure to get my money's worth this time."

"Suit yourself."

Then Miyake picked up a relatively cheap bottle of oolong tea.

Chapter 58: Why Shuichi Kanda Was in Class D

By the time Shuichi and Miyake returned from Keyaki Mall, it was completely dark. It was already past eight.

They should have gone to find Hirata and given him the old exam questions at that point. Instead, the two of them were hiding in a patch of shadow behind the dormitory.

"Akito, what do you think Ayanokoji's sneaking around for?"

"I don't know what Ayanokoji's sneaking around for, but I think we're being pretty sneaky ourselves." Miyake looked exasperated.

Just a moment ago, after eating, the two of them had been about to buy a drink from the vending machine on the first floor when they happened to see Ayanokoji emerge from its shadow and head around the back of the dormitory.

Curious, and feeling a little safer with Miyake beside him, Shuichi decided to follow.

From where they were standing, they could see Ayanokoji peeking around a corner in the wall at something. Unfortunately, Shuichi and Miyake couldn't get any closer.

Just as the two of them were getting bored and thinking about heading back, Ayanokoji suddenly darted out like a rabbit.

So fast!

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the surprise in the other's eyes.

Follow him!

After a quick, silent exchange, they hid in the spot where Ayanokoji had been and saw what was happening over there.

Horikita Suzune was slumped on the ground with her back against the wall. Shuichi had never seen her look so vulnerable.

And standing in front of her was Horikita Manabu, one of whose arms Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had grabbed.

"Enough. Let go of my arm."

"You should be the one saying that."

Ayanokoji and Horikita Manabu stared at each other, and the situation briefly turned into a stalemate. In the end, it was Horikita Suzune, still sitting on the ground, who broke it.

"Ayanokoji-kun, stop..."

Ayanokoji frowned slightly, then let go.

But the instant he released Horikita Manabu's arm, Manabu threw a punch at Ayanokoji's face. Ayanokoji dodged it by the narrowest margin.

Then he used his left hand to deflect Manabu's right hand as it reached for him, turning aside the force with what looked like effortless skill.

Impressive!

Shuichi and Akito Miyake were both astonished as they watched the two fight.

The Student Council President was one thing, but Ayanokoji was good at hand-to-hand combat too?

Miyake Akito had been a hotheaded delinquent in middle school and had gotten into plenty of fights, so he could tell just how skilled the two of them were.

Based on those two moves alone, he knew he wasn't a match for them.

If he joined in, he might be able to hold out for a little while, but the outcome was already certain—assuming, of course, that his opponent wasn't holding back.

But Miyake didn't need to worry about that. When Ayanokoji had shown up, Horikita Manabu had apparently thought he was some punk hanging around his beloved little sister. There was no way he'd held back when he attacked in anger.

As for Ayanokoji, it was hard to say. His body seemed almost perfectly in tune with anatomy and mechanics. That wasn't something you could achieve through training alone; natural talent mattered too. So who knew whether he was holding back?

"Nice moves. You managed to dodge my attacks twice in a row. Impressive."

Horikita Manabu lowered his guard. Those two exchanges had already dispelled his anger.

"Not only that, you were able to predict my next move. Have you studied anything?"

"I've studied piano and calligraphy. When I was in elementary school, I even won first place in a national piano competition."

I don't believe you. Prove it, Shuichi thought to himself.

But his moment of ease didn't last long.

"You two over there. Aren't you going to come out?"

We've been spotted? That made sense. Neither he nor Akito had been hiding particularly well.

Then Akito Miyake stepped out.

"You're... I remember. Your name's Akito Miyake, right?"

Ayanokoji obviously recognized Akito Miyake. Their seats were close, and he often went around with Shuichi.

Horikita Manabu frowned. A student council president being seen attacking someone wasn't a good look.

"That's right. On my way back, I saw you sneaking around and wondered what you were up to, so I followed you."

Miyake calmly explained. So what if they'd been caught spying? There was no need to panic. He hadn't done anything wrong.

"I see. Then Kanda can come out too."

"Huh? Why are you bringing up Shuichi?" Miyake looked visibly confused.

"If you were alone, you wouldn't have followed me just because you saw me. So you came here with Kanda, right?"

That made sense. What a mistake. It was too late to run now, so Shuichi stepped out from the shadows where he'd been hiding.

"Brilliant deduction, Ayanokoji." Shuichi looked helpless. "Good evening, President Horikita."

Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses, looking a little displeased. After meeting Shuichi Kanda earlier that day, he'd felt the name sounded familiar.

So, for his sister's sake, he'd gathered information on Shuichi. In the end, he'd concluded that Shuichi wasn't someone easy to deal with. He was the sort who'd be gentle if you were gentle, but if you came at him hard, he'd come back even harder.

Most importantly, the person who'd have to take the blame for a guy like this being in Class D was him?

Horikita Manabu didn't know whether he ought to regret putting someone like Shuichi in Class D.

"So it was you. You're the transfer student at this school. Come to think of it, I was the one who decided to put you in Class D."

Horikita Manabu's words left Shuichi completely bewildered. What was going on? He was saying that he'd assigned him to Class D?

"Looks like you didn't know." Horikita Manabu looked at Shuichi. "Ten days before your year started, another student's place was taken over. You were the one who took that student's place, Shuichi Kanda."

"I'd more or less figured that out."

Shuichi had just woken up then, and the Kanda Family had already arranged everything.

After arriving at the school, Shuichi had also learned that the written exams and interviews had ended long before.

In other words, the enrollment list had already been finalized. For the Kanda Family to get one person in, someone else had to give up their place. Of course, the Kanda Family had taken care of that easily.

But the Kanda Family hadn't concerned themselves with which class he'd be assigned to. That decision had been left to the school.

The school had then given that authority to the Student Council, which meant Horikita Manabu had made the decision.

Faced with a student about whom he knew nothing except his appearance, height, weight, and age, Horikita Manabu had assigned him to Class D. He just hadn't expected the guy to be such a handful.

Chapter 59: You Deserved That for Tricking Me

After hearing what Horikita Manabu had to say, Shuichi simply said, "Oh," and left it at that.

Honestly, he liked Class D. Class A had Sakayanagi, the aggressive white-haired loli, and Katsuragi, who'd maxed out his defense. They were complete opposites, and if he went there, he'd definitely get dragged into their conflict.

Class B had a great atmosphere, but to Shuichi it felt a little too strange. Everyone seemed exactly the same, as if they'd been brainwashed. It was terrifying.

And Class C had Ryuen, who clearly looked like trouble. Sure, the lovely and gentle Hiyori Shiina was there, but Class D had Horikita Suzune, Kushida Kikyo, Wang Meiyu, Kei Karuizawa, Matsushita Chiaki, Hasebe Haruka, and Sakura Airi.

Besides, everyone here was talented and easy to talk to. Every day felt like watching a show, and Shuichi loved it here. It was like he was about to take flight. He felt so high.

"Don't you feel like you missed out? If you'd been properly evaluated, you'd be in Class A now."

"So what? Class A might be Class B next month."

Shuichi shrugged as if he didn't care, and he really didn't.

Only then did Horikita Manabu remember the current state of the first-year classes. Class A had 740 Class Points, ten fewer than Class B. If nothing unexpected happened, it would drop to Class B next month.

And the one responsible for that was standing right in front of him.

"Shuichi Kanda, you're an interesting man. How about joining the Student Council?"

What the hell? Hold on.

Where did that come from?

Were you trying to set me up?

Not a chance!

"You can see that I'm in poor health. I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to handle the Student Council's demanding workload."

The excuse was perfectly reasonable, but both his words and his expression made it clear that he just wanted to slack off.

"Suit yourself. My offer stands for as long as I'm in office."

Then Horikita Manabu turned to his sister.

"Suzune, I never thought you'd have friends. Honestly, I'm surprised."

"They... aren't my friends. We're just classmates."

Horikita looked up at him as if she were trying to deny her brother's words.

"That's right. We're just classmates. Please don't get the wrong idea, President Horikita."

"Kanda's right. We're just classmates."