Kushida Kikyo's fingers had gone weak, and the card reader with the memory card in it slipped to the floor. Even her voice sounded unsteady.
"Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is that you understand I'm not your enemy." Shuichi Kanda picked up the memory card and casually put it in a drawer.
"Then... can you delete that video?"
"Of course. But after what you did to me, how do you think you should make it up to me?"
What did he mean, "what she did"?
All she'd done was smash his phone! How was that so terrible?
He'd even stolen her first kiss!
What a bastard!
Kushida finally understood: this guy was an even worse villain than she was.
"So what exactly do you want? Do you want me to be your slave?"
As she spoke, Kushida clasped her hands to her chest and put on a pitiful expression.
Still putting on an act, huh?
"In that case, Kushida, hike up your skirt. Do that, and we'll be even. How does that sound?"
Shuichi's words made Kushida Kikyo freeze. The pitiful expression vanished from her face in an instant.
"Oh dear. So all that talk about being my slave was just a joke."
Why couldn't I learn my lesson?
This guy was on the villain's side!
I brought this on myself!
Chapter 67: Sae-chan, Pat My Head
Kushida Kikyo's expression shifted back and forth, as if she were making a momentous decision.
"If you hike up your skirt, I'll not only give you the memory card, I'll also let you take this computer with you for the night. Once you get it back, you can format the drive, reset the system, or do both. I won't mind."
"And I promise I haven't leaked the video or any pictures of you venting by the lake, and I haven't saved any backups anywhere else."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because of my reputation. Think about it: since the start of the school year, have I ever told you a lie?"
Kushida Kikyo thought back over her conversations with Shuichi Kanda. Had he... really never lied to her?
Well, they'd already kissed. Looking shouldn't be a big deal, right?
Ten minutes later, Kushida left Shuichi Kanda's room looking relaxed. During those ten minutes, Shuichi had reinstalled the system right in front of her and formatted the computer's hard drive, making sure nothing was left behind.
She'd wanted to take the computer, too, but there was no way around it—she didn't know much about that sort of thing. Even though there was a chance he was messing with her, she'd still asked Shuichi to format both the system and the hard drive.
The only thing she regretted was that she'd needed him to point out that her uniform couldn't retain fingerprints. Damn it, Shuichi Kanda! One day, I'll find something to hold against you!
Before seeing Kushida Kikyo off, Shuichi Kanda glanced at the peephole in his door.
So, Kushida, you're far too trusting. I almost feel bad about messing with you like this.
After Kushida left, Shuichi immediately removed the pinhole camera from the peephole and connected it to his computer. Its storage held not only footage of Kushida charging into his room and smashing his phone, but also footage he'd previously saved of Kamuro bullying him.
After copying the data onto his computer, Shuichi cleared the camera's memory and reinstalled it in the peephole.
Then Shuichi went to Room 408 and knocked on Akito Miyake's door.
Knock, knock, knock!
Finally, it was his turn to knock on someone else's door.
Before long, Akito Miyake opened the door, wearing pajamas.
"Shuichi coming over to my place? That's unusual."
"Yeah, I need your help with something."
Shuichi Kanda didn't bother with formalities and went straight into Miyake's room.
The two rooms had nearly identical layouts, but Miyake's was noticeably messy.
Well, what ordinary high school boy felt like tidying his room every day?
"Can I borrow your phone? Mine accidentally fell into the lake, so I want to ask Chabashira-sensei for a replacement."
"Fell into the lake?"
Miyake was curious, but he didn't ask any more questions. He simply picked up his phone, which was charging, and handed it to Shuichi Kanda.
Shuichi didn't waste any time. He took Miyake's phone and called Chabashira-sensei.
It wasn't until after the morning homeroom the next day that Shuichi Kanda headed to school. Of course, he was suspended, so he couldn't enter the school grounds or take part in club activities. He could only wait for Chabashira-sensei outside the school gates.
Homeroom ended at 8:50, so the two of them had arranged to meet at 9:00 a.m.
When Shuichi Kanda arrived, Chabashira-sensei was walking toward him with a gloomy expression.
Seeing Chabashira-sensei hand him his phone with a scowl, Shuichi couldn't help wondering what was going on. Hadn't he done anything to upset her. She'd been in a pretty good mood yesterday when she said she'd get him a phone.
"Chabashira-sensei? Did something happen in our class again?"
"How did you get the more than twenty million points on your phone?"
Shit! Had she found out?
That made sense. When she replaced his phone, she'd probably needed to re-enter his student card information. His normally hidden Private Points balance would have shown up, and Chabashira-sensei had been the one handling it. It wasn't surprising she'd seen the points.
But from the way she was acting, she didn't know where they'd come from. She was puzzled, but didn't seem to find the amount suspicious.
The system really came through for him!
"Oh, those? I used a few tricks. Food alone costs me quite a lot of points, so it's only natural that I'd try to earn a few."
Shuichi Kanda felt his answer wasn't perfect, but it was reasonable enough.
"Are you planning to use the twenty million points to change classes?"
"Change classes?"
Shuichi Kanda seemed to have caught on to something important.
"It's nothing."
Chabashira regretted speaking the moment the words left her mouth. Damn it, why had she said so much? Judging by his expression, he clearly hadn't known that twenty million points could be used to transfer to any class!
Seeing how regretful Chabashira looked, Shuichi Kanda smiled. This was getting interesting.
"Then I'll go ask Hoshinomiya-sensei."
"Wait!"
Chabashira Sae knew Shuichi Kanda was threatening her, but she had no choice but to give in.
She glared at Shuichi Kanda and then gave him the information.
"Students can spend twenty million points to go to whichever class they want. They can also use twenty million points to avoid expulsion once."
Wow, that was some incredible information. Shuichi Kanda was impressed.
Chabashira Sae, meanwhile, felt as if the world had gone dark. In the two months since the school year began, she'd already seen just how capable Shuichi Kanda was. He was the kind of student who would stand out even in Class A.
What was more, he was devious and would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. He was capable and shameless. His only weaknesses were his frail constitution and his lazy disposition.
If he went all out, Class D might really make it to Class A. But wasn't he just a little too talented?
He'd accumulated twenty million Private Points in only two months, and she hadn't heard a thing about it beforehand.
Chabashira Sae felt as if her world had gone dark. If someone like him went to another class, how could Class D ever rise to Class A?
She still hadn't figured out how capable Ayanokoji was. Was her known trump card about to fly away before she could even find out?
"I see."
Shuichi Kanda looked at Chabashira-sensei, who had fallen silent, and could tell she was feeling unsettled. A mischievous impulse took hold of him.
He was much taller than Chabashira-sensei, so he reached out and patted Chabashira Sae on the head, stroking her hair, which was tied in a ponytail.
"Don't worry, Sae-chan. I'll stay in Class D. I'm not going anywhere. But if you want to make it to Class A, you'll have to work hard, too, Sae-chan."
He'd been patted on the head—and called Sae-chan, too...
Chabashira didn't know whether to be embarrassed and angry at being treated that way or happy that he'd promised not to leave. She stood frozen on the spot.
Shuichi Kanda quietly pulled his hand back and sneaked away.
He was kidding. If he stayed any longer, she might kill him!
Chapter 68: Monday, June 1
In the end, the school didn't keep Shuichi Kanda's suspension quiet for long. That meant the events that had taken place in Class D that day had spread around.
On Tuesday afternoon, Shuichi Kanda received a concerned text from Sakayanagi Arisu.
Then Shuichi ignored it and sent her another screenshot showing the notification that he'd received 2,000,000 Private Points.
[(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻]
[(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻]
[(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻]
After Sakayanagi Arisu sent three table-flipping messages in a row, she fell silent. Where had she gone? Did he really need to wonder?
Poor Kamuro. Stay strong!
His weeklong suspension passed quickly. Shuichi Kanda's days had gone smoothly, apart from Kushida dropping by his room almost every day. Nothing else of note had happened.
If some other girl had kept showing up at Shuichi Kanda's room, rumors would probably have started. But Kushida was different. She was everyone's angel.
And Shuichi Kanda had earned everyone's sympathy earlier, so of course he needed an angel's care.
Then Monday rolled around again. It was June 1, and Shuichi Kanda put his uniform back on, ready to go to school.
Honestly, the past week had been so comfortable that he'd almost forgotten he was a student.
When he returned to class, he found everyone making a racket.
I was only gone for a week, and the class has already turned into this mess?
Hirata, what are you doing?
And Horikita, what's with sitting there as if none of this has anything to do with you?
"Good morning, Kanda."
Shuichi Kanda froze for a moment. It had been several days since he'd seen Kushida's sweet smile, and he'd missed it a little.
"Good morning, Kushida."
After greeting her, Shuichi Kanda started back toward his seat.
"Kanda, are we getting any points today?"
Points?
Oh, right. May 1 had been a Friday. Then the exam had lasted three weeks, and he'd been suspended for a week. With it now being Monday, June 1, didn't that mean the system was about to refresh its items?
Since coming here, the system had given Shuichi Kanda three items: Translation Konjac had helped him quickly adapt to this new world, Value-Added Bank: One Day had given him a huge amount of starting capital, and Memory Candy had enhanced his learning ability.
What kind of high-tech gadget would he get this month? Shuichi Kanda was curious. Hopefully it would be something that could improve his physical abilities!
System Dad, please! Please help your host out!
"Kanda?"
Before you continue