First Contact with Kushida Kikyo

"En, here's my contact info. If you ever need anything related to swimming or water activities, feel free to come find me."

The PE teacher found You En Tiandai before class ended and said to him.

You En found it a bit strange—he'd actually had the PE teacher voluntarily exchange contact info with him. Could it be that his graceful swimming form had moved the man?

Sorry, but he sold his skills, not his body.

The PE teacher, however, wasn't so pleased.

On the contrary, he was somewhat troubled. Because of a bit of his own curiosity, a high-level club had gotten leverage over him. As a condition for smoothing things over, he had to give You En some special treatment.

But one had to understand that in this school, truly everything cost points—including upperclassmen interfering with underclassmen, and faculty interfering with students.

Without rules permitting it, a teacher intervening with a student also required spending points.

In other words, he planned to give You En extra tutoring or answer his questions, but depending on the depth of information disclosed, it would come at a certain cost.

Take earlier, for example—that student council president, at the freshman orientation, had advised the newcomers to withdraw. One couldn't imagine how many points and what price he'd paid for that single sentence.

If he really wanted to get freshmen to safely drop out, the 100,000 points on hand alone wouldn't be enough. There was a shortfall, and the student council president would have to make it up himself. Moreover, points transferred from third-years to first-years would be heavily reduced.

It was fortunate no one had dropped out. If some freshmen had actually withdrawn safely, that student council president would probably have taken a serious hit.

Swimming class ended.

Whether boys or girls, everyone was too exhausted to move. So afterward, the school had no fourth-period class scheduled, letting students leave early to rest.

But You En was different. He had an elective inserted here—he was the only man in the entire Class D who had one.

When the others heard he'd signed up for an elective, not a single person understood, and a few idiots even mocked him.

You En didn't care. He just wanted to do his own thing, nothing more.

Suddenly, a private message came through on his Student Terminal.

It was from Kushida Kikyo. She'd sent a selfie with Horikita Suzune, both in swimsuits—their fair, supple skin and perfect figures wrapped in swimwear on full display.

Another message arrived.

"Kushida Kikyo: 'How is it?'"

You En obeyed his instincts and typed three words.

"You En Tiandai: 'Send more.'"

"Kushida Kikyo: 'Horikita doesn't really like taking photos, so there's only this one. But I have plenty of mine, and others' too. Want them? I can secretly send them to you.'"

You En smiled. He was lustful, but not brainless.

"You En Tiandai: 'No need.'"

"Kushida Kikyo: 'I knew I wasn't wrong about you. You're really a good person.'"

"You En Tiandai: 'Getting friend-zoned before I've even started pursuing—sigh, Kushida-san, you're too heartbreaking.'"

"Kushida Kikyo: 'Eh? Isn't You En-kun pursuing Suzune-san?'"

"You En Tiandai: 'I was thinking of riding two boats at once, but unfortunately, Kushida-san won't give me a ticket.'"

A dozen seconds passed before a new message came.

"Kushida Kikyo: 'Hahaha, You En-kun is so greedy.'"

You En grinned. He could guess that if she were in her own room, she'd definitely be cursing him out.

A simple joke at Kushida Kikyo's expense didn't really matter—her tolerance was still quite strong. But he'd stepped on her landmine: putting her on the same level as Horikita Suzune.

"You En Tiandai: 'After thinking it over, if I'm boarding a ship, I'll board Suzune's. You're not my type right now.'"

Kushida Kikyo really wanted to send a question mark, then furiously demand what was going on in his head. After thinking for a long time with no reply, she threw her phone onto the bed.

She vented by pounding her pillow, then picked up the terminal, forcibly suppressing her anger as she typed a few lines.

"Kushida Kikyo: 'Ah, what a shame. Is there something about me that's not perfect enough, making You En-kun dislike me? And here I thought... I admired You En-kun quite a bit.'"

You En could only say that if endurance could be a skill, Kushida, with proper training, would quickly master it, maybe even become an expert, or a grandmaster founding the school of endurance.

"You En Tiandai: 'Sorry, Suzune's calling me to chat. I'll talk to you later.'"

"Fuck you!"

In a daze, You En seemed to hear Kushida Kikyo's unrestrained curse. Probably just his imagination, right?

"What are you laughing at, so happily?"

Horikita Suzune walked over, curious about who he was chatting with, but didn't lean in to look at the content on his terminal screen.

You En scrolled the chat history to the very top and handed the terminal over.

"See for yourself."

Horikita Suzune was a bit surprised. She wasn't used to this kind of trust from You En, but her curiosity won out, and she took it.

The first thing she saw was her own photo had been sent. Her expression instantly turned cold.

"She should have only sent it to me. Don't worry."

Horikita Suzune said coldly, "Who knows who else she's sent it to?"

If it were only sent to You En, that would be fine—letting him see it wouldn't cost her any skin. But sending it to certain people made her feel sick to her stomach.

And besides, this wasn't even about who it was sent to. The other party simply hadn't cared about her privacy at all.

Burning with anger, Horikita Suzune scrolled through the chat logs. When she saw You En's reply that he didn't need swimsuit photos of other girls, she nodded with slight satisfaction, her anger easing a little.

But the moment she saw You En's line about pursuing Kushida Kikyo, her brows shot up instantly. She lifted her head, ready to confront him.

You En had anticipated her reaction. "Don't rush. Keep reading. Say what you want after you've finished."

Next, Horikita Suzune alternated between irritation—and when she saw You En say he'd rather board her ship, a flicker of shy annoyance and secret delight.

But after reading it all, she found it somewhat amusing. She returned the terminal to You En.

"How can you toy with her like this... no, tease? That doesn't feel right either. Forget it. How can you bully her like this?"

You En said matter-of-factly, "It's fun."

Watching him look so self-righteous, Horikita Suzune nodded instinctively, then caught herself and asked, "She hasn't offended you, has she? From a guy's perspective, shouldn't you be thanking her for sending you my... swimsuit photo?"

You En wore an expression that said, What do you take me for? "Seriously. So I'm bullying her out of gratitude. Any problem with that?"

"You're sick."

Horikita Suzune thought this guy was seriously unwell. Still, she was getting used to it. But knowing You En, she doubted it was that simple.

"You don't like her? Or is there something wrong with her? That 'for now' in the message you just sent—what does it mean? That you'll like her later?"

This barrage of questions

put a bit of pressure on You En, forcing him to tell the truth.

"I just think it's fun. Besides, you know her."

"I know her?"

Horikita Suzune said, "I only met her a few days ago. We're not exactly close, are we?"

"Really just a few days?"

You En countered.

Horikita Suzune replied casually, "Huh? What else would it be?"

A vague realization struck her. "Wait. You're saying I didn't meet her at this school?"

You En nodded.

Horikita Suzune folded her arms, closed her eyes in thought, then opened them.

"But I really have no memory of it. I don't recall ever interacting with her."

You En didn't spell it out directly. Instead, he nudged her forward step by step. "Are you confident in your memory?"

Horikita Suzune answered bluntly, "Of course. If I really had interacted with her, I'd definitely remember."

You En glanced at the time. There was still a while before the next elective class. No rush.

"Then let's assume you're right—that you never interacted with her. How did Kushida Kikyo know about you?"

"...If we never interacted, how would she know me?"

Horikita Suzune murmured. If there had been no conversation between them, there was only one simple answer: they had crossed paths.

Her past life had only two places: home and school. No third location. She had never joined any clubs.

So it had to be school.

She reached her conclusion. "Kushida Kikyo... was she in the same middle school as me?"

You En watched the black-haired girl lost in thought, finding the sight quite pleasing.

"Yeah. Everything you're thinking is right."

Having been prompted this far, Horikita Suzune no longer needed further hints. Guided by You En, she began to discover, recognize, and solve the problem on her own.

"Same school... but so what?"

Horikita Suzune looked at You En, instinctively hoping he'd give her a clue.

You En asked, "What do you think Kushida Kikyo's attitude toward you is? Think about the messages she sent me."

"Attitude? Isn't she like that with everyone?"

As soon as Horikita Suzune said it, she felt something was off. Kushida was ingratiating and eager to befriend everyone, but with her, she put in even more effort—and it felt more deliberate.

By then, she already understood what You En meant.

The goodwill the other party showed was fake.

Then the truth could only be the opposite.

Kushida Kikyo bore her ill will.

"Why is that? Just because we went to the same middle school?"

Horikita Suzune couldn't figure it out for a moment and looked at You En again.

But this time, You En shook his head.

"You can come up with the answer yourself. I believe in you."

He didn't plan to give any more hints. Any further hints would be no different from telling her the answer, and that would severely cut into Horikita Suzune's chance to grow.

You En didn't want to turn Horikita Suzune into a pretty vase. She had the potential to keep growing. He could find a vase girlfriend elsewhere, but whether he did or not wasn't that important—a reliable ally was the hardest thing to come by.

At that moment, Horikita Suzune felt something from him that reminded her of her own brother. It wasn't the first time, but this time it was far too obvious.

"Fine, I'll think it through myself. If I'm wrong, tell me, but don't give me the answer."

"OK."

You En made a gesture, but over the next ten-plus minutes, Horikita guessed several times without finding the right answer.

"I'm going to class first. You can think about it a bit longer. We're meeting up later anyway, right?"

Horikita Suzune saw that he actually remembered their appointment, and a smile tugged at her lips, though her words didn't let up.

"I know, I know. Stop nagging and go."

You En grumbled, "You really are hard to like."

Horikita Suzune didn't get angry. She tilted her head, her eyes slightly lowered, a strand of dark hair slipping down, revealing a stunning profile, and asked with a hint of teasing, "You don't like me?"

You En answered honestly, "I don't know."

At that answer, Horikita Suzune's face fell. "Go to your registered class already, you idiot who wastes points for nothing!"

You En understood that no matter how he answered that question, Horikita Suzune wouldn't be happy, because the time and the relationship weren't right yet.

As for whether he liked her or not, of course he liked part of her. Horikita Suzune had top-tier looks and figure.

But for You En himself, did he truly like Horikita Suzune's inner self? Could he accept everything about her?

He felt his own question was a bit troublesome, so he decided not to think about it for now.

Right now, he needed to go see

what exactly this extra elective course in the school was all about.