Classroom of the Mediocre Supremacist

Before Hoshino En could continue savoring the feeling, Kushida Kikyo shoved his left hand away, slipped back to her chair, and kept her distance.

As if she hadn't been the one to offer up that freebie just moments ago.

"So, what are you trying to say, Kushida?"

Hoshino En locked eyes with Kushida Kikyo, trying to gauge from her subconscious reactions where she might have placed the camera.

Since she'd done this, she must have prepared countermeasures. His move was to suppress her the moment she acted, disarm her, and turn her into a compliant asset.

But... nothing.

Hoshino En didn't catch any shift in Kushida Kikyo's gaze. Her eyes stayed fixed on him, a hint of smugness flickering within.

Hoshino En: ...??

Impossible! If she was going to pull out a countermeasure, now was the time. Otherwise, considering he might act later, she might not even get a chance to show her hand before he flipped the table.

What was she so smug about?

"En, if you betray me, I'll tell everyone you tried to rape me."

"And this is the proof!"

She pointed at her clothes, warning him.

"Your fingerprints are all over this. I'm keeping this outfit, so you'd better behave!!"

Hoshino En: "..."

Hoshino En: "..."

Hoshino En: "..."

"Ahh—"

He let out a long sigh, suddenly feeling like all his frantic scheming had been utterly foolish.

"What... what's that supposed to mean?!"

His reaction displeased Kushida Kikyo.

The girl had imagined many possible responses: furious rebuttals, panicked pleas, even lunging to snatch her clothes... But she never expected this—a near-indifferent disappointment.

As if her threat meant nothing to him.

No way! This wasn't right! Shouldn't he be surrendering? Why did he look... resigned and helpless?

"Kushida, come here. I want to show you something good."

Hoshino En beckoned to Kushida Kikyo.

"Wh-what?"

Nervous from his unexpected reaction, Kushida Kikyo slowly walked over and sat beside him, about a fist's width away.

"I'm warning you, if you try anything weird, I'll tell everyone..."

"Before that, I think you'd better watch this patiently first."

Hoshino En pulled up a video on his phone and turned the screen toward Kushida Kikyo.

"No need to come closer. This distance is enough for you to see clearly."

So Kushida Kikyo shifted her attention to his phone.

And there, on the screen, she saw herself.

Every move she'd made after entering the living room, every expression, every word she'd said, including her voluntary [fingerprint press] and her threat.

Kushida Kikyo: "..."

Wait, this... hiss

Following the camera angle, she looked up and found it—on the wall high behind Hoshino En, a camera that could easily be mistaken for a decoration was blinking red, steadily recording.

Kushida Kikyo: "..."

Damn it...

"So, Kushida, even if you use fingerprints as evidence, I have proof that I was framed and innocent."

"And with that, your reputation would tank. After all, you present yourself as a pure, kind little angel, not a scheming white lotus."

As he spoke, Hoshino En kept his eyes on Kushida Kikyo, afraid she might snap and lunge for his phone.

Of course, he was also observing her. He really hoped she'd make a move that fit his expectations—like pulling out a recording phone or voice recorder to threaten him again.

But no.

Kushida Kikyo's eyes widened as if struck hard, then she furrowed her brow, seemingly calculating, and finally—she flashed Hoshino En a sweet smile.

"En~ En-kun~ I think there must be some misunderstanding between us, right?"

"I was just joking with you just now. Don't take it so seriously~"

As she spoke, she leaned toward him, her hands seemingly ready to pull his left arm into her embrace again.

"Stop!"

This time, Hoshino En didn't let her succeed.

The moment she showed signs of leaning in, he reached out and blocked her movement.

"Kushida, change back to normal and stay put. That forced closeness you're putting on makes me sick to look at."

"Otherwise, I'll send you to social death right now."

Hearing this, Kushida Kikyo immediately stopped her fawning. She sat back in her seat, her expression crumbling into a cold, broken face.

"Are you some kind of pervert?! Installing surveillance in your own room—what are you, a damn 'home security guard'?!!!!!"

She really seemed to have lost it.

First Semester of First Year:

Chapter 30 – Chapter 029: Now It's Lecture Time

Hoshino En suddenly felt some regret. He regretted getting involved with Kushida Kikyo.

Judging by how she was caving now, she really had come completely unprepared, following someone she barely knew into their room.

And here he thought she had that "social butterfly" trait and would be a tougher opponent to deal with. Who knew the best move she could pull was offering her body with that "fingerprint" threat!!

Not to mention that "fingerprint" she used to threaten him was complete nonsense that didn't hold up theoretically.

"Haah—"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

At this point, Kushida Kikyo, who had been relentlessly cursing and ranting at Hoshino En, finally noticed his sigh.

He had her leverage in his hands—why was he the one looking pained?

She should be the one in pain here, damn it!

"Nothing. I just suddenly realized—Kushida, you might be a little dumb."

Kushida Kikyo: ...?!!!

"What do you mean by that? I admit you've got me this time, but this clearly isn't my fault—it's clearly because you're too much of a pervert!!"

Kushida Kikyo knew she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but she didn't think she'd crossed into "idiot" territory either.

This was clearly because Hoshino En was too strong!

"Forget it. Just tell me your real reason for calling me here. Don't tell me it was just to show off your 'deduction' in front of me?"

"Reason?"

Hearing her ask that, Hoshino En gave her a strange look.

"Didn't I say it from the start? 'Because I thought you might be piling up a lot of stress, Kushida, so I wanted to offer a private space for you to vent'—that's the real reason I called you here."

Kushida Kikyo: ...Huh???

"Why?"

"Because... I already said this too, didn't I? After what happened yesterday and this morning, I felt a bit guilty, so I thought I'd help you relieve some stress."

Of course, the real reason was to use her as material for getting used to women... He definitely couldn't tell her that.

Thinking this, Hoshino En suddenly felt it was great that Kushida Kikyo was so dumb. Back at noon, Sakayanagi had almost seen through his real intentions, but luckily he'd managed to cover it up.

"Since it involved your black history that you don't want others to know, I originally planned to break you down first, then explain that 'I'm not your enemy.' But I never expected you to pull out something even bigger right off the bat."

Thinking about her outrageous "fingerprint" stunt and the brain cells he'd burned over it, Hoshino En started to get a little annoyed.

But thankfully, she was just "dumb"—he could handle this level. She wasn't at Karuizawa's level of being "broken" yet.

As for Kushida Kikyo, after hearing his explanation, she was completely stunned.

Kushida Kikyo: "..."

So... it was all because I overthought things? And I ended up handing over leverage myself???

Not cool, man...

She suddenly empathized with Hoshino En's thoughts—Watashi (I), could I really be that dumb?

"Kushida, forget that for now. I'm getting annoyed too."

"Huh?"

"You, sit over there. Seiza!"

Hoshino En pointed at the floor in front of him, while his other hand waved his phone, signaling that if she didn't obey, she'd face social death.

But perhaps realizing the stupidity of "personally creating leverage and handing it over," Kushida Kikyo didn't even resist. She obediently sat seiza in front of Hoshino En.

However, once she sat down, she realized something was off.

Kushida Kikyo: Wait... this position...

She looked at the crotch area directly in front of her, and a blush immediately spread across her face.

He, he said he was getting "annoyed" too, right? So did he mean...

"No way, no way—I'm still a virgin right now, jumping straight into something this high-difficulty is way too much!!"

This time it was Hoshino En's turn to be speechless.

"Where did your mind go? I'm about to lecture you, so you, [Idiot Kushida], better listen carefully."

Hoshino En took her phone and placed it on the table alongside his own.

"Wait, I still have friends to reply to..."

"Then do it after the lecture's over."

Hoshino En put on a stern face and spoke very seriously.

Since Kushida Kikyo had pissed him off, he naturally wasn't going to let her off easy.

For a [social butterfly] like her, leaving friends' messages on [read without replying] was a huge punishment—in severe cases, it could even invite bullying.

But Hoshino En didn't care about that. If Kushida Kikyo couldn't even handle this, then she'd better stop messing with him and bow out early.

"First, why did you think of such an absurd move as [pressing a fingerprint]? Given the material of Kodo Ikusei's uniforms, [fingerprints] are very hard to leave on them, and even if they did, they'd be incomplete prints useless for identification. What were you thinking?"

Kushida Kikyo: "..."

"Well... I was a bit flustered at the time, and that was the first method that came to mind, so..."

"Then couldn't you have anticipated this situation in advance and prepared a voice recorder or a portable mini camera?"

"Who brings weird stuff like that when visiting a classmate's room!!! Besides, those things sound really expensive—I can't afford them at all."

"Fine. But speaking of that, I still have something to say—"

"Why would a girl with a great figure like you agree to enter a guy's room without any guard? You heard my self-introduction—I work out regularly. Someone like you, I could handle on the spot without alerting anyone."

"...Weren't you just bullshitting?"

Hoshino En: "..."

Kushida Kikyo: ...!!!!