Celebration Banquet

The evening after the midterm exam results were announced, the original study group gathered in full force.

"You guys want to hold a celebration party, I'm fine with it, but why does it have to be in my room?"

"My room's a mess, and Sudo and Yamauchi are the same. Qiuyue barely talks, so you can tell his room is full of anime stickers, figurines, and body pillows. I've heard otaku really treasure that stuff—if something got broken or dirty, it'd be bad. Besides, we can't exactly hold it in a girl's room, right? Well, not that I'd mind Kushida's room myself... Don't you think so, Qiuyue? Honestly, I kind of want to see if your room really has all that stuff."

Ike looked at Qiuyue as if seeking his agreement, saying just that.

I really... thank you so much!

"There's some, but not a lot. Mostly light novels."

"Really? Then next party's at your place! OK! It's settled!"

"Huh...?!"

"What's the big deal, Qiuyue? You don't have anything embarrassing hidden away, do you? Then you'd better stash it beforehand."

Ike's grin grew more and more lecherous.

"How could I possibly have stuff like that! I'm a gentleman, alright?!"

Ayanokoji sighed and said:

"You sure caught on to what Ike meant pretty fast..."

Qiuyue: "..."

Qiuyue's face flushed bright red.

"...Alright, alright, stop picking on Qiuyue. Qiuyue, even if you do have that stuff, it's fine~ It's normal for guys to have needs."

I really don't!! I just reflexively denied it earlier!!

"Speaking of Ayanokoji, your... room is way too clean, isn't it?"

Yamauchi seemed to be trying to change the subject, and for good reason—after what happened before, he had little goodwill toward Qiuyue and was quite cold to him.

Qiuyue naturally wasn't unaware of this; he figured Yamauchi was probably still badmouthing him behind his back.

"...Now that you mention it, I suddenly remembered a saying: 'A room that's tidy and odorless is either a crossdresser or gay.'"

"No, we've only been at school for two months. Isn't it normal not to have much stuff?"

Ayanokoji quickly refuted Ike's outrageous remark, afraid the rumor would spread and ruin his school life.

"Exactly, Ike, you can't just say things like that. I'm sure Ayanokoji isn't that kind of... weird person... right, Ayanokoji?"

Finally, Kushida turned to Ayanokoji as if seeking confirmation.

"No, I absolutely am not."

That's hilarious—the more he denies it, the worse it gets. Bro's face is turning black from their teasing. Let me do a good deed and help you out.

"Speaking of which, this midterm was really nerve-wracking. If we hadn't held the study group or gotten the old test questions, Ike might have flunked out. And if Horikita hadn't turned things around in class, Sudo would've..."

Qiuyue said this while sitting down next to Sudo, casually picking up some food and starting to eat.

"Right? As the one it happened to, I know it all too well. If I hadn't gotten those old test questions from that person and joined the study group, I really might not have passed."

Ike frankly expressed his pessimistic thoughts, but quickly recovered.

"But we all passed, didn't we? And Sudo's situation was entirely thanks to Horikita's efforts. Sudo, you should properly thank her."

"You don't need to tell me that. I know it. Hey... Horikita, I've said it a lot already, but... thank you! Without you, I wouldn't be here."

Horikita, who had been reading a book off to the side, finally reacted to Sudo's thanks.

She closed the book, placed it on her lap, and looked at Sudo.

"Don't thank me. I acted according to my own beliefs—for the goal of advancing to Class A."

"There you go again. Hey... Horikita, you're that type, aren't you... the tsundere type..."

"You'd better think carefully before you speak."

Before Ike could finish his sentence, Horikita cut him off roughly. Ike was a bit intimidated by her murderous glare.

"...Geez, why so harsh?"

"Ike... you can't say that. Even though Horikita is... she's a really good person, and it was cool when she stood up to the teacher in class..."

Sudo tried to defend Horikita, but his voice grew quieter.

Perfect timing!

Seeing this, Qiuyue put his hand on Sudo's shoulder and said with a grin.

"Sudo, you wouldn't happen to have feelings for Horikita..."

Sudo quickly locked his arm around Qiuyue's neck and covered his mouth, a faint blush on his face.

"You! What were you about to say?! Don't talk nonsense! I don't... anyway, I'd never think that!"

Horikita seemed unwilling to continue the topic and started talking about the exam instead.

"Don't celebrate too early. This is just the first hurdle. The school won't stop at one exam—can you guarantee you'll pass every time?"

"And to increase points, relying on this alone won't cut it. I need to find other methods too."

"Ughhh, I don't want to study. My head hurts just looking at books."

Ike buried his head in his arms on the desk, as if genuinely suffering from a headache.

"Then you can choose to be expelled from school."

"Absolutely not."

At that moment, Qiuyue stood up and headed for the exit.

"Qiuyue, where are you going?"

"I drank a bit too much soda. Going to the restroom."

Qiuyue's departure didn't cause much of a stir, and the others continued their previous conversation.

It wasn't until Qiuyue returned from the restroom and sat back down in his spot that Kushida spoke to him about what they'd discussed, hoping for his help.

"Qiuyue, we've decided to work together to get our class promoted to Class A. Would you be willing to help us?"

"I'd be happy to!" Ike and Yamauchi quickly raised their hands in response to Kushida.

It seemed her charm offensive was still as effective as ever on those two.

"If class points go up, my allowance increases too. I have no reason to refuse. If there's anything I can do, just call on me."

Qiuyue said nonchalantly.

"If this is Horikita's idea, then helping out isn't out of the question... what do you say?"

"I never asked for your help. I can't imagine what use you'd be to me."

"Ah—!"

Qiuyue shouted loudly.

Everyone followed his gaze and saw his drink spilled all over a phone.

"Ah!!! That's my phone!!"

Sudo wailed, quickly grabbing a few tissues and picking up the phone to wipe it down.

"Sorry, Sudo. I didn't mean to."

Sudo fiddled with the phone, ignoring Qiuyue.

"Ah... no good. No response at all..."

"Sorry, Sudo. I lost my grip. Let me take it in for repairs."

"Sudo, don't be mad, okay? Qiuyue didn't do it on purpose, and he said he'll get it fixed. Fighting isn't allowed, alright?"

Kushida stepped in to mediate.

"...Fine. Guess it can't be helped. But was my phone really here? I thought it was in my pocket the whole time?"

"You probably dropped it when you stood up to grab your drink."

"...Is that so?"

Dormitory Building, Room 415

"Heh. I went through all that trouble to set up this scene just for this."

"Just in case, take my phone in for repairs too. I've got two anyway."

Qiuyue dunked the phone containing his student info into water for a while, waited until it was fully soaked, then pulled it out and dried it off.

The third talent Qiuyue had drawn was [Pickpocket Talent]. The moment Sudo got close, he'd slipped the phone out of Sudo's pocket and quickly stashed it in his own.

Then, in the restroom, Qiuyue placed Sudo's phone in the small basin of the sink, dried it with absorbent paper, drained the water, and came back out.

Finally, while everyone was watching Sudo and Ike messing around, Qiuyue set the phone back in Sudo's original spot and let his drink slip naturally from his hand, landing right on it.

All of this was done for one purpose: to get his hands on Sudo's phone.

"Time to get that phone fixed. Yoshi, let's go."