The Celebration Feast

The night after the midterm exam results were announced, the former reading club members all gathered together.

"I don't mind having a celebration feast, but why does it have to be in my room?"

"My room's a mess, and Sudo and Yamauchi's rooms are probably the same. Qiuyue hardly ever says anything, so you can tell at a glance that his room must be full of anime stickers, figurines, and body pillows. I hear otaku really care about that kind of stuff, so it'd be bad if anything got damaged or dirty.

Besides, we can't have it in a girl's room, right? No, actually, Kushida's room would be better for me...

Right, Qiuyue? To be honest, I'd really like to see whether your room actually has all those things."

Ike looked at Qiuyue as if seeking his permission.

Well, thanks a lot!

"I do have a few things, but not that many. Most of them are light novels."

"Really? Then we'll hold the next party in your room! Okay! It's settled!"

"Huh...?!"

"What's the big deal, Qiuyue? You don't have anything embarrassing in there, do you? You'd better hide it ahead of time."

Ike's grin grew more and more lecherous.

"How could I have anything like that? I'm a decent person, okay?!"

Ayanokoji sighed and said,

"You understood what Ike meant right away, didn't you..."

Qiuyue: "..."

Qiuyue's face flushed red.

"...All right, all right. Don't tease Qiuyue so much. Qiuyue, even if you really do have any, that's okay~ It's normal for boys to have needs."

I really don't have anything like that!! I just denied it without thinking!!

"By the way, Ayanokoji, is your room... too clean?"

Yamauchi seemed to be trying to change the subject. Naturally, after what had happened before, Yamauchi didn't have much regard for Qiuyue. You could say he was quite cold toward him.

Qiuyue knew that, of course. He suspected Yamauchi might still be badmouthing him behind his back.

"...Now that you mention it, I suddenly remembered a saying: 'If a room is spotless and odorless, its owner is either a cross-dresser or gay.'"

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

Hearing Ike's ridiculous comment, Ayanokoji hurriedly refuted him, afraid the rumor would spread. If it did, his school life would be over.

"Exactly, Ike. You shouldn't make things up. I'm sure Ayanokoji isn't that kind of weird... person... right, Ayanokoji?"

In the end, Kushida asked Ayanokoji for confirmation, sounding uncertain.

"No, I'm definitely not."

This is hilarious. You're only making things worse, and Ayanokoji's face is turning dark. Let me be a good person for once and help you out.

"Speaking of which, that midterm exam was pretty close. If we hadn't held the reading club or gotten the past exam questions, Ike might have been expelled. And if Horikita hadn't turned things around in class, Sudo would have..."

As Qiuyue spoke, he sat down beside Sudo and casually picked up some food to eat.

"Exactly. As the person involved, I know that better than anyone. If I hadn't gotten the past exam questions from that person and joined the reading club, I really might not have passed."

Ike voiced his pessimistic thoughts quite openly, but he quickly recovered.

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

"I don't need you to tell me. I know that. Um... Horikita, even though I've said it a lot already... thank you! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here anymore."

Horikita, who had been reading nearby, finally reacted to Sudo's thanks.

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

"You don't need to thank me. I acted according to my own beliefs, for the sake of my goal of reaching Class A."

"Here we go again. Hey... Horikita, you're, you know... the tsundere type..."

Before Ike could finish, Horikita cut him off abruptly. Her murderous glare made him a little afraid.

"...Geez, why are you so mean?"

"Ike... you can't put it that way. Horikita might be... but she's a good person. And she was really cool when she stood up to the teacher in class..."

Sudo said this to defend Horikita, his voice growing quieter as he went on.

What a great opportunity!

Seeing this, Qiuyue put a hand on Sudo's shoulder and grinned.

"Sudo, don't tell me you've got a thing for Horikita..."

Sudo quickly grabbed Qiuyue around the neck and covered his mouth. A hint of red crept onto his face.

"You! What were you about to say? Don't make things up! I don't... Anyway, I'd never feel that way!"

Horikita didn't seem to want the topic to continue, so she started talking about the exam.

"Don't celebrate too soon. This is only the first hurdle. The school won't hold just one exam. Can you guarantee you'll pass every time?

"And if we want to earn more points, this alone won't be enough. I have to find another way, too."

"Ahhh, I don't want to study! Just looking at a book gives me a headache."

Ike buried his head in his arms on the table, as if he really had a headache.

"Then you can choose to be expelled."

"Absolutely not."

At that moment, Qiuyue stood up and headed outside.

"Qiuyue, where are you going?"

"I drank a bit too much. I'm going to the bathroom."

Qiuyue's departure didn't affect things much, and everyone continued their earlier conversation.

Qiuyue returned to the feast after using the bathroom and sat back down in his previous spot.

Kushida told Qiuyue about what they had discussed together and asked for his help.

"Qiuyue, we've decided to work together so our class can reach Class A. Will you help us?"

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

It seemed Kushida still had quite an effect on the two of them.

"If our Class Points go up, we'll get more pocket money, so I have no reason to refuse. Just call on me whenever I can be useful."

Qiuyue said this casually.

"If this is Horikita's idea, I suppose I could help... What do you think?"

"I never said I wanted your help. I can't imagine how you could be of any use to me."

"Ah!"

Qiuyue shouted.

Everyone followed his gaze and saw that he had spilled his drink on a phone.

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

Sudo wailed as he quickly pulled out a few tissues, picked up the phone, and wiped it off.

"Sorry, Sudo. I didn't do it on purpose."

Sudo fiddled with his phone and ignored Qiuyue.

"Ah... It's no use. It's completely dead..."

"Sorry, Sudo. I didn't hold it properly, so this happened. I'll take it to get repaired for you."

"Sudo, don't be mad, okay? Qiuyue didn't do it on purpose, and he's already offered to take it for repairs. You shouldn't fight."

Kushida stepped in to mediate.

"...Fine. There's nothing else I can do. By the way, was my phone here? I thought I'd kept it in my pocket the whole time."

"You probably stood up when you went to get a drink, and it fell out."

"...Is that so?"

Dormitory Building, Room 415

"Phew. I went to all that trouble to get mixed up in this plotline, all for this."

"To be safe, I'll take my own phone in for repairs. I have two anyway."

Qiuyue put the phone containing his student information in water and let it soak for a while. Once it was completely soaked, he took it out and wiped it dry.

The third talent Qiuyue had drawn was [Pickpocket Talent]. The moment Sudo got close, Qiuyue took the phone out of his pocket and quickly slipped it into his own.

Then Qiuyue placed Sudo's phone in the little sink by the washbasin in the bathroom. He dried it with the absorbent paper he'd prepared, drained the water, and left once he was done.

Finally, while everyone was watching Sudo and Ike bicker, Qiuyue put the phone in the spot where Sudo had been sitting. He casually let go of his drink, spilling it onto the phone.

Qiuyue had done all of this, of course, to get Sudo's phone.

"I should go get my phone repaired. All right, let's go."