Don't Love Me-It Won't End Well

Su Wei yawned as he looked over his schedule, wondering which upcoming class would be best for catching a nap.

As he relaxed,

the person beside him,

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who had been silent until now, subtly turned his head and glanced at him.

Did I misjudge this man's worth?

Never mind. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with me...

Ayanokoji looked away and lightly tapped his fingers on the desk.

Chapter 9: Don't Love Me—It Won't End Well

"Phew, information really is the most profitable business!"

Kushida Kikyo stretched, recalling the string of digits in her phone account. An irrepressible smile tugged at her lips.

"All I had to do was say a few words, and 1.5 million points landed in my account just like that... This is practically faster than robbing a bank!"

As she spoke, she turned to Ichinose Honami, her smile growing more sincere.

"Still, I have you to thank for helping me make the connection this time, Ichinose. Otherwise, I'd still be running into dead ends everywhere..."

"How about I transfer 500,000 points to you as a thank-you?"

"Huh? No, you don't have to..."

Ichinose started to refuse, but Kushida had already completed the transfer.

[You have received 500,000 points.]

Ichinose's smile turned a little strained.

Even though she managed most of Class B's points as its leader, this was still a huge sum for her personally.

But to her,

it looked like a hot potato no matter how she saw it.

That was because, just before they parted, Miyabi Nagumo had suddenly approached her with a request.

"Ichinose, since you're close with Ryuen, could you help smooth things over between us?"

"I don't mind spending some points. Just get him to add my contact back."

"He must have misunderstood something... He deleted me so decisively, and every message I've sent him these past two days has come back with a red exclamation mark..."

Remembering the anxious, resentful look on Nagumo's face, Ichinose felt her scalp prickle.

What was that supposed to mean?

Why was the lofty vice president so fixated on a delinquent first-year?

He was even willing to pay a fortune for it.

Was it simply that he recognized Ryuen's talent? Or...

Ichinose Honami didn't understand, but she was deeply shaken.

To be honest, she was incredibly conflicted.

A woman's sixth sense told her that Nagumo had agreed to Kushida's deal so readily not just because the information was valuable. There was probably another major reason: he wanted to curry favor with her, the middlewoman, so she would help smooth things over.

But how could she bring up something so strange?

And yet...

Wouldn't it be a little wrong to take the money and do nothing?

Just as Ichinose was struggling with the dilemma,

Kushida Kikyo suddenly let out a puzzled exclamation.

"Is that... Su Wei?"

Ichinose followed Kushida's gaze.

At the corner of the covered walkway connecting to the opposite school building, Su Wei strolled past.

Five or six meters behind him, a petite figure with a cane followed at a distance.

"Sakayanagi Arisu?" Ichinose said in surprise. "Is she... following Su Wei?"

"Looks that way."

Kushida Kikyo narrowed her eyes.

"Um, Kushida, if you're in a hurry to head back, you don't have to wait for me. I just remembered I have something to take care of back in Class B, so I'll..."

Kushida Kikyo shook her head, her smile still sweet.

She didn't know why that scheming girl was interested in Su Wei.

But the girl's self-important nature instinctively reminded Kushida of Horikita Suzune.

After silently weighing the risks,

she decided:

For now, she'd endure it and avoid drawing attention!

"If you're in a hurry, Ichinose, you can go on ahead. You don't have to wait for me."

Kushida suggested with a smile.

Ichinose nodded lightly, distracted.

Meanwhile, at the corner of the covered walkway,

"Tap, tap."

The sound of a cane striking the ground abruptly stopped.

Sakayanagi Arisu halted and stared at the empty corridor ahead.

Had she lost him?

He'd been right in front of her just a moment ago.

Just as she was about to take out her phone and check his location, Su Wei's voice came from behind her.

"I didn't know you had that kind of unusual hobby... You really can't judge a book by its cover."

Sakayanagi Arisu started and spun around.

Su Wei was leaning against the windowsill at the end of the corridor, watching her with a calm expression.

That spot was in her blind spot. If he hadn't spoken up, she wouldn't have noticed him at all.

"You managed to evade my watch..."

Sakayanagi Arisu quickly regained her composure. "When did you—?"

"From the very beginning."

Su Wei answered as if it were obvious.

After all, he'd used the Time Pause Watch. It would've been a miracle if Sakayanagi Arisu had noticed him.

"So," Su Wei said, looking at her, "what do you want? I thought our connection ended last night."

"Su Wei, you're so cold."

Sakayanagi Arisu muttered unhappily. "You don't seem like the type girls would like."

Su Wei had absolutely no intention of taking the bait.

Sakayanagi Arisu got no response, so she cut straight to the point.

"You probably know that the Black Sphere Space's teleportation mechanism is very rigid."

She tapped her cane lightly, her tone a little resigned.

"My cane didn't come with me when I was teleported last night. If the same thing happens tonight, it'll be a huge problem for someone with difficulty walking."

"Unfortunately,"

Su Wei said, shaking his head,

"I'm not taking part in tonight's Special Exam."

"Heh, what a coincidence. I didn't sign up either."

Sakayanagi Arisu chuckled. Rather than backing down, she stepped forward and boldly linked her arm through his.

"So..."

"We just have to wait until the deadline passes and confirm that neither of us will be forcibly pulled into that space. Then your job will be done, Su Wei."

"But if you do get pulled in..."

The girl looked up. A faint medicinal fragrance mingled with her soft, feminine scent, lingering at the tip of Su Wei's nose.

"Then you wouldn't mind taking one more little accessory with you, right?"

Su Wei tried to twist his arm free, only to find that the little turnip might look delicate, but she had quite a grip.

He'd have to put in some effort to shake her off.

And if he did shake her off, she might just make a scene and accuse him of hurting her.

He couldn't help grumbling.

"You're not even offering me anything in return. Do young ladies like you live in your own little worlds, casually treating whoever you find like a servant?"

Sakayanagi Arisu fell silent for a moment.

She let go with one hand and opened the transfer screen on her phone.

"Hmm... You're right. I didn't think that through."

"Then how about 5,000 points an hour?"

"You're the best, boss! May you live forever!"

"Pfft..."

Seeing how completely money-mad he looked, Sakayanagi Arisu couldn't help laughing.

She knew this was probably part of his act, but she had to admit that spending time with him was much more interesting than dealing with the quiet, boring slackers in her class.

She felt strangely close to him. She didn't dislike it at all. So cute~

And so the two of them strolled along, leaning against each other just as they had yesterday.

After walking for a while, Su Wei seemed to remember something and suddenly asked,

"By the way, I remember Class A's activity area isn't all that close to Class D. How did you find me?"

"Well..."

Sakayanagi Arisu paused, then shook her head mysteriously.

"Actually, this was supposed to be paid information. But what can I do? We have a relationship, after all, so I'll tell you for free~"

As she spoke, she suddenly stopped.

Using Su Wei's arm for support, she rose onto her toes and leaned close to his ear, her warm breath brushing his neck.

"Actually, once you've added someone as a friend..."

"You can check their real-time location whenever you want~"

"What do you think? That's sensitive information, so it's surely enough to make up for using you as a crutch last night, right?"

"..."

Su Wei already knew, but hearing it straight from Sakayanagi Arisu still left him sighing.

I knew this school's setup would encourage all kinds of crooked behavior!

Look at that—now even a young lady from a prestigious family was tracking people's locations and stalking them in real life!