Hidden Shadows and Kushida's Anxiety

After the Dragon Group meeting concluded, the participants gradually dispersed, and soon only Kikyo Kushida remained in the seminar room. The gentle smile on her face could no longer be maintained and slowly faded away, replaced by deep anxiety and unease. Her fingertips gripped the hem of her skirt so tightly that her knuckles turned white, and even her breathing grew somewhat rapid.

The sea breeze outside the window gently brushed against the blinds, creating a faint rustling sound, yet it could not dispel the gloom in her heart. The unbearable memories of middle school surged like a tide; those dark chapters she had desperately tried to forget and bury became clear and glaring the moment she confirmed that Suzune Horikita was attending the same school.

Back in middle school, she had single-handedly incited conflicts within her class, ruined the group dynamic, and triggered a severe class collapse. She had even leaked and exploited her classmates' secrets, revealing a personality that was incredibly dark and twisted.

Upon arriving at Advanced Nurturing High School, she reinvented herself as a sunny, cheerful, and well-liked girl who was adept at socializing. By doing so, she gained everyone's favor, effectively masking her true nature and her dark history.

Since Suzune Horikita was a classmate from her middle school who knew the truth, she was a ticking time bomb that could destroy Kikyo at any moment.

(Kikyo Kushida's Memories)

In middle school, to be on good terms with every student, Kikyo Kushida had always played the role of a gentle, considerate person worth confiding in. Everyone was willing to open their hearts to her, telling her their troubles, secrets, and scandals, which allowed her to hoard a vast amount of private information about the entire class.

However, the long-term accumulation of others' negative emotions and secrets created immense psychological pressure. Unable to digest it, she began using anonymous accounts on online forums to post her classmates' secrets, insults, and negative information one by one, using it as a way to vent her stress.

Later, a classmate traced the details of the posts and realized that the leaker was Kikyo Kushida, confronting her directly.

Once exposed and unable to hide it any longer, a mentally shattered Kikyo gave up on pretense and publicly revealed everyone's secrets to the entire class.

After the mass exposure of these secrets, the students turned on each other with suspicion and hatred. Many were suspended or disciplined, and the entire class completely disintegrated—the very definition of a class collapse.

She had believed that as long as she was cautious enough and no one brought it up, those dark chapters would remain buried forever, allowing her to graduate from this school with a new identity and perhaps even achieve a higher class ranking. But she never imagined that Suzune Horikita would be at the same school, and even more terrifyingly, she was unsure if Suzune remembered her or those shameful past events.

During this time, she had been secretly probing and asking familiar classmates questions, confirming bit by bit that Suzune Horikita was indeed her former middle school classmate. Each confirmation added to her anxiety—Suzune Horikita was rigorous, serious, and intolerant of even the slightest flaw, and she was known for being blunt. If she truly remembered her and those dark secrets, given her personality, she would never keep it hidden.

Kikyo Kushida leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, the worst-case scenario playing out in her mind: Suzune Horikita exposing her past in front of everyone, making her middle school absurdities and shame public, causing her to lose face before her peers and becoming the focus of everyone's gossip. By then, the gentle image she had meticulously maintained would collapse, her classmates would shun her, and she might even be expelled, completely ruining her future.

At the thought of this, she couldn't help but tremble. The fear in her heart grew like vines, wrapping tightly around her until she could barely breathe. She could not let this happen—absolutely not. To protect her image and remain in this school, she had to find a way to stop Suzune Horikita and prevent those dark secrets from being revealed.

She opened her eyes again, the anxiety in them gradually replaced by determination. The thought surfaced once more: use her status as the VIP to trade for help from Yoshikage Kira and Class B. Yoshikage Kira was a core figure in Class B, a man of calm disposition and outstanding ability who held significant influence. If he were willing to act, there would surely be a way to stop Suzune Horikita.

She even calculated in her heart that as long as she achieved her goal, she would not hesitate to expose her status as the VIP or pay any price. The best outcome would be to make Suzune Horikita completely forget the past; if that failed, she would find a way to get Suzune expelled to eliminate the threat entirely.

Yet, she knew that Yoshikage Kira was not a man easily swayed. To get him to help, she had to offer a sufficiently attractive bargaining chip—and the most valuable chips she held were the information regarding the VIP and other hidden clues from the Dragon Group assessment.

Kikyo Kushida slowly stood up, straightened her clothes, and put on that gentle smile once more, though a trace of imperceptible anxiety and calculation remained deep in her eyes. She knew she could not hesitate any longer; she had to find Yoshikage Kira as soon as possible and make her request, otherwise, once Suzune Horikita dug up her past and remembered everything, it would be too late.

She walked out of the seminar room and moved slowly along the corridor, her gaze scanning the surroundings vigilantly, terrified of being discovered or running into Suzune Horikita. Every step was taken with extreme caution, and the resolve in her heart grew firmer: no matter the cost, she would guard her secrets, stop Suzune Horikita, and secure her future.

Meanwhile, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji was hiding around a nearby corner, observing Kikyo Kushida's unusual behavior. He watched her hurried expression and the anxiety hidden between her brows, a flicker of confusion crossing his eyes—just a moment ago at the meeting, she had been calm and composed, so why had she become so erratic the moment it ended? What exactly was the cause of her anxiety?

Kiyotaka did not step forward to disturb her, choosing instead to follow quietly. He vaguely felt that Kikyo Kushida's abnormality might be related to her secrets, or perhaps linked to the VIP assessment. He wanted to see exactly what hidden thoughts this girl from Class B, who had always feigned gentleness, was harboring, and what actions she would take next.