The dormitory was unusually quiet at night. Uesugi Hara hadn't paid much attention to what Sakayanagi Arisu had said during the day.
After all, Kushida Kikyo had come to see him more than once. It was only natural for people to notice.
Still, one thing puzzled him: what exactly had Sakayanagi meant when she said he'd "get burned"?
Did she know something about Kushida's past, or had Kushida been acting conspicuously enough lately that Sakayanagi had felt compelled to warn him?
He was wondering whether to message Kushida and ask when a sudden "knock, knock, knock" sounded from outside his door.
Uesugi Hara got up and opened it. Kushida Kikyo was standing in the hallway.
That saved him the trouble of messaging her. Since she was here, he could just ask her face-to-face.
"Good evening, Uesugi." Kushida smiled in greeting and familiar as ever, slipped past him into the room. Her expression was no different from usual, as though nothing had happened a few days ago.
Uesugi Hara didn't think much of it. He closed the door, turned around, and poured her a glass of water. "It's been a while. What brings you here tonight?"
"Actually, it's nothing major." Kushida Kikyo took the glass. Her fingertips brushed its cool surface as she spoke lightly. "I sold that exam paper to the other classes, and I wanted to hear what you thought about it."
"Oh? You sold it to Classes B and C? How much did you get?" Uesugi Hara asked curiously.
"Not much. Just five hundred thousand points per class." Kushida Kikyo cradled the glass, sounding as casual as if she were talking about something perfectly ordinary. Her eyes curved into a smile, and there wasn't a hint of anything amiss.
???
"How much?! Five hundred thousand points per class?" Uesugi Hara's brow furrowed sharply. "They actually agreed to that?"
"I just used a little persuasive wording." Kushida Kikyo swirled the water in her glass, explaining nonchalantly. "I told them that all the other classes had the exam paper and they didn't. Wouldn't they fall behind if they were the only ones without it...?"
Then she abruptly changed the subject, pursing her lips in mock reproach. "I was going to include Class A, too, but you were there, so I missed out on four hundred and ninety thousand points for nothing."
Uesugi Hara's mouth twitched fiercely. He grumbled to himself that, in comparison, the three hundred thousand points he'd "embezzled" back then had practically been a bargain.
He remembered how he'd struggled through his first week just to earn a little over two million points. Then he looked at the girl in front of him, who'd effortlessly pocketed a million just by talking. The contrast left him clicking his tongue to himself. There was simply no comparing their money-making efficiency.
"You didn't handle the deals in person, did you?" Uesugi Hara looked up at her, seeking confirmation.
"Of course not." Kushida Kikyo raised her chin, as if stating the obvious. "I'm not that stupid. I just spent a little money to get a few upperclassmen to handle it for me."
Looking at Kushida Kikyo's slightly smug expression, Uesugi Hara couldn't help wondering.
How had she changed so much?
In the original story, Kushida Kikyo had personally handled every deal when she sold class information to Ryuen, bold to the point of recklessness.
But the girl before him was far too shrewd for her age. She even knew to have upperclassmen handle the transactions for her, leaving no trace.
Had that points plan somehow unlocked her full potential? Her growth was astonishing...
"Impressive. I'm impressed." Uesugi Hara gave her a thumbs-up. If he'd been the one handling the deal, he never would've thought to sell the papers for such an outrageous sum.
He suddenly thought of Ayanokouji. He'd paid fifteen thousand points for the exam paper, and now Kushida Kikyo had turned around and sold it for a million. If Ayanokouji found out about the difference, Uesugi Hara wondered whether it could finally make his deadpan expression change.
"Hehe, it's nothing special!" Kushida Kikyo smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. Her words were modest, but she couldn't hide the pride in her voice. Her fingertip tapped the glass lightly, her excitement showing through.
Looking at Kushida Kikyo like this, Uesugi Hara had to admit the girl really had a knack for this.
She still had a childish air of triumph about her, but her methods were already remarkably polished. The ease with which she handled herself was nothing like the big-breasted, brainless pushover from the original story.
Uesugi Hara suddenly remembered something that would suit her. "Wait a moment." He turned to the drawer nearby and rummaged around in the back before pulling out a terminal. Yes, a terminal.
Uesugi Hara held it out to Kushida Kikyo and said evenly, "This might come in handy. It's unregistered."
He'd gotten it from Mashima Tomoya after earning enough points during his first week. He'd meant to save it for the right occasion, but had never found a use for it. Now, though, it seemed right up her alley.
"I paid two hundred thousand points for it, so consider it a bargain." He paused, then added, "If you have anything else you can't handle in person, use this to arrange the deal through your network. It'll save you a lot of trouble."
Kushida Kikyo took the terminal and ran her fingers over its cool casing. Her eyes lit up. "Unregistered? This is perfect timing." She looked up at Uesugi Hara, her smile more genuine now. "Thanks, Uesugi. This is a huge help."
Uesugi Hara shrugged without replying. He knew that the terminal wouldn't sit unused in Kushida's hands the way it had in his. Knowing her, she'd come up with a dozen ways to use it in no time.
"By the way, how have you changed so much?" Uesugi Hara looked at her and finally asked the question that had been on his mind.
Kushida Kikyo tilted her head. Her fingertip gently traced the edge of the terminal as she replied, her voice as light as a breeze brushing the surface of a lake. "Maybe... I'm not as fixated on what happened in the past anymore."
Her gaze drifted toward the window. Night had spilled into the room, casting a faint shadow across her face. Beneath those casual words lay a hard-to-describe sense of relief—or perhaps something deeper.
"Is that so? Then congratulations." Uesugi Hara tugged at the corner of his mouth, though he privately thought that was an unexpected answer.
He'd expected a more concrete explanation, or the bright, breezy response she usually wore on her face. He hadn't expected such a wistful answer.
The Kushida Kikyo in front of him seemed to have quietly drifted away from the girl in his memories, the one who always wore a perfect smile.
"Are you worried about me, Uesugi?" Kushida Kikyo quickly recovered, her familiar radiant smile returning. Her eyes curved into pretty crescents, and her voice carried a sly note of probing curiosity, as though her wistful remark had been nothing but a fleeting illusion.
Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow and gave a noncommittal reply. "I was just asking."
He leaned against the desk, watching Kushida Kikyo fiddle with the terminal. Its faint glow flickered across her face.
"But speaking of which," he continued, changing the subject, "now that you have this, you'll need to be even more careful. Mashima is reliable, but if this terminal falls into someone else's hands, it could cause a lot of trouble."
Kushida Kikyo looked up, smiling with complete confidence. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. But you're being awfully considerate all of a sudden, Uesugi. Don't tell me..." She drew out the words and deliberately stepped closer. "You have some other motive?"
Uesugi Hara took half a step back to put some distance between them. A helpless smile tugged at his lips. "Don't read too much into it. I just don't want to get dragged into trouble because of you someday."
"Wow, you're so cold." Kushida Kikyo exaggeratedly drooped her face, then quickly smiled again and slipped the terminal into her pocket. "All right, I'll stop teasing you. It's getting late, so I should head back."
She walked to the door and put her hand on the knob, then turned back. "Oh, and Uesugi, I'll remember this favor. If you ever need anything, just ask."
With that, she gently closed the door. Her footsteps faded down the hallway.
Uesugi Hara stared at the closed door, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the desk.
Not fixated on the past anymore?
He picked up the glass from the desk. It had gone completely cold.
Kushida Kikyo had changed, sure, but was selling a fifteen-hundred-point exam paper for five hundred thousand points a little too heartless?
It looked like Kushida Kikyo would never escape the nickname Black-Hearted Angel.