"Keep eating, Kushida. Have some chicken soup." Long Aotian smiled and gently handed her a steaming bowl, his eyes full of concern.
"?"
Kushida was a little suspicious of why Long Aotian had suddenly become so enthusiastic. Could there be poison in it?
"Ah~!" Kushida parted her lips slightly, her eyes sparkling with surprise. Long Aotian's spoonful of steaming chicken soup was brought steadily to her, a full spoonful of warmth filling her mouth.
She began chewing gently without realizing it, her face glowing with happiness and a hint of surprise.
Long Aotian thought Kushida was quite an interesting person. Kind of cute, maybe?
Of course, she wouldn't be so cute if she stabbed him in the back.
Sakura's bright, wide eyes were fixed on Long Aotian, filled with confusion.
Long Aotian smiled faintly and shook his head, his tone reassuring. "It's okay, Sakura. Don't worry, there's some chicken soup for you too."
"?"
Soon, this battle... this pleasant time came to an end.
The next day~
In Class D, Kushida sat quietly at her desk, her gaze fixed on the scene unfolding before her.
Some of the students in class had furrowed brows and looked a little pale. Their bodies, which had been living mostly on vegetables for a long time, were clearly beginning to send out little signals of "protest."
P.S. Eating that way for a long time really could cause health problems.
Karuizawa Kei frowned slightly, a trace of jealousy flickering in her eyes as she gazed at Kushida, who was like the warm spring sunshine.
She lightly bit her lower lip, seeming to wrestle with herself for a moment before summoning her courage. In a hesitant voice, she said, "Kushida, um... could you lend me just a few points?"
Kushida turned at the sound of her voice. Karuizawa Kei? Hadn't she used to be pretty forceful?
Her gaze then settled on Karuizawa Kei, gentle but tinged with apology.
She slowly raised both hands and lightly clasped her fingers together, as though making a small prayerful gesture to prepare herself for what she was about to say.
"I'm really sorry, Karuizawa." Her voice was gentle, yet tinged with helplessness.
"I barely have any points left. I'd originally wanted to use the points I'd borrowed from someone else to help everyone, but Horikita Suzune used them to help everyone investigate Sudo's situation." As she said this, a faint trace of worry crossed Kushida's brow.
In fact, as soon as Karuizawa Kei had spoken, some of the students had already begun paying attention to Kushida.
Kushida said all this to get under Horikita Suzune's skin. Hadn't she used the excuse of helping the class to spend the public funds? (They were actually Kushida's own points.) And what came of it? Nothing at all, and the points had been wasted.
Human nature was complicated. They would only think, If you hadn't used my points back then, I wouldn't be in this situation now.
As Kushida's words fell, the air around them seemed to shift subtly.
Some of the students' expressions changed almost imperceptibly, and a trace of discontent flashed in their eyes.
Karuizawa Kei's reaction was especially obvious. Her brows drew together slightly, as if she were silently sighing to herself. Then she slowly turned her head to look at Horikita Suzune, who was standing off to the side.
For an instant, her eyes seemed to hold a mix of emotions: confusion and reproach.
Horikita Suzune also realized that things were going badly. She frowned slightly, a trace of pride in her eyes, and pressed her lips together. In a firm voice, she said, "This was a necessary step to ensure the class's safety in the future."
"Safety?" Karuizawa Kei couldn't help laughing. "Do you think things are going well for us now? If you hadn't used our 100,000 points, would we be in this situation?"
"Yeah!"
"That's right!"
Before long, voice after voice rang out~
"Everyone, please stop for a moment, okay?" Hirata raised both hands slightly in a calming gesture, as though soothing a group of restless children.
His eyes shone with gentle resolve as he said slowly, "We all need to calm down and first figure out how to resolve this problem properly."
But it didn't help at all. It only made the whole thing blow up even more.
Kushida slowly stood up and walked over to Sakura's seat. She gently patted Sakura's shoulder, then took her by the arm and led her to one side, her touch gentle but firm.
The two stood side by side, quietly watching everything happening in the distance.
This time, Kushida didn't step in to mediate. It wasn't worth it. Those people had all been there the last time, too, and not one of them had spoken up for her.
Sakura was unmoved by the scene as well. It would have been even stranger if she'd gone over to help. Besides, those people weren't worth it.
The place was in an uproar, the noise deafening, but no one dared lay a hand on anyone else. They knew perfectly well they'd be punished if a fight broke out.
"Huh?" Curiosity flickered across Kushida's face. Her gaze turned of its own accord toward a corner of the classroom, where Wang Meiyu was sitting.
Wang Meiyu's seat was hard to miss. She was right in front of Horikita Suzune, so it was impossible not to notice her.
Kushida tilted her head slightly, her eyes probing, as if she wanted to learn more about the girl sitting in front of Horikita Suzune.
A thought suddenly crossed her mind: Wang Meiyu was Chinese, the same nationality as Long Aotian.
[Taiwanese]
She and Wang Meiyu got along quite well. As they spent time together and got to know each other better, Kushida had keenly noticed her friend's shy and gentle nature.
Unlike Sakura's introversion, Sakura was the sort who didn't want to say a word and would simply run off. Wang Meiyu was much more conventional.
At that moment, Wang Meiyu sat rigidly in her seat, her hands nervously clasped together. Her eyes darted about, and she clearly didn't know what to do with so many people looking at her.
She gathered her courage and slowly lifted her eyes, shooting Hirata a quick, pleading glance.
P.S. Wang Meiyu actually had a crush on Hirata.
Hirata didn't notice, since he was busy raising his hands and doing his best to persuade everyone in a calm, firm voice, trying to gradually soothe their agitation.
Seeing this, Kushida walked over and said slowly, "Everyone, calm down. We should try to understand Horikita Suzune. Even though she spent 100,000 of your points and didn't find anything, she did it for our sake."
Calling the points meant to help everyone "your points" made a huge difference. It was practically forcing the blame onto someone. In her previous life, the phrase "I'm only doing this for your own good" had been an especially vicious thing to say.
If she'd left it unsaid, that would have been one thing, but bringing it up only made the others erupt into even angrier scolding.
Wang Meiyu suddenly let out a cry of "Ah—!" Then, amid the commotion, Kushida seized her chance to pull her to her feet and guide her unsteadily to Sakura's side. A trace of shock and surprise still lingered on her face.
Her voice wasn't loud or soft, but the crowd drowned it out.
Kushida smiled sweetly. "Wang, it's safer over here."
"Thank you, Kushida."
Just then, someone walked in. No one paid attention, except Kushida and Horikita Suzune.
[Ayanokoji!]
What was going on? Hadn't he been expelled?
Ayanokoji returned to his original seat and sat down steadily. His gaze swept over Horikita Suzune, but he said nothing.
Before you continue