Karuizawa Kei's Troubles

Yukimura Teruhiko, a top-tier academic who ranked among the best in the entire grade, wore an expression of deep helplessness that practically screamed, "I knew it was only a matter of time before it was my turn."

Wu Qiao's studying was the real deal; he wasn't just putting on a show or cramming for exams. He could draw inferences from even the most obscure points not covered in detail in the textbooks, often grasping the material better than the people who had actually studied it. Yukimura seriously suspected that this guy was trying to forcibly turn every one of his academic weaknesses into an overwhelming strength.

Today was history. Watching Wu Qiao frantically commit dates and events to memory, Yukimura seriously doubted that Wu Qiao even needed a tutor; he probably just wanted to speed up his progress and find someone to act as a supervisor (which was likely the real point, as the guy tended to get distracted by other research whenever he read alone).

Halfway through the session, Ichinose Honami appeared in the library.

Of course, she had only known to find Wu Qiao here after specifically asking Ayanokoji Kiyoha, as Wu Qiao's study spots were never fixed—he could be in the library, an empty classroom, or even the atrium, making his exact location hard to pin down.

Ichinose Honami stepped forward on tiptoe and peered over curiously. "Are you helping Wu-kun with history? Do you need a hand?"

Seeing that it was Ichinose Honami, Yukimura Teruhiko looked as if he had just spotted a savior and nodded frantically. "Yes, Ichinose-san. Um... could you take over for a bit? I'm... my brain just can't keep up anymore."

Ichinose Honami looked at Yukimura's exhausted expression, then at the innocent-looking Wu Qiao, and readily agreed. "No problem, Yukimura-kun, go take a break."

Yukimura Teruhiko felt as if he had been granted a pardon and immediately packed his things to leave. Ichinose Honami then sat in Yukimura's former seat, opened the history book, and began tutoring Wu Qiao.

And then... well, there was no "and then."

After only half an hour, Ichinose Honami was already struggling to keep up with Wu Qiao's pace. The tutoring mode, which should have been her asking questions and him answering, had gradually shifted into Wu Qiao staring at the table of contents and frantically making associations, connecting knowledge points, while Ichinose Honami could only chime in occasionally to point out missed details.

"Here, regarding the impact of the 19th-century Industrial Revolution, you missed the shift in social structure." Ichinose Honami pointed to a line of small print in the book to remind him.

"Ah, right, social structure. The opposition between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, followed by the labor movement..." Wu Qiao muttered to himself, his pen flying across the draft paper to construct a mind map, his eyes terrifyingly focused.

Watching him completely immersed in his work, Ichinose Honami couldn't help but sigh inwardly: Just how is this guy's brain wired?

Not long after, Yukimura Teruhiko returned with water and handed a bottle to each of them. He looked at Ichinose Honami, who looked lifeless as if her spirit had been drained, and then at the still-energetic Wu Qiao, his eyes filled with sympathy.

"Thanks for your hard work, Ichinose-san." Yukimura Teruhiko twisted off a cap and took a sip of water, sighing helplessly. "Tutoring him is manual labor. He's not even studying; he's devouring knowledge like it's his only meal."

Ichinose Honami took the water and nodded with a wry smile. "Indeed... I feel like my entire reserve of historical knowledge is being hollowed out by him. Wu-kun, could you please slow down a little? My brain really can't keep up."

Wu Qiao stopped his pen and scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, sorry, I got a bit carried away. The pleasure of intellect... er, no, the pleasure of learning is just a bit addictive."

Watching Wu Qiao's sincere apology, which was clearly devoid of any actual remorse, Yukimura Teruhiko and Ichinose Honami exchanged a look, both seeing deep helplessness in the other's eyes.

It seemed that to keep up with this monster's learning pace, passion alone wasn't enough—one needed a heart of steel as well.

Karuizawa Kei felt that she was... quite unlucky.

Even though she had a "Daily Intelligence System" in her head that sounded like a powerful cheat, most of the intel this broken system provided felt like a joke and was completely useless.

Well... that wasn't entirely true.

Every day, it did churn out plenty of information about where Ryuen Kakeru was going to fight or how he was looking for trouble, along with some movements from Class A that she found irrelevant.

But the problem was, so what if she knew Ryuen was going to fight? She didn't want to get involved in that kind of violence, nor did she want to be dragged into it just because she knew about it beforehand.

As for the intel on Class D, there was only one piece of truly useful information so far: that Sakura Airi, the student who always hid behind her camera and had such a low presence, seemed to be the temporarily retired gravure idol "Shizuku."

Karuizawa Kei scratched her head. What was the use of that? Was she supposed to blackmail the girl with it? She wasn't some malicious person like Ryuen.

There was also a note that "Kushida Kikyo will go out tonight to vent her stress." This also sounded bizarre. What kind of stress could a sunny, cheerful social butterfly like Kushida possibly have that required her to go out at night to vent?

Ever since that time she tried to threaten Wu Qiao with information about his deal with Hoshinomiya Chie, only to have the tables turned and her own secret exposed, Karuizawa Kei hadn't trusted this broken system at all.

The information it gave was true, but it was never complete—it was just a half-baked cheat. Aside from annoying her and occasionally providing some gossip for after-school chatter, it was useless for turning the tide of any situation.

She lay on her desk, bored, as the few pieces of intel that had refreshed that morning surfaced in her mind again. Among a pile of nonsense about Ryuen Kakeru and Class A, the only one related to Wu Qiao stood out:

[After school, Wu Qiao will be targeted by Sakayanagi Arisu due to his late departure from the library.]

Karuizawa Kei frowned as she read the line. Sakayanagi Arisu... one of the leaders of Class A, that silver-haired girl who always wore an elegant smile that made one's skin crawl. Being targeted by someone like that was definitely not a good thing.

Although she often bickered with Wu Qiao and even felt that this guy was sometimes harder to deal with than Ryuen, they were, in a sense, "comrades-in-arms" drifting through Class D together.

Besides, after having her secret seen through by Wu Qiao last time, Karuizawa Kei actually felt a complex sense of awe toward him.

"Seriously, what is this guy doing..." Karuizawa Kei sighed, feeling conflicted. Should she warn him? But with Wu Qiao's "the sky could fall and he'd use it as a blanket" personality, even if he knew Sakayanagi was up to something, he'd probably just say "Oh, is that so?" with a shrug.

Besides, that guy didn't look like the type to suffer a loss easily. Hadn't he already put everyone through the wringer before? Maybe this time being targeted by Sakayanagi was part of his plan, too.

Thinking of this, Karuizawa Kei shook her head and decided not to intervene for now. Anyway, if something really happened, that guy would surely have a way to deal with it. She just had to watch the show from the sidelines and silently pray that Sakayanagi wouldn't drag her into the crossfire.

"Whatever," Karuizawa Kei stretched and muttered to herself. "I'm idle anyway, so I might as well go see what Sakayanagi is planning. If Wu Qiao really ends up in trouble, I'll reluctantly buy him a milk tea to comfort him."

Though she spoke lightly, Karuizawa Kei still felt a faint sense of unease. Sakayanagi Arisu... that woman's methods were no joke. She hoped that guy, Wu Qiao, could really walk away unscathed this time.