Kushida Kikyo stood on the street corner, watching the three of them go their separate ways with a complicated look in her eyes.
Ayanokoji Kiyoha turned without expression and followed the group of girls Karuizawa Kei was with, leaving Kushida to go shopping alone. Meanwhile, the voice in her mind had forcibly ordered her to get a manicure.
Sitting in the nail salon, watching the manicurist work on her fingertips, Kushida Kikyo finally couldn't suppress her impatience. When no one was paying attention, she questioned the voice in her mind: "I've done what you asked. Shouldn't you give me some information now?"
Ayanokoji Kiyoha casually recalled something in her mind, then spoke nonchalantly. "All right, I'll give you one bombshell first. There won't be any major events you need to care about over the next month anyway, but you'll have to follow my instructions obediently for the whole month."
Listening to the future Ayanokoji Kiyoha in her mind, who sounded like she was just enjoying the show, Kushida frowned and impatiently urged her, "Cut the crap and spit it out."
Ayanokoji Kiyoha's voice carried a hint of amused anticipation as she slowly uttered a few words: "You'll be expelled at the end of your second year."
Kushida's expression instantly froze. Her fingers tightened around her phone, her nails nearly digging into her flesh. She forced down the storm raging inside her and demanded in her mind, "Why?! What did I do wrong? Was my secret exposed? Did someone set me up?"
There was a brief silence in her mind. Then Ayanokoji Kiyoha spoke in an incredibly peculiar tone, mingling envy with matter-of-factness. "Nothing much. You just got pregnant."
Beneath the nail salon's soft lighting, Kushida Kikyo felt as though she'd been struck by lightning. Her mind went completely blank. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out; even her breathing seemed to stop.
Pregnant? Expelled? How was that possible? She'd always been careful, and she'd kept a very proper distance from boys. There was no way she'd make such a stupid mistake!
"Don't believe me?" Ayanokoji Kiyoha's voice sounded again, carrying a hint of amusement. "Who can say what the future holds? But since I know, of course I had to tell you the good news in advance."
Sitting in the salon's soft chair, Kushida Kikyo felt as though her soul had been taken from her. She was utterly stunned, her emotions surging wildly as her mind uncontrollably raced back through her past actions and conduct.
She'd always prided herself on being cautious, maintaining a perfect angelic image in front of boys. How could she possibly be expelled at the end of her second year for such an absurd reason?
Ayanokoji Kiyoha, on the other hand, sounded completely unbothered as she explained offhandedly, "It couldn't be helped. Life was too comfortable back then, and when people have enough to eat and wear, they start thinking about sex. Besides, I was a cold, unfeeling block of wood then, and you were always venting your emotions in front of Wu Qiao, torn between relying on him and resisting him. And given your personality, he had no qualms about bullying you. He even thought he was helping you relieve stress."
As Kushida listened to words that could've been either teasing or a statement of fact, her cheeks grew hot. She couldn't help retorting in her mind, "Don't you have any objection to this? From the way you're talking, he went after you first and treated you even worse!"
Ayanokoji Kiyoha sounded baffled, as if she'd just heard an unbelievable question. "Why would I object? He's got something on you now, too, doesn't he? Oh... Right, I think you got pregnant because I bought protection a day too late. So in a way, that one's on me."
"You—!" Kushida Kikyo's face flushed red, shame and anger twisting together.
This future Ayanokoji Kiyoha was completely insane, and Wu Qiao was a downright bastard! She secretly vowed that she absolutely wouldn't follow the original course of events. She had to keep as far away from Wu Qiao as possible. If she couldn't avoid him, she'd find a way to get him expelled!
Apparently sensing the murderous fury in Kushida's heart, Ayanokoji Kiyoha gave a couple of quiet snorts, then added maliciously, as if looking forward to the show, "Oh, and a friendly reminder: you and he apparently grow close during the upcoming summer vacation, during the Luxury Cruise Ship Special Exam. I don't know exactly what happens then, but that's all the information I have. Good luck, Two-Faced Girl."
Luxury Cruise Ship... Summer vacation...
Kushida Kikyo looked at her newly manicured nails, a cold glint flashing in her eyes. Now that she knew the script in advance, she wouldn't let that bastard Wu Qiao direct the show.
She... She had to find a way to make that guy hate her, or even... figure out how to sabotage him good.
May 1. Today was the day everyone received their monthly personal points. But Kushida Kikyo had already learned the inside story from Wu Qiao, so she knew that everyone in the class would receive zero points today.
She left the dorm early and was on her way to the classroom building when she suddenly stopped as she passed through the courtyard. On a bench not far away, Wu Qiao was sitting with Ichinose Honami. A box of little cakes sat between them as they cheerfully shared the treats.
Seeing the unclouded smiles on their faces, Kushida Kikyo found the sight irritating. She asked future Ayanokoji Kiyoha in her mind, "Can you find a way to set him up with Ichinose? Let her monopolize Wu Qiao completely and keep him away from me."
Ayanokoji Kiyoha looked perplexed and replied as though it were obvious, "Huh? But Ichinose is already one of his future wives. Do you really need to set them up?"
"What the hell?! Wives! And one of them?!" Kushida Kikyo couldn't help screaming inwardly, her worldview rocked to its core. "Is he some rich young master, or a king planning to build a harem?!"
Ayanokoji Kiyoha seemed stumped by the question. She paused and gave it some serious thought before offering an answer that was incredibly perfunctory, yet impossible to refute. "Who knows? Anyway, he'll definitely have plenty of money in the future. He can afford to support them."
Kushida Kikyo felt the vein at her temple throbbing. Plenty of money? He could afford to support them? What kind of answer was that?
She looked at the bastard of a boy eating cake with Ichinose Honami in the distance, and the sense of danger and murderous intent in her heart surged once more.
Since the script for the future was already a complete mess, she had to take the initiative now. She absolutely couldn't let herself become a victim of that absurd future!