After some thought, Horikita Suzune decided to give it a try. She had never added Kushida Kikyo's contact information, and Kushida had always acted very enthusiastic around her.
In that case, she could find an excuse to exchange contact information later and test the waters. Perhaps that would break this strange stalemate, even though she had always felt that something about Kushida was off.
Before long, the dull study session came to an end. Horikita Suzune packed her bag and stepped forward to stop Kushida Kikyo, who was just about to leave.
"Kushida, wait a moment." Horikita Suzune tried to make her voice sound less stiff. "I think we should stay in touch about our study plans. Would you mind exchanging contact information?"
At her words, Kushida Kikyo's face instantly lit up with delight, as if she had been waiting for this moment for a long time. "Of course, Horikita! I've always wanted to be friends with you. Let's do it!"
They took out their terminals, and a soft beep sounded as the friend request went through. Kushida Kikyo smiled warmly at Horikita Suzune, her eyes full of friendliness and anticipation.
Horikita Suzune remained impassive on the surface, but quickly opened the system panel in her mind.
And yet... still zero.
That glaring "0" sat between them like an insurmountable chasm. They had just exchanged contact information and become friends in name, but the system's affinity reading hadn't budged. It hadn't gone up even by a single point.
Horikita Suzune's heart sank a little. At last, she was certain that Kushida Kikyo's so-called "friendliness" toward her was nothing but surface-level acting.
That zero affinity wasn't merely a rejection; it felt more like a cold mockery. No matter how Horikita Suzune played along, she would always be an outsider in Kushida Kikyo's eyes—perhaps even an anomaly to be wary of.
"All right, Horikita. I look forward to working with you!" Kushida Kikyo waved goodbye, her voice light and cheerful.
"Likewise." Horikita Suzune replied without expression, watching Kushida Kikyo walk away. The wariness in her eyes only deepened.
After the study session, Wu Qiao had originally planned to find a few books to read. Although he no longer intended to grind experience for the Path of Erudition as relentlessly as before, making a habit of acquiring knowledge and gaining experience had become second nature to him.
But just after he walked out the door, Karuizawa Kei unexpectedly stopped him. There was an uncharacteristic awkwardness in the girl's eyes, but in the end, she worked up the courage to invite him for a walk.
Wu Qiao didn't refuse. He simply took her to the library first. Following the reading list Shiina Hiyori had shared with him earlier, he borrowed several hefty books with practiced ease. Then the two walked out of the library together and began to wander aimlessly.
All the while, Karuizawa Kei kept her head down, her fingers flying over her terminal.
Before long, Wu Qiao's terminal vibrated. Karuizawa Kei had sent him a large amount of information about the upperclassmen through their messaging app.
Wu Qiao wasn't surprised in the slightest. He already knew that although Karuizawa Kei usually seemed loud and boisterous, she appeared to have a covert information network he knew nothing about. Sometimes, she really could provide unexpectedly useful information.
After dinner, the two bought a couple of drinks from a vending machine by the roadside and sat on a secluded bench.
The night breeze dispelled the heat of the day, but it couldn't dispel the subtle, heavy tension between them.
Karuizawa Kei held the cold bottle tightly in both hands, her head bowed. After a long silence, she finally worked up the courage to break it. "Wu-kun, how much do you know about me? Tell me the truth."
Wu Qiao turned his head and gave her a lazy glance. "Everything."
Karuizawa Kei's body trembled slightly. Her eyes lowered, and her long eyelashes hid the complicated emotions in them. She took a deep breath and quietly asked, "Then do you know what I was thinking when I first enrolled?"
Wu Qiao nodded, as if stating the most ordinary fact. "I do. You wanted to find someone powerful to back you up, preferably a strong, reliable boyfriend—even if it was a fake relationship. You needed someone to protect you, establish your standing in the class, and keep you safe."
"So you really do know..." Karuizawa Kei gave a bitter laugh, her voice tinged with self-mockery and relief.
She slowly lifted a hand and gently touched the left side of her lower abdomen through the thin fabric of her clothes. There was a jagged scar there, a lingering nightmare from middle school and the source of all her disguises and insecurities.
"Since you already know everything, there's no point hiding anything." Karuizawa Kei's voice was hoarse as she began to recount her experiences in middle school. The dark memories of being isolated, targeted, and bullied for a long time poured from her like floodwaters breaking through a dam. Even though she knew Wu Qiao had already seen through everything, exposing those ugly scars herself still brought her searing pain.
Wu Qiao listened quietly. He didn't interrupt, nor did he show any pity or mockery. He simply stayed by her side, letting the girl shed her hardened disguise in the night and reveal the most vulnerable, most genuine part of herself.
As soon as Karuizawa Kei finished speaking, Wu Qiao was briefly dumbfounded.
The long-dormant experience bar for the Path of Remembrance had suddenly started jumping like crazy, shooting straight up to level five!
He had nearly given up on that Path. Gaining experience for it had been so troublesome—nothing like the Path of Erudition, where simply reading books steadily raised his level.
He hadn't expected that simply listening quietly and bearing witness to Karuizawa Kei's unforgettable past would earn him such a generous reward.
By the time Wu Qiao came back to his senses, still reeling from his delight, Karuizawa Kei had stood up at some point and quietly walked over to him.
There were still traces of tears at the corners of the girl's eyes, but now they shone with a resolve unlike anything before. She took a deep breath, as if she had made a desperate, all-or-nothing decision. Her voice trembled slightly, but her words were perfectly clear. "Wu-kun, I don't need anything from you. I don't care if you threaten me or what information you have. I just want to... live in peace."
She stared straight into Wu Qiao's eyes, as if pouring all her desperation and longing into those words. "As long as you can let me stay at this school in peace, without being bullied like I was in middle school or abandoned by everyone again, I'll do anything. I don't want Class A or some grand success. I just... want to live as an ordinary person."
Looking at the girl before him, who had shed every disguise and laid her most vulnerable weakness bare, Wu Qiao felt something stir within him. He realized that Karuizawa Kei's confession tonight wasn't just a plea for protection. It was also a desperate gamble.
What she was betting on was whether Wu Qiao's heart still had even the smallest opening for her to enter.