A School Play—Did He Get In Through the Back Door?

Huh?

This face... it seemed familiar somehow.

Horikita froze as distant memories came flooding back like a tide.

So this is why you came to talk to me?

"Kushida, you don't need to keep pestering me. I guarantee I won't say anything. You're a smart person—you should understand what I mean, right?"

"I'll be leaving first."

After saying that, Horikita left the café.

Just then, the server brought over the drinks. Uchiha picked up the pink Red Bull and took a sip.

Sweet!

Sweet right down to his heart!!

Kushida sat down without a word, and the gloom in her eyes vanished in an instant.

"Ayanokoji, thank you."

"Actually, being able to make friends with Uchiha is enough for me."

Uchiha looked up, his voice flat. "Just ordinary friends? You don't have any improper thoughts about me?"

"..."

"..."

The corner of Kushida's eye kept twitching. Hadn't she sworn never to speak to this Jiahao again...?

"I'm not feeling very well today, so I'll be heading back too."

Ayanokoji silently watched Kushida's dejected figure leave, too late to offer any comforting words.

In the bustling café, only the two boys remained, staring at each other.

"Since we're already here..."

"Want to chat for a while?"

Ayanokoji spoke first.

Uchiha's expression remained blank. "About what?"

Ayanokoji opened the menu, only to realize that he hadn't ordered anything.

He looked at the milk tea across from him, then at the expensive dishes on the ordering page...

This was bad!!

Kushida had only treated Uchiha, not him!!!

After a pause, he ordered a cheap tomato pasta. His dull eyes flickered faintly.

"How long was the deadline that man gave you?"

Uchiha: "???"

Again?!!

Did the male leads in this world love putting on little plays?!

After the last one, he'd been watched for four days!!

After this one, wasn't the other side going to pull some stunt again?!

Uchiha chose to remain silent.

"..."

Ayanokoji laughed self-mockingly and instantly understood something.

They were enemies, not friends. How could the person opposite him casually reveal intelligence?

I was thinking too simply.

"Same thing as before. Leave."

"Once I graduate, I'll compensate you double for the losses caused."

????

What was with this completely out-of-nowhere opening line? He couldn't understand it at all!!

Why did this feel a little like...

A domineering CEO breaking up with a poor but beautiful schoolgirl???

The plot was getting more and more off track!!!

Uchiha propped his chin on both hands and raised his eyelids slightly.

"How are you going to compensate me for the prestigious university place I lost, three years of youth, and hundreds of future wives?"

What?!

Hundreds of future wives???

What the hell was that supposed to mean???

Just filter that part out!!!!

Ayanokoji frowned deeply.

A place at a prestigious university was easy enough to obtain. With money and influence, it could be arranged.

But a passionate, vibrant youth was something even more precious than money, fame, or profit.

How was he supposed to compensate for that?

A drop of cold sweat quietly slid down from his temple...

Had a seemingly casual question really forced him into a corner?!

Uchiha, just how strong were you?!!

Huh?

Why wasn't Ayanokoji saying anything?!

Had he gotten his lines wrong?

Wasn't this supposed to be some melodramatic "domineering CEO falls in love with me" story?!

Then it had to be the grand declaration from A Chinese Odyssey—a love that would last until death?!!

Unable to probe the depths of the situation, and adhering to the principle that the more he said, the more likely he was to make mistakes...

"The deadline?"

Uchiha picked up his milk tea and rose from his seat.

"That deadline can be... ten thousand years."

Ayanokoji: "..."

Ten thousand years??

Could you even live that long?!!

You'd turn into a fossil!!!

No.

His words weren't as simple as they appeared.

The next second, Ayanokoji nodded firmly.

I see.

What he meant was that he intended to stay entangled with him for the rest of his life.

Interesting.

Father, if I defeat the talent you've newly cultivated, does that mean I've won—and that I'll finally be free?!

Afternoon PE class was about to begin.

Today, Classes 1-C and 1-D were having a joint lesson.

The center of the track field was lush with green grass, while the scarlet running track wound like a dragon.

The sky was gray and overcast, with no sun in sight.

A dark cloud seemed to be drifting in the distance.

The students had arrived early and were chatting in small groups.

A middle-aged man stood atop the high steps, surveying everything below.

His name was Dongshan. He was nearing forty and worked as the school's PE teacher.

He wasn't tall, but he was solidly built. He wore a green-and-white tracksuit, with a whistle hanging from his chest.

Before long, he spotted a troublemaker who wasn't dressed as required.

Teacher Dongshan immediately leaped down, put the whistle in his mouth, and gave a sharp blast.

"You're... Koenji, right?"

"I already told you last class to wear sportswear. You're the only one here who didn't change."

Koenji turned and glanced at him.

Only strange outfits could attract girls' attention.

That was a truth he had learned from Jiahao.

"Teacher, I believe no outfit can conceal my beauty."

Dongshan waved a large hand and roared irritably, "Go stand in punishment over there!"

He couldn't tolerate even the slightest deviation and hated students who broke rules.

To him, following rules was a basic quality of being human.

Koenji spread his hands. "How frightening, Teacher."

With that, he walked over to the concrete steps and began doing push-ups—upside down, with his head down and feet in the air. They were extraordinarily difficult push-ups.

Ever since getting punched by Uchiha, he had increased his daily training several times over.

Dongshan ignored Koenji and looked over the students of Classes C and D before him, his voice full of disappointment.

"This batch of freshmen doesn't look physically impressive. Why don't I see a single one with solid muscle? I heard from the other teachers that this year's class has lots of talent. Where are they?"

Sigh, how boring.

Forget it. No talent was no talent.

As long as none of them had gotten in through the back door.

There was one type of person Dongshan especially despised.

Young masters and young ladies with no ability who relied solely on their family backgrounds.

Without the protection of their parents and families, they were nothing but trash!!

After graduation, they understood nothing. Not only were their personal abilities absurdly low, they would even ruin their family businesses.

He had seen far too many cases like that.

From then on, Dongshan had become especially disgusted by this kind of filthy practice.

At this moment.

Several students from Class C were chatting quietly.

"Did you hear? Someone joined the student council without even taking the assessment."

"Rumor!!!"

"The version I heard was that Uchiha didn't take the entrance test and got into the school directly through the back door."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what everyone's saying."

"Really? Who did you hear that from?"

"Yamauchi from Class D. That guy can't keep his mouth shut."

"I just saw a trending campus post: <Shocking Revelation About Uchiha's Improper Admission!!> Too bad the poster was anonymous, or we could have asked him about it."

"I saw it too. It has a ton of likes. There's no smoke without fire—I'd say there's an eighty or ninety percent chance the post is true."

The purple-haired boy crossed his arms, frowning deeply.

His name was Ryuuen Kakeru. He had once sworn to stand at the top of the school and become its sole king.

The Black Yamada stood faithfully at his side. He remembered that Jiahao.

"This Uchiha is very cunning. On the first day of school, he was the one who tricked all of us boys into moving materials."

"A lot of people say the chairman arranged for him to get in."

The blue-haired boy beside them sneered. "A clown desperate for attention."

Ibuki Mio shook her head.

"He skipped the procedures he was supposed to follow and didn't even take the entrance exam. Sooner or later, someone will stomp all over him."

She hated people who got in through connections.

Even the chairman had gone along with it—was there no law anymore?!!

Bastard, just let me catch you. I'll beat you senseless!!!

At that moment, a gentle, virtuous silver-haired girl walked over.

"But... I heard he defeated Katsuragi. Could there be some hidden reason behind this?" Shiina Hiyori suddenly said.

"Hidden reason?"

Ryuuen snorted. "I don't care what hidden reason there is. All I know is that he ordered me around, so I'm going to get revenge."

"..."

What?!!!

Not far away, Dongshan had naturally heard their conversation.

After listening, his expression darkened.

What did this mean?!

Had the chairman... the mentor who had once supported me... fallen so low?!!

He actually dared to openly arrange for a freshman to enter the school???

His first reaction was disbelief. The chairman had always seemed quite upright in his eyes. That shouldn't be possible, right?!

Dongshan couldn't help asking:

"Which new student are you talking about?"

Yamada turned around and, upon seeing the PE teacher, hurriedly said:

"Mr. Dongshan, I heard there's a student in Class 1-D named Uchiha Jiahao who got in through connections. He even beat Katsuragi from Class A so badly that he was seriously injured, yet he wasn't punished at all..."

Dongshan's brow immediately furrowed deeply.

"What? He seriously injured someone, and the school didn't discipline him???"

"And he didn't even take the entrance exam? He got in through connections?"