Kushida's Performance

The next morning, when Yuto arrived at the classroom, Kushida was already sitting at her desk.

She was talking to Hirata, and her expression looked no different from usual—that standard, perfectly measured sweet smile. But Yuto noticed that the tips of her ears were a little red.

As he passed by her, Kushida looked up at him.

Their eyes met for less than half a second before Kushida looked away and continued talking to Hirata. But Yuto saw the corner of her lips curve up slightly.

Yuto walked to his seat and sat down, opening his textbook. He did not turn back to look at Kushida, but he kept listening to the voices from her direction.

"Hey, Hirata-kun, there's something I want to discuss with you."

Hirata's voice was gentle. "What is it?"

Kushida's tone became more serious. "It's about the class. Yesterday, I got in touch with an outside information source. They said they had some insider information about the point system. But it wasn't cheap—they asked for five hundred thousand."

"Five hundred thousand?" Hirata sounded surprised.

"Yeah," Kushida said. "I negotiated with them for a long time and got it down to three hundred thousand. I put together some money myself and borrowed some from friends, raising two hundred thousand in total. I'm still short one hundred thousand, so I wanted to ask whether everyone would be willing to chip in."

Hirata fell silent for a few seconds.

"Kushida, is this information source reliable?"

"It is," Kushida said. "I checked it out. The source is very reliable. And not many people know about this information yet. If we don't buy it, students from the other classes will."

Hirata thought for a moment, then nodded.

"I understand. If that's the case, I think we can discuss it with everyone. I'll talk to Sudo and the others. Could you help talk to the girls?"

"Okay," Kushida said.

Yuto listened to their conversation and turned a page in his textbook.

Kushida really was a good actress. If he had not known the truth beforehand, just hearing what she had said would have made him think she was genuinely running around for the sake of the class. Her tone was sincere, her attitude earnest, and her logic flawless. What was even more remarkable was the perfectly measured embarrassment in her voice, as though she had done something good but did not want to make a fuss about it. She handled that balance beautifully. Too bold, and it would seem fake; too modest, and people would grow suspicious. She had hit exactly the right spot.

During the break, Kushida called several girls into the hallway.

Matsushita Chiaki, Shinohara Satsuki, Sato Maya, and several girls whose names Yuto did not know. Kushida repeated the same story she had told Hirata, and the girls had different reactions after listening.

Matsushita was the first to speak. "If Kushida has already put in two hundred thousand herself, then it must be reliable. Split between us, one hundred thousand is only a little over two thousand per person. I can pay."

Shinohara hesitated. "Will the information really be useful? What if we buy it and find out it's fake?"

Kushida said, "I can't guarantee it one hundred percent, but I verified it, and there's no issue with the source. Besides, even if we might not end up needing the information, it's better to know in advance than not know at all."

Sato nodded. "That's true. Besides, a little over two thousand isn't expensive. Just buy a few fewer drinks and you've saved it."

Kushida smiled, with a hint of embarrassment in her expression.

"Thank you, everyone. Honestly, I feel a little bad making you spend money with me. But I think this information will help the class, so..."

"Don't say that," Matsushita said. "You're the one paying the biggest share. We're just pitching in."

The other girls all voiced their agreement.

Yuto listened from his seat and could not help giving Kushida a high score in his mind. Every sentence had been carefully designed. First, she said she had contributed two hundred thousand herself to show sincerity. Then she said she could not guarantee it completely to lower their expectations. Finally, she expressed embarrassment to close the distance between them. After three sentences, the girls were entirely on her side.

Things went smoothly on Hirata's side as well.

During lunch break, Hirata formally brought up the matter in the classroom. Sudo was reluctant at first, saying, "Who knows if it's a scam?" But Kushida did not directly refute him. She only said, "I can't guarantee it'll definitely be useful either. I just think knowing is better than not knowing," keeping her attitude humble.

Ike said from the side, "Kushida already put in two hundred thousand herself. It definitely isn't a scam."

Yamauchi also said, "Yeah, and she bargained them down from five hundred thousand to three hundred thousand. Kushida is amazing."

With those two saying that, Sudo lost his temper. "Fine, fine. If you all say we should buy it, then buy it."

Yuto sat at his desk, watching Kushida surrounded by several girls. She spoke and smiled at the same time, wearing that warm, sincere smile that made people feel at ease just looking at her. Who would have thought that the same person had been cursing at a wall in an alley just days ago?

But he knew which one was the real Kushida Kikyo.

Hirata was highly efficient. Before afternoon classes began, he had already collected most of the students' points. He drew a progress chart on the blackboard, clearly writing down how much they had gathered and how much they still lacked.

"Let's keep it up, everyone," Hirata said. "We only need three thousand more points."

A few students from well-off families voluntarily contributed extra. By the end of the last class, they had gathered the full one hundred thousand points.

Hirata wrote a large word on the blackboard: Complete.

A round of applause broke out in the classroom.

Kushida stood and bowed to her classmates.

"Thank you all for trusting me. I'll confirm the information as soon as possible, then tell everyone."

Matsushita egged her on from the side. "Kushida, you're too polite! We should be the ones thanking you."

Sudo leaned back in his chair and muttered something under his breath, but he did not look dissatisfied.

The whole process had gone even more smoothly than Yuto expected. Kushida's social foundation in Class D was simply too strong. She was neither the good student everyone isolated nor the top student everyone envied. She was the kind of person everyone liked, someone everyone felt was easy to talk to. The image she had cultivated since the first day of school had proven most useful today.

After school, Kushida stopped Yuto at the doorway.

"Do you have time?"

Yuto looked at her.

Kushida's expression was the same as usual, but he noticed a trace of anticipation in her eyes.

"I took the day off from the cake shop," Yuto said.

Kushida blinked. "Then want to get something to drink?"

"Let's go."

The two went to the milk tea shop at Keyaki Mall. The last time they had come, they had been discussing selling information, and the atmosphere had been tense. Today was different. Kushida walked beside him, a little closer than usual. Her shoulder occasionally brushed his arm, but she did not deliberately pull away.

At the shop, Kushida ordered two cups of milk tea, then sat down at a table in the corner.

Yuto sat opposite her and accepted one of the cups.

"How much have you raised?" he asked.

Kushida took a sip of milk tea, her eyes shifting slightly.

"Around ninety-five thousand. Hirata said we should be able to gather the full one hundred thousand tomorrow."

"That was faster than expected."

Kushida set down her cup and looked at him.

"Do you know how many times I told that story today?"

Yuto thought about it.

"More than ten times?"

"Twenty-two times," Kushida said. "I had to tell it every time someone came to ask me. I told Sudo alone three times."

Yuto could not help smiling.

"You worked hard."

Kushida looked at him, and the corners of her lips rose as well.

"It wasn't hard," she said. "Compared to when you pinned me against the wall, this is nothing."

Yuto froze.

Kushida's face immediately turned red.

She lowered her head, picked up her cup, and took a big gulp. The milk tea straw made a gurgling sound.

Watching her, that indescribable feeling surfaced in Yuto's heart again.

After a long while, Kushida finally spoke.

"Lin."

"Yeah?"

"What I said yesterday was true."

Yuto looked at her.

Kushida's fingers traced back and forth across the cup, her nails lightly scraping against the plastic with a faint sound.

"When I said I only wanted to be my real self in front of you... I really meant that."

Yuto watched her lowered eyelashes, and his heartbeat sped up.

"I know," he said.

Kushida looked up.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

Kushida stared at him for a while, then looked away.

"Forget it. I won't ask."

Yuto found her sulking expression somewhat amusing.

"I also feel like I don't need to scheme about anything in front of you," he said. "It's easy."

Kushida turned to look at him.

The expression on her face changed quickly. First she froze, then the corners of her lips slowly rose, and finally she lowered her head and stirred the milk tea in her cup with her straw. The ice cubes inside clinked softly.

"That's good."

The two sat quietly for a while.

The milk tea shop was lit with warm yellow light, while outside the window was the evening street. Several Class B students passed by, chatting as they walked off into the distance. A soft pop love song played from the shop speakers.

Kushida suddenly spoke. "By the way, how are we going to give the information to the class? How will you make them believe the part about the point system being tied to class points?"

Yuto thought for a moment.

"Have Hirata or someone else ask Chabashira," he said. "They can say they heard the rumor and ask the teacher to confirm it personally. Chabashira won't deny it."

Kushida nodded.

"Then we'll wait until the money is all gathered before having Hirata ask. That way, the source of the information will have nothing to do with me."

"Yeah."

Kushida smiled.

"You even thought of that."

"Occupational habit," Yuto said.

Kushida looked into his eyes, her expression turning more serious.

"Lin, have you ever thought about what will happen if we really handle Class D's information properly?"

Yuto looked at her.

"What?"

Kushida tapped her fingers against the cup twice.

"Once the people in Class D get the information, they won't spend money recklessly anymore. They'll save points and prepare for next month's exam. That way, Class D's class points won't drop so badly. That isn't a bad thing, right?"

"It's a good thing."

Kushida nodded.

"That's what I think too," she said. "Even though when I first approached you, I wasn't thinking that far ahead. I just wanted to find someone around whom I didn't have to pretend... But now, I think it would be nice if this class really got better."

Yuto looked at her.

Kushida noticed his gaze and seemed a little embarrassed.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," Yuto said. "I just think you're different from before."

Kushida blinked.

"How am I different?"

"You wouldn't have said something like that before."

Kushida thought about it, then nodded.

"Maybe because I genuinely think that way now."

She did not avoid his gaze.

"Before, everything I did was for my own image. Now it's different. I want to do things that are actually useful."

Yuto looked at her serious expression, and a strange feeling welled up inside him.

Kushida was different from the Kushida he had first known. Or rather, she was changing from someone who only cared about her own image into someone who would think about others.

The beginning of that change was the true face she had revealed before him. Because she no longer had to pretend, she had extra energy to care about other things instead. She might not have fully realized that change herself.

"That's good," he said.

Kushida smiled.

By the time they left the milk tea shop, it was nearly dark.

They walked side by side on the way back to the dorms. Kushida's steps were slower than usual, as though she had deliberately slowed down because she wanted to walk with him a little longer. The streetlights had already come on, casting warm yellow pools of light across the ground.

When they reached the dorm building, Kushida stopped.

"Then once we gather all the money tomorrow, I'll have Hirata go find Chabashira."

"Okay."

Kushida looked at him and hesitated.

"Good night."

"Good night."

Kushida turned and walked inside. After taking two steps, she stopped and looked back.

"Lin."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for today."

Yuto looked at her.

"For what?"

Kushida smiled without answering, then turned and quickly walked into the dorm building.

Yuto stood at the entrance, watching her back disappear into the hallway. Her footsteps echoed through the stairwell, fading farther and farther away until everything was completely quiet.

What a pain.