You wouldn't want...

"Stop pretending, girl. You gave yourself away ages ago."

Kazami stared at her, his gaze intense and unwavering, but the girl still refused to admit it, looking as though she were saying, "How could I possibly be a good student?"

Neither persistent pestering nor gentle persuasion worked. It looked like he would have to bring out his ultimate trump card.

Kazami lowered his voice, an unwitting hint of sleaziness creeping into his tone. "Matsushita, you wouldn't want all your good friends finding out your secret, would you..."

Come to think of it, why had he been saying that line so often lately? He was a good person.

Something was wrong. Very wrong. He was an upright aspiring king with lofty ambitions and nothing to hide. When had he developed this nasty habit of threatening people? He was pure-hearted by nature, with perfectly sound values, so why was he now resorting to threats like this at the drop of a hat?

He sighed inwardly. It wasn't his fault. The world was just too rotten. His circumstances had forced him to grow, forcing a good person like him to use extraordinary means to accomplish great things. After all, the birth of a king was a cruel affair.

The smile on Matsushita's face vanished in an instant, replaced by a trace of panic. Still, she feigned composure and forced out a rebuttal. "My friends will believe me. Even if there are rumors, they won't read anything into them."

Watching the girl stubbornly put on a brave front, Kazami remained utterly unruffled and punctured her last pretense with a single remark. "They might believe you the first time, but what about the second? The third? You can't keep hiding forever and never reveal your true abilities, can you? You can't hide the truth forever. Everyone will find out sooner or later."

Matsushita's defenses crumbled instantly, leaving her without any confidence to argue back.

She bit her lip and glared at Kazami, both angry and helpless, before saying through gritted teeth, "How underhanded! I never thought you'd be this underhanded, Kazami. Fine, you win. I'll help you tutor them, all right?"

With his objective fully achieved, Kazami pressed his palms together respectfully, his face covered in a fawning smile. "Thank you for your generous assistance, Lady Matsushita!"

Matsushita looked at him with undisguised distaste. "There's not a shred of sincerity in that. Threatening a girl with her secret? So much for the stature of our future king. But was it really my everyday behavior..."

Kazami looked smugly pleased with himself. "Naturally. No matter how well you hide, you cannot escape this king's eyes. I have judged countless people, and my eye is sharp. I can see through anyone's disguise at a glance."

Striking while the iron was hot, Kazami immediately switched to recruiting subordinates, assuming a king's commanding bearing. "In that case, once this is over, come work under me, girl! This king shall appoint you..."

Before he could finish, Matsushita mercilessly interrupted him, nipping it in the bud.

"All right, all right. Stop right there." Matsushita looked utterly speechless. "Having me help you once isn't enough? Now you want to keep ordering me around as your laborer? Even an unscrupulous capitalist isn't as greedy as you."

"And you want me working under you long-term? Wait until you've actually secured your position as leader and become a real king."

The girl showed the future king no respect whatsoever.

But that's all right. This king is broad-minded and magnanimous. I never hold petty grievances against the little girls under my command. When a subordinate occasionally acts willful, talks back, or gets spoiled by my favor, a little tolerance is all that's needed. Such is the bearing of a king.

Kazami stopped dwelling on his grand recruitment plans and focused on sorting out the tutoring at hand. Having settled the problem with Matsushita, he took her to find Hasebe and Sakura, ready to hand over the tutoring duties.

After finding the two of them, Kazami got straight to the point. "Sorry, but I'm about to do something important, and it'll take all my time and energy. I won't be able to tutor you anymore."

Afraid they would be disappointed, he immediately added a solution. "But don't worry. I've already found you a new tutor. She's incredibly capable, and definitely more reliable than me."

What Kazami had expected didn't happen. Hasebe looked thoroughly skeptical, the distrust in her eyes practically spilling out. "You? Have something serious to do?"

What kind of remark was that? She was seriously underestimating the future king.

Indignant, Kazami puffed up his cheeks and protested, "Why can't I have something serious to do? You're really looking down on me! Could you stop underestimating me with those preconceived biases?"

Hasebe spread her hands, her tone helpless but every word cutting deep. "I'm not looking down on you. I'm just stating the facts. Ever since you enrolled, you really don't seem to have knuckled down and done anything serious. Especially with those three dastardly schemes of yours."

Left speechless, Kazami could only force out an explanation. "Hmph. If I told you about my big undertaking, it'd scare you to death."

Hasebe gestured for Kazami to go ahead.

"The situation is what it is, and the specifics depend on the specifics. In short, I'm preparing to undertake something great!"

Hasebe listened with a blank expression and quipped, "Listening to you is worth listening to you. You haven't said anything."

Kazami gave a haughty snort. "Hmph. It's fine if you don't understand now. When my great undertaking succeeds and I astound the world, you'll realize just how great this king is!"

Hasebe couldn't be bothered to keep bantering with Kazami. "Sure, sure, you're the greatest. So who exactly is this new tutor you mentioned?"

Kazami waved Matsushita over, then introduced her with great ceremony. "It's Matsushita Chiaki. From now on, she'll be fully responsible for your midterm tutoring."

The three girls were all in Class D and had spent plenty of time around one another, but they usually moved in completely different circles. They barely interacted and could be considered the most familiar of strangers.

With the sudden news that an unfamiliar classmate would be tutoring them, the atmosphere grew awkward.

Sakura Airi, standing nearby, immediately grew nervous. Introverted and shy, she felt very awkward around Matsushita, whom she barely knew, and offered a timid greeting in a small voice. "H-hello, Matsushita."

Watching from the side, Kazami couldn't help reflecting to himself that Sakura was still far too introverted. Even a slightly unfamiliar setting made her nervous and awkward, and she blushed with embarrassment at the slightest thing. She needed more practice building up her courage.

The other two, by contrast, were far more poised and at ease. Hasebe nodded openly in greeting, her manner natural and polite, completely different from how she treated him, without a trace of awkwardness. Matsushita was equally gracious, nodding gently in return, and the atmosphere eased somewhat.

Watching the three settle smoothly into things, Kazami nodded. That more or less wrapped things up here. Besides arranging the tutoring, he had also introduced Sakura and Hasebe to a new friend. After all, those two had only ever spoken to him and could be considered the class's lone wolves.

Although Horikita was also one of Class D's lone wolves, she was mentally strong and considered herself a fierce tiger, so it didn't affect her in the slightest. Come to think of it, though, her personality really was like a tigress's. Ayanokoji had plenty of grounds to comment on that. Her compass was her tiger's claw.

It was another day of feeling sorry for Ayanokoji's sacrifices. If he hadn't always been up front taking the blows, Kazami might have taken a few himself.