Chapter 130: Horikita Suzune Just Left, and Ayanokouji Arrived

As they were chatting, Horikita Suzune's clothes had already dried, but the stains from the cola were still very obvious.

"I'll head back first."

After finding out the details of Class A's point deduction, Horikita Suzune couldn't stand the smell of cola on her clothes any longer and decided to go take a shower.

"Bye," Kanda Shuichi waved his hand to Horikita Suzune as she left.

Not long after Horikita Suzune left, a boy came walking up the stairs, and it seemed like his destination was the same place where Kanda Shuichi and the others were.

This was a rare sight. Although Kanda Shuichi often liked to make things difficult for Ayanokouji, they didn't actually spend much time together. 

So to outsiders, it seemed like Kanda Shuichi and Ayanokouji weren't really familiar with each other, which made Kushida curious.

"Eh? Is that Ayanokouji? If you're looking for Horikita, she just left."

Clearly, to most people, Ayanokouji was seen as Horikita's shadow.

"Well, actually, I'm looking for Kushida," Ayanokouji said.

"Me?" Kushida immediately put on a surprised expression, because, in reality, she and Ayanokouji weren't that close.

"Yeah. For this exam, both Karuizawa and I were assigned to the Rabbit Group, but Karuizawa doesn't seem too willing to cooperate, so I wanted to ask you about her."

As Ayanokouji spoke, he naturally sat down.

Kanda Shuichi nodded in understanding. 

As the go-to person for all the gossip in their grade, Kushida Kikyo had connections with nearly everyone, so if you wanted to gather information, she was the best person to ask.

"When I came in, I already ran into Horikita. Unfortunately, it seems like she doesn't really know Karuizawa," Ayanokouji scratched his head, looking a little helpless.

Watching Ayanokouji's performance, Kanda Shuichi silently took a sip of the still-cold cola.

"Actually, even though Karuizawa and I are friends, I don't really know much about her past. From what I've seen, she's a pretty strong-willed person. Does that help?" 

Unfortunately, Kushida didn't know much about Karuizawa either.

But, thinking about it, it was no surprise that someone as difficult as Karuizawa could make even Kushida give up. Getting assigned to a group with someone like that…

Kanda Shuichi gave Ayanokouji a "good luck" look.

"Got it. That's really helpful, thank you, Kushida," Ayanokouji nodded and then turned to look at Kanda Shuichi.

"What are you staring at me for? I'm not close with her either. Shouldn't you be talking to Hirata about this? Karuizawa is his girlfriend."

But seeing Ayanokouji keep staring at him, Kanda Shuichi quickly finished his drink.

"I'm going to head back to my room now. Ayanokouji, do you want to come with me?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to feel a bit hot. I'll go back and cool off."

Lying again!

You haven't even broken a sweat!

But Kanda Shuichi wasn't about to call him out on it now.

So, after saying goodbye to Kushida, he went back to the guest rooms on the third floor with Ayanokouji and led him to his own room.

"Alright, what is it that you don't want anyone else to hear?" 

The room had great soundproofing, so after closing the door, they were in a completely secure environment, with no worries about anyone eavesdropping.

Even if someone were to come in, it would only be Miyake and Hirata. As for Miyake, even if he hears some information, he wouldn't spread it around. Even though he's now friends with Kanda Shuichi and his personality has become a bit more goofy, influenced by Hashibara-senpai, he's still the type to remain cool and distant in front of others, not the type to gossip.

As for Hirata, there's no need to worry at all. It would actually be better if Hirata came back because, when it comes to Karuizawa's information, no one knows her better than him.

"I noticed something very strange about Karuizawa's behavior today."

Hearing Ayanokouji's words, Kanda Shuichi stayed silent.

Forget about whether Karuizawa is acting strange, Ayanokouji, your behavior is also quite odd today. Didn't you say you weren't interested in class ranking? Why are you suddenly so active?

Clearly, Kanda Shuichi didn't know that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had been threatened by Sae-chan, and Ayanokouji would never talk about that to others.

So Kanda Shuichi had a feeling that Ayanokouji was up to something. This guy, could it be that he wants to steal Hirata's girl?

No, I can't let that happen!

"Ayanokouji!" Kanda Shuichi's expression turned serious, making Ayanokouji Kiyotaka confused. What did I say wrong?

"Uh, what's going on?"

"Don't tell me you have feelings for Karuizawa? She's Hirata's girlfriend! Even if you like her, you should wait until they break up before making a move!"

Hearing Kanda Shuichi's righteous words, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was left speechless.

I was just thinking about the exam, why is this about relationships? Though I do have some interest in that, now is obviously not the time.

"Kanda, you misunderstood. I just think Karuizawa's behavior today is really strange. If we ignore it, it might cause big problems."

Ayanokouji decided to explain himself. Although he had never been in a relationship, trying to steal someone's partner just didn't seem right no matter how you looked at it. So, he firmly stated that he couldn't take the blame for this.

"Really, you're not interested in Karuizawa? I think she's kind of cute."

"But didn't you just say? She's Hirata's girlfriend."

Smack!

Kanda Shuichi's expression turned serious, then he slammed the table hard. "And you still say you're not interested in Karuizawa!"

At this point, Ayanokouji was sure that Kanda Shuichi was just messing with him.

Seeing Ayanokouji's speechless look, Kanda Shuichi secretly sighed in relief.

"Alright, I'm done joking." Kanda Shuichi put away his serious expression and smiled. "I already called Hirata on the way back. He'll be here soon. As for Karuizawa, asking her directly won't get us anywhere, but if you ask Hirata, you should get some answers."

I see, Ayanokouji nodded, but soon, he hesitated.

But… should I really tell Hirata about this?

Meanwhile, Kanda Shuichi was analyzing what kind of person Ayanokouji really was.

The whole thing earlier was partly a test from him, to see how Ayanokouji would react.

If Ayanokouji's reaction was genuine, then Kanda Shuichi felt that Ayanokouji probably wasn't as dangerous as he first thought.

Since realizing Ayanokouji's odd behavior, Kanda Shuichi had been keeping a careful distance between them—close enough not to be strangers, but definitely not as familiar as he was with Hirata.

Although he occasionally joked around, when there were important matters to discuss, Kanda Shuichi's first choice would be Miyake, followed by Hirata or Kushida. 

Hirata was his second choice because of his personality—if he could help, he definitely would. As for Kushida, Kanda had leverage over her, so he wasn't afraid of her causing trouble on purpose.

Although Miyake was often not useful, so Kanda usually ended up turning to Hirata or Kushida. 

Horikita was his third choice, and Ayanokouji and the others were usually at the bottom of the list.

However, after this small test, Ayanokouji's priority was raised one level and placed on par with Horikita.

A few minutes later, Hirata returned to the room, bringing back the group lists he had collected from each group.

"Good afternoon, Ayanokouji. And Kanda, I've collected the group lists from all the groups," Hirata said, handing over a notebook that recorded the names of the members in the twelve groups.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Kanda Shuichi took it and flipped through it casually. This could be looked at later; it wasn't urgent. Right now, his priority was answering Ayanokouji's question.

"By the way, I heard that the students from Class C also recorded this list."

"That's normal," Kanda Shuichi nodded. "Ryuen is probably trying to figure out the selection rules for the preferred students."

Hirata nodded. "Yeah, I figured Ryuen wouldn't easily give up. So, is there something you want to ask me, Ayanokouji?"

"Actually, it's about Karuizawa. She's your girlfriend, right?"

Instead of directly asking about the matter, Ayanokouji confirmed something that everyone in the class already knew.

"Yeah, Karuizawa and I are dating."

Hirata answered gently.

However, this answer made Ayanokouji hesitate for a moment, unsure whether to tell Hirata about the situation. He worried it might be a blow to him.

After a brief hesitation, Ayanokouji went ahead and explained the whole situation.

Earlier that afternoon, during the Rabbit Group exam, three girls from Class C had gotten into a conflict with Karuizawa.

It started when Karuizawa, on some day before the summer vacation, bumped into a girl named Rika outside a café or some other shop while trying to cut in line. She didn't apologize either.

Given Karuizawa's strong attitude, an apology seemed unlikely.

As a result, the girl named Rika complained about it to her good friend, C-Class's Shinako Magami. 

By coincidence, Shinako and her classmates were assigned to the same exam room as Karuizawa, so when they met, Shinako used the previous incident as an excuse to stir up trouble, leading to a small conflict.

But Karuizawa was on her own, and facing the three of them, she found herself at a disadvantage. So, she sought help from the students of Class A.

The strange part was that Karuizawa was such a strong-willed woman. Normally, even facing three people, she wouldn't back down.

If it were Ichinose, she wouldn't need help against three people. No, if it was Ichinose, those three wouldn't dare to provoke her, and Ichinose definitely wouldn't be the type to bump someone and not apologize.

————— ----

You can read 10 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu