Chapter 27: Wait, Are You Serious?

"You seem unusually fixated on rising to Class A."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka glanced at Horikita Suzune out of the corner of his eye, his expression devoid of any particular emotion.

"Don't you want to change something with your own hands?"

Before Horikita Suzune could finish speaking, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka gave a very firm response.

However, Horikita Suzune completely ignored Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's words:

"It seems you're willing to help. If we want to rise to Class A, we need to improve the class's situation. Things like tardiness and leaving early absolutely cannot happen. And no one can fail the midterm exams. If anyone gets expelled, our class points might be deducted further."

"There should be a way. After all, Kushida discovered that we could buy last year's exam questions."

As Ayanokoji Kiyotaka spoke, he began recalling the incident of purchasing last year's exam questions.

Although Saiki Kusuo had gone with Kushida Kikyo to interact with the upperclassmen, it was Kushida who had invited Saiki to join her.

Kushida Kikyo seemed to have stumbled upon the fact that upperclassmen's exam questions could be purchased by accident.

[Theoretically, upperclassmen shouldn't actively reveal the school's rules to freshmen. Kushida claimed she overheard upperclassmen's conversations and found out about this. It seems too coincidental.]

[Could this have been Saiki Kusuo's doing?]

[If it was Saiki Kusuo, what methods did he use? Guiding Kushida's actions? That's something only a psychic could do.]

'Hey, hey, hey...'

Saiki Kusuo, who had been following them, felt his heart skip a beat.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had no idea that his random thought was actually very close to the truth.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's observational and deductive skills seemed to surpass those of other students. Saiki Kusuo realized he needed to be more careful to avoid leaving any clues in front of him.

"No, because we can't guarantee that every exam will have the same questions as last year. Besides, there are people in the class who still scored very poorly even after seeing the questions."

"Feels like you're indirectly criticizing me."

"Perhaps we should follow Hirata's example and gather the class together, but I haven't figured out the specifics yet."

"In that case, why don't you join me for the celebration tonight?"

"Why would I participate in something like that? We only moved up to second-to-last place, and you want to celebrate... How ridiculous..."

"If you want to improve the class's situation, you should at least try to get along better with your classmates."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka spoke slowly, sounding as if he was genuinely concerned about Horikita Suzune's interpersonal relationships.

[For now, I don't want to take any special actions, but to be safe, I'll shape Horikita Suzune into a usable tool. In this class, Horikita is the most suitable tool at the moment.]

[I'm not sure about Saiki Kusuo's identity. If he's someone sent by that man, he'll probably try to get me expelled—but I have no intention of sitting back and letting that happen.]

[I need to figure out Saiki Kusuo's true identity first.]

'Now I'm completely on Ayanokoji's radar. I'll have to be even more careful from now on. But things like the White Room or that man have nothing to do with me.'

Saiki Kusuo thought to himself.

'And Ayanokoji sees others as tools? That's even worse than Kushida.'

Just then, Saiki Kusuo felt his Invisibility ability about to run out. Although he could use it continuously, the ability only lasted for a maximum of ten minutes at a time, and there was a one-minute preparation period before it activated. So, he quickly left the area and used his Teleportation ability to return to the restroom in the school building.

'I'll have to be more careful when using my abilities from now on.'

As Saiki Kusuo thought this, he began walking toward the classroom—

But before he could take more than a few steps, he saw Kushida Kikyo and Ike Kanji leaving the classroom.

'It seems Hirata's meeting is over. Finally, I can go back to my dorm and rest.'

But before Saiki Kusuo could feel relieved, Ike Kanji quickly approached him:

"Saiki, we're having a celebration tonight. Everyone's supposed to buy some snacks. Don't forget!"

'Hey, hey, it was you guys who decided to have a celebration. I never said I'd join.'

Saiki Kusuo couldn't understand why they had automatically included him. Just as he was about to refuse, Kushida Kikyo, who was standing nearby, smiled and said:

"Thanks, Saiki-kun! After we all finish dinner and get our things ready, let's meet in front of your room!"

'Hey, hey, hey, hey, why are we meeting in front of my room...? Are you planning to hold the celebration in my room?'

Saiki Kusuo's face was full of black lines. Using his telepathy, he already knew the answer to this question, but he had no chance to voice his opinion before the others left.

Earlier, Saiki Kusuo's attention had been completely focused on Chabashira Sae and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, so he had completely missed what was happening in the school building. As a result, the others had made the decision without him.

Just then, Saiki Kusuo's phone vibrated. He took it out and saw a message from Shiina Hiyori.

Shiina Hiyori: Saiki-kun, are you free later? Want to grab some coffee? I've read a few good novels recently, and you might like them too!

Faced with Shiina Hiyori's invitation, Saiki Kusuo didn't hesitate much and immediately gave a positive response.

He had heard that the school's café sold some excellent desserts, and he hadn't had a chance to try them before. Now was the perfect opportunity.

Besides, the café wasn't too far from the school store. Since things had already come to this, he might as well go along with it and buy some snacks and drinks.

If everyone else brought snacks and he showed up empty-handed, he might end up being disliked, which could lead to a lot of trouble later.

"Sigh."

Saiki Kusuo sighed, then headed toward the café.