Chapter 43: The Stalker from Class D!

'What is this guy trying to do?'

Saiki Kusuo's attention was completely focused on the student, feeling a bit puzzled but also able to guess that the other party didn't have good intentions.

Given Sudo Ken's explosive personality, there was a chance that some kind of conflict could break out.

'Yare yare, if a conflict breaks out, it'll be troublesome. I should intervene a little.'

With that thought, Saiki activated his ability—

At that moment, the boy from Class D was charging toward Sudo Ken.

[Just bump into him... It's going to hurt... But this is Ryuen's order. I have to find a way to provoke Sudo and make him angry.]

'So he's here to cause trouble.'

Saiki casually waved his hand, and the boy's shoelaces suddenly came undone, tying themselves into a Chinese knot in mid-air. As a result, he lost his balance and fell to the ground in front of everyone, kneeling.

"..."

Sudo Ken and the others were a bit slow to react.

[It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Crap, did I not tie my shoelaces properly? I swear I tied them!]

The boy stood up awkwardly, covered in dust, and looked down at his shoelaces, which were simply undone.

The moment he fell, Saiki had untied the knot.

[Damn it, damn it, damn it! How did this happen? If I go back like this, I'll definitely get beaten up!]

He was about to get up and forcefully bump into Sudo Ken—but at that moment, a slender figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Classmate, are you okay?"

Kushida Kikyo, with an expression of genuine concern, stepped forward and asked, holding his shoulders.

[Wow, she's so cute! Is she... Kushida Kikyo?]

'Hey, hey, weren't you just all serious and determined? Now that you see a pretty girl, you forget your mission?'

Saiki felt a bit helpless.

"Classmate, are you also a first-year student?"

Kushida smiled at him, asking in a gentle and friendly tone.

"Yeah... I'm from Class C... no, Class D. Just call me Yamawaki!"

The boy, who called himself Yamawaki, smiled.

Saiki looked at Yamawaki, his X-ray vision piercing through layers of skin to see his heart. At this moment, Yamawaki's heart was racing.

"Then, I'll take my leave now!"

As he spoke, Yamawaki's face turned red, and he quickly ran off.

"What a weird guy."

Sudo Ken and the others didn't pay much attention to the incident and simply left. Sudo was heading to the basketball gym for practice, while Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki were planning to return to the dorm.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, however, glanced back in the direction Yamawaki had left.

[That guy was part of the group monitoring us earlier. His actions just now seemed like he was intentionally trying to bump into Sudo...]

[Is he trying to provoke Sudo? What's the point of that? With Sudo's personality, even a little provocation could escalate into a conflict. I remember the school rules state that fighting on campus leads to expulsion. Is that his goal? If so, the risk is too high.]

[But what about that fall? From his expression, it seemed like a complete accident.]

Ayanokoji was the only one, aside from Saiki, who noticed something was off about Yamawaki.

[Well, I'll just wait and see what happens next. If Class D is planning something, they'll make a move eventually. I just need to observe.]

With that thought, Ayanokoji returned to the dorm with the others, as did Saiki.

However, as soon as Saiki returned to the dorm, he activated his clairvoyance to locate the boy named Yamawaki, quickly finding his position.

At that moment, Yamawaki was lurking near the school gym, hiding in a corner and staring intently at Sudo Ken, who was entering the gym.

"Yare yare, he's definitely up to something sneaky. While it doesn't really concern me in theory, if it's targeting our entire Class C, I can't just ignore it."

With that thought, Saiki activated his teleportation ability, vanishing from sight and reappearing a few meters behind Yamawaki.

[Sudo's starting his basketball practice, right? I failed earlier, but I have to find a way to provoke him... Otherwise, Ryuen will definitely kill me...]

'Still not giving up, huh?'

Saiki narrowed his eyes slightly. At this moment, he was just a few meters behind Yamawaki, but thanks to his invisibility, Yamawaki had no idea someone was behind him.

Meanwhile, Sudo Ken was doing some basketball drills, and Yamawaki was slowly approaching, planning to use this opportunity to bump into Sudo again—

But as soon as he took a step, he fell to the ground again.

Saiki, in that instant, had undone Yamawaki's shoelaces again and tangled them together.

Thud!

Yamawaki knelt on the ground once more, and the loud noise of his fall drew everyone's attention.

"It's you again?!"

Sudo Ken's gaze immediately locked onto Yamawaki.

"Weren't you that guy from earlier? Are you following me?"

"I, I, I..."

Yamawaki was completely flustered. Not only Sudo Ken, but everyone in the gym was now looking at him.

[This is bad, this is bad... Everyone's noticed me... What do I do, what do I do... The original plan is completely ruined.]

"I just wanted to learn basketball... That's why I came here."

Yamawaki could only come up with a barely passable excuse.

"Is that so?"

Sudo Ken's brows furrowed slightly—but then quickly relaxed, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Well, that's perfect! The basketball team's coach and the others are here. Let's do a quick physical test!"

Without giving Yamawaki any time to refuse, the basketball team members swarmed over and dragged him away.

"Wait, wait!"