Chapter 45: Study Later? Who Believes Your Nonsense?

[Is this girl... the same person I saw earlier?]

At this moment, Yamawaki looked at Kushida Kikyo with disbelief. When he first saw her during the day, he thought she was like an angel, but now she seemed like a completely different person.

'Finally, you've seen her true nature, huh? But in reality, she's even more terrifying than you imagine.'

Saiki Kusuo, still invisible, silently observed the group.

"Sudo Ken is impulsive and quick to anger, Horikita Suzune is arrogant and self-centered..."

Ryuen Kakeru narrowed his eyes, focusing on the message Kushida Kikyo had sent him.

"Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji are practically useless, while Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Saiki Kusuo are barely noticeable."

'Barely noticeable? Good.'

Saiki nodded in satisfaction.

"Saiki Kusuo, is that the guy with glasses?"

Ryuen tapped his chin with a finger.

"Yes, do you know him?"

Kushida asked curiously, surprised that Ryuen knew Saiki's name.

She thought that with Saiki's almost transparent presence, he wouldn't have much interaction with people from other classes.

"I've only seen him once."

Ryuen replied.

They had met once at a café, and Ryuen remembered that Saiki seemed to be friends with Shiina Hiyori from their class.

[Shiina Hiyori seems to have a good relationship with that Saiki Kusuo. Although Shiina isn't easy to manipulate, she's an important figure for our class and could play a significant role for Class D in the future. If I target Saiki now, it might strain my relationship with Hiyori. There's no need for that at the moment, and Saiki Kusuo doesn't offer much value to me anyway.]

Ryuen thought to himself.

'Yare yare, in a way, did Shiina just do me a favor?'

Saiki mused.

"The reason we did well on our first test was because we got the answers in advance—the questions were exactly the same as the previous year's."

Kushida explained.

"I see, no wonder you surpassed our class."

Ryuen smiled.

[While I can't guarantee that future exams will follow the same pattern, this does give us another option.]

"But how did you find out about this? The upperclassmen wouldn't just tell you this, right?"

Ryuen narrowed his eyes and asked.

"I just happened to overhear it."

"You just happened to overhear it?"

Ryuen still found it hard to believe Kushida's words.

[Is it really such a coincidence? But Kushida Kikyo should know that such a flimsy lie wouldn't fool me. Was it really just a coincidence?]

'After all, the actions of a psychic are beyond your imagination.'

"That's just how it is. For now, let's leave it at that. We'll deal with the rest later."

After saying this, Kushida turned and left the room.

[Was it really a coincidence? Or was someone behind it?]

'Just treat it as a coincidence.'

[No need to rush. First, we'll slowly dismantle Class C, then Class B—and finally, that self-important "princess."]

'Who's that? You mentioned her last time too. Is she from Class A?'

Saiki responded in his mind, feeling that his invisibility was about to run out. He slipped through the door as Kushida opened it and left with her.

...

In the blink of an eye, Saiki was back in his room.

'There's more and more trouble these days.'

Saiki complained in his mind, then sat on his bed to rest for a bit.

Ryuen seemed to be planning to make his move after the midterms, so their class should be safe for now.

'Although it doesn't really concern me, if Sudo gets expelled, it'll definitely cause a lot of trouble for the class. I don't want to be bothered by these issues every day, so I'll have to think of a solution.'

Before Saiki could rest for long, there was a knock on the door.

Without opening it, Saiki knew who it was—Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

"Saiki, Horikita wants us to tutor Sudo and the others. Sudo just got back. Are you coming?"

Ayanokoji asked directly after entering the room.

[Tutoring others? Sounds like a hassle. I can't teach them everything I know. What's the normal range of knowledge for a high school student?]

"Let's just text them."

"Okay."

Ayanokoji took out his phone.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: Do you guys want to review today's material later?

Sudo Ken: I just got back from practice. I'm exhausted! Let's skip it for today! I think I've reviewed enough!

Ike Kanji: Uh... I'm busy right now... Not really convenient... I'll look over it myself tonight.

Yamauchi Haruki: Ah, forget it... I'll just read on my own.

'No surprise. Even though they say they'll study later, there's no way they'll actually do it.'

Saiki already knew exactly what kind of people they were.

As long as they didn't improve their grades, the study group would continue.

But Saiki already had a plan.

If it worked on Sudo Ken, it should work on the others too.

"In that case, let's just forget it?"

"Okay."

"If Horikita asks about it tomorrow, it might be troublesome."

"We'll deal with it then."

"Alright, I'll take my leave now."

Ayanokoji nodded, his gaze lingering on Saiki for a moment before he turned and left the room.

[I still can't figure out anything about Saiki.]

[Is he just that good at hiding, or is the teacher overthinking it?]

[We'll see later.]