Chapter 46: Let Me Show You the True Face of Your Goddess!

The next day, in the classroom.

"What's going on... Why are you like this too?"

Sudo Ken looked at Ike Kanji in surprise, his face full of confusion.

At this moment, Ike Kanji had dark circles under his eyes, and his lips were pale and bloodless.

"I stayed up all night studying..."

Ike Kanji said weakly.

"Huh? Say that again?"

Yamauchi Haruki, standing nearby, looked shocked—even horrified.

"You... you stayed up all night studying?"

"Yeah..."

Ike Kanji nodded, his voice weak.

"I just suddenly felt like studying, so I stayed up all night reviewing some of the material..."

As he spoke, Kanji couldn't help but recall what had happened last night, feeling a chill run down his spine.

'Sorry, but for the sake of my precious rest time, you'll have to make up for your laziness.'

Meanwhile, Saiki Kusuo sat nearby, expressionless, pretending not to hear anything.

In reality, Ike Kanji's all-night study session was Saiki's doing.

Even without using his telepathy, Saiki knew that Kanji had a crush on Kushida Kikyo. During the study group, Kanji spent half his time fantasizing about how to ask Kushida out.

In fact, it was because of Kanji that Saiki had been discovered by Kushida, forcing him to use his memory-erasing ability.

On top of that, Kanji was incredibly lazy, so Saiki had to take drastic measures—

Such as telepathy and hypnosis.

Last night, every time Kanji fell asleep, he would dream of Kushida turning into a terrifying, completely different person, expressing disgust and disdain for him because of his poor grades. This caused Kanji to wake up in a panic multiple times.

After a few repetitions, Kanji couldn't sleep at all. The horrifying scenes from his dreams kept replaying in his mind, forcing him to stay up all night studying.

In reality, Saiki had transferred Kushida's hatred for Horikita Suzune directly into Kanji's mind, deliberately omitting any names.

[So scary... The Kushida in my dream... was like a completely venomous person...]

'Unfortunately, that's her true self. If you ever saw that side of her, you'd probably break down.'

[I feel like I can't even look at Kushida the same way anymore... The dream was so real...]

'Consider this a favor. I've shown you her true nature, so you can stop fantasizing about her.'

"Good morning, Kanji!"

At that moment, Kushida Kikyo walked into the classroom, greeting Kanji and the others with a smile.

[An angel! Kushida is like an angel! Dreams and reality are completely opposite!]

[Kushida... is so cute!]

[What should we name our future children?]

'...Has he completely lost his mind?'

Saiki felt a bit helpless. The moment Kanji saw Kushida, he completely forgot about last night's dream.

"Saiki."

While Saiki was sighing internally, Sudo Ken called out to him in a low voice.

"Yeah?"

"If Horikita asks later when we're at the library, just say you and Ayanokoji already tutored us. I've already talked to Ayanokoji."

"Okay."

Saiki nodded, relieved that this would save him some trouble.

After hearing Kanji's words, Yamauchi Haruki also started to feel uneasy. He quickly pulled out his textbook and began frantically reviewing.

[What's going on with Sudo and Kanji?!]

'Don't worry, you're next.'

[Weren't we supposed to be slackers together!?]

'Although, in a way, your self-description isn't wrong, I don't think the other two would describe themselves like that.'

[Did you guys abandon me?! Now I'm the only one who hasn't been studying!?]

'Can you really say that with such righteousness?'

Yamauchi Haruki was anxious. Because Sudo Ken and Ike Kanji had "secretly studied behind his back," he felt like he might fall behind. He had no choice but to cram, planning to review the material during his free time today.

'Yare yare, looks like this will save me some trouble.'

[Their behavior is a bit unusual.]

Meanwhile, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka silently observed them, his eyes filled with doubt.

He was skilled at analyzing people and predicting their behavior, but both Sudo Ken and Ike Kanji's actions had completely deviated from his expectations.

[First Horikita, and now Sudo and Kanji. Their behavior has changed significantly, which shouldn't be possible in such a short time.]

[Could it be Saiki Kusuo's doing?]

[But there's no evidence to support that, and from what I've observed, Saiki hasn't done anything... How strange.]

Although Ayanokoji was full of questions, he couldn't find any answers. This was completely outside the scope of what he had learned in the White Room.

...

In the afternoon, Horikita Suzune and the others went to the library.

"Did you guys get tutored yesterday?"

Horikita asked sternly.

"Yes, yes!"

Sudo Ken immediately replied.

"Really?"

Horikita's eyes showed no trace of trust as she turned to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Saiki Kusuo, who both nodded.

[They're probably lying. There's no way they actually studied after going back to the dorm.]

'You know them too well.'

Saiki thought to himself.

Like yesterday, Horikita prepared some questions for everyone.

This time, not only did Sudo Ken score decently, but Ike Kanji also managed to get a passable grade. Even Yamauchi Haruki, who had crammed at the last minute, saw some improvement.

"It seems the study group is making good progress."

'That's right, so can we end it now?'

Saiki's lips curled slightly. He thought this ordeal was finally over.

"This just shows how important the study group is. We can move on to more advanced material."

'???'