Chapter 21: The Stalker from Class D!

[This guy Sudo will review? The so-called "review dream" wasn't just him deceiving me with the excuse of competing? He's actually reviewing?]

Beside him, Ike Kanji frowned slightly, but very quickly relaxed again, [How could that be possible! That guy cannot possibly be studying! It must be nothing but a blind cat bumping into a dead mouse.]

'You really do understand your friend well.' Saiki said in his heart, but this proved that his actions last night were meaningful. As long as things continued like this, there would no longer be any need for the study group to keep going.

Saiki nodded slightly. By now he had more or less arranged Sudo Ken properly. Next, he only had to use the same trick on Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki for two days in a row.

Just thinking of this, Saiki's lips involuntarily curved up a little. He was finally about to get rid of this boring study group.

Suzune then continued to look at everyone else's test papers, and next was Saiki's.

'Horikita was more or less satisfied with Sudo's grade, and I got only one or two more questions right than Sudo, so there shouldn't be any problem.' Saiki was thinking this in his heart and then shifted his gaze to Suzune's face.

And when he saw Suzune's eyebrows furrow for an instant, he immediately realized that something was wrong.

"Saiki-kun, it seems you were hiding your strength." Suzune turned her head and looked at Saiki with utmost seriousness.

"This fifth question has quite a high difficulty, and you were actually able to solve it?"

[I deliberately inserted a rather difficult question into the test paper, wanting to see whether Ayanokoji and Saiki were hiding something from me, and the result indeed turned out like this.] Suzune's pupils reflected Saiki's figure.

And at this moment, the latter's brain was spinning rapidly. 'Good grief, I actually got caught in a trap.'

'Horikita really put such extremely difficult questions among these problems? Before, because she was seriously studying, my telepathy couldn't read anything about it… Also, because of these guys, it was impossible to judge the difficulty of the problems.'

Every time there was a test, Saiki would use telepathy to judge the difficulty of the questions. If even students with good grades couldn't solve a problem, then it was definitely very difficult, and Saiki would deliberately get it wrong.

But… among the students taking the test here, not a single one had good grades.

Although Sudo Ken had improved a lot compared to before, his grades still weren't good, and the other two were even heavier cases, just being able to understand the questions was already a blessing.

As for Ayanokoji, his situation was about the same as Saiki's.

This caused Saiki to fail to notice that Suzune had set such a trap in the test beforehand.

'I have to think of something.'

'Should I make a gust of wind blow my test away? No, Horikita has already seen my answers.'

'Should I cause a sudden blackout and swap my and Ayanokoji's test papers… No, our handwriting is completely different… I'll just have to deal with it for now.'

Saiki thought this in his heart while keeping a calm expression and asked, "What is it?"

"This question's difficulty is very high. I didn't expect you could solve it." Suzune's gaze locked onto Saiki like a hunter.

Not only her, Ayanokoji also turned his head to look at Saiki.

[Horikita set such a trap in the questions? If Saiki could solve it, it proves he has extraordinary learning ability.]

'This will probably make Ayanokoji even more suspicious of me… It's a bit troublesome.'

[But, if Saiki really was such a hidden expert, would he fall into this trap?]

'Sure enough, something is wrong. Wait, didn't I also get it right?'

[Wait, could it be that Saiki did it right on purpose? If he deliberately got it wrong, we might still suspect he was hiding his ability, but this time he did the opposite, deliberately getting it right? This behavior could lower our guard instead, his actions are hard to read.]

'Hey hey hey, what are you talking about?'

Ayanokoji's train of thought was already somewhat beyond Saiki's expectations, and his brain was also spinning quickly, thinking of countermeasures.

"Recently I happened to review this topic, so I could solve this problem."

"Is that so? What a coincidence." Suzune's gaze was extremely serious and stayed focused on Saiki.

"Yes." Saiki did not hesitate and simply nodded.

"Previously your math test score was rather average, right?"

"So I started studying seriously now."

"In that case, I hope that in the next math test your score can rank in the top fifteen. That shouldn't be difficult, right?"

"This sort of thing can't be guaranteed. After all, I don't know what the midterm questions will be like. If they are the same as last year's, maybe I could do it." Saiki could only bite the bullet and keep answering.

[What he's saying isn't wrong, but given the current situation, it's more likely Saiki is hiding something. Perhaps he could be an asset to help us get to Class A.]

"In that case, I have another favor. When you boys return to your dormitory, I want you to take charge of teaching Ike and Yamauchi."

Suzune spoke immediately, and obviously her tone was full of the sense that refusal was not an option.

Saiki had no choice but to nod. Just thinking of having to tutor those two gave him a headache, but for him this was still an acceptable outcome.

"Next is Ayanokoji's paper… You got this question right too?"

"It was just a blind cat bumping into a dead mouse."

After more than an hour, today's study group was finally over. Ayanokoji was given the same task as Saiki, to tutor the other students after returning.

"Saiki, actually your grades are very good, right?" On the way back, Ayanokoji walked next to Saiki and directly asked straightforwardly.

"No, I just happened to review that topic." Saiki answered without hesitation.

[His expression hasn't changed, and his gaze doesn't dodge, he doesn't look like he's lying.]

'So he really is testing me?'

In ordinary circumstances Saiki didn't show any change in expression, so even Ayanokoji couldn't see through anything.

His gaze turned forward, Sudo Ken was bragging to Ike and the others about today's test.

Just then, Saiki's eyes caught a familiar figure approaching from the corner, it was one of the students from Class D who had been monitoring them earlier.

[That one is Sudo Ken from Class C. According to Ryuen's instructions, I must run into him directly…]

Thinking this in his heart, the student accelerated straight toward Sudo Ken.

'This guy, what is he trying to do?'

Saiki's attention was completely on that student. He felt puzzled but could guess the other party didn't have good intentions.

With Sudo Ken's explosive temper, it wouldn't be surprising if some conflict broke out.

'Good grief, if a fight really happens, that would be troublesome. I'd better interfere a little.'

Saiki thought so in his heart and immediately activated his power.

At this moment, the boy from Class D was charging straight at Sudo Ken.

[Just run right into him… It must hurt a lot… But this is Ryuen's order, I have to find a way to provoke Sudo.]

'Sure enough, he's here to make trouble.'

Saiki flicked his hand lightly, suddenly, the boy's shoelaces came undone, tying themselves into a knot in midair. He lost his balance and fell right in front of everyone, kneeling on the ground.

"…"

Sudo Ken and the others didn't immediately react.

[Ouch, ouch, ouch! Damn, did I not tie my shoelaces properly?! But I clearly tied them!]

The boy awkwardly got up, covered in dust, and looked down at his shoelaces, only to see they had simply come undone.

The instant he fell, Saiki had already untied the knot.

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

He was about to get up and forcibly crash into Sudo Ken again, but just then, a slender figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Are you okay?"

Kushida looked as if she was sincerely concerned and came forward to ask, supporting his shoulder.

[So, so cute! I think she's called Kushida?]

'Hey hey hey, just now you looked all righteous, but the moment you see a pretty girl you forget your mission?' Saiki felt a little helpless inside.

"Excuse me, are you also a first-year student?"

Kushida smiled and asked him in an extremely gentle and friendly tone.

"Yes… I'm from Class C… no, D. Just call me Yamashige!"

The boy who called himself Yamashige smiled.

Saiki looked at Yamashige, his x-ray vision pierced through his skin and saw his heart, which was now pounding wildly.

"Well, I'll be going then!" While speaking, Yamashige's face turned a little red, and he quickly ran away.

"What a strange guy."

Sudo Ken and the others didn't take it seriously and left. Sudo Ken had to go train in the basketball gym, while Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki went straight to the dormitory.

Ayanokoji turned to look in the direction Yamashige had fled.

[That person was part of the surveillance before. Just now his action looked like he deliberately tried to bump into Sudo…]

[Was he trying to provoke Sudo? What's the point of that? With Sudo's temper, even a few words of provocation could turn into a fight. If I remember right, the school rules say that fighting on campus leads to expulsion, was that his goal? If so, that's far too risky.]

[But that fall just now, was it an accident? Judging by his expression, it really looked unplanned.]

Besides Saiki, Ayanokoji was the only one who realized Yamashige was suspicious.

[Forget it, I'll just watch for now and see what happens. If Class D wants to do something, they will definitely act again. All I have to do is observe.]

Thinking this, Ayanokoji returned to the dormitory with the others. So did Saiki.

But after Saiki got back, he immediately used clairvoyance to look for Yamashige. He quickly located him.

At that moment, Yamashige was hiding near the school gym, peeking around a corner, staring fixedly at Sudo Ken entering the basketball gym.

'Good grief, he's still sneaking around. In theory, this has nothing to do with me, but if it's targeting our whole Class C, I can't just ignore it.'

Thinking this, Saiki activated his power, vanished from sight, and instantly teleported behind Yamashige.

[Sudo has started practicing? I failed just now, this time I have to find a way to provoke him. Otherwise Ryuen definitely won't spare me…]

'He still hasn't given up.'

Saiki narrowed his eyes slightly. He was now only a few meters behind Yamashige, completely invisible, so the boy had no idea someone was there.

On the other side, Sudo Ken was practicing basketball. Yamashige was slowly approaching, ready to crash into Sudo again, but just as he stepped forward, he fell flat on the ground again.

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