"Is this woman... really the same person I saw earlier? She seems completely different now," Yamawaki muttered, his eyes widening in disbelief as he stared at Kushida Kikyō. Earlier that day, he had thought of her as an angelic figure, but now she seemed like an entirely different person.
"Looks like you've finally seen her true colors. But honestly, she's even more terrifying than you think," Saiki Kusuo thought, silently observing the group while maintaining his invisibility.
"Sudō Ken is impulsive and hot-headed, and Horikita Suzune is arrogant and self-centered," Ryūen Kakeru remarked, narrowing his eyes as he focused on the message Kushida had sent him.
"Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji are pretty much useless, and Ayanokōji Kiyotaka and Saiki Kusuo are practically invisible."
"Invisible, huh? Not bad," Saiki nodded to himself, satisfied.
"Saiki Kusuo—is that the guy with glasses?" Ryūen asked, tapping his chin thoughtfully.
"Yeah, do you know him?" Kushida asked curiously. She hadn't expected Ryūen to know Saiki's name, given his near-invisible presence.
"I've seen him once," Ryūen replied. He recalled meeting Saiki at a café earlier; Saiki seemed to be friends with Shiina Hiyori from their class.
"Shiina Hiyori seems close to Saiki. While she's not easy to manipulate, she's valuable to our class. If we target Saiki now, it might strain our relationship with her. Not worth it yet. Plus, Saiki doesn't offer much value to me anyway," Ryūen thought.
"Hmm, so Shiina's indirectly helping me out, I guess?" Saiki mused.
"We scored well on the first test because we got the answers in advance—the questions were identical to last year's," Kushida explained.
"I see. That's why you outperformed our class," Ryūen smirked.
"Can't guarantee future tests will be the same, but it's worth considering," he thought.
"But how did you even find out? Theoretically, upperclassmen wouldn't just tell you that," Ryūen asked, narrowing his eyes.
"I just happened to overhear it," Kushida replied casually.
"Just happened to overhear it?" Ryūen raised an eyebrow, unconvinced.
"Is that even possible? Kushida knows I won't buy such a flimsy lie. Was it really just a coincidence?"
"Well, psychics operate beyond your imagination," Saiki thought.
"That's all for now. We'll talk later," Kushida said, turning and leaving the room.
"Was it really just a coincidence? Or was it deliberate?"
"Just assume it's a coincidence," Saiki replied mentally.
"No rush. First, we'll dismantle Class C, then Class B. Finally, we'll deal with that self-righteous 'princess.'"
"Who's that? You mentioned her before. Is she from Class A?" Saiki asked.
Saiki felt his invisibility wearing off and slipped out through the door Kushida had left slightly ajar.
In the blink of an eye, Saiki was back in his room.
"Problems keep piling up," he sighed, sitting on his bed to rest.
Ryūen seemed to be planning his move after the midterms, so for now, their class should remain relatively quiet.
"Though it's not really my problem, if Sudō gets expelled, it'll cause trouble for the class. I don't want to deal with that daily. I'll need to figure something out," Saiki thought.
Before he could rest long, a knock sounded at the door. Saiki knew without opening it that it was Ayanokōji.
"Saiki, Horikita wants us to tutor Sudō and the others. Sudō just got back. Want to go?" Ayanokōji asked upon entering.
"Tutoring? Sounds like a hassle. I can't teach them everything I know. What's the average high schooler's learning capacity?"
"Let's just text them," Saiki suggested.
"Alright."
Ayanokōji pulled out his phone and typed:
Ayanokōji: "You guys want to review today's material later?"
Sudō Ken: "Just finished practice. I'm exhausted. Let's skip it today. I think I've reviewed enough!"
Ike Kanji: "Uh… I'm busy right now… not really convenient… I'll review on my own tonight."
Yamauchi Haruki: "Nah, I'll just read on my own."
"No surprises there. They all claim they'll study later, but they definitely won't," Saiki thought, already knowing their true nature.
As long as their grades didn't improve, the study sessions would continue. But Saiki already had a plan.
If it worked on Sudō, it would work on the others too.
"Guess we'll skip it then?"
"Yeah."
"If Horikita asks tomorrow, it'll be a hassle."
"We'll deal with it then."
"Alright, I'll take my leave."
Ayanokōji nodded, glanced at Saiki for a moment, then left the room.
"Still can't read anything from Saiki."
"Is he just too good at hiding it, or am I overthinking?"
"We'll figure it out later."