Before they knew it, Saiki and the others had been at school for over two months.
It was July 1st, Monday. Saiki woke up in his bedroom, pushed open the door, and returned to his dorm room.
Without any effort, his toothbrush, towel, and other toiletries floated toward him as if they had a mind of their own, helping him get ready.
In front of him, his student phone hovered in mid-air.
"Hmm, this month's points haven't been added yet," Saiki muttered, checking his unchanged balance.
"Looks like something's happened again. I was away for a couple of days—what trouble have these people stirred up now?"
The previous two days had been the weekend, and Saiki hadn't stayed at school. Instead, he'd used his psychic powers to return home, resting there for two days.
After all, at home, he didn't need to spend points on food or drinks, and staying there also kept him away from the strange characters at school.
If anyone noticed he hadn't left his room for two days, he could always claim he'd been binge-watching TV shows or gaming.
Before the weekend, Saiki had stocked up on snacks in his dorm, which would explain why he hadn't been to the cafeteria lately.
After a quick preparation, Saiki left his dorm, heading toward the classroom.
"Good morning, Saiki," a slightly lazy voice called from behind. He turned to see Ayanokōji.
Haven't seen Saiki these past two days. What's he been up to?
Ayanokōji had been secretly observing Saiki, feeling there was something unusual about him. After all, those around Saiki had changed in some way, though Ayanokōji wasn't sure if it was connected to him.
For now, Ayanokōji believed it was unlikely Saiki was from the White Room.
Ayanokōji wasn't arrogant or overconfident, but he knew that if someone were from the White Room, they wouldn't be his match.
So far, Ayanokōji hadn't gathered any valuable information from Saiki. If Saiki were a White Room assassin, he wouldn't have been this passive.
And if Saiki were from the White Room, he would've taken action by now.
"Morning," Saiki replied briefly.
"Haven't seen you around these past few days. What did you do over the weekend?"
"Stayed in my dorm the whole time, caught up on some anime."
"Anime?" Ayanokōji repeated.
The White Room doesn't teach anything like that... It's part of the worldly distractions we're meant to leave behind.
As a high schooler, not knowing anything about anime is kind of sad.
Saiki had intentionally mentioned anime because he'd used telepathy to learn that Ayanokōji knew nothing about it. This would make Ayanokōji even more certain he wasn't connected to the White Room.
Didn't expect Ayanokōji to be so knowledgeable in most areas but completely clueless about anime.
"Really? I wanted to ask you to the library yesterday. I knocked and called out, but you didn't answer. I thought you weren't in."
Ayanokōji spoke slowly, his gaze fixed on Saiki.
He doesn't see me as a threat anymore, but he's still testing me.
Saiki met his gaze, clearly hearing Ayanokōji's thoughts.
He didn't actually try to reach me. He's just gauging my reaction to see if I'm telling the truth.
You're underestimating a psychic, aren't you?
Saiki's expression remained unchanged as he casually replied,
"Oh? I didn't hear you. What time did you knock? If you needed me, you should've just called."
"It wasn't important, so I didn't want to bother you," Ayanokōji explained.
No unusual reaction. It seems he's telling the truth. If so, I can rule Saiki out as a threat.
You should've done that sooner.
Saiki responded with a faint smile.
"By the way, Saiki, did you get your points?"
"No."
"Me neither. Something must���ve happened at school. Chabashira will probably explain."
"Yeah."
The two fell into a comfortable silence, walking together toward the classroom.
"Saiki, did you guys get your points? We should've received them by now," one student asked.
"Yeah, Ayanokōji and Saiki, did you get yours?"
"Could our class points have been deducted? That can't be right, can it!?"
Everyone was discussing the missing points.
Just then, the sound of heels clicked at the classroom door—Chabashira had arrived.
Dressed in a black teacher's suit, a tight black skirt, and sheer black stockings, Chabashira was undeniably eye-catching.
"Teacher, why haven't we gotten this month's points?" a student asked.
"I was just about to explain. Due to a special incident at school, this month's points will be delayed," Chabashira said with a knowing smile.
"Special incident?" everyone wondered.
"We received a report from Class D's basketball team—Sudō. They're accusing you of unilaterally assaulting them," Chabashira said, her gaze landing on Sudō.