"If possible... could it be..."
Sakura raised her head, her gaze fell on Saiki, her cheeks instantly turned a little red, and she hurriedly shifted her gaze to another place.
The words had already reached Sakura's lips, but she couldn't say a single word for a long time. Her whole head was lowered, and her body also slightly trembled.
"Is it something about your group?" Saiki directly interrupted the other person and asked.
"Mm..."
Being interrupted by Saiki's words, the already insignificant courage in Sakura's heart instantly collapsed.
While saying this, Sakura quickly took out her own phone and told Saiki the list of her group members.
Sudo Ken and Ike Kanji.
The moment he saw this list, Saiki knew that for Sakura, this was simply unparalleled torture.
Saiki could already imagine how helpless Sakura would be during the meeting.
[Damn it, why is Saiki meeting with Sakura privately like this!]
And Saiki could hear, not far behind him at the corner, the extremely lewd inner voice of Yamauchi Haruki.
Yamauchi, who just happened to pass by here, heard Sakura's voice and came over directly to eavesdrop.
However, he never would have thought that Saiki already knew his location.
[Damn it, this guy Saiki, did he secretly ask Sakura out behind my back?!]
'Hey hey hey, what do you mean "behind your back secretly asked Sakura out", she asked me out, okay? And besides, I don't need your permission either.'
[Could it be that this guy Saiki is also interested in Sakura? I didn't expect that this guy would do something so backstabbing and sleazy!]
'Not at all. And in terms of sleaziness, the whole world probably isn't even one-tenth as sleazy as you.'
[Damn it, later I have to directly confront Saiki about this! This guy! At the very least, I'll eavesdrop on their conversation first.]
'This has nothing to do with me at all.'
Saiki was a little helpless. There was a perverted gaze behind him that was staring intently, which made him somewhat annoyed.
"...That's the situation on my side... Kusuo-kun, do you have any thoughts?"
"Sorry, when it comes to this kind of thing, I... I don't really know either." Saiki shrugged.
[Kusuo-kun! Kusuo-kun! Sakura actually called Saiki by his first name! Unacceptable! I can't accept this! Sakura hasn't even called my name once!]
'She hasn't even greeted you once, right?'
Saiki's patience with this abominable presence behind him had reached its limit, and he secretly activated his psychic powers.
On the other side, at the corner, Yamauchi continued eavesdropping on Saiki and Sakura's conversation, but suddenly, their voices became quieter.
[Damn it, I can't hear them.]
Yamauchi turned his head and saw that Saiki and Sakura seemed to have already left, and their backs had disappeared around the hallway corner.
He immediately tiptoed and followed behind them.
"...Then let's leave it at that. If anything comes up, let me know."
Right after that, Yamauchi once again heard Saiki's voice, quickly got closer, and slightly turned his head to see that Sakura had already left, only Saiki was left.
[This guy... I must get a clear explanation!]
Thinking this, Yamauchi rushed forward, and as soon as he turned the corner, he saw a figure. Assuming it was Saiki, he immediately wrapped his arm around "Saiki's" neck.
"You bastard, secretly going on a date behind my back?!"
But the moment he touched the other person, he was immediately thrown over the shoulder and slammed to the ground. The intense pain made him cry out in agony.
"You mad dog, what kind of crazy stunt are you pulling?!"
A confused but furious voice rang out over Yamauchi.
"What!?"
Yamauchi recognized the voice, that was definitely not Saiki.
What entered his view was the face of Ryuen.
[Huh?! Why is it Ryuen?! I just saw Saiki here a moment ago!]
Yamauchi's face was full of fear and he hurriedly apologized to the other party.
[What is this guy trying to do? He shouldn't be stupid enough to attack me like that, right?!]
And at this moment, Ryuen had not expected to be suddenly attacked by Yamauchi.
He had previously investigated Yamauchi and thought he was one of the most insignificant people in Horikita Suzune's class, he never imagined this guy would lay hands on him.
Even though Yamauchi kept apologizing and was almost on his knees, Ryuen had no intention of forgiving him and was planning to throw a punch to teach him a lesson.
[Wait a second!]
Right at this moment, Ryuen suddenly paused, closely observing Yamauchi, then looked around carefully.
[He has connections with Horikita. He was present during the library study session before. He also seems close to Sudo.]
[I've never considered this guy as important, but if he's the mastermind behind Class B, always pretending to be weak... could it be... Yamauchi has been disguising himself all along?]
[And just now, he deliberately provoked me to attack him? He'll probably pretend he was bullied and report it to the school, just like what happened with Sudo Ken... There are no cameras nearby.]
[If we were in the school, I could punish him, but this is on the ship. Most of the student council members aren't here, and if a dispute arises, the teachers will judge... I see now...]
Ryuen's face showed a malicious smile. He extended his hand, Yamauchi thought he was going to hit him again and quickly backed away, but unexpectedly, Ryuen politely helped him up.
"Ah?"
Yamauchi's face was full of confusion.
"What a careless mistake." Ryuen narrowed his eyes slightly.
[You are my next prey, Yamauchi. I'll make sure you fall into despair.]
———
Meanwhile, on the floor directly beneath them, sweat began to appear on Saiki's forehead.
Just now, he had used his psychic power to move Yamauchi directly to the floor above him. Because the two floors had similar structures and Yamauchi wasn't very bright, he didn't notice the floor change.
At the same time, Saiki had used hypnosis to alter Ryuen's appearance in Yamauchi's eyes, making him think Ryuen was Saiki.
There were no cameras nearby, so Saiki didn't need to worry about being discovered.
Originally, he just wanted to use Ryuen's hand to teach Yamauchi a lesson. As long as he controlled the situation a little, nothing serious would happen.
But Saiki never imagined things would escalate like this...
'But thinking about it, for others, this might be a good thing. Ryuen's attention is now entirely on Yamauchi.'
Saiki thought this inwardly, feeling a bit of guilt toward Yamauchi.
[Damn, Ryuen actually respects me this much?! So I'm actually that awesome.]
After hearing Yamauchi's thoughts, even the tiny bit of guilt Saiki had completely vanished. He even thought Yamauchi's suffering hadn't been harsh enough.
"Kusuo-kun... why are you sweating? Is it hot here?"
"A little."
"Then... then let's go somewhere else... Let's go to... the dessert area. I heard the ice cream there is really good... my treat..."
"But don't purchases on the ship not require points?"
"Oh... right..."
Sakura's face flushed slightly with embarrassment.
"Oh right, Kusuo-kun... I've recently been reading some mystery novels... could you recommend me a few?"
Saiki slightly raised his eyebrows, he hadn't expected Sakura to ask such a question.
"Hmm, sure. But let's go to the dessert area first."
"Oh, okay."
———
[On Another Side]
"Seriously, that girl called Karuizawa is so annoying!"
"Exactly, always acting like she's so great."
"We really need to find a way to let Rika see it with her own eyes. But whether it's her or not, I just really dislike her. But let's deal with the test first and talk about this later."
At this moment, Manabe Shiho and her friends were behind the scenes constantly cursing Karuizawa Kei.
Regardless of whether Karuizawa was actually the one bullying Rika, they already disliked her.
But just then, a sound of footsteps came from behind them.
"Excuse me, can I have a moment?"
"And you are?"
Manabe Shiho looked over and saw a face she had just seen not long ago.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
"What do you want?"
Manabe Shiho's gaze contained a hint of hostility, since he was also in Horikita Suzune's class.
"Didn't you just have a conversation with Karuizawa? You asked her whether she had a conflict with your classmate in the café." Ayanokoji said calmly.
"So what?" Manabe Shiho frowned.
"Although I'm not 100% sure, I previously saw Karuizawa having a dispute with a girl from another class." Ayanokoji said expressionlessly.
"Is... is that true?"
Manabe Shiho quickly closed the distance and asked with a slightly stiff voice, to which Ayanokoji lightly nodded and continued, "Roughly. I remember the atmosphere was bad, or maybe I should say it felt awkward, so I thought I'd at least tell you. That's all."
"So it was her. No wonder she didn't dare let me take a photo!"
Hearing Ayanokoji's words, a trace of malice flashed in Manabe Shiho's eyes. After exchanging a few more words with him, she left.
Ayanokoji silently watched them leave.
[I didn't actually see the incident myself, so if I prolong the conversation, my lie might be exposed. My goal is simply to add fuel to the fire and intensify their conflict.]
[Only this way, I can create a stage for Karuizawa to perform on, destroy everything, and rebuild it all.]
[This must be Saiki's thinking too. Even without communicating, we think the same in this regard. Karuizawa, as a tool, is my gift to you, Saiki. Once polished, I'll hand her over. And maybe one day, you'll become a powerful ally in dealing with White Room.]
To Ayanokoji, only Saiki stood on the same level as him.
———
Elsewhere, eating ice cream, Saiki suddenly felt a chill.
'This ominous feeling... what is this?'
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