Chapter 47: Odd Behaviour

Quite a few eyes had been drawn to Tatsuya when he stepped out of class.

A few people called out to him, especially the girls but he ignored them and left the class.

"Hey, hasn't Tatsuya-kun been acting weird for the past few days?" Shinohara spoke, startling Kei.

"I guess, maybe he's worried about the class?" Matsushita chimed in, she couldn't exactly understand the sudden change in Tatsuya's behaviour either.

But she felt something was off.

"Yeah, he's trying to act tough so that we don't slack off. How cute~" Onedera spoke with mischief and Kei brushed it off.

Cute? Him? Hah!

The only reason she was still able to act like herself was because Tatsuya didn't bother her much, besides acting as an information channel sometimes.

"Yeah I know right, he told everyone that he doesn't want anyone to help Sudo and the others but look at him smiling at Horikita teaching them."

"Ano, are the rumours about him and Horikita being close true?" Some girl mentioned suddenly and a few depressed faces popped up.

"Probably but the matter is somewhat iffy, it's like they hate each other. Well, whatever I don't like Horikita-san anyway." Sato muttered while leaning on her desk.

"I guess she's a bit too arrogant for her own good."

"That reminds me, weren't Tatsuya-kun and Hasabe-chan close?"

Their eyes turned to Haruka who seemed engrossed in her phone. They had hit it out on the first few days but Haruka seemed to have distanced herself from them.

"Heh, she's going down the Horikita-san route, wanting to be aloof just because she has Tatsuya-kun's attention. So what if she has bigger..." The rest left unsaid as a sour expression formed over Shinohara's face.

"But I don't think they're going out... yet?" Sato muttered again.

"Mou, does it matter? Let's stop talking about them, since they want to act stuck up let them." Kei couldn't stand them bitching any longer. The longer she let them talk the more toxic it would get.

That's just how girl groups worked.

As the leader, it was her duty to control them and contribute to the bitching even if she wasn't interested. Karuizawa had a hunch that it was due to her that Hasabe had distanced herself from their group.

"Hirata-kun!!!~" she called out and dragged him with the girls for lunch.

...

Kushida also noticed him and avoided his gaze altogether. She was determined to not talk to him till the Mid-terms were over.

She definitely had to make fun of him once he was expelled!

"What's wrong Kikyo-chan?" Maezono asked after noticing Kushida had gone silent.

"Ah, hehe nothing. I was just worried about the class."

"That's so like you." Maezono muttered and Nene Mori bobbed her head, "Yeah! Yeah! Kikyo-chan is so kinddd!"

"Aah, C'mon don't tease me." Kushida giggled but paused abruptly after noticing something odd.

A brown-haired boy with a dull look on his face passed by her group silently. Kushida accidentally made eye contact with him for a split second before her smile faded.

Ayanokouji left the classroom.

"Haha, I'll leave guys I have something to do."

"Wah! Kikyo-chan you won't have lunch with u-us?" Inogashira asked with a sad expression and Kushida felt guilty.

She rubbed the back of her head bashfully, "I'm sorry Kokoro-chan I'll definitely have lunch with you tomorrow!"

After consoling her friend group a bit more she chased after Ayanokouji.

She hid her grim expression and donned her usual cheerful exterior.

Kushida had been hypersensitive regarding Tatsuya, the three idiots and Ayanokouji for the past few days.

Thankfully Tatsuya stopped contacting her while the idiot trio seemed to be studying diligently under Horikita during the ten-minute break after every class.

Ayanokouji hadn't been doing anything special either.

Everything seemed so normal, so relaxed.

But something just felt odd. Tatsuya didn't seem to be doing anything, was he truly just banking on the fact that they would earn low scores on the exams?

She couldn't help but feel disappointed and... cheated.

But maybe this was why she was feeling so off. There was definitely something wrong, it was similar to the calm before the storm.

Just what is he planning to do?

Suddenly, she noticed Ayanokouji up front. He had finally made a move.

She had been waiting for him to invite her since Tatsuya said that he was going to make some deal with a third year.

A deal that would allow even the idiot trio to score full marks. It seemed impossible.

But...

Why was his way of inviting her so weird?

She had made a few observations regarding him, even before Tatsuya mentioned him.

He was the only one who seemed to be friends with Horikita after all. She had to keep an eye on him and the moment she noticed him avoiding her or acting suspicious around her she would assume he knew of her secret too.

Well, that aside he was acting strange today.

Ayanokouji was someone who seemed to be introverted, or rather someone who didn't like crowds.

He didn't talk much and he usually left the class from the backdoor.

But why did he suddenly walk around the class and use the front door to leave today? Most people wouldn't notice this but Kushida who had been keeping an eye on him obviously noticed it.

She could possibly be overthinking it but the moment they made eye contact she was sure that Ayanokouji wanted her to follow him.

If she hadn't been so focused on his actions she wouldn't have been suspicious and just followed along with him naturally to gain more information about Horikita.

"Where are you going?"

She popped up before him, stopping him in his tracks.

"It's lunch. I thought I'd go to the cafeteria."

"Hmm. Mind if I go with you?"

"I don't really mind. But there are a lot of other people you could ask, you know."

"It's true, I do have a lot of friends to eat lunch with, but you don't have anyone, Ayanokouji-kun.

"Even though you'd usually reach out to Horikita-san, you haven't talked to her today. The other day, didn't you say something was bothering you about what happened in the faculty room? What was it?"

"Ah, that? Hmm..." Ayanokouji seemed to be hesitant before he nodded, "You can come with me and I'll tell you if you promise to not tell anyone else."

Kushida felt her heart pound, this was definitely what Tatsuya was talking about.

"Of course! I'm good at keeping secrets!"

Ayanokouji nodded once again and both of them headed to the cafeteria.

Kushida silently followed him, she wanted to keep her act up but just couldn't get in the mood. Maybe the anticipation of what was about to come had her on edge.

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