Sakura Airi picked up her phone again and opened the chat window with Horikita Suzune. She was considered one of the few people who possessed Horikita Suzune's contact information, a point quite worthy of showing off.
Her fingers danced briskly across the screen, typing out a line of text.
[Sakura Airi: Horikita-san, I want to go buy a new swimsuit this Sunday. Can you accompany me?]
Here, she played a little trick.
She had told Shikime Natsu they were "buying clothes," but she told Horikita Suzune specifically "buying swimsuits."
The young girl thought about giving Shikime Natsu a surprise when the time came. After all... a young girl's swimsuit should be very attractive to boys, especially with large areas of delicate skin drawing their gaze.
Of course, what Sakura Airi needed was only Shikime Natsu's gaze; the eyes of others could get lost.
After sending the message, Sakura Airi wasn't anxious but waited patiently. Although it was evening, Horikita Suzune wasn't necessarily the type of person to hold her phone at all times.
Moreover... Japanese people were generally slow to reply to messages. Sakura Airi was about the same, having set a special notification sound exclusively for Shikime Natsu. She would reply to Shikime Natsu's messages instantly, but as for others... they could wait a bit.
After quite a while, the phone finally vibrated once.
[Horikita Suzune: I can. Notify me of the specific gathering time then.]
Although the reply was very brief and the text looked quite cold, giving off a very distant feeling, for Horikita Suzune, this was already considered a rare concession.
After all, it meant wasting precious study time to accompany someone else on this kind of meaningless consumption activity.
This counted as agreeing to it.
The corners of Sakura Airi's mouth hooked up slightly, and she immediately followed up with a sentence.
[Sakura Airi: By the way, Natsu will also come over then to help me with references.]
Horikita Suzune, who had originally intended to put down her phone and continue reading, instantly furrowed her beautiful brows tightly when she saw this message.
If it was just accompanying Sakura Airi, in order to complete that friendship mission, she would have held her nose and accepted it.
But... Shikime Natsu is going too?
Just the thought of spending her precious weekend with Shikime Natsu made Horikita Suzune very unhappy.
[Horikita Suzune: If you want a reference, then finding him is enough.]
The implication was obvious: if Shikime Natsu was going, then she would have to reconsider.
Seeing this message full of resistance, Sakura Airi seemed to have anticipated it long ago and unhurriedly began typing to bamboozle her.
[Sakura Airi: Doesn't Horikita-san want to prove to Shikime-san that you have already started trying to make friends?]
[Sakura Airi: This is an excellent opportunity. Let him see with his own eyes that we are shopping together on the weekend, getting along like real friends. Maybe he will believe it then?]
That's right, Sakura Airi directly exposed the fact that she knew Horikita Suzune wanted to make friends to Horikita Suzune, because only in this way could she handle Horikita Suzune.
These words precisely hit Horikita Suzune's soft spot.
Horikita Suzune looked at the phone screen and pondered slightly.
Wasn't the reason she racked her brains to actively approach Sakura Airi and Mei-Yu Wang precisely to complete Shikime Natsu's mission, and then tell her brother that she had grown?
Then... taking advantage of this weekend's opportunity to solidify the relationship with this "friend" Sakura Airi in front of Shikime Natsu was indeed an efficient method.
Although that guy was very annoying, for the sake of her brother...
[Horikita Suzune: I understand.]
Seeing these words, Sakura Airi couldn't help but snicker in her heart.
Horikita Suzune was really easy to deal with.
Anyone who used their brain a little would know that this kind of thing was impossible.
Given Shikime Natsu's personality, how could he possibly acknowledge this kind of sloppy friendship relationship?
Moreover, wanting Horikita Suzune to get along with her like a friend, talking and laughing during the weekend, was fundamentally impossible for Horikita Suzune. At the very least, she had to be able to actively start topics with her during daily communication.
However, Horikita Suzune was just like that. Regarding this kind of thing, even if the chance was slim, as long as it involved proving herself in front of her brother or Shikime Natsu, she would harbor a naive hope.
No matter how smart and aloof she usually was, she was quite easy to bamboozle in this aspect.
Of course, Sakura Airi did indeed go with the idea of making friends with Horikita Suzune.
After all, in this school, if Shikime Natsu was the only reliance and there were no same-sex friends to whisper secrets with, it would still be a bit lonely.
She didn't reject making friends, provided the other party was relatively normal. Although Horikita Suzune couldn't be considered very normal, she hadn't reached the range that Sakura Airi hated.
Guys like Yamauchi Haruki were on Sakura Airi's blacklist, never to get out; they were simply sub-humans.
Just then, Horikita Suzune sent another message.
[Horikita Suzune: It's just you buying a swimsuit, right? I don't need one.]
If she had to try on a swimsuit in front of Shikime Natsu too, then Horikita Suzune would rather die. Of course, Horikita Suzune didn't have any inferiority complex about her figure. On the contrary, she felt her figure was not bad; just like her intelligence and physical strength, it belonged to the forefront among the girls.
As for her chest... she didn't care, and that kind of thing was completely irrelevant.
[Sakura Airi: Rest assured, it's just me buying~ Horikita-san just needs to accompany me and help me strategize a bit.]
Seeing Sakura Airi's guarantee, Horikita Suzune finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Actually... Horikita Suzune didn't need to worry about anything at all, because Horikita Suzune had absolutely no points on her. Last month, she had originally given most of her points to Shikime Natsu, and this month Class D had zero points again. She didn't have a single point, so how could she afford a swimsuit?
As for Sakura Airi, she bought a camera last month, but the rest of her points were saved up; her expenses weren't high. And... Shikime Natsu had transferred one hundred thousand Private Points to Sakura Airi as remuneration.
For Shikime Natsu, one hundred thousand points was just a drop in the bucket. Moreover, after giving the points to Sakura Airi, he could also feast his eyes, seeing the beautiful girl in good-looking outfits every day. It had to be said, it was also a kind of enjoyment.
Especially Sakura Airi's appearance; she was simply born to be a star.
...
After Horikita Suzune agreed to Sakura Airi's invitation, she suddenly remembered something. The duel between Shikime Natsu and Nagumo Miyabi was in two weeks.
But at this critical juncture where his eyebrows were practically burning, Shikime Natsu still had the mind to accompany girls shopping for swimsuits?!
Did he really not put Nagumo Miyabi in his eyes, or had he already given up on himself?
To be honest, Horikita Suzune completely couldn't understand what was going on in that head of Shikime Natsu's.
As far as she knew, Shikime Natsu should be in the stage of having just collected the second-year review materials, right? Having collected the materials, only two weeks of review time remained.
And she heard Nagumo Miyabi had already previewed the third-year knowledge long ago; the strength of the two was completely unequal.
In her view, at a time like this, Shikime Natsu should spend at least 16 hours a day soaking in the library studying for his life!
Even the time for eating and sleeping should be compressed!
If he couldn't even guarantee 16 hours of study time a day, what would he use to defeat that Nagumo Miyabi who had already previewed the third-year curriculum?
"Really... enough with the slacking."
Horikita Suzune bit her lip, feeling a bit like iron failing to become steel.
That arrogant guy. When they meet on Sunday, she must ruthlessly apply pressure on him!
She must make him wake up!
Even...
A glint flashed through Horikita Suzune's eyes.
It would be best to cancel the evening maid service as well. Intensify studying! He's about to have a decisive battle with Nagumo Miyabi, yet he still wants her to massage him? Shouldn't he be studying properly at this time?
One hour is still time. When she massaged this guy, she had never seen that guy studying; he was only thinking about how to humiliate her.
Staying in Shikime Natsu's dorm, Horikita Suzune felt she was suffering Shikime Natsu's humiliation every moment.
Truly a quite hateful guy.
Right now, Shikime Natsu should be full of thoughts on how to defeat Nagumo Miyabi, not thinking about how to torture her.
If Shikime Natsu really lost to Nagumo Miyabi because of carelessness, he probably wouldn't have the face to act high and mighty in front of her.
And she absolutely would not acknowledge him.
This kind of loser who couldn't even manage self-discipline didn't deserve her acknowledgment at all. Even with the past exam questions now, Horikita Suzune was still studying desperately. Every day after coming back from Shikime Natsu's dorm, she was working hard to improve herself.
Horikita Suzune's mind had already started to conceive what kind of harsh language she would use to mock him and pressure him after Shikime Natsu failed.
Just like how Shikime Natsu usually pressured her with that extremely detestable attitude.
Just thinking of Shikime Natsu revealing that kind of frustrated, unwilling, and even pitiful expression begging for comfort...
Horikita Suzune's heartbeat inexplicably sped up a few notches, and a strange sense of satisfaction welled up deep in her heart.
Very strange.
It was like wanting to see that guy who was always at ease eat humble pie.
However... However.
Under this strange sense of satisfaction, in Horikita Suzune's subconscious, she still didn't wish for Shikime Natsu to lose to Nagumo Miyabi.
Although that guy was annoying, although he was wicked, she just didn't want Shikime Natsu to lose to Nagumo Miyabi.
Nagumo Miyabi was not worthy of defeating Shikime Natsu.
In this school, the only one who could defeat Shikime Natsu was herself!
The next morning.
Shikime Natsu didn't think about what was going on in the minds of the two beautiful girls, Sakura Airi and Horikita Suzune. He simply slept when it was time and woke up when it was time.
After washing up, he took the elevator downstairs.
"Ding."
The elevator doors stopped and opened on the first floor.
"Good morning, Shikime-kun."
A light, fluffy voice, soft as cotton candy, came from behind.
Shikime Natsu turned his head, raising an eyebrow in some surprise.
He saw a beautiful girl with long silver hair standing there holding a book.
Those purple eyes were as crystal clear as quartz, carrying a unique scholarly air. Her whole person radiated a quiet and healing atmosphere.
Class C's Shiina Hiyori.
"Good morning, Shiina-san."
Shikime Natsu revealed a gentle smile and greeted her very naturally.
"What a coincidence. I didn't expect to meet you here."
"Yes, what a coincidence," Shiina Hiyori said, hugging the book as she walked into the elevator and stood beside Shikime Natsu.
"It was really a pity that we couldn't go to the library to read together on Wednesday because of class affairs," Shikime Natsu said with slight regret.
"Mn... I also feel very regretful."
Shiina Hiyori nodded slightly, a trace of pity flashing in those good-looking eyes.
"By the way, speaking of which, how is Class C's review situation recently?" Shikime Natsu asked as if casually.
"Everyone is working very hard."
Mentioning class matters, a faint smile appeared on Shiina Hiyori's face.
"What about Shikime-san? How is the situation in Class A?" Shiina Hiyori inquired.
"Also completely no problem. By the way, Ryuuen should have distributed the past exam questions to let you guys memorize them, right?" Shikime Natsu asked openly.
"Mn. Thanks to these past exam questions from Ryuuen-kun, everyone is full of confidence now."
A flash of surprise passed through Shiina Hiyori's purple pupils; clearly, she was somewhat surprised that Shikime Natsu suddenly mentioned the matter of the past exam questions.
However... intelligent as she was, she quickly understood that Ryuuen Kakeru's past exam questions must have been obtained from Shikime Natsu's hands.
"I think, for this midterm exam, everyone in Class C should be able to say there are no problems."
Ryuuen Kakeru was his big client, after all, having directly given him three hundred and ten thousand to get this set of past exam questions. Originally, Shikime Natsu didn't want to tell Ryuuen Kakeru the news that the past exam questions could continue to be used, letting Ryuuen Kakeru guess for himself whether they could be used.
However, in order to maintain his big client, and also to maintain his credit score, Shikime Natsu still spoke out about the fact that the past exam questions could continue to be used.
This was to avoid losing such a high-quality client as Ryuuen Kakeru later; finding another high-quality client like this would be difficult. At most, there was only one other, Nagumo Miyabi.
"That is good then."
Shikime Natsu nodded and asked again, "So, does Class C not need extra tutoring now?"
"Mn, the tutoring matters have basically been completed." Shiina Hiyori gently patted the book in her arms.
"And with the past exam questions as a reference, everyone temporarily doesn't need to hold study sessions frequently anymore, so my free time is slightly more now."
Speaking of this, she stole a glance at Shikime Natsu's side profile.
"In that case..."
Shikime Natsu turned his head, his gaze meeting exactly with the young girl's purple eyes full of expectation.
"We didn't read together this Wednesday, which was slightly regrettable. Now that Shiina-san is free..."
"How about we go to the library to read together again when school is over this afternoon? I'm looking forward to Shiina-san recommending good books to me again."
Hearing these words, a strange brilliance instantly flashed through Shiina Hiyori's eyes, her purple pupils filled with happiness.
Her originally somewhat plain corners of the mouth now rose in an arc of joy from the bottom of her heart.
She nodded her head vigorously, her voice becoming much lighter. What she wanted was exactly this sentence from Shikime Natsu.
"Mn!"
____
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