POV: Torikachi

"Well, I guess I could say that we are dating now." I reply with full honesty. "And if you wanted to tell me to break up with her, then it's a no-go. You have no rights to control over my life."

"Do you understand the weight of your situation, Torikachi?" She asks. "It might be acceptable for me if you date one of the girls in our class, but you straight up dating with an A-class member. Break up with her now."

"Denied. I already accepted her confession. Since I wanted a school life, not a training program." I reply. "You should note that I don't have any intentions to reach class A, nor do I have the desire to follow every single bit of your orders, so I will do things my own way."

"Let's go, Ryuko. I'm sorry for this inconvenience." I continue speaking with my current girlfriend. "I'm sorry that you have to witness such an event in front of your eyes."

"It's nothing, Tori..." She replies while putting her hands on her cheeks. "I'm just happy that you are willing to fight back your class leader just because of me..."

"Well, yeah..." I reply. "I guess we should not involve our feelings into class matters. It's a shame that we are not in the same class."

"I have the same feeling as you do, Tori." Ryuko replies. "However, it was quite unexpected from you on that day, Tori... I'm speechless about your mind. But, if you have any problems, please talk to me... I don't want my boyfriend being miserable..."

She speaks as she is on the verge of tears, reminding her about that day she confessed to me.

"It's okay now, Ryuko," I reply. "Everything will be fine for me now. At least I hope so."

"What do you mean?" She asks.

"I mean, it's uncertain for me if I have to do 'it' again or not. My mental state is very unstable, so..."

"No... don't you ever do that again... it hurts me when someone I care for happens to do 'it' again..." Ryuko cuts off me while her tears slide down to her cheeks. "So, please... if you are not okay, come talk to me... I can help you..."

...

As she finishes her speech, I use my hand to hold her chin, while my other hand.

I begin to look at her, menacingly, hoping her to realize that I might need her help in the future.

"I guess I have to do it..." I murmur. "It will be a shame for me if my girlfriend cries in front of me. Sure, I could talk to you whenever I could."

"I-I'm glad that you did not die from all the things that happened to you... I..." as Ryuko continues to speak, I start to hug her to cut her off.

"We should not talk about this anymore, Ryuko," I say. "The important thing here is we are here now. You are here with me, and I am here with you."

"Tori..."

As I realize that I am hugging her too long in the hallway, I immediately release her from my arms.

"Oops... Sorry." I said.

I could not help myself but be embarrassed by my actions just now.

"N-no no, Tori. I'm sorry." Ryuko denies my apology while denying herself that she liked it.

"Alright. Since it's getting late, we should get back to the dorms, but would you like to eat something before that?" I initiate an invitation.

"W-well... if you don't mind, I want to go to Pallet Cafe before we head back."

I reply to her request with a nod while holding her hand to reach our destination.

At the moment, I guess I will not do anything against the Paper Shuffle exam anymore. I encountered too many things that were quite surprising, to be honest.

Ryuko accepts who I really am.

The class became more mature and started to respect me.

Speaking of the class, what surprised me the most for me is about Kushida.

She actually made some development at the moment during our session at the weekend. It was too much of a surprise for me.

*flashback

"Get in the room now, Kushida. I will make you some tea." I open the door as I see Kushida, standing while looking down. "I guess we could talk about what is happening to you."

"P-pardon the intrusion..." she replies while taking off her shoes and proceeding to sit on the bed.

I guess it is time for her final test, to see if she is worthy of a revelation, or if I should expel her.

I brought out a cup of peppermint tea for her, while I have my black tea.

"So... Kushida." I initiate a conversation. "The class told me about the rumors about you."

Kushida can not say anything but gave me a nod as a response.

"I did not believe about it at first, but I checked the forums when they told me to." I continued. "And turns out, the rumors already have all the evidence backed up."

Kushida did not speak a word, while sitting still, looking dead in her eyes.

"So tell me, Kushida. This might probably be uncomfortable for you, but...

What happened to you for you to act this way?"

This, perhaps the best question I could ask her at the moment since she is mentally unstable while the class is treating her like they are supposed to be under my guidance.

Moments later, she opened her mouth but was unable to create any voice.

"If that's the case, then I will disclose it." I immediately cut her off. "But I could tell you one thing, Kushida:

You and I used to be the same."

That is the truth.

That is the truth that I hid for a long time, but I am unable to share it with anyone.

"W-what do you mean?" Unable to keep her shock, she asked out loud.

"Relax, Kushida. I will explain it to you." I ensured her. "It's a long story, but...

You liked the attention, aren't you?"

"H-heh?" Kushida flinched as she heard about attention, "H-how did you know?"

"I do not mean to show off, but I used to do counseling with people my age," I replied. "You want to be a middle of attention. You want people to talk about you like a celebrity. You don't have the skills to become significant in people's eyes."

"However, you became addicted to the feeling. The feeling of pride, the feeling of joy of seeing people always mention you in their talks."

"That's why, you want to build yourself a mask, a mask that is filled with joy, to be kind to everyone, to be active, to be joyful.

But...

Your mental could not do against it, so you might have some sort of methods to vent all of your frustrations out, aren't you, Kushida Kikyou?" I asked her again with her full name.

"STOP TALKING TO ME LIKE THAT!!" Kushida became angry, as her true face began to form on her face.

However, I did not flinch, nor was I afraid of this side of Kushida.

"Now, that's a face that I wanted to talk to." I smirked as I walk up close to her, showing off my own darkness.

"Kushida Kikyou, do you know what are you talking about? You betrayed the class, two times to be exact, and you expect me to be this comfortable?" I spoke with a dark tone.

"What do you want?" She asked.

"It is simple. I just want you to tell me about what is your current goal, and perhaps, I could share my secrets with you." I replied with a smirk. "You sure love secrets, aren't you, Kushida?"

"Tch... fine. Since my school life has officially been ruined, I have no motivation to betray the class, nor expel her anymore. Since I will be more doomed when I do it." She replied. Good, she had made some development.

"Alright. You passed the test, Kushida. I could tell you my past here. It's fine if you spread it out, I don't care such things." I have expected her to continue expelling Horikita, but turns out I was wrong.

"I shall tell you my past, from there you will understand why I said we are both the same, and how I sympathize with you, Kushida."

She replies with a nod while drinking her tea.

"Are there any reasons for you to do this? I betrayed the class, I wanted to expel someone, everyone will hate me." She asked, wondering about my actions.

"I did not say that I hate you, Kushida. I said I sympathize with you. So listen to my story first, questions later." I said.

"Y-You don't?" Kushida flinched when I said that. "It was a lie, right? Right??"

"No. It is the truth that I don't hate you, and neither Horikita." I replied. "As long as you don't interfere her, then you will be fine."

"But who spread the rumors about me?" She asked me. I could not straight up tell her that I did. Again, I need to continue acting.

"The answer is unknown, but let us forget about it at the moment, I shall speak about my past. It is up to you if you do anything about it or not." I answered.

"The story starts with a young boy, a normal one to be in fact. He has nothing special, who just wanted to be noticed by his family. He has nothing, but average. Anyone could find ones like him, anyone could find a better version of him.

But, like you, he thrives on more attention when he started junior high. There are more people who are better than him, and the spot had been taken from the boy.

However, unlike you, he did not try to become popular by being kind to everyone. Do you know what he did?"

Kushida could not answer but shake her head instead.

"He gave up, just easy as that. He gave up, considering himself to be worthless, unable to continue. Attempting suicide day by day. Since his parents had abandoned him, he had no one to acknowledge his existence anymore.

Every day, every night, the boy tormented himself.

Screaming, crying, self-harming to find his resolve.

Heck, even the scar still exists in his body until today."

"That is why I envy you, Kushida. I envy how you managed to fake everything in front of everyone when I could not."

"That's why I told you that we have some similarities, Kushida. It is your choice to put my words as a grain of salt, take it as you like."

"W-what happened?" She asked me quietly. "You jealous of me because I have a fake persona? How weird."

"Indeed. There's not much left for me to tell now. I got abandoned to the orphanage at the age of nine, that's why I lost my family name, so they did not acknowledge my own existence." I replied honestly. "So, let me ask you, Kushida:

Do you want to be my real friend?"

"W-what?" What do you mean?"

"It is simple. I want you to consider me, and everyone else in the future as genuine friends. Don't fake yourself anymore, there are no reasons for you to do so. I could help you to restart your school life." I replied.

'She certainly has more positive development than I thought.' I thought as I continue to talk to Kushida.

"Kushida Kikyou. I ask again: Do you want to back to where you left off, but without you continue hiding from your darkness?"

This question will certainly push her to straight honesty since her school life is currently endangered.

"H-How can you do it? You don't have the power to do it by yourself." She stuttered.

"It is simple. You already know about my influence in the school. I could wipe it off easily as I could. I can even trace the one who spread the rumors about you down." I replied while reaching my hands to her. "Believe me. I will guide you to go back to where you left off. Perhaps, if you want to, I could lend an ear for you to vent. I don't mind such things from you."

My words will ensure her to cooperate, considering her current situation. The deal is only for her benefit. I just wanted genuine friends along on my way of life in this new world.

"T-This is just a one-sided contract between us!!" Kushida shouted. "You gained no benefits from this."

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. I just want genuine friends in this school. So, will you cooperate with me, Kushida? I will help you for your return, and you shall not backstabbing anyone again. I could lend you an ear when you want to vent things out."

"Y-You can?" She asked again for final confirmation.

"Yes, I can. I only need you to not betray the class, nor expel anybody anymore. Will you do it for me?" I asked.

"F-Fine. Don't get any wrong idea about me liking you alright? I just want my school life back."

"I assured you that you will return to your school life, as long as you don't backstab anyone. Is that a deal or no deal?"

"Deal. And don't forget that I could shout at you anytime as much as I want." Kushida accepted the deal after a few moments while smiling at me.

"As long as you don't do it at the wrong moment, I can handle it." I replied.

Now, the moment this alliance's formation, a bunch of notifications occurred on Kushida's phone.

"What is it now?" Asked Kushida while turning on her phone.

After seeing the content of the notifications, her eyes widen, while I look at her with a grin.

"See? I could do it, as much as you like. Even though it might take time for me to convince them, I'm confident that your rumors will be gone by the end of our first year. And be honest with everyone sometimes. If you have problems, speak it up. I'm sure our classmates can help."

"D-Did you do all of this just for me?" Kushida asked.

"Perhaps. I also did not want to get expelled, so I prepared my homework." I replied vaguely.

"I thought that you might intentionally score low for both of us to get expelled, but I guess my convincing might be the last thing I could do for you." I continued.

"Well... I don't have any words for you. You are too kind for your own good, Torikachi-kun." She said.

"Probably. I just don't want to get expelled." I replied. "With that, you will be good to go when we go back to school. The class will treat you like they used to be.

Now, we should do something about this exam, shouldn't we?"

*flashback end

Just in case Kushida makes the bet with Horikita, I will ask Kiyotaka to expel her instead. He does not need any information about Kushida since I told him everything from the light novel series.

Today is Monday, while I'm currently hanging out with Ryuko in Pallet Cafe, I can see Kushida hanging out with Mii-chan and Maezono. I guess everything had been solved once again.

"Tori... Tori... you've been looking at nowhere for a while. What is the problem?" Asked my girlfriend, Ryuko.

"It's nothing. I'm just glad that the problem in our class had been solved." I replied.

"O-oh... I see..." She reluctantly replied.

From now on, Kushida will not be a threat to the class anymore, which was quite surprising, to be honest. Even though I changed the route of this series, I still wanted to enjoy myself a bit more at the moment.

POV: Kiyotaka

[Kushida's problems have been solved. Y'all may treat her normally when we are back to class.]

The text had been sent by Torikachi from our last weekend did sure paid off for our class be be more united.

"W-What is this?" Asked my seatmate who is currently sitting at the park next to me.

"He did what he want. He just saved himself from being expelled, so he solve his matters with Kushida." I replied. Truthfully, I do not know how Torikachi managed to convince Kushida to find her resolve, but Torikachi told me that it takes time for her to sort things out.

"But why did he go through all the troubles just to help her out?" She asked.

"Calm down, Horikita. I know he had done it in a roundabout way, but he has his reasons to do so."

However, he texted me last night that if Kushida happens to make the bet with Horikita, which I might have been involved in, told me to expel Kushida instead.

The day she might execute it is today, but I have not seen her around so far.

I guess she has made some developments.

I guess it is time to end our day. Horikita will submit the test paper tomorrow.

There's nothing left for me to do huh...?

Well, Ryuuen is currently hunting on me by baiting with Karuizawa.

And other goons from class C are starting to spy on me and Yukimura.

===========================================================================

So... some Sidenotes here.

The events played out as usual in the light novel: Kiyopon and Keisei getting spied on, Ryueen and Hiyori encounter at the cafe, .etc

The event missed was the bet between Horikita and Kushida since Kushida's development.

So yeah...

I know I know, I skipped a lot.

I don't want to copy paste every scene of the light novel and put it in and I'm lazy to read the light novel again.

Again, I will upload a bunch of chapters tomorrow, so embrace yourselves.

That's pretty much it.

PEACE!!!!!