The next day, Christmas.
It wasn't snowing much anymore, but after several days of snowfall, the entire campus was blanketed in white.
Karuizawa Kei arrived early at the sports field where she had agreed to meet Saiki, eagerly anticipating their meeting.
'I even brought breakfast for Kusuo. He's definitely going to notice how thoughtful I am!'
Karuizawa Kei slightly lifted her chin, her gaze fixed on the distance. She vaguely saw a figure approaching through the snow and quickly walked over.
However, when she got closer, she realized it was someone else she knew.
"Sato?"
"Karuizawa?"
The person who arrived was none other than Sato Maya, who looked at Karuizawa Kei with a puzzled expression, unsure why the other girl was here.
"What a coincidence! Do you have plans for Christmas?"
"Of course."
Karuizawa Kei's face showed a victorious expression.
[Sato probably wouldn't expect that I've already made plans to hang out with Kusuo!]
[Karuizawa definitely wouldn't expect that I have a date with Saiki today!]
Sato Maya's inner thoughts were almost identical to Karuizawa Kei's.
[Today is Christmas, a day of great significance for any ordinary high school girl. It's the perfect season for a confession—today, I'm going to confess to Saiki-kun. After all, I've already asked him before, and he doesn't have a girlfriend! My chances should be pretty good!]
Neither of them thought too deeply about the situation, assuming that the other's presence was just a coincidence.
But soon, they both realized something was off.
"Sato-san… Karuizawa-san… You're here too…"
Sakura Airi also arrived, her eyes filled with surprise. She hadn't expected to see two other people here besides herself.
"Sakura-san?"
Sato Maya and Karuizawa Kei spoke in unison, and only then did they realize what was happening.
"Are you… here to meet someone?"
"I made plans to hang out with Saiki-kun!"
"...I also made plans with Kusuo-kun…"
Each of them had mistakenly thought they were going on a solo date with Saiki—but they hadn't expected it to turn into a group activity.
And it didn't stop there. Soon, a fourth person appeared.
"Huh? Why are you three here too?"
"You… aren't you the owner of the fortune-telling shop?!"
Karuizawa Kei stared in shock at the newcomer, who was none other than Aiura Mikoto.
Aiura Mikoto had previously made plans with Saiki to hang out as a form of repayment, but she hadn't expected others to be present.
"Oh, I remember you. You're with Saiki, right?"
Aiura Mikoto recognized them, especially Sakura Airi. During the sports festival, Saiki had asked her to help take care of Sakura Airi when she nearly fainted.
[What's going on? Wasn't this supposed to be a date between me and Saiki? Why are there other people here?]
'I agreed to hang out with you on Christmas, but I never said it would be just the two of us.'
At that moment, Saiki's voice echoed directly in Aiura Mikoto's mind.
[Ugh, this is totally cheating!]
'I'm not cheating. If you don't believe me, you can go back and check the previous chapters. I did agree to hang out with you, but I said I'd arrange the outing, and I never limited the number of people.'
While Saiki was mentally conversing with Aiura Mikoto, he walked up to the four girls.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Huh, Saiki, why are the others here too?"
Karuizawa Kei's eyes swept over the other girls before landing on Saiki with a questioning look.
"Since all of you made plans to hang out on Christmas, I thought it would be fun for everyone to go out together."
Saiki, of course, knew exactly what these girls were thinking, but he naturally couldn't let their schemes succeed.
[If there are so many people here… won't I have no chance to confess?!]
Sato Maya clenched her fists slightly, pursed her lips, and felt a growing sense of frustration.
'Clairvoyance, telepathy… these abilities are not under my control. For detailed settings, please refer to the manga The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. Because of this, I'll probably never fall in love with anyone. So, to avoid awkward situations…'
Saiki muttered to himself in his mind.
Although he had considered using various methods to lower these girls' affection for him, doing so would risk him being labeled as a weirdo in the future, which wasn't worth it.
'Yare yare, with so many people around, no matter what strange thoughts they have in their minds, they won't be able to act on them.'
'Maybe their affection for me will even decrease a bit because of this.'
'If someone leaves early because of this, today's outing might end sooner.'
Saiki thought to himself. Originally, he had planned to invite some boys, but due to the Christmas break, most of the students seemed to be busy. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was doing who-knows-what, and Saiki didn't want to bother with him. Sudo Ken was busy with training, and Ike Kanji seemed to be getting close to a girl in their class.
As for Yamauchi Haruki, Saiki would never bring him along.
In the end, Saiki had no choice but to come alone.
Saiki then activated his ability, opening the affection level display.
Each girl's affection for him was above 85 points.
'Yare yare, this is completely ridiculous. Sakura only got close to me because of the Sudo incident, Karuizawa is only here because of Ayanokoji's weird actions, Aiura came to this school because of her psychic powers… Sato, you haven't even appeared in more than a few hundred words, have you?'
Saiki inwardly complained.
Meanwhile, Aiura Mikoto's face showed a meaningful smile.
[Saiki invited so many people? Does that mean he likes…]
'I advise you not to overthink it.'
[Alright, alright! But what are we doing today?]
Saiki didn't answer Aiura Mikoto's question with telepathy. Instead, he turned his gaze to the other three girls.
"Any questions?"
"No, none at all!"
Karuizawa Kei immediately smiled, while Sato Maya nodded in agreement.
[At this point, there's no way I can admit that I wanted to go on a date with Kusuo!]
[If they find out I wanted to spend time alone with Saiki-kun, it'll be a disaster!]
"There seem to be some new movies out recently. Let's go watch one."
Originally, he had planned to do something boring to make everyone lose interest and end the outing early. But after some thought, he decided that wouldn't be appropriate. Coincidentally, the school was screening a relatively niche movie today, so Saiki decided to do something festive.
"Sounds good!"
After everyone agreed, Saiki took out his germanium ring and put it on.
Although he didn't fully understand the mechanics, this ring could suppress his telepathy, allowing him to avoid spoilers while watching the movie.
'Yare yare, I can finally watch a movie normally.'
Saiki thought to himself, a slight smile forming on his lips.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the school.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was sitting in the café, sipping coffee through a straw while staring expressionlessly out the window.
"Ayanokoji."
At that moment, a familiar voice sounded from beside him. Horikita Suzune walked over at a leisurely pace and sat down in the seat across from him.
"I've been here for ten minutes."
"I'm not late. It's your choice to come early."
Horikita Suzune gave a very Horikita-like response.
"What did you want to talk to me about?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shifted his gaze to Horikita Suzune's face and asked.
"I wanted to discuss Ryuen and the others."
Horikita Suzune's expression turned serious.
"You've heard about Ryuen stepping down as the leader of Class D, right?"
"Even if I said I hadn't, you wouldn't believe me."
"According to rumors, Ryuen was defeated by Ishizaki in a power struggle, forcing him to step down—but I think that's impossible. Ishizaki is Ryuen's most loyal follower. There's no way he'd do something like that. It's obvious if you think about it."
Horikita Suzune asked very seriously.
"Then what do you think happened?"
"At first, I thought Ryuen might have used some kind of scheme, but later I realized that wasn't the case. Ryuen seems to have been seriously injured. I don't think anyone in this grade could easily do that."
Horikita Suzune continued.
"Really? Someone managed to injure Ryuen?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka tried to look surprised, but he still couldn't quite pull it off.
"Yes, that's what bothers me. I want to know who attacked Ryuen."
"Do you have anyone in mind? I think the person who attacked Ryuen would have to be from Class A, at least."
"No."
Horikita Suzune denied it almost without hesitation.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka narrowed his eyes slightly.
"I think it was someone from our class."
Horikita Suzune paused, then continued.
"The fact that they fought with Ryuen suggests a conflict of interest. Either someone in the class was dissatisfied with him, or another class had a direct conflict with him—I think the first possibility is very low. As for the second possibility, our class is undoubtedly in a hostile relationship with Class D. Ryuen has already made it clear that he's targeting our class. Class D has repeatedly harassed us, but after Ryuen stepped down, their attacks stopped. Kushida is the same—her hostility toward me seems to have lessened."
[Horikita, you've grown a lot.]
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked at Horikita Suzune expressionlessly and then spoke.
"Do you think it was someone from our class?"
"Yes. Given how badly Ryuen was injured, I think it's more likely to be a guy. At first, I suspected Yamauchi, but I've always thought he's just an idiot."
"Have you suspected anyone else?"
"Later, I asked the boys in our class about what happened that night. Hirata and Sudo were at club activities, and Ike has an alibi… The only ones I haven't asked yet are two people. Coincidentally, classmates saw both of them leaving the dormitory that night."
"Oh? I don't think you've asked me yet."
"You're one of them."
Horikita Suzune crossed her arms and stared intently at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
"What were you doing that night?"
"I just went out for a walk by myself. If you're asking for an alibi, I don't have one."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shrugged.
"But this clearly has nothing to do with me. Who's the second person you're talking about?"
Even as he asked, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka already knew the answer.
"Saiki."
...
About ten minutes later.
Saiki quickly led the group to the movie theater.
'Yare yare, not being able to hear people's thoughts feels so strange. It's like being in a library, but I've never actually been to a quiet library.'
'What are they thinking… I have no idea. It's like being surrounded by a swarm of insects!'
'No, just like last time, I can't rely too much on my powers… I finally have a chance to enjoy some peace. I can't waste it.'
Saiki thought to himself, then turned to look at the four girls beside him—completely unaware of what they were thinking.
"Wait here for a moment. I'll go buy the tickets."
Saiki then walked over to the ticket counter and bought five movie tickets.
'Not being spoiled by the ticket seller is a good start.'
'Yare yare, this movie is so niche that no one else has bought tickets yet. That means I won't be disturbed by others. Not bad, not bad.'
'After getting some popcorn, we can get ready…'
"One ticket for the next showing, please."
Another voice sounded from beside Saiki.