At this moment, Sakura Airi had attracted the attention of everyone around her.
"Is this really Sakura?"
"She looks completely different....."
"Unbelievable."
Everyone was shocked by Sakura Airi's current appearance and began discussing it.
The usually gloomy and reserved Sakura Airi had now transformed into a lively and energetic girl?
This was truly hard to believe.
Even Ayanokoji Kiyotaka couldn't take his eyes off Sakura Airi, equally shocked by her transformation.
[Sakura's behavior is completely different from before. I never expected her to willingly appear in front of everyone like this.]
[This is something the old Sakura Airi would never have done. Why did she do this?]
[Even the fact that Sakura Airi is working as a maid in the café is hard to believe. Even if it was a forced order, Sakura shouldn't have agreed..... The café owner is Saiki. Did Saiki cause all of this? Is it Saiki who brought about such a huge change in Sakura?]
'Yare yare, it has nothing to do with me.'
Saiki thought to himself.
"By the way, Saiki, are you handling all the coffee and food by yourself this time?"
At this moment, Hirata Yosuke, who had just finished a simulation, curiously approached Saiki to ask.
"Yeah, basically. But that person also helps me out."
Saiki pointed in a certain direction—Aiura Mikoto.
"Isn't she the owner of the fortune-telling shop? I'm curious, Saiki, how did you convince the fortune-telling shop owner to participate in our cultural festival?"
"She volunteered to join."
As he explained, Saiki sighed inwardly and repeated the prepared explanation Aiura Mikoto had given him,
"She said this is a great opportunity to promote her fortune-telling shop, so she came to us for collaboration—she thinks our café will be very popular, so she made this decision."
"I see."
Hirata Yosuke nodded,
"But as the owner, you must be working really hard, right?"
"Not really. I'm barely doing anything."
Saiki replied.
The trial operation soon came to an end. After some student council members came to inspect and gave high praise, they left. The Class 2-A students also prepared to leave the classroom.
Just as Saiki stepped into the hallway, he heard a series of arguing voices.
"I never thought you, a gorilla, would care about something like this~"
"You, who's all talk and no action, want me to teach you a lesson?"
Even from a distance, Saiki knew exactly who was arguing.
Ryuen Kakeru and Hosen Kazuomi.
Since the uninhabited island exam, Saiki had hardly seen Hosen Kazuomi—in fact, it was because Hosen had been deliberately avoiding him.
That day, Saiki had implanted terrifying memories into Hosen Kazuomi, even more horrifying than what Ryuen had experienced, which left Hosen with a deep-seated fear of Saiki.
Ryuen Kakeru's Class C was also running a café—a kimono café. Although Ryuen still harbored some fear of Saiki, curiosity ultimately overcame his fear, prompting him to come to the first floor to see what Class 2-A had prepared for the cultural festival.
Coincidentally, Hosen Kazuomi happened to be passing by, and the two ran into each other.
These two immediately started bickering, mocking each other, but neither of them resorted to physical violence.
After all, the cultural festival was tomorrow, and the special teaching building was now filled with surveillance cameras. No matter how heated their argument got, they couldn't risk fighting.
'Yare yare, I'll just pretend I didn't see them.'
Saiki turned around, planning to ignore them and leave in another direction.
But at that moment, a gentle voice sounded from the other side.
"Kusuo, you're here!"
The voice was as soft as a feather, and it belonged to Shiina Hiyori.
At this moment, Shiina Hiyori was wearing a kimono. Although it was completely different from the maid outfits of Class 2-A, it gave off a very cute vibe.
Class C's café was definitely going to be a hit.
Normally, Shiina Hiyori and Saiki would frequently meet in the library, and their relationship had grown closer. So now, Shiina Hiyori was addressing Saiki by his first name.
"Hiyori, what are you doing here?"
"I heard your class is also running a café, so I came to take a look."
Shiina Hiyori said somewhat shyly.
[Actually, I just wanted to see Kusuo, even if it's just for a second.]
"I see."
Saiki pretended not to hear her thoughts and nodded.
However, Shiina Hiyori's voice successfully caught the attention of Hosen Kazuomi and Ryuen Kakeru.
The two of them almost simultaneously stopped arguing and turned to look at Saiki.
[It's Saiki!]
Both of them shouted in their hearts.
'Yare yare, am I some kind of monster?'
Saiki inwardly complained.
But it wasn't wrong—in their eyes, Saiki was a complete monster.
"What's wrong? The moment you saw Saiki, your face showed fear!"
Ryuen Kakeru, who was the first to attack, tried to control the trembling in his voice as he immediately turned to Hosen Kazuomi,
"During the uninhabited island exam, you withdrew from the exam, right? Why? Did you provoke someone you shouldn't have?"
Saiki became Ryuen Kakeru's weapon to attack Hosen Kazuomi.
Naturally, Hosen Kazuomi wouldn't let Ryuen off easily and immediately counterattacked:
"I just ran into an unexpected situation. Unlike you, Ryuen. I heard you suddenly gave up your position as class leader last year. Did someone teach you a harsh lesson?"
Hosen Kazuomi smiled.
Both of them could guess each other's situations.
However.....
They both also secretly observed Saiki, waiting to see how he would react.
[Saiki..... did he even manipulate the cultural festival?]
[Their Class 2-A managed to secure the two outermost classrooms on the first floor!]
[That must have cost a fortune..... How did he pull that off?]
At this moment, both of them almost simultaneously thought that Saiki must have done something to achieve this.
'It has nothing to do with me. It was all Tsukishiro's doing.....'
Saiki felt a bit helpless, but he couldn't say anything about it now.
[Yagami Takuya dropped out after that exam..... I remember he was near me at the time..... But after I woke up, I never saw Yagami again. I only received news that he had dropped out..... What did Saiki do to achieve this? This guy..... is terrifying.]
Just looking at Saiki filled Hosen Kazuomi with intense fear.
He even felt a sense of relief.
Relief that he had only been knocked out by Saiki.
Hosen Kazuomi didn't know what Yagami Takuya had experienced, nor did he want to know.
"Hosen-kun! You're here! We need your help in class!"
At that moment, Nanase Tsubasa's voice suddenly rang out. She had come to find Hosen Kazuomi.
The moment she saw Saiki, Nanase Tsubasa froze.
Although Nanase Tsubasa and Saiki had never interacted much, she had learned from Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's words and Hosen Kazuomi's experience that Saiki was anything but ordinary.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka believed Saiki's abilities far surpassed his own.
Hosen Kazuomi had been forced to withdraw from the exam, and even when Nanase Tsubasa asked about it later, Hosen refused to say what had happened.
But Nanase Tsubasa could clearly see the fear on Hosen Kazuomi's face at the time.
Nanase Tsubasa and Hosen Kazuomi were classmates, and she knew very well how bold and courageous Hosen was. He had even planned to use self-harm to force Ayanokoji Kiyotaka to drop out.
But even someone as bold as Hosen had been defeated by Saiki and was now filled with fear.
It was terrifying.
"Tch, as expected, those idiots can't do anything without me."
Although Hosen Kazuomi said this, he saw Nanase Tsubasa as his lifeline and quickly used this excuse to follow her out of the hallway.
"What a cowardly escape."
Ryuen Kakeru said to Hosen Kazuomi's retreating figure, then turned to signal Shiina Hiyori that it was time to leave.
"We still need to do some rehearsals over there. I'll head back now."
Shiina Hiyori smiled at Saiki,
"Kusuo, are you free during winter break..... Maybe we can read some books together..... or watch a movie."
"I should be free. We'll see then."
Saiki said.
"Okay."
Hearing Saiki's somewhat affirmative response, Shiina Hiyori's face immediately lit up with a smile. She nodded vigorously, then left with Ryuen Kakeru.
'Yare yare.....'
Before Saiki could rest, another set of hurried footsteps approached.
"Saiki-kun, do you have a moment?"
'Will this ever end.....'
Saiki turned around and saw Ichinose Honami standing in front of him.
"Saiki-kun, our cultural festival shop is in trial operation. Would you like to come take a look and give us some advice?"
Ichinose Honami smiled at Saiki.
"Sorry, I don't....."
"We're running a dessert shop!"
"Which floor are you on? I'll be right there."
Saiki's expression immediately became serious as he turned to the readers,
'What are you all thinking? It's just that someone asked for my help, and I couldn't refuse. It's not like I agreed just for some desserts.'
As he thought this, Saiki quickly followed Ichinose Honami to Class D's dessert shop.
Inside, there were all kinds of cakes, bread, and crepes. When Ichinose Honami brought Saiki in, the Class D students—especially the girls—enthusiastically welcomed him.
[Ichinose-san seems very interested in Saiki-kun. To us, Saiki-kun is like a friend.]
[During the uninhabited island exam, Saiki-kun's performance was too dazzling. Back in our first year, I never expected Saiki-kun to be this amazing.]
[They've risen from Class D to Class A.....]
'Yare yare.....'
Since the uninhabited island exam, Saiki had been receiving more and more attention at school.
"Saiki-kun, I heard you're a dessert expert! So, I'd like to hear your opinion."
Ichinose Honami smiled as she spoke, then presented the desserts she had carefully prepared to Saiki.
"Who told you that?"
Saiki was puzzled.
"It was Nagumo-senpai. He said you got cake tasting vouchers from him before, and that you'd do anything for pudding or cake."
Ichinose Honami said jokingly.
[We're running a dessert shop. If the rumors are true, then Saiki-kun will definitely want to stay here, right?]
Saiki's attention, however, was entirely focused on the desserts Ichinose Honami had handed him.
"Then I won't hold back."
With that, he began eating the small cakes one by one.
"How is it?"
Another girl from Class D anxiously asked, waiting for Saiki's feedback.
Ichinose Honami, however, smiled and said:
"Saiki-kun has already given his answer."
"What?"
"Look at Saiki-kun's expression."
At this moment, Saiki was completely immersed in enjoying the cakes, oblivious to the conversations around him.
"It seems our desserts are a huge success."
Ichinose Honami's smile was filled with joy.
That night, Saiki returned to his room first, then used teleportation to arrive at a hidden laboratory.
This was where Saiki Kusuke was.
"Yo, Kusuo, what brings you here?"
Seeing his younger brother's arrival, Saiki Kusuke was surprised.
"I know why you challenged me during the uninhabited island exam."