Classroom of the Elite, Kusuo Saiki

"It's just a simple birthday!"

"Birthday? Karuizawa-san, are you buying a present for... Saiki-san?"

Unable to contain her curiosity any longer, Ichinose Honami finally asked.

"Oh, you too?"

Karuizawa Keiya immediately asked.

[Saiki probably didn't tell anyone his birthday, right? How did Ichinose find out?]

Karuizawa Kei was very curious, and even felt a little annoyed.

"Well, weren't we going to reveal the messages on my phone? I just happened to see that it was Saiki's birthday. He seems to be the type who doesn't like to talk about other things, maybe he's just shy. So I decided to secretly buy Saiki a gift and also told Saiki's friends."

Did you tell anyone else?

"Yes, I told Kushida and the others. They're all Saiki's friends, right?"

'? ? ? '

At that moment, behind the two of them, Saiki Kusuo, who was in stealth mode, was stunned.

Karuizawa Kei and Ichinose Honami learned of his birthday, and to avoid causing himself too much trouble, he used his invisibility ability to follow behind them, never expecting to hear such important news.

He originally wanted to avoid trouble as much as possible, but in the end he may have to face even more trouble.

Kusuo Saiki quickly left the gift shop, found a secluded spot to deactivate his invisibility ability, and then used his Clairvoyance to observe the situation of the other people.

......

Meanwhile, on the other side of the school.

Kikyo Kushida, Yosuke Hirata, Airi Sakura, and the group of idiots all gathered together.

"Tomorrow is Qi Mu's birthday, have you prepared your gifts?"

Kikyo Kushida spoke to the others with a smile on her face.

For her, holding birthday parties for her classmates is also a way to make her image more perfect.

"I'm all ready!"

Takeru Sudo responded with a smile.

"I prepared a set of fitness equipment for Qi Mu! He'll definitely love it, since Qi Mu looks so skinny and must be really out of shape."

'Even without superpowers, I can easily make the hand grip strengthener's dial spin ten times.'

Kusuo Saiki, who was secretly observing all of this from a distance, responded in his mind.

"I bought Qi Mu a fishing rod set! I think he really enjoys fishing!"

Ike Kanji immediately added that ever since the last deserted island exam, he had assumed that Saiki Kusuo liked fishing, so he prepared a set of fishing gear for him.

'...'

Kusuo Saiki felt utterly helpless.

"Leaving aside the extent of your misunderstanding of me, even if you gave me fishing gear, there's nowhere to fish on campus, right? Fishing in the school's artificial lake would probably get me punished, wouldn't it?"

"me......"

Meanwhile, Haruki Yamauchi remained silent for a long time.

Because he had completely forgotten about it.

Yesterday, Honami Ichinose told Kikyo Kushida about Kusuo Saiki's birthday, and the latter immediately told others, including Haruki Yamauchi.

However, at the time, Haruki Yamauchi was completely absorbed in the joy of talking with Kikyo Kushida and completely forgot about the matter.

Although Haruki Yamauchi set his sights on Airi Sakura, he still harbored some fantasies about Kikyo Kushida.

"I'm ready!"

Haruki Yamauchi nodded quickly. If he didn't prepare anything now, he'd probably be looked down upon by the others.

"I...I've prepared too..."

Sakura Airi lowered her head slightly, her voice so soft that only she could hear it.

"Kushida and I have already gone to the cake shop to order a birthday cake for Saiki, and we can pick it up tomorrow morning."

Hirata Yosuke maintained a smile throughout as he addressed the crowd.

"Qi Mu has made a lot of contributions to our class. If it weren't for Qi Mu, we definitely wouldn't have been able to achieve such good results in the previous exams."

"Oh dear, you ordered a cake? There's no way to avoid this next time."

Kusuo Saiki sighed.

......

The next morning, Kusuo Saiki had just teleported back to his dormitory from his home when he heard a familiar knocking sound.

Although he actually really wanted to send his father, Qi Mu Guochun, to the school and then use hypnosis to make others mistake Qi Mu Guochun for himself, in order to avoid a series of embarrassing things that would follow.

However, since Qi Mu Kuniharu was still at work, Qi Mu Kusuo had no choice but to personally participate in such matters.

As soon as he pushed open the door, he saw several familiar faces. Ichinose Honami was among them, but Karuizawa Megumi was not present. Yamauchi Haruki was holding a whole watermelon, which was the gift he had prepared for Saiki Kusuo.

"Happy birthday, Tsundere Qi Mu!"

Everyone cheered, and even Sakura Airi joined in quietly.

[Saiki must be so touched! He definitely didn't expect such a surprise!]

Basically, everyone of them was thinking the same thing—

‘…’

However, for Kusuo Saiki, the concept of surprise simply did not exist, and his face showed no change in expression.

"..."

A moment of silence fell over everyone.

[Saiki-kun... he doesn't usually smile much, has something happened to him in the past?]

Hirata Yosuke thought to himself, a hint of worry showing in his eyes.

To prevent the situation from escalating further, Kusuo Saiki immediately said:

"Um... let's come in first."

Although the atmosphere was a bit strange, the birthday party proceeded normally. Everyone shared the cake and chatted, and the atmosphere gradually became more relaxed. Later, Hiyori Shiina arrived, bringing several hardcover mystery novels.

Kusuo Saiki had no idea how Hiyori Shiina knew his birthday. The latter claimed that she saw several people from Class B buying gifts and deduced all of this through logic.

"Hey hey hey, the cake tastes pretty good."

As Kusuo Saiki ate his cake, he thought to himself.

Although many of the guests had ulterior motives, the overall atmosphere was still acceptable, and Kusuo Saiki didn't particularly dislike it.

The gifts from everyone filled the once empty room.

Chapter 86: The Fortune Telling Shop That Suddenly Became Popular Inside the School

Overall, the birthday party came to a successful end.

Apart from Kikyo Kushida and Haruki Yamauchi, everyone else genuinely wanted to surprise Kusuo Saiki.

"Well, Qi Mu, we'll be going now."

Hirata Yosuke stood at the door of the room and spoke to Saiki Kusuo.

Ken Sudo and Kanji Ike had already run away, but Yosuke Hirata and Airi Sakura stayed behind to help Kusuo Saiki tidy up the room.

"Ah."

"Qi Mu, if you encounter any trouble, please be sure to tell me."

Hirata Yosuke patted Saiki Kusuo on the shoulder, looking at him with great concern.

[Perhaps Saiki-kun has experienced bullying or something similar in the past, which is why he's become so quiet and reserved? But even so, Saiki-kun still contributes to the class in his own way, something I'm quite ashamed of myself for...]

'Stop imagining things.'

Kusuo Saiki felt somewhat helpless.

"Aren't you leaving, Sakura-san?"

"Um... I, I... I'm helping to tidy up a bit more..."

Sakura Airi responded somewhat haltingly, but managed to express her desire to stay.

"Then I'll go first."

Hirata Yosuke gave a meaningful smile and then left the room.

"that....."

After Hirata Yosuke left, Sakura Airi immediately came to Saiki Kusuo, then reached into her bag and fumbled around for a bit before pulling out a small Polaroid camera.

Although it looks small, the design is very exquisite, and it took a lot of points for Airi Sakura.

"Um... I didn't know what you liked, Kusuo-kun... so... I, I... just bought this..."

For Sakura Airi, this was the first time she had given a gift to someone of the opposite sex, which made her extremely nervous.

[I just feel... I feel... my gift should be given separately... I don't know why... but I just feel it's better this way... I wonder if Kusuo-kun will like it... If he doesn't... what should I do?]

At that moment, Sakura Airi's mind raced, trying to think of something else to say, but in the end, all she could say was "Happy Birthday."

"Thank you."

Kusuo Saiki accepted the gift from Airi Sakura and nodded to her.

"Um...Kusuno-kun...how many days from now...?"

[Kusuo-kun...are you free these few days? Can we go on a date...?]

Sakura Airi almost shouted those words in her heart, but at this moment, she simply didn't have the courage to say them out loud.

Even though she had practiced many times before.