People at the practical education center only want to drop out.

The ramen stalls in the school cafeteria also follow this industry rule.

Within five minutes, Bai Lan had noodles twice, and feeling about 70% full, she finished her lunch.

After finishing lunch, I also managed to gain some "Ramen Destroyer Dragon" legend points and a wave of hatred from ramen lovers in the cafeteria.

When Bai Lan finished eating and returned to the bottom of the teaching building, only a dozen minutes had passed since the lunch break.

Bai Lan went upstairs and headed towards Class D's classroom.

He was walking to the corner leading away from the stairwell.

Suddenly, a person darted out from around the corner and crashed into the spot he was about to reach.

Someone actually ambushed me?

Has someone finally lost their temper and wanted to punch him?

What strategy led to this?

Is it "mocking the class"?

Is it "chaotic warfare"?

Or is it "bullying the class beauty"?

never mind,

Let's fight!

The impact speed of the other party was not very fast; the main issue was the suddenness of the impact.

People who react a little slower are more likely to be hit.

However, Bai Lan reacted quickly, even faster than most people.

He sidesteps, then reaches out and precisely grabs the other person's clothes in front, ready to throw them over his shoulder or something similar, positioning them perfectly for the camera to film.

He had just reached out and grabbed the other person's collar, about to embarrass himself, when suddenly he saw the other person's face clearly.

She was a cute girl with an orange-yellow bob haircut, an angelic smile, and a voluptuous figure.

Bai Lan remembered that during a break between classes, she overheard other people calling her "Kushida-kun" or "Kikyo-chan".

Kushida is very sociable and helpful. On the first day of school, he established good relationships with many people and was very popular in the class. He is a core figure on par with Hirata.

At the same time, he was also one of the girls who had given him kind looks.

Bai Lan: It seems like there's a mistake? Wasn't she here to fight me?

After realizing what was happening, he quickly changed from throwing to pushing, using skillful pushing force to counteract the other person's inertia and try to bring them to a safe stop.

But after the other party came to a stop, Bai Lan felt as if her hand was "rebounded" by something.

At this moment, Bai Lan realized what she had just pushed.

In order to avoid triggering any troublesome side quests that might affect his main storyline of dropping out of school, Bai Lan pretended that she was unaware of anything strange she had encountered.

He slowly withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened, showing no remorse whatsoever for doing something "bad."

At this point, if the other party is willing to cooperate in the act, then it's best to pretend nothing happened, and no one will feel awkward.

however.

The moment Bai Lan removed her hand, Kushida immediately clutched her chest. At the same time, her face flushed red, as red as an alarm signal, as if to emphasize that what Bai Lan had just tried to pretend had not happened had actually occurred.

Then, Kushida spoke.

"I'm sorry, Shiro, it's all my fault for not slowing down at the intersection and almost bumping into you," Kushida said apologetically.

"It's okay, I wasn't hit either..."

Moreover, I didn't suffer any loss.

Bai Lan still planned to pretend nothing had happened and simply bypass the other person to return to the classroom, so as not to trigger any useless side quests.

Seeing that Shirai looked like she wanted to leave after taking advantage of him, Kushida became a little anxious.

It is said that "one who takes a bribe is bound to be obligated to pay for it."

Although she didn't intend for the other party to "take" it at first, and it was all an accident, now that she has "taken" it, shouldn't she at least show some "softness"?

At least say something conciliatory.

How are people supposed to start a conversation if you do that?

Forget it...

Before Bai Lan could even lift her foot, Kushida immediately flashed his signature angelic smile and initiated the conversation, saying, "What a coincidence, Bai-kun."

"Is it really... a coincidence?"

Bai Lan's eyes were a little strange. Her tone of voice seemed to be genuinely agreeing with what the other person was saying, but she also seemed to be wondering about something.

Actually, he didn't think it was a coincidence.

Before the other party rushed out, he actually noticed a large, moving shadow on the ground next to the corner.

This means that someone was already waiting at the corner ahead.

Therefore, this Kushida-san didn't "forget to slow down at the fork in the road"; she was already waiting there, and she did it on purpose.

Bai Lan recalled the lively yet affectionate look that Kushida had given him that morning, and immediately categorized Kushida as a member of the love-struck group in Class D.

Adding to that the earlier "throwing herself into my arms"....

Bai Lan came to a guess: he suspected that Kushida might indeed have come to ambush him, but the ambush was not to fight him, but to "make friends" with him or something.

Kushida seemed to understand what Shirai was trying to say.

Kushida immediately lowered her head and said shamefully, "I'm sorry, Shiro! This really isn't a coincidence. I waited for you here on purpose. I have something to say to you, but I was worried that you wouldn't talk to me, so I planned to 'meet you around the corner.' I heard that this can increase the initial goodwill in a conversation."

"But you've sacrificed too much to 'increase favorability', haven't you?" Bai Lan said, moving her hands somewhat awkwardly.

"I actually practiced this move before, and I was able to stop it on my own, but something unexpected happened. You were too fast, and before I could even use it, you..." Kushida said cutely, her face flushed.

24. I'm sorry, you're a good person.

"But you've sacrificed too much just to 'increase favorability,' haven't you?"

"I actually practiced this move before, and I was able to stop by myself, but something unexpected happened. Shiro, you were too fast, and I didn't have time to use it before you..." Kushida explained anxiously, her face flushed, like a startled little rabbit.

How do you say that?

A young girl's blush speaks louder than a thousand words.

Moreover, the other party went to such great lengths just to "improve the initial likability of the conversation."

It's clear that the other party has big ambitions; they want to gain some huge benefit from Bai Lan through the conversation!

Bai Lan became increasingly certain of her conjecture and raised the level of alarm for the seriousness of her hypothesis to a higher level:

The worst-case scenario is that the other party is after him personally!

"She wants to confess her feelings to me!" Bai Lan thought to herself, feeling a growing sense of unease.

"Even though things have come to this, I still hope you can listen carefully to my request..."

At this point, the girl suddenly reached out and grabbed Bai Lan's right hand.

Her petite hands were clasped together, holding Bai Lan's right hand between them. Then she raised it to the center in front of Kushida's face, bowed slightly to lower her height, and finally looked at Bai Lan with a pleading and expectant gaze at a 45-degree angle.

"please!"

Bai Lan tried to pull her hand back, but gave up after a few attempts.

Although I felt I could pull it out, I didn't dare to use too much force, for fear of throwing this big but still petite thing away.

After preparing herself mentally and rehearsing her "universal rejection lines" in her mind, Bai Lan finally made up her mind and said, "Okay, what do you want to say to me?"

"Is such that......"

Kushida took a deep breath, then twisted her body unnaturally a few times, causing her pleated skirt to flutter slightly several times.

He looked extremely embarrassed and conflicted, as if he was about to say something difficult to say.

Bai Lan further confirmed her conjecture:

She must want to confess her feelings to me!

Bai Lan gave up hope. He carefully loaded the inspected shells into the breech, ready to fire immediately if the enemy was spotted.

Soon, Kushida spoke:

"I want to be friends with Horikita-kun!" / "Sorry, you're a good person!"

"Huh?" X2

Both of them were stunned for a moment.

After a while of silence.

Bai Lan said expressionlessly, "You ambushed me here just so I would help you make friends with Horikita?"

"Yes, yes~"

Kushida, with an innocent and naive look on her face, said this.

Upon hearing this, Bai Lan couldn't help but wipe her face with her hand.

One more dark history.

How embarrassing...? Yeah, right!

Bai Lan didn't seem to care.

Since he's going to drop out of school anyway, it doesn't matter if people think of him as an "ordinary guy" or a "narcissist." In fact, it can even lower other people's opinion of him, so it's all good and bad.

Bai Lan is simply not used to dealing with other people's kindness.

Since the other party's purpose in contacting him was not to express "goodwill" (make friends or confess their feelings), but rather to use him as a "friendship tool".

Bai Lan was quite adept at handling this purely exploitative relationship.

Without even thinking, Bai Lan only needed to rely on the muscle memory developed from years of sharp-tongued experience to casually throw out a few unpleasant words, which would make the conversation impossible to continue and directly end this "encounter battle".

However, he was prepared to say the harsh words.

At that moment, he suddenly realized something.